Teaching 7th Graders this Summer

So it's Wednesday July 19th. It's been exactly 1 year and 2 days since I last saw my house in Greenwich. Almost to my one year reunion for coming to the Pacific. But now I will tell you a bit about what I've been doing in Pohnpei (other than seeing pretty awesome ancient ruins and beautiful waterfalls).

Chris, Buddy (the Indonesian Jesuit Scholastic - Jesuit in training) and I have been sent to the Pohnpei Catholic School this summer to teach in the HAP program (High Achievement Program). This is a summer program for kids of all levels (very smart, average, not so smart) who had just finished the 7th grade to take some more time preparing for 8th grade and high school, as well as meet friends from all over the island and join in fun activities.
It's a very easy schedule compared to hectic Xavier. The day starts at 8:30 for a quick assembly, followed by three 45 minute classes, then study time, then lunch, then afternoon activity. The day is done at 1:30, so every day is like a half a day. Unlike Xavier, insteading of teaching the same lesson twice, there are three sections of the students, so I teach the same lesson 3 times. It is sometimes a challenge to keep the enthusiasm 100% by the 3rd class. It is also challenging, in a humerous way (fellow teachers, help me out with this) to repeat the same jokes the second and third time. By the third class is just seems forced. Whenever I think about myself trying to pull off the same joke for the third time, it's pretty lame, it hardly works. Oh well.
But the best part of this whole experience is the kids. 7th graders are definitely different from high schoolers. I bet you already knew that, but I'm telling you again. It's a very different experience, and a refreshing one, after almost getting burnt out from those high school punks.
These 7th graders are very sweet, very eager to learn, extremely friendly, very afraid of me as a teacher (which helps), and a lot of fun to be with. They were extremely shy the first week or so, but now they're all over the place. They like to run around and yell a lot more than high schoolers (high schoolers like to chill around and just hang out...cool stuff if you dont move around). Being with 7th graders has been good for me since before this life most of my experiences have been with younger kids, ranging from 3rd grade to around 6th.
I teach reading class. It did take me a while to figure out how I"m supposed to teach reading. But then most of it is actually regular skills that I taught the sophomores in Study Skills class, aka Common Sense Stuff Everyone Seems Not To Get Class. But I have a good time most of the time. Some of my students are very good English speakers and, to be honest, better than some Xavier students. This program is indirectly a way to prepare for Xavier. All of the teachers make special recommendations for students we think would be great for Xavier. I can already think of a dozen or so, and a few that should just skip the 8th grade right now.

Before I continue with my 7th graders, let me take a break and talk about how my best friend Campbell came to visit. He stayed with me for about a week, and it was great. It was extremely weird to connect the two worlds of mine together. Definitely felt a bit homesick when he left, which I havent really felt this whole time. But I got over it, and I was glad I shared this with him. At least I'll have someone at home who can kind of relate with my experiences here...since, you know, he was here.
Let me share with you a part of Campbell's mass email about his trip to Pohnpei:

"I got to Pohnpei, and AJ was there to meet me. Now, for those of you who don't know AJ, I've known him since 7th grade, and he's doing JVI (Jesuit Volunteer International). He was placed in Chuuk, Micronesia, actually, but this summer he is in Pohnpei. Since AJ is pretty much out of contact with the whole world for the most part of 2 years, and it is difficult to send packages to him, his mother sent me with a package out to him. Funny thing, Mrs.Cabrera never told me what was in it, and I never went through it myself, and, just my luck, I was stopped at pretty much every single customs desk for that carry on bag. Every time they asked me if i packed it, so I had to tell them yes, and they asked what was in it a couple times. Needles to say, I didn't know. Luckily, they always asked me what was in it as they were opening the bag, so i was able to see bits and pieces of what was in it and tell them what i saw (and they saw too...but they didn't pick up on that). Apparently there was a new digital camera in there also, and at one point a customs agent got as far down in the bag as the camera, and was asking me if it was new. Again, she happened to be opening the box as she asked, and i saw some plastic still on the camera, so i was able to answer that it was new. So, it was kind of comical, after the fact.
Anyhow, for those of you who know AJ, he's doing well. He has grown his hair out, and it is quite long by this point. Some of it is just about at his shoulders. Ladies, apparently AJ looks hot with the long hair, he wanted me to let you all know that. Anyhow, there isn't much to do in Pohnpei, because it is a small island in a lagoon (flying over the lagoons and seeing them were awesome, so so so cool). However, the island is huge, in respect to the other islands in Micronesia. AJ took me to a couple places, but it rained every single day I was there. It is said that Pohnpei receives more rainfall every year than anywhere else in the world, but since it is so remote, no one has ever gone out and recorded it, so its unofficial. I believe it though. Since the rain rarely let up AJ and i had to do the ebst we could in seeing the island through the rain. It actually kind of made it more fun, in my opinion. The weather was so hot and humid that the rain didn't bother me at all. We saw some ancient ruins (Non Madal...something like that) which are really impressive. It is unknown who created this little fortress, and how they were able to do it ebcause the rocks they used to build the fortress are huge and seem impossible to lift. it is kind of like the wonder of the egyptian pyramids, but even more mysterious, because we don't even know who inhabited the fortress. AJ also took me to a waterfall, and since it was raining pretty hard all day the waterfall was at a peak and just completely cascading down. Usually people are allowed to swim under the waterfall, but not that day. Another day (it was actually sunny for part of the day) we hiked up one of the ridges on the island. In WWII, Micronesia was a big Japanese naval base (Chuuk specifically, then known as Truk), so we came across some old Japanese guns ni the hike. We proceeded to a radio tower up on the ridge, and were able to see half of the island (the other half was behind some other mountains) and it was amazing. I have pictures of all of this, and hopefully in Thailand (my next stop) i'll be able to figure out where to post them online. It is a very different culture over there, and I'm really glad i made it over to see it. It is quite strange seeing men, women and children walking around ni the middle of streets weilding machetes, but I got used to it. "

...

So there you go. It was a lot of fun. Anyone else that actually wants to visit, please look into it (my brother is actually coming around late Decemeber, so feel free to contact him to join him).

Back to my classes. There is something I learned about teaching from this program. I knew that this summer teaching experience was not going to be as serious as Xavier, so I went into it with a much more lax attitude. I want to teach the kids good information, but I want to stress having fun more, like enjoying the lesson. I think that my classes are a lot more productive that way. I got this idea for a lesson from Chris Dwyer about following directions. I asked the kids to write down directions for how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (some of them didn't know what it was, and most have never eaten one, which was a huge cultural difference that stood out...a standard lunchtime meal for kids their age would be rice and fried chicken...the lesson worked any way). After I collected some of their directions, I took out the ingredients out of no where and started following their directions literally. For instance, when they said "put the peanut butter on the bread" i literally picked up the peanut butter container and dropped it on the bread. When they said "spread jelly on the bread" without telling me to take out the slices frmo the bag, i actually put jelly on the plastic bag the bread is in. The class was cracking up and got a lot out of it (lesson: always use a lot of details in directions). So things like that.
I also got the kids addicted to the game Mafia. They absolutely love it. Basically, I'm teaching the kids to lie. Hey, that's how you play Mafia! But the kids really have a great time. I will definitely miss them a lot, because we joke around a lot and we get along fine in the classroom. When I get back to Chuuk, there will be plenty of pictures of the kids for you all. Maybe I'll even adopt some and bring them home with me. I feel bad for all other kids of the world because I dont think anyone can be as cool, innocent, and full of such a rich personality as these students of mine.

I think I've said too much. Please keep in touch, and I'll probably report back to you by the end of my Pohnpeian trip. Give you some good legends about this place. Keep the questions coming in. Peace

AJ