Well, we made it through our first week of school. Three students and two teachers all starting a new school at the same time, it was pretty intense. Don and I are both teaching elementary ESL (English as a Second Language). Teaching younger kids is different for both of us, and in some ways will be difficult to get used to. Well, hey, we’re parents, so we’ve been around younger kids before.
For me, the hardest part of the week was watching so many children, including my own, with lost looks on their faces. Unlike most American schools, with just a few new kids each year, many of the students had just enrolled after moving from their home countries. A lot of the students are from Korea, but also from the US, Australia, Germany, France, Taiwan, Sweden, and Finland, to name a few. And at the elementary level, most come speaking no English, the curriculum language, so the change is pretty wrenching. Imagine you are six-years-old and just left your home and everything you know, and your parents send you to school where you spend all day understanding virtually nothing. That is the experience of many of these kids.
I felt good, though, that I was able to help a few students to feel taken care of. I have two little French girls in my ESL class, and I was glad that I could speak some French (badly) to them, and they seemed to feel better for it. In another instance, a teacher was trying to talk to three lost little girls. Two looked pretty Scandinavian, so I took a chance and started speaking Swedish. Sure enough, one was from Sweden and she started to talk my ear off. The other two were from Finland and Italy. The girls didn’t speak the same language, but they were clinging to each other for comfort. It was sad and heartening at the same time.
At least my own children speak English. And yet they were having a hard time, too. John was obsessed with getting a printout of his schedule, which for some reason they didn’t give him for the first few days. I can understand his distress; he already feels lost and out of control in our move, and a printed schedule gives him some much-needed structure. Since he got the schedule he seems less stressed about school. By the end of the week, all of the kids were talking about the students in their classes, the countries they are from, and generally seemed a little less freaked out and a little more calm. Allyne is even trying out for the school play. It’s still going to take some time, but I’m sure they, like the rest of the new students, will eventually feel like they are part of the school community.
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3 comments:
Despite the bumpy road this week, it sounds as though you're moving forward. Maybe one of your contributions (all of you) will be to influence how things are organized -- such as schedule printouts -- at the school next year. And to influence where you go for teacher lunches. Having said that, I have to admit that we went to a TGI in Prague this summer as a much-needed respite from sausage and roast pig knee. We also had a four-star (in substance, not in price) Chinese dinner in the same city. -- Dad
Oops! My last comment was in regards to your previous posting. As for this posting: Lee, if you did just one good thing this week (and I'm sure there were many) it was helping a frightened Swedish child gain safe footing. Few of us can influence "the many" but all of us can influence "the few." Looks like you're doing that. No surprises there. -- Dad
phew, so glad to hear that even with the bumps you seem to have good spirits about it all. I know it's comparatively minor, but Paul started first grade this week and that's been a big adjustment (and small trauma) as well. Tell Allyne I'm rooting for her!
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