Musings on School

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I'm not quite sure what drew me to sit down and write tonight, but I know I haven't been very good with posting about my everyday activities, particularly when it comes to work. So I'm going to try my best to remedy that now and give more insight into what my experiences have been like working here so far.

I know I've written some already about how my program is supposed to be a co-teaching program, but for some unknown reason, the supervisor at my school has decided that I should just teach on my own for each day that I visit my classes. If I hadn't taught previously, that would be a daunting challenge. It's still challenging, but it is something I can certainly handle and excel at. So, what is a normal day at work like? First off, I have no normal days. Everyday is different and that's something I enjoy about it. My schedule is different nearly everyday, I don't work exclusively with the same teacher 2 days in a row, and I rarely see the same classes 2 days in a row. So on Monday I work about 9:30 - 2 with one teacher that I have an excellent relationship with and have become very friendly with. Monday's I see grades 9-12 and for 2 of the classes, I stay in the room and assist my teacher, and for the 2 other classes, I take small groups out of the room for 15-20 minutes and have a conversation with them. The reason I don't do conversation sessions with all of the courses is because some of the classes simply don't have good enough English to be able to survive beyond an extremely basic conversation and their time is better spent in the classroom to learn how to better use the English they know now and expand upon it. I was surprised to learn that they track their students here into an A class and a B class, and the difference in abilities between them is striking. My 9th grade A class is leaps and bounds beyond my 12th grade B class. So I can have a conversation session with 9th grade A but not 12th grade B, which may not make sense, and may be shortchanging the B classes, but the teacher I work with feels it is best (as do I) and ultimately, she's the one with the last word on the matter.

On Tuesdays, I work with 2 different teachers, both of whom I have a good professional relationship with. One of the teachers is the 3rd person to hold her position since the beginning of the school year 7 weeks ago. The first teacher quit about 2-3 weeks in because she took a job elsewhere, then her replacement quit after 1 week because the ability of the students was so low and she didn't want to have to lower her standards so much to teach them (she also left for some personal reasons) and now we are on the 3rd teacher. She seems like she is going to stick around but it's been a rough adjustment for both the students and a little bit for me, too. I stayed in the room and observed her teach a class yesterday and I can see that she is very different from the previous teachers in terms of her classroom management. She comes off as being pretty bitchy, and the kids don't like how strict she is. Honestly, she needs to be strict because the kids more or less do and say whatever they want, but because of that, it's a harsh adjustment for them. But she also is almost overboard with them. She issues no warnings, and goes straight to kicking kids out of the room if they are breaking rules. For example, a student had his head down in class yesterday and rather than asking him to sit up and pay attention, she immediately just kicked him out. It sets a strong example, but it also won't make it any easier to get the students to work with you, rather than against you. It's clear to me that because of her overly strict adherence to the rules, it is going to be a constant battle between her and the kids all year. I'm a believer in giving a warning for silly stuff like that, so I was even surprised and kinda shocked when she asked the kid to leave. Fortunately I do get along with her well and am only in her room 2 days a week, so it won't be something to totally mar my experience with her.

Tuesdays I also have one class with the department supervisor, and she's extremely hands off and a bit passive aggressive in her attitude, but we get along well and I only have 2 classes a week with her, so I'm not too concerned. The important thing is that we are professional and that I meet her expectations in the classroom, and while her expectations continue to evolve, I'm meeting them. It would just be so much easier if she just told me what I want at the start instead of constantly moving the bar of what's acceptable and expected each time I meet it.

I can go on and tell you about my schedule each and everyday, but you get the picture. Luckily I finish most days by 1, leaving me plenty of time to tutor twice a week with a private company, go to the market, cook, relax, run, etc. I know all my teacher friends back home are shocked and surprised by this schedule, but when I tell them that I have just as many classes here as when I taught back home, they're still surprised but understand once I explain. When I taught high school back home, I had 25 classes a week. Here, I have 24 a week. The difference being that here I only need to be at work when I have class. So this means the time I actually spend at work is significantly less than back home, but my time working in the classroom is nearly identical. But I enjoy having the spare time to do all the other things I want to do. It can get a little boring at times having so much free time but I'm filling it with things I enjoy. I'm so used to being excessively busy when I work, that I actually enjoy it. So having hours of free time in the afternoon and evening is still a big adjustment for me. But it's one that I'm getting used to, and I especially like it so that I can try new things in the kitchen that I had never tried before. For example, I've made a few batches of my own jam (inexpensive fruit makes this even easier), homemade tomato sauce, new variations on recipes I've made in the past, and I've even baked a couple different kinds of bread. I enjoy being able to mess around in the kitchen and trying new things. It's something that really brings me joy and helps me to relax so I'm fortunate to be able to do it.

So, that's at least an overview for you to understand what a normal week at work is like for me. At some point I'll write more about my perceptions on the Chilean education system versus the system in the US (initial perceptions is that there isn't much of a difference) but I want to wait until I've got more experience in the school and I can see if there really are major differences or not. That's all for now!

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