Baby Steps

Going to a different country and trying to implement the things you have learned is actually a pretty big challenge. People dismiss your ideas, and push back against your ideas. You realize that you are fighting for something and at the end of the day, you open your eyes and realize that, maybe, there is more than one way to do something. Maybe, your ideas. good and effective as they may be in your own country, are not the best way in the new country.

While I have been trying to implement group classes and lesson plans, I have felt a roller coaster of emotions and met many unexpected challenges. Turns out, email is not as widely relied upon here as it is in the states and having the teachers submit their lesson plans by email is actually not as good as having them fill it out by hand at the school. Last Saturday morning, I finally saw a ray of light as I made this realization. So, I tried something new and printed a bunch of blank lesson plans and brought a box of pens so that when the teachers came to sign in without their lesson plans again, I could give them a blank sheet with a pen and have them fill it out in front of me. 

Last Saturday was the first day that every teacher submitted a lesson plan. Obstacle number one mastered!

The teachers here are mostly willing to accept my changes to their current systems but many of them do not want to do extra work outside of what they are paid for. In my experience and based on what I have been taught in school my whole life, there is always homework, but here, homework is not as relied upon or accepted in the work world as in the States. Maybe that is why people here are generally happier or something, but that is another blog for another time. I am constantly having to think of new ways to do the things I have always done so that they fit within the norms of the culture here.

I am happy I was able to implement change while still adhering to cultural norms here. It gives me hope for future challenges- that I will be able to overcome them with a satisfactory compromise between change and culture norms.

Next challenge- time management in the classroom. Wish me luck!



Here are some pics of the orchestra rehearsal on Saturday. These kids are so amazing!