Travelin' Through

Part of me expected to come to Tirana and just figure out everything I needed to discover about myself.  There is no way I can deny that. But, that just isn’t the way the world works. I left America, 2 plus some months ago, not knowing what I wanted out of life. I was just a typical 20 something girl who had no idea who she wanted to be, where she would end up, or who she would meet along the way.

And I still don’t know. I think I’m finally starting to freak out about it, because I don’t know if I want to stay for another year, and I don’t know where I will go if I don’t. I just feel lost. But, truth be told I have found a bit of myself here. . I have learned 2 things:

1)    I don’t want to be alone. I want to find someone I love to be with for the rest of my life. Not yet, but eventually.

2)    I’m not ready to go home. And I won’t be ready to go home next summer. Perhaps for a visit, but not permanently. I’d be selling myself, and my dreams short if I did. There is so much I want to see, and so much I want to do. I also know that to learn about myself I need to be on my own. I hate being alone (single girl, and away from my family) but it is important that I do this to get my own perspective. I’m dreaming about things I never would have dreamed about, not because the people in my life don’t support me (they do) but because I’m seeing myself and the world through different eyes. The people I’ve met along the way have different connections, and the traveling teacher viewpoints I need. Thank you Cortney and Scott for all of the support and encouragement on this journey.

So overall, no matter where I go or what I do, I’m living my life, and figuring it out one little bit at a time. And I have options, and that is something that I should be so very thankful for. And once again music is saving my life:

My First Really Rough Day

Not sure why today was so rough. I started out with the usual calendar, greeting, letter of the alphabet, and went into a lesson on patience. They did really good with patience during break and lunch time. On the way back into the building I noticed multiple students pushing in the line, so we spent our first 5 minutes of math practicing and I told them we would not have time to play our favorite class game (pop!) because we wasted time not walking right the first time. Math class went good, but when I didn’t immediately allow for playtime after 2 problems the kids freaked on me. I had too many going to the bathroom (to escape) and many not willing to sit at the carpet. They complain anytime I try to teach them anything real. I know kids need breaks, but every 15 minutes? For real?

So we had a nice (I was very angry, but holding it in) talk about what 1^st grade is. Basically I told them that 1^st grade wasn’t about playing it was about learning, and that they would have to work really hard to be good in second grade. We reviewed our rules, and I ended the day by saying that I knew the following day would be much better, and that we would get all our work done so that we could have play-dough time at the end. My god, do these kids love play-dough!

I also finally started feeling a bit homesick at the end of the day. So I went in my classroom, blasted the bluegrass, and prepared for Friday/attempted to organize. I also immediately made plans with the other teachers to get myself out of the house tonight. I’ve been in too much of a routine: School, Home, cleaning, working, dinner, movie, bed. Its too normal, and I need something else.

On a plus note I have the cutest students. Here is a serious and funny picture of my students.

Classroom and My School

So I've been waiting to post information about the school because I still don't feel as though I know enough about it, but alas, the time has come. My school is different from any school I have ever seen before. From the outside it looks like a hotel room, and I'd say that my classroom is about the size of a hotel room. It's tiny, so it is a good thing that they limit the class sizes to 18 and currently I only have 12, leaving me space for my rug (if I ever get one.)

I find myself slowly realizing that I have no idea how to teach 1st graders with limited english ability. And I'm freaking out about it, but i must keep my cool and act like I know what I'm doing, because that is what all the other teachers are doing. But....back to the school....

The staff is composed of people from many different backgrounds. Many of the directors and teacher are Turkish, and some are also Albanian. The students are composed likewise: mostly Turkish, and then a few from Albania and Italy and the rest from other places. Unfortunately 2 of the teachers from America backed out at the last minute, so Mr. Jeff (the primary principal) has to teach 3rd grade as well as performing his duties as a principal. But I love Jeff! He is so helpful, and understanding.

I was told they have limited resources, and holy mama....limited resources. I was given a small stack of books to use for my grade level, an active board (which didn't work until 2 days after school started,) 14 desks and chairs, one cabinet, and 5 small bulletin boards. I quickly made my way to the Kancellari and purchased some markers, tape, glue, scissors, and tag board. so much tag board. I also made a trip to Carrfur and found CRAYONS! so I bought some for each student. Originally we had one very slow copier, but now we are renting one that works wonderfully!

The first day was a bit chaotic mostly because the new teachers not understand what was happening, and there were so many new teachers. I spent most of my day just playing games and going over rules and procedures with the kids. The second half of the day was fantastic! and my second day was even better! I love my kids and as long as I constantly change the activity they are good to go! I have to keep yelling at them to speak in English. I told them Miss Tiara is very happy when you speak english in her classroom. Today (second day) we started practicing basic conversational skills and I got them to all say hello, what is your name, and my name is.... They did a fantastic job, so tomorrow we are going to practice asking "How are You?"

We technically don't have a morning meeting time, but I'm just going to make the first 20 minutes of my first English class a meeting/calendar time, because the students need to learn these social skills as much as they need to learn how to read. Also, we don't have a general school set of rules or behavior system, so I've partially adopted responsive classroom, but I don't even know how a student would react if I told them to take a break. I showed them the take a break area today, but I feel like they don't really understand it with their limited english. Sigh, thank god I have such a good behaving class.

I find that I'm exhausted by the time I leave at 4:15ish. But I expected to be. I've been forcing myself to get there at like 7:30 even though we technically don't have to be there until 8. How can teachers work those minimal hours??? Though I haven't yet had a prep period, because we are still waiting for a 5th grade teacher to show up, so the music teacher is currently teaching them. Yes, the school is quite chaotic. Also, I haven't had coffee in over a week because of my stomach issues. Miss Tiara loves and needs her coffee!

That is all for now folks, but below you will find some pictures of my classroom!!! :D

We filled out our rules together on day 2. This is my rules board.

all done, materials needed, alphabet and numbers

Calendar area

Students desk, my desk, and now working smart board! Also notice the tape on the ground. This is me making a circle for my students because they do not know how...yet