And it is a good thing that good feelings are so easy to come by. The second week of teaching is now complete... the first with actual subject matter and it brought with it some good, some bad, and a lot of the unexpected. I will start with the unexpected first- I am now an English teacher in addition to Science- I was informed of this addition on Wednesday morning- the day I would be assuming these new responsibilities. I knew it might be coming- I actually suggested it to the principal as a solution to the overcrowding that was happening in the English classes, but I had assumed (silly me) that I might hear more discussion about it/be forewarned in order to prepare. The reason for the overcrowding, for those who want to know, is because of an English teacher who is currently on leave for bereavement (for lack of a better term). Her husband, Lt. Brown, was a police officer on island, who was shot about a week after all of us WorldTeachers arrived... it might be searchable in the news. If not, it definitely is on samoanews.com. It made a huge shock wave on the island- murders themselves are very uncommon, and the last time a police officer was killed was over 50 years ago. Anyway, she is still deciding whether or not she feels up to coming back to school, so until she does, I have her students for Sophomore English.
That particular day went alright with my new class. I think they were disoriented enough about the change that they sort of obeyed just because it was easier. On Thursday however, when I had them again, it was a different story. Not only were they awful in terms of behavior, they stunned me with their lack of knowledge. When we corrected sentences on the board, none of the students could give me the past tense of the verb "to say." My class, by the way, is called Sophomore English because of the level; my class right now is about half filled with seniors. How unprepared they are for life after high school worries me. It is a common statistic here that many students try at college in the states, but get too overwhelmed, and having read their writing and observed their critical thinking skills (or lack thereof) I see why. I am going to try and do the best I can to improve their English in all areas (listening, speaking, reading, writing), but I am at a true loss on where to start.
My science classes reveal a lot of the same challenges. The kids have never been taught how to think. They are excellent at memorizing, but they cannot for the life of them apply that knowledge, which is my theory as to why they all do so poorly on the American standardized tests. My theme for this year is definitely going to be "why?" I have already started doing this in the classroom. It is a lot more tedious teaching-wise, because it drags everything out, but I think it is important that at least in my classroom, the answers are not always given to them, but rather are puzzled out. This week, by the way, I taught the Scientific Method, and Experimental Design. The kids had not heard of either one, nor the elements (like a hypothesis, independent and dependent variables, etc.), but at least seemed willing to learn it all. I know I was in gifted programs throughout most of my life, but I was taught IV and DV stuff in 4th and 5th grade. The biggest bright spot was performing the experiment at the end of the week- I decided to run the "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?" experiment, of course making them run through how the experiment was laid out, the components, etc., etc., so that it wasn't just silly. I think it worked- and they definitely enjoyed the experience... licking is just a hilarious thing in general, and especially to ninth graders.
Saturday was football again! I really am enjoying watching the games, even if we do keep losing. I will however, be perfectly happy if we do not have any more 8 AM ones- too early for a Saturday! We also almost won- the final score was 22 to 26, which gives me hope. Maybe our new coach will get the first win in the history of the school :-).
Saturday night (last night) was also memorable, as all of us went to a fa'afafine pageant. In case you missed the blog post in which I explained what that is, it is considered a third gender here- genetic males (who do not get altering surgery) dress and live their lives as women. In the U.S. the nearest thing is transgender or drag. Last night certainly leaned towards the drag side of things- the program consisted of a talent category, a couture puletasi (the Samoan women's style of clothing) category, swimsuit competition (yes, there were bikinis... worn over control top pantyhose) and evening gown competition. The final winner was a woman named Pearl, who, at 39 was the oldest contestant by far. It was a fun evening, including such memorable moments as an incredible rendition of Etta James' "At Last," a Samoan fire dancer, many many many siva Samoa (Samoan dances), lipsyncing galore (to a Grease/Grease 2 medley, Whitney Houston, Beyonce, show tunes and more), lots of feathers, lots of rhinestones, and a few shirtless Samoan men who carried a few of the fa'afafines on and off stage for effect.
By the way- to any and all reading the blog: where is a good place to petition for free supplies? All of my school's science supplies burnt down last year with about 4 classrooms, and I have no idea who to e-mail and pester. Also, any teaching tips are welcome. My e-mail is rosammutchnick@gmail.com, so let me know!
A couple pictures tonight-
Adorable little girl at the football game.
Some of the players....
2 students of mine... also Cheerleaders!
Cheerleaders in action! (we won't have uniforms until we fundraise)
In the stands of a football game...
This truck is always around campus... I have not yet figured out who it belongs to, but the paint job is literally silver glitter in some sort of clear enamel, and yes, the sticker on the windshield says "bling, bling!"
My classroom, mostly finished.
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