Wow! The Lord was so good this month, as He has been every month. But in the Philippines specifically, we were able to work with a ministry that offered outreach in capacities that fit within everyone’s strengths. Construction, cooking, art, children’s ministry, midwifery, sports ministry, education….if you name it, they probably did it. The Lord was extremely personal for me in that I had been praying about next steps for when I returned home and I felt like He had laid encouragement and support of teacher’s very heavily on my heart. “Teacher talk” has been something I have missed a lot while being away; being able to share vision and passion with people that can relate on similar levels is always affirming. Not only did I get to work with a former teacher, Donna, all month and have extremely growing professional and personal conversations, but I was also given the unbelievable privilege of being able to attend and co-lead daily teacher trainings for grades 3-10. This looked like presentations on classroom management, how to help students communicate and collaborate better, and ways to keep students engaged with the little resources the teachers have available. Cuatro Christian School was actually a bit more advanced than other overseas schools I have worked in. They had access to a minimal amount of books and could occasionally make a small amount of copies to use in their lessons. Typically the teacher has to write everything on the board and the students have to copy everything down. However, even with this helpful feature, it is very limited and therefore still effects the activities the teachers are able to do and being that one teacher is responsible for at least 2 grade levels in their subject, the materials that are printed are rarely able to be used more than a few times, because, well, kids.
Another way we were able to support the teachers was to do math tutoring four days a week. We worked with seven of the sixth graders on memorizing their times tables. The flash cards and games we used were all hand made and hand written and were very well used by the time we got there. I quickly realized that something this school was in need of, was a laminator. Teachers love being able to laminate things and it helps keep things available and accessible for much longer periods of time. Another volunteer teacher was staying at the ministry center and realized the same need in her work at the high school. I had several donations before I left to support unplanned ministry opportunities, months we were not with a host and to fill needs that arose. Praise the Lord that we were able to partner with the other volunteer in providing a laminator to each school and paper in which to begin the projects immediately. I can’t tell you how excited the teachers were when I was able to tell them a laminator was on its way and I don’t have to explain the the teachers reading this the “kids in a candy story” reaction we had when we were able to laminate the first activity the day I left. What an incredible opportunity to be invited into a space and community of teachers, some that have been teaching much longer than I have and be seen as a professional with wisdom to impart. It was truly a humbling experience and one I will always remember.
Ways you can be praying for the teachers:
– To build a community that supports one another
These teachers meet once a week with their grade levels to have training, but my hope for them is that they would realize the treasure that is found in a community that is like minded. I sat with one teacher in particular on her break one day to hear about a lesson she tried to implement from training and see what kind of support she needed. Most of our conversation turned into what her teaching background was, how this environment was different, the family lives of her students that seep into the classroom and some behavior problems in the room that were taking an emotional and atmospheric tole on the class. I don’t know what I would have done without my teammates and teacher friends to decompress with, lean on and ask questions too and I pray that as these teachers become more comfortable with content delivery that they will also realize that they are each others biggest support system and collaborators.
– Fresh ideas for Donna, the trainer as she does this week in and week out, everyday and inspiration can be lacking at times
– Willingness to be flexible with new ideas and discernment in what will ultimately work best for each teacher
– That volunteers that come in would portray the love of Jesus well and be able to offer help and support
