Teaching, Respect, & Teaching Respect

Tonight Julia (my housemate) and I did our usual. We sit at either end of our dining room table and grade/plan. Tonight we were both grading our first round of tests. We would swap cheers and sighs as we went from paper to paper. We would let out a big “YAY” when we graded a good paper, and groan when someone did really poorly. (There were mostly groans...). Or we would share predictions for several students. “Oh good. I’m excited! This is one of my best students!” or “Oh no....This guy probably did horribly. I don’t think he understands most of what I say!” 

My first round of tests were good learning experiences. Most of my kids did pretty poorly (20/50), yet I had several in each class that made A’s. It was heart breaking to give scores of (3/50) - especially when I know that the kid tries. Monday (August 31) was a hard day. I gave the first test to my 3rd period class, and they really pushed my buttons. I gave the students an assignment for after the test, so they would all have something to quietly work on when they finished. I also clearly explained that any talking whatsoever would result in a zero. The students, however, were not in the mood for quiet. I had to rip up 4 tests for talking/cheating students. [In Samoa cheating is prevalent for several reasons: (1) many teachers don’t pay attention and even notice or care (2) it’s a communal society- students want to help each other out.] Aside from cheating, students did not want to stay quiet after they turned in their tests. Because there is such a wide range of abilities, there was a 40 minute gap between the first and last student finishing. The class was a constant battle, and I even had to send 2 students to the office. One of the kids refused to take his test. When I spoke to him he wouldn’t look at me or acknowledge my presence. I went back to my desk to write up a referral. When I brought it back he was drawing his neighborhood/gang symbol on the back of my class set and shoved it in my face before making a big scene as I sent him out of my room. Oh the joys that go along with teaching! 

As a result of my 3rd periods disrespect, we “practiced” sitting in silence for the 15 minutes of remaining class time, and then they practiced for 15 minutes after the school dismissal bell rang. Needless to say they were mad, but after a 45 minute lesson and activities on “Respect” the following day I think they will be much better. On Friday when anyone starting talking while I was teaching, the other kids starting yelling “Respect! Respect!” So at least I’m starting to make some progress with them.

The roller coaster of my third period led me to have a my first school related cry session of the year. I was so upset at how disrespectful some of the students were acting, but also so sad at how poorly I knew some of the students were performing. I am definitely having different types of assessments for the various types of learners, but, at some point, I do have to assess my kids with formal assessments. Tests are part of the educational process, and they have to develop test taking skills. As I walked around the room monitoring and answering questions, I knew a couple just couldn’t handle it. 4 kids barely answers one question, and just stared at their tests for 50 minutes with no clue what to do. I think it is a combination of poor/undeveloped reading, writing, listening, and English skills accompanied by the fear of test taking that lead them to perform so poorly. One kid just laid his head on the desk, and when I asked him to start working he replied, “Ms. Jessie, I just realized....I don’t know anything!” -heartbreaking- It’s a struggle to get through to many of the students especially when teaching the abstract principles and ideas of design. I thought after two solid days of reviewing in many different way that every type of learner would be properly prepared, but some of them were just too overwhelmed/unprepared. A majority of students refuse to do homework or study (even if they know it will hurt their grade). With a lack of self motivation, they fight a losing battle with their education. For me, it’s an emotional struggle to see these kids fail time and time again.....especially when some try so hard. 

Now that we are out of the first several weeks of school, the kids want to test me to see how much they can get away with. It leads me to see many contradiction present in the Samoan society. (Of course there are hypocrisies in every culture/country, but I’m just becoming aware of them here.) It’s interesting how “respect” comes into play here in Samoa. Having respect for and showing respect on behalf of your elders, family, village, and country is everything, yet in the school kid’s often show no respect for teachers (who are traditionally very highly regarded).

Anyway, here are a few lines from my 3rd period’s “respect essays.” They provide great insight into part of the Samoan culture. 

• “In Samoa respect is everything. Without it people will hate you.”
• “Respect is the most important thing in the world.”
• “Respect your teacher, and she will respect you back.”
• “Respect is everything in Samoa. If you respect people they will be kind to you, love you, and help you through difficulties. If you don’t show respect no one will care about you.”

Fa'Fa Pageant Craziness

On Saturday (Aug 29) a group of us WT went to our first Fa’afafine pageant! Before heading to the big event Julia, Cynthia, John, Bridget, Rosemary, Tahn, Kate, Kathy, and I went out to a nice dinner. We went back to Deluxe Cafe (we went there for our dinner with the DOE), and I got to eat mashed potatoes!!! Can you believe it!? That might have been the highlight of my night! After that we walked over to Tradewinds Hotel for the pool side event. Fa'afafine is a third gender specific to Samoan culture. Fa'afafine are biologically men who in childhood choose by their nature to be raised to assume female gender roles, which is not discouraged in the traditional fa’asamoa (Samoan society). They are not to be confused with being gay. Anyway, the fa’afafine make up a rather large community, and hold many pageants. This was the 26th annual Island Queen pageant entitled “Once Upon An Island Queendom....A Royal Affair.”

The fa’afafine compete in quite traditional categories like swim suit (they keep everything marvelously hidden), talent (usually singing/lip sinking and dancing), evening gown, and interview. The night was very funny with skits done by old pageant queens in between each category. The comical part was that their was a Disney theme to the evening, as many of the lip sinks were done to famous Disney songs. Dakota, one of my co-workers, was actually the MC for the night, and she was fabulous! Dakota is one sassy, hilarious fa’fafine, so she livened up the night with crazy remarks! One of my favorites was, “Mmm mmm she’s like a McDonald’s sundae. So good and you can get her for only $2.99.” Dakota is also of the large persuasion (400 lbs+), and her favorite remark is “Don’t be jealous of all this!” 

After the pageant we walked across the street to check out the Tafuna volunteers’ house (Jung, Adam, and Alison), then we heading out to Maliu Mai for a bit of dancing and chatting. 

High and Lows

Every week I get a check up phone call from Brandi, our lovely field director. During the chat we must answer 3 question: (1) what are your highs from the week (2) what are your lows from the week (3) how are you feeling on a scale from 1 to 5 - 5 being the highest. Each week I’m at least a 4.8 or higher :) Even though things may be rough, I live on a gorgeous island and I’m attempting to help kids. It’s what I signed up to do, and how can I complain?! Though I might have just ended a rough week, I know there is always room to improve. Hey, the next week can only go up, right!? So I thought I would share with you a few highs and lows I have relayed to Brandi over the past few weeks of teaching.

Highs:

• Getting Through: It’s magical when you finally get through to kids, and have a fantastic day of learning. It makes me so incredibly happy to be in the classroom when the kids are excited, I’m excited, and everyone is having fun while learning. I taught a class on Friday to review for the first test of the year. I made it a modified jeopardy style game complete with mini-challenges and drawing pictures on the board. They loved it and had so much fun! But the best part? They were learning! If they didn’t know the answers, they could use a life line to ask someone on their team, so it became a very collaborative environment! I was also amazed at what some of my “lower” kids knew. I was so pumped that what I was teaching them had been absorbed and retained! 
• All my highs are usually some variation of this. I get really excited when a lesson turns out perfectly or I can see the lightbulb going on over students’ heads! It’s such a reassuring feeling

Lows

• Most of my lows deal with realizing how far behind my students are. There are days when I wonder why am I teaching them design when they don’t even have basic english or math skills. But I do realize that I am teaching them valuable information- things that will be applicable in life. 
• “Tuesday:” At the beginning of class I asked if anyone could change the date on the top of the chalkboard (yes, I’m too short to reach with out a chair....you can laugh now...). So one of my students quickly jumped up and ran to the chalkboard. He erased “Monday,” and it was his job to write in “Tuesday.” The poor kid just couldn’t do it. He started by writing a “C.” When I told him to remember that Tuesday starts with a “T,” he erased the “C,” but rewrote it again. He knew it was wrong but wasn’t sure how to correct it, so he added a line through the “C” to make a cent sign. After finally getting the “T” correct, he wrote “Tuty.” The next iteration became “Tuety.” I was trying to help him through it, and even wrote it down on a sheet of paper, but next came “Tueby,” “Tuedy,” “Tueday,” and then finally “Tuesday.” It was so hard watching a high schooler struggle to write something so basic. Samoans learn to speak Samoan first, but then they are supposed to begin learning English as soon as they enter 1st grade. So they are considered “English Language Learners” (ELL). Many of them, though, never receive the proper training, and much of high school is supposed to be conducted in English. The problem is, however, that I think that their Samoan skills are lacking too. Just as in the US, there are many Americans that have poor English and grammar skills. The problem is the same here. It’s so hard to watch students try but struggle since they are so far behind. Think about when we learned to write the days of the week.....early elementary school. Even though Samoans are ELL, they are supposed to be on the same English track as kids on the mainland. 
• Missing Ethan: Not to say that I don’t miss everyone else...because I do. But I do miss Ethan a ton. It’s just so weird not getting to see him very often, and knowing I won’t see him for a few more months!

A Raise of the Brow

Every culture has it’s little nuances and interesting practices that distinguish it from the rest. One of the ways Am Sam does this through the raise of the brow :)

In the US, we nod our head up and down to say “yes” and shake it from left to right to say “no.” Here, though, people speak with their eyebrows. To answer “yes,” simply raise your eyebrows once. To answer “no,” raise your eyebrows twice. So when asking a yes or no question, don’t ever expect a simple “yes” or “no;” rather, expect “the brow!”

Personally, I hate it, hate it, hate it! I’m still so creeped out about it. Part of the reason is that many of my kids raise the brow with such a little snotty smirk that you just want to slap off their face! I guess I still find it disrespectful not to answer your teacher with an audible answer, but it’s culturally accepted here so I can’t do anything about it. On the other hand, my friend Matt absolutely loves it. He’s convinced that it saves him about 200 or 300 words a day, so he totally embraces and uses “the brow.” Once day, maybe, I will come to appreciate it, but, for now, I’m still opposed!

End of the Week

The week ended on a high note. All my classes are pretty much filled; I have at least 13 students per period and some have as many as 22. On Monday I can finally start teaching them about architecture, too! I can’t explain how excited I am for the school year! After only teaching a week, I can tell that I am totally in love with it! 

The kids aren’t nearly as troublesome as I expected. I have been really strict with them, and as long as I hold my ground and enforce the rules and consequences, they behave fairly well. We were warned that they are going to challenge us to our wits ends, but I think as long as I keep up with good classroom management, they will be no problem. 

Dealing with the cultural differences will be a challenge. Samoan kids are taught to be seen not heard; therefore, they have a hard time speaking up in class. As part of an introductions game, I had each student share one positive thing about themselves, and so many of them drew blanks. Few are taught that they are smart or special, and the culture rewards staying part of the mainstream mediocrity. If I can teach them anything this year, I want it to be that they are bright, talented young students and they should be proud of themselves!

We were also briefed during orientation about the very low academic level that many Samoan students are at. It didn’t hit me, however, until this week. Several of my students, I believe, are almost entirely illiterate. Most read at a 2-4th grade level, and (while they have beautiful handwriting!) most of them write at a 2-3rd grade level. I’ve been struggling with ways to teach them in my own class if they are suffering so much in all the other basic areas. Most kids have trouble with the most basic sentence structure and several digit subtraction. These are high schoolers! I was trying to give them a reference the other day, and I  first used the letter format. But none of them have ever written a letter (never in a single english class)! Then I tried to refer to the scientific method: objective, hypothesis, procedure. None of my high school seniors had ever used it -much less performed an experiment. It’s after truly seeing this first hand that I understand why we were brought here! In an American territory, we have a majority of high schoolers that can barely read or write! 

But all of this, of course, encourages me more. As part of a short writing assignment I had the students write their expectations for me! I had gone through my list for them (work hard, try your best, be creative, be polite, etc) and so now it was there turn. I had several students write things like, “just please don’t give up on us. Even if we frustrate you or can’t learn, just don’t ever give up on us and quit.” These messages broke my heart, because it meant that year after year their teachers do give up on them!

First Days

I spent Sunday coming up with a plan for the year. I forgot how much there was to decide on: rules, procedures, consequences/rewards, late work policies, make up policies, bathroom policies, tardy policies, grading system, overall classroom management strategy, etc. So much work. Next on my to-do was lesson planning. For the first week, we aren’t supposed to “teach.” Since class sizes and student schedules are in major flux for the first week, we have to fill our time with going over rules, get-to-know-you games, and pre-assessments. My school is on block scheduling so filling up an hour and twenty minute period will fluff is a bit challenging. 

Monday, yesterday, was my first day! To look extra spiffy for the occasion, I wore my puletasi! The puletasi is a 2 piece outfit that is considered formal attire for women. Mine is much more modern and young since it has very small sleeves and only goes just past my knees. Most women’s are more traditional and are floor length and have sleeves going to at least mid arm. All puletasis are custom made. I picked out my fabric then took it to a seamstress to sew. I did all the designing, though. It’s definitely a fun part of the culture!

I got to school by 6:30a so I would have 2 hours to finish setting up and prepping. We started the morning off with a 2+ hour assembly to welcome the students, go over changes, and hand them their schedules. So when the bell finally rang to go to 1st period, I was excited to great all my students....... But only 3 came. I went and asked one of the vice principals about this, and she explained most of the students weren’t reregistered correctly and were being sent home. During lunch Max and I walked to a restaurant across the street, and the village was filled with Samoana students in their blue and white uniforms waiting at the bus stops and just hanging around. I couldn’t believe it. The students got up early, came to school, had on their uniforms, and yet they were still being sent home! Students are supposed to come up to the school with their parents and a pile of forms and documents in the 2 weeks prior to the start of the school year. If they miss a form or a signature, they are not notified. But on the first day of school, they don’t receive a schedule. It just puzzled me how the administration would send so many students home when they clearly wanted to be at school.

Today, Tuesday was the same way. All my classes still had only 3-4 students! And hundreds of kids were turned away from school for the second day in a row. It’s frustrating for me to see so many kids forced to go home when they want to be getting an education. It sends such mixed messages! 

Samoana Beginnings

This past week was spent at orientation training, Thursday was my first real day acting as a Samoana teacher. We started off the morning with a 9 am staff meeting where, of course, I had to give my usual speech: “Talofa/Hi, My name is Jessie and I am a World Teach Volunteer. I am originally from Texas, and this year I will be teaching architecture and drafting!” Not that I truly mind, but we are treated as quasi-celebrities here in American Samoa, so everywhere we go the WT volunteers are highlighted and asked to introduce ourselves. After meeting much of the staff, my VP showed me to my classroom! I was so excited on our walk through campus but kind of had my breath taken away once we entered. The room was filthy! Pepine took one look at it and yelled for the painters who started adding a “fresh” white coat to everything immediately. After Pepine handed me a broom and trash can, I stood there for a moment just taking it all in. It was my room, all mine, and I was ever so thankful for that.....But......There was a 1/2  inch layer of dirt covering the floor, with another layer of rat droppings covering that. All the posters from years past were still stapled up. Trash was everywhere. Coke cans from a year ago were still sitting on desks. So with no other choice, I began to clean. The first think I did was rip down all the old stuff and add it to a trash pile. 4 huge garbage bags later, most of the trash was cleared from my room. After an hour and half of sweeping, the floors looked the same. Feeling overwhelmed, I went with some fellow teachers to go school supply shopping. I needed chalk, erasers, papers, pencils, and all the works! 

Friday morning we had an island wide teacher induction to kick off the new school year, and a Samoana HS staff meeting followed that. After a morning/afternoon of sitting, it was time to get back to my room. I swept again for another hour and a half before I decided to start working on clearing off the desk to change up the pace..... Bad idea. Rat droppings and pee were everywhere, and I filled another garbage bag full of papers that were still piled inside. The desk is missing half its drawers, so where they once were now lies the old teacher’s dumpster.....While cleaning it out I came upon a DIRTY DIAPER! Yes, a dirty diaper just tossed into my desk!! Needless to say, I used about half a bottle of lysol on my desk alone! At the end of the day I was feeling discouraged. I felt like I still needed an army and another 48 hours of solid cleaning to make my room beautiful from top to bottom.

This morning (Saturday) I came back up to the school at 7am to get cleaning. After 3 hours of sweeping, arranging my desk area, setting up the desks, and unloading/organizing all my supplies, it was time for breakfast. WT was providing us with one last group get together before the year started. Sadie’s By The Sea is probably the island’s nicest restaurant, and we had pancakes (can you believe it!?) for breakfast. After a while of catching up with volunteers it was back to my room for a few more hours of cleaning. By 2pm I decided to give up. The floors would just have to be dusty and there was nothing that could change that! Besides, I needed to start deciding on how I would conduct my classroom and what I was going to teach! 

Go Sharks

The past few days have been ridiculously hectic. Besides our daily workshops and orientation sessions, I have been trying to secure my teaching position and make my house into a home. The days have been long (waking up at 5:50a and not slowing down until after 11p) and jam packed. 

Our house didn't come with anything other than the bare essentials - beds, table, couch- so there have been many trips to the various island stores that carry home goods. Our excursion to Cost U Less (a smaller version of Sam's Club) was pretty successful, and Julia and I had to use a flat bed to get everything to the car. Every spare space was used to fill up the SUV. From organizing cubes, to trash cans,  to food, we got a little bit of everything. Since we don't have a car and don't want to abuse Kaleo's generosity, several more stops at Forsgren's will be necessary to finish decking out the place. 

The stressful part of the week has come from securing a teaching placement that I am happy with. Julia and I both signed on with WorldTeach to teach in our specific areas of expertise, architecture and electrical engineering. We thought we were going to be at the vocational high school until we discovered there wasn't a real need; there were already well established teachers with our subjects at the school. We had to stick up for what was best for ourselves and after many meetings, phone calls, and debates, we were reassigned! Getting used to the Samoan way has been a challenging. School starts on Monday and it's not unusual that I just found out my official placement on Tuesday. Things here are not as well structured, organized, and planned out. Teachers don't get their classroom keys until just 3 or 4 days before school, and we might never see an official roster for our classes. So in the next 4 days I have to conquer my plan for the year and start lesson planning to the extreme!  I'm so thankful, however, that the DOE was willing to work with the 2 of us in order to make sure that our needs were met. I will now be the architecture and drafting department for Samoan High School! Go Sharks! And I'm so enthusiastic about being able to teach more students and have the opportunity to forge a new program at the school. (Samoana has well over 1000 kids compared to VoTech's 350). They have never had a successful architecture program there, so I will get to develop the curriculum from the ground up. Exciting! They are putting a lot of faith into us, and I can't wait to get started! I will, however, have my hands full. Samoan kids are known to be tough and rowdy in the classroom. With many of my students standing well over 6 foot (compared to me at 5'1") and over 200 pounds, I'm going to have to muster up some extreme classroom management skills and a strict attitude.

Adjusting

I used today to start mentally adjusting to life in my new house. John called around 10, so he and his wife Cynthia (WT friends) came over to check out our place and use the washer and dryer. (I think our washer and dryer will create many social hours!) The 3 of us just sat around chatting for a few hours comparing experiences and talking about the upcoming year. They had had a rough time the night before - their house isn't nearly as nice as ours and were experiencing some first-night-shock. The trip over definitely helped them get out of their little place, and it was a great chance for me to get to know them a little better! After they left I went for a walk down the road to see all the different local stores and bakeries (all little mom and pop establishments/shacks). I got a chance to meet a few of the other Faleniu residents - being palagui (white) allows you to meet everybody! Walking down the street at least 3/4 of the cars honk at me (or at the minimum shot and wave). We palagi are a Samoan spectacle, as everyone watches my every move. "Oh look... she's going to the store now." or "Oh! A white girl just got on the bus!" About halfway through my walk Kaleo drove by with a present.....a 2.5 foot pvc pipe. He told me not to walk with out it or else the dogs would get me, and I wouldn't be able to protect myself. So I had to walk back home, feeling silly with a pipe in my hand. 

A traditional Samoan Sunday involves Church, Feast, Nap, Church. I felt I had to at least use part of my Sunday observing Samoan custom - so I took a "moe," nap. I woke up just in time to scramble over to Samoa Tasty (a store that has just a little more than a gas station convenient store) to grab a few necessities, and then encountered Faleniu Sa for the first time. Most of the villages in Samoa observe a daily Sa (curfew) for 20-30 minutes each evening. First comes the 5:55p warning, then then 6:00p curfew bell, followed by the 6:30p end bell. While curfew is in effect, everyone is expected to go inside their home and pray with their families. No one is allowed to walk through the village at this time, and the Sa police line the streets to enforce the prayer time. A warning bell also rings at 9p and the final night curfew tolls at 10p. No one is allowed to walk outside after that time. 

All of these curfews take time to adjust to since the buses stop running with the weekday 6p Sa curfew, at 3:30p on Saturday, and don't run at all on Sunday. So all errands have to be done early. This is a big change from life in the US, but it ensures that evenings are free to relax and take care of stuff at home. 

Movin' On Up

Today was filled with lasts. Last morning of our classroom slumber party, last cold  shower, last morning all together. We started the day of by packing up and hauling all our luggage back downstairs. It's amazing how in only 2 weeks time I have already compiled several more bags of stuff! The rest of the morning was pretty routine, as we had our last lecturer. Sandra, from PiCED (Pacific Island Center for Educational Development) came to speak to us about classroom management. She was great, and her organization promotes a really valuable teaching philosophy. Samoa has a history of not-so-good teaching practices. Though recently banned, corporal punishment is still used and is often the principal's preferred discipline method. Teachers are not well trained, either, so they often spend their days babysitting the kids and yelling at them. Students float by from year to year and many high school students haven't achieved more than a 5th grade reading level. PiCED, as well as dedicated DOE members, are trying to change this. 

After our morning workshop, it was moving time! The west side was first to load up. It took two school buses (one for us, one for our bags) to do the job. My house was the last stop, so I got to see all of the west-siders' houses. It was fun seeing everyone's homes for the next year. Each place has it's perks and down sides. In the end, I think everyone is happy with their placement, but we are all secretly a little jealous of the other's. For example, my place has the amenities, but another group is just 5 minutes from the water. 

So my casa........Julia and I have a great 2 bedroom house- we're kind of spoiled. It's pretty spacious and guess what!? Great closets! That's right, I have closet space! We also have a washer and dryer and hot water which are rare finds for a house on the island. Our house is at the base of a mountain in Faleniu, which is inland a bit. We are right on the main road, so I just have to walk to the end of the driveway to catch the bus. The bus system is great, because you don't have to wait at a stop. You can flag a bus down or ask it to stop anywhere along the road.  

After move in we headed farther west to Leone to visit some friends. Kate, Ben, and Thanh live there and KC and Courtney are staying there for a week until they fly out to the outer island of Ta'u where they are assigned. We got another dose of Samoan kindness from our Leone bus driver, Freddie. It was the last run of the day, and he drove us right to their house rather than making us walk. Samoan culture is unbelievably friendly. The culture of family and community has taught people to be giving and helpful; they are always offering help, rides, food, or anything they have to offer. 

We checked out the Leone house, and then walked to Sliding Rock. Just 5 minutes from their house is a gorgeous beach and rocky coast. Sliding Rock is a huge formation of dark lava rock, and it's unexplainably beautiful. The waters are strong. The waves are big. We were there for sunset, and since it's on the west coast, the sun sinks into the water. We all decided that if we ever have a bad day, this would be the perfect place to go. Once you remember where your living (practically paradise), it would be hard to stay upset.