POTD 1: Partner Teacher

Last, but certainly not least, my partners. During my two years here, I worked and taught with five different English teachers in my school. These five women are the reason I’ve been here teaching English in Criuleni, and they were pretty much the most constant thing in my life here. These women probably have no idea how much they touched and changed my life.

What I've Done So Far

With the end of my service quickly approaching (4 months), I’ve been reflecting on my time here. And sometimes it’s much easier to remember things that weren’t successful rather than what I did accomplish. So I decided to make a list of my accomplishments to put things in better perspective:

• Partner taught grades 5-10, in which I’ve introduced student-centered activities to my partners
• Communication director for GLOW/TOBE (Girls Leading Our World and Teaching Our Boys Excellence), a work initiative that teaches youth gender empowerment and leadership skills
• Taught an adult English class at UNIT, the town’s youth center
• Lead an English club for youth at UNIT
• Tutored English for 10th form students
• Developed an English resource room for partner teachers to keep all English resources we’ve made and collected
• Created numerous resources for English teachers
• Created individualized lessons for beginner students

Yep, I’m Still In Moldova

It’s been 20 months working and living in Moldova, and I feel pretty accustom to daily life here. In fact, that’s why I don’t have as many blog entries anymore. So you would think that most things wouldn’t surprise me much anymore, yet I still get caught off guard with some things.

On Monday, one of my partner teachers told a student to leave the lesson to go make copies since she hadn’t made them yet. This involved the student leaving the school to go to a place that makes copies. The student had to go multiple shops, and the student missed the whole lesson.

And in another class, we were giving a test. I caught a student cheating and marked that he would receive a lower grade because of it, which is something my partner and I have been doing all year. And he just left the classroom. As far as I can tell, he won’t be making up the test either.

And then today, I was talking to another one of my partners about how I could participate more in the lessons. In the classroom with this partner, I’ve been included less and less in the lessons slowly through out the year. At this point, I was pretty much just sitting there doing nothing the whole lesson. So I wanted to come up with a way to help out and participate more, and I suggested that I work with the students struggling with English in small groups or individually. My partner replied that she would love my help and that she hadn’t asked for my help before because she didn’t want to disturb me during the lesson. I guess that why I’m not always involved in the lesson. I don’t think she completely understands my purpose in working with her.

It’s experiences like this that make me miss America and American school systems. I miss valuing education, both from the teachers and students. I miss higher expectations in schools. I miss the expectation for working hard, from all members of the school community. And while America is far from perfect, I’m starting to get excited to get back to working in the familiarity of American schools.

Sometimes It’s Hard To Work With Moldovan Priorities

I had mentioned how my school has given the English department a classroom to use, which will also be a place where I can work during and after school. And this past week, the priority of the English teachers was to prepare the room. When I first saw the room, I thought I would be able to have some freedom with setting up the room in a functional way so that resources are stored well and in a logical order. And since I would be the one working in there, I thought I would get to plan the basic set up of the classroom. I was looking forward to having a classroom to arrange and decorate with my partners.

However, things weren’t going as I thought (as with most things here), nor are they going so smoothly. My partners all have their own opinions about how the room should be put together, but many of their ideas collide with one another. And many times, they turn to me to take their side. This is the whole reason why I want my focus this year to be getting my partner teachers to work together. They don’t understand how to work together without just letting one person have her way.

Furthermore, I haven’t been able to express what I want with the room. My goal was for the room to have a library-like set-up: lots of bookshelves with resources and some tables to work at. Plus I was hoping to decorate it with lots of posters teaching English grammar and vocabulary. However, my partners are not showing any interest in my opinion. When they ask my opinion, they just want me to support their idea.

Since this is the English department’s room, not just mine, and my partners will (hopefully) continue to use it once I leave, I am trying to be compromising. But right now, it feels like I’m the only one not getting heard. I was hoping to have a room that reflected all of us. And so far, all the opinions I have expressed haven’t been honored.

Even though the opinions of my partners are clashing, the one thing they all agree upon is that the priority of the classroom right now is beauty. When I first started talking to my partners about what I wanted to do, I was talking about how to have bookshelves for materials, a place for the posters, etc. But they wanted to talk about what color the curtains should be. In fact, as I sit here writing this, one of my partner teachers sent two students to clean the plants.

I’m trying to be understanding since part of the reason they’re working on the appearance is because the director wants to show the room to some officials who are coming tomorrow. But it’s really hard to be understanding when I can’t express my opinion of how to efficiently store resources in the room. I keep telling myself that this is a room for them so I need to let them set up how they would like. But many Moldovans have poor organizational skills, and I was hoping to help with this room organization.

I just have to let it go sometimes. But the room is starting to lose some of its functionality because beauty keeps being prioritized. This makes me wonder what the purpose of this room is; to develop and store resources for the English department or to impress others with a pretty room. Sometimes it is very difficult for me to work with Moldovan priorities, and I often feel like I'm working against them. I am hoping that once tomorrow has passed, I can slowly start to change the room to be more functional while keeping up the beauty Moldovans value.

New Plan for the Year

My job as an English Education volunteer is to work with Moldovan English teachers to help improve their teaching methods and techniques as well as their English skills. Last year, I taught 18 hours class hours per week with four different partner teachers. In addition to the hours in classroom, I spent at least one additional hour per week with each partner planning the weekly lessons. I helped develop new resources for the lessons I taught, and I taught my partners some new activities. My days were long and difficult.

This year, there is another English teacher returning to our school from a 3-year maternity leave (which is a typical length for maternity leave in Moldova), so my other four partners are losing many of their teaching hours. The new teacher, Lilia, has asked to not work with me right this semester, which I can completely understanding since coming back to teaching already requires a lot of figuring things out. I wouldn’t want to make an already difficult time more difficult for her. Once she feels settled in, we might be able to teach together.

With all these changes, it would be difficult for me to do the same kind of routine as last year. So I have come up with a new goal, after talking with my partners: as opposed to a partner teacher, I will work as a resource teacher. I will teach fewer hours and spend more time researching and making materials. I will work with my partners to make these things, but I will be making things for classes that I won’t necessarily be teaching. And instead of spending all my time with my partners planning every minute of every lesson, I hope to spend that time teaching my partners new activities that can apply to all lessons and as well as better ways to teach English. Last year, our planning time together really needed to focus on what exactly we are doing next lesson. So this would be more about teaching my partners rather than teaching with my partners.

I also hope to teach my partners how to work together to make teaching easier. Right now, they each kind of work independently of each other. Each of them makes their own things. And when I would plan with each individual partner, the materials we made for that class were not always things that could be shared easily. So now, if I’m working more as a resource teacher, when I’m making resources with my partners, we will make things to share with the whole English department instead of the individual teacher.

Furthermore, Tatiana told me today that our director has given the English department a classroom to use. This means we can make it into an English resource center, so there is a place to put all the resources I will be making with my partners. It also means I finally have a place to work in the school during my free periods. Last year, I felt like a refugee when I didn’t have a class to teach, having no room to work in. With this new room, I have a place where I can spend my free periods at school to work on resource development.

I’m so excited about this potential idea. I feel like I can do so many more useful things with my partners this way, and I think my partners will like this arrangement better. And I feel like it uses my skills and education better. Plus, I think I will be happier doing this kind of work. Now I just have to get Peace Corps to approve this change. Wish me luck!

Almost Time For School

Today I went back to school to meet with my partners. I didn’t really do much; my partners were much busier than I, so I mostly just sat there killing time on my computer. Even though I didn’t have much to do, it was nice to be back at school. There is only so much I could think of to do while stuck at my host family’s home. And even though I always feel awkward and out-of-place while trying to work within the Moldovan school system, being at the school is familiar and where I work to make a difference. Here’s the new school year!

Ziua Mea De Naștere

My birthday is today, and it was a pretty good day. I have never had my birthday recognized by so many. It seems that most everyone in the school knew it was my birthday. In fact, some of my students told me happy birthday yesterday because we wouldn’t have a lesson together today.

Side story: I mentioned how yesterday during my last lesson, only 3 students showed up. During the lesson, they sang “Happy Birthday” to me and gave me flowers. After that was when one of them left. So I think those 3 students came just to wish me a happy birthday.

Anyways, when I got to school this morning, some of my students 7th form students surprised me with cake and flowers before lessons started. Additionally, Svetlana had a cake and a sunflower wall decoration for me. During my first lesson, several of my 6th form students wished me well and gave me flowers. During one of my free lessons, I had cake and tea with a couple of my partner teachers. Svetlana told me that they wanted me to feel at home because she knows that I miss my home. My partners were very kind and told me how they care for me.

During the break, several students wished me happy birthday. In fact, one student came to tell me that he has a gift for me he would give me tomorrow. And some of my 10th form students gave me a flower and a birthday card.

After the lessons, my partners treated me to lunch at the local restaurant. We had traditional Moldovan foods, and my partners taught me about how Moldovans toast during celebrations. First they toasted to my health and happiness, then my parents, and then to my success. And of course the wished that I find a good and handsome Moldovan boyfriend, whom of which they would have to meet to approve.

Overall, it was a great day! It reminded me of how happy I am to be here volunteering and how much I like the Moldovan people. Today also reminded me about how this time last year I was getting ready to move to Moldova. I was so excited to start the next quarter of my life. And I have to admit, it has been a great start!

End of the Year

So the end of the school year is here. This is the last week of school. May 31 is the last day of classes. There are state exams for some grades, so those classes with continue to work with teachers to prepare for exams. However, this doesn’t affect me. I am done with lessons on May 31.

The end of the year is crazy; students are slightly apathetic and ready for school to be over, which is not too different than in schools in America. However, the biggest difference I noticed is the teachers don’t attempt to have any kind of lesson. For example, during the past two weeks, in my 10th form, my partner and I haven’t taught or reviewed anything. All we have done is allowed the students to get additional marks by speaking in English. Sometimes my partner will try to have a conversation with a student and give him/her a mark based on that. But most of the time, the students just recite a paragraph in English that they have memorized. Not really an accurate way to measure one’s knowledge of English.

All of my partners have been using lesson time during the last week as a way to get their grades done. They will assign the students a task, such as read the text or answer the questions, and then they will work on averaging the grades while the students “work”. While I don’t have a huge problem with assigning the students work so the teacher can work (mind you, I don’t really like this idea, but there are bigger issues I choose to help improve), my partners don’t hold the students accountable for the task. So basically, it’s just busy work.

Additionally, the students have now turned in their textbooks to their homeroom teachers. And since most of my partners plan by doing activities straight from the textbooks, lessons are pretty empty because my partners aren’t sure what to do without them. I’m trying to plan English activities and games for my students so the time in class is not completely wasted. However, it’s difficult to get time with my partners to plan together because they are so busy with the end of the school year. And since the whole point of PCVs working with partners is to create sustainable differences in the classroom, planning the activities alone seems in vain.

Furthermore, it’s difficult to keep the students’ attention. The students seem to like the activities, but most of them have checked out. They know their teachers aren’t holding them accountable for the information, so they really don’t try much.

In fact, I don’t think much is being done about attendance at this point either. I have noticed attendance is a problem all year around; the students just skip classes when they feel like it very frequently. However, today was a new situation. My first lesson only had about half the students present. And my last lesson today only had 3 students, one of which left after the first 10 minutes of class.

I’d hate to admit this, but I can’t help but wonder why we continue to have lessons if the students aren’t present (whether physically or mentally) and the teachers aren’t using lesson time to teach.

My (Extra)Ordinary Day

My alarm goes off at 7:00. I debate pushing the snooze, but I remember I have already pushed it twice so I've slept 20 minutes more than I meant to, and I reluctantly get up. I go to the bathroom, wash my face, and brush my teeth without questioning using the water from the facet. I get dressed and pack my bag. I remember I'm in Moldova, so I shine my shoes, put on my leg warmers, and add an extra layer of clothes before walking out the door.

I walk out of my sleeping house onto a vacant street. It's one of those days where I want to stay snuggled up in bed with my cup of tea and watch old musicals. The sun has been totally blotted out by the abundance of clouds that have completely taken over the sky. The dark clouds seem to be threatening a rain that will not actually come. A flock of crows swarms across the grey sky, and I feel as if I am in a Hitchcock movie.

I make my way to the main street and finally see some sign of life. Men and women, bundled up in puffy coats, scarves, and caps without gloves, are walking in every direction getting ready for the working day. The old men stand together in groups of three or four, and look as if they don't have a care in the world as they watch the world pass them by. The young men huddle together, each with a cigarette in his hand while they listen to music blasting from one of their cell phones. The young women walk independently in every direction with great speed considering the fact they are wearing skin-tight jeans, four-inch heels, and carrying an oversized yet fashionable purse. The babas hobble by in oversized coats with a bright, colorful scarf tied around their heads. They carry the black lei bags full of their day's necessities. Their lifetime of hard work has made these women appear old and frail. But I know very well that not only do these women have great strength, but also they could easily drink me under a table without even trying.

A rutieră stops at the corner and several of my students step off. They flock together as if they were one unit as they hurry off in the direction of the school. A couple of the girls notice me and blush as they greet me with a shy "hello".

As I walk into the school, two lyceum students open the door and greet me with a mumbled "bună dimineața". On my way to the stairs, I pass a mirror hanging on the hall, and I can't help but notice my checks are a rosy pink from the cold, crisp, autumn air. I sigh at the thought that this is only autumn air; I have yet to experience the freezing air of a Moldovan winter morning.

I pass the school's maintenance man on my way upstairs to my first class. Without a change in facial expression, he taps his hat in recognition of me as I say a quiet “bună” before we continue our separate ways. Several students greet me with a quick "hello" as I walk down the hall to my class.

I get to my 10th form classroom, and I begin to prepare for the first lesson. My partner teacher for this lesson informs me that one of the other English teachers is sick today. Since the two classes combined won't fit in one classroom, she is going to work with the other class while I stay with our students. Great, I didn't prepare anything for the grammar part of this lesson because she was going to do that. My preparations for class quickly change to making a plan for teaching the grammar of this lesson.

The bells rings, and the students stand up. I greet the students before allowing them to sit. I ask the students how they are and what they did this weekend. Silence. I remind the students to use simple past tense. Silence. I tell them that I went for a walk this weekend, and I ask if anyone else went for a walk. Silence. The only reaction I get is the students slouching deeper and deeper in their seats trying to avoid eye contact with me while I try to help them form sentences. A boy comes into the classroom late, and the students all the sudden seem alive. He greets me and proceeds his way around the classroom making sure to shake the hand of every male there, no matter how difficult it is to get to him. Sometimes, the little things are the hardest things to work with.

I make it through the lesson and continue my day. I plan with another one of my teachers and introduce several ideas to try in our classroom. She only likes one idea if we change it slightly. Okay, I can compromise if it means I am introducing one new teaching method to the classroom. It’s all about taking baby steps. We finish planning before the bells rings and I leave for my next lesson.

I teach 8th form with yet another partner teacher, and we introduce a new grading rubric that requires more responsibility from the students. We get several groans, but the students seem to understand that they need to complete their homework from now on. I’m slightly upset that we are only now holding the students accountable for completing their homework. But I guess that’s why I’m here for two years; change takes time. And it requires a lot of patience from me.

I survive the rest of the day, despite the fact I feel like a human popsicle. These large concrete buildings can be really cold. As usual, everyone was wearing his or her coat and scarf all day, including me. It makes me wonder if I could stop worrying about dressing so nicely since I just wear my coat all day. But I conclude that this is Moldova; I must dress frumosly.

I start to walk home, and I get a text message. With much anticipation, I check to see who loves me so much that they decided to send me a text. My excitement is quickly replaced with disappointment as I read my message from Orange reminding me that I get 100% bonus calls on weekends if I recharge my account with 70 lei or more before December 20.

I come home to fresh pot of borș, which is large enough to last for my next three or four lunches. I put my bag away and sit down to lunch. My host dad walks back and forth between the kitchen and the backyard working on some project. Every time he passes, he is mumbling something in Russian.

I finish my lunch and head upstairs to start working. I sit down on my bed and spread out all my plans and textbooks. I open my laptop to pull up my lesson plans for tomorrow. I reread through my plans and begin making all the necessary material.

I work for about an hour, and then I notice that it is 3:30 and realize that if I want to go for a walk, I should leave now, before it gets dark. I head downstairs, all bundled up for my walk. I pass my host mom, and she asks me if I’m going for a walk. I tell her I am, and she laughs before telling me goodbye. I don’t know what is funny, and I head out the door without knowing.

I begin walking through my village, taking time to people watch. I really love walking through my village. I get to just observe Moldova. And I am able to remember why I’m here. Just as I begin to get lost in my thoughts, a man stops to talk to me. He speaks to me very quickly, and I can’t really understand. I did hear the words “work” and “police”, so I conclude that he works at the police station. I smile and try to converse before he continues on his way. I keep walking lost in thought most of the time, being distracted only every once in a while by scary dogs or the smell of burning trash.

I get home and sit down to work again. After 15 minutes, I remember that I have get ready to meet with some of my 10th form students I’m tutoring. I grab my tutoring material and leave for their house. The girls are waiting for me when I reach their house. We sit down and read “A Christmas Carol” together. I notice how much more quickly the girls are able to read through the book and how well the girls are understanding the text. It’s nice to see improvement in my students. I don’t always get to see this as well in the classrooms.

When we finish our lesson, we chat for a little bit, getting to know each other better before I leave for my house. I get home, and my host parents have already eaten. So I start to make myself dinner. I heat up a plate of leftover sărmale. I think about how I should have some starch with my meal, so I slice myself a piece of bread. When I finish my meal, I think about how the stuffing of sărmale is meat and RICE. I laugh at myself for thinking I needed bread. One of the many ways Moldova has rubbed off on me.

I clean my dishes and head up stairs to finish my planning. I have to plan for three lessons, finish preparing for two lessons the next day, and type up two lesson plans. I begin working, only occasionally getting distracted by the internet. Every once in a while I start to question if I’m working too hard or if my work will be done in vain since many things I make or plan don’t happen. But I try to reflect on the positive influences I have made so far, even though they are small. It’s just enough to motivate me to finish my work.

Once I finish my planning, it’s 9:00, which means I need to decide whether or not I need a shower. My hair doesn’t look too greasy, and I don’t smell too bad yet, so I decide the shower can wait another day. I start to get ready for bed before starting to type a blog for my website.

As I sit down and reflect on my day, I think about how plain it can seem. It’s not really what is often pictured when people think of volunteers in the Peace Corps. I don’t have this grand adventure everyday. I don't wake up worried about what poisonous insects might have crawled into my shoes. In fact, when it comes to necessities, my life is not much more difficult than my life in America. And yet, this has definitely been the toughest job I have ever had. I have to integrate into a new culture. I have to deal with requirements or expectations everyday that can be quite annoying. I am constantly challenged with obstacles that require me to be flexible or patient in ways I’m not used to. I have to push myself outside my comfort-zone all the time. But when I think about all of these challenges, I also know how much I have grown and matured while learning how to deal with these difficulties. I wonder…who is really getting the help, Moldova or me?

I Never Go To Bed Upset

This is no easy job; I am challenged every day in ways that no job has ever challenged me before. Patience and flexibility are demanded from me everyday, two virtues I could always use improvement on. Most days I can handle these challenges. But some days, the normal everyday things are just a little hard to handle.

So today was one of the difficult days. There was nothing particularly terrible; most things were normal (for Moldova). But I was just having a hard time dealing with it. One of my partner teachers was not noticing how distracted the students were during our lesson. Several students were playing games on their cell phone, and a couple of students were working on homework for another class. I walked around the room to help eliminate this problem, but it frustrated me that she didn’t notice. I also was upset with myself because I don’t know how to teach “with-it-ness”.

And then when I was talking with another partner, she said that she wanted to change tomorrow's lesson plan so that we review material from the last lesson. While I was happy she was telling me she was changing the plan (she changes it a lot without telling me), I was slightly annoyed that she was changing it to something I suggested in our last planning time. When I had suggested it, she said a very strong ‘no’ and moved on without considering. I know, I sound like a child, but I had spent time making the material for the lesson we had planned and now we were changing it…to something I had suggested previously.

A lot of times when I’m working with my partner teachers and we are compromising, I feel like I’m the only one compromising. The logical side of me knows this can’t be true, but my ideas sure get a lot of no's and I feel like I just offer suggestions to improve their ideas. I guess with compromising, you always feel like you are getting the short end of the stick.

Anyways, I ended up going home kind of melancholy. But the nice thing about Moldova is that it seems to want me to be happy. My bad days never stay bad for the whole day, like today. I am tutoring two 10th form students, and it has become one of my favorite activities I do here. The girls want to learn English and they give me respect. Plus I like developing personal relationships with the students that I don’t get to do as well in the classroom.

So when we finished our lesson today, the girls asked me to stay for some cake and tea. I of course accepted, and we sat together eating our cake and drinking our tea. One of the girls’ mother and brother joined us. We all started talking, and I soon found myself smiling and happy. We were talking in Romanian, so I didn’t understand everything, but I was enjoying myself. The girl’s mother was very friendly and kind to me, paying me several compliments and giving her gratitude for me helping her daughter. We all talked and laughed and just had a good time.

I think the thing I like most about being in Moldova is that for all the complaints I have, I have just as many, if not more, great things to say about it.

My Stomach Is Singing

One of the goals of English Education volunteers is to help our partner teachers improve their English. And for me, this is one of my biggest goals. My partner teachers can speak English, but it is very poor. Many of our meetings take 3 times as long because my partner doesn’t understand the English.

Part of my partners’ English weaknesses is that they directly translated from Romanian. So even though they are speaking English, the wording is awkward, not quite right, or just not the phrasing we usually use. For example, they say “be attentive” instead of “pay attention”. Another phrase they say is “say me please” instead of “tell me please.” Or “put the students questions ” instead of “ask the students questions.”

I try to correct them, but it can be hard finding the balance of how often to correct them without annoying my partners. I can see some improvement so far, but this can be frustrating sometimes. However, I have found the silver lining. There are some fun phrases I have learned since my partners directly translate sometimes. Telling someone to check their zipper, they say “close the store.” My favorite is “my stomach is singing.” It sounds happier than “growling”.

Can the American Catch Me?

My partner teachers seem to be very one minded; they are standing at the front of the room giving the lecture. They do not notice or choose to ignore the students who are not focused or playing with other items. I see it often, and I do not ignore this. When a cell phone is out, I make them put it in their pocket. If they are drawing, I take their picture. If they have another class’s textbook or homework, I tell them to put it away. Overall, I think I catch most actions.

I could tell the students were not used to being caught with their homework or cell phone (or whatever else they were doing in class) right away. For the first month, the students looked so shocked that I noticed they were texting in class or doing another class’s homework. They were not used to the teacher noticing. The funny thing is that they weren’t even trying to hide it. They would have their cell phone out and on their desk and were surprised I noticed.

Now that most of them know I am correcting the behavior, they try to be more discreet when doing something they are not supposed to. The key word here is ‘try’. The younger students might fold their arm and lay their head across their desk in a way that I can’t see what they are doing. But they are obviously doing something. And the older students hold their cell phones in their lap and pull the textbook close the edge of their desk so it looks like they are looking at their textbook. But obviously they are not completely focused on reading their English textbook (unfortunately), not to mention they are staring in their lap, not their desk.

The funny part of this is that many now almost make a game of it. They know I will catch them and tell them to put it away. So while they’re “being sneaky”, they stare at me until I catch them. Then when I see them, they innocently smile and pretend like they were behaving well the whole time. And many times, they wait until I stop looking at them and start again. Most days, I find this almost amusing.

Today was particularly funny. One of my 6th graders was drawing in class. After playing “can the American catch me” for several rounds, I took his paper. He no longer thought it was funny and started to pout. He then laid his head on the table and began to fake cry. And I mean fake cry like in cartoons; it was a rather pitiful attempt. I had to be really careful about not laughing at him because it really was quite humorous. It was even harder not to laugh because the rest of the students knew I had upset him. And they would look at him and then at me and laugh.

Anyways, as amusing as this all is, I really am hoping that I am teaching the students to focus on English when in English class. Constantly correct this behavior can be a little tedious, especially since I’m the only one doing it. But I’m hoping my partners will become more aware of the students’ behavior by watching me correct it, and eventually be correcting it themselves.

Kids, You’re Gonna Get Me Through This

Partner teaching is no easy task. Many days, I feel like I’m just working as their assistant, not the partner teacher who has a master in education and actually knows a lot about pedagogy and research-based teaching methods. I’m supposed to help bring student-centered activities to the lessons, but the ideas I bring to the table aren’t always welcome. Or my partners make changes without telling me. One of the reasons we team-teach is so that there is sustainability. On particularly difficult days, I feel rather useless, and I worry that all the time I spend making or planning high-quality activities will be done in vain. Right after I leave, all my work will be put on a shelf and not used. Thinking about this makes me worried how I will make it through the next 2 years.

However, over the last week, I have concluded that my students are going to be the ones that get me through these next 2 years. Their faces light up when I bring pictures or do pretty much anything different from the textbook, and they can’t wait to find out what we will do. I fuss at them in class when they are drawing or not paying attention in class. But then after class, they come to me and give the picture that they were drawing and just got in trouble in class with.

One of my favorite moments so far happened a couple days ago. I was walking to school, and one of my students (a boy who can be a particular handful, but you can’t help but love) ran to catch up with me. He was really excited about something and was talking in Romanian too fast for me understand (not that I would have understood him if he were talking slower). After a long time of him talking and me not understanding, I eventually figured out that he was telling me he did his homework (mostly because he showed it to me).

Now, he didn’t do the homework that was assigned, but he took the time to do English work outside of the classroom. Homework is not really done by the students here (this is one of the things I’m hoping to improve). So the fact that he did something, I think, is a pretty big step. It was a good feeling. These feelings are what will help me get through the next 2 years.

Trying To Stop A Stampede

During school today I was engulfed in this feeling of overwhelmingness (I know it’s not a word, but you understand). One of the classes was taking a beginning-of-the-year test, and I could barely contain myself as every student cheats during the test. In addition to whispering to each other the whole time, they were passing notes and using their textbooks. Furthermore, they were looking at each other’s paper, and not discreetly either. One student was standing up to look at the paper on the desk in front of him.

At first, I was continuously reminding the students to work alone and not talk, but my partner teacher ignored most actions. Since the students weren’t discreet about getting the answers from their classmates, I’m guessing consequences for cheating are not enforced, or even in existence. My partner would say something every once in awhile, but the amount of cheating was so much that I couldn’t stop it all on my own, not to mention the students couldn’t always understand me.

That wasn’t the only source of my feeling of being overwhelmed. The grades of the students are kept in one book, the catalog. The teachers are supposed to take the catalog to the next teacher, and the students shouldn’t be carrying it to eliminate changing grades and accidents. Well, not only do I constantly see the students carrying the catalog, but today a group of girls were standing in the middle of the hall looking through the catalog. During my time here, I’m hoping to remind the teachers that the students shouldn’t be carrying the catalog.

Add on the teaching techniques and pedagogies I’m hoping to teach my partners, as well as better English skills, and I think you understand where that feeling of ‘overwhelmingness’ I’m feeling is coming from. Plus I’m hoping to inspire change, not just say ‘this is how to do it.’ The amount of positive change I hoping to inspire sometimes feels like too much, especially since a lot of the change is required by so many. Teaching the students not to cheat on tests and quizzes is not just teaching the students to do their own work, but also teaching the teacher to enforce consequences. What's more, I want to teach the teachers how to come up with motivating and effective activities, not just come up with the ideas on my own.

I had a dream last night that I was witnessing an elaborate robbery of a department store. There were many robbers with guns spread throughout the store. One of the robbers was a 13-year-old boy standing near me. I went to him to talk him out of this decision, knowing very well that there were still many more robbers with guns throughout the store and many customers were still in danger, and perhaps changing the mind of this one boy wouldn’t do much to help. I was getting close to inspiring the boy to put his gun away when another child came to me telling me how there are other people are in danger and I need to go and save them. I turned to the child and yelled, “I’m not superman! I can’t save everyone.” And at this point, I woke up.

Now I don’t need a degree in psychology to guess what my dream is saying. Sometimes, I feel like I’m not only supposed to stop a stampede with only myself, but I also have to turn it in a different direction. That’s a big job. But I’m hoping to take on one or two horse at a time, and hopefully it will eventually lead to the change of direction for the whole herd. I just hope I don’t get trampled on in the process.

Inconsistence In A Control-Freak’s World

Over the past couple days, I feel like I have gotten a real taste of Moldovan schools. The schedules aren’t set yet; there are still daily changes. Originally, I was scheduled to teach two 5th grades, two 6th grades, one 7th grade, two 8th grades, and two 9th grade classes. And this was split up so that I teach two classes with three of my partners and 3 classes with one of my partners.

Well, this plan has changed. I kind of guessed it would seeing as it would be difficult to schedule all of the classes without any coinciding since I’m teaching with different teachers, which turned out to happen. Which classes I will be team-teaching have changed four times over the last three days. But I’m hopeful the changes have stopped, because none of those changes were today. After several changes, my classes (right now) are mostly the same; I’m not teaching 9th grade classes anymore, but instead teaching one regular 10th grade class and a 10th grade class for students who are just beginning English. I’m kind of excited about both.

Also, there is miscommunication between the teachers and students. Monday afternoon I was meeting with Svetlana during our free period. Then about half way through the period, an 8th grade class came into the classroom. Apparently, they were told to go to one class, but they were scheduled to be with Svetlana. They didn’t have their textbooks or anything since they thought they didn’t have English lessons that day. This was not one of the classes I'm schedule to teach with, so I was going to leave to continue planning, but Svetlana started a question-and-answer forum about America. Once again, a performance was requested. But this time, they asked me to perform a traditional American dance. Needless to say, I didn’t. Mostly cause I don’t know one. But also because the only dance I could think of was the Macarena.

And then today, one of the teachers was absent. And when a teacher is absent, they can’t always find sub, so the students are added to other classes. So today, the 7th grade class was twice as big because there was another group of students who we don’t usually teach. It kind of made the class feel more like babysitting than teaching. We tried to continue as if the additional students had been part of the class the whole time. But they haven’t, so they just kind of sat there, bored and not really included.

In addition to constant schedule changing, my partners and I haven’t really gotten into the flow of working together yet. Yesterday, in one of the classes I was observing, my partner teacher wasn’t present when the bell rang. After about 3-4 minutes, the students were getting restless, and I thought I would just start a lesson, even though I had no plans nor did I know where the students were in their lessons. So I just started going over the homework. My partner showed up 10 minutes after the bell had rung, and I had just finished checking the homework with the students. Then she sat down, started working though some paperwork, and left me to teach the class…that I had no plans for…and the students spoke very little English. If she wants to observe me teaching, I would like to know in advance. But she wasn’t even observing; she was getting some work done for administration or something. Not exactly what I’m here for. I really wasn’t happy with this, but as long as it was just this one time, I’m not going to make a big deal out of it. If it happens again, I’ll speak with her.

It can be kind of frustrating sometimes, but most of the frustrating things are things that will pass quickly. Or they are things I might be able to help change for the better. I’ll get the hang of things, and the frustrations will lessen. Regardless, handling this instability is really helping me develop my ability to be flexible and think on the spot. Yea for another growth opportunity.

New Kind Of Control

This week, the scheduling of classes is not regular. I don’t know what classes I will be working with until the end of the day before. Originally, I was hoping to start team-teaching right away with my partner teachers. However, with the craziness of the schedule, it is difficult to meet to plan with my partners. So this week, I’m mostly observing (with an occasional singing performance).

Even though observing for the first week wasn’t exactly what I was planning, I can see that it will be beneficial. It gives me a chance to learn the teaching styles of each of my partner teachers so that I can cooperate better with each of them. I can pick out the strengths of my partners and come up with ideas for improvement. Also, I can see the flow of things better without interfering much.

One thing that sticks out in my mind when observing my partners is the difference in control. Every teacher has some kind of control in their classroom, some more than others. And what is controlled in the classroom is obviously going to be different, and it will depend on what the teacher wants in his/her classroom. But something I noticed is my partners like control over how the students hold themselves. For example, when one of the students was standing to talk with a hand in his pocket, one of my partners told him not to talk with his hand in his pocket. Another time, one of the students was leaning over her notebook as she was writing, and another one of my partners told her to sit straight and turn her head differently when writing.

At first, I thought perhaps it was just the preference of one of my partners. But I noticed several of my partners correcting such behavior, which makes me wonder if it’s a cultural thing. I’m usually apathetic and don’t notice such physical appearances. I hope my apathy towards the students’ physical mannerism won’t cause stress in the classroom with my partners. Furthermore, I hope my unawareness won’t be misread as disrespect. I wonder how long before I start thinking like a Moldovan.

Back To School, Back To School, To Prove To Dad That I’m Not A Fool

So what is the first day of school like when you have no idea of what to do? For me, I pretty much followed my partner teacher around like a lost puppy trying to figure out where I’m supposed to be at each moment. I got to school around 8, and went to Svetlana’s room. She was not there, so I waited around for a bit in Maria’s room, which is right next-door. Once I met up with Svetlana, we went to the schoolyard for the beginning of the school-year ceremony.

All the students were standing around the stage in semicircle. The fifth grade class was brought to the stage to be presented and welcomed to the school since they are new to the school. After the fifth graders were presented, a student performed a song about the school year, followed by the Moldovan anthem being played.

Doamna Ana then spoke for a little bit welcoming in the new school. Then she introduced me to the school. Doamna Ana asked that I prepare a 2-minute speech (one minute in English and one minute in Romanian) to introduce myself and what the Peace Corps does. First I spoke in English, explaining to the student who I was, where I’m from, and what the PC wants me to do this year. Then I translated it into Romanian. There was a little bit of giggling with my Romanian, but mostly stares in amazement. I don’t think they expected me to know Romanian. And when I finished my speech, the students cheered and presented me with some flowers.

After my speech, the mayor spoke for a little while. Afterwards, two high school students carried two fifth grade students around on their shoulders, while the two fifth graders rung a bell. I think it was some kind of ringing in the new school year. And my favorite part was the last song. One of the students preformed a song about the teachers and the school to the tune of Britney Spears’ “Oops, I Did It Again”.

The rest of the day was in the students’ homeroom class. The homeroom teachers (the diriginte) went over school rules and procedures. I stayed with Svetlana, even though I will not be teaching with those students. Svetlana also presented me, and we gave the students time to ask me questions; they mostly just stared at me.

School ended at about 11, and all the teachers went home…so I did too, not really knowing what to do tomorrow. I have a vague idea of which teachers I will work with tomorrow, and Svetlana asked me to talk to the students about why English is important to learn. Other than that, tomorrow will be another day of not really knowing what’s going on.

Baby Steps, Maggie, Baby Steps

So after the first 2 days here in Criuleni, I thought it would be difficult to have time to myself. Well, I was wrong. I haven’t needed to go into work for the past 3 days. I have been calling my partner to talk about me coming in, but there have been seminars for the teachers at the school, which are taught in Romanian. So my partner told me not to come in. I couldn’t tell if they were telling me to stay home because they wanted me to rest or because they didn’t know what do with the American. I’m assuming the first.

But I finally got to go in again today. But it ended up not being exciting at all. My partner teachers were busy with their responsibilities, which they didn’t need my help with, or perhaps they didn’t want my help. So I ended up just sitting by myself and working on retyping a document I needed. After a little while, Svetlana told me I could go home.

I didn’t really accomplish much in terms of collaborating and planning with my partners, but it was nice to just be at the school. Although it was completely unintentional, I felt very left out. I was hoping to help with something; maybe planning our first lesson or coming up with a disciplinary plan. But since it’s the beginning of my relationships with my partners, I didn’t want to come in being demanding and controlling. Today reminded me that this whole experience will require a lot of patience and flexibility from me. We’re taking baby steps. And I won’t be in control the whole time. Just typing this makes me stop and realize how much work these next 2 years will involve. Whew.

First Full Day In Criuleni

Svetlana and I met at 8:00am to walk to the school. On the walk there, she showed me around again, which was good since I didn’t remember everything she had shown/told me in June. We got to the school, had a quick meeting with Doamna Ana, and then met with the English teachers.

The meeting with the English teachers was about making long-term plans for the English department for this school year and the next 5 years. I would have probably found it more interesting if it was done in English. Alas, the teachers spoke in Romanian. I tried to follow as much as possible, but they spoke very quickly. But we did decide that I would start an English club some time during the year. And they informed me that I would be giving a welcome speech to the school the first day, in both Romanian and English. I hope I didn’t miss anything else I’m supposed to do.

The vice mayor was also visiting the school and wanted to meet me. So Svetlana and I went to meet him in Doamna Ana’s office. He introduced himself as Alexandru and shook my hand (men in Moldova don’t usually shake women’s hands). Since he was at the school and asked to meet me, I assumed he wanted to find out a little about what I will do this year. Instead, he asked about how America handles stray dogs. I explained pounds and how many Americans are active in finding homes for strays. They asked if we shoot the dogs, and I explained euthanasia. For a first meeting, I was not quite ready for this.

On the walk home, Svetlana showed me the magazins, alimentaras, and banks. I bought a few essentials before we went to the Orange store to look into me purchasing internet. However, at this particular store, I was not able to sign a contract since I’m not Moldovan. I think I will have to go into Chișinău to buy something. So it looks like I’ll be without internet for a little bit. I guess this is right since I had internet the whole time during PST. I should experience no internet for a little while.

Overall, it was actually a very exhausting day. Tomorrow, the students and teachers are cleaning the school. Since there are no meetings, I’m going to have a day off since I didn’t get one today.

Criuleni Miscellaneous

Some much was going on this weekend, it was hard for me to fit in all into the last 2 blogs. So here are some other miscellaneous things that happen this weekend that I forgot to mention in the last posts.

My partner teachers mentioned yesterday that I look Moldovan. It was nice to hear since I am trying to integrate. Apparently when Svetlana was meeting Veronica and me, she didn’t think I was the American at first. It’s nice to know that until I open my mouth and butcher the Moldovan language, I blend in.

Although, I don’t know how well I will be able to dress Moldovan. Women here wear heels almost everywhere, despite the fact they need to walk up and down hills and on rocky roads. Since we were supposed to dress professionally this weekend, I wore my heels. My leg muscles were burning from walking so much, and my shoes rubbed blisters on my feet. Not cool.

I was also able to talk to my host family’s son, Feodor, and Sarah on Skype. Sarah assured me that my host family is a nice family to live with. And Feodor told me to watch out for his father. Apparently, Ramon likes to play jokes. I should also stay strong when I don’t want any more wine. Feodor said not to listen to Ramon when says things like “I don’t respect him” when I refuse a drink. It’s good to know because I’m not sure how well I will read his sense of humor in Russian.

Yesterday morning at breakfast, my host mom mentioned that there have been 3 PCV who married someone from Criuleni: Sarah (their daughter-in-law), David (the one Svetlana mentioned Saturday), and Lawson. Sarah and David had worked at the school and Lawson had worked in a bank. I don’t know the details because this explanation was given to me in Romanian, but she made it very clear that 3 PCV had married a Moldovan.

Add to to-do list: learn as many Romanian words as possible related around the topic of marriage to better approach this conversation in the future.