We Don't Need No Education

FYI- I have not showered for a week, and I don’t miss it as much as I thought I would. Someone should look up the benefits of not showering regularly, I am sure there are some facts I can use to support my new lifestyle. As a further update, I have not gotten diarrhea yet, nor have I fallen or dropped anything into the toilet yet. Although, there have been some close calls. Some days you just balance better than others; I’ll leave the potty talk at that.

In other unimportant/uninteresting news, the weather appears to have finally stabilized and the temperature has reached a point where I am no longer scared to leave my bed each morning. However, I still can’t seem to make it through the night without having to get up and use the bathroom, sorry I thought the bathroom info was over with. Apparently you have to go to the bathroom more often when you are cold. We looked up the science behind it this week, trust me it’s a real thing. Anyways, I’ve recently been waking up during the 6 o’clock hour (which is Georgian would actually be referred to as 7’s hour, but I won’t walk you through the mess that is telling time in Georgian) needing to pee. I have to options: hold it until 8 when I plan to get out of bed, or make the trek to the toilet. The problem with making the trek is that without fail I run into someone on my way (I’m still unsure if my host family actually ever sleeps) and I always feel awkward when I pass one of my parents while they are up working a 6:30 and I’m dashing to the toilet and back to my bed… Lazy American. Next time you are getting ready for bed just know that I am probably lying awake in my bed debating the great question of the day: to pee or not to pee. Think of my plight and send some sympathy, I didn't even mention the smell that can be accompanied by a trip to the loo.

Here is a picture of Alex holding one of our chickens

Getting back on track, this week has been pretty interesting. We are starting three weeks of teaching practicum and starting to get a taste of what we are in for when we get our permanent site placements. The Georgian school experience is a whole new world compared to my education. In our school you will find grades 1-12. Each grade is assigned a classroom and the teachers rotate in and out every 45 minutes. School lasts from 9 AM until 12:20 PM (unless you are in 10th grade, then you stay until 2 pm).There is a 5 min break between each period with one 10 min break thrown in in the middle. There is no recess, occasionally the younger kids will have some free time to place, but for the most part its uninterrupted learning- there isn't even a lunch. I am not sure I would've survived 12 years of school in these conditions. 

This week our practicum included 1 day of classroom observation, and then 3 days of directing small activities during class. From day 1 our eyes were opened. Teaching methodology and technique is very different. Some students are blatantly unprepared, uninterested, and disruptive; yet, the teacher doesn't seem to mind. I’m still trying to figure out how to manage a classroom/ chaotic environment with my limited Georgian, but most seem to understand me well enough.

In Georgia it is mandatory for students to study English from 1st-12th grade which creates a high demand for English teachers. There aren’t enough fluent English speakers to meet this demand so the qualifications are probably lower than they would be elsewhere. Most teachers have learned English by reading and are able to translate text and recognize words but have less ability with speaking and listening comprehension. This is reflected in the approach many teachers take to teaching: read the text and translate it on paragraph or sentence at a time. So when we come into the classroom and want to do an activity or game the students don’t always know how to respond. We played a vocab game with the 6th graders early in the week and it took a good while before they realized it was supposed to be fun and they could relax a little bit. 

Lunch at my place with homemade hot chocolate

All in all I would saw my activities went well. There are 7 volunteers and 3 teachers who teach 4-5 English lessons a day, so we are generally doubled up. The hardest lesson by far was trying to explain the past perfect simple and continuous verb tense to the 10th graders. It’s can be a challenge to explain the concept in English but to do it in Georgian is a whole different story. We had to get creative and luckily our teacher could understand us well enough to translate the important parts. I wasn't very sure at first how interested the local teachers were in having us in their classrooms, but I think they are ok with it. It’s hard not to make first impressions of people solely based on my American interpretation of body language and non-verbal cues.

On another tangent, I have discovered the library and began to check out books. I went straight for the children’s books. I have now realized that my reading comprehension is very low. I can’t read a level II or III book yet, and all the young kids have checked out the level I book- who do they think they are?! For now I get to read my picture dictionary and some story about a man and goats- I’m still not completely sure what it’s about.

For the upcoming week we are supposed to move to a full co-teacher role and create lesson plans with our counterpart teachers. We’ll see how that works out. The combination of limited English and Georgian skills tends to create a lot of confusion. If I can just get an idea of what they want to teach I count it as a victory. Now I get to get out of bed and get ready for my Saturday Georgian class, wish me luck!

Oh and by the way, the bathroom won out again this morning…
Also I apologize for the lack of pics, most pics come during the weekend.

Here are my train tracks displayed with perfect rule of thirds usage