Year One of Teaching: CHECK!

Year One of Teaching: CHECK!

Written on 6/28/2015

Last week Tuesday I taught my last classes of the year! It was a sense of great accomplishment to have some students understand what I was saying in English without me having to translate. But more than anything, It was a great accomplishment to know that I stuck around and taught them when things got tough, and I know that they are at least a little thankful of the experience they've had this year.

For my last class, I mixed review with a little bit of fun. I had the students do exercises and if they got the answer write when they were chosen to write on the board, they got to ask a question (in Malagasy or English) about me and America. It was fun to share a bit more about myself and my culture with my class. And they had fun reviewing, which can always be a little challenging - especially with the energizing anticipation of Independence Day keeping their brains away from the classroom.

I answered some typical questions, such as: how old am I? How many brothers and sisters do I have? What are my siblings and parents names? But I also had some interesting and thought provoking questions.

For example, one student asked if the education was the same in America. I explained the different levels of education. What they found most interesting was that when you get to the middle school and high school level, the students travel from class room to classroom. Here, the students are stationary and the teachers of different subjects rotate in the different classrooms.

Another fun question was if everyone in America looks like me and my site mate Charlotte (white, blonde, blue-eyed). I got to explain a little bit more about America's history, and how its the same as Madagascar really. People from all different countries come to live in America, just as people from all different countries came to live in Madagascar. So some people are from Africa (even Malagasy people!), Europe, Asia, South America. Just like people in Madagascar are of mixed origins, so are Americans! It was fun to explain the diversity and have the students be excited that there are Malagasy people in America.

The last thing I did was tell the students to keep studying hard and make sure they open their notebooks and read the lessons outside of class to prepare for the exams. I then told them that next year, when they go onto the next level, they are always welcome to ask me for help in English if they need it. The students cheered and looked happy that even though technically my time teaching them is over, it isn't really over!

It was nice to feel that little bit of appreciation for teaching them. And now, I just have about 300 exams to grade.....