Hello, my name is “Teacher”

As volunteers at Jubilee, we play many roles within the community, for example, I am the chief egg gatherer, but our primary responsibility is being an English teacher to the refugees.

Currently I’m teaching 3 bright elementary students. ANaing (age 9) is from Burma, but came to Jubilee from a refugee camp in Thailand. He arrived at Jubilee with this widowed mother, Ko Jam Bee (who is in Nate’s class and is a hoot to be around). My other two students are twin girls (just turned 10), from Burma. Day Wah and Day Htoo (pronounced Day one, Day two- yes, the story goes that one was born late at night and the other came early the next day) are identical expect for the moles they sport on either their face ( Day Wah) or neck (Day Htoo). The twins are here with their parents and two older sisters.

I love teaching and interacting with these students and it will be sad to see them go on Wednesday, Sept 11^th, as their 2 months are up at Jubilee. Every day I find myself marveling at their enthusiasm and determination to learn.

Their school day is split into two different class times. The morning class time is 9:30-11:30 and the afternoon starts at 2:30 and goes until 4:30. Each 2 hour section has a 15min “recess” break for everyone. The two hours I’m with these kids fly by and are a lot of fun. I’ve found it to be one of the most rewarding experiences here at Jubilee.

I share teaching responsibilities with 2 other Jubilee teachers, so we have a notebook we pass back and forth to record what we worked on that class period and who needs help in what area.

Our typical class starts off with a review of the calendar. This includes them dictating to me what day is yesterday, today and tomorrow, what the weather was like each day,  and writing the date in this form: 9/4/2013. Writing the date is something I started working on with them, and they have it figured out now!

Right now, as their time at Jubilee is ending, I have been working hard to get them to speak in complete sentences. Today we worked hard at the phrase “The ____ is with the _____.” We used seasons to say “The sun is with the Summer.” And then I would ask, “Class, where is the sun?” and they would reply “The sun is with the Summer.” It’s a lot of work in repetitions, but they are quick learners!

We also are working on prepositions: In, On, Over & Under. Today I got out animal finger puppets and had them place them in relation to a book. The favorite was putting their puppet IN the book. I got a little creative and had them close their eyes so I could hide the puppets around the room. The Lion ended up under the chair, the Butterfly was hanging under ceiling fan … etc. They loved that exercise and I think they are finally remembering what In, On, Over and Under mean! Whoo hoo! Teaching victory!

Most days when I announce class is dismissed, they are so engrossed in their work and learning that I have to “shoo” them out the door. They really are terrific kids!

I do wonder about their fates, though. Will they survive and thrive in a big public school in Atlanta? Many have gone before them and done well, and a few have struggled, but the school system is used to having refugee kids in attendance. For ANaing, he will probably become a man, head of the household, way before he gets bored of childhood. Despite being here for over 2 months, his mother has not progressed past a very basic level of English phrases and words. ANaing will inevitably become his mother’s voice in English speaking contexts, and I wonder how that role will affect his life path.  

Well, wherever life leads them, they certainly have found a special place in my heart. Hopefully I can keep from crying on Wed. when we say our goodbyes.

-- Sabrina

*For security reasons I will not be posting and pictures of my students, but here are a few pictures of the school and my classroom as well as Nate’s. 

My classroom- the blackboard and desk side.

My classroom- the fun carpet side

Teacher Sabrina :-)

Nate in his classroom. Note that the blackboard dialogue fits well with Nate's poison ivy bandaged arms. :-)

The teacher resource room in the school.

This is the common area in the school. What you can't see is a ping pong table and that students of all ages love to challenge the teachers to a game during break.

The outside of the school.