Teaching (Kait)

I'm no stellar teacher, and I don't think teaching will be my life's pursuit - but, I am so grateful for having had the chance to be a teacher these last two years.

It's been more of a challenge than I could have imagined - not only the workload, but (especially) trying to adjust my 16 years of Western education to fit a system that floats somewhere between Western and Chuukese.

When I have moments of connecting with my students, however, or I see those who really struggle finally starting to make improvements I can stifle the challenges with a smile. In my two freshmen sections of literature there are a good 10 students who struggle immensely to keep up. Although many of these students will still fail the class this quarter, it has been wonderful to watch them increase their efforts.

I love the moments, too, when I am able to capture my student's rapt attention. For the freshmen, this happens whenever I read/recite stories. Whether it's as simple as Little Red Riding Hood or various folktales from around the world, reading outloud causes disengaged students to perk up and obnoxious students to calm down.

For the seniors, this happens as we dive into different pieces of literature and they start to make connections for themselves, or understand connections through lecture. When we read Animal Farm at the beginning of the year, students would audibly groan and protest as we read about Napoleon's evil plots to manipulate the animals. They all hated the ending because Snowball doesn't come back to save the day. They still refer to each other as comrades, on occasion (be still my literature-loving heart!).

I especially love reading To Kill a Mockingbird, which we're reading now, with the seniors. When I brought out the 370-odd page book this year, many of them took it in wide-eyed, sure that they'd never make it through a a novel so thick. But much to their delight, and even more to mine, most found within a few chapters that they were captured by the story. Not only that, but they find they can cite similarities between the rhythms of life in Maycomb and the rhythms of life in Chuuk. They can feel incensed by issues of justice presented in the novel, enlightened by Atticus' wisdom, and find humor in the antics of Jem and Scout (which I believe to be universally funny). As a literature teacher, what could be more gratifying?!?

Teaching has offered me wonderful lessons in redemption, as I watch students who failed at the end of one quarter begin again in earnest the next, determined to bring their grades up. It has shown me that high school students are an awesome group of people, and that I (me!) can be a source of encouragement, advice, and wisdom for them. Teaching has impressed upon me the huge responsibility and wonderful blessing of having a group of young people place their full trust in you. I don't know how much I've actually been successful in teaching these last two years, but (as the cliché goes), I've certainly been taught by my experience.