Teachers deserve more credit

Today, Valeria came to el comedor. I realized just how crippled I am at gaining control and order there because of my Spanish speaking ability (or lack thereof). With 15 minutes, Valeria had kids cleaning up voluntarily, playing quietly in corners, and cleaning up after themselves. There was no throwing of paper airplanes, or screaming, or fighting. She made it look so easy.

The kids have talked about the past volunteer here. I found out she was a 31-year-old from Ireland who was a teacher and didn’t know a word of Spanish. While her Spanish skills were very minimal, she knew how to control kids en masse.

I understand I have yet to receive the professional training of a teacher and realize we never give our teachers enough credit for the crap they have to put up with, so I am not necessarily at fault for how difficult it is to keep order. That takes a little bit of the pressure off…but again, my perfectionist personality wants more and can’t settle for “okay.”

Hopefully as my Spanish improves, my adapting skills and awareness of which actions to use to control the kids behavior will improve as well.