Filed under: stalk me!
ok. THIS has to be the longest I’ve gone without a post. So sorry. It’s been months! Hope you all are well. School has been really tough this term, and the reality of everything finally hit me….which was terrible at first, but I’ve adjusted myself. I’m eating lots of oranges. Maybe that’s perking me up. Well…that and painting a world map in a different town, and having the students paint the United States and Mexico the same color….United States of Mexico? There was also Chargentina…Chile and Argentina’s love child? Huh, anyway. School is almost over for this term. April is going to be lots and lots of fun! Next weekend is hang gliding festival time! Which means! I’m going to go jump off a mountain and fly! It’s going to be amazing!!
Just recently, I was asked to write an article for GYDLines, which is the Gender and Youth Development newspaper that gets circulated around Ghana. It’s a Peace Corps thing that’s all about empowering youths, and I was asked to write an article about education…being that I am a teacher. “Teacher” I should say. I mostly just play with Play-doh in class with the kids! Anyway, below is the article that I wrote! Hope you all enjoy!
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Gaffes
Lion. Loin.
When you’re a 2nd grader, such spelling mishaps are completely irrelevant, especially when it’s oh so obvious that you’ve clearly drawn a LION, but have mistakenly (and unknowingly) written LOIN in big fat bold letters. What’s even worse though, is the fact that you, a 2nd grader with a thirst for knowledge and a weakness for spelling, has a teacher that sees this mistake and fails to correct you…(but you don’t know that).
Now you’re the teacher. You’ve given your class the task of drawing their life in Ghana, and for the most part, your students are working diligently, save for a few that are hiding behind the door doing God knows what. As you walk around, you’re excited to see all the different portrayals of Ghanaian life, (especially that one drawing of handbags and high heels, by that one girl that sits in the back only drawing (can you guess…), handbags and high heels.) Then you stumble upon LOIN boy, and here’s your thought process: 1. Hey, that’s a nice drawing of a lion; 2. That says LOIN, not LION; 3. I should probably correct the boy’s spelling…or not. I mean, how funny would it be to show this to all of my friends?; 4. Even if I did tell this boy the correct spelling, how in the hell would I explain the difference between a lion and a loin…in sign language.; 5. What should I eat for lunch?
It’s tough being a teacher, can’t you see? All these thoughts and heavy decisions to weigh! Should I correct this student? Should I give my friends a good laugh? It’s stressful if you ask me, and being a teacher at a deaf school is even more so. God forbid you confuse the sign for “oil” with the sign for “blood”. “Hey, you should add some blood to that stew!” Just yesterday, a deaf friend came to visit me because I was sick with fever, and when he commented on how hot it was in my house, I (fully intending on responding with “I’m cold”), signed to him, “I’m scared!” Needless to say, he stared at me with utter confusion, gave up on my ability to learn sign language and dumped me as a friend.
If you’re worried that I don’t know sign language (and not about whether I have friends or not…like you should be), don’t be. Everyday I learn more and more sign, and it’s all thanks to the students who are so wonderfully patient and eager to help anyone learn. More so than teaching art, it’s having the students teaching me, that is truly enriching. It’s the after-school student to friend (not teacher) relationship that I love. It’s talking to the kids about life in America, and telling them that YES!, we too have onions and cars, but sadly no Fufu. It’s seeing their faces when I tell them that we have the same moon, sun and stars, that really makes me smile. The best part though about working with deaf kids is the secret language that we harbor. Perfect example: A German volunteer, with newly dread locked hair, once visited the school. A few female students started signing to me about how his friend was really cute, but how dread boy was very dirty and how his hair was appalling. I, fully knowing the way of the German hipsters, sarcastically agreed and signed back that he probably never bathed, beautifully avoiding the conversation where I tried to explain (in sign language mind you) how he purposely wanted his hair to look like that.
Signing is wonderful, and even though I’m often times in need of a hand massage, and occasionally getting “blood” and “oil” confused (minor difference right?), it’s probably the greatest thing I know I’ll ever accomplish. Well, that and knowing that sometime in the next 1.5 years, I will teach that boy how to spell LION.
L-I-O-N.
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2 Comments so far
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hey! luv the article! Hope ur enjoying ur time in Ghana!
Comment by Mira Patel March 28, 2010 @ 9:31 pmLoin – is exactly how they say it in da punjab where agriculture is their culture !
Comment by daddy o March 29, 2010 @ 1:45 pmYou write so well and seamless, do it more often please. All of us really do want to follow your days and encounters and relationships with your children.