Miss Kristina

The first week is over and I survived!  I have to say that the week was one of the most challenging that I have faced, but I made it and the students made it.  Over all the students have won my heart over.  Yes, there are those in my classes who are going to drive me completely insane, but there are others who I just want to bring home and tell them everything will be ok.

This week I had my students write an essay either about them or about what they would do if they were governor for a day.  The first thing that stood out as I read the essay was the hug differences in levels of skill within the same class.  I received one or two essays in each class that were true 5 paragraph essays and then I received many essays that were one or two incomplete sentences.  It is going to be a challenge to teach that broad of a range. 

Many of the essays that the students wrote had me laughing the entire time I was reading them.  For example, one girl wrote out her requirements for a husband and then in the next sentence said, “I think Kristina that you need one because you are pretty, smart, and creative and kind too…it’s just a thought.”  I just laughed.  I have also learned all about the gangs or “crews” as they are called here.  Many of my students are part of the ABCs, MBWs, SnowBoys, and a few others.  They are based on the village the student lives in.  Many of the fights in school happen between the crews.

I also received essays that broke my heart.  One girl wrote that her biggest fear was her dad and that she prays that everything will be ok and get better.  Another talks about being lonely and not being loved by anyone.  One talks about her goal of going to college and then says that that is too high of a goal and she shouldn’t have said anything.  Just about all of the papers talk about how the students need to repay their parents for raising them.

Respect in big in the culture here and I am glad that the students appreciate what their parents have done, but I wish the students would realize that they don’t have to repay them.  I want them to know that when they graduate high school they can do what they want to and make a life for themselves.  All I can do is be there for the students if they want to talk.  I’m not here to be their counselor.  I’m here to be their English teacher.

My biggest struggle this year is going to be classroom management.  The third day of school I had two fights during my first period.  One of them ended with a girls’ head hitting the bookcase.  That is the only day this week that I cried.  The class left and I had to compose myself during the break.  That was the worst of the behavior issues.  The other major things are talking, getting out of their seats, and cheating.  The students talk nonstop in both English and Samoan. (I have a no Samoan in the classroom rule, but they don’t obey).  I tell them to stop talking and two minutes later I’m yelling to get their attention.  Getting out of their seats or moving seats is another problem.  I told them I would treat them like adults as long as they acted like adults.  Well, they had their chance.  Starting this week they will have assigned seats.  I gave a pretest on Friday just to see where a good start point would be.  I told them no talking, no cheating, AND that the tests were different.  They talked the whole time, passed their tests back and forth and used a dictionary in the middle of it!  The next quiz/test I’m going to have to make an example of someone and give them a zero for cheating.  I also do not want to send a student to the office, but I think that might be the only punishment that works.  Going to the office means getting hit (at school and probably again at home).  I don’t think that is the way to handle the behavior, but if they won’t obey I have no choice.

I have yet to see corporal punishment at the school or between parents and their children.  I don’t know what I’m going to do when I witness it.  I want to vomit just thinking about the school staff hitting a student with a 2x4.  There is no way I will be able to watch it happen.  I will have to get up and leave.

My boys love to flirt.  Most of them won’t do it during class, but as they leave the room little comments will be made.  They tell me “I love you” multiple times during the say and blow kisses as they are leaving the room.  I told the class as a punishment the person misbehaving would have to spend their lunch hour (yes a whole hour) with me.  They boys thought that was the best punishment ever.  I’ve also been told “Teacher sounds like a cowgirl,” “You are so skinny,” and “Are you between 20 and 30?” (me:yes), “ok, you’re still young”.

I have many names here.  They include “Miss Kristina, Miss Ashwell, Kristina, Tina, Kris, Miss, Teacher, and Yo”  The last one got nipped in the bud as soon as it was said.

The boys also watch out for both Sara and I.  Thursday I was walking home from school alone and passed the football field as practice was finishing.  Seven of the players then walked me home to protect me.  Thursday Sara and I were walking home and one of my students (one that claims to be in a crew) came running over to us.  He started walking with us and said “I will protect you from the dogs.  I’m afraid too, but I’ll throw rocks at them.”  He walked with us for a little while and then said, “you are safe now,” and turned around and went back to his friends.

I feel bad for how strict I’m trying to be and how much I’ve had to yell, but my students still love me.

Ahh the school bell schedule!  The bell never rings when it is suppose to.  Some times it rings early.  Sometimes it rings 20 minutes late.  Some times whole class periods are skipped and sometime school just ends early.  The bell isn’t actually a bell.  It’s an old metal oxygen tank that is hit with a stick by someone.  I can’t hear the bell from my room.  I usually wait until I see other class dismissed and then let mine go.  Well, one day this week the bell was late ringing and I saw a few kids out so I let me class go.  I few minutes later an announcement comes out saying to please keep students in class until the bell rings.  Opps my bad.

I’m slowly catching on to some of the differences in culture.  For example, at home if I raise my eyebrow at a student/child it is probably because they are doing something inappropriate and I’m telling them to stop.  I did that here for the first few days of school then I realized that I had been telling them YES to keep doing what they are doing.  I knew the kids would raise their eyebrows to answer yes to something, but it did not register that raising my eyebrows was telling them yes!  Now I know.

I also wanted to show you what my attendance book looks like…

Perimramema Noa

Nu’umotu Lulu

Faletoli Malaeulu

Malcerita Mafuata

Iakpop Loesio

Try learning 150 names like that.  Those are some of the short ones.  Some of the students have names that are 20+ letters long.  A lot of my students have told me to call them by an English name.  (Adam, Simon).  That makes it a lot easier.

Saturday was the opening of football season.  The Leone Lions played the Nu’uuli Wildcats.  Lions won 35-0!  The games are very loud.  The students have cheers and chants that they do.  Those are amazing by the way.  One student will say something and everyone joins in cheering and clapping. I have to get a video of it.  I just can’t talk about how awesome it is.

Another awesome moment is each morning during the first class of the day the students sing a hymn and pray.  This is done is Samoan so I have a volunteer do it.  The songs are so beautiful.  The kids voices are perfect.  I get goose bumps each morning.  One morning the girl leading it had the student say the prayer in English.  It was the Lords Prayer.  I am thinking about posting the Ten Commandments in my classroom and some verses on the wall.  Maybe that will help with behavior if they have a visual reminder.

I finally went to a Samoan church this morning.  The entire service was in Samoan so I had no clue what was going on. One of the other teachers from the high school was their and translated some of the service for us.  It was a LMS (London Missionary Society) church and is the oldest on the island.  The inside was gorgeous.  I didn’t take any pictures, sorry.  30-40 foot wood ceilings and stain glass windows.  Most of the women wore all white and big white hats.  If that is the church I stay at I am getting a hat!

The following was taken from another volunteer, Jacquie.  It has a lot of good information about what we are experiencing and it is a lot faster to copy and paste this than it is to write something myself.

“Religion

Forget about separation of church and state or church and school.  Not here.  There society is still run mainly on their Christian values.  Sunday everyone..and I mean everyone...dresses up in white and goes to church.  Before meals or any big assemblies we always pray.  Even the school day starts off with a song and a prayer. Sunday literally is a day of rest.  The buses don't run, most schools are closed and you aren't allowed to swim or play outside.  At first this was tough for me to grasp.  Sunday is usually my day to run errands and catch up on things I was too busy for during the week.  But when Sunday came along I was shocked by the serenity.  All is calm.  There are few cars in the road.  We can't go anywhere so we would ed up playing cards or reading all day.  It is nice to have a day where you don't have any obligations.  I got to do the things that I usually push to the side or don't "have time" to do.  But, you know what, even without my typical productive Sunday, I still accomplished everything I needed to do during the week.  It really puts stuff into perspective.   

Dress

Think 1800s....long skirts, no shoulders, no knees (apparently the back of the knee is a very risky body part).  Show as little skin as possible.  That is basically the idea here.  Of course there are more westernized areas where girls can wear short shorts (by short I mean mid-thigh) and tank tops (thick strap).  But many villages prefer modesty.  Basically, I had to get a whole new wardrobe before I came.  Women especially are expected to dress with modesty.  Most women wear their hair up in buns and very little make up.  Most of the girls just wear long bball shorts and t-shirts.  It's actually pretty awesome.  To live in a place where it is not only socially acceptable but encouraged to wear gym shorts and a tee every day...pretty sweet.  It literally takes me 5 minutes to get ready now.  Add another 5 minutes for the cold shower that I never want to linger in and I'm good to go.  Now, I still like to dress up but I could get used to this.  They have some traditional clothing here: the lava lava, puletasi and ie.  I found the lava to be very practical.  I bought 6 of them already and wear them all the time.  It is lie a sarong that you wrap around your waist.  This way I can wear my soffees around the house and then throw on a lava lava if I'm going outside.  They also have formal wear which is the puletasi.  It s a long shirt that goes down over your butt with long sleeves and a long skirt that covers your ankle.  Super attractive.  I will be wearing them to school every day.  The men wear a Hawaiian style top and an ie for the bottom, which is essentially a skirt that goes to your knees.  They don't wear slacks or dress pants here.  It is also common for men to wear a lava lava around the house.  It was a little strange to see men in skirts at first but I'm getting used to it.  I just had 6 puletasis made and I'm ready to go to my island in style! Pictures to come!

Busses

My all time favorite part of American Samoa.  Basically, there is only one main road going from one end of the island to the other.  The buses travel up and down the road from 6am to 6pm.  They are made by connecting a trolly type thing to the back of a pick-up-truck.  The windows and doors are completely open the entire time.  From the outside you look like you are getting on this rickety old bus but the inside is all decked out!  I'm talking cheetah print lined interior and a blasting stereo! They love their music.  They can be playing anything from soft Samoan tunes to Lil' Wayne  Any if you are lucky to get the backseat then you have the speakers right under you and are bumping up and down with the bass the entire time.  Some even have a big screen tv connected to the front of the bus playing music videos.  These buses just go with their common theme here which is if it isn't broken don't fix it.  Sure, the buses may be old, but they still work.  So, instead of spending money fixing a perfectly good bus, why not throw a boom box and a big screen t.v. in it.  Surprisingly though with all that noise, bus etiquette is to be quiet.  You sit facing forward not talking, it's very hard for me not to sing along.  They also have an unspoken rule of moving back if someone older than you comes on the bus and give them your seat.  They have great respect for their elders.  Oh, and the buses are only one dollar no matter how far you are traveling.  Not too shabby, considering this is our only means of transportation.  We do hitchhike a lot too.  It's completely normal here.  Everyone has a pickup truck and they're all going in the same direction so you just hop in the bed of a pick-up truck and you're good to go.  I love it. 

Language

Hardest part of the adjustment.  I urge every person to go to a place where you don't speak the language.  It is a wonderful learning experience.  I especially urge teachers to do it.  It is extremely challenging and you will get a better understand of how your ESL students feel.  My mentality completely changed towards ESL students.  I used to think I would do my best to help them in my class but now that I know how they feel I will work even harder to making them feel comfortable.  Now, I'm lucky to be in a place where everyone speaks English fairly well but Samoan is still their first language.  They will speak to us in English but then they will talk to their friends only in Samoan.  It makes you feel left out and even though I may want to contribute to the conversation, I can't. They don't do it maliciously it is just their native tongue and it's how they feel comfortable. When I had a meeting with my co-workers, they were all so nice and they would speak to us in English but when speaking to each other it would be all Samoan.  I kept wondering if I was missing out on something important.  I'm sure it's something I will have to get used to, especially on my island where English is less commonly spoken.  I think it will be a great learning experience for me”