Teaching Profession in Moldova

The teaching profession is quite different than America. First of all, there is no or little pedagogy training in college. My understanding is that teachers get a degree in what they will teach. To be an English teacher, the only requirement is that you speak English. Since pedagogy isn’t taught, many teachers don’t understand best practices. And while there are seminars the teachers can attend once they are teachers, the seminars are taught by other teachers, who also didn’t receive pedagogy training.

Teaching is in this terrible cycle. The teachers aren’t taught how to teach, so they teach how teachers taught them when they were students. The students receive this teaching. The students become teachers and don’t receive pedagogy training. So they teach how their teachers taught them. And the cycle of using outdated teaching methods continues.

As a passionate teacher myself, it was very upsetting when I learned that often teachers here become teachers because it’s the only job available in their village or town. This explains why so many teachers lack the passion (and sometimes ability) to be good teachers. It also explains why many of them don’t spend extra time to prepare for lessons outside the school hours.

Furthermore, the job is highly underpaid. One of my partners mentioned how much she was paid per month, and it was the same amount I pay for my utilities here each month.

This isn’t to say there aren’t good teachers here. There are some who care and work hard to learn. But the majority is how I mentioned.

Sometimes You Need To Do Things For Yourself

If you are PCV, you have heard the word “sustainability” all too often. And although PC may overuse the word, I do actually think about the sustainability in everything I try to do here. It helps me decide what I want to take on and what I will and won’t do.

So as a rule of thumb, I aim to focus more on improving my partner teachers’ teaching skills more than my students’ education. My reasoning is that if I were to focus on the students, I would only influence the students I work with for these two years. But if I improve my partner teachers’ teaching skills, they will go on to continue to help students once I leave and provide good teaching techniques to future generations. So I’ll indirectly help students long after I’m gone.

Since I love teaching, sometimes this is difficult for my mentality. So I’ve decided to make an exception to my sustainability rule and work in small groups with some struggling students. As a result, I’m working less with my partner teacher during the lesson, and I’m creating resources on my own instead of teaching my partners how to make them. But I think I need this. I need a time when I can teach in my style without worrying about teaching my partners, when I get to enjoy teaching.

I really wish I’d thought of this earlier in my service because I’m loving it. I get to create my own lesson plan my way. I get to teach without worrying about my partner. And I get to get to know some of my students better. Plus, since I’m working with struggling students separately, I’m creating my own little curriculum. So I’m not restricted by the textbooks. And bonus, my Romanian is getting better.

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.

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.

Pardon? Did You Just Offer Me My Dream Job?

Today I had my second lesson with my adult class, and so far, I’m really liking it. It is a lot of work making up lessons without a book to follow, but it’s so nice to teach a class how I want. And while I’m sure my lessons are far from perfect, it’s nice to feel like I’m making them the best that I can. It’s not like I’m not trying my best in school; it’s just very different working with partners. Most teachers don’t go into the teaching profession because they like to let go of control.

Anyway, at the end of the lesson, one of the adults asked me if I could also teach English to some children. She said it would be about 5 or so children, ages 7-11. It took all of my energy to not hurl myself onto her with a giant hug. I could barely contain my excitement at the prospect of teaching elementary kids seeing as this is something I have wanted to do for a really long time.

But the most difficult thing was remembering how busy I already am and legitimately thinking I don’t have enough time (for the planning, not the actually lesson). Do you know how hard it is to say “no” to a dream opportunity? It’s so hard that I actually didn’t say no. I told them I would try it for a week and see how it goes. I’m pretty sure I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure I can keep this. I’m not sure how I will balance everything, but I think having something like this on my plate will add a great deal of sanity to this absent-minded volunteer.

American In Criuleni

So I recently found out that there is another American here in Criuleni, but he’s not with Peace Corps. He is here independently volunteering. And you know how I found out about him? I found out because he is leaving Sunday, and the youth center asked me to teach the adult English class he had started. So I only learned about him because he is leaving.

Funny thing is that I thought I had asked about whether there were any Americans in Criuleni when I first moved here. The youth center often has volunteers from other countries: Italy, Romania, Russia, America, etc. So when I learned this, I asked around if there was an American here. I guess I just didn’t ask the right people.

He actually doesn’t live in Criuleni; he lives in Chișinău and travels into Criuleni 2-3 days a week to volunteer with the youth center. He was teaching an adult English class and leading a youth English club there. He also worked with one of the Evangelist churches here, which I didn’t know we had.

Anyways, I met with him and his class to learn about taking it over. And tonight we celebrated his two-year service here with members from his adult class. He seems like a cool guy, and I’m upset we didn’t know about each other until he was leaving. It would have been nice to have someone to hang out with.

But I am excited about taking over his adult English class. I told them I would start teaching the class after spring vacation, which is this coming week, and I can’t wait to start. They seem like really kind and welcoming people. And I’m really excited about getting my own class and being able to teach how I want. Not to mention that it will be nice to know more members of the community who are older than 13 years.

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.

Developing A Routine

Well, I just finished the first week at school that I think represents a “regular” week. I met with all my partner teachers at the times we had scheduled. The class schedule hasn’t changed in 2 weeks, and I taught all the classes I was expecting to teach at the time I was expecting to teach them. I could predict when the bell would ring. It was nice feeling like I knew what was going on. Although, I’m not sure if calling this week “regular” is completely accurate. It seems that many things can cause the schedule to change. So it may be that a “regular” week is anything but.

If you can’t tell from my lack of blog in the last 10 days, this week has been quite a lot of work. I am introducing to my partner teachers lots of new activities and interactive games for teaching English. And since I understand the activity (as I’m the one showing them), I need to make the materials. So, I have a lot of materials to make. After my partners learn how the activities work and the materials needed for them, they will be able to make more things. Last weekend was entirely taken up with making materials for this past week. I would not have had time throughout the week to make everything and get sleep.

Sometimes it is difficult to encourage myself to make the material. My partners sometimes change the plan (not all of them write the plan down when we are planning together). Sometimes there was a misunderstanding of how an activity will be done. Sometimes there is a misjudgment of time. And there are many other reasons for a planned activity to not happen. So it can be difficult to be motivated to spend so much time on creating quality materials, especially for activities planned at the end of the lesson, since those tend to be the ones less likely to happen.

However, the reaction of the students when they get to participate in these new kinds of activities more than make up for the time spent prepping for the activities that don’t always happen. I really love seeing the students’ reactions. At the beginning of the lessons, they will see me preparing the materials and ask me (speaking Romanian at a rapid speed, of course) what the stuff is and what we will be doing with it. And then they are very excited to participate in the activities. And I remember why I’m a teacher. It’s a good feeling.

Practice School Complete

Wow, I have never been so exhausted in my life. But practice school is finished. I just taught 11th grade for 1½ weeks. I liked it more than I expected. I already know that I like teaching, but I’m used to teachings the young ones. So teaching students who are taller than me is a little intimidating. But I liked it. The material was more fun to teach because it was a higher level of thinking and the conversations were more fun. I think I’m going to be able to do this. 

After class today, we stayed after for youth activities with the students. Jim taught a group of boys how to play American football. My favorite moment was when one of the boys wanted to intercept a pass, he decided to kick the ball away from the receiver. I guess that’s what happens when you teach soccer players a game called “football”. 

We also had a dance room. Here, some of the students tried to teach us the hora. But no one ever really showed us what to do with our feet. There is something about kicking and doing the grapevine. Anyways, I couldn’t figure it out, so I ended up just running around in the circle.

Practice School With 6th Form

So my first half of practice school is complete. What a fun time! I taught 14 lessons (2 lessons a day for 7 days) to the 6th form (grade) over the last week. Overall, it went really well. The girls liked the way I dressed and wanted me to stay in Cojusna to teach. And on several days, at the end of the lessons, the students wanted another lesson. It was really nice to get such compliments from the students. 

My 6th form students and their certificates.

Ms. Magge is Teacher gud, and beautiful.

Overall, I would say the students I taught in practice school weren’t very different than American students. There were many levels of English knowledge among the students. Those who struggled were quieter and less willing to participate. Those who excelled would get impatient with the pace being a little too slow for them, and I would need to provide them with extra work. Sometimes a student would be apathetic towards learning, and I had to work very hard to motivate them to participate.

These students signed up voluntarily to take this class during their summer vacation, so I would guess that most of them want to learn English. I’m interested to see how the dynamics change once I’m working in the school.

Thursday I will begin the second half of practice school. I will be working with the 11th form, and I will be team teaching with my partner teacher from my school in Criuleni. This last week was long and hard, but I’m excited about starting team teaching. Bring it on, Moldova.

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).