2 Days in the Classroom

It’s Tuesday, and I have finished my second day of teaching. There has been a lot of frustration on both my side and the students’. I wish I knew what the students already know and where to go from there. I can tell the students- even those who have a good grasp of English- have a difficult time understanding me. It will take a while, I suppose, for them to become comfortable with my “accent”. I have been trying to assess without insulting intelligence. Falling back on the fundamentals can’t do any harm, I guess. Clearly these are some bright students, but there is definitely a brick wall between us at times. At least I got my English class students to laugh today.

I think the computer class will be my favorite to teach. I read over a one of the student’s notes, and I was amazed at how in depth and detailed they were about how a computer functions. I couldn’t name and describe the three parts of the CPU or list off four different types of printers or tell you the difference between ROM and RAM, but this info was in their notebooks. At first I wondered what I could possibly teach them if they knew this, and then I realized that once they sat in front of the computer, this information did them no good at all. Most of the younger students didn’t know the correct way to hold a mouse- yet alone use it smoothly. My classes will be very little theory and a lot of hands-on exploration. That’s how I learned to use a computer. I pushed buttons and made mistakes. The students get very excited when I show them a new series of commands and they are able to repeat it on their own. There are only 11 computers. Out of the 11, only 9 are in working condition. Out of those 9, only 8 can be plugged into the generator at a time. This becomes a challenge when the class is 20+ students. I guess the students get a bonus course of teamwork, too!

I washed my first load of laundry- by hand- yesterday. I hung it in the courtyard to dry, and I had to leave it hanging over night. We receive some heavy rain last night. It was nice to fall asleep to the water hitting the metal roof, but all I could think of was my clothes getting soaked. The morning was very foggy and misty. The clothes are still wet.

We had a special guest at Mass this morning. During the offertory, an old lady dragged a very reluctant goat into the side door of the church. She pulled him to the altar, and he resisted the entire way. Father Cyprian blessed the goat, and it was taken into the sacristy. We could hear him pleading for freedom for the rest of Mass. I’ve had chickens run past my feet during the homily and have seen a goat tugged to the altar. How much longer until the herd of cattle parade down the aisle?

It’s 6:30pm, and it’s becoming dark already. The sun has been going down earlier and earlier each day. The generator is running, and I can smell the chicken cooking in the pot. I’m pretty hungry, but dinner comes late- usually between 8:30 and 9:00pm. The table is set for six tonight. Looks like we’re having guests. Time to put together a lesson plan for the morning.