On my very first day at school, I sat uncomfortably in a classroom in a tiny plastic chair built for a 4 year old not knowing what to do with myself. Burmese chatter flew around me as I hovered over my phone searching the internet for lesson plan inspiration. We had just eaten lunch where the teachers each had me try something they had brought from home, from tea leaf salad to dried fish to steamed cauliflower. All the teachers then proceeded to take a beauty break. People pulled out compact mirrors and lipsticks from their bags, peering over at each others handheld mirrors and sharing cosmetics. “Do you like lipstick?” one of the teachers asked. I replied yes, which then led to one of them handing me their makeup and requesting that I put it on. As they all giggled, I applied the bright pink shade to their delight. Though I felt oddly overdressed for school once I had it on, they were all so pleased that I had participated in this. I felt silly, but I felt welcome. This lipstick ritual has since become a daily occurrence on Mondays, Wednesday’s and Friday’s. It doesn’t happen every time anymore, but when it does it sure does brighten my day.
My teaching experience thus far has been exhausting, hard work, mostly enjoyable and very special (due to occurrences like the one above). I work with kids ages 4-13 at GETC, George English Training Center. Three times a week I take a bus to school (which is a whole story on its own) and twice a week I work within walking distance of my apartment. We have a slightly insane schedule in terms of the classes we teach. Instead of having our own classes, we visit each level at least once throughout the week, like a special guest star. M/W/F we teach 13 half hour lessons which can get pretty overwhelming with all the different plans and activities to remember. Some of those classes are the Cambridge testing classes where we help prepare students for a speaking exam. In general for all our classes, we follow books the students use but we can occasionally create our own lesson plans as well.
It can be tough not having our own class at times, because we don’t get to build on previous work with the students and can’t really see their progress. It’s also difficult to establish your role as the authority figure when you are with them for such a short time. That being said, we still seem to be quite the hit with the kids. They refer to you as “teachah” and, the younger ones especially, love to get your approval. They are constantly yelling, “teachah, teachah, finish!” after completing anything from writing one letter to opening their book to the correct page. They always say good morning and good afternoon and goodbye with a giant smile on their face whenever they pass you. I’ve also received a few gifts from students and invitations to spend time with them outside of school. Being the only foreigner in the near vicinity, and visiting their class for such a short time, we really are like a celebrity to them.
On the whole, the kids have really impressive language skills. Most of them, even the lower levels, can hold a short conversation with you and some of the older students are even better than some of the teachers, but the teachers are extremely welcoming and caring. They will always go out of their way to help you with anything you need, from printing to getting supplies ready for your lesson, and are unbelievably polite. Some of their teaching styles are a bit more aggressive and hands on than what I would think would be a good way for students to learn, but it’s interesting to see how they each have their own style. The students and the teachers definitely make this difficult job seem more worth it.
I’ll be honest, there are many days where I dread going to work at 7am and wish I could be anywhere but sweaty and in front of a classroom full of chatty students, but I think I’m just still learning. With this particular job, I’ve learned that I don’t have as much creative freedom as I would like, that I’m unqualified to teach the testing classes, and that in the future I would like to work WAY less hours and teach WAY less levels. Trying to keep track of so many students and lesson themes for so many hours each week is draining. But on a whole, I do enjoy teaching. Every morning I get anxious I’ll forget important books or not have enough activities for class but once I get in front of the students, that all fades away. They’re excited to learn and that makes me excited to teach them. It’s pretty crazy that teaching here is already coming to an end, but I’m ready to continue this journey and explore what it’s like to teach somewhere else next!