Class today was very humbling. It reminded me that there are other people from the outer islands that also need to feel like they fit in. I did not think about them as "new" to the island of Guam. I honestly could never really could tell the difference between the students who are from Belau, Chuuk, CNMI, Kosrae, Pohnpei, Yap, or the Marshall Islands. From my experience, the students from the other islands are not different from any other students. Some are smart, some are shy; some are quiet, some are loud. I don't recall treating them any different except when speaking to them. I would catch myself slowing down my pace, and calming down my tone. I actually learned a lot from my students about basketball, new vocabulary, and what some of their values are.
I learned a lot from my students as well. They always seem to enjoy teaching me something, whether it be a new word, recipe, or game. I always warned students that they better not teach me any bad words!
ReplyDeleteYes, they all seem the same :) I look forward to the positive experiences with my students like you and Martina.
ReplyDeleteI too have learned so much just from the 10 weeks that I taught this last year. They taught me a lot, however, I too never looked at them any differently then the other students. Truth be told, I too couldn't tell the difference between where each student was from. To me, they all live here so they were all from Guam.
ReplyDeleteFunny, we all share the same experiences when it came to not being able to tell the difference, but believe me, make sure that you will not call them a culture that they are not because they are sensitive to that. I think that is across the board, I wouldn't want to be called Chinese or another ethnicity.
ReplyDeleteMy first year of teaching, I was placed in an ESL science class. Oh man! A student came into my class who did not speak or understand a word of English. I also felt bad when I couldn't tell the difference between the outer island students. Now, when they speak, I can at least tell the difference between 3 cultures.
ReplyDeleteGem, you are a GEM.Reading your post reminded me that although our students may look alike, they are all individuals with different personalities and individual needs.We as teachers must always remember this.
ReplyDelete