2003-01-26 - 1:21 p.m.
5SSP. Five Specialized School Parkent. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday I teach English lessons. I have eight different classes, which meet either twice or thrice a week. The topic of my lessons range from holidays to daily schedules. As of late we have been focusing on the Uzbek lifestyle. The students are separated into two groups, boys and girls. Then they develop record their daily schedules on a large sheet of paper and present the plan to the class. The similarities are many. Students wake, attend school, return home. But the differences are also stark. The boys return home to play footbal or watch T.V. or do lessons. The girls return home, have tea, then help their mothers until dinner. Then after dinner clean the dishes. For the boys and girls to see the differences in time and workload was an accomplishment as a teacher. This past week we also make community maps, following a similar outline. The girls and boys drew maps of their perceived community and marked places as important, liked, disliked. Then we moved on to what was needed, but missing. Next week will be an important week, as the students determine places or things needed and possible in Parkent.
Despite some successes, Tuesday was the worst teaching day I have had in Uzbekistan. My eighth grade "A" group, which has some of the most respectful and diligent studetns, began the day with an arrogant attitude, not following directions, frantically completing geometry homework, and most importantly, not completing my assignment. Discipline is certainly not my best teaching quality, and scolding in a foreign language is not so easy. Finally, my most effective weapon in English, saracasm, is nearly useless when under the pressure of classroom management. So, in my best frustrated Uzbek, I gave them a short speech on respect, then asked them to leave my room (5 minutes early). Unfortunately, they had trouble understanding my command. Really I think they refused to listen to me. They just stood, staring at me, dumbfounded. Finally, after animating my disappointment, they left (as the bell was ringing). One girl stayed behind to write a note, "excuse me Mr. Kevin." It was little consolation. Throughout the day, random eigth formers knocked at my classroom door, apoligizing.
Wednesday I went to Peace Corps office in Tashkent, a place I visited four times this week. The lack of computer hurts my work ability, especially my outside projects and responsibilities. Nevertheless, as I began to think about my horrible Tuesday, it was obvious that is was not so bad, and rather humorous, especially with my sad attemptto scold in a foreign language. And really, my lesson planning should not have included group work two weeks in a row, especially for the young kids. Group work is very uncommon here, and the adjustment is not an overnight process. My frustration came from my high expectations, and less from the students disinterest. A nice learning lesson. The community development continues, but visible improvements are limited.
