One down, three to go

Now that we’re well into second quarter, I’m going to be completely honest in saying that I am so relieved that first quarter is over and done with. Most former World Teach (and teachers in general) have told me that the first quarter is the hardest, as I’ve come to find out. Yet after the grades have been tallied (by hand, which took forever!) and the report cards handed out, I now have a full quarter to reflect on and to learn from to make the next three better.

Things I’ve learned about teaching in a Marshallese classroom:
-Kids will be kids; Somedays they’re great, other days they’re bouncing off the walls. I’ve decided that I’m going to write a letter to every teacher I’ve ever had as an apology...and a thank you.

-Marshallese kids love to sing; you can literally take any subject you’re teaching and make it into a song. When I was in about first grade, we used to sing a song called “Pick a Pumpkin”, so I used that with my classes almost every day leading up to Halloween. Apparently it caught on, because my fellow teachers told me they’d hear my students humming it during their other classes! Actually, I still heard them singing it today during a spelling test :)

I also tried to spice things up a bit by adding rap battles about phonics, but that’s largely for my personal entertainment. How can you not be in a good mood when you have one half of the class beat-boxing while the other is rapping about how to make a “long A”?

-Beware of recess; while recess can be a great time for me to zone out and read The Economist, it’s also a time for kids to get hopped up on loads of sugar and covered in Kool-Aid. Most kids are undernourished and don’t have access to healthy snacks, instead eating chip-like snacks and loads of Kool-Aid powder to hold them over until lunch, leaving their face, hands, and classwork covered in red or blue stains.

-Get to know your students after school; with over 200 students total, it’s hard for me to get to know each and every student. I know my third graders the best, since I spend every day with them, so I’ve begun to stay after school a few days a week and read with the ones who just want to hang out. While giving a detention one day to a student, a group of girls stayed and taught me a cute kids song and dance. Moments like these have showed me that I can’t just judge my students on being a student; some of the worst students are the nicest kids and just want to have fun with someone they can look up to.

-Learn the language; by knowing some Marshallese, classroom management and simple directions are much easier when you can repeat things in English and Marshallese just to reinforce your point. While my fellow roommates teach mostly in the high schools where their students have a fairly good grasp on English, my students are just learning, but that makes them absolutely wonderful Marshallese teachers to me.