A Good Day of Teaching Makes It All Okay

In training we learn about the ups and downs, the challenges both professional and personal that we will face over the next two years. After a great visit with a volunteer, I returned to a rigorous and demanding schedule as well as the same stressors I felt before I left. Every day I walk out my door and am stared at and hear cat calls as I simply head to class. Most days I ignore the men on the streets, I honestly don’t even notice they’re there, or I respond with a sassy remark under my breath and continue along my way. Other days the same exact comments crawl under my skin and wear me down. This is just one example of a small challenge we face everyday and will continue to face as women in this country.

But no matter how many cat calls, or how many times my three year old host brother tries to fight with me, or how much rice I eat, a successful class makes it all better. Today was one of those days where Spanish class drug on, we have had a lot on our plate with technical and language interviews this week in addition to normal assignments, and the bathroom sink that has been slowly coming out of the wall for two weeks finally fell and shattered while I was in the bathroom (of course that’s just my luck). It was one of those days where I wanted to crawl into bed and escape from the world.

Then I went to give a science lesson on animals to my fourth grade class. Despite a lack of participation in co-planning, my profe (the teacher I’m working with) helped me to organize the students and facilitate the activities so everything ran smoothly. The students remained mostly quiet (again with some help from my profe) and seemed to like the activities. They participated when necessary, enjoyed my silliness when I tried to make them laugh, and got very into trashcan basketball when they were split into teams and had to categorize animals. I was nervous at first, though I didn’t really realize this until I looked down at my shaky hands, but as the class went on I felt more confident. This is what it feels like to get used to being in front of the classroom.

Over the next few years I will face so many challenges big and small, both in and outside of the classroom. It is days like these where I will hold on to this feeling of accomplishment where my students learned and were able to practice the information in a meaningful way. Many people wished me well and told me to change lives before I left, but I know that my life will be forever changed by each and every day spent in the classroom.