I only get to spend 1 hour a week with Latifa's 8th form class. I don't get a chance to visit with Tofig's section at all. And by this age, the students have either decided whether they want to learn English or not. (The motivated kids get a spot in my clubs. The others I don't see outside of that single hour of class)
Today. I was working with this class. On Monday, they had talked about 'if clauses' and Latifa said no one really understood the concept.
So I wrote "If I had a million dollars, I would...." on the blackboard. Then I went around the classroom and asked each student what they would do with a million dollars. Everyone willing participated. A feat in itself. Most were the standard answers you would expect. ' I would buy a house.' ' I would buy a car.' 'I would travel around the world.' Xeyala was the last girl to speak: ' I would use half the money to buy a house for my family. I would give the other half to charity.' I was blown away. I've never heard anyone in this country refer to charities, let alone giving money to such an organisation. I was impressed
Then I wrote "If I could be someone famous or important, I would want to be..." on the blackboard. The majority of the students wanted to be various actors and actresses or popstars of the Eurovision variety. Some of the boys wanted to be footballers. The usual stuff. Some had more realistic ambitions. One boy wanted to be a policeman. One girl wanted to be a university director.
Then Xeyala spoke up again: "If I could be someone famous or important I would want to be a Peace Corps Volunteer like Miss. Melissa, so I could travel to different countries and teach and help people."
You could have knocked me over with a feather.
This girl is one of the students that transferred into Latifa's section from Tofig's class at the start of the year because she said she wasn't learning English in the other class. She sought me out to ask for a place in my most advanced club, and promised she would keep up. And she has. In fact she's probably the hardest working. . She is a quiet, studious (and clearly very thoughtful) young lady.
Her name is Xeyala Xeyala translates from Azerbaijani as dream or day-dream.
And it wasn't so much the inherent compliment in her statement. Or that she said the whole sentence in English. It was the fact that my mere presence in the classroom inspired Xeyala to dream for herself
I don't always feel like my monkey like antics at the front of the classroom make all that much of a difference in my students' learning process. Or that my presence in the village is little more than the foreigner who lives in the half-built house with no TV and occasionally shows up for tea or a meal.
But when little moments like today happen. I realise that it doesn't matter if I'm not the best or most creative teacher in the world. Or that I am not a bad person if I don't leave my house every single afternoon to socialise with my neighbours.
I am here.
That simple fact makes all the difference in the world to the people of a village In one of the most looked-down upon regions in the country. More than I will probably ever realise.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Colour-Coded Chaos
One of the man things I do outside of the classroom is run after-school activities.
These are very popular with the children. Too popular in fact.
When I held the first conversation club meeting kids I’ve never even seen before appeared at desks. Suddenly I had twenty kids in the classroom instead of the ten I was expecting. Oops. I guess the news of last week’s sign up session didn’t get around to everyone interested.
When you have twenty kids in a classroom built for twelve it is hard to teach. Consider also that these kids are trying to learn a foreign language (and that I am trying to teach in a foreign language). Moreover, it felt like every kid had a different schedule to adhere too: I can only come to this session. I don’t want to come to a class with 6th graders; I am in the 8th grade. I went to go straight home after school to have lunch.
In short it was chaos. I couldn’t teach anything. And it gave me a headache.
I am glad that so many of my students want to learn English. But I am only one person. I am physically incapable of teaching all these kids at once. (There are another thirty students scheduled for another day.) But I don’t want to exclude anyone, thereby enforcing the idea that only the strongest students have earned my attention outside of classroom hours. My philosophy is that anyone who wants to learn should be able to learn. But how does one solve the ‘overbooking problem’? (This isn’t an airplane. I can’t give away free tickets.)
I was in a bit of a quandary. What to do? So I employed a very wise piece of Peace Corps wisdom. Let the students chose when they come.
I put twenty-seven pieces of paper in a bag. Nine pieces were blue. Nine pieces were yellow. Nine pieces were purple. The students picked a piece of paper. If you picked blue, you could come in October. If you picked yellow, you could come in November. If you picked purple, you could come in January.
Everyone gets to come. Everyone is happy (albeit the January kids are a little bit impatient.)
I will have to see if everything works out was nicely as the theory suggests it will. I doubt it. More likely it will just be colour-coded chaos. But at least I tried.
Wish me luck!
These are very popular with the children. Too popular in fact.
When I held the first conversation club meeting kids I’ve never even seen before appeared at desks. Suddenly I had twenty kids in the classroom instead of the ten I was expecting. Oops. I guess the news of last week’s sign up session didn’t get around to everyone interested.
When you have twenty kids in a classroom built for twelve it is hard to teach. Consider also that these kids are trying to learn a foreign language (and that I am trying to teach in a foreign language). Moreover, it felt like every kid had a different schedule to adhere too: I can only come to this session. I don’t want to come to a class with 6th graders; I am in the 8th grade. I went to go straight home after school to have lunch.
In short it was chaos. I couldn’t teach anything. And it gave me a headache.
I am glad that so many of my students want to learn English. But I am only one person. I am physically incapable of teaching all these kids at once. (There are another thirty students scheduled for another day.) But I don’t want to exclude anyone, thereby enforcing the idea that only the strongest students have earned my attention outside of classroom hours. My philosophy is that anyone who wants to learn should be able to learn. But how does one solve the ‘overbooking problem’? (This isn’t an airplane. I can’t give away free tickets.)
I was in a bit of a quandary. What to do? So I employed a very wise piece of Peace Corps wisdom. Let the students chose when they come.
I put twenty-seven pieces of paper in a bag. Nine pieces were blue. Nine pieces were yellow. Nine pieces were purple. The students picked a piece of paper. If you picked blue, you could come in October. If you picked yellow, you could come in November. If you picked purple, you could come in January.
Everyone gets to come. Everyone is happy (albeit the January kids are a little bit impatient.)
I will have to see if everything works out was nicely as the theory suggests it will. I doubt it. More likely it will just be colour-coded chaos. But at least I tried.
Wish me luck!
Measuring Sustainability
Sustainability is a Peace Corps ‘watch word’.
As volunteers we serve our community for two years. We work like crazy to accomplish as much as we can in those 24 months because we worry that there will be no one to continue our work after our service is complete. Which is why we are all very conscious of trying to pass our skills, ideas and projects on to other community members. The most sure-fire way of ensuring we have a lasting impact on our community is to make the developments we introduce ‘sustainable.’ - to give the community the tools to help themselves.
This week on three different occasions I realized that my work over the last year has already started to show signs of sustainability. Success!
ONE:
I saw one of the teachers I worked with this summer at the Salyan library this past weekend. I was happy to see her and asked how the school year had started for her. She was eager to tell me about the ways she had put the techniques we had discussed during our sessions into practice. She said she had devised an activity to check students’ Question-and-Answer ability. She brought a ball into the classroom and threw the ball to each student asking a question. The student had to reply and throw the ball to another student and ask a question of him or her. I was so excited. I have been trying to introduce this activity into my own classrooms. She also said she had drawn a card for each letter of the alphabet and would bring them next time to show me.
Interactive classroom activities AND visual aids! (And I’ve never even set foot into the school where she teaches!)
Back in Kerimbeyli I have also noticed the impact I have had.
TWO:
First: a teacher I didn’t get to work with much last year actually REQUESTED that I work with her in her classroom.
Second: When we were discussing the sorts of things we could do in the lessons, she pointed out to me that the Teacher’s Book says we SHOULD sing songs in class. (This is the teacher that was very confused when I taught the parts of the body to students using the song ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” last year.
THREE:
And as unpredictable as ever…Tofig has thrown me for a loop yet again. But in a positive respect this time. It has come to my attention that Tofig decided his class of 5th form students all needed some extra tuition. So in response he’s started his own ‘gratis’ after-school club out of his house three days a week. I must admit to being a little bit skeptical that such a thing is actually happening. (Or what sort of thing he is teaching there.) I plan to investigate.
So there you have it: three instances of sustainability that occurred due to teachers’ initiative with little or no interference from me. (‘BY’ instead of ‘WITH’). I am quite proud of my counterparts and colleagues, and very happy that they have acknowledged the merits of some of the crazy stuff I get up to in and out of the classroom and implemented them in their own classrooms. Success!
As volunteers we serve our community for two years. We work like crazy to accomplish as much as we can in those 24 months because we worry that there will be no one to continue our work after our service is complete. Which is why we are all very conscious of trying to pass our skills, ideas and projects on to other community members. The most sure-fire way of ensuring we have a lasting impact on our community is to make the developments we introduce ‘sustainable.’ - to give the community the tools to help themselves.
This week on three different occasions I realized that my work over the last year has already started to show signs of sustainability. Success!
ONE:
I saw one of the teachers I worked with this summer at the Salyan library this past weekend. I was happy to see her and asked how the school year had started for her. She was eager to tell me about the ways she had put the techniques we had discussed during our sessions into practice. She said she had devised an activity to check students’ Question-and-Answer ability. She brought a ball into the classroom and threw the ball to each student asking a question. The student had to reply and throw the ball to another student and ask a question of him or her. I was so excited. I have been trying to introduce this activity into my own classrooms. She also said she had drawn a card for each letter of the alphabet and would bring them next time to show me.
Interactive classroom activities AND visual aids! (And I’ve never even set foot into the school where she teaches!)
Back in Kerimbeyli I have also noticed the impact I have had.
TWO:
First: a teacher I didn’t get to work with much last year actually REQUESTED that I work with her in her classroom.
Second: When we were discussing the sorts of things we could do in the lessons, she pointed out to me that the Teacher’s Book says we SHOULD sing songs in class. (This is the teacher that was very confused when I taught the parts of the body to students using the song ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” last year.
THREE:
And as unpredictable as ever…Tofig has thrown me for a loop yet again. But in a positive respect this time. It has come to my attention that Tofig decided his class of 5th form students all needed some extra tuition. So in response he’s started his own ‘gratis’ after-school club out of his house three days a week. I must admit to being a little bit skeptical that such a thing is actually happening. (Or what sort of thing he is teaching there.) I plan to investigate.
So there you have it: three instances of sustainability that occurred due to teachers’ initiative with little or no interference from me. (‘BY’ instead of ‘WITH’). I am quite proud of my counterparts and colleagues, and very happy that they have acknowledged the merits of some of the crazy stuff I get up to in and out of the classroom and implemented them in their own classrooms. Success!
Five Reasons I Love 7B
I’m not going to lie. I have a favourite class. I know I shouldn’t. But I do. I can’t help it.
Here are some excerpts from class this week. See for yourself.
M: Has anyone ever been to London?
Student N: In my dreams
(He said this in English. )
M: *writes ‘I’m in a hurry’ on the blackboard* What does this say?
Student O: I’m Hungry!
(This was especially funny because it was the lesson before lunch.)
M: *explains possessive and object pronouns at length* Does everyone understand?
Student O: We learned this in 5th form. Of course we do.
Five Reasons I Love 7B
I’m not going to lie. I have a favourite class. I know I shouldn’t. But I do. I can’t help it.
Here are some excerpts from class this week. See for yourself.
M: Has anyone ever been to London?
Student N: In my dreams
(He said this in English. )
M: *writes ‘I’m in a hurry’ on the blackboard* What does this say?
Student O: I’m Hungry!
(This was especially funny because it was the lesson before lunch.)
M: *explains possessive and object pronouns at length* Does everyone understand?
Student O: We learned this in 5th form. Of course we do.
(Well. That will teach me to over-simplify.)
M: Did you do the homework?
Student E: No. I was lazy.
(Give him credit for being honest).
Student N: *writes the vocabulary for the day on the board*
M: Very good. Everything is correct.
Students E and N: Teacher there are four different spelling mistakes in the words.
M: *genuinely confused* Where? Come to the blackboard and show me.
(Clearly I need to re-learn the ‘i before e except after c’ rule. Oops.)
M: Did you do the homework?
Student E: No. I was lazy.
(Give him credit for being honest).
Student N: *writes the vocabulary for the day on the board*
M: Very good. Everything is correct.
Students E and N: Teacher there are four different spelling mistakes in the words.
M: *genuinely confused* Where? Come to the blackboard and show me.
(Clearly I need to re-learn the ‘i before e except after c’ rule. Oops.)
Here are some excerpts from class this week. See for yourself.
M: Has anyone ever been to London?
Student N: In my dreams
(He said this in English. )
M: *writes ‘I’m in a hurry’ on the blackboard* What does this say?
Student O: I’m Hungry!
(This was especially funny because it was the lesson before lunch.)
M: *explains possessive and object pronouns at length* Does everyone understand?
Student O: We learned this in 5th form. Of course we do.
Five Reasons I Love 7B
I’m not going to lie. I have a favourite class. I know I shouldn’t. But I do. I can’t help it.
Here are some excerpts from class this week. See for yourself.
M: Has anyone ever been to London?
Student N: In my dreams
(He said this in English. )
M: *writes ‘I’m in a hurry’ on the blackboard* What does this say?
Student O: I’m Hungry!
(This was especially funny because it was the lesson before lunch.)
M: *explains possessive and object pronouns at length* Does everyone understand?
Student O: We learned this in 5th form. Of course we do.
(Well. That will teach me to over-simplify.)
M: Did you do the homework?
Student E: No. I was lazy.
(Give him credit for being honest).
Student N: *writes the vocabulary for the day on the board*
M: Very good. Everything is correct.
Students E and N: Teacher there are four different spelling mistakes in the words.
M: *genuinely confused* Where? Come to the blackboard and show me.
(Clearly I need to re-learn the ‘i before e except after c’ rule. Oops.)
M: Did you do the homework?
Student E: No. I was lazy.
(Give him credit for being honest).
Student N: *writes the vocabulary for the day on the board*
M: Very good. Everything is correct.
Students E and N: Teacher there are four different spelling mistakes in the words.
M: *genuinely confused* Where? Come to the blackboard and show me.
(Clearly I need to re-learn the ‘i before e except after c’ rule. Oops.)
A Year in TV: A Companion Piece
I have to admit I’ve also watched a fair amount of TV over the past year. Of particular note:
Glee: Season 1
Bones: Seasons 1-5
Mad Men: Seasons 1-3
Which seems like a rather uninspiring list. Until you convert those numbers into individual hours. Personally I haven’t done the math, mostly because I’m sure I would hate myself.
Suffice to say: there was a solid three week period this summer where I watched at least 3 episodes of Bones a day. (It’s addictive!)
I’m sure the list will grow exponentially this winter when I inherit my site-mate’s DVD collection. (As long as the power holds out.)
Any other ‘can’t miss TV’ I should try to find-borrow-buy? I’m open to suggestions.
Glee: Season 1
Bones: Seasons 1-5
Mad Men: Seasons 1-3
Which seems like a rather uninspiring list. Until you convert those numbers into individual hours. Personally I haven’t done the math, mostly because I’m sure I would hate myself.
Suffice to say: there was a solid three week period this summer where I watched at least 3 episodes of Bones a day. (It’s addictive!)
I’m sure the list will grow exponentially this winter when I inherit my site-mate’s DVD collection. (As long as the power holds out.)
Any other ‘can’t miss TV’ I should try to find-borrow-buy? I’m open to suggestions.
A Year In Books
I’ve read a lot this year. Recently a few people have asked what sort of books I’ve been reading. Being the nerd that I am, I’ve kept a list. There are also two sentence summaries of each book; a list of favourite quotations and a running page count in a notebook with the list. But let’s not get carried away.
Yes. I am aware it is heavy on the Soviet inspired stuff. And that Dostie and Dickens are conspicuously absent. Oops. Don’t judge me for the presence of Chick-Lit.
* denotes the books I recommend
+ denotes the books I’ve read before
- Azerbaijan Diary: T. Goltz
- Suite Francaise: I. Nemirovsky
- Eat Pray Love: E. Glibert
- House For Mr. Biswas: VS Naipaul
- Someone Else’s Daughter: ??
- Belong to Me: M. de Los Santos
- A Dive From Clauson’s Pier: A. Packer
- Love Walked In: M. de Los Santos
- Out Stealing Horses: P. Petterson
- A Kiss For Maddelena: C. Castellani
- Chasing Harry Winston: L Weisberger
- The Jane Austen Book Club: K.J Fowler
- My Sister’s Keeper: J. Picoult
- The Bronze Horseman: P. Simmons * +
- The Soloist: S. Lopez
- The Freedom Writer’s Diary: E. Grunwell
- Confessions of a Shopaholic: S. Kinsella
- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: D. Woblenski *
- The English: A Portrait of a People: J. Paxman
- Revolutionary Road: R. Yates
- Like Water For Chocolate: L Esquivel *
- A Window Across the River: B. Morton
- The Secret Speech: T.R. Smith
- Crossing Washington Square: J. Rendell
- Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society: M.A. Shaffer *
- Water For Elephants: S. Gruen * * * (READ THIS!)
- Lost and Found: J. Sigaloff
- Julie and Julia: J. Powell
- Me Talk Pretty One Day: D. Sedaris
- Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard: K. Desai
- The Mermaid Chair: S.M. Kidd
- A Tree Grows In Brooklyn: B. Smith *
- The Shipping News: E.A. Prolux
- The Joy Luck Club: A. Tan
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: J. le Carre
- The Heretic’s Daughter: K. Kent
- Girls of Riyadh: R. Alsanea *
- The Other Queen: P. Gregory
- How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents: J. Alvarez
- The Girl in Hyacinth Blue: S. Vreeland
- The Yiddish Policemen’s Union: M. Chabon
- Two Years in Poland and Other Stories: A Peace Corps Memoir: L. Siddell
- Harvesting the Heart: J. Picoult
- How Soccer Explains the World: F. Foer
- Bliss, Remembered: F. Deford
- The Angel of Grozny: Orphans of a Forgotten War: A. Seierstad
- Nineteen Minutes: J. Picoult *
- The White Tiger: A. Adiga
- Rumour Has It: J. Mansell
- Africa United: S. Bloomfield
- The Piano Tuner: D. Mason
- The Other Side of the Story: M. Keyes
- Absurdistan: G. Shteyngart *
- The Red Scarf: K. Furnivall
- Marley and Me: J. Groban
- The Secret Life of Bees: S.M. Kidd +
And the most quotable entry in the quotation collection:
“[Dressed] Like a missionary, her cousins will say, like one of those Peace Corps girls who have let themselves go so as to do dubious good in the world.” - How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
This little gem inserts itself into almost every conversation my site-mate and I have about the deterioration of our wardrobes.
Yes. I am aware it is heavy on the Soviet inspired stuff. And that Dostie and Dickens are conspicuously absent. Oops. Don’t judge me for the presence of Chick-Lit.
* denotes the books I recommend
+ denotes the books I’ve read before
- Azerbaijan Diary: T. Goltz
- Suite Francaise: I. Nemirovsky
- Eat Pray Love: E. Glibert
- House For Mr. Biswas: VS Naipaul
- Someone Else’s Daughter: ??
- Belong to Me: M. de Los Santos
- A Dive From Clauson’s Pier: A. Packer
- Love Walked In: M. de Los Santos
- Out Stealing Horses: P. Petterson
- A Kiss For Maddelena: C. Castellani
- Chasing Harry Winston: L Weisberger
- The Jane Austen Book Club: K.J Fowler
- My Sister’s Keeper: J. Picoult
- The Bronze Horseman: P. Simmons * +
- The Soloist: S. Lopez
- The Freedom Writer’s Diary: E. Grunwell
- Confessions of a Shopaholic: S. Kinsella
- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: D. Woblenski *
- The English: A Portrait of a People: J. Paxman
- Revolutionary Road: R. Yates
- Like Water For Chocolate: L Esquivel *
- A Window Across the River: B. Morton
- The Secret Speech: T.R. Smith
- Crossing Washington Square: J. Rendell
- Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society: M.A. Shaffer *
- Water For Elephants: S. Gruen * * * (READ THIS!)
- Lost and Found: J. Sigaloff
- Julie and Julia: J. Powell
- Me Talk Pretty One Day: D. Sedaris
- Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard: K. Desai
- The Mermaid Chair: S.M. Kidd
- A Tree Grows In Brooklyn: B. Smith *
- The Shipping News: E.A. Prolux
- The Joy Luck Club: A. Tan
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: J. le Carre
- The Heretic’s Daughter: K. Kent
- Girls of Riyadh: R. Alsanea *
- The Other Queen: P. Gregory
- How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents: J. Alvarez
- The Girl in Hyacinth Blue: S. Vreeland
- The Yiddish Policemen’s Union: M. Chabon
- Two Years in Poland and Other Stories: A Peace Corps Memoir: L. Siddell
- Harvesting the Heart: J. Picoult
- How Soccer Explains the World: F. Foer
- Bliss, Remembered: F. Deford
- The Angel of Grozny: Orphans of a Forgotten War: A. Seierstad
- Nineteen Minutes: J. Picoult *
- The White Tiger: A. Adiga
- Rumour Has It: J. Mansell
- Africa United: S. Bloomfield
- The Piano Tuner: D. Mason
- The Other Side of the Story: M. Keyes
- Absurdistan: G. Shteyngart *
- The Red Scarf: K. Furnivall
- Marley and Me: J. Groban
- The Secret Life of Bees: S.M. Kidd +
And the most quotable entry in the quotation collection:
“[Dressed] Like a missionary, her cousins will say, like one of those Peace Corps girls who have let themselves go so as to do dubious good in the world.” - How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
This little gem inserts itself into almost every conversation my site-mate and I have about the deterioration of our wardrobes.
Friday, October 1, 2010
One Year Ago Today
I set foot in Azebaijan for the first time.
Really this time.
:)
Everyone else has been posting meaningful rambles about the past year of their lives. I am too lazy.
If you've been reading this you know what I've been up to. If you've been getting my letters and text messages you know the gritty details of the more difficult days as well as the celebrations over days well spent.
I wish I had something more profound to say. Ask me again in 14 months when this adventure is behind me. I'll work on something in time for that.
Maybe I'll even take some photos in prepartion. (Or not).
Really this time.
:)
Everyone else has been posting meaningful rambles about the past year of their lives. I am too lazy.
If you've been reading this you know what I've been up to. If you've been getting my letters and text messages you know the gritty details of the more difficult days as well as the celebrations over days well spent.
I wish I had something more profound to say. Ask me again in 14 months when this adventure is behind me. I'll work on something in time for that.
Maybe I'll even take some photos in prepartion. (Or not).
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