Mary, Sarah and I took a taxi to school since we weren't sure if
our escort was picking us up again, and we waited until 8:15 for him to arrive (apparently
we don’t need protection anymore). :) My first class was not very good. One of the
students wouldn't sit still during the lesson and refused to stay outside for
five minutes. I told him to go to the principal and tell him that he could not
behave in class. Five minutes later, he was back with principal and it turned
into a “he hit me first” and “it wasn't my fault” drama. The principal ended up
telling everyone to sit in their seats and then left. It was frustrating. What I look to as my last resort seemed to
have no effect. In my next class, I had a student, S, pull the exact same stunt.
Since they had their 15 minute break afterwards, I took S with me to my 6th
grade class. It turns out his cousin is in that class (and also happens to be
the student who was held back and is doing extraordinarily well.) They sat together, but after a little while,
the cousin complained that S was bothering him. As I directed S to another
seat, S muttered something in Kurdish. The class gasped. At first, I didn't think anything of it, since S does this to me all the time in our 5th
grade class. I usually ignore it since the other students will only tell me,
“He said a bad word, Miss” and then laugh. My older students were not laughing
though. They said he called me a bad name. Two of the boys said they would take him to the principal. I let them
go, hoping that the principal would believe them, but not thinking anything
would happen after the scenario in 5B.
When they came back, they told me that the principal had suspended
him. I didn't get the whole story, but I hoped they had accurately represented what had happened in class. It bothered me for quite awhile after class since I worry that the administration will think I am complaining about every little issue that arises. I am trying to handle classroom discipline on my own, but not sure how far to let problems go. Anyway, we had a good class
afterwards and I was able to stay through the break to explain problems to some
of the students.
6A went well. We were able to get through the material and everyone seemed to understand. Sometimes I think it is easier to explain things the second time around. Other times, I think I explain it better, but they don't necessarily follow since the explanation is shorter.
Graded papers in the teacher lounge until school let out at 2:30pm. I was able to chat with students as they left. The school gave Sarah and I two more bins so we could use them for a makeshift couch. As I was carrying them out, two of my students offered to help. I am really thankful for "my kids" - I even find myself loving the ones who cause so much grief in class. Class wouldn't be half so interesting without them ;)
I took a taxi home, then Sarah and I put together our "couch." We ate popcorn and watched a movie just to enjoy our accomplishment. Graded papers, wrote the quiz for tomorrow, then headed for bed.
Wednesday, September 26th:
We walked to school this morning - first time this week! I had to make copies and ended up waiting in the copy shack for ten minutes. I was able to practice my Assyrian a little - I say a word, and then they pronounce it right back at me ... exactly the way I said it! :) Well, not exactly, but sometimes it seems I never get "close enough."
My first class went well, especially since we had a quiz and I took off points if they talked. Unfortunately, when I wrote one students name on the board, he left and got the principal. He insisted that he was only talking because the student behind him was calling him bad names. There are four boys that consistently tattle on each other and I'm not sure how to handle it. I've told them to bring it to me after class, but by then it isn't an issue. Of course, they have to turn it into a disruption in the middle of the class. At one point, three of the four boys had left (two to get to the principal, unbeknownst to me, and another to the bathroom). The class was unbelievably attentive and we got a lot of work done. Unfortunately, the two students came back with the principal. The principal could tell I was surprised to see him and asked if I had given permission for the students to get him. I told him no, hoping that he would realize the students are taking advantage of my lack of Kurdish and dragging him in unnecessarily. He scolded them and they were better after that. I ended up giving the rest of the class an extra point on their quiz for being so attentive. Still wondering how to deal effectively with my students when they go to the principal without permission...
The rest of my classes were fairly uneventful. I gave a quiz in each one. Because I take away points instead of writing X's on the board, I don't have to worry about losing my break. :) I ended up spending it with the students, giving them their phase averages and telling them which assignments they've missed. (It turns out that the student who called me a bad name wasn't suspended. He was in class today, but more subdued.)
Sarah and I met with the curriculum coordinator right after Sarah's last class. It was a short meeting about grade books and class attendance. Afterwards, we walked down to the vegetable den. We bought an "asberry" or fruit slushy, which involved a lot of pantomime in order to figure out the flavors. I got nectarine and Sarah got strawberry. Next, we got some fruit for team meeting. Again, this involved some pantomime. We wanted to get watermelon, but they were all too big. Then we tried some grapes but they had seeds. I figured out the name for seeds, then asked if they had some without the seeds. Apparently, Iranian grapes are seedless, but the Kurdish ones aren't. Bought some anyway, along with a kilo of oranges and a kilo of green apples. On the way home, we went by the DVD store to exchange a "na bashe" (not good) disc, and then picked up a new internet card. It turns out that our internet is either good for 45GB or one month, whichever comes first. On the 20th, I got a message saying we needed to recharge. Even though it was 5 days before the end of our month, I bought a new card, figuring that this is Kurdistan and the dates were off. It lasted for two days, then I got a message telling me I needed to recharge again. Turns out our month does end on the 25th and we only get 10GB between the time we use up our 45GB and the start of the next month. A teacher at the school explained all of this to me, so we waited until today to buy a new card. Anyway, Internet is back up and running and we are connected with the rest of the world.
Graded papers, then Sarah and I cut up fruit for our team meal. Mary made pizza casserole, which was delicious! We had fruit on the side, then Lisa (actually Andy) made apple crisp for dessert. Ahhh, the taste of FALL! We had a good Skype call, then chatted about how we want to organize our team time. We ended up deciding to meet another day of the week for more focused spiritual discussion and use Wednesday nights for team meal and Skype. We will see how it works on Monday ...
Finished grading, then off to bed. It took a long time for me to fall asleep last night because a mosquito kept bothering me. I finally killed it, but was up again at 1am to kill another one that had bitten me several times. Again at 3am, I found their triplet (or as Sarah dubbed him, the resurrected mosquito) and managed to exterminate it. Realized that I could use this as an exercise to pray expectantly and asked the Lord to put it to an end. I was able to read and pray each time I got up, so the night wasn't wasted, although I did get very little sleep. Pushed back my wake-up until 6:30 for the usual morning routine. Hopeful that tonight will be more restful.
We walked to school this morning - first time this week! I had to make copies and ended up waiting in the copy shack for ten minutes. I was able to practice my Assyrian a little - I say a word, and then they pronounce it right back at me ... exactly the way I said it! :) Well, not exactly, but sometimes it seems I never get "close enough."
My first class went well, especially since we had a quiz and I took off points if they talked. Unfortunately, when I wrote one students name on the board, he left and got the principal. He insisted that he was only talking because the student behind him was calling him bad names. There are four boys that consistently tattle on each other and I'm not sure how to handle it. I've told them to bring it to me after class, but by then it isn't an issue. Of course, they have to turn it into a disruption in the middle of the class. At one point, three of the four boys had left (two to get to the principal, unbeknownst to me, and another to the bathroom). The class was unbelievably attentive and we got a lot of work done. Unfortunately, the two students came back with the principal. The principal could tell I was surprised to see him and asked if I had given permission for the students to get him. I told him no, hoping that he would realize the students are taking advantage of my lack of Kurdish and dragging him in unnecessarily. He scolded them and they were better after that. I ended up giving the rest of the class an extra point on their quiz for being so attentive. Still wondering how to deal effectively with my students when they go to the principal without permission...
The rest of my classes were fairly uneventful. I gave a quiz in each one. Because I take away points instead of writing X's on the board, I don't have to worry about losing my break. :) I ended up spending it with the students, giving them their phase averages and telling them which assignments they've missed. (It turns out that the student who called me a bad name wasn't suspended. He was in class today, but more subdued.)
Sarah and I met with the curriculum coordinator right after Sarah's last class. It was a short meeting about grade books and class attendance. Afterwards, we walked down to the vegetable den. We bought an "asberry" or fruit slushy, which involved a lot of pantomime in order to figure out the flavors. I got nectarine and Sarah got strawberry. Next, we got some fruit for team meeting. Again, this involved some pantomime. We wanted to get watermelon, but they were all too big. Then we tried some grapes but they had seeds. I figured out the name for seeds, then asked if they had some without the seeds. Apparently, Iranian grapes are seedless, but the Kurdish ones aren't. Bought some anyway, along with a kilo of oranges and a kilo of green apples. On the way home, we went by the DVD store to exchange a "na bashe" (not good) disc, and then picked up a new internet card. It turns out that our internet is either good for 45GB or one month, whichever comes first. On the 20th, I got a message saying we needed to recharge. Even though it was 5 days before the end of our month, I bought a new card, figuring that this is Kurdistan and the dates were off. It lasted for two days, then I got a message telling me I needed to recharge again. Turns out our month does end on the 25th and we only get 10GB between the time we use up our 45GB and the start of the next month. A teacher at the school explained all of this to me, so we waited until today to buy a new card. Anyway, Internet is back up and running and we are connected with the rest of the world.
Graded papers, then Sarah and I cut up fruit for our team meal. Mary made pizza casserole, which was delicious! We had fruit on the side, then Lisa (actually Andy) made apple crisp for dessert. Ahhh, the taste of FALL! We had a good Skype call, then chatted about how we want to organize our team time. We ended up deciding to meet another day of the week for more focused spiritual discussion and use Wednesday nights for team meal and Skype. We will see how it works on Monday ...
Finished grading, then off to bed. It took a long time for me to fall asleep last night because a mosquito kept bothering me. I finally killed it, but was up again at 1am to kill another one that had bitten me several times. Again at 3am, I found their triplet (or as Sarah dubbed him, the resurrected mosquito) and managed to exterminate it. Realized that I could use this as an exercise to pray expectantly and asked the Lord to put it to an end. I was able to read and pray each time I got up, so the night wasn't wasted, although I did get very little sleep. Pushed back my wake-up until 6:30 for the usual morning routine. Hopeful that tonight will be more restful.
