"Are These Divorce Papers?"

A few fun stories from the last two weeks…

Last week I was in the middle of teaching 3^rd period about adverbs.  It is about ten minutes before the bell is suppose to ring.  They are ready to leave and I’m ready for them to leave.  We are struggling through examples when a loud noise starts and Samoan comes over the PA system.  I stop and ask the kids what the speaker is saying and what that noise is.  In unison they yell “It’s the tsunami siren!  We have to leave now!”  Some of my more outgoing students continue with “We are all going to die!  Miss, we must get to high ground!”  I took outside and no one is leaving.  I tell them this and they say “No, we must leave” and a few head towards the door.  Eventually, one of my guys starts laughing and tells me that the sirens are just being tested.

I few of my students, mostly guys, have started teasing me and joking around with me.  One of my football players, Matthew, is the biggest flirt in my class.  He has tried his hardest to convince me that he is 19. (I have his information that says he is 14.)  Well, one day last week as he was leaving he walks up and says. “I will wait and in nine years I will come and find you.”  I was like, “Matthew you know that in nine years I won’t be 23 anymore?”  His response, “Age does not matter in love.”  The next day he came in and said, “How’s my wife today”  I laughed and him and told him to have a seat.  Later in the class I handed him a paper to give to the guy next to him.  Without missing a beat he goes, “What’s this?  Are these our divorce papers?  I can’t believe it and who is this guy?  Are you cheating on me?  I will find him”  I know I shouldn’t encourage this behavior, but I couldn’t help but laugh and play along.  I was like, “They are. I’m sorry” So every day since he has been trying to win me back.  I get sung to when I walk by his desk, winked at, and little funny comments made.  I class has joined in and play along with it too. 

Last Sunday Sara and I went to a special youth service at one of the LMS churches near by.  One of my students had invited me and said that the teens would be singing and dancing.  I want to support my students, plus she is one of my favorites so Sara and I put on our white skirts and made the 30 minute walk to church.  The service was amazing.  Of course I have no clue what the pastor said or what the words of the songs said, but the teens voices and dances were great.  Three of the villages near by get together every other month and the youth perform.  I had students in 2 of the 3 groups.  One of the groups did a skit and although I didn’t understand what was being said I could tell by the actions that it was the story of Jesus forgiving the adulterous woman.  One of my boys had a solo.  I didn’t get a recording of it, so you will have to believe me when I say his voice truly is angelic.  All the groups used the music from modern songs (Azunto, Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, Grease), but changed the words to have a Christian meaning. 

I have realized that Samoans have a way of making you realize you are incompetent without telling you that you are.  For example, last night Sara and I decide we want a coconut.  We go walking around the yard looking for a coconut tree that is short enough for us to reach.  We find one and knock a coconut down.  It is a rotten one.  We are starring up at the tree when Tau (the neighbor behind us) walks up and asked what we are trying to do.  We tell him we are trying to get a coconut down.  He asked, “if you get a coconut down how are you going to get the shell off?”  Sara and I look at each other and I say, “a hammer” (then remember we don’t have one).  His response with a little laughter in it “that will take a while” and then explains how you husk a coconut.  Sara and I are still standing there looking up at the lovely green coconuts just waiting for us to eat them and now knowing that cannot get them husked.  He must have seen our looks of disappointment because he goes “let me go put my stuff up (he was getting breadfruit off a tree) and I’ll bring you two.”  About 10 minutes later he brought us two husked coconuts.  We put them in the freezer to get cold and then took out the open.  We wanted to keep the water from inside to drink which meant hitting them against the ground to open would not do.  Neither of us have a machete to cut it open with, the four knives and three chop sticks we were trying to chop it with wasn’t working.  So what do we do…Google!  We do as Google says and start hitting it with the blunt side of a cleaver.  After a good 5 minutes of this it opens!  Had our coconut adventure been record it would be the top watched video on YouTube right now.

A few good things from the week that aren’t funny, but you probably want to know about….

I am teaching the majority of the freshman students with IEPs.  There are 11 and I teach 8 of them.  The school assigned me a special ed teacher, Tammy, to help with my two periods that have the most students with IEPs.  She started this week and it has been a life saver.  She comes into my 3^rd and 4^th period everyday.  I still teach (although she has volunteered to teach as well) and she jumps in to better explain things or to translate things.  She is able to devote the one-on-one attention that some of the kids need and that I was unable to give in a class of 30.  The behavior in these two classes has also improved tremendously.  She is Samoan, which means she will hit them.  As first I wasn’t sure how this would fit into the anti-violence classroom I am trying to make, but I suppose her doing it.  I’ve seen her get two kids, both for not respecting me.  She didn’t hit them hard, but it was enough to get their attention.   She also helped me get a whiteboard into my room!  On Friday when she left after 4^th period she saw teaching getting whiteboards (you have to know someone to get things around here and it’s first come first serve) she ran back up to my room and told me to send you guys down with a note to pick one up.  I sent two guys down and 20 minutes later they came back with a full size whiteboard. (Now I just have to find someone to put it up).

My second period class is my other mainstream class.  This was probably my worst behaved class.  Last week I got an email from my department heading telling me to pick the seven worst performing students because she would take over teaching them.  I picked the students how had D’s and F’s and a behavior problem.  If a student was failing, but trying then I kept that student.  That class now has 17 students and is like a totally different class.  I’m not getting as many attitudes from students, they are doing their work, and they are talking during class less.  By no means are they perfect, but it has improved.

My last piece of good information:  I think I have had a break through with one of my trouble making students (the student who set the fire, see previous post).  On Tuesday had been another challenging day with him.  He was refusing to do his work.  He was the last one in the class to leave that day so I took the opportunity to talk to him.  I locked the door (only way to keep students in and others out) and was stern, but caring.  I said, “Jeff you are not stupid.  You’re not stupid right?”  He shook his head no. I said, “You want to play football in college right?  You have to do well in school and in English.  You can’t go to the States and not be able to read, write, and speak correctly.  I want you to go to college” and I let him go.  The next day he came in and sat in his seat (first time all year I haven’t had to tell him to sit in the correct seat).  We were drawing to show how to use prepositions.  I found out he enjoys drawing.  He worked the entire class period and voluntarily stayed after to finish.  He was absent on Thursday and on Friday he was so quiet that I almost counted him absent.  I looked up and he was in his desk quietly working. 

I’ll end with a prayer request.  Due to the recent attacks on US Embassies in the Middle East and Africa WorldTeach has forwarded all volunteers a travel caution issued by State Department.  There is basically no threat of violence in American Samoa, but WorldTeach does have volunteers in Bangladesh (it was my second choice for my placement).  That is the most likely of the countries that WorldTeach is in to be affected.  Please pray for the safety of the volunteers and field personnel there.