March 1, 2021

Monday

Welcome to March! We’re closing in on the anniversary of the end of the normal world. What a time!

I caught the bus at 7:30 and got to spend nearly two and a half hours sitting in the staffroom before my classes started. Viri, the Tuesday teacher, still had not responded to my message about her classes last week. She walked past me several times to make photocopies and refused to make eye contact with me.

The Italian teacher came in and invited me to sit with her in the second hour. We talked about all the challenges I’ve been experiencing and she offered some advice. I really appreciate her support. Sometimes I wonder if the kids’ behavior isn’t considered misbehaving here- is there a cultural difference in what’s expected in the classroom or are they just out of control? She confirmed they’re just out of control. Good to know! Sad, but good to know.

Finally, it was time to start the day. The kids in my first class were super rude. A few of them were doing homework in class even after I told them to stop. I couldn’t talk to the teacher about it because she was ALSO refusing to speak to me. The rest of my classes went pretty smoothly. The last group of the day had a lesson on Black History Month that I adapted slightly. They made a lot of negative comments about Detroit when I mentioned that Rosa Parks lived there for a number of years. I decided I would do a lesson on the city so that they could see how great it actually is.

I was really frustrated by the end of the day. There was a ridiculous amount of drama between myself and the other English teachers. The Tuesday teacher refused to talk to me because she didn’t want to acknowledge what her students did. Corinne was upset because I told her I was not interested in working on Fridays and could not accept the suggested schedule changes. Christel wanted to have a meeting with the department and the principal, which seemed like a good idea. However, the other teachers vetoed the idea. Christel said that I would have to be the one to find a solution for the group. So frustrating that as the most inexperienced person in the group and the foreigner, I have to be the one to placate folks who are upset I stood up for myself.

The bus ride home seemed to take forever. I enjoyed the flowers on my walk home, which were in full bloom. I got to talk with my mom on the phone for a bit and we commiserated about teaching during a pandemic.

I sent the message to Viri repeating that we needed to find a solution for the kids and suggesting that I take a different class instead- she responded that she talked to them already and that she just wouldn’t send one of the naughty boys. Not the solution that I’d hoped for, but I decided to see how it would go and then reevaluate the next week.