במבט קדימה

With the Chagim in the past, all the holidays finished and over with, everybody in Israel is back to normal, everyday life. We can officially call ourselves teachers having completed our first full week at school. No observations, no tours, no Seminar, straight up teaching students English. As with anything, there are high's, low's and everything in between. I love the school, the students, and the staff. The overall dynamic is happy and easy-going. The actual Israeli culture of the classroom is the complete opposite of an American classroom. The kids here are like wild animals just released back into the jungle. They yell and scream uncontrollably, they beat the shit out of each other, and they do not listen to their teacher - ever. And then there is the fact that no one puts a stop to it. Of course there are good students that listen and love to learn, but they sadly fall through cracks because of the difficult ones who spend all day disrupting the room. Anna and I have come to save the day. We take a group of four students into separate rooms and teach lessons depending on their levels. Today I was a lone soldier because Anna had to get her Visa (she was on the verge of deportation, but it's all good now). I approached the school, honestly a little nervous, but the day ended up being amazing. When we are able to remove the crazy kids from the classroom, everyone benefits. They like to come with me because I am way cooler than their regular English teacher, Ira, and the kids who like to learn stay in class and finally get the education they deserve. It's amazing how much they already know though, whether it be from movies or from previous years of English class. Every student reported back to Ira how much fun they had with me in my lesson and I left school feeling very accomplished...now think of how it will be in 8 months! I can't say enough how incredible this opportunity is. 

Our other exciting weekly event was Ulpan (intensive Hebrew learning courses). We had our first class on Sunday and our second on Wednesday. Each class is three hours and it will be this way every week until the program ends. There are two levels and I was placed in the higher of the two, so at least I know some of my college courses at SDSU paid off! I can't say I understand 100% of when the teacher talks, better yet I don't think I understand 60%....but I will get there, I am sure. I can say learning and trying to speak another language on a daily basis is exhaustinggg. I love that my brain is always working here - creating lesson plans, trying to speak Hebrew, converting prices, etc., but phew. Siesta's are usually necessary. 

Other than school and Ulpan, it's been quiet around these parts. As a new college grad on a budget, being at party animal status is on the low. However, last night was an exception and a small group of us went dancing at a club called Kinsey. Just relieving some of that stress that builds up when you are a teacher :)

L'hitraot!