October 20-25: Too Cool for School

Lesson of the week ~ You’ll definitely get the hang of teaching if you are thrown right into it. It’s like when you don’t know how to swim so grandpop throws you in the pool, and you either learn really fast or you die. I got my first dose of teaching this week with a little thing I call “improv teaching.” It’s when you barely know the teacher or the class and you are handed a lesson from the textbook and told to teach it. Right there. In that moment. Even if you don’t know anything about it. My first class was on vocabulary about school. I read a dialogue. The students stared in amazement that I could speak English. I stared back. We both shared a moment of complete bewilderment and nervousness. For once, we were the same. 

My second class was not so easy. I regretted instantly not paying attention in History courses or not investing my time in learning about world events. I skimmed the page that was titled: Thiaroye 44. Well, you either know what this is or you don’t. Was I supposed to? I did not remember studying this in any way within the past 16 years of schooling. So, I quickly read the page and was thrown into leading a discussion question about it. Let’s just say that I’m close to expert level if you need to know about the Thiaroye 44 massacre. You see, it was the French’s discrimination on West African soldiers after they had helped fight in World War I and II. The African soldiers gave their time and lives to help the French and wanted compensation like the other non-African soldiers. Of course, they were given nothing and the Africans put up a fight about it. They captured the French General and held him hostage until they were given what they deserved (savage move if you ask me!). The French General promised them and he was released. You can imagine promises don’t go far. On December 1, 1944 at 3 a.m., the General slaughtered about 30-40 soldiers while they were sleeping and unarmed in Camp Thiaroye, Senegal. Yes, the ultimate story of betrayal and discrimination. Great story for 13 years old. 

I had more time to prepare a lesson on American Lifestyle. I had free reign to come up with a 50-minute lesson for the school’s seniors. It made sense that I was asked to do this one; I am American! I spent hours trying to make this exciting, fun, and motivating. I chose to begin with a warm-up- play “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Rihanna so it sets the stage of American living. Explain the chorus’ lyrics and how it relates to the topic. Continue to discuss my own way of living. Read the text. Do a vocabulary matching activity and complete comprehension questions. It was a pretty hefty agenda for 50 minutes. I thought I was going to be teaching this lesson once; HAHA I taught it three times! The same thing over and over and over. At my lowest moments this week, I thought that maybe teaching isn’t what I want to do at all. I am so much more interested in education administration, equal opportunities for students and teachers, and finding grants that can give these students enough seats to sit in and proper textbooks. I understand that in order to reach any jobs that tackle any of that, I will have to teach to get an understanding of how students and classrooms operate. But I can’t help but feel another way when there are student union members that interrupt teachers, rally students, and try to disrupt the hard work that goes into making the school stay standing. It makes me upset, but it doesn’t bother anybody else; it’s just the way it is. At my highest moments this week, I felt good to be contributing to my school and to my students. I have grown quite attached to the familiarity of the classes and the challenges of every day. But, I don’t think I can listen to “Empire State of Mind” for pleasure any more…