Finding Inspiration In Teaching

“A teacher takes a hand, opens a mind, and touches a heart”- Author Unknown

I have always loved school. When I was little my brother and I would play after school and on weekends and when it came my turn to choose a game I always chose school, and guess who was the teacher? I was an eager student and I don’t think I caused any trouble on purpose (you should probably check that fact with my parents and teachers instead of taking my word on it, though). I continued to grow in my love of learning as my years in school went on. I attended good schools with some great teachers who inspired me in and out of the classroom. I became addicted to learning and when it came time to choose a major, I realized I wanted to help others in their pursuit of learning and education as well.

My joy has come from watching little ones grasp concepts and get ideas. When I student taught in first grade I absolutely loved when my students would finally understand a lesson after struggling through. From my little girl who after many tries was able to read an easy reader, to my boys who got addition when using manipulatives. From my students who were able to tell me the difference between needs and wants to making gloop with them in science, I came to enjoy teaching and watching their minds grow as I fed them information.

When I learned I would be teaching high school in Ethiopia I was very excited, but also nervous because although I have been in front a class before, it has always been with children and my background was all people younger than teenagers. Yet, I was being put in front of the classroom in a foreign country to teach high schoolers, some of whom are older than me. I was terrified the first day I walked into my classes here. Not only were many of the students bigger than me, but they looked at me with blank stares, many of whom had no idea what I was saying, even when I spoke in Tigrinya, and having 70 in a class certainly didn’t ease my nerves.

It took a few weeks for them to realize this was going to be a much different class than they were used to. I used visual aids, brought in chart paper and markers, stuffed animals, and pictures, and I acted a little bit crazy. I didn’t make them just sit there and copy notes, instead they had to participate and actually engage with the information. I made them come up to the board to write answers, we did matching and Jeopardy, and we moved around in the classroom and even attempted lessons outside a couple of times. We played Teacher Says and used fairytales to transfer grammar lessons.

My classrooms I taught in the first year became both the place I loved and hated the most at site. On a good day when my students were excited, when I had a fun lesson, and when school was on, I absolutely loved being there. We got to the point that first year where we could joke with each other, play games, and have fun while learning. I started to learn their names, not just their numbers. I learned who lived where in the city, who has siblings, and what their favorite food is. They learned all about my family at home, why I’m here, and what I planned to do in the future. When the days were difficult, I became upset and would yell at them. I am not proud of it, but there were times I did make my students kneel like the other teachers, although I never laid a hand on them. I had some really hard days and by the end of the year I was ready for a break from teaching and the kids.

I cried after I finished teaching that first year because I thought I would get new students and as much as they drove me crazy, I realized I was going to miss the students I had come to love. However, when I came back after summer vacation I was told I was moving with them to the next grade. This gave me a chance to stick with my same students and grow with them. I was also given a new class a few weeks into school. I had developed a routine with my other students, and they quickly fell into place with my other sections as well. By month 2 of year 2 I had 4 classes of kids I now consider my own.

The second year was rougher as my students and I had developed more of a friend than a student-teacher relationship. I had worked so hard that first year to make sure they liked me that I sacrificed what would have been respect in the classroom. In addition to that, it became tougher to keep them engaged because at the end of the year they had to take their National Exams, so anything that was not directly linked to that exam they didn’t seem to think was worth their time. As always, the education system doesn’t always follow the calendar, and so there were many days we should have had class but didn’t.

“Teaching: You laugh, you cry, and you work harder than you ever thought you could. Some days you’re trying to change the world and some days you’re just trying to make it through the day. Your wallet is empty, your heart is full, and your mind’s packed with memories of kids who have changed your life. Just another day in the classroom”

Much of the second year I spent watching TV shows and movies and listening to music with the few students in each class who showed up right before and after holidays and breaks. We talked a lot about gender equality and I did lessons with American holidays. I also did a lot of National Exam prep for the students who were inclined to pay attention and study hard for it.

I have always appreciated my teachers I had growing up, but teaching in an environment such as this one has really opened my eyes to just how difficult teaching can be, especially high school. I had about 70 students in a class my first year and 60 my second year. I had a very high percentage of students who couldn’t speak English at the beginning and barely could by the end. Many of them won’t pass the National Exam and continue on, and those who do still have a difficult road ahead of them.

My students come from villages and the city, they range in ages from 15-25, and they come from vastly different home lives. I have female students who go home and care for younger siblings, boys who have to go to work and both who will skip class because their families need them. I have kids who have no money to eat and have to walk hours to get to school every day. Even my more fortunate students, the ones who have educated families and live close to school, the ones who have it “easier” still have the odds stacked against them. They will still have to work extremely hard to achieve what they want to achieve, no matter how much they might try.

I wanted to become a teacher to inspire people. Being a teacher is an extremely difficult and mostly thankless job. In America there are many issues with the system, as well as in Ethiopia. Many people blame teachers for the struggling students, the broken system, and the lower standards. There are too many issues to get into in this blog and I’m not going to pretend to be an expert. But I do know that we need more teachers who want to help their students, no matter how difficult that might be.

My students and children I work with have always reminded me why I continue to be an educator. They remind me through their hard work, their smiles, their struggles, and their triumphs. I never understood growing up how my teachers always seemed to remember me, no matter how many years it had been. However, now after teaching here I get it. With so many students I don’t remember every kids name, but I remember their faces and they are engrained in my brain and heart.

Because their schedule is not always followed and because teachers and students don’t have the same sentimental attachment in Ethiopia as they do in America, I didn’t get to say goodbye to my students this year. Most know I’m leaving and won’t be here next year, but I don’t know if they really registered that means I won’t see them again. Because I live in a bigger site, I don’t get to see them around town as often as my other volunteers see their students and I’m sad about that.

“So often you find that the students you’re trying to inspire are the ones that end up inspiring you”- Sean Jenkins

I might have had some really difficult days in the classroom here, between my students, my lessons, and the system as a whole but I wouldn’t have traded a single moment. The hard days taught me patience, the trouble maker students taught me how to smile through it all, the “gobez students” taught me that I am making a difference (no matter how small), and the good days taught me that it’s all been worth it. I was privileged to watch my students grow through 2 years both physically, academically, emotionally, and mentally. I grew up with them in many different ways. We all changed, but we changed together. I never thought I would grow as attached to a group of humans as I did to my Ethiopian students, but my sections T-13, 14, 15, and 16 gave me light in some of my dark times during my Peace Corp service.

I didn’t come here to change the world. I came here to learn about the world and others lives. I came here to be affected by someone, and I came here to be inspired by my students, and that’s exactly what happened. Maybe I did change a student’s life. Maybe I did help one girl see her true potential, and that’s the most I can hope for. Instead of turning myself into a savior, my students turned me into someone they can look up to for guidance. I hope I helped a few of them in their academic and emotional journeys. That’s all I can hope for. I won’t see my impact until much later, but I know for a fact they changed my life for the better. My students gave me new perspective, lessons, and inspiration that have changed who I am as a person and how I see the world, and for that I’m eternally grateful.