May 13th:
Woke up this morning with a bit of a cloud hanging over me. Spent time praying through it, but still had some heaviness as I went to school. The weather matched my mood. The city was covered with a dust cloud. Even the shadows on the sidewalk seemed dusty.
The 9:15 math class was trying. There was a dead bird in the room that kept disrupting class, though I'm sure it would've chosen to die elsewhere if it had known what a ruckus it would cause. The boys could not sit still at all. I ended up keeping some of them through the break and re-teaching the lesson. Graded papers during my break and turned in the final exam with answers to the curriculum coordinator. They collected them in manila envelopes (each one labeled with a specific grade and subject).
The 11am art class went well, but I had to break up a cat fight at the beginning of class. (Sounds like I was teaching anatomy - from birds to cats.) Two of the girls were clawing at each other because one of them had moved her desk, which intruded on the other girl's space. Of course neither of them took responsibility. We went into the hall and because they wouldn't apologize, I made them write apology letters during class. By the end of the period, they were smiling and best friends again. They decorated and re-decorated their letters, showing them to each other intermittently, so that there really wasn't any need to force the exchange.
During the half hour break, I continued grading papers. The end of the phase is coming up, so students are anxious to improve their grades. The 12:15 class was quiet when I came in (except for their now routine, top-of-the-lungs greeting). Two of the boys kept talking and being disruptive, but I tried to move through the lesson. All of a sudden something happened and a fight between them broke out. I sent the main antagonist into the hall, and continued the lesson in peace. When I let him back in after "5 minutes" - it may have extended a little beyond ;) - I thought we would finish the class quietly. I brought the other boy to the front of the room and had him work through one of the problems on the board. All of a sudden, a full, .33L water bottle came shooting to the front of the room like a missile. It was intended for the student, but hit the board right between us and barely missed my head. I had to react fast as boy #2 reached down for the bottle and tried to throw it back. I disarmed him of the first one, but he had a second one before I could blink. It barely missed boy #1, who picked it up and launched it again. I ended up deflecting it with my hand so that it wouldn't hit any of the other students. There was a cease fire. I dragged both of them outside as the Arabic teacher entered the room. The boys would not apologize. The Arabic teacher got upset with them for causing me grief, but they still refused. I told them they would have to write apology letters (deja vu?) to turn in tomorrow. I rushed off, needing to meet up with H and J. It bothered me that I couldn't follow through and would have to wait until tomorrow.
A quiet taxi ride to H's (which is always a blessing) and a good time with J. H is feeling better (her allergies have been bothering her). And J is really improving in his reading. We had a nice time together, though I really had to pray that the Lord would help me leave the incidents at school behind. He answered my prayer and gave me the strength to encourage H and be completely attentive to J. There was road construction along the main route back home, so the taxi driver had to take the long way. Thankfully I was wearing my sunglasses and he couldn't ask me any questions. (I bought some new "Kurdish" sunglasses when I went to the market with T. Since wearing them, I've noticed that I don't get honked at or "nee-howed" wherever I go. The dark hair comes in handy!)
Got home and felt like a pity party, but realized that my discouragement was merely the result of relying in my own power to resolve the issues at school. God had clearly given me wisdom during the "cat fight" - I was able to pray while taking the girls out of the class, but I had gotten distracted when dealing with the boys and didn't seek His help. My pity party didn't last long and I went over to John and Mary's for a visit.
Came home and Skyped with the family. (Happy Mother's Day, Mama!) Eithen is changing, but still gives me lots of kisses on the webcam. Good to talk with everyone (except Caleb and Stephen who were spending the night at a friend's). Afterwards I did some crazy baking and made lemon bars for our team dinner with another batch to take to school. I also made more granola. Tired, but in a better mood by bedtime.
May 14th:
Got to school and finished grading papers just in time for class. Students are starting to turn in a lot more homework as the phase comes to end, so that also means more time spent grading for me. When I walked into class this morning, I told the kids that if they didn't want to be in class, they were free to leave. If I wrote their names on the board and they didn't go to the garden, then I would take them to the principal after class. They were amazed that I would let them go to the garden without "minusing" them (meaning penalizing them). I assured them that they wouldn't be penalized, but that it was their choice to come to class and learn. If they didn't want to, they could go outside. On the other hand, if they kept other students from learning, then I would have to deal with their misbehavior. The first offender was pretty excited at going to the garden, taunting his classmates, who (to my relief) weren't impressed. He noticed their reaction and hesitated at the doorway. I told him that if he didn't stand outside but continued to disrupt, he would see the principal. He chose to stand in the doorway and stood as still as I've ever seen him for 20 minutes. There were other boys who crossed the line and left. They also stood just outside the classroom and eventually asked to come back in and learn. Two boys, fifteen minutes before class ended, decided that it would be fun to go to the garden and they left, but a teacher confronted them, asked why they were outside and sent them back to apologize. I ended up keeping them through part of their break. We didn't cover as much material as I would've liked, but I did see improvement.
During the break all the teachers told me how much they liked the lemon bars. A success towards my goal - introducing new foods to the country, one dessert at a time! It is really fun to have them talk to me now and include me in their conversations (which sometimes means that one of them will have to translate). Nadia has mentioned everyday how much fun she had taking me to dummbalah!
My 12:15 class got the same lecture about not being in class if they didn't want to learn. By the end of class three boys were standing in the hallway. They tried to disrupt class, but thankfully the rest of the students were engaged in the lesson, at least until the last 10 minutes of class. At that point they started talking and wouldn't settle down. Apparently they weren't attentive for the teacher after me either and it was decided that they would lose both breaks tomorrow. I'll probably help cover some of that time and have them review for their test.
I stayed at the school until 2:30 and hung out in the teacher room. The cleaning lady is quite a character; if words could clean, the school would be sparkling. As it is, the gossip circulates and so does the dirt. Jaco is very friendly though and everyone gets along with her. She enjoys teaching Assyrian to anyone who is willing to learn - I've picked up a few phrases, though my pronunciation doesn't meet the standard John has already set. In the break room, Jaco was teaching one of the Arabic-speaking teachers some Assyrian and I started to catch on to what they were referring to (the conversation was in Arabic). The lesson extended into English as another teacher translated for me. It was fun to learn with them and laugh at our mistakes - it is so easy to feel waaayyyy behind everyone else because they can speak at least two and usually closer to four languages.
I like to stay until 2:30 because then I get to talk to the kids as they load up or wait for their rides. They asked me if I was coming back next year and hoped I'd be teaching them. As it stands right now, it looks like I'll be teaching 5th grade math and story.
When I got home, I took a nap (with all the Assyrian floating around in my brain). Then headed off with John, Mary, Henry, and Stacy to our team meeting. We have the funniest team ever. Zander wanted us to sing along to his "drumming," so we all launched into a song (that Zander didn't know). A snapshot of the moment would've revealed six adults belting out "I've Been Working on the Railroad." We struggled to remember all the lines, but by the second time through we had it down. Now how often do you get a group of adults singing kids songs? Shows what happens when you are immersed in an ESL community! :) We had a nice summery meal. Lisa made a fruit salad and a cajun bulgur salad; Julie made red pepper hummus; and Mary made pretzels! We topped it off with lemon bars for dessert and a devotional that looked at the depths of creation (and all the new discoveries they are making at the bottom of the ocean). We ended the night with our Skype call to Dave and Lisa and taxied home.
Feeling emotionally tired as I think of ending the school year ... I will definitely miss my students. Two and half months back home seems like a long time to be away from them, but then I know that the time will fly by and I'll be missing "home" life once again. Leaving is bittersweet. I can't wait to get back to the things that are familiar, but will miss all the things that I've worked so hard at that have become familiar here. Trying to be rooted and built up in God, established in the faith that He is working all things according to His purpose and for His glory. When my affections are bound up in Him, then no matter where I go or what I am doing, as long as it is with Him, I will have all my joy and happiness. So then the goal must be, to "live to the hilt every situation I believe to be the will of God" (Jim Elliot).
