Teacher, Teacher!

This week was my first real week of being in the classroom and lesson planning. I got my schedule from LP Bateliere and it’s not ideal. But I suppose I can’t really complain. I wanted to have all my hours on Friday so I could have Wednesday and Monday off, but they’ve instead given me one hour of class on Wednesday and then 5 hours of class on Friday. I’m going to see if that works or not, but I’m thinking I may not really have a choice. I narrowly escaped having Saturday classes, and for that I’m eternally grateful. I have two classes I really like at Bateliere. The students are interested and engaged for the most part and they want to participate. This is very encouraging for a first time teacher. With the boys, I’m not sure how much of it is just being nice so they can ask me for my telephone number at the end of class (one boy has now done this at the end of each class I have had with him).

I have a new found respect for every teacher I have ever encountered in my life. It takes so much energy and so much planning to have a good lesson that will keep these kids’ attention for an hour and that will open up concepts to them. I struggle to get my mind around how challenging and valuable this profession is. I found myself ready to smack kids upside the head when they were texting their friends in class or when they decide it’s more fun to ignore me and talk rather loudly and obtrusively to their neighbors. I always interrupt their conversations by asking a question to the ringleader and making them speak in English. They are very embarrassed of the sound of their own voice speaking the language.

I had these two worksheets ready for the classes today that actually worked pretty well. They got us through the entire class and were good springboards for discussion. They got the kids to try and form questions and responses. I had each person go around the room and try and speak. I wish I had a tape recorder so that you all could hear how Martiniquais teenagers speak English. It makes me wonder how I sounded to my high school French teacher when I launched into my poorly formed phrases with incorrect grammer and agreement. She had a lot of patience.

I also find myself speaking very strange English to them because I know how they form it in their heads and it’s easier if I use cognates that they might recognize instead of the words I normally use. My brain is constantly going back and forth between French and English and my vocabulary and word choices are somewhat amusing to me but it’s hard to constantly try and switch between the two and speak to kids who have little to no listening comprehension skills. Also, now when I speak English to anyone I feel like I’m speaking slowly and annunciating every syllable because that’s how I have to speak it to the students. They all call me “Missus Karla” or “Teacher” or “Madame”. I keep telling them just to call me Karla, but I think there’s something that feels awkward about that to them, but it’s just as awkward to be called Madame when I’m still a “Mademoiselle”.

This weekend was just another blip on the radar. I spent my time reading and finalizing plans for the trip to Guadeloupe a few other assistants and I are taking next week. I’m pretty excited about it. There’s lots of hiking, I’m hoping to do some scuba diving, and we’re staying right by the beach. It’ll be a nice change of pace and we’re probably renting a car so I’ll have mobility for a change. It will also be nice to actually hang out with people. This weekend was an exercise is solitude, but I will admit, it was somewhat self-imposed. I probably should have asked to be taken somewhere by Marie-Ange or Sylvie, but I think I’m struggling with pride on that issue. I feel like I’m 13 again. Anyway, it’s time to swallow the pride because another weekend like this last one will surely drive me up the wall. Fortunately, this week I only have two days of class. Wednesday after I finish at Bateliere I will be officially on vacation. It’s nice to have something to look forward to. I have Halloween activities planned for both days: discussions, crossword puzzles, and ghost story readings… I’m hoping it all goes well. I tested out the ghost story reading at Bateliere on Friday, reading part of the original “Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. Unfortunately, the English was a little too elevated and archaic so it wasn’t the best choice, but they still followed me because we took a break after each sentence and translated it. They had a lot of fun thinking that was actually someone at one point in America with the name Ichabod.

Speaking of names, I’ve come across some pretty strange ones here. Last Wednesday all the assistants got together for a meeting with our supervisor to talk about how things were going, and we all went to lunch afterwards. Some of them were telling me they had kids named “Jetaime” which means “I love you” but normally it’s written like this: Je t’aime. Another child was named “Prune”. That means plum. (Why not orange? Banana? Pineapple? Apricot?) Also, my absolute favorite was two parents who were inspired to name their child after something they once saw written on the side of an impressive boat. And therefore, their child was christened “Usnavy” pronounced like this: “oos-nah-vee”. U S Navy. That’s what was written on the side of the boat. I nearly died laughing. Sorry little Usnavy, I just couldn’t help myself.

I spent Monday in Fort-de-France. I got a library card for the Bibliothéque Schoelcher, did a little shopping (cleaned up in that area actually, thanks to the sales) and then came back to the apartment completely exhausted. I did get to meet up with some people in town and hang out though, so it was nice to have a little social interaction after the Weekend of Solitude.

I am beginning to feel more at home here, which is coming with knowing the roads and venturing into town and accomplishing things but I still feel separated from society. It was different when I was in France before. I felt like I could do things if I wanted to and I didn’t feel like I had to go home early or take whatever rides I could because I knew I could get around and I felt like the town was easily navigable. Here, I can barely find maps of the places I want to go and I have to depend on others for directions. I’m at the mercy of the haphazard hours of the bus system. That’s probably what bothers me the most. I spoke with my bus driver today for a while when I was the only person on the bus to go to Dillon, and even he admitted that he is rarely on time. He was really nice, but hearing that from the bus driver himself was not reassuring. I guess I just feel like I’ve lost my independence. I really like alone time, but I like to be able to CHOOSE to be alone, not have it imposed on me. That’s what I’m feeling the most here. Thankfully, I have Sylvie, and Marie-Ange who I get to talk to, and it’s good practice for my French also.

It’s been incredibly hot here the last few days. Students and teachers alike were sweating all throughout class in our classrooms with no AC and no fans. I came home and took a nap and when I woke up I was covered in sweat even though I had the fan right on me. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to the heat. But I will find relief on Sunday at least, when we can all take an evening dip in the Caribbean Sea in Guadeloupe. It’s good to have something to look forward to.

Hope you all are doing well. Hopefully I’ll have lots of fun things to tell when I get back from vacation.