Time is flying by! Only 2 more weeks until I leave Tonga!
My project is going well. I only have 2 more people to interview and then I’m done! Things are a little challenging as I try to get ready to come home but things have generally gone really well. My time at Saineha High School has definitely been the highlight! I love it and am really sad that it is almost over. I was able to teach the students some of the lessons and even write a few of the tests. I have learned a lot about what it means to be a teacher and different techniques about teaching. One thing that I have learned is that you can only do so much for the student. They have to do some of the learning on their own. Many times I would teach a lesson and the students seemed to understand but then when it came to test day most of the students wouldn't even pass the easy test I made. Some of them did. It made me sad and a little down hearted cause I thought maybe I wasn't a very good teacher if the students didn't do well on my tests. But then I realized that you can only do so much as a teacher. The students have to study and learn the material on their own as well. It was a good lesson to learn and one that I will take into my teaching once I graduate and become a high school teacher.
This experience has taught me a lot of things and I am really glad I came down here to Tonga. I really hope to take what I've learned here and apply it to my life when I get back.
I remember when I first started teaching. It was definitely intimidating and seems like nothing is ever sinking in. But they learn, they really do. Just do your best and encourage them to do their part. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel about having to let the students do the “learning” on their own. At the schools I work at the students come from disadvantage backgrounds and they don’t really have any support from home. At the beginning I noticed who was struggling academically and I thought that if I could be that “support” that was lacking at home, then they might succeed. These students were ones that are most likely going to fail the grade and repeat. I also thought that if a student didn’t know or understand something that it was my fault and I was essentially failing them. Basically I have learned that if the child wants to learn, he or she will and if they don’t want to then it’s not necessarily the teachers fault. It’s all about personal motivation.
ReplyDeleteIt was hard to watch students struggle in Tonga, especially when they came over for English help and they could barely read the questions. It's hard to watch them have to attend an all English school like Saineha, and see people that graduated from there and still can't formulate a full sentence, but others come out being fluent. At first I thought of what a good idea for them to learn English, but I for some people it's at the expense of their education if they are sitting in a class trying to learn in a language they don't speak. I wonder if it's better for some students to just attend a Tongan school and take English classes? I guess it depends on the student!
ReplyDeleteI think obviously I faced the same challenge you did with the students! It really was so sad when you couldn't help them and especially when I felt like I couldn't communicate with them. It was one of the biggest challenges I faced in Tonga.
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