Wednesday, March 30, 2011

My Life as Teacher (of Adults)

In addition to teaching at the #7 school I have been teaching mandators three nights a week.  What is a mandator you ask?  The TLG staff refers to them as "resource development officers," which basically means school security guards.  The Ministry of Education has recruited TLG volunteers to teach the mandators English.  Our goal is to prepare them to "master the A1 English level" test.  What this boils down to is three nights a week I teach very basic English to a group of rowdy school security guards.  The major difference is that during the day I am a "co-teacher," but at night I am responsible for leading the lessons.  The Ministry has already prepared the lesson plans, which mitigates some of the workload, and I have a teaching assistant, Nino, who provides translation.

There are roughly 34 mandators who cover all of the schools in Gori.  I teach half, and another teacher, Annette, teaches half.  Some of them have already studied English, so they are getting easily bored in class.  Others are brand new to English and at times clearly feel a bit overwhelmed.  Overall, teaching adults has not been nearly as frightening as I thought it would be.  The biggest challenge has been the noise level and unwillingness of a few to take the class seriously.  I have seen a handful of students who initially seemed very nervous about their ability to learn English work really hard and make some serious progress in just a few weeks.  One of my students even said "be quiet!" to the noisy students.  It was a proud moment.

They had their first test tonight, and the results are not promising so far.  However, once I have a clear head and more time to look through the tests, I optimistic that I will see a pattern in those who are trying their best and those who are not.  If nothing else, it will point to what skills we need to focus on.  I have a feeling that it's spelling...

Two weeks ago the mandators decided to "have a dinner" for Annette and I.  I should have known that "dinner" actually meant supra.  The supra immediately followed our Friday night class, which despite ending a half an hour early, still seemed much too long for those who were eager to start the party.  Over the course of the night there were many toasts celebrating the mandators, us teachers...and of course friendship, God and country.  Much to my surprise and delight, my students turned out to be quite the dancers.  There is no way to adequately put into words how much Georgians, specifically men, love to dance.  They know every song that comes on, whether it's a traditional Georgian dance, the national anthem or Enrique Iglesias.  Unlike in the states, the men will come to your chair, offer their hand, and request a dance.  At the end of the dance, which often includes being spun around, you are returned to your chair with a kind thank you.  The supra took place in a large banquet hall which was decorated much like a wedding reception, featured a live band and ambient lighting.  I joked to my fellow teacher that it reminded me of a junior high dance (not that I went to any of those). 

At around midnight, I was desperate to go home.  I was exhausted from a long day of school and had to get up early to head to Tbilisi the next morning.  I didn't want to offend my students who clearly had worked very hard to put together a wonderful celebration.  So I asked Nino if I could sneak out.  She responded, "what is sneak out?"  I said it is where you leave without anyone noticing.  So we attempted to do so.  However, just as I was about to step out the door, I heard "Manuela, where are you going!?"  I turned around to see my star student standing there with about 3 other mandators.  I explained and apologized that I needed to get home to my family so they would not worry.

It felt a bit strange to be dancing (and drinking) with my students.  The lines between friend, colleague, student and teacher are very blurred here, so that will be somewhat of an adjustment.  Nonetheless, friends, colleagues, students and teachers all know how to have a good time.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Exploring Gori

Last weekend I went exploring on my own around Gori.  I felt it was time that I wander the streets and learn how to navigate them without the help of my family.  I met up with Annette, another teacher stationed in Gori, and we wandered around the market, Stalin's gardens and settled into the cake house for cake and coffee.  As much as I adore my family it was nice to get out of the apartment and walk around and not worry too much about how fast I was spoke.

On Sunday and I went to church with my family.  They are Georgian Orthodox and wanted to show me the special church in their village just outside of Gori.  I felt like I would be spotted as an outsider right away and banished from the church.  But my host sisters were so excited to share this experience with me that they made sure to whisper instructions at every step.  Just as I was getting swept away in the otherworldly sound of the prayers and singing...somebody's cellphone rang.  Somethings are universal - even in a small village far far away.  The highlight was walking around the outside of church listening to the winds whip through the old stone walls.  A friendly dog was trotting around the grounds and eventually settled into the role of official greeter at the door of the church. 

In America after church people go eat pancakes (I have never been to church, but I hear this is true).  In Georgia they go eat kinkhali while dance music pumps in the background.  Later that night I attended another supra with my family.  Once more, we ate and ate and ate and made plenty of toasts (to God, to us, to friends, to siblings, to husbands and wives, and to me).

Here is my weekend summed up in photos:

 
Fortress

Market



Market


Church   
Church


Church Dog
The youngest family member explains the important duty of the tamada.


When they toasted to me they brought out the BIG glasses and several family members said something kind and then drank the whole glass.  Then it was my turn to do the same.
They were very proud when I gulped down the whole glass.  I have never received so much applause for anything in my life.






My Life as Teacher

I have just finished my first full week of teaching.  I arrived in Gori last Monday, but since Tuesday was a holiday (International Women's Day) I did not go to school until Wednesday.

It must be said that while the idea of picking up and moving to another country, with no information on where or with whom I would be living, was a bit nerve-racking.  However, the aspect of this adventure that made me the most nervous was the prospect of teaching very young children.  Those who know me are well aware about my limited interactions with children and the great discomfort they tend to cause me.  So imagine my surprise when I discovered that I absolutely adore my 3rd and 5th graders.  I was so nervous when my first co-teacher asked me to attend her 5th grade class.  No - actually, I was terrified.  What on earth would I say to them?  Low and behold they are some of the smartest, most enthusiastic students I have ever encountered.  It is clear that some have additional private English lessons, because their ability to speak with no prompts is amazing.  Others may not be as well equipped, but they are all willing to try.  Same goes for my 3rd graders.  The mere act of asking them a question or giving them some additional attention seems to energize even the children who tend not to participate in class.

In the 3rd grade they are learning animals, so I decided to draw pictures of the jungle, forest, ocean, desert and a farm and give the students each a card with a picture of an animal and its name in English.  I then asked them to tell me where their animal lives.  They had not yet learned the word "ocean," but upon looking at pictures of fish and whales and sharks, they quickly expanded their vocabulary (with great volume I should say).  When I arrived at my next lesson with them there were two chocolates waiting for me on my desk.

Similarly, my 5th graders are always excited to see me and my co-teacher.  Earlier this week my co-teacher took a piece a paper from one of the students and it said "I love Manuela very much."  For a girl that has had very few love letters in her life, this was a highlight of my week.  The 5th graders learned about jobs and professions this week.  We played games around the question of "what do you want to be when you grow up?" and "what is your job?"  As I wrote out the words on the blackboard, I heard one student shout out: "my job is learning!" 

This isn't to say that there aren't moments when the familiar panic returns or when I desperately want them to sit quietly in their chairs and stop talking.  There are plenty  of those moments.  But the unabashed enthusiasm for learning English and willingness to speak in class tends to even things out.


I am also co-teaching 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th graders.  Unfortunately, it has not been the same with the older kids as it has been with the young ones.  At 27 I have never really felt "old."  If anything I always feel too young.  However, being immersed once again in a junior high and high school environment has not only made me feel old and out of touch, it has also reawakened all of those horrible memories of being a teenager.  There is nothing in the world that would make me want to relive those years.  When I walk into classes, or even just around the hallway, there is plenty of staring, whispering and pointing.  Fortunately, I no longer find it as traumatizing as I did when I was 15.  Several of the students have started to say "hello" and "how are you" instead of just staring, so that eases the stress quite a bit. 


I have had question and answer sessions in each class.  The students can ask me anything they want, as long as it is in English.  The questions, without exception, are as follow:
How old are you?
Do you have a husband or boyfriend?
Do you like Georgia?
Do you like Georgian food?
What kind of music do you like?

In every class there is a core group of students who can speak very well, always do their homework and generally get the most attention from the teacher.  They are delightful to work with, especially when I give them a project and they are so excited about it that they do extra work.  However, remembering the general awfulness of teenagedom, I really do want to find a way to get the other students involved.  In some ways I do not blame them at all for not wanting to do their homework.  Memorizing a page of very dry text on the history of the California gold rush is not something I find appealing either.  Even the teachers have commented that the books are sometimes too boring. When I mentioned the idea of bringing more games or other topics into the classroom, my co-teachers were very supportive and enthusiastic.

So now that the students have asked me questions, I have started asking them questions.  They do not yet know that this is for the purpose of figuring out what I want to plans my lessons on (i.e. Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber).  This is especially important research when it comes to those surly silent types.  The questions, without exception, are as follow:
What kind of music do you like? (Pop music and rock music)
Who is your favorite musician? (Runs the gamut, from Bieber to the Beatles)
What movies do you like? (action, comedy, horror)
What is you favorite movie and/or actor? (they love Johnny Depp)
Do you watch TV? (No, I study too much to have time to watch TV)
Do you want to learn about American culture? (yes!)

This process has actually gotten some great responses.  I discovered that one the 10th grade boys could in fact speak very well.  He likes horror movies and his favorite movie is Interview with a Vampire.  Another girl in that class told me she likes New Moon.  So now I am planning a mini-lesson on vampires and zombies and their popularity in America.  We'll see if this gets me in with the cool kids.

Speaking of the cool kids.  The other aspect of teaching is working with the teachers. In between classes and when they have no lessons, all of the teachers gather in their lounge.  I have gotten used to them speaking loudly about me even though I am only sitting 2 feet away.  In fact it is helping me learn more Georgian words, I now know good girl, girl, English, Russian, and American.  Whenever I bust out my markers and paper or my flashcards, they all gather around and watch intently.

I am supposed to have 3 co-teachers, but instead I have 4.  I think this is because there are so many English teachers in my school (approx. 13 I think).  Generally the teachers do not have a huge amount of lessons in the week.  My co-teacher for the 5th class only teaches three 45 minute classes a week.  So really, my workload is not that much different with the additional teacher.

The first week with my co-teachers was stressful, it was clear they had a hard time understanding me and my American accent and they weren't quite sure how to work with me.  However, they were all excited to meet me and have me in their school.  The first 3 days or so I spent shadowing them and jotting down notes during their lessons.  I have taken the approach of trying to build on the ideas of their lessons, for example the 8th grade learned about landmarks in London and Washington, D.C.  So I asked them to research a new city and write me a postcard.  (One girl loved the assignment so much she wrote me two.)  For the most part, me and my co-teachers are easing into our working relationships.  In the span of just a week and half, most have become really excited about the prospects of better utilizing me in the classroom. 

As with every new experience there are complications and surprises and frustrations, but I finished my first full week of school feeling generally optimistic about how the rest of the semester will go.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

At the Heart of Gori

I have only been in the land of a Stalin for a few days, but there is already so much to say.  For now I will tell you about my new Georgian family.

I met my family on Monday.  My school principal and host father traveled to Tbilisi along with another principal and host mother who would be hosting one of my fellow teachers.  Dato (my host father) was over the moon when I greeted him in Georgian, he has been telling everyone we meet about it.  Goes to show that just a few words in a new language can get you a long way.

The car ride from Tbilisi is only an hour or so, but we stopped along the way to eat kachapuri and khinkali at a restaurant that lies under the view of one of Georgia's most ancient and sacred churches.  After lunch, as we drew closer to Gori our new Georgian friends pointed out vast amounts of newly built houses and explained that the government built them after the war in 2008 for the refugees from South Ossetia.  Within my school alone, there are several children and teachers who have been displaced from their homes in South Ossetia.  Looking at the rows and rows of houses and then hearing, "this is just some, there are many more," it was hard to grasp just how many people had fled or been forced out. 

When we arrived in my family's home in Gori I was greeted by my new host sisters and grandparents, who were all peeking over the balcony as the car drove up.  The older of my two sisters, Nata, showed me around the lovely apartment and brought me to my room, which is huge and beautiful.  Shortly after that, Dato and my sisters drove me around Gori.  They showed me the main street (Stalin Ave.), the main museum (Stalin's) and the city center where the main government building sits.  They also drove me around the outskirts of the town, showing me the buildings that had been destroyed during the war and later rebuilt.  This included the school where I am teaching, which is just across the street from my apartment building. Dato also pointed out where he works, which is the Ministry of Internal Affairs (the equivalent of the FBI I am told).

Later that day I met my host mother (Maya) who had been at work all day.  She is just as amazing and warm as the rest of the family.  Upon seeing me she said "We have been waiting for you since October!"  Like her daughters, she also speaks English very well.  Dato's parents, who live with us, do not speak any English, but they do speak Russian, as does the rest of the family.  Between my few words of Georgian, limited Russian and their excellent English and Russian, we have managed to communicate very well.  Our dinners are trilingual!  They are all eager to practice English and learn more words, but when I brought out my notebook to practice writing the Georgian alphabet, they were even more excited to help me learn Georgian, pronouncing K', Gh and Kh over and over for me.

On my first day I asked about the internet, wondering if I should go buy the wireless stick from geocelli that we had been discussing in training all week.  But I was simply told that it would be taken care of.  The next day Dato came home with a very long ethernet cable which is now running from the router in the living room, under a series of carpets, behind furniture, and through a newly carved hole in my door.  They also offered to change the lock on my door so that I could not only lock it from the inside, but also the outside.  I told them it was not necessary, which they found surprising.

In general my family is very busy.  Maya and Dato work 6 days a week and the girls attend lessons after school, sometimes late into the night.  The girls are very smart, Nata wants to be an economist and they both love math and science.  I asked my sisters what they do for fun, and one responded "what is fun?"  I hope it was a lapse in vocabulary and not an indication that she never has fun.  While the grandparents stay mostly at home, they also keep busy with cooking and cleaning and other tasks around the house.  I am trying to get to the know the city as soon as possible so I can stop interrupting their schedules.  For now my sisters are walking with me or Dato is driving me places so I do not get lost.  Thankfully, Gori is relatively small, so I can walk to most places once I get better oriented.


Celebrating International Women's Day


On Tuesday it was International Women's Day, so there was no work.  Maya brought me a new scarf and a set of my own house slippers as a gift.  Later Dato's sisters came over to celebrate with us.  I heard a knock at the door followed by excited whispering, then one of them peeked around the corner and said "Hi!"  They immediately showed me the gift they had brought to welcome me, a bracelet carved with St. George's name and "in god we trust" in Georgian.  We drank wine and ate the Hershey's chocolates I had brought from America. 

On Wednesday I attended my first supra, which is a Georgian tradition of eating and drinking late into the night.  Maya's father was celebrating his birthday.  I met Maya's sisters and brother and their husbands and wife.  Once again it was a trilingual affair.  Zaza, Maya's sister's husband and an officer in the Georgian army, was appointed tamada.  For those of you who did not attend a 2 hour lecture on the Georgian tradition of supra, the tamada is the toastmaster, which is a huge responsibility.  Mainly because you need to be able to toast dozens of times, drinking the whole glass of wine in one gulp, and not get (or at least appear) drunk.  There are a series of toasts that are required to be done in a certain order, some involve all of the men standing while the women sit and others involve special bowls.  It was quite the experience and I believe I have another to attend tomorrow.  I only wish Anthony Bourdain could be here.

I now know all of my new family members, including aunts uncles, cousins, and grandparents, who all live just minutes away.  We never get to choose our families, but I feel truly blessed to have been given such a wonderful Georgian family while also having a wonderful American family waiting at home.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Man(uela) of Steel

Last night we received our teaching placements.  I will be heading to Gori in about an hour to teach at school #7.  Two other teachers will be with me in the city and several more just one town over.  I couldn't be more happy with my placement, I cannot wait to visit the fortress and the Stalin museum, which my guidebook notes is the "most interesting museum in Georgia." 

I am excited and nervous to meet my new family and co-teachers.  After a week of training and meeting with teachers who have been here since August, I have so much information, but at the same time still do not know what to expect next.  I am also still nervous about teaching, but it's now time for me to jump into the deep end.  Land of Stalin here I come.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Training

Well I am finally in Tbilisi and am more than halfway through the training.  We have Georgian language classes every morning, which I am really enjoying.  Even though I cannot actually make half the sounds, I really love learning the language.  The other main components of training so far have been teaching methodology and intercultural communication.  I wish we had more time to spend on teaching methodology, since I feel like a fish out of water when it comes to teaching in general, much creating less lesson plans and preventing classroom mayhem.  The intercultural sessions have been great fun for me because I get to revisit Edward Hall's iceberg and Hofstede's dimensions. Cue Super Nerd!

It occurred to me yesterday that I had not left the hotel since my arrival.  So tonight I joined the bulk of the teachers on an excursion into Tbilisi to see a traditional Georgian dance concert.  Since there were so many of us we had the theater to ourselves and drank Georgian wine while watching the dancers tell the history of Georgia through movement.  It was pretty amazing.  Afterward the dancers decided to continue the fun and serenade us.  One of our teachers played some songs for the group as well.  It was a good time...until Mr. Jet Lag returned and it was time for me to head back to the hotel.

We find out in a few days where we will be placed, and I have absolutely no guesses about where I will be going.  Every time I think of a city or region that I would like to go to, I quickly think of another just as desirable.  So I am sure that I will be thrilled with whatever happens next.