That's Miss O'Hare to you!

I am officially on my fourth week of teaching. It is an experience I will never forget I’m sure. Looking back, I can laugh at the fears I had on my first day.

Fear #1: These kids are going to have zero respect for me

Fear #2: Somehow they will figure out I’m barely older than them

Fear #3: Physical fights breaking out in the class room

Fear #4: Having students who are smarter than me 

Fear #5: Absolutely despising teaching these kids

First, let me walk you through the average day. I wake up at about 6am, when the power comes on. At 8 am we have staff worship and school starts at 8:30. I am the senior class adviser this year so I start off having a 15 minute worship with them every morning. Around 8:45, when I am supposed to go to my next class is when the students usually arrive. So after a very short worship and prayer I run off to teach Sophomore English. After our 45 minute periods I go off to teach Freshmen English. There is then a short 15 minute break and I then teach Senior English, followed by Junior Bible. We have a thirty minute lunch break which is followed by Junior US History, Senior US Government, and Junior English. School then ends at 3pm, in which the power goes off for three hours. So for the next three hours you find any possible way not to melt. The rest of the night is spent lesson planning, playing Uno, or ping pong. The power turns off at 10pm, in which almost everyone then goes to bed. 

Needless to say, when school starts there are no breaks to prepare for the next class, so you have to be prepared. There are chalk boards in every class room, I burn through about 6 or 7 sticks of chalk a day. To save on Toner we are asked to write all assignments on the board, not to mention there are not books, for any of the subjects I teach, that the students can use. There are 2 student books for both Us History and Government however. With this being said, the lectures I give are the only source of information these kids get for tests and quizzes. 

Each high school grade is completely different from the other. The seniors are SUPER chatty, amazing to have conversation with, but also very hard to lecture. They like to read out loud and for some reason they like government class. They are constantly moving their desks or moving to other desks, one of them always brings his guitar, and they are constantly doing their make up in class. I have the biggest problem with cell phone usage in this class, something I didn't think I would have to deal with when I came to Chuuk. 

The juniors are SUPER hard to have discussion with. There are only about three students who will speak up if I really push for it. I have a girl from Korea who cannot understand or speak English but she can read it. I also have a 28 year old who can't read, understand, or speak English. 

The sophomore class is a good class. They listen well and are very attentive. They will talk when I ask them too and are pretty good about telling me when they don't understand something. However, there are two girls in the class who understand and read English very poorly.

The freshmen class is a difficult one. There are different behavioral problems, but also their learning levels are ALL over the place. There are 4 girls and 2 boys who are exceptional students and what I am teaching them is way too easy. The other students have poor English skills and don't catch on very fast. What i am teaching them is much too hard. 

The biggest challenge I face is not wondering if the students respect me, getting them to listen, or worrying if they are smarter than me. The hardest thing is teaching in a way that ALL of the students can learn. It is a constant battle of whether to teach at grade level and let the slower students fail, but help the faster ones to succeed to their fullest potential, or teach a little lower so the slower students have a chance to catch on but halt new learning for the faster students. Neither seem fair to me. 

As far as my fears go, respect hasn't been a problem. The seniors guessed my age dead on, but I started wearing mascara again and now I’m officially two years older than I was before. Physical fights isn't a problem, however inappropriate girl and guy interaction has been. There are students who catch my mistakes but so far the material I am teaching is easy enough that I know it….. so far. Plus, I like these kids. Some days I can’t say I’m crazy about them, but I like them. As for teaching, I’m not sold on it, but I still have 9 more months to decide on that one.

Proverbs 3:26 says, “The Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught” Proverbs 3:26. This is the verse I claimed and still often do when I feel inadequate. More than that Philippians 4:13 has been my go to verse. There are days I wake up and I have no idea how I will teach what a pronoun is or how in the world to make US Government interesting. So every morning I pray and make sure God knows I can’t do any of this, but I know that He can through me. Somehow he even manages to make US History interesting….