Last Thursday Lesson In Ebes

My bus to Ebes. The bus driver smiled extra big when he
saw me this morning. I think he saw me take this picture.

My bus stop. 

Town map. Just in case you get lost.
Or you can just walk straight for 10 minutes
and hit the town's center.

The "downtown."

The school.

"Good teaching is one-forth preparation and three-fourths theater." 

---Gail Godwin 

Teaching is never easy, but saying goodbye to my kids has been the hardest part of the year. I teach 10 primary classes in Ebes. Five classes are on Tuesday, and five on Thursday. Today I said goodbye to my Thursday kids, which consists of a group of amazing 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. These kids have been a part of my best and worst times in Hungary. The best is when we are all somehow communicating and they are actually learning what feeble attempts at teachings I am giving them. The worst is when things fall into that tricky gray area of teaching--where the students are disinterested and yet still chaotic.

I am naturally a quiet person and this year has not only pushed me to become more outgoing, but it has practically shoved me into an unintentional acting career. If I have ever been a performer this was my year. I danced, sang songs, told jokes, did charades, stood on chairs, pretty much anything to keep my students engaged. You risk looking like a fool, but I feel that teaching is a balancing act between the absurd and the practical. When you work with children you must let all inhibitions go and just go with it--for better or worse. There is no feeling more horrible in the world than when a dozen pairs of eyes stare at you waiting for something, anything. So you learn to think fast on your feet, you invent games and stories quicker than a street corner performer and in the mean time, you hope the students actually learn something.

I’ll break my day down today in four parts with highlights from each grade.

3rd grade: This class has all the ingredients to be great and also completely frustrating at the same time. The last lesson today was American football. I did a hangman spelling out our activity and when the students guessed they were very excited. Their excitement went into overdrive when I brought out the football. They passed it around like it was a golden egg--hugging on it, petting it, even kissing it. When we went outside to play they stood in a circle throwing it around. We then came back inside towards the end of the lesson to cool off and so I could teach them paper football. They then wanted me to autograph all their triangle paper footballs. In the last five minutes of class I took pictures and let them draw and write on the chalk board. A privilege I don’t allow very often, but with it being the last day I was a bit of a softy. My students gave me hugs and told me how much they would miss me. Then one of my girl students pointed to the computer and said, “Look Daaana that has your name on it.” Just like they told me on the first day of class--”Yes, I know,” I said smiling. Sometimes you come full circle without even meaning to with your students.

Me with the 3rd graders at the end of class.

4th grade: My 4th graders are by far my best behaved group of students. They are at that right age--between child and pre-teen. When we went outside to play football the students did really well. I was proud of my girl students for not being intimidated by throwing the ball and I was proud of my boy students for sharing the ball. After playing we went back inside to do a quick craft with molding clay. They asked me if I would be back next year and I told them no. They were sad and also told me how much they would miss me.

4th graders. 

5th grade: When I told my 5th graders that we were going outside to play American football one of the boys in the back said, “This is the best lesson ever!” I suppose to a 11 year old boy it is. My girls were less enthusiastic. They played catch for a little bit, but then it turned into a game of just boys. We went inside and did a new game that everyone could play called ‘spelling race.’ Where they see how fast they can spell a word and then if they finish first with it correctly spelled they get a point for their team. My students once again asked if I would be back next year, but once again I had to tell them no. They also said they were going to miss me. (Hmm...I see a pattern here.)

5th graders.

2nd grade: My last two groups today were my 2nd graders. We stayed inside for their lesson--since other groups were outside for recess. We sang all the songs from this semester. We colored flash cards for them to practice over the summer break and I took group pictures. In my first group of 2nd graders, one of my girls came up to me and said, “Today is your last lesson?” “Yes, that’s right,” I told her. She looked down and started tearing up. “I will miss you,” she said and then gave me a big hug.

I go to a separate building for the 2nd graders.

Hungarian alphabet chart. 

Hard at work.

In my second group of 2nd graders we did the same routine as the first group, but with this group we did one extra activity. A student last week had requested we play “Simon Says.” I had not played this game with them since the first week of school because they got too wild from it. But with it being the last day I decided one last game would be okay. So when I said, “Simon says touch your nose.” The students stood up and cheered. When I told the students it was time for their lunch break they booed. It’s nice when the students choose you over going to lunch--that may be my biggest accomplishment this year! After all it is the small rewards that make teaching worth it.