I love teaching. I love watching children get excited when something finally clicks. I love watching them learn new lessons and explore new ways of doing things. I love talking to other people who are passionate about education and sharing stories about students who make us laugh or students who make us want to pull our hair out. I love that being a teacher provides you with the opportunity to love on sweet kiddos, be a positive role model, and create a safe haven for kids who have a tough home life.
But y’all, teaching is HARD.
This month my team and I are living and serving at a small school in Honduras. The school has three classes: preK-2nd, 3rd-6th, and 7th-9th. As my team and I discussed who would teach which grade, I volunteered to teach the middle schoolers because I wanted a challenge. You know how Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”? Well I asked for a challenge, and man did God give me one.
I walked in the first day to a class full of energetic and rowdy teenagers. As I asked them how they were, they all looked at me like deer in headlights. I continued to ask them simple questions to which only one or two students responded. Before volunteering to teach this class, I was under the impression that these students could speak pretty fluent English (this is a bilingual school after all). Within the first thirty minutes of class I knew that wasn’t the case. I continued to sit and observe the class as the teacher and students spoke only in Spanish. I had no clue what was going on and knew I was in WAY over my head. How was I supposed to teach these students if I couldn’t even have a conversation with them?
I went back to my team and suggested that maybe someone that knew more Spanish should switch with me, after all I’m the only one on my team that has never taken a Spanish class. No one wanted or felt led to switch, which meant I was going to be teaching these middle schoolers all month. I was terrified.
The next day was spent teaching and getting to know these kiddos, and man was it rough. I found out that they knew a little bit more English than they originally led on, but they really didn’t like speaking English. I also learned that they really did not enjoy school. They loved the social aspect of it, but hated the learning and working part. I instantly made it my goal to change that.
I went into class the next day pumped and ready to be the teacher that made learning fun for them. I began teaching, and quickly felt like that was going to be nearly impossible. Every time I tried to teach, they would talk over me in Spanish very loudly while occasionally looking at me and laughing. No matter what kind of classroom management tricks I tried, nothing seemed to work. Detention didn’t scare them, and they definitely didn’t care whether or not they were making me upset. Only one student did their homework, so I had to be the mean teacher that took away their break time and made them do it. I continually had to get onto them for cheating off of the one student who actually completed it, but instead of stopping they would just yell the answers in Spanish knowing I wouldn’t understand. They absolutely did not want to do any work and one student even slammed her book shut, screamed in Spanish, and began to cry.
But what she didn’t know was that I wanted to hide under my desk and cry too.
I felt useless. I felt inadequate. I felt like no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t going to get through to these kids. I wanted to give up.
But then I thought about my walk with the Lord. I thought about how many times he’s tried to teach me something as I continued to ignore Him and do my own thing. I thought about the many times I’ve fallen short, yet He never gives up on me. These kids need more than a teacher. They need a role model. They need an encourager. They need someone who believes in them and is willing to fight for them. They need someone who will love them like Jesus and walk alongside them no matter how bumpy the road might get. I want to be that person.
So God, challenge accepted.
I can’t wait to continue getting to know these students and watch them grow this month. I know that I will learn a lot from while also experiencing an abundance of growth. Thank you God for challenging us and not allowing us to stay inside our comfort zone! (Prayers are still greatly appreciated though!)
Joyfully His,
Liz
