Halfway There!

The last time that I updated, it was right before the new school year started. Now, it is half way through the school year. I’ve been beyond busy at school as we were on teacher short this year and they didn’t feel like hiring another teacher; this meant that a few of us were given overtime hours. I teach 30 classroom hours per week or six classes per day. I have one four year old class, two five year old kindergarten classes, two six year old kindergarten classes, and one third grade class. The kindergarten also doesn’t have breaks between classes, so I am always on the go. Because I teach both in the kindergarten and in the primary school, my lunches are messed up (they are on different time schedules) and I have three short lunches per week. No breaks plus short lunches means I am pretty tuckered out by the end of the day. It has been a very interesting and tiring first semester. I am hoping that this next semester will go by quickly as the second half usually does. I do love teaching, but I really wish I could teach children who appreciate what they have and how precious their education. The children I teach, though sweet they can be, are extremely spoiled and wouldn’t last a day in a school in another country.

There are many good things about my current school. Overall, the behavior of the children is better than that of my old school. The help from the assistants in the room is also much better and I can often get through a lesson with them controlling the truly unruly kids in the classroom. This doesn’t mean that I have a voice at the end of the day though. I don’t shout per say, but I do have to speak quite loudly to get their attention as they don’t really know much English nor do many of them care.  I’m usually pretty drained by the end of the day. The one thing I miss about my old school is the bond that I was able to form with my students because I had them more often. Here, I only have each class once per day. At my old school, I would have each class two or sometimes even three times per day which allowed for more English as well as more time to for the students and I to bond. I visited my old school a few weeks ago, and it was amazing to see my old babies, my first babies. I missed them so much, as crazy as they were. I was surprised to learn at the beginning of the school year that I had two of my old students because they transferred over to my new school. They just as surprised and happy as well. They and I also enjoy that fact that we can do many things that we couldn’t do at the old school, such as holiday stuff. We all enjoyed Halloween and Christmas this year! The Teachers’ Day gifts were also very nice this year! We even did a Secret Santa!

If I continue here next year, there is a chance for me to become a classroom teacher which I would love to be. I think it would be a great opportunity (depending on the class that I would get). We shall see what happens though as this upcoming year is still a toss-up. I’m a bit unsure of what will be happening in the near future (nothing bad I assure you).

Right now, it’s winter in İstanbul. This means that it is cold, gray, damp, and rainy pretty much every day.  It’s quite depressing to tell the truth, but it is what it is. Summer cannot come soon enough! Though, I have to admit it, it been pretty warm the past month or so with temperatures ranging from the mid-40s to the mid-60s. I shouldn’t complain much about the temperature considering where I’m from in Pennsylvania is getting endless snow and negative temperatures, but I suppose that my body has just adjusted to this climate and I often find myself cold in the weather. I am an ashamed Pennsylvanian!

I’ll try to update sooner next time!