The First Day of School…AHH!

Today I had my first interaction as a teacher when another teacher asked me to watch her class for a few minutes while she ran a quick errand. I was excited but as soon as the door shut and the teacher was gone I realized that teaching is not easy at all and kids are scary little people. As soon as that door was closed all hell broke loose and plus some, it was Kindergarten Cop, Sister Act II, Problem Child and any other film you’ve ever seen where the kids are horrible. The kids immediately started running in circles around the room. One kid started getting whaled on in the corner while one girl chased a boy around the room while spitting on him. Two other boys set on the second floor window seal teetering too close to the edge for my comfort. And my attempts at saying nestie (sit) and trying to facilitate a game all went unobserved. Of course as any teacher or substitute can probably tell you when a kid gets a chance they get thirsty or need to go to the bathroom or they have to take care of business some where else and kids in Armenia try the same thing. As soon as the teacher was gone half the class wanted to go to the bathroom while the other half wanted to get a drink of water of course I didn’t want the teacher to come back and find her classroom empty so I wouldn’t let them go which didn’t stop all the kids. Some left anyways. I tried to be strict but yelling and keeping a straight face just aren’t something that I do very well. One kid who is a real Hollywood portrayal of a bully told me he spoke English and was nice enough to share his vocabulary with me. I think he could say his birthday, shut up and shit which only made the situation more absurd. And the differences in Armenian and American teaching styles are also worlds apart. I only got relief when the teacher from next door came in and yelled at the kids until they were scared into submission and yesterday on the playground one of the teachers went about smacking the misbehaving kids on the back of the head and twisting their ears which looked painful to me but the kids only carried on like they had been. The kids were climbing trees shaking the apples out of them, getting into little fights with one another while the PE teacher talked with his friend (who is unaffiliated with the school) while his friend washed his car using the school's water. And in the building attached to the gym is kept a number of cows so the school yard is littered with cow patties. The way my school in Armenia and any school in America would operate is so completely different. Imagine the PE coach not doing anything but talking to his friend while the kids run around or try to just imagine that friend with no school affiliation trying to get into the prison that has become the American campus, it would never happen! But one thing to note these kids actually do give their teachers apples and I’ve definitely got a stock pile of them scattered throughout the school.