Even though the play is now nearly a month in the past, it is still profoundly affecting my experience here. Before the play, as a result of the February Slump, I had pretty much checked out from the RMI experience. I was frustrated with my students and their lack of responsiveness. I was finding my experience in Majuro to be repetitive and mundane. The play very much revitalized me and imbued energy back into the remaining months of my experience here.
The third term ended during the run of the play and I was not surprised to find that some of my top students did not perform as well as they had in the past. My students slacked much more this term and lacked the discipline that I attempted to hone over the previous two terms. However, my middle and lowest level students did improve slightly. I came to believe that despite my previous willingness to give up, there was some hope left.
I decided that I taught my students almost everything technical that I wanted to teach them and now wanted to work on projects that brought together all of the skills that we learned in a way that did not necessarily keep the skills learned at the forefront of the work but as foundation to other, more complex ideas. Inspired from the play and having seen the effect that it had on the MIHS students, I decided to put on a play myself in my 7th grade classes. I am in the process of preparing my students to put on J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan." Alex Huestis aptly called Majuro "Neverland" (she was specifically referring to Ejit, but I think the term can apply to Majuro as a whole). In many ways, I came on the DVTP program for a "Neverland" experience myself (Michael Jackson puns not intended--at all). I wanted to get "away from it all" before seeking a job in the US and I wanted to try out teaching kids thereby giving myself the chance to become a kid again by proxy. I figured what better way to end this experience than by passing on the same notion of "never having to grow up" and the effect that this country and the play had on me than by introducing my students to Peter Pan?
We first watched two film versions of the story, the live action one featuring Jeremy Sumpter from 2003 and the 1953 Disney animated version. I did this so that all of my students would understand the plot of the story come time to read the book. Inspired by Rafe Esquith's novel "Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire," I used the movie as a teachable moment, having the students identify protagonists, antagonists, supporting characters, and different elements of the story arc. I also had the students identify the differences between the two films. While at first the students did not seem all that interested in the play (especially since, tragically, no one in my homeroom came to see the play) after seeing the movies the students were extremely excited about playing the characters in the story. We have finished watching the movies as of last week and starting reading the story on Monday. I plan on switching between reading aloud, silent reading (where I will be helping my lowest students comprehend the text), and group reading (where all the groups will be of mixed abilities and my top students will take over in instructing and explaining the story to my other students). The plan is to get the story ready in three weeks and then start working on other elements of the play such as costumes, sets, props, and choreography (for the fights). It is my hope that by having the students participate in all of these elements of the production, they will gain confidence and will have their ability to think outside of the box and use their imagination increased.
In my writing class the project for this quarter is to write books. One of my favorite activities in elementary school was writing stories for the Young Authors program. To this day I still have my Young Authors books in our home library. My hope is by having the students create something of their own conception, they will not only learn to treasure their work but increase their appreciation for books and reading in general. This project has started out much more slowly. As a result of a lack of exposure, the students had a hard time coming up with imaginative topics for their stories. I realized that this was mostly likely because they had not read many different types of books. I spent this past week introducing my students to different types of books. I am having them write stories that match the types of stories that I am reading to them each day. I am a bit more worried about this project than the other but I have high hopes for the product.
The final effect that the MIHS play has had on me is that I was able to remember how very important the arts are to me. I have been singing/performing for most of my life. This year in the RMI has been the first time in 14 years that I have not been in a performance group. Being a part of the play made me realize how much I need the arts in my life and as a result, I will be continuing my work with Professor Garrod and "The Tempest" in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Professor Garrod does a similar project to his work here in BIH and asked me to come along with him before he departed the RMI. While he gave me about as much time to make the decision to come as he gave me to make the decision to come to the RMI, I figured that one choice had been good for me and that it would most likely that this new choice would be good too. Going to Bosnia will give me the opportunity to not only help educate a new group of youth but do it through the arts. We will be putting on the same play and I will be acting in the same capacity as Dan Moore '10 and John Around Him '12 as assistant director while in Bosnia. Thankfully the committment is only two months in the summer and will be much more focused on theater than teaching. So, while I am disappointed that I will not be home for the entirety of the summer (and that I will be heading out about 10 days after I return to the states) the opportunity is too good to pass up. Theater, travel, and teaching all wrapped up in another adventure!
Bar Lo Kom,
Andrew
Showing posts with label MMS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MMS. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
The Dreaded February Slump
From the very beginning of this experience, as early as orientation at the end of senior year, we were warned of the "February Slump." I was always confused about the idea. I had been away from home many times (though, granted, not for this long or this far away) and was not too worried about becoming homesick. I understood how one would feel homesick around the holidays and how one could be eager to return home as one neared the end of the experience, but the other traits of the February Slump-depression, exhaustion, disinterest-seemed aggressive to me.
But here we are, a week into March, and I can tell you that the February Slump is a real thing. In the middle of the month, I had a moment where I was moping around Majuro and I stopped and said out loud, "Oh my God, it's happening!" I think this slump is the result of the culmination of a lot of different things. February is a strange time of year regardless of the volunteer-experience-in-another-country thing. It is not the first month of the new year, and thus is not the first month of the new quarter, and as a result, the students have started to become a bit restless again. I reported before that my students had been behaving poorly, but their behavior became a HUGE problem during February. This was not just the case in my classroom, but in Mandy's class and, seemingly, the entirety of Majuro Middle School. My classroom management technique--diving the class into teams and giving or taking points based on achievement and behavior--did not phase the students at all. Mandy had the same failure with her own technique. Despite taking off 5, 10, or 50 points, the students continued to behave badly. The issues were simple ones. I kept repeating the same rules and expectations that I had had since the beginning of the year: do not talk when others are talking, stay in your seat, do not throw things across the classroom, respect school property. It was as if I had never given these rules. I began to send students to the office with little warning. I had a week that I termed my "mean week" where I took no nonsense. I stated my expectations and if they were broken students were sent to the office. I do not know how I was perceived by the office, but between Mandy and I, we kept them extremely busy.
Shipping kids off to the office frequently helped in the short run, but the effects were month long. I am sad to say that lost my motivation. While I recognized that I had taught my students a lot of information and that i loved every opportunity that I was given to impart knowledge to my students, I lost interest in teaching THESE students. While the classroom used to be fun, the teaching had become so routine that the classroom had become a big daycare, and I was the only babysitter. This was not what I wanted from this teaching experience, or any teaching experience, as much of a reality as it might be in schools all around the world. I had planned on starting my MMS acapella group this term, but the behavior made me not want to do anything extra for the students. To infuriate me further, I noticed that this behavior was specially reserved for me and that the students were veritable angels for their other, Marshallese, teachers. One day, at the peak of my frustration, I candidly asked the students, "Why do you act this way with me? Is it because I am a ribelle?" Some of them solemnly shook their heads, "Yes." At first I was extremely insulted and felt almost discriminated against by my students. Thankfully, Dan Moore '10 put the response into context for me. He reminded me that I had told him many times about the nature of some of the other Marshallese teachers, how their classrooms where based much more on route memorization and regurgitation and that there was little room for free thought and personal expression in their classes. He suggested that I take it as a sign of respect that they felt as if they could be themselves and be vocal in my class. I took this advice to heart but added that while I wanted to be able to provide a space where the students feel as if they can be themselves, I also want them to be able to be disciplined, since, I have learned, it is an important part of growing up.
During a conversation during 31 Club on Thursdays, I got to the heart of the problem. As I said, I am proud that my students have learned so much from me. But, after having been here for 8 months, I have learned that teaching life lessons, like discipline and respect, is more important than any academic lessons that I can teach. I am even more proud of the fact that the majority of my students now turn in their homework than they actually understand what their homework entails. It was my failure to imbue my students with these life lessons that depressed me about my classroom.
Another thing that made February somber was the departure of Joanna Dai, another one of my Bungalow housemates. She was also feeling the pressure of February, and because of some health inconsistencies and other frustrations, she decided to leave. Jokingly, Mandy and I said months ago that the dorm would end up just being us by the end of the experience, mostly based on the fact that we were the only two people that spent any time outside of our rooms together in the house. Unfortunately, our prediction came true. This was a big blow to the both of us, since the house was finally empty and was a clear sign of things coming to an end. Joanna will be dearly missed from our household.
All of these things, compounded with the growing commitment of the play, made the month of February extremely challenging. I found that each day I only had an hour or so to myself before having to do things for others. I talked to my parents at one point during this hysteria and said, "I don't know how you do this whole adult thing." Their smart rejoinder was, "Now think of doing this for 30 some years and add children." I was immediately apologetic for any trouble I had given them through the years!
While February was hard, it is now March, and things have definitely turned for the better. While my students are not behaving as ideally as I would like, they are behaving markedly better than they were before. The play, while still a large commitment, has come to a head (we had our first night last night, and it was amazing, despite not being able to perform the second half on account of the rain and, subsequently, a power outage) and has become wonderful again. And while the Joanna situation is still sad, having the undergrads here has been great distraction from the empty house (two of them are living in the dorm for the time being). Though, when they leave, Mandy and I will have to deal with being our only company--for real this time.
Bar lo kom,
Andrew
But here we are, a week into March, and I can tell you that the February Slump is a real thing. In the middle of the month, I had a moment where I was moping around Majuro and I stopped and said out loud, "Oh my God, it's happening!" I think this slump is the result of the culmination of a lot of different things. February is a strange time of year regardless of the volunteer-experience-in-another-country thing. It is not the first month of the new year, and thus is not the first month of the new quarter, and as a result, the students have started to become a bit restless again. I reported before that my students had been behaving poorly, but their behavior became a HUGE problem during February. This was not just the case in my classroom, but in Mandy's class and, seemingly, the entirety of Majuro Middle School. My classroom management technique--diving the class into teams and giving or taking points based on achievement and behavior--did not phase the students at all. Mandy had the same failure with her own technique. Despite taking off 5, 10, or 50 points, the students continued to behave badly. The issues were simple ones. I kept repeating the same rules and expectations that I had had since the beginning of the year: do not talk when others are talking, stay in your seat, do not throw things across the classroom, respect school property. It was as if I had never given these rules. I began to send students to the office with little warning. I had a week that I termed my "mean week" where I took no nonsense. I stated my expectations and if they were broken students were sent to the office. I do not know how I was perceived by the office, but between Mandy and I, we kept them extremely busy.
Shipping kids off to the office frequently helped in the short run, but the effects were month long. I am sad to say that lost my motivation. While I recognized that I had taught my students a lot of information and that i loved every opportunity that I was given to impart knowledge to my students, I lost interest in teaching THESE students. While the classroom used to be fun, the teaching had become so routine that the classroom had become a big daycare, and I was the only babysitter. This was not what I wanted from this teaching experience, or any teaching experience, as much of a reality as it might be in schools all around the world. I had planned on starting my MMS acapella group this term, but the behavior made me not want to do anything extra for the students. To infuriate me further, I noticed that this behavior was specially reserved for me and that the students were veritable angels for their other, Marshallese, teachers. One day, at the peak of my frustration, I candidly asked the students, "Why do you act this way with me? Is it because I am a ribelle?" Some of them solemnly shook their heads, "Yes." At first I was extremely insulted and felt almost discriminated against by my students. Thankfully, Dan Moore '10 put the response into context for me. He reminded me that I had told him many times about the nature of some of the other Marshallese teachers, how their classrooms where based much more on route memorization and regurgitation and that there was little room for free thought and personal expression in their classes. He suggested that I take it as a sign of respect that they felt as if they could be themselves and be vocal in my class. I took this advice to heart but added that while I wanted to be able to provide a space where the students feel as if they can be themselves, I also want them to be able to be disciplined, since, I have learned, it is an important part of growing up.
During a conversation during 31 Club on Thursdays, I got to the heart of the problem. As I said, I am proud that my students have learned so much from me. But, after having been here for 8 months, I have learned that teaching life lessons, like discipline and respect, is more important than any academic lessons that I can teach. I am even more proud of the fact that the majority of my students now turn in their homework than they actually understand what their homework entails. It was my failure to imbue my students with these life lessons that depressed me about my classroom.
Another thing that made February somber was the departure of Joanna Dai, another one of my Bungalow housemates. She was also feeling the pressure of February, and because of some health inconsistencies and other frustrations, she decided to leave. Jokingly, Mandy and I said months ago that the dorm would end up just being us by the end of the experience, mostly based on the fact that we were the only two people that spent any time outside of our rooms together in the house. Unfortunately, our prediction came true. This was a big blow to the both of us, since the house was finally empty and was a clear sign of things coming to an end. Joanna will be dearly missed from our household.
All of these things, compounded with the growing commitment of the play, made the month of February extremely challenging. I found that each day I only had an hour or so to myself before having to do things for others. I talked to my parents at one point during this hysteria and said, "I don't know how you do this whole adult thing." Their smart rejoinder was, "Now think of doing this for 30 some years and add children." I was immediately apologetic for any trouble I had given them through the years!
While February was hard, it is now March, and things have definitely turned for the better. While my students are not behaving as ideally as I would like, they are behaving markedly better than they were before. The play, while still a large commitment, has come to a head (we had our first night last night, and it was amazing, despite not being able to perform the second half on account of the rain and, subsequently, a power outage) and has become wonderful again. And while the Joanna situation is still sad, having the undergrads here has been great distraction from the empty house (two of them are living in the dorm for the time being). Though, when they leave, Mandy and I will have to deal with being our only company--for real this time.
Bar lo kom,
Andrew
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
New Beginnings
This post will be short since I am paying for internet now/using other peoples' computers. I will hopefully have my computer back in my hands by the new year. The ribelle, Randy Sylvester, at Majuro Computer Services said that he can upgrade my hard drive and fix it for a fraction of the cost that Apple would serve me with (not to mention the shipping back to America) so I am thankful for that. This unfortunate occurrence has turned into an opportunity of sorts.
The term finally ended this past week. I spent the first three days reviewing 10 weeks of grammar material. I decided to not have a reading final since I lost my grades and I did not feel up to making the students prepare something in such a sort time. While reading groups helped me teach reading techniques, it did not promote any kind of formal examination and since the teachers at the school truncated the term by two days, I decided that my gift to my kids would be no reading final. Suffice to say, they were happy with the gift. Instead, we spent the last week teaching "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey and "I'll Be Home for Christmas." Both were extremely endearing to hear. Mandy taught both her students and mine how to sign "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and I taught the music. Our goal was to record the students doing both, but by the end of the week, the students wanted to go home more than be on youtube. It was a disappointment to Mandy and I, but we were also happy to be free of obligations. Our plans to "have it snow in the RMI" (read: have our students close their eyes and then throw really cold water balloons at them to start a water balloon fight) fell through for the same reason. Luckily, there is still snow in the US in January (though, for some reason, our students refused to believe this fact). After the test was over, I taught my students to make snowflakes which they loved. My classroom is now decorated completely by my students and I am very proud of that fact.
I have yet to grade the finals since I have been enjoying the break but I will be sure to let you know the stats when I do. Break has allowed me to hang out with the World Teach volunteers who have come in and talk about experiences in different parts of the RMI. Kristin Dewey and Jenna Cunningham have also come in, but they have been on Ejit with Justin and Alex and have not come to Majuro to spend any real time yet. I look forward to sharing experiences with them as well. Besides hanging out and talking, I have not done much with my break. I have been able to eat at some places that I have never been to and have been reading a lot but because I do not have my computer, my attempt to start my job search or start recording music for my new MMS acapella group or getting better at the guitar have all been stunted. Hopefully I will soon find something to occupy my time. Until then, I do like the break for not having to teach (on Sunday evening I had a revelation that I did not have to go to school on Monday and literally jumped for joy). The students needed the break but I think I might have needed it even more. I look forward to starting the new year with refreshed energy. I also think it will be great to have Professor Garrod, Dan Moore '10, and the Dartmouth undergrads coming on the study abroad program through the Education Department here in the Marshalls. They will be new to the island (well, with the exception of Garrod) and will need showing around and I plan on filling that role to the fullest.
Last Thrusday, The de Brueys family came to the RMI to pay their final respects to their son James. The family was greeted by many ribelles and Marshallese people at the airport. On Friday, the family went to the island where James was stationed to meet the Marshallese people that so loved James there. They said that they were overwhelmed by the response and kindness of the people here. On Thursday, there was a formal service behind MIR for all of the deceased followed by a dinner for the de Brueys family and the volunteers of Dartmouth and World Teach at Wallaby Downs, the Australian Navy outpost in the RMI. Surrounded by Anna and a few other volunteers I toasted that this dinner mark the end of bad news for all of us in this year and that it be the start of new wonders in the new year. I hope this wish holds true.
As a final note, a dear friend that I made in the RMI has left the island for good. Michael Honeth, a ribelle who has been here for a few years working for the EPA, was one of the first people to reach out to the other volunteers and I. He was extremely generous and friendly--in the true Marshallese spirit--and he will truly be missed. I hope he goes on to have many great adventures wherever life takes him.
My next post will be after Christmas, so I hope you all have incredibly merry holidays surrounded by those you love. Know that we are all thinking of you, missing you, and wishing we were home for Christmas from the Pacific.
Bar lo kom,
Andrew
The term finally ended this past week. I spent the first three days reviewing 10 weeks of grammar material. I decided to not have a reading final since I lost my grades and I did not feel up to making the students prepare something in such a sort time. While reading groups helped me teach reading techniques, it did not promote any kind of formal examination and since the teachers at the school truncated the term by two days, I decided that my gift to my kids would be no reading final. Suffice to say, they were happy with the gift. Instead, we spent the last week teaching "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey and "I'll Be Home for Christmas." Both were extremely endearing to hear. Mandy taught both her students and mine how to sign "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and I taught the music. Our goal was to record the students doing both, but by the end of the week, the students wanted to go home more than be on youtube. It was a disappointment to Mandy and I, but we were also happy to be free of obligations. Our plans to "have it snow in the RMI" (read: have our students close their eyes and then throw really cold water balloons at them to start a water balloon fight) fell through for the same reason. Luckily, there is still snow in the US in January (though, for some reason, our students refused to believe this fact). After the test was over, I taught my students to make snowflakes which they loved. My classroom is now decorated completely by my students and I am very proud of that fact.
I have yet to grade the finals since I have been enjoying the break but I will be sure to let you know the stats when I do. Break has allowed me to hang out with the World Teach volunteers who have come in and talk about experiences in different parts of the RMI. Kristin Dewey and Jenna Cunningham have also come in, but they have been on Ejit with Justin and Alex and have not come to Majuro to spend any real time yet. I look forward to sharing experiences with them as well. Besides hanging out and talking, I have not done much with my break. I have been able to eat at some places that I have never been to and have been reading a lot but because I do not have my computer, my attempt to start my job search or start recording music for my new MMS acapella group or getting better at the guitar have all been stunted. Hopefully I will soon find something to occupy my time. Until then, I do like the break for not having to teach (on Sunday evening I had a revelation that I did not have to go to school on Monday and literally jumped for joy). The students needed the break but I think I might have needed it even more. I look forward to starting the new year with refreshed energy. I also think it will be great to have Professor Garrod, Dan Moore '10, and the Dartmouth undergrads coming on the study abroad program through the Education Department here in the Marshalls. They will be new to the island (well, with the exception of Garrod) and will need showing around and I plan on filling that role to the fullest.
Last Thrusday, The de Brueys family came to the RMI to pay their final respects to their son James. The family was greeted by many ribelles and Marshallese people at the airport. On Friday, the family went to the island where James was stationed to meet the Marshallese people that so loved James there. They said that they were overwhelmed by the response and kindness of the people here. On Thursday, there was a formal service behind MIR for all of the deceased followed by a dinner for the de Brueys family and the volunteers of Dartmouth and World Teach at Wallaby Downs, the Australian Navy outpost in the RMI. Surrounded by Anna and a few other volunteers I toasted that this dinner mark the end of bad news for all of us in this year and that it be the start of new wonders in the new year. I hope this wish holds true.
As a final note, a dear friend that I made in the RMI has left the island for good. Michael Honeth, a ribelle who has been here for a few years working for the EPA, was one of the first people to reach out to the other volunteers and I. He was extremely generous and friendly--in the true Marshallese spirit--and he will truly be missed. I hope he goes on to have many great adventures wherever life takes him.
My next post will be after Christmas, so I hope you all have incredibly merry holidays surrounded by those you love. Know that we are all thinking of you, missing you, and wishing we were home for Christmas from the Pacific.
Bar lo kom,
Andrew
Sunday, December 12, 2010
When It Rains, It Pours
After only 5 months, my Macbook Pro has gotten a virus (a very rare thing to happen indeed) and has died. I am sending it back to the US since it is still insured but as a result my efforts to blog and email regularly will be stymied by this occurrence. The blog will also not feature pictures until I get my computer back (though luckily, I have yet to delete any of my RMI pictures from my camera, which was very fortuitous of me). I will do my best to keep up the same Sunday posting schedule.
This past week, the memorial service was held for James and the other passengers of the boat that was capsized at sea. It was a beautiful service. There is nothing like a funeral on the lagoon beach at sunset to remind you of how beautiful life is and that we should do our best to live it fully while we can. I only knew James for a short amount of time, but he was full of life, and I think that is what he would want all of us to do. There were not many differences in the service that I could understand (since it was mostly in Marshallese) except for the fact that the speakers were the heads of each clan of people present. There is also the act of pouring white rocks over the grave as a means of "wiping the slate clean." I need to find out more about the service itself to understand the actions fully, but I was not able to at the time because those who I would have asked were bereft at the time.
Otherwise, school is coming to an end. The teachers at MMS decided to end school this coming Friday instead of next week Tuesday. This good because I get two full weeks off. However, it is bad because I now have three days to review ten weeks of material since finals are Thursday and Friday.
In other news, since the holiday season is approaching, all of the volunteers from World Teach and Dartmouth have been trickling back to the island. The Bungalow has a lot more faces now, which is good after the departure of Hannah and Bill. The first group of Dartmouth volunteers--Kristen and Jenna--will be coming back on Friday and I am extremely excited to see them.
That is all for now. Let's hope the rest of the year brings better tidings!
Bar lo kom,
Andrew
PS: With the current conference on climate change, there has been a resurgence of talk about the rising ocean levels and how it will affect island nations like the RMI in the future. This article will give you some sense of the problem. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101206/ap_on_sc/climate_disappearing_nations
This past week, the memorial service was held for James and the other passengers of the boat that was capsized at sea. It was a beautiful service. There is nothing like a funeral on the lagoon beach at sunset to remind you of how beautiful life is and that we should do our best to live it fully while we can. I only knew James for a short amount of time, but he was full of life, and I think that is what he would want all of us to do. There were not many differences in the service that I could understand (since it was mostly in Marshallese) except for the fact that the speakers were the heads of each clan of people present. There is also the act of pouring white rocks over the grave as a means of "wiping the slate clean." I need to find out more about the service itself to understand the actions fully, but I was not able to at the time because those who I would have asked were bereft at the time.
Otherwise, school is coming to an end. The teachers at MMS decided to end school this coming Friday instead of next week Tuesday. This good because I get two full weeks off. However, it is bad because I now have three days to review ten weeks of material since finals are Thursday and Friday.
In other news, since the holiday season is approaching, all of the volunteers from World Teach and Dartmouth have been trickling back to the island. The Bungalow has a lot more faces now, which is good after the departure of Hannah and Bill. The first group of Dartmouth volunteers--Kristen and Jenna--will be coming back on Friday and I am extremely excited to see them.
That is all for now. Let's hope the rest of the year brings better tidings!
Bar lo kom,
Andrew
PS: With the current conference on climate change, there has been a resurgence of talk about the rising ocean levels and how it will affect island nations like the RMI in the future. This article will give you some sense of the problem. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101206/ap_on_sc/climate_disappearing_nations
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