POTD 14: UNIT youth center

This is the youth center in Criuleni, UNIT. Last year, I volunteered there for a semester teaching English to an adult class and leading an English club for youth. Both groups were small, but I had a lot of fun working with them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fulfill my responsibilities at my school and lead these classes the next year. And since my primary project is with my school, I had to stop volunteering at the UNIT.

I really missed working there this year. I was able to teach in my style with my techniques. I used games, texts, dialogues, group work, pair work, etc. Basically, I could teacher however I wanted. I was able to do a lot the thing I missed and wasn’t always able to do with my partners in school.

Today, when I was in Chișinău, I ran into one of my adult students, Rodica. She introduced herself to the person accompanying me, and told her how I was her English teacher and how much she loved having me. I could hardly believe what I was hearing; it was so incredible hear. Sometimes I’m upset that I didn’t do enough or a good job, but hearing these compliments from someone I had only worked with for a short while was uplifting.

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

Motivating Students Is A Full-Time Job

With all the stress I’ve been experiencing while working with all my partners to set-up the English department room, I had started to forget how much I was looking forward to this new year. I mentioned my new plan about how I’m working with my partner as a resource teacher, meaning I will spend more time helping them develop resources to share in the English department. And even though Peace Corps haven’t approved my new work plan yet, it’s how I’m working right now. The school is still kind of chaotic since the class schedule isn’t finalized yet, so I’m working on resource development.

Early last week, I brought in a game I made for my 5th formers that encourages completing homework called “Homeworkopoly”. It’s a board game based on “Monopoly” that the students get to play when they completed their homework from the night before. There are various prizes that they can win throughout the game, most of which are privileges such as wearing a crown in class or sitting in the teacher’s chair. When I showed it to my partner Valentina, she was so excited. She said she loved it and couldn’t wait to use it. She was so happy to hang it in her classroom and she thought the students would love it. And just in case I had any doubt to the sincerity of her thanks, she gave me a hug for the first time as a result of me providing material for her classroom.

On Tuesday, we explained Homeworkopoly to the students, and their face just lit up with excitement. Positive reinforcement is not something typically seen in Moldova, so the students were surprised to hear they could earn prizes. They seemed particularly excited about singing the “Hokie Pokie” with me.

Today, we were finally able to really start playing Homeworkopoly. The students were so excited. They couldn’t believe they were being rewarded for completing their homework. The students who completed their homework were so proud to show it to me, and they would make the biggest grin when I would call them to come and play. There were several students who didn’t complete their homework, so they would worked on it in class and show it to me, hoping to get to play. I explained that they had to do their homework before class. Based on the responses today, I’m really hoping to see a lot more completed homework at the beginning of the next class.

Seeing my students so motivated was incredible. I don’t see that too often here. Since I was able to spend my time looking up ideas to use in the classroom, I was able to make something that is new and effective in the classroom. Hopefully PC will approve my new plan, and I can be working more with my partners to come up with these types of ideas this year. 

Keep Calm And Teach On

Today in class with my 6th form, we were talking about clothes. I reviewed/introduced the vocabulary words with a PowerPoint, I had the students categorize each type of clothing as boys, girls, or both using a Venn diagram, and we played bingo. In the States, I would have not thought much of this lesson. But my students came up to me after class thanking me for the lesson and telling me (in English!) that they liked the lesson very much.

It was a wonderful feeling, and it reminded me how much I love to teach. I forget sometimes with the stress of working in a classroom in a different culture where I don’t get to do what I want. But I when I have a little success like this, it gives me the motivation to keep going and it helps me remember that my work is not being done in vain, which I forget a lot.

I know that this fade of using the poster is overdone, but I never felt the words ring so true until I was teaching in Moldova.

Okay Moldova, I’ll Stay

Today was our first day back to school. And just like in America, it is difficult to go back. But this morning was particularly difficult. During the first period, I teach 10th form with my partner teacher, Valentina. However, she was absent today, and she had called Maria, one of my other partner teachers, and told her to give the students a test.

I hate giving tests. Since there are so many things I'm hoping to inspire to change, I have to prioritize which things to work on first, and test-taking is something I have decided to work on next year. The students talk, use their books, pass notes, use their cell phones, and pretty much any form of cheating you can think of. I’m about ready to pull my hair out when we give tests. But at least I have my partner teachers in the room to help keep some form of order. However, not this time. The students were worse than usual and very disrespectful towards me. At the end of this period, I walked out the classroom feeling beaten. And I experienced, for the first time, a genuine feeling of quitting.

Luckily, Moldova wants me to stay. Whenever I’m feeling low, Moldova knows and reminds me why I’m here. And this occasion was no different. The very next period, I went to co-teach 5th form with Svetlana, which is one of my favorite age groups. Right after the bell rang, Maria asked Svetlana to work with Valentina’s class since she was absent. So I was left to teach alone. It was wonderful. It’s hard to describe how happy this made me. I love teaching so much, and for the first time in seven months I got to work with the students exactly how I wanted. I walked out of the class with a huge smile on my face.

And this wasn’t the end of my successes that day. With another partner, Tatiana, I was introducing foldables (a 3-D graphic organizer) to the 8th form. This class can be chatty and silly, and they have a hard time focusing. But when I was teaching them the new vocabulary words using a foldable, every single one of them was focused and listening to what I was saying, even the student who has a learning disability. This is a rare occasion even in an American classroom.

So somehow, I started my day with feeling pretty much the worse I have felt since I have been here and walked out of that school feeling like I had just won an Olympic event. So thank you, Moldova. You successful made me remove all thoughts of going home early. I will stay, and I will succeed.

Did You Know That…

I forgot to write an entry celebrating this fact, but December 8 marked my six months of being in Moldova. Oh my goodness gracious, is that right?!?! Sometimes it’s hard to believe that I have already been here six months. That’s almost a quarter of my service here. And other times it seems hard to believe that I’ve only been here for six months. It’s funny how time works. But you know, if I have made it through these six months, I think I make it through my next 21 months just fine.

As a reflection of my 6 months here, I thought about what I learned. And now I will share it with you. Did you know that…

• you can actually go without peanut butter (more specifically Reese’s) for 6 months and not die? 
• a tube of mascara can last longer than 6 months? 
• baby powder can substitute for dry shampoo if necessary (but your hair will be a couple shades lighter)? 
• boxes can be used for many different functions, such as bookshelves, jewelry holders, and laundry hampers? 
• after 6 months, you still don’t get used to the smell of burning trash? 
• you can survive with only 3 pairs of shoes? 

Okay, I’m just kidding about most of these. But I really have learned a lot while here; however, that list is too long to list in one sitting. And it grows longer every day. I think my favorite thing about celebrating my six-month anniversary is the feeling anticipation to continue the rest of my service time.

Happy Dance

I’m tutoring two girls in my 10th form right now before I get an English club started, and one of the students mentioned she has difficulty with English in class. She went on to say that she was also scared in class. Not exactly the feelings I was hoping for. And I haven’t even started to become very strict yet. I’m trying to make change slowly so as the students and teachers adjust more easily. So I haven’t started becoming harsh for completing homework or not cheating with school work. Lordy.

But it’s all good now. We were chatting with the girls today, and they started to ask me about why I was here and such. When I told them I would be staying here for 2 years, one of the girls did a little happy dance. It was very cute. I liked getting this reaction better than hearing that I was scaring one of my students.

Okay, Maybe I’m A Little Slow, But…

Okay, maybe I’m a little slow but I’m finally starting to understand things here. For the past 3 weeks (yes, I have been in Moldova for 3 whole weeks!), so much information has been thrown at me and I’m busy trying to figure things out. But I think things are really starting to stick. Let me explain some of the successes I have had over the past week.

Success 1: I successfully told my host family the other day that I was going to my friend’s home for dinner that night at 4:00…in Romanian! I’m sure I just completely butchered the language, but they understood the overall message. Language, by far, is not my strong suit, so this was a giant step for me.

Success 2: We did a peer-teaching lesson this week. Basically, each of us in the EE program planned a 45-minute lesson for a particular grade. Then we taught the lesson to a small group of our peers in 20 minutes. Not only was my lesson well received, but today the EE leaders used my lesson (along with another guy’s) as an example lesson for the rest of the class. Mind you, he and I are the only ones with past teaching experience, so it’s not completely fair to compare our lessons with those who have never written a lesson plan before. But I hadn’t taught English language before, so it was still nice to hear I had a good lesson. But don’t worry; I won’t get too cocky about this. I came home to an email from my dad correcting my grammar in my blog. I can take comfort in the fact that I know I have parents that won’t let me get a big head.

Success 3: I was able to drink Italian vodka and not pass out. If you don’t remember from me saying this before, Moldovans drink wine like shots. So I can have several “glasses” of wine and be fine. Consequently, I think my host father has gotten used to me accepting my wine glass being refilled. So he automatically poured me a shot of Italian vodka the other night. I had my one shot, and I learned that “vodka” in Moldovan means a slightly sweet-tasting paint-thinner. By the time I got to my room and sat down at my computer, the words were spinning on the screen. It was a good thing I had finished my homework.

Things to come: Fourth of July celebrations Moldovan style (I’m going to two celebrations this weekend), my permanent site placement (I find out Tuesday), and food in Moldova (I’m putting together a list of common foods eaten here).