Well, today marks three months in Haiti for me and the end of the second week of school. I already come to love my students, although, adjusting to being a teacher in Haiti versus America, has NOT been easy. Here are some differences I have noted in the last two weeks in teaching and preparing to teach:
1) I float from classroom to classroom. 4 different grades, 4 different rooms. This is actually not that bad considering my Thirty One bags I decided I needed to bring. Thank you Lindsey! (We will see if you actually read my blog)
2) Breakfast and lunch are both serves in the classrooms. Here's he thing, there is no consistent times for when the meals come. So, I never know when a tray of 12 or more plates will appear in my doorway. :) Nutrition is an important part of our school though, so we just go with the flow. Our cooks are amazing. Enough said. They turn out over 600 meals per day.
3) Electricity in Haiti is never guaranteed. Sometimes we have it sometimes we don't. This makes this first world teacher a little stresses when she was depending on copying or printing a particular worksheet in class. The chalkboard and I have become friends though, even though I secretly despise it.
4) Some things are hard to come by. Just last night, I was preparing to teach temperature conversions, density, volume, etc. to my two physical science classes. I began going over the formulas and it hit me that we were going to need calculators to do this! We don't have enough calculators for every student and you cannot expect them to go out and purchase one. So what am I doing??? Skipping temperature conversions all together and focusing on density and volume with numbers that divide easily. I tell my students this every day here and in America, I am not a math teacher! If I cannot do the math without a calculator, I'm not going to make them do it either. Ugh! Did I mention I hate math?
5) in Haiti, teachers are referred to by their first name. Therefore, I am Ms. Ashleigh. Or I'm also called just Ashleigh to some (very few), Ms. Ash (a lot), and a couple who really want to try and annoy me (it doesn't work anymore) call me Ms. Kruse, just to be different. But hey, it doesn't phase me because to my students back home that's who I am. Ms. Kruse. :)
I'm writing this on Friday because Friday is the best day ever for a teacher! It has been awhile since mu last blog post and with some of my Facebook posts, I was afraid people might be a tad worried about me. Well yes. I have been stressed as of the last two weeks. Yes, I have been homesick and wanted to be on one of the planes I see taking off since we are so close to the airport. Yes, I have felt like teaching here might be too much to handle. But really it's not. Teaching in the States I believe has prepared me well for teaching here. After all, kids are kids. Haitian students and not that different from American students when it comes to teaching.
I am enjoying teaching them and getting to know them. They are exceptional and I know I will be a better person when I leave here because of them. Of that, I am certain.
Ashleigh
