busy is good

I’ve just about made it through the first week of school, and after seeing again three fourths of my students, I’m happy to report that this year just feels better than last. Maybe it’s that I know the students’ names (except the handful of transfers), or that I know Russian well enough to explain myself most of the time, therefore not solely relying on my counterpart. Perhaps it is that I wasn’t hooked up to an IV for the “First Bell” ceremony like I was last year. Just maybe, it’s because one of my favorite groups last year was all smiles and questions when I saw them this week, or that when I saw one of my least favorite groups I remembered back to last week when we decided I won’t be teaching them this year. I really am at a privileged position as a teacher that can choose to teach this class, not that one, while SS goes on teaching all of them.

The two things we introduced this new school year were a grading scale and a year-long competition. The grading scale is a grid explaining through descriptions of actions and attitudes what the grades 1-5 mean. We give them two grades each class period – one for classwork and one for homework – and they are generally equally weighted. I wanted to encourage the students to take their grades into their own hands, reminding them that it is possible (and actually desirable by all parties involved) that they get 5s every class. We printed the rubric and pinned it to the wall, and I hope it will also be a tool for SS at the end of a term or year to explain to students, parents, or the administration that a failing student is not the fault of the teacher. The instructions for passing the class are now on the wall, clearly stating: Come to class, Do your work. Should be easy, right? It might flop just like our American Library did, but it seems like something we should do.

The competition is a creation of mine to combat two things I struggled with last year – negative enforcement and apathy. We’ve posted lists of all the students on the back of one of the folding blackboards, where we will give points for the top three students every day, based on either homework or participation, accuracy or attitude. At the end of each term, and then at the end of the year, we’ll present prizes to the three top students. I have things like American coins, postcards, books, movies, playing cards, etc. that would work, hopefully, to show the students that good work can be rewarded instead of only bad work being punished. Of course I don’t want to have to bribe my students to learn English, but if the contest sparks some interest in students where last year there was little or none, then it’s worth it. Again flopping is a possibility – I am dealing with 8th-11th graders who might find prizes “dumb” – but I’m a pretty optimistic guy.

In addition to class stuff, I’ve got soccer three times a week, gym twice a week, and a lot going on at the local library’s American Corner, funded by the US Embassy. Busy is good.