Alive and Well—But Harder
Contrary to what, judging by our extended silence, you may have feared, we have not been buried in the sands of Egypt, perhaps to be dug up by archeologists 1,000 years from now. We are, in fact, alive and well. Both Faith and I have been working extremely hard at our jobs and, when we get home, simply staying awake often requires an effort far in excess of what we can muster. Here’s why.
For my part, I have found myself face-to-face with students who, on the whole, are very nice but very undisciplined. It has been difficult getting them to focus on their work, to listen without talking, and to stay in their seats. They have little interest in me as a teacher, but will all perk up and listen carefully whenever I talk like a real person. I can’t count the number of times students have asked what state I’m from, or if I’m married, or how old I am, or how long I’ve been married, or what I think of Egypt. There are a handful of very good students I am working with, but for most part their English skills are moderate to poor, especially in writing and reading. Their vocabulary shortages continue to astonish me: Mr. what is a “plow?” a “limb?” a “foe?” This is a serious problem since they are using textbooks designed for American 11th and 12th graders. Many of them should really be using a textbook designed for students of much lower grades.
It is ironic and a little exasperating, but this is pretty darn close to the sort of situation I was trying to avoid by being an overseas teacher. I was hoping that a foreign private school would have well-disciplined students extremely interested in their educations and the world. There are a few of these present at our school, but for the most part these are kids whose well-to-do parents have taken care of their every need for all their lives. They fully expect, it seems, to be taken care of by families when they graduate. Most see little point in making a real effort at school.
There are further difficulties I’m facing. Perhaps most importantly, I do not have my own room. Instead, all students stay in the same room all day together and the teachers come in to them. This creates some territorial issues, as you are on their turf. The rooms are also of poor quality in several respects. First, they are too small—especially for 25 students and a teacher crammed in against the whiteboard. Second, there is no sound-absorbing material on the walls, so the sound quality in every room is dreadful. Third, the individual air conditioners in each room only work 25% of the time, it seems, and you can imagine what summer temperatures in Cairo with no air conditioning mean to a classroom. The power also fairly regularly goes out. The organization of the school, meanwhile, leaves something to be desired. (And I think I’ll just leave it at that.)
And add to all this, of course, the fact I am a first year teacher.
Still, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I am not complaining, while this school is, for Egypt, a pretty darn good school. I am also still very glad we’re here. It’s turning out to be much harder than we expected, but this experience is priceless. The kids, furthermore, can be a lot of fun, are extremely nice even if “naughty,” and have a peculiar sort of innocence about them that seems lacking in many American kids. For instance, I’ve never gotten a really mean or resentful feeling from any of my students—even the ones I’ve had a lot of trouble with. I keep expecting them to be resentful, but instead they smile back when I smile at them in the halls, or after school while we’re waiting for the buses, and say “Hello, Mr. Lee” when I say hello to them.
I will try to include more specific personalities and details in later posts. I’m dealing with some pretty colorful characters in many cases!!!
As for Faith, here are some excerpts from some e-mails she has written. She most definitely, most positively, has the best (and I mean by that the worst) first-day story of all the American teachers at our school. Here you go:
For my part, I have found myself face-to-face with students who, on the whole, are very nice but very undisciplined. It has been difficult getting them to focus on their work, to listen without talking, and to stay in their seats. They have little interest in me as a teacher, but will all perk up and listen carefully whenever I talk like a real person. I can’t count the number of times students have asked what state I’m from, or if I’m married, or how old I am, or how long I’ve been married, or what I think of Egypt. There are a handful of very good students I am working with, but for most part their English skills are moderate to poor, especially in writing and reading. Their vocabulary shortages continue to astonish me: Mr. what is a “plow?” a “limb?” a “foe?” This is a serious problem since they are using textbooks designed for American 11th and 12th graders. Many of them should really be using a textbook designed for students of much lower grades.
It is ironic and a little exasperating, but this is pretty darn close to the sort of situation I was trying to avoid by being an overseas teacher. I was hoping that a foreign private school would have well-disciplined students extremely interested in their educations and the world. There are a few of these present at our school, but for the most part these are kids whose well-to-do parents have taken care of their every need for all their lives. They fully expect, it seems, to be taken care of by families when they graduate. Most see little point in making a real effort at school.
There are further difficulties I’m facing. Perhaps most importantly, I do not have my own room. Instead, all students stay in the same room all day together and the teachers come in to them. This creates some territorial issues, as you are on their turf. The rooms are also of poor quality in several respects. First, they are too small—especially for 25 students and a teacher crammed in against the whiteboard. Second, there is no sound-absorbing material on the walls, so the sound quality in every room is dreadful. Third, the individual air conditioners in each room only work 25% of the time, it seems, and you can imagine what summer temperatures in Cairo with no air conditioning mean to a classroom. The power also fairly regularly goes out. The organization of the school, meanwhile, leaves something to be desired. (And I think I’ll just leave it at that.)
And add to all this, of course, the fact I am a first year teacher.
Still, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I am not complaining, while this school is, for Egypt, a pretty darn good school. I am also still very glad we’re here. It’s turning out to be much harder than we expected, but this experience is priceless. The kids, furthermore, can be a lot of fun, are extremely nice even if “naughty,” and have a peculiar sort of innocence about them that seems lacking in many American kids. For instance, I’ve never gotten a really mean or resentful feeling from any of my students—even the ones I’ve had a lot of trouble with. I keep expecting them to be resentful, but instead they smile back when I smile at them in the halls, or after school while we’re waiting for the buses, and say “Hello, Mr. Lee” when I say hello to them.
I will try to include more specific personalities and details in later posts. I’m dealing with some pretty colorful characters in many cases!!!
As for Faith, here are some excerpts from some e-mails she has written. She most definitely, most positively, has the best (and I mean by that the worst) first-day story of all the American teachers at our school. Here you go:
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