5th week in Hawaii
Door: Ellen
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Ellen
11 Oktober 2015 | Verenigde Staten, Kailua-Kona
5th week in Hawaii -> 10/5 – 10/11
Another week flew by again, which mean it is time for me to write another blog post! This time I’m trying to talk more about the cultural aspects of my stay here in Hawaii and more about the teaching that I do in the Learning Centre.
Because I’m part of a group of 98 mission builders I come across different cultures every day of the week, so to speak. Even in the learning we have a variety of cultures in the teachers and in the student we have in the Learning Centre. The cultures that I’ve come across here in Hawaii next to my own are: “German, American, Swedish, Denmark, Brazilian, Korean, Japanese, Irish, Hawaiian, Canadian, Latvian, Spanish, English, Jamaican, African. In total that are 15 different cultures that I come across every day. The most interesting thing about these different cultures are that the people from these cultures are all so different. Different in the way in how they act, their humor and their believes. The only thing that connects each and every culture is their faith in god. If you for example, look at the American culture and the Brazilian people: “they both are loud and present (in the way that you can’t miss searing or hearing them), both have a great sense of humor and both have people with a great hart. If you look at the Korean and the German you have something completely different. The Koreans are mostly quiet and very respectful to others, they are interested in others, very hospitable in the way that you always feel welcome and they are always willing to tell you about their culture and share their food. The Germans that are here in Hale Ola stay within their own German group, of course you have some exceptions but mostly they stay together. The Germans are sometimes very loud, which is the total opposite of the Korean culture, they are always in the mood for a good laugh and when I occasionally have the chance to speak to one of them they are great people to have a good and deep conversation with. The German people are not afraid to give their opinion on something which makes a conversation with them quite interesting.
In the Learning Centre we also have multiple cultures. We have 2 teachers that are from America and 1 staff member, 1 from New Zealand, 4 Korean teachers and 2 American-Korean teachers, a German assistant teacher, a Swedish assistant teacher and 2 Dutch assistant teachers. Among the children that are in the Learning Centre we have, the American, English, Spanish, Germans, Korean, Japanese and Indian cultures. The interesting thing to see among the children is that they can always play together and work together as a group but you see subgroups that are mostly consist of children that speak the same language. For example Lucas and Scott are both from Spain and they are always together. The American children in the school always stay together as well as the Korean children. It is funny to see that the children can work well with other children from other cultures, but they like working together with someone that speaks the same language more.
The thing that I’ve learned so far about all these different cultures is that I have to think first to what person I’m going to talk to because I’m a person that speaks my mind and I’m not afraid to say my opinion. In some cultures it can be seen as rude to speak your mind or have strong opinions.
In the Learning Centre that I work at I’m a teacher’s assistant. I taught a lesson by myself once but that was only because the ESL teacher was ill and even than I only taught a 2x 45 minute lesson to 5 Korean children. When I started at the Learning Centre they didn’t expected us yet so they didn’t really had a plan to who was going to assist which teacher and which lesson. So I guess you could say the first day was really chaotic. I didn’t know the names of the students but I had to watch them during break time. Which was really awkward because when a student did something that it is isn’t supposed to do I couldn’t say his or her name. I just went along with what the teachers told me to do without having a lesson plan or even knowing what the lesson would be about. In the afternoon of the first day we had a meeting in which we were told what we were going to be doing in the Learning Centre. It was that afternoon that I learned that I would be helping 2 Korean children who just arrived on the Learning Centre on same day as I did, and because I was the first mission building that they had in class aside from the other mission builders, I would be the one to help them in class. This was a huge challenge for me because I haven’t worked with children that are new to a language. It also didn’t help me that the teachers made it seem easier that it looked. The teachers said to me you just have to explain everything that is discussed in class slower and explain it again. These were my instructions. In the end I think even the teachers didn’t know at what level the Korean children where. So basically I had to figure everything out by myself. It didn’t really help me either that they couldn’t speak English either so I had no idea at what level they were at and what they could do and what they couldn’t do. Up until know I’m still the one who makes the decisions if the lesson material is too hard for them or not, this is mostly because I’m the one that works with them a lot. So everything that I do/did with them in class I had to figure out by myself. In the beginning they were so shy and they didn’t really talk at all. This was I think because they were in a new environment, lots of new faces, they did not understand at all what was happening and I also think it was part of their culture. As the weeks went by I saw them change so much. They got to know me better so they talked more and weren’t really afraid to talk English to me. They started to play with other students. So in the beginning it was really a struggle to teach the Korean children because I didn’t know what to do and this made it a little stressful and not fun to do. But when I got the hang of it, I really started to find it more and more fun to do. They do what I tell them to do because they know that I’m all in for fun but there is work that needs to be done as well. So I found a balance between making the lesson fun for them and make it into something they have to learn. A pitfall of making the lesson to much fun is that they would see me more and a friend than a teacher, so this is something that I need to watch out for.
As for the teaching part this is a wonderful opportunity to see if I even like teaching because I started my education my teacher education because I loved the English language so much but I really wasn’t sure about the teaching part. That’s why I’m glad that I’m helping out in a school. This gives me the opportunity to see if I like teaching yes or no. So far I really like working at the Learning Centre.
Until next week!
Another week flew by again, which mean it is time for me to write another blog post! This time I’m trying to talk more about the cultural aspects of my stay here in Hawaii and more about the teaching that I do in the Learning Centre.
Because I’m part of a group of 98 mission builders I come across different cultures every day of the week, so to speak. Even in the learning we have a variety of cultures in the teachers and in the student we have in the Learning Centre. The cultures that I’ve come across here in Hawaii next to my own are: “German, American, Swedish, Denmark, Brazilian, Korean, Japanese, Irish, Hawaiian, Canadian, Latvian, Spanish, English, Jamaican, African. In total that are 15 different cultures that I come across every day. The most interesting thing about these different cultures are that the people from these cultures are all so different. Different in the way in how they act, their humor and their believes. The only thing that connects each and every culture is their faith in god. If you for example, look at the American culture and the Brazilian people: “they both are loud and present (in the way that you can’t miss searing or hearing them), both have a great sense of humor and both have people with a great hart. If you look at the Korean and the German you have something completely different. The Koreans are mostly quiet and very respectful to others, they are interested in others, very hospitable in the way that you always feel welcome and they are always willing to tell you about their culture and share their food. The Germans that are here in Hale Ola stay within their own German group, of course you have some exceptions but mostly they stay together. The Germans are sometimes very loud, which is the total opposite of the Korean culture, they are always in the mood for a good laugh and when I occasionally have the chance to speak to one of them they are great people to have a good and deep conversation with. The German people are not afraid to give their opinion on something which makes a conversation with them quite interesting.
In the Learning Centre we also have multiple cultures. We have 2 teachers that are from America and 1 staff member, 1 from New Zealand, 4 Korean teachers and 2 American-Korean teachers, a German assistant teacher, a Swedish assistant teacher and 2 Dutch assistant teachers. Among the children that are in the Learning Centre we have, the American, English, Spanish, Germans, Korean, Japanese and Indian cultures. The interesting thing to see among the children is that they can always play together and work together as a group but you see subgroups that are mostly consist of children that speak the same language. For example Lucas and Scott are both from Spain and they are always together. The American children in the school always stay together as well as the Korean children. It is funny to see that the children can work well with other children from other cultures, but they like working together with someone that speaks the same language more.
The thing that I’ve learned so far about all these different cultures is that I have to think first to what person I’m going to talk to because I’m a person that speaks my mind and I’m not afraid to say my opinion. In some cultures it can be seen as rude to speak your mind or have strong opinions.
In the Learning Centre that I work at I’m a teacher’s assistant. I taught a lesson by myself once but that was only because the ESL teacher was ill and even than I only taught a 2x 45 minute lesson to 5 Korean children. When I started at the Learning Centre they didn’t expected us yet so they didn’t really had a plan to who was going to assist which teacher and which lesson. So I guess you could say the first day was really chaotic. I didn’t know the names of the students but I had to watch them during break time. Which was really awkward because when a student did something that it is isn’t supposed to do I couldn’t say his or her name. I just went along with what the teachers told me to do without having a lesson plan or even knowing what the lesson would be about. In the afternoon of the first day we had a meeting in which we were told what we were going to be doing in the Learning Centre. It was that afternoon that I learned that I would be helping 2 Korean children who just arrived on the Learning Centre on same day as I did, and because I was the first mission building that they had in class aside from the other mission builders, I would be the one to help them in class. This was a huge challenge for me because I haven’t worked with children that are new to a language. It also didn’t help me that the teachers made it seem easier that it looked. The teachers said to me you just have to explain everything that is discussed in class slower and explain it again. These were my instructions. In the end I think even the teachers didn’t know at what level the Korean children where. So basically I had to figure everything out by myself. It didn’t really help me either that they couldn’t speak English either so I had no idea at what level they were at and what they could do and what they couldn’t do. Up until know I’m still the one who makes the decisions if the lesson material is too hard for them or not, this is mostly because I’m the one that works with them a lot. So everything that I do/did with them in class I had to figure out by myself. In the beginning they were so shy and they didn’t really talk at all. This was I think because they were in a new environment, lots of new faces, they did not understand at all what was happening and I also think it was part of their culture. As the weeks went by I saw them change so much. They got to know me better so they talked more and weren’t really afraid to talk English to me. They started to play with other students. So in the beginning it was really a struggle to teach the Korean children because I didn’t know what to do and this made it a little stressful and not fun to do. But when I got the hang of it, I really started to find it more and more fun to do. They do what I tell them to do because they know that I’m all in for fun but there is work that needs to be done as well. So I found a balance between making the lesson fun for them and make it into something they have to learn. A pitfall of making the lesson to much fun is that they would see me more and a friend than a teacher, so this is something that I need to watch out for.
As for the teaching part this is a wonderful opportunity to see if I even like teaching because I started my education my teacher education because I loved the English language so much but I really wasn’t sure about the teaching part. That’s why I’m glad that I’m helping out in a school. This gives me the opportunity to see if I like teaching yes or no. So far I really like working at the Learning Centre.
Until next week!
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
