Today the third quarter ended. That means I have about 9 weeks left of school. At this point you would think I would have a routine down and would be able to cruise through the last quarter, but you are wrong. Not being a trained teacher and having minimal teaching experience before coming to the Marshall Islands has made this a very challenging experience.
In addition to having little teaching experience, I have had even less exposure to the Marshallese Language. While I am supposed to be teaching English with an emphasis on oral communication and grammar, the majority of my classes consist of my students sitting silent doing nothing (usually being embarrassed to speak or they are unwilling to raise their hand/speak up for help) or they speak to each other, or sometimes me, in Marshallese because they are shy or once again embarrassed to speak in English. My students know and understand much more English than they often display, however they are sometimes unsure if they are saying or using a word correctly.
These factors have caused me to have a very slow and sometimes difficult year. The range in students’ ages (14-18 years old) and English language abilities varies greatly. The number of students and the length of class do not really allow for time to do private tutoring. The students who come in after school to hang out or for extra assistance usually don’t need it (at least when compared to the other students in the class), but then again every student in my school needs assistance in all areas of English.
Lastly the most difficult part of this year has been trying to teach these students without a developed curriculum or relevant text book that they can understand. The cool thing about having little to no direction is that you can do pretty much whatever you want in class.
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