I wanted that sandwich

I’m getting into the swing of things with my three schools. However there are some bumps on the road to knowing what I’m doing. At my most organized school we actually have tests for the students from time to time. Sadly I was not aware of the system for these tests. The first test my students took with me was given by a fellow teacher. I thought the central office made the test and then I simply administered it. WRONG!

So this past week my students were scheduled to have a test. The test dates are set by the school not by me. So I arrived at school with a short warm up exercise that would last roughly an hour leaving two hours for test time. I thought it would be the same as the first test and a fellow teacher would come in with the test at the second hour. Of course that would be too easy so when I got to the teacher’s lounge my advisor came to me and asked if I had a test ready. No I didn’t thinking the central office had the test for me. Apparently I’m supposed to write the test for the students, no one had told me this. So I had to quickly throw something together and have it typed up by the secretary.

They then informed me that normally I should bring my test to the secretary three days before the test. This was all information that would have been useful before the day of the test. Also at this school there was an issue with a student wanting to marry me. She gave me a nice middle school style letter and everything with a greeting line that said “dear (your name)”. I thought that was sweet, NOT!

Sadly this type of thing is not uncommon here. There are many instances of teachers dating students so students are not really shy about being upfront. I’m in no position to pass judgment on some of the cultural peculiarities, but this is not the standard in the States or the way I choose to conduct myself. If something like this happens in the states you would normally go to your advisor to have it sorted it. Not really the best option here because my advisors don’t necessarily take these matters seriously.

I addressed the situation myself telling the student (who transferred into my class, brought to me by a fellow teacher) that if she wanted to stay in my class then there are to be no more letters or anything of the sort. At the time I was trying to tell her this she was trying to give me a sandwich she had bought for me. I really wanted that sandwich too but I declined a continued being “stern” with the student.

The following week I was approached by my advisor and he asked if I was having a problem with the student being in my class. Without trying to spread the students business I informed him there was a problem but I discussed it with the student. Apparently the student went to my advisor and told him that she felt like I didn’t want her in the class and that I was being very short with her. I told him that there are most likely other reasons she thinks I’m being short with her.

My advisor said simply, laughing the entire time and standing with two other English teachers, “we are all men, we know HAHA”. Again, this is not really the level of concern that these types of issues would warrant in the States. On top of that, the same English teacher who brought that student to my class also brought two senior girls to and told me that they wanted some help with their English. I thought no problem we can work one hour after my normal class.

This English teacher informed me that those two girls were not happy with the introduction that he gave them. Apparently they told him they “wanted more than just that”. So my fellow English teacher is acting as my pimp and sending me girls. Of course they don’t mind either that these girls are trying to throw themselves at teachers. This is just another unfortunate reality in life here. It is however nice to once again be confronted with a real situation and have to take a stance, a stance that is not forced by law or passed on from parents or churches.

Often times we say we think something is wrong because we were taught that it was wrong but we have never been confronted by the real situation where a discussion has to be made. Now confronted with the real situation I agree wholeheartedly with the laws and teachings that we have on the particular issue. I think it is better to learn the facts so that when you are confronted with the situation you can make a sound choice. It’s one thing to say you think or believe a certain thing about an issue when you’ve never been confronted by it; it’s another to think or believe something and practice it and believe it because you’ve had to make the choice.