So as many of you know already, I finally got to meet my students! They are fantastic, inquisitive, and phenomenally welcoming. I was urged to update my post earlier by several people, but I wanted to wait until I could take pictures because describing the center doesn’t do it justice. If I were to describe it, I would say: the center has two, maybe three classrooms, an unused computer lab full of broken computers, and a large corner office that belongs to the director. I would say the classrooms barely qualify as classrooms, as they have one or two small round card tables surrounded by patio chairs to serve as a learning space…one blackboard and virtually no school supplies. What exists in the room typically came from the teachers’ own pocket.
This description seems sad, and exaggerated, but the pictures show this is the truth for my students. This is their learning environment. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that many of my students are not on an academic track to college, but should be learning the basics and some daily living skills. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to assist in creating programs and curriculum that focus on these tasks, as right now the learning in my center is minimal. There is about an hour during the day that is designated for academics, but is rarely utilized. I want to emphasize that the lack of learning is in no way due to my teachers not caring. The two teachers I have met and observed are both young and enthusiastic about teaching, but the resources are difficult to acquire and creative teaching is not something that is taught in schools here. Teaching methods revolve around rote memory and worksheets; I probably don’t have to tell you that, while rote memory has its place in school, not all students learn through this tactic. It must be frustrating as a teacher to do the same lesson every day and the student does not seem to retain the information. I am excited to be able to work with the teachers and bring some new, fun ways to reach the students.
Discipline is also an issue with many Jordanian schools, SPED and mainstream. Corporal punishment is normal here in schools. I know from my experience and the experience of other SPED volunteers, that physical punishment is particularly pervasive in the SPED centers. One of the teachers uses face slapping and hand slapping (with a plastic ruler or by hand) as a usual form of punishment. It is difficult to observe this behavior, especially when the student is visibly confused about the reason behind the slap. Today I watched a student start tearing up after being slapped, and I wanted to cry with him. The teacher said “he is crying, any time I hit him, he cries.” My response was, “when I am hit, I cry too”. It is frustrating to watch, but relationships have to be built first in order to make permanent change. I am lucky to have the opportunity to teach/ model different ways of classroom management and behavioral plans that do not involve bodily/ psychological harm
Enough of my spouting random thoughts/ideas/ hopes, let’s get to what my day looks like, shall we?
I used to walk through our marketplace around 8am to get to school by 8:30; however I was informed today that the school bus would be picking me up at 7am. I am a little sad to be losing an hour of sleep, but excited to a)have a ride and b) get to spend more time with my students and teachers who all ride the bus. We get to school between 8:15-8:30, at which time I say hello to all the students and then choose a room to observe in for the day. Later I will be assisting the teachers and bringing in fun activities, but for now I am observing like a pro. At approximately 10:00, the teachers, one classroom (I’ll describe later), and I walk up the street to the ducan (store) to buy chips, candy bars, etc that count as the snack for the students. When we get back, the students come outside, sit on the curb and eat snack until about 10:45-11:00…when we get on the bus to leave for the day. Yes, my center only has students for approximately 2hrs. I get the idea that this isn’t true for other SPED centers, but since mine is a private center, it has less governing bodies setting protocol. I get dropped off at my house at about 11:15. I go visit with my landlady and whoever is hanging out there until noon, when I hide in my house for a few hours. I do chores during this time and then go visit again around 6-7pm-9pm. It is a nice schedule so far. Later the time will be filled with working on resource development and secondary projects in my community.
A bit about my center:
There are two classrooms…maybe three…I am not clear on this yet. I have definitely observed two of the classrooms. One class has 7-9 students and is for the children with physical disabilities. Four of the students are in wheelchairs, with differing levels of functioning, and the other three have slight physical impairments. The teacher is very motivated to teach! She is great at adapting the lessons and making sure everyone is doing something academic for at least a few minutes every day. The students in this classroom are very bright students, who really want to keep learning. A couple students were quizzing me on English words for things today!
Clasroom1:
The second classroom seems to be a ‘catch all’ class. The majority of the students having hearing impairments (deaf/HoH), a few are nonverbal, there are two students with Down’s syndrome, and one student who has Down’s and autistic tendencies. On any given day there are at least 8 students in the classroom, which is less than half the size of the other class. The ages range from 5-20years old in this class. The teacher has discussed the difficulty in trying to work with students with such varying capabilities, so it seems she gets overwhelmed and focuses on other issues in the center. This room is often left unsupervised (pretty typical in Jordan), while the teacher works elsewhere.
Today I witnessed something fantastic in this classroom. The students were teaching each other while the teacher was away. The older students were working with a younger boy to help him learn the first letter of the alphabet and when he drew it correctly, they all clapped for him. I was amazed. These students wanted to learn and tried to work independently on things, like writing the alphabet, learning the signs for the first few letters, and counting. I drew some connect the dot images for them and they loved them! The students were thrilled to have something to do and to show off their work once completed. When the teacher came back into the room, she seemed pleased with what they were doing, collected them when finished, put the name and date on the papers…so I guess it counted as classwork. Later she did a worksheet with them to work on counting, which they also enjoyed.
Classroom 2:
Both classes full of students who have the potential and the desire to learn and I can’t wait to aid them in their journey. I hope that as the year (and next year) progresses, I will be able to help the teachers find new ways to work with the students, and the students will be able to show just how much they are capable of!
Sorry if this seems tangential...it just goes to show how my mind is working these days.
