When I started at my school I was definitely shocked. The entrance was dark and had little appeal. Most of the hallways had bare walls and because I arrived in winter it was freezing. The classrooms weren’t much better, the younger children had decorated, colorful rooms, but once you left 4th grade there was little imagination with the décor. My main English room consists of a few 1950’s sketches of random cities in the United States, a poster about Shakespeare, five drawings of English poets and now showcases some of my student’s work. The students don’t seem as affected by this and other schools I’ve visited and have heard about seem to have the same situation.
Somehow, this changed once the warmer weather came around. The school is the same; dark in the entry way, a bit drafty in some places, but some of the classrooms have switched and the dreary rooms we were using are in ‘hibernation’ so to say. The bright sunshine has livened up the building, teachers and students. Although there are old, torn posters on most classroom walls still, they don’t fully cover up the students work. It’s as if a new life has been given to the school. Thank you spring!
Education? There are problems with the education system in Georgia, its evident everywhere and not a secret. Most of the time, you have to just consider this and keep going. Changes are taking place and it’s much better than it has been in the past, but it is still changing; it’s a lot different from what Westerners are used to and familiar to.
Discipline is lacking in the schools, children cannot fail a course and therefore don’t have to try, the teachers don’t know the lesson or distractions eat away at class time. Lessons and activities do get accomplished sometimes, but patience is a virtue and persistence is key. Sometimes I have to ask my co-teacher a few times to conduct an activity or have the students re-do work, but they are slowly advancing. It’s important to include all the students as well, some get left out for whatever reason and engaging everyone boots their self confidence and enables more students to speak up when they would otherwise be afraid to.
My students are great. There are many who don’t care to be in class or school, but they always greet me nonetheless and usually will attempt a small conversation. The students were all so curious and excited when I first came to the school. It was overwhelming at times, they would crowd around and ask many questions, but it slowly calmed down and I now look forward to my greetings at school. Some of my students took me around Tbilisi during my 2nd week there. It was a great experience and I was able to see how they interact outside of the school setting. I will definitely miss a lot of the students when I leave; they’ve asked me to stay forever, when am I coming back and will I come back. It’s very touching to see the impact you have on someone, regardless if it’s from teaching or just interacting with them. This has been the most rewarding for me during my stay. The smiles from the students are genuine and interacting with me has benefitted their English more so than the lessons. It’s also been a lot of fun getting to know them, their likes and dislikes, what they do during holidays and so on. I even have a few inside jokes with some of the students.
Footprints’ Teacher
Kate Knudsen
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