Well its finally over. The waiting, the wondering, the jitters, the questions, all of it done because I finally got my feet wet today after completing my first day of school. There are some factors that prevent me from being totally convinced I am familiar with my situation, one of which being that only half my class showed for most of my classes. And the kids that did show were the ones that will be my better kids because they thought enough to show on the first day. In other words I have yet to meet my boneheads that will more than likely emerge later in the week. However, I am satisfied with what I experienced today and am happy with everything.
I will start with the students. I don't think I have ever met as genuinely happy and playful bunch of teenagers in my life. Nothing malicious, mean, or disrespectful. Just kids being kids and having fun, saying hello, to everyone, laughing, random students in the hall just saying hello and shaking my hand. They all had good spirits about them, innocent really, compared to the states. I learned today from other LT's that the kids don't steal here, at all. I can see that in there personalities, nothing "evil" in them, just too much playfulness. Its what you would expect to see in very young kids in the states, but I suppose they are able to hold onto it through their teenage years. It is impossible not to smile when they approach you.
The problem I did have with the students was their inability to stay out of my class while I am teaching. Literally, every 5 to 10 minutes random groups of students would come into the class (yes open my door without knocking) and walk into the classroom and not just say "hi" to their friends but hold full blown Arabic conversations. It would completely disrupt what I am doing, take me about a minute or two to corale the intruders and send them on their way. That happened all day, though it died down toward the end of school. First order of business tomorrow is to find a key to lock the door.
Aside from these interruptions, class went well. I went through a lesson, the students did some writing, and we talked a bit. That was it. Not bad at all. As I expected I have students on both ends of the spectrum: some at near fluency and others can't understand a word I say. Overall, most were average, maybe 4th or 5th grade level, which isn't terrible because at least they can follow along. We spent most of the period answering 5 questions about who they were: how many brothers and sisters do you have? What do you what to do after school? and so on...
While I'm on the subject of the students, I will take this opportunity to insert another episode of WTH! In this episode we find ourselves doing a name card activity with the students. The students are to write their name in English on the card and draw symbols that represent who they are on the card. Most symbols chosen included things like soccer balls to show that they like "football" as it is called over there, McDonald's arch to symbolize they like McDonalds, etc. I floated around the room taking a look at everyone's name cards, observing them commenting on their symbols. I come upon one young man, we will call him "Bob." Bob came in a little late and actually missed me explaining how to do the activity so I explained to him he needed to draw symbols that represented him. I should have known I would get some interesting pictures when his response was, in excellent English mind you, "Anything?" He saw my apprehensive hesitation and made a facial expression with gestures suggesting that he understood my fear but would not draw anything inappropriate. A little later I come back to see some pretty good art work. He had a picture of a car in good detail, and a picture of a plane, as it is his dream to become a pilot. Then there were more interesting pictures. There were two that stood out, the first was a woman. I thought it interesting that he would even put that on his name card. When pointed to it to explain it made gestures that are hard to describe but probably best interpreted as "Women, they are okay to me, but you how it is with them." But the most intriguing picture was one of a street. An actual two lane street with streetlights and everything. When asked about it he said something that I don't think I will ever forget, mostly because I just wasn't expecting it. He said, in excellent English, and I quote: "It is the streets. I live by the streets and I die by the streets." His expression revealed he meant every word. Wow. Interesting thing about him, he is one of the most fluent students in the class. He is bright too, like most street smart kids that I have had before back in the States. I will have to keep an eye on him though. He looks like if he and I disagree he could be very difficult to deal with. I guess I didn't expect to have a Emirati Tupac in my class, but I am happy he is there. He was very good to talk to.
Everything else was fine. The schedule varies from day to day as far as when I see the students but I always get a couple of hours planning everyday, which is more than I can say I had back home. I will go ahead and say I anticipate a good year here. Albeit the first day of school and there is so much more to come, good and bad I am sure, I do anticipate an overall good year this year.
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