So I guess I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I stayed up way too late last night “studying” with Morgan and Lacey at La Vendetta. I had committed to assisting the English teacher at a that Catholic school on Mondays at 8:45. It is one of those things that you don’t mind once you’re there, but making yourself get up and go can be difficult. I ate breakfast for once with Graciela and Kyle, downed a cup of tea, and went on my way. I walked 6 blocks to the school, on Zeballo street. Rachel showed up unexpectedly to help out also. It was just her and I for the first hour, helping the English teacher with two students: Graciela and Rosalia, both over 50 years old. By the second hour, Ari had come with her own lesson plan for the younger students. Now, I don’t really have much room to criticize, seeing as how I didn’t make a lesson plan myself, but I’m going to anyway… Keep in mind the second class consists of about 5 students (on a good day), each around 19 years old, and for most of them, it is their first year learning English. Ari had brought a song for them, thinking that it would be fun for them to look at the lyrics and follow along. Now, songs are all well and good, but if you plan on using them to help someone learn a language, you must put more thought into how they are going to LEARN from it. She had chosen “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz, which has lyrics like “Until the cool done run out I’ll be givin’ it my bestest”. Need I say more? These are first year English students who are having a difficult time anyway! Also, the teacher informed me that the only girl, 16 years old, is pregnant, and she won’t be coming back. So you know I’m frustrated anyway, and so I sit down, because the teacher is basically tired herself so she lets Ari and Rachel go for it. And then Rachel decides that she is going to teach them the Present Future tense, which is when I kind of lost it and corrected her very sharply because there is no such thing as the Present Future tense! Excuse me, will you please come closer so I can punch you in the face? Not only was I embarrassed that they didn’t know what they were doing, but I was more irritated with them for being so… naive. Teaching is a huge responsibility. People are giving you their time and their trust, counting on you to help them better themselves by increasing their knowledge and understanding. You have a responsibility to have your shit together.
After that nightmare, I was talking to Rachel about that girl from school and how unfortunate it was that she’s not coming anymore because of her situation. She got all self-righteous on me and told me that a baby is a positive thing that will make that girl’s life better. Give me a freaking break. Yes, there is a silver lining to every cloud, but let’s get real. That girl had three things going for her: her health, her youth, and her education, and now, while it isn’t the end of the world, her opportunity is greatly diminished. That is the reality of it. And sure, we can be optimists and say that all is well, but then we’re just being ignorant. I seriously doubt Rachel would feel the same if she were to have a baby right now. And we need to at least acknowledge our feelings of discontent, sadness, or what have you, so that we may recognize the potential for improvement.
I had one class today, conversation, which was pretty uneventful. And afterwards I came home and took a 4 hour nap. I kind of wanted to go out for coffee but we have mid terms this week and everybody else is studying. So… I figured I’d share my frustrations with you 
Chau chau.
3 Comments
October 20, 2009 at 3:05 am
you’re too funny! although you do make a point or two.
October 20, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Am glad to see teaching the right way is so important to you.
October 23, 2009 at 8:12 am
I love how indignant you were regarding poor teaching methods. I personally had the same problem when I was teaching and thought it also was a reflection of the teacher her/him self. I also love Jason Mraz and had no idea, although I’ve listened to that CD a million times, that those were the lyrics. I obviously have made up my own. I totally agree with you about having a child at such a young age Not that a baby isn’t wonderful but you owe it to yourself to get it together (or sort of together) before accepting such an awesome responsibility.