Classroom (Mis)Adventures

So, here I am IN BERLIN! My new hometown in Germany. It's quite a town. The public transportation is so good, that you can get anywhere in a half hour. It's so good that one of the other kids in the program said she's not getting enough exercise because there is a train stop close to everything. I've also got a high school ID, which means I can ride all public transport for 26 euro instead of 90. It's totally illegal and kind of ridiculous, because I'm 23, but I'm not complaining!

I just got a room in an apartment lined up. It has been very stressful being homeless. I'm staying with a very nice older couple, who have been very good to me. My living situation has actually been pretty good, just very temporary. I went mushroom picking with them last weekend in the area around Berlin. Berlin is strange. There are no burbs, it's just city city, then bam, you're in the woods. Very different from good All-American urban sprawl. It might have something to do with the whole Walled City thing that happened not so long ago. Anyway, I like it.

I had my first solo lesson today (which I'm not technically supposed to do, but they needed someone.) It wasn't too bad. It only took me about 15 minutes to make someone cry. That's a new record for me. So, I went into it having no idea about their English abilities. All the other groups so far have been older, and really good at English. These kids were 8th graders, and didn't understand much of anything. I tried to talk very slowly and do lots of pantomiming. I wanted them to interview each other, I gave them a list of questions, name, place of birth, hobbies, etc. Then I wanted them to introduce their partners, so I could get to know them too. So, some understood this. I went around to each group and tried to help. It was hard because I couldn't use German to explain. I am not supposed to. So, some still didn't get it. I saw one group with all kinds of answers written down, they seemed to get it so I asked if they might want to show the others. The one girl said yes. So I had them get up. The other girl was all confused. She was just supposed to sit there while her partner introduced her, but apparently she didn't understand a word of the whole thing. Her partner had written down her answers, as well as her own. So the girl was all confused, didn't understand what I wanted her to do (which was actually nothing), and she started to cry! Man, What could be worse? I felt terrible! The was a teacher on call who came to help. Meanwhile, the rest of the class is getting riled up. Keep in mind, these are not nice, rich, little prep school kids. This is a tough school. (See picture above - The accompanying article from last May tells of a knife fight in which a kid got seriously hurt) 76% of the kids in school grew up speaking a language other than German. There are kids from just about every country you can imagine in class, all trying to get along. So, when things starting going down hill, I knew the potential for total chaos to break out. I told them to quiet down, and singled out one girl who totally ignored me and seemed to be some sort of leader. I was a little worked up, but I kept my voice calm, and I told her that she had to respect me. Somehow she seemed to get that. Anyway, she chilled out and so did the rest of them. She actually then volunteered to go first. She introduced her partner, and did a good job, and he did the same. Everyone laughed a bit, even the girl who had been crying. And from there on thing went a bit better. Damn, there were a few moments there, where I though hell was going to break loose. Now at least I know there abilities, and I can do things for them that will be more appropriate for there level. Damn it's hard to teach a language you never had to learn yourself. I wish I were teaching Spanish, then at least I would know what it's like to sit on the other side. I think the next lesson will be tear free. It was really intense, I must say..

So, now that I've rattled off that long tale of classroom misadventures, I will sign off for the time being. I've got to get to bed, tomorrow is another school day.