Welcome back to A Summer of Refuge! The summer is drawing to an end, and I only have three weeks left at Exodus. While I know that I will miss it, I will be ready to go back to school and welcome DePauw's international student class of 2017.
This week started off in a very interesting way. On Monday morning I woke up 2 hours early and did a bus training! I thought it was funny that I, who have never ridden IndyGo, was entrusted to teach clients how to ride the bus. I was a little nervous, but I took my fellow intern with me and off we went. I don't know why I was so anxious about it; if I can take Chilean micros and Dominican conchos, I'm pretty sure the Indianapolis public buses can't be that hard. And they weren't! We took the family and we got to Exodus and back safe and sound. I may or may not have second-guessed where to get on and get off a time or two, but they got the gist of it :) I think it was actually more of a learning experience for me than it was for them, but they probably don't need to know that!
This week at Exodus we have a group of brand new students! This round I have my own group that I work with every day, whereas before I switched between the most advanced group and the most basic group. This time around I have my own group of intermediate students. While I enjoy the intermediate level because it's a lot of grammar and phonetics (things that I am better at teaching), all of my students are at very different levels, which is a constant challenge. Sometimes I stuggle a bit to keep them all on the same page because some of them grasp the concepts quickly and are ready to move on while others fall behind. Alas, I think this is a constant battle that all teachers have to fight. Have I mentioned how much more respect I have for teachers after doing this internship? Mad respect!
This Tuesday we have an intern appreciation lunch at Exodus. Although I'm mostly excited about the food, I'm sure all interns can relate when I say that sometimes we get tired of being the interns. We do the grunt work, we don't get paid, and we don't get the same cred as the staff members. But this is an experience that we all must go through in order to build our resumes and prepare us for the real world. It's kind of a rite of passage into the professional world. Although I've never seen myself as someone meant to go into the professional world, it's good experience to work in an office and get to do a lot of the same things that the staff do. And I couldn't have asked for better supervisors; they tell me every day how much they appreciate me. So although the intern appreciation lunch is a nice idea, it's very unnecessary. But I know not all interns are so lucky.
Apart from the professional life, this weekend I went with a friend of mine to the NASCAR Brickyard 400 race. Since living in Indy, I have gone to two car races, something that I had never done before in my life! I have explored and ran around Butler's campus, can cruise Mass Ave, explored every inch of Broad Ripple, know how to take the IndyGo, been to the 500, and been able to pay all my bills! Next thing I have to do is go to an Indianapolis Indians game, which will hopefully happen this weekend.
More to come next week!
Monday, July 29, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
New Class
Welcome back to A Summer of Refuge! Just one more month and I will be back in Greencastle in my senior year at DePauw. Exciting, yet sad because it means that my time at Exodus is slowly coming to a close.
This week there was no class because my students graduated and we had a week's break before the next students roll around the corner. While it's nice to have a break to be able to get office work done, the week also goes by much more slowly without teaching. And I really miss my students. It's weird to think that I might not see some of them again, but I hope they went away having learned a lot and having worked their way toward becoming self-sufficient in their new lives.
However, not all the week was filled with office work. The other two LCORE interns and I went on some adventures to take pictures for the new curriculum, like how to cash a check and how to ask for things at the supermarket. Our first stop was Saraga, which is a large international grocery store in Indianapolis. If you haven't been there, you need to go. My favorite part is rummaging around all the aisles looking at things I have never seen before. We got permission from the owner to take pictures, and although we were stared at for a long time by many people, we got the pictures we needed and we had fun doing it! When we were taking pictures at the cash register, a man came to check out thinking that we worked there. Guess we were convincing :)
Our next stop was the bank. Of course, most banks don't let people take pictures inside due to the security risk. We didn't get to do it, either, no matter how legit we pretended to be. But we did park across the street from the bank and take pictures of the outside of the building, which wasn't creepy at all. The worst part was that right now the Muslim community is celebrating Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. This means fasting every day from sunrise to sunset without any food or water. My fellow intern is Muslim, and although I always try to remember he is fasting, I often forget and talk endlessly about food (which I do anyway). So when we were in the international grocery store, I had him accompany me down the aisles, pointing out different fruits and vegetables from his side of the world that I couldn't find here. Of course, he's probably the most polite person on earth, so he was happy to tell me all about them.
It wasn't until later that I thought how hungry it must have made him to walk through all that delicious food without being able to eat it. And after we were done, we stopped to get junk food at the gas station and I ate it right in front of him! Good job, Anna. Good job.
Tomorrow I am doing a bus training to teach students how to ride the bus to English class on the IndyGo bus system, which I have never used before and might not use again. I think we're just gonna wing it and see how it goes. I figure if I'm able to use the micros in Chile and the conchos in the Dominican Republic, a bus in Indianapolis should be no problem. Plus, it will be a good chance for me to understand the city at a whole new level. At this point, I drive everywhere and gas money only keeps going up. Might do me some good to learn how to use the bus so I have a different option available to me.
Exciting day tomorrow...bus training, new students, new week, new class! You'll hear more about it next time
This week there was no class because my students graduated and we had a week's break before the next students roll around the corner. While it's nice to have a break to be able to get office work done, the week also goes by much more slowly without teaching. And I really miss my students. It's weird to think that I might not see some of them again, but I hope they went away having learned a lot and having worked their way toward becoming self-sufficient in their new lives.
However, not all the week was filled with office work. The other two LCORE interns and I went on some adventures to take pictures for the new curriculum, like how to cash a check and how to ask for things at the supermarket. Our first stop was Saraga, which is a large international grocery store in Indianapolis. If you haven't been there, you need to go. My favorite part is rummaging around all the aisles looking at things I have never seen before. We got permission from the owner to take pictures, and although we were stared at for a long time by many people, we got the pictures we needed and we had fun doing it! When we were taking pictures at the cash register, a man came to check out thinking that we worked there. Guess we were convincing :)
Our next stop was the bank. Of course, most banks don't let people take pictures inside due to the security risk. We didn't get to do it, either, no matter how legit we pretended to be. But we did park across the street from the bank and take pictures of the outside of the building, which wasn't creepy at all. The worst part was that right now the Muslim community is celebrating Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. This means fasting every day from sunrise to sunset without any food or water. My fellow intern is Muslim, and although I always try to remember he is fasting, I often forget and talk endlessly about food (which I do anyway). So when we were in the international grocery store, I had him accompany me down the aisles, pointing out different fruits and vegetables from his side of the world that I couldn't find here. Of course, he's probably the most polite person on earth, so he was happy to tell me all about them.
It wasn't until later that I thought how hungry it must have made him to walk through all that delicious food without being able to eat it. And after we were done, we stopped to get junk food at the gas station and I ate it right in front of him! Good job, Anna. Good job.
Tomorrow I am doing a bus training to teach students how to ride the bus to English class on the IndyGo bus system, which I have never used before and might not use again. I think we're just gonna wing it and see how it goes. I figure if I'm able to use the micros in Chile and the conchos in the Dominican Republic, a bus in Indianapolis should be no problem. Plus, it will be a good chance for me to understand the city at a whole new level. At this point, I drive everywhere and gas money only keeps going up. Might do me some good to learn how to use the bus so I have a different option available to me.
Exciting day tomorrow...bus training, new students, new week, new class! You'll hear more about it next time
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Momentos
Hey there and welcome back to A Summer of Refuge, everyone's favorite online summer reading column. If only... :)
This past week at Exodus, we graduated all of our current students, both the advanced group and the basic group. Although I felt sad at the thought of not seeing my students every day, I also felt very proud of them. These men came to class every day, ready to learn, and put forth their best effort. Looking at their comparative test scores, I can see that most of them improved quite a bit from the level they were at before taking the eight-week course. This week, we had a class field trip and we took the students to the Indy Reads Bookstore, which is a bookstore that takes donated items and all the profits go toward adult literacy programs in Indianapolis. This is one great thing about my internship; not only do I get to have a group of students and gain teaching experience, but I also make connections with important non-profits in Indianapolis. I've come to realize that although Indianapolis might not be my favorite city in the US, it's filled with people trying to make a difference in ways that are often not apparent to the public eye. For World Refugee Day, we took our students to Indy Urban Acres which raises organic vegetables for low-income families in Indy who can't afford to eat healthy food. Indy Reads is an organization that helps adults in the city become literate, and today a friend told me about a non-profit for opera singers that puts on shows to help students be able to study music who usually wouldn't be able to afford to do so. It just makes me think that there are so many ways to get involved, and there is something out there for everyone who wants to make a difference. The world is full of opportunities, isn't it?
Anyhow, after getting sidetracked, the students each got to pick out a book in English to read. The two most popular books were dictionaries and the Bible. Not surprising at all :) Many of our students from Burma are of a very strong Christian faith. Every time we ask, "What did you do this weekend?" The answer is always: "I went to church." We also have the advanced students write journal entries every week, and they are quite interesting to read. While some of them are pretty funny, some of them are sad and some of them are hopeful. But they all talk about God and how God has helped them through these times. And trust me, these guys have seen some pretty hard times. On our last day, we played a game where they each were given a few cards from a stack that had various questions on them. And I mean, VARIED. Some cards say, "What is your favorite color?" while other cards say, "Do you believe in the death penalty?" I think we need to go through the stack next time and pick through the questions whose answers will start a debate that takes up 2 of the 3 hours of class. But one question was, "What makes you sad?" One of my students wrote, "Flashbacks." Flashbacks. It's moments like this when I realize once again that it's not just fun and games in English class.
As an English teacher, sometimes it's easy to forget what the students have been through. In class, there are always stories and laughter and interesting discussions, so it's easy to feel very good about the situation and think that the students are so happy in class. However, every once in a while there comes a moment in which we are once again reminded that life hasn't always been, and in many ways still isn't, enjoyable for these people. This moment may come when talking about family or friends without remembering that many of these people lost their loved ones and most of their family. This moment may come when talking about sports with an amputee who tells you that he loved playing soccer before he lost his legs. This moment may come when teaching elderly men and women how to differentiate between the letters I and L, knowing that they are probably never going to learn how to read in their lifetime. It's moments like this that force me to put what I do into perspective. I admit that sometimes I think too much about it and become really sad and angry, wondering how the world can be such a cruel place. But honestly it's of no use to sit around and be sad about it. The whole purpose of my internship is to help people, so that's what I'm going to keep doing. I've come to the conclusion that it's normal to get a little emotional about what the students go through, but it's also important to keep a good head on my shoulders and put my best foot forward. Maybe seeing their teacher happy will make them happy too :)
But the time has come for them to move on, and after eight weeks together I've become very close with them. Hopefully they will go on to get jobs and become self-sufficient. I can only hope that the our class together has helped them in some way and that I was of use to them in their new life. But no fear, the next class will be coming soon and I am excited for the new group! This time around I will be getting my very own single group who I will be working with each and every day, so I'm looking forward to having some freedom in my curriculum and becoming close with them in my last month at Exodus.
Thanks so much for reading and I hope this blog is at least somewhat insightful!
Anna
This past week at Exodus, we graduated all of our current students, both the advanced group and the basic group. Although I felt sad at the thought of not seeing my students every day, I also felt very proud of them. These men came to class every day, ready to learn, and put forth their best effort. Looking at their comparative test scores, I can see that most of them improved quite a bit from the level they were at before taking the eight-week course. This week, we had a class field trip and we took the students to the Indy Reads Bookstore, which is a bookstore that takes donated items and all the profits go toward adult literacy programs in Indianapolis. This is one great thing about my internship; not only do I get to have a group of students and gain teaching experience, but I also make connections with important non-profits in Indianapolis. I've come to realize that although Indianapolis might not be my favorite city in the US, it's filled with people trying to make a difference in ways that are often not apparent to the public eye. For World Refugee Day, we took our students to Indy Urban Acres which raises organic vegetables for low-income families in Indy who can't afford to eat healthy food. Indy Reads is an organization that helps adults in the city become literate, and today a friend told me about a non-profit for opera singers that puts on shows to help students be able to study music who usually wouldn't be able to afford to do so. It just makes me think that there are so many ways to get involved, and there is something out there for everyone who wants to make a difference. The world is full of opportunities, isn't it?
Anyhow, after getting sidetracked, the students each got to pick out a book in English to read. The two most popular books were dictionaries and the Bible. Not surprising at all :) Many of our students from Burma are of a very strong Christian faith. Every time we ask, "What did you do this weekend?" The answer is always: "I went to church." We also have the advanced students write journal entries every week, and they are quite interesting to read. While some of them are pretty funny, some of them are sad and some of them are hopeful. But they all talk about God and how God has helped them through these times. And trust me, these guys have seen some pretty hard times. On our last day, we played a game where they each were given a few cards from a stack that had various questions on them. And I mean, VARIED. Some cards say, "What is your favorite color?" while other cards say, "Do you believe in the death penalty?" I think we need to go through the stack next time and pick through the questions whose answers will start a debate that takes up 2 of the 3 hours of class. But one question was, "What makes you sad?" One of my students wrote, "Flashbacks." Flashbacks. It's moments like this when I realize once again that it's not just fun and games in English class.
As an English teacher, sometimes it's easy to forget what the students have been through. In class, there are always stories and laughter and interesting discussions, so it's easy to feel very good about the situation and think that the students are so happy in class. However, every once in a while there comes a moment in which we are once again reminded that life hasn't always been, and in many ways still isn't, enjoyable for these people. This moment may come when talking about family or friends without remembering that many of these people lost their loved ones and most of their family. This moment may come when talking about sports with an amputee who tells you that he loved playing soccer before he lost his legs. This moment may come when teaching elderly men and women how to differentiate between the letters I and L, knowing that they are probably never going to learn how to read in their lifetime. It's moments like this that force me to put what I do into perspective. I admit that sometimes I think too much about it and become really sad and angry, wondering how the world can be such a cruel place. But honestly it's of no use to sit around and be sad about it. The whole purpose of my internship is to help people, so that's what I'm going to keep doing. I've come to the conclusion that it's normal to get a little emotional about what the students go through, but it's also important to keep a good head on my shoulders and put my best foot forward. Maybe seeing their teacher happy will make them happy too :)
But the time has come for them to move on, and after eight weeks together I've become very close with them. Hopefully they will go on to get jobs and become self-sufficient. I can only hope that the our class together has helped them in some way and that I was of use to them in their new life. But no fear, the next class will be coming soon and I am excited for the new group! This time around I will be getting my very own single group who I will be working with each and every day, so I'm looking forward to having some freedom in my curriculum and becoming close with them in my last month at Exodus.
Thanks so much for reading and I hope this blog is at least somewhat insightful!
Anna
Monday, July 8, 2013
Post-break
And now I've come upon the final week with my first group of students. They will graduate from the course on Thursday, and after that I will receive a new group.
I didn't write this past week because I was at home for the fourth of July (among other things.) I, like most people, need a break if I am doing the same thing day after day. I was getting pretty burned out there for a while, and needed some time to recharge and see my friends and family. However, my job is probably one of the least day-to-day jobs there is, such is the job of any teacher. Every day is different, every lesson is different, and every group of students is different. When I was home I sort of stayed out of the teaching mindset for a while, so it didn't even occur to me that pretty soon my group of students wouldn't be my group any more. And I gotta tell you, it's not the best feeling in the world.
I think I've become more attached to my group than I thought. I never really thought about what it would be like at work without them there. I started on May 20th, the same day that my students started taking the class. Even though a month and a half seems like such a short amount of time, after spending three hours a day four days a week with these guys, we've gotten to know each other pretty well. Even though sometimes in my advanced group we spend too much class time listening to stories of the Congo and trying to understand advanced grammatical rules that even I struggle with, I really have enjoyed my time with them.
I think there comes a time in every teacher's life when your students become not only faces you see in the classroom, but people you have real relationships with, and who even become your close friends. And I've felt that toward all my students, who are all grown men looking for jobs, who have to provide for families, who are honestly just trying to get by in their new life. And I have such a deep respect for them and all that they've been through that the least I can do is go in that room every day and try to make it easier on them by giving them a useful skill. It makes me a little irritated to think of some people that I go to school with, who complain about going to class and say, "when am I ever going to use this material?" At least we have the opportunity to take a useless class, or a class about a random subject, or something that we really like. In my class at Exodus, the students try to squeeze everything they can out of those three hours, every rule, every spelling correction. Because they need to, and because they have motivation to do so. Today one of the students was asked if he thought being a teacher was hard, and he said yes, of course it was. And to that my coworker and I said that it's easy to be a teacher when you have good students. And indeed it has been.
Another thing that I have gained from these students is a male perspective. I will admit that I can tend to be a hardcore feminist. And no, this doesn't mean I'm scary or mean, it just means that I truly believe that men and women should be equal and therefore should be given the same rights and opportunities. Sometimes, however, I get so caught up in this mentality that I assume the worst about men and don't try to listen to their side of the story. But in the past six weeks I have been with a bunch of men every day who respect me and listen to me and take a vested interest what I have to say. This has allowed me to soften my edges a bit, and to take time to sit down and listen to what some men in this world have been through. Sometimes it's painful to observe this and to see men who were once educated in their own country, were important figures, maybe had their own land or their own business, and are now struggling to speak the native language, working minimum wage jobs, and living off of food stamps. And they are expected to be the tough ones, the ones who know what to do and who are supposed to provide for their families and be the role model. These guys have had their pride scraped off the floor with a metal shovel and thrown back in their faces. But here they continue, day after day, coming to English class with an open mind and an open heart. And if that's not inspiring, I don't know what is. Maybe not all men have it as easy as some of us would like to think :)
Next week I'll have a new batch of students to teach. Although I will be sad to see this current group go, I'm looking forward to hearing some more stories, explaining more grammar and gaining some new perspective from the toughest group of people I've ever met in my life. Till next time...
I didn't write this past week because I was at home for the fourth of July (among other things.) I, like most people, need a break if I am doing the same thing day after day. I was getting pretty burned out there for a while, and needed some time to recharge and see my friends and family. However, my job is probably one of the least day-to-day jobs there is, such is the job of any teacher. Every day is different, every lesson is different, and every group of students is different. When I was home I sort of stayed out of the teaching mindset for a while, so it didn't even occur to me that pretty soon my group of students wouldn't be my group any more. And I gotta tell you, it's not the best feeling in the world.
I think I've become more attached to my group than I thought. I never really thought about what it would be like at work without them there. I started on May 20th, the same day that my students started taking the class. Even though a month and a half seems like such a short amount of time, after spending three hours a day four days a week with these guys, we've gotten to know each other pretty well. Even though sometimes in my advanced group we spend too much class time listening to stories of the Congo and trying to understand advanced grammatical rules that even I struggle with, I really have enjoyed my time with them.
I think there comes a time in every teacher's life when your students become not only faces you see in the classroom, but people you have real relationships with, and who even become your close friends. And I've felt that toward all my students, who are all grown men looking for jobs, who have to provide for families, who are honestly just trying to get by in their new life. And I have such a deep respect for them and all that they've been through that the least I can do is go in that room every day and try to make it easier on them by giving them a useful skill. It makes me a little irritated to think of some people that I go to school with, who complain about going to class and say, "when am I ever going to use this material?" At least we have the opportunity to take a useless class, or a class about a random subject, or something that we really like. In my class at Exodus, the students try to squeeze everything they can out of those three hours, every rule, every spelling correction. Because they need to, and because they have motivation to do so. Today one of the students was asked if he thought being a teacher was hard, and he said yes, of course it was. And to that my coworker and I said that it's easy to be a teacher when you have good students. And indeed it has been.
Another thing that I have gained from these students is a male perspective. I will admit that I can tend to be a hardcore feminist. And no, this doesn't mean I'm scary or mean, it just means that I truly believe that men and women should be equal and therefore should be given the same rights and opportunities. Sometimes, however, I get so caught up in this mentality that I assume the worst about men and don't try to listen to their side of the story. But in the past six weeks I have been with a bunch of men every day who respect me and listen to me and take a vested interest what I have to say. This has allowed me to soften my edges a bit, and to take time to sit down and listen to what some men in this world have been through. Sometimes it's painful to observe this and to see men who were once educated in their own country, were important figures, maybe had their own land or their own business, and are now struggling to speak the native language, working minimum wage jobs, and living off of food stamps. And they are expected to be the tough ones, the ones who know what to do and who are supposed to provide for their families and be the role model. These guys have had their pride scraped off the floor with a metal shovel and thrown back in their faces. But here they continue, day after day, coming to English class with an open mind and an open heart. And if that's not inspiring, I don't know what is. Maybe not all men have it as easy as some of us would like to think :)
Next week I'll have a new batch of students to teach. Although I will be sad to see this current group go, I'm looking forward to hearing some more stories, explaining more grammar and gaining some new perspective from the toughest group of people I've ever met in my life. Till next time...
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