Pershendetje nga Shqiperia - "Greetings from Albania."
This post marks only a two week gap between posts, which I believe represents a change that I have felt within this experience as a whole. The weekly schedule that I described last time has lasted for the last two weeks marking the longest period of relative stability that I have experienced since arrival. There has still certainly been some ups and downs, but overall I would say that I am beginning to find a rhythm to this experience. The more stable schedule has led to more time that is not intruded by the feeling that I should be doing something else. Throughout the whole beginning of this experience, there was always something that needed to be done. Whether it was figuring out how to actually teach high school history, lesson planning, working on the school building, coming up with school policy, discussing thoughts and feelings, emailing, conversing about what needs to change, or just thinking about the whole experience, I was busy. This time has been great because we accomplished a lot by establishing a school and I feel rewarded by the work we have done.
However, I am beginning to feel that I have more time because I no longer always have something hovering above my head that needs to be done. This means that free time actually feels more free. I have actually allowed myself to watch two movies in each of the past two weeks, something before that seemed like an irresponsible waste of time. Although, as has been my experience, when the gift of free time comes along it is usually accompanied by the desire to procrastinate...which causes a paradox because once again I always feel like I should be working during my free time. My next hurdle in this experience is to find the discipline to establish a routine where I do sufficient work after school to allow me to feel good about relaxing with my time before going to sleep.
Six weeks of school are now complete and we are moving forward. As routine begins to set in the issues and adaptations are becoming less and less frequent. My biggest concern is that we do not let complacency take hold because we can always improve. I have felt the improvement in student behavior begin to plateau over the past couple weeks and we may need to come up with a renewed focus on how to address this ever-present issue. Throughout my teaching experience I have seen a noticeable divide between normal student behavior and Friday behavior. This past week was particularly clamorous because we had off school on Wednesday promoting sense of coming freedom in the classroom which always unveils its face through short attention spans and verbal processing. Furthermore, each of us teachers must each figure out what the coming end to the first quarter looks like in terms of wrapping up classes and beginning new ones. This job is never complete.
I feel like the atmosphere in the school is becoming very comfortable as students and staff now know what to expect when coming to school. It is obvious that many of the students enjoy coming to school in the morning. I believe that each of the staff members is settling into their role which has shown itself in our interactions. We have become more comfortable with each other because we are learning more about how each person functions and, more importantly, because emotions are becoming less sporadic as the unknown regions of this experience become more defined. I see the different personalities and gifts of the staff coming together to fill the gaps and create a loving school environment. This has shown itself in my interactions with the students. Last Friday, I again took the students to the field to play some games and taught them "Crossing the river." I felt that the students were interacting with new people and were coming together as a unified school community. I have also had some meaningful conversations with students about deeper-level topics. I pray that the students continue to sense a loving community at this school and allow themselves to be more open to new ideas.
This feeling of settling in has coincided with the changing of seasons. The cold and the wind have arrived in Lezha in dramatic fashion. The wind can sound like a train passing by as it threatens to blow over trees, buildings, or individuals and the rains arrive with the flash of lightning. I have turned to the warmth provided by a thick blanket to sleep with along with my hoodie and scarf to relax in. The cold weather has a way of slowing life down as you become more conscious of the natural reality around you. Over the years, I have learned that the cold weather signals the approach of the holiday season and the warm gatherings of family and friends. For our Wednesday night staff worship times we met first in the girls apartment and then in the Troyer's apartment. The sense of home and hospitality in both places lead to comfortable and meaningful time of fellowship that reminded me of these holiday gatherings. I will admit that a significant reason I made this connection was likely the scent and taste of hot tea in both locations which is something I do not often indulge in apart from these familiar times of gathering. These gatherings were also my first experiences in leading worship with guitar, something that has been a goal of mine for the last few years. I look forward to continuing to practice and improve this ability for immediate and future use.
The changing of seasons has brought about a noticeable shift in the available food. Some fruits such as: peaches, nectarines, and figs are being replaced by oranges, persimmons, and chestnuts. However, more interesting to me was the appearance of large water bottles stuffed with small yellow peppers at my regular produce stand. I bought one, cut it open to, let the water rush out, and had a taste. The results were an elevated heartbeat, burning tongue, and a few extra tears in my eyes...these were hot peppers. I immediately thought that this was the missing ingredient to a Greek salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, and feta cheese. These pepers gave the needed kick to this healthy dish which I have made several times in the past week. To go along with the salad, I have discovered that I can revive stale bread by toasting it and then apply olive oil to give it a delectable crunchy/chewy consistency. At school we have discovered a catering service that will bring in food during activity period and provide a buffet type lunch for $3. On days that I decide to pay for this opportunity, the students enjoy watching me walk away from the serving table with plate after plate of food...I get my money's worth.
Once again I have a story about a food-related encounter. Last Saturday night I went to grab a quick dinner. The sausage carts were no where to be found and the pizza place did not have any on-the-go slices ready. I decided to order a personal pizza and attempt a conversation with the chef as I watched him make my custom pizza. As I am a regular at the place, the owner and I have had a few very limited conversations about Italy, opening a pizza shop together in Philadelphia, and getting a visa to live in America. Hand signals and sporadic use of known vocabulary from each other's corresponding language can accomplish a surprising amount. After the fresh pizza was complete with a red pepper garnish, I took my time enjoying the tastes while watching a soccer game on TV. As I ate the whole pizza myself, some older gentlemen came into the shop and slowly began to set up for a late dinner. As I was about to leave, they asked me to join their table. Wanting to take advantage of this cultural opportunity and not wanting to be rude I accepted. After some broken attempts at conversation they insisted that I eat with them piling fish, cheese, vegetables, and bread on my plate despite the fact that I had just eaten a big pizza. They would not accept my first or second "yo falemenderit (no thank you)" to their offerings and, not being too strongly opposed, I would give in and accept their generosity. I received good food, home-made wine, and cigars while playing the part of American companion and audience member to their impressive ability to never have a break in conversation. Apparently I did something right because almost three hours later, at the end of the meal they communicated that they wanted me to join them again for their exclusive dinner fiasco. This was a good example of an unexpected Albanian cultural experience.
The recent sense of routine also allowed Kristi, Kaitlyn, and I to take most of the day last Saturday to take a trip to the northern historic city of Shkodra (pics on Facebook). In the morning along with Tori and Besnik, two peers from church who are familiar with the city, we took an hour van ride to the city. We walked around for a while before finding an awesome cafe to drink some come coffee. Then we walked some more to an old building made into a restaurant which was like a small museum with displays of traditional Albanian clothes and tools. We stopped to get some fast food and check out the city theater before taking a bus to the castle. We had to climb up the hill to reach the castle which was a combination of great views and history. The castle had a 360 view of the city, lake, and countryside sprawled out below. The castle was much larger than the one in Lezha and had Illyrian and Roman stones to go along with the later Ottoman structures. We ate at our fastfood at the top of the castle before I broke off to explore, take pictures, and climb old stuff. We concluded our time by relaxing and drinking coffee at the cafe on the edge of the castle. We took the bus back to Lezha in the early evening, just before I had my cultural dinner encounter.
As I have been settling in over the past few weeks, I have begun to reflect on this experience and what it is teaching me. One thing that has been a normal part of socializing here is drinking coffee. Bars/cafes are everywhere. It makes me wonder how their is enough people to give business to all these places, but it is the thing to do at any time of the day. Unlike in America, the coffee is served in tiny cups that remind me of a child's tea set. Also, while in America coffee is always taken on the move, here people stop to sit and do nothing else but drink coffee and talk to those with them. While at times it has seemed unproductive, particularly when I become the audience for a conversation I do not understand, I have found that it can be very releasing. In the States we have our routines, and when things or people get in the way, it can be bothersome. Here if you run into someone you often stop to get coffee and forget about other tasks. It becomes a major component of the day as often these times average an hour and they can happen multiple times a day depending on your schedule. People here are more deliberate about "being with" other people and that is something I have often searched for in the States. Why do we feel like we always need to do something? Why can't we just take the time to stop being busy and talk about life? While I have realized this through my experiences in the past, this culture has reminded me to slow down and take time out of your routine to truly be present with others. I don't see Jesus with much of a routine...a schedule of miracles to perform or Pharisees to rhetorically best. He took time to be with those who He encountered and to change their lives. He was never to busy doing something to talk to or show compassion to someone. While at the time our schedule may seem important, most likely it does not bear eternal value, and if we don't have enough time to stop and be with those who need love around us then maybe our time has become an idol.
Outside of school my relationships have been largely formed during drinking coffee. Over the past few weeks, I have spent time with Dini, Tori, Besnik, and Rafael around a table conversing. I am grateful for this fellowship with men that I can identify that is not within the confines of school. These times of slowing down help me focus on what actually matters. The few things I have in Albania have reminded to be thankful for everything God has given me both here and at home. I am thankful for the conversations at coffee, a warm blanket to sleep with, fresh produce, wireless internet, electricity, time, the Bible, an extra mattress, friends, driving stick with the windows down, my education, my hoodie, the air conditioner in my class, the faithfulness of God, my family, rain, my home church, hugs, nature around us, a comfortable chair, warm bread, insulation, running water, and a computer that works. The slow and frustrating process of getting the things necessary for a school to run effectively have caused me to be very thankful for everything we receive. Yesterday, we finally got all the beautiful computers here, so we will be able to have a computer lab. Students will be able to write and print papers and we will be able to teach them how to organize their papers and do research online. Looking forward to it.
I have also been working hard at gathering support at home to get the things we need sent over and it looks like we are close to salvation. Christmas will arrive early when we get a copier along with a lot of other supplies in a big shipment from the States. Thank you to those of you involved in this process. For those who are supporting with prayer, please pray that this process goes smoothly so that everything can be gathered and sent efficiently. It will be very encouraging to finally feel like we relatively fully supplied as a school. Of course continued prayer for the staff and students is always needed. Thank you to those of you who continue to be present here with us through your support. Whether or not I choose to stay another year, God is working through this experience and is teaching me new things everyday, which I hope that I can remember.
Finally, I would like to leave you with a verse that really hit me this past week. It does not really relate to anything I discussed nor does it leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling, but it was something that I had not taken notice of before. In direct fashion 1 Peter 4:11 says, "If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God." Wow! That is a lot of responsibility. I think we could all work on striving toward this by removing bitterness, gossip, and idle talk from our lives. As a teacher, this is particularly heavy...how can I teach by making every word as if it were from God?
Well have fun with that and count your blessings.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Exploring Uncharted Waters
Tungjatjeta. Si Jeni? - "Hello. How are you?"
I first want to mention that the title for this post comes from a design and slogan that the teachers and I have been designing to perhaps use for the school. This slogan is particularly fitting for the four of us who are all first year teachers. We are in our first year of teaching in a new culture, a new school, and very separated from what we have grown accustomed to over the years. In a way, I think each of us feels like an explorer. The girls are teaching subjects that they were not specifically trained in to students who are much bigger than those from their student teaching experience. We are learning how to manage our time and relate to the students while traversing the struggles of teaching ESL students in a foreign country. The seas have been rough, but we have continued on in search of what God has for us.
We have navigated the first four weeks of school at LAC and are beginning to feel more stable. Classes have been going well and we have not lost any students since after the first week of school. We have established a good rapport with the students, parents, and in the community. We gained a student this past week and it seems that we will get another this week giving us a total of 32. Most of the students appear to feel valued and at home in the school. I feel good about the relationships I am developing with the students. There is a variety of personalities, learning styles, and backgrounds that must be accounted for if I want to teach and reach these kids. I am learning how to have fun with them in and outside the classroom while keeping a professional relationship that cannot be taken advantage of in school. I am hoping to develop more opportunities to interact with the students outside of the classroom to make it easier to for more meaningful exchanges to occur.
Teaching has been interesting. The first few weeks have been a process of teaching not only new content, but also ways of behavior. Many of the students come from schools where class size was over 30 students and there was little attention given to their needs. They were allowed to talk, shout out answers, cheat, use their cell phones, mess around, not pay attention to the lesson, and - only naturally - speak Albanian. Our rules and expectations at LAC are different than they are used to. While this process of changing behavior is far from complete I have seen encouraging changes. During the first couple weeks I was more understanding of their conduct, but over the last two weeks I have tightened the reins. I now have little tolerance for Albanian and other comments while I am teaching. The method that a couple of us have adopted has been to give 10 participation points each week, if they behave appropriately they will keep these points, if not they will begin to lose them. Hopefully, the students begin to respond and we do not have to spend as much effort in classroom management.
The students are very motivated, but their learning has been very different than in the US. In general, they posses less of the crucial skills necessary for deeper leaning that we value so highly in the US including: synthesizing information, critical thinking, and writing. One of the experiences that has helped me to understand the depth of this inadequacy was the first project that I assigned in World History. I knew going in that the students would be unfamiliar with the task I was assigning them, so I spent over half an hour describing in depth my expectations for writing a 2 page research paper on one of five ancient civilizations of the Middle East. I gave a description of the typical essay format and a thorough explanation of plagiarism including several remarks about how it was not appropriate to copy words a source. Needless to say, the work they handed in at the end of the week did not approach my expectations. I only got one paper out of a class of 13 that did not copy directly from a source. Most of them simply copy and pasted a few paragraphs from the internet into their paper and many did not even bother to change the words that were bolded, underlined, or in different font. They were embarrassed and amused when I told them that the paragraphs that I circled on their papers represented a paragraph which I encountered on the web and oddly found to be the exact same thing. Their paper organization looked nothing like what I was used to seeing as most of them hand-wrote corrections, hade large amounts of space not covered by words, and showed no natural flow of information. Because the difference was so overwhelming I realized that I expected too much too soon. They are not used to writing papers or coming up with their own words and ideas, much less doing it in English in an organized format. Since then I have been much more cautious with what I expect them to do and we have worked at taking steps toward improvement. The two papers I have assigned since then have been shorter, simpler, and did not involve use of sources outside of their own notes leading to much better results.
The gap in the style of education has led to other adventures. Tests have been an exhausting process of hawking over the students to prevent them from cheating. We have been told that everyone here cheats. If you pay for a private education you are typically handed a good grade without the work. It is normal for students to tell each other answers and teachers will even encourage them to cheat or give students answers so that they do well on the test. There is no concept of doing independent work and little understanding of grades being given solely based on performance of a given task. Students often assume that since they are smart they will automatically get a good grade and do not need to listen to directions. There has been some frustration among students who usually get perfect grades wondering how we wronged them by taking their points and giving them a lower grade than they are used to. We have had to constantly assert that grades are not based on intelligence or relationship with a teacher, but on participation and performance. This school is working at creating an atmosphere of integrity and higher expectations that is slowly catching on. Going back to the tests, it has been hard work to prevent students from blatantly cheating resulting in confiscation of test and a mark of 0. I have to repeat countless times that there can be no talking during the test before it begins to sink in. I can tell that students have wanted to cheat and are looking for ways to do it, but I believe I have kept them from following through proximity, reminders, or simply prolonged glares. Despite this, they have a lot of experience, creativity, and drive to come up with ways to cheat and I am sure it will be a constant battle to keep them honest.
Switching to something not school related, we have finally began to experience changes in the weather. The second week of school we got a few days of rain which conveniently coincided with us planting grass seed in the back courtyard. The last couple of weeks it was back to being warm with cooler mornings and evenings. It has been nice because I am able to spend time in my apartment without sweating and no longer need to fully depend on my fan to be able to fall asleep. Last night the rains came again along with some lightning (enjoyed from the roof during a power outage) so the weather may begin to turn. I am mostly looking forward to this because the air conditioner in Miss Bontrager's room (where I teach one class) no longer works and it can be very hot with the sun shining in. I am hoping that it does not get too cold during the winter as I have only packed two sweat shirts and a rain jacket to battle the elements, but it should be fine because I can always resort to excessive use of available blankets.
There have been a few developments in the area of food. The pizza place I mentioned has been a regular stop as its convenient location allows me to pass by and grab a couple slices on my way along a discovered short cut to the center of town. The fast food place where I get my sufflaqe is also convenient because it lies near my major food shopping joints. I have also discovered a small grocery store with some good American-style yogurt. I can buy a large tub for $2.50 and use it for over a week to make delicious bowls of fruit and yogurt parfaits (nuts are soon to be added) which I have been eating for a quick lunch. Also, last weekend we were invited by the parents of one of our students to eat at their restaurant. It was awesome because they gave us so much seafood: calamari, jumbo shrimp, and different kinds of fish along with salad, soup, rice, and pasta which all also included seafood. This was probably my second favorite meal after the dinner that was eaten across the river in Shkodra. However, my favorite every day food taken advantage of in the last couple weeks has been sausage sandwiches made on the street by men in mobile motorcycle carts. Now the location can be tricky because they are always moving, but at night if I make a lap around the block I am usually rewarded with one of these sandwiches purchased for 50 cents.
This brings me to a story from this past week...During activity period in school I saw one of the guys I know driving by in his sausage cart and I waved as a greeting. However, he took this to mean I wanted to buy another sandwich so he turned around and parked at the school gate. Not wanting to disappoint him and unable to explain the miscommunication since I don't speak Albanian, I quick asked a student for money. After receiving money I greeted the man and ordered a sandwich. Since this was the first time something different was available for lunch some of the students began to come out. With my mind working quickly with how to address this unexpected situation I received my sandwich and said it was fine if the students wanted to buy their own. Later in my classroom I remembered that I should pay the student back, so I reached into my pocket and pulled out 200 lek...and paused to think. I slowly gave the same bill that the student had given to me back to him and he gave me a confused look. I nodded and said, "Yea, pretty sure I did not pay for that sandwich." The students had a good laugh at it. That night I decided to seek out this guy to pay him back. Unusually, I saw no sausage carts on my loop around the block, but before heading back I saw the top of an umbrella just visible over a car in the distance. I decided to check it out and it turned out to be the same guy. I used broken Albanian to reference earlier at the school that I gave him no money and apologized. I gave him the owed amount and noticed his wife looking strangely at me...she whispered something to her husband and, after receiving a response, she said in English, "Oh, so your not from Albania." Smiling because it was yet another example of how my darker features always allow me to blend in until I try to speak Albanian, I told her that I was an American teacher from LAC. The three of us then had a nice conversation and the guy said he would like to come to school during activity period to sell sandwiches. So after all of that, something good was accomplished. While blending in has its advantages, it can also lead to some awkward situations where people try to talk to me expecting a response - perhaps even repeating themselves after I say I don't speak Albanian - or they stare at me like I am an idiot when I try to speak. If there is someone around to translate, the people are usually surprised to learn that I am not Albanian.
We have continued to experience roadblocks over the past few weeks. We have continued to move forward without many of the needed pieces of equipment, but the bigger issues has been frustratingly voiced as "bureaucracy." (bet most of you did not know how to spell that word...at least I was not close) There have been some major issues with registering the Shahini's two cars in the Albanian system. They have been told different things, but two weeks ago Dini was stopped by police and told that they were going to confiscate his car. He spent days trying to get the paperwork taken care of, but none of the officials would accept anything and they kept sending him from one place to another. The reason all this was happening was because the different levels of Albanian bureaucracy each wanted money under the table. Since, he refused they continued to make life difficult until finally Dini called a higher-up that he knew who yelled at some people and told him to pick up his car. He was able to get the car back and get "officially" entered into the registry with Albanian plates. At the end of that week, we were informed that our first shipment of four computers had arrived in Tirana. When Dini and Klementina went to pick these up, the same cycle was started again. All sorts questions were thrown at them about the "real reason" these computers were shipped to Albania. Eventually, after a few days and more frustration, this situation was worked out too. This means we finally have some of the promised computers and we were able to set up the wireless internet (using it right now). The rest of the computers should be arriving at the end of the coming week and the projector cords any day now. We are slowly getting the things that we need and the process of getting a copy machine in the US seems to be underway. It feels good to get some of the equipment we need and has encouraged my perspective that the light at the end of the tunnel is approaching.
This past week at school we have continued to adapt to what is needed and to improve. We have formed a weekly schedule that will likely have a degree of permanence, which is a welcome change. Monday through Thursday after school until 4pm we have study hall and during this time the students who need tutoring will receive one on one attention to work on English and homework. Each of us teachers is responsible for being present and working through the homework with a targeted group of students for two days. I will likely be further helping once we set up the computer lab in the coming weeks to facilitate student work in the lab while working on building and updating the school website. On Mondays we will begin taking Albanian language classes again in an attempt to make some progress on that forsaken frontier. Tuesdays and Thursdays we will have staff meetings, which are usually very long (2 hours) because we have to discuss changes and best ways to approach the issues that arise every day. Evening English classes will also finally start on Monday at 5-6pm with 5 sections, two taught taught by each Milt and Ann and the other taught by Miss Bontrager. On Wednesdays after evening classes, the American staff of LAC will meet for our weekly fellowship and worship session at the school. Then finally on Fridays, we will usually have an after-school activity with the students. Two weeks ago, we took the students to the local stadium to play capture the flag and soccer. Last week, we used a half-day schedule and then used the second half of the day for an Albanian food and American game exposition. Each of the students cooked a traditional Albanian food, presented it to the school, and gave a sample to a panel of judges to pick a winner for best main dish, best dessert, and most authentic dish. Miss Hedrick, Miss Bontrager, and I had the pleasure of shoving 30 different Albanian foods down our mouths in 30 minutes and acting like we had enough time to actually keep track of everything to effectively pick a winner. The students then tried all the dishes and picked a "Student Choice" winner. Then I taught the kids four square, Miss Hedrick played spoons with them, and Miss Bontrager showed them "cup cup". This Friday nothing was planned, so I took the kids to a field to teach them American football. It was a disaster at first but they slowly began to catch on, however they soon got bored of learning. They then taught me Albanian dodgeball which was not nearly as fun as normal dodgeball.
In World History, the first week and couple days was spent teaching the ancient civilizations of the Near East discussing the Epic of Gilgamesh, Creation myths, the development of technology and religion, and the major differences between Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. The next week was the beginning of Chinese civilization focusing on the development of the early dynasties and the 3 major Chinese Philosophies of Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. The end of this past week was spent introducing ancient India including the first video using Miss Reinhardt's computer and later discussing the religions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. In English Foundations we have been journaling, working on essay writing, doing interviews, and building vocabulary.
The last three weeks have been a voyage into the unknown. It has been trying and stressful in different ways, but we have also experienced God's faithfulness and I believe that land is not far off. There has been a lot of trials that I feel have been aimed to discourage and frustrate us, but with the support of our brothers and sisters we will accomplish our mission. Please continue to pray for the staff that we will be encouraged and find the role we have to play. A specific prayer request that I have is for the discernment to see how God wants us to reach the students and the community more than just being a quality American school. I apologize for another long delay before another lengthy post, but if you wanna know whats going on over here there is no more exhaustive account available.
Thank you and enjoy the end of Yom Kippur.
I first want to mention that the title for this post comes from a design and slogan that the teachers and I have been designing to perhaps use for the school. This slogan is particularly fitting for the four of us who are all first year teachers. We are in our first year of teaching in a new culture, a new school, and very separated from what we have grown accustomed to over the years. In a way, I think each of us feels like an explorer. The girls are teaching subjects that they were not specifically trained in to students who are much bigger than those from their student teaching experience. We are learning how to manage our time and relate to the students while traversing the struggles of teaching ESL students in a foreign country. The seas have been rough, but we have continued on in search of what God has for us.
We have navigated the first four weeks of school at LAC and are beginning to feel more stable. Classes have been going well and we have not lost any students since after the first week of school. We have established a good rapport with the students, parents, and in the community. We gained a student this past week and it seems that we will get another this week giving us a total of 32. Most of the students appear to feel valued and at home in the school. I feel good about the relationships I am developing with the students. There is a variety of personalities, learning styles, and backgrounds that must be accounted for if I want to teach and reach these kids. I am learning how to have fun with them in and outside the classroom while keeping a professional relationship that cannot be taken advantage of in school. I am hoping to develop more opportunities to interact with the students outside of the classroom to make it easier to for more meaningful exchanges to occur.
Teaching has been interesting. The first few weeks have been a process of teaching not only new content, but also ways of behavior. Many of the students come from schools where class size was over 30 students and there was little attention given to their needs. They were allowed to talk, shout out answers, cheat, use their cell phones, mess around, not pay attention to the lesson, and - only naturally - speak Albanian. Our rules and expectations at LAC are different than they are used to. While this process of changing behavior is far from complete I have seen encouraging changes. During the first couple weeks I was more understanding of their conduct, but over the last two weeks I have tightened the reins. I now have little tolerance for Albanian and other comments while I am teaching. The method that a couple of us have adopted has been to give 10 participation points each week, if they behave appropriately they will keep these points, if not they will begin to lose them. Hopefully, the students begin to respond and we do not have to spend as much effort in classroom management.
The students are very motivated, but their learning has been very different than in the US. In general, they posses less of the crucial skills necessary for deeper leaning that we value so highly in the US including: synthesizing information, critical thinking, and writing. One of the experiences that has helped me to understand the depth of this inadequacy was the first project that I assigned in World History. I knew going in that the students would be unfamiliar with the task I was assigning them, so I spent over half an hour describing in depth my expectations for writing a 2 page research paper on one of five ancient civilizations of the Middle East. I gave a description of the typical essay format and a thorough explanation of plagiarism including several remarks about how it was not appropriate to copy words a source. Needless to say, the work they handed in at the end of the week did not approach my expectations. I only got one paper out of a class of 13 that did not copy directly from a source. Most of them simply copy and pasted a few paragraphs from the internet into their paper and many did not even bother to change the words that were bolded, underlined, or in different font. They were embarrassed and amused when I told them that the paragraphs that I circled on their papers represented a paragraph which I encountered on the web and oddly found to be the exact same thing. Their paper organization looked nothing like what I was used to seeing as most of them hand-wrote corrections, hade large amounts of space not covered by words, and showed no natural flow of information. Because the difference was so overwhelming I realized that I expected too much too soon. They are not used to writing papers or coming up with their own words and ideas, much less doing it in English in an organized format. Since then I have been much more cautious with what I expect them to do and we have worked at taking steps toward improvement. The two papers I have assigned since then have been shorter, simpler, and did not involve use of sources outside of their own notes leading to much better results.
The gap in the style of education has led to other adventures. Tests have been an exhausting process of hawking over the students to prevent them from cheating. We have been told that everyone here cheats. If you pay for a private education you are typically handed a good grade without the work. It is normal for students to tell each other answers and teachers will even encourage them to cheat or give students answers so that they do well on the test. There is no concept of doing independent work and little understanding of grades being given solely based on performance of a given task. Students often assume that since they are smart they will automatically get a good grade and do not need to listen to directions. There has been some frustration among students who usually get perfect grades wondering how we wronged them by taking their points and giving them a lower grade than they are used to. We have had to constantly assert that grades are not based on intelligence or relationship with a teacher, but on participation and performance. This school is working at creating an atmosphere of integrity and higher expectations that is slowly catching on. Going back to the tests, it has been hard work to prevent students from blatantly cheating resulting in confiscation of test and a mark of 0. I have to repeat countless times that there can be no talking during the test before it begins to sink in. I can tell that students have wanted to cheat and are looking for ways to do it, but I believe I have kept them from following through proximity, reminders, or simply prolonged glares. Despite this, they have a lot of experience, creativity, and drive to come up with ways to cheat and I am sure it will be a constant battle to keep them honest.
Switching to something not school related, we have finally began to experience changes in the weather. The second week of school we got a few days of rain which conveniently coincided with us planting grass seed in the back courtyard. The last couple of weeks it was back to being warm with cooler mornings and evenings. It has been nice because I am able to spend time in my apartment without sweating and no longer need to fully depend on my fan to be able to fall asleep. Last night the rains came again along with some lightning (enjoyed from the roof during a power outage) so the weather may begin to turn. I am mostly looking forward to this because the air conditioner in Miss Bontrager's room (where I teach one class) no longer works and it can be very hot with the sun shining in. I am hoping that it does not get too cold during the winter as I have only packed two sweat shirts and a rain jacket to battle the elements, but it should be fine because I can always resort to excessive use of available blankets.
There have been a few developments in the area of food. The pizza place I mentioned has been a regular stop as its convenient location allows me to pass by and grab a couple slices on my way along a discovered short cut to the center of town. The fast food place where I get my sufflaqe is also convenient because it lies near my major food shopping joints. I have also discovered a small grocery store with some good American-style yogurt. I can buy a large tub for $2.50 and use it for over a week to make delicious bowls of fruit and yogurt parfaits (nuts are soon to be added) which I have been eating for a quick lunch. Also, last weekend we were invited by the parents of one of our students to eat at their restaurant. It was awesome because they gave us so much seafood: calamari, jumbo shrimp, and different kinds of fish along with salad, soup, rice, and pasta which all also included seafood. This was probably my second favorite meal after the dinner that was eaten across the river in Shkodra. However, my favorite every day food taken advantage of in the last couple weeks has been sausage sandwiches made on the street by men in mobile motorcycle carts. Now the location can be tricky because they are always moving, but at night if I make a lap around the block I am usually rewarded with one of these sandwiches purchased for 50 cents.
This brings me to a story from this past week...During activity period in school I saw one of the guys I know driving by in his sausage cart and I waved as a greeting. However, he took this to mean I wanted to buy another sandwich so he turned around and parked at the school gate. Not wanting to disappoint him and unable to explain the miscommunication since I don't speak Albanian, I quick asked a student for money. After receiving money I greeted the man and ordered a sandwich. Since this was the first time something different was available for lunch some of the students began to come out. With my mind working quickly with how to address this unexpected situation I received my sandwich and said it was fine if the students wanted to buy their own. Later in my classroom I remembered that I should pay the student back, so I reached into my pocket and pulled out 200 lek...and paused to think. I slowly gave the same bill that the student had given to me back to him and he gave me a confused look. I nodded and said, "Yea, pretty sure I did not pay for that sandwich." The students had a good laugh at it. That night I decided to seek out this guy to pay him back. Unusually, I saw no sausage carts on my loop around the block, but before heading back I saw the top of an umbrella just visible over a car in the distance. I decided to check it out and it turned out to be the same guy. I used broken Albanian to reference earlier at the school that I gave him no money and apologized. I gave him the owed amount and noticed his wife looking strangely at me...she whispered something to her husband and, after receiving a response, she said in English, "Oh, so your not from Albania." Smiling because it was yet another example of how my darker features always allow me to blend in until I try to speak Albanian, I told her that I was an American teacher from LAC. The three of us then had a nice conversation and the guy said he would like to come to school during activity period to sell sandwiches. So after all of that, something good was accomplished. While blending in has its advantages, it can also lead to some awkward situations where people try to talk to me expecting a response - perhaps even repeating themselves after I say I don't speak Albanian - or they stare at me like I am an idiot when I try to speak. If there is someone around to translate, the people are usually surprised to learn that I am not Albanian.
We have continued to experience roadblocks over the past few weeks. We have continued to move forward without many of the needed pieces of equipment, but the bigger issues has been frustratingly voiced as "bureaucracy." (bet most of you did not know how to spell that word...at least I was not close) There have been some major issues with registering the Shahini's two cars in the Albanian system. They have been told different things, but two weeks ago Dini was stopped by police and told that they were going to confiscate his car. He spent days trying to get the paperwork taken care of, but none of the officials would accept anything and they kept sending him from one place to another. The reason all this was happening was because the different levels of Albanian bureaucracy each wanted money under the table. Since, he refused they continued to make life difficult until finally Dini called a higher-up that he knew who yelled at some people and told him to pick up his car. He was able to get the car back and get "officially" entered into the registry with Albanian plates. At the end of that week, we were informed that our first shipment of four computers had arrived in Tirana. When Dini and Klementina went to pick these up, the same cycle was started again. All sorts questions were thrown at them about the "real reason" these computers were shipped to Albania. Eventually, after a few days and more frustration, this situation was worked out too. This means we finally have some of the promised computers and we were able to set up the wireless internet (using it right now). The rest of the computers should be arriving at the end of the coming week and the projector cords any day now. We are slowly getting the things that we need and the process of getting a copy machine in the US seems to be underway. It feels good to get some of the equipment we need and has encouraged my perspective that the light at the end of the tunnel is approaching.
This past week at school we have continued to adapt to what is needed and to improve. We have formed a weekly schedule that will likely have a degree of permanence, which is a welcome change. Monday through Thursday after school until 4pm we have study hall and during this time the students who need tutoring will receive one on one attention to work on English and homework. Each of us teachers is responsible for being present and working through the homework with a targeted group of students for two days. I will likely be further helping once we set up the computer lab in the coming weeks to facilitate student work in the lab while working on building and updating the school website. On Mondays we will begin taking Albanian language classes again in an attempt to make some progress on that forsaken frontier. Tuesdays and Thursdays we will have staff meetings, which are usually very long (2 hours) because we have to discuss changes and best ways to approach the issues that arise every day. Evening English classes will also finally start on Monday at 5-6pm with 5 sections, two taught taught by each Milt and Ann and the other taught by Miss Bontrager. On Wednesdays after evening classes, the American staff of LAC will meet for our weekly fellowship and worship session at the school. Then finally on Fridays, we will usually have an after-school activity with the students. Two weeks ago, we took the students to the local stadium to play capture the flag and soccer. Last week, we used a half-day schedule and then used the second half of the day for an Albanian food and American game exposition. Each of the students cooked a traditional Albanian food, presented it to the school, and gave a sample to a panel of judges to pick a winner for best main dish, best dessert, and most authentic dish. Miss Hedrick, Miss Bontrager, and I had the pleasure of shoving 30 different Albanian foods down our mouths in 30 minutes and acting like we had enough time to actually keep track of everything to effectively pick a winner. The students then tried all the dishes and picked a "Student Choice" winner. Then I taught the kids four square, Miss Hedrick played spoons with them, and Miss Bontrager showed them "cup cup". This Friday nothing was planned, so I took the kids to a field to teach them American football. It was a disaster at first but they slowly began to catch on, however they soon got bored of learning. They then taught me Albanian dodgeball which was not nearly as fun as normal dodgeball.
In World History, the first week and couple days was spent teaching the ancient civilizations of the Near East discussing the Epic of Gilgamesh, Creation myths, the development of technology and religion, and the major differences between Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. The next week was the beginning of Chinese civilization focusing on the development of the early dynasties and the 3 major Chinese Philosophies of Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. The end of this past week was spent introducing ancient India including the first video using Miss Reinhardt's computer and later discussing the religions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. In English Foundations we have been journaling, working on essay writing, doing interviews, and building vocabulary.
The last three weeks have been a voyage into the unknown. It has been trying and stressful in different ways, but we have also experienced God's faithfulness and I believe that land is not far off. There has been a lot of trials that I feel have been aimed to discourage and frustrate us, but with the support of our brothers and sisters we will accomplish our mission. Please continue to pray for the staff that we will be encouraged and find the role we have to play. A specific prayer request that I have is for the discernment to see how God wants us to reach the students and the community more than just being a quality American school. I apologize for another long delay before another lengthy post, but if you wanna know whats going on over here there is no more exhaustive account available.
Thank you and enjoy the end of Yom Kippur.
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