First Week in the Classroom

So last week was my first week in classes. It was very exciting for me to be able to begin my reason for being in Martinique. It was a thrill to walk into the classroom with students waiting eagerly to hear me speak. The closer and closer the day came that I would be in the classroom the more and more excited I became. I was ready for this new challenge of teaching and was very excited to give it a go. I spent much of the first week at my two high schools in classes where I would not be teaching, but was there to introduce myself to English classes that would only meet me that one time. I presume the goal was to have me meet as many kids as possible to energize their desire for learning English. They would then know who I was and could talk with me in the hallways in the coming weeks. It was an interesting experience that first day because my first couple of classes were a bit rambunctious. One class had just come back from gym class so they were full of energy. It was interesting to see the way the students interacted with the teacher and how the class functioned as a whole because it was less disciplined than I thought. Kids would talk more and listen less than I expected so I knew early on this was going to be a new experience. I seemed to command more of their attention than I anticipated. I soon realized that I was the one seen as exotic and foreign. It's difficult to come to that realization on my own because leading up to my departure I was thinking I'm going to a new and exotic place. For me that was true but for the rest of the world that is currently around me, I am new and exotic. Because of my exoticism, the students listened to me and I had fun interacting with them. I spent about an hour in 12 different classrooms where, for the most part, I would introduce myself and say where I'm from. I would mention my reasons for being in Martinique but wouldn't say too much more than that because I was told over and over again by teachers that my goal is to get kids to talk. As such, I would spend the remaining majority of class time having the students ask me questions. If they were to quiet or I needed to get their minds thinking I would ask them about Martinique or their experience. Most of the questions pertained to my interests and my hobbies, but they asked about Seattle and general American culture. They asked about the movies, music and tv shows I like. They were very excited anytime I mentioned something that they liked a lot. A huge student favorite was anytime I mentioned the Simpsons. The whole class would light of with my smiles and everyone would begin talking to their neighbor until order was restored in the classroom. I would get goofy questions like 'Have you ever done spring break?' (meaning the MTV style spring break in Cancun or wherever else that happens). They would ask me about how close the movie American Pie was to real college life. With questions like these I assured them that this was not the experience of most college students maybe a bit to their dismay. They asked me about Obama and my opinion of him. They were big fans of his, but when asked if someone like Obama could be president in France they were all in agreement in saying no. It was interesting to talk to the older kids because they felt more comfortable and were more willing to speak in English so I gathered from their classes that people in Martinique didn't feel like they mattered to much in the politics of France especially with Sarkozy as their President. There was a general disdain with the current French president and his relations with the Martinique and France's other outer departments. They were most excited by the fact that I knew reggae and dancehall music because both are hugely popular on the island and is usually what is heard blasting from cars and headphones. They also listened to a lot of Zouk music which is a local music that is very popular. At the end of the day the students were excited to see someone in the classroom that was close in age to them and someone who had similar interests to them. I think that familiarity will aid me greatly in the coming weeks and months. At the end of the week I was exhausted from standing and talking but each day I came away feeling good and was happy to be engaging in cultural exchange with these students. I enjoyed it and I think they enjoyed the change of pace that came with my presence in the classroom. It probably helped that I delayed the handing in of whatever homework they had due that day.

I taught my first two classes by myself today, Monday. I had everyone introduce themselves and talk about some their favorite musicians, tv shows, movies and hobbies. I had two classes and introductions lasted most of the class. The students today were a bit stubborn at times because they loved to talk to their neighbor when it wasn't their turn to introduce themselves, but when it came time to participate everyone did a good job. After the first week and today I have come to realize the importance of classroom management and keeping the students focused. I will be working on ways to that in the next week as I prepare a curriculum for the following week. The remainder of the week I will be in classrooms continuing to meet that classes that I will be working directly with and will continue with introductions until next week when I start a curriculum. I'm looking forward to it and I hope that I can help the kids improve their speaking ability.