Happy birthday to my wonderful friend, mentor, professor, therapist, etc. Maria!!
Today I woke up late...probably because I am EXHAUSTED!! I got dressed, and Lilla was late because of traffic, so it was fine that I was a minute or two late running downstairs.
Lilla's class was, um...interesting. There are only a few students who actually pay attention and the rest sit together and look at computers or talk or text on their phones. It is so distracting and disheartening. So, we were talking about the election and Obama. They like him because they think he is good for the American people and because he is black. Their words, not mine. I explained that the color of some one's skin is not a reason to vote for them. Lilla interjected with the fact that she thought Obama was the culmination of Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech.
I would like to take this moment to step out on a limb and disagree with her. Martin Luther King's words were:
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
If we are still living in a nation where one of the primary things we discuss about a candidate is the color of his skin, then have we really achieved Martin Luther King's dream?? I am not writing this to discuss politics per say, but how many people have admitted to voting for President Obama because he is African-American or how many have admitted to NOT voting for him because he is African-American? How many of those people are looking at the content of his character? So, until we as a nation are truly looking at someone for the content of their character and NOT the color of their skin, we have not achieved this dream; not in my opinion at least. Please do not misunderstand me though; this is not intended in any way to take away from the historical achievement of the first African-American president. It is simply to say that I think Lilla is not looking at the whole picture here.
Okay, so they also said that they did not think that the American president affects their lives. Interesting because the other classes seemed to recognize that he does. I should say that there are about 6 students in this class that do actually pay attention and interact; 6 out of about 20. It is so frustrating, and they do not respect Lilla's "authority". What I am discovering is that the teachers have very little authority in some classrooms. This is rather frustrating because it means that the students have little to NO consequences for their actions. Do you know how hard it is to stand in front of a group of rowdy, unattentive students who know that there are absolutely NO consequences for their actions?? I'll tell you: HARD!! I had to stop class to tell them how essentially annoying it is that they do not pay attention and how much harder they are making this on me. I was so mad though. They do not listen to Lilla; they do not listen to me; and they do not listen to each other. With this class, I am going to have to find a way to cut out the power points because that means going to the lab and going to the lab means they will NOT pay attention. This is so frustrating because Lilla wants them to do this, but they are bored, and I am frustrated. We ended by talking about their favorite soccer teams and Christmas. We decided that the three weeks in December will be devoted to different types of Christmas topics: food, songs, and games. We will see how this goes!!
My break was good. I had two hours to send emails, work on my blog, and talk to Nick. When I went to the other building I ran into Virginia. I met some ladies that I never found out who they were, and then went with Virginia to print stuff and such. After I printed something for a class and made some copies, I talked to Virginia some. She was telling me how she could see that I am a perfectionist and I have a strong will and strong personality. She was so sweet to tell me that I am one of the most beautiful people she has ever met, and so sweet. She said that she can tell that I feel things deeply. She had a alot to say and it was so sweet of her! She also saw the picture of Nick and me in Naples (profile picture) and she was so excited and thought it was so sweet. She said that there was so much emotion in that picture and she could tell that I find it easy to express my emotions (haha...if she only knew). She also said it reminded her of herself and Franco when they were younger...she can be so sweet!
So, then it was time for me to go to Francesca's class. Virginia's words were, "good luck!"
Francesca's class went like this: we started with a word search using family vocabulary. Then, I wrote the 15 terms (conveniently there were 15 students) on the board in English and on the other half of the board wrote the corresponding numbers. They each had to come up and write the Italian equivalent of one word. THEN...I sat on the desk (teacher's desk) in a rather unprofessional, yet personable way, and we discussed families. I asked them how many people were in their families; how many brothers and sisters they had; were they the oldest, youngest, middle, or only child. A few were only children, but one HATES being an only child. I love it, but I suppose in a culture were it is not the norm, it would be more frustrating. We discussed the fact that a lot of their uncles and such live in America (usually Chicago) or in Canada (usually Toronto). They said that their families from there come back to Italy during the summer, but not at Christmas and such. THEN...I asked them about their cousins! HOLY COW!!! There was one girl that had 35 first cousins. Some had numbers in the teens, but most had cousins into the 20s and 30s. HOLY COW...I have TWO first cousins. One girl told me that her mom has 7 brothers and sisters and her dad has 10!! WOW!! This was common among the students. My mind was blown!! I was able to help them talk about their families...translating some things for them...so yay for my Italian...and they seemed very responsive and were attentive for about 95% of the time....this is a HUGE improvement from about 50% of the time!! I was so excited and was practically giddy inside! They were talking to me...asking to learn how to say things...they were engaged...I considered it a successful hour!! Francesca asked them to write something to their parents, on these sticky notes, that they had never told them before. This was asking a bit much when they do not have the vocabulary for it. They kept asking me for help, and so I gladly helped them. Most of them wrote things such as: "Mom and Dad" you are my heart....you are my life...I love you so much...etc. It was so sweet. The boys were particularly proud to show me how much they love their mothers! It was so cute.
So, when class was over with, I felt like it had been a wildly successful day with this group. They did not seem overwhelmed with the material and they had talked to me. I asked Francesca how she thought it went, and she said, "maybe you should just always bring a power point so that they can see pictures". WHOA...WAIT...WHAT??? No ma'am! First, I do NOT have time to make 2 powerpoints a week JUST for this class and second, did you not just see how attentive they are and how responsive they were?? This is an issue for me...I am going to do what they respond to and what it seems like they need. If the power points are distracting, then we should use LESS of them. I agree that visual aids are helpful and important, but it needs to be in an appropriate manner. I was slightly crushed in this moment and really upset. However, I will press on with what I feel to be appropriate.
So, I walked home. I stopped and bought yogurt. My momma called me and then called me back to say that she spoke to Sofia on the phone and was pretty sure she had not understood who she was. Haha, this made me laugh. When I got home, Sofia was there and we talked for a few minutes. Last night I wrote her a note that said that I was glad she was there and hoped she was not anxious to be away from home. I also suggested that I might make dinner for us Thursday night and that I was around to talk if she ever wanted to. She told me that she would love to help make dinner Thrusday night and then we talked a bit more. It was nice and I do like her. She is very sweet and keeps to herself quite a bit, so it works out well. She studies, and I work on stuff. I have a feeling we will find our groove and talk more. I hope we do...I want to improve my Italian.
My afternoon was spent working on blogs, powerpoints, and stuff. I talked to April at one point and she said that Maria was doing a skype session for lab meeting, so I IMMEDIATELY picked up the phone and called Mrs. Malissa. I explained what I knew and that skype was already going to be set up...THEREFORE...we MUST skype! She said she would set it all up and they would call me around 11 their time. I ran to go do some errands. I went to the bank and got sucked into the bookstore. I spent way too much time in there, but enjoyed it.
When I got home I had missed a call from Maria on skype. I called Mrs. Malissa and she gathered them all up again! So, when they called back I was SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO EXCITED!! Mrs. Hudson, Maria, Mrs. Malissa, Sherwood, Dr. Tingle, Kelly B., Ashley, and Lindy were all in there. Dr. Scofield and Cecile poked their heads in as well! It was so nice to see such loving, warm, familiar faces. They asked me all about Italy and the inevitable, "say something in Italian"...it was just so nice to hear familiar voices and see familiar faces!! I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful people in my life. I miss them so much! It was also nice to SEE Maria's face on her birthday rather than just hear her voice!! I told them I felt like I should be defending a thesis because they were all at the big round conference table looking at me! Glad I was NOT defending any sort of thesis or anything of the sort! I was so sad when they all had to leave, but I did get to talk to Lindy, Kelly, and Ashley some extra! It was nice to talk about familiar things...stats, grad school, etc. What a wonderful gift...the amazing people in my life! And Mrs. Malissa did not cry...which is good because it might have made me cry! It was also her baby's birthday...yay!
The rest of the night was spent lesson planning and such..talking to Nick...stressing over trains and such for when my mom comes...etc. I was able to talk to Erin on facebook and we set a skype phone date for tomorrow...SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!! I will definistrate the computer if it screws this one up!
I did some stretching and Bible study. I need to get back on track. I have allowed my busy schedule and stress over lesson planning to cut out my bible study and consistent prayer time. This is not acceptable and it is making me feel like my life is out of control and unbalanced. It is stressing me out, but at least I know the answer: Jesus. How could I let this happen?? Starting tomorrow the first hour when I get home from school will be set aside for this because He deserves my all...my best...and I have been giving it...well, I've been either skipping it or doing it late at night and falling asleep!! This is NOT okay...
P.S. I love that my friends let me love on them...and respone like this:
What an awesome Skype session we had! Lol "say something in Italian!" :P
ReplyDelete-Lindy