Well another week has gone by here in Beit Hanina, Palestine. I have enjoyed my time here so far. Teaching has ironically been such a learning experience. Let me tell you about my life as Mr. Mike.
I currently teach 4 or 5 hours every day with Lunch duty (watching over the kids to make sure they don't do anything stupid during lunch). This means that I have about 2 hours free every day. These hours are usually filled with grading papers or preparing powerpoint presentations.
The greatest joy in teaching is being able to connect with the students. Since I am teaching 7th and 8th graders, they are very passionate, emotional, and somewhat out of control. Discipline is something that many of them lack to such a great extent that sometimes I feel the need to teach more about how to keep their mouths shut while I am talking than whatever else we may be working on. However, in these moments, I can show them that I am disciplining them for their actions while not being angry with them. And sometimes when I do become visibly angry with them, I can show them true character when I apologize for my own actions.
This is something that is very difficult. Some teachers here say that you don't realize you have an anger problem til you start teaching these kids. I can definitely relate to that. At the same time, I already love these kids. They are each special, and it is my job to bring that out of them and give them confidence to do so more often. It is an incredible feeling when the kids work hard at something, especially the kids who normally wouldn't even bother writing their name down.
The most important thing to me is that I am a follower of Jesus. This place, Palestine and Israel, needs the teachings of Jesus. Jesus taught to forgive and to love even your enemites. This is for another blog post, but my hope is that by knowing who I am as a person, my students will know what Jesus taught and how He lived.
Being a teacher is difficult, but it is rewarding. It makes me wish that I could have high school over again so that I can show my teachers how much I appreciate them! God bless!
1 comment:
Now you know how I felt when you were in first grade! Seriously, so glad you are having this experience. Pastor Fred always said that your students will "partake of your spirit" more than they will partake of your teaching; and is your spirit is out of kilter, your teaching will be ineffective. So glad your students have a teacher whose spirit is in tune with God's spirit. Praying for you each day!
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