First Week of Teaching

Well I did it.....I survived my first week of teaching! I have two classes everyday, all kids ages 3-6. I never knew how much energy it would take to keep their focus for 4 hours! After the second day of school, I was so discouraged and stressed, I just wanted to sit down and cry. Lesson plans are kinda a hit or miss. I could make this brilliant lesson plan about how we're going to play red light-green light, practicing our impending motion verbs, thinking it would be the best lesson ever! So when the kids end up hating it, so my whole lesson goes up in flames....... I'm afraid I might start pulling out my own hair with this job -__-

But the rest of the week was better :) Each day, I get a little better at teaching, a little more patient, a little better at maintaining classroom control, and a little better at making them think that my lesson is the most fun they will ever have! And each day I don't dread coming back the next day! My favorite is at the beginning of the day, when we sing songs. These kids know about every single 'non-religious' primary song there is! Their favorite is 'head, shoulders, knees and toes'. Oh, and the hokey pokey of course :)

In other news, this week Anastasiya wanted to make us spaghetti because she knew we were familiar with it. Well, here in Ukraine, they eat ketchup with EVERYTHING. So instead of tomato sauce, she used ketchup. Yes, we had noodles and ketchup for dinner. And I ate every last drop. That's one thing I've promised myself, to eat everything that is prepared for me here.....so far that and chicken heart is the weirdest I've had, the food here is usually really good!

The glamorous entrance to our school

Also, this morning I walked into the kitchen and found my underwear hanging up everywhere. Haha I don't know why I was so embarrassed by that, but they don't have dryers here so I should have figured this would happen sooner or later......

A lot of you have been asking about the weather here! Last week, it was cold....like Colorado cold, so it was bearable. But this week, it's been -20! I literally walk outside and it feels like my whole body is sitting in an ice bath. I've learned to bundle up! Before I go outside, I put on: tights, leg warmers, long johns, my money belt, jeans, long socks, sweatshirt, big coat, gloves, mittens, hat, and a scarf....and I'm STILL freezing!! In Colorado, when it was this cold, they'd have "cold" days, where they cancelled school! I don't know if I could ever adapt to the cold here.....

Well, that's all I have to say for now. Me and Katy are about to head out to Family Home Evening with the singles ward, in downtown Kyiv. We're not really sure how to get there, and our cell phone is broken.....so we'll see how this goes :) Svidaniya!

Here are some pictures of where I live and teach!

I'm only smiling because my face is FROZEN!!

People have to dig their cars out everyday, by hand

The fabulous kitchen in our school

Doing the hokey pokey, of course

Our school

The dazzling elevator--fits about 3 people total

typical apartments

one of the many apartment buildings in the 'sleeping district'

our apartment building!

oh and this is an apple I bought at the market--the size of my FACE!!

And, of course, Polina :)

P.S.-- I found out what the "other" toilet is....it's a 'bottom-washer!!!' Can't wait to try it out ;)

The Long Trek to Church

In Erie, church was about at 15 minute drive away. In Ft. Collins, church was about a 7 minute drive. At BYU, church was about a 5 minute walk. Here in Kyiv, church is a TWO HOUR trip, by metro, bus ride, and trudging through the snow!! I gained a whole new appreciation for church today.

A Greek Orthodox church, all over Kyiv.

Because church is so far away, our whole group of ILP teachers decided to spend the night at our head teachers house last night and figure out how to get there together in the morning. Seeing as there is about 30 of us, and only 3 beds, most of us had to sleep on the hardwood floor (which actually isn't that bad, since our normal beds are almost just as hard). 

Talking to the other ILP teachers, I realized that I really have it easy compared to most Ukrainians. We live in a clean, modern apartment with a tv, wireless internet, and our own room. I got to hear about other teachers who have no internet, no tv, no drinkable water, no real bed, and rooms that they share with the whole family. One teacher even shares a room with a one-legged man whose apartment smells like feces and alcohol. I'm so grateful that I have such a great host family. I really got lucky.

Our trudge through the snow towards the temple :)

The next morning, we woke up early and left at 8am for church. We walked through the slush and snow, caught metro for about 15 minutes, trudged along some more until we found our bus stop, rode the bus for about 30 minutes, ended up missing our bus stop, then had to back track along the slushy highway until we finally got to church, almost 2 hours after we left. It was an interesting feeling walking through the snow along that highway, though. The temple was in front of us, and in between billboards and advertisements, you could see its beautiful steeple. I felt like a pioneer. 

We go to the "Kyiv International Branch"in a little church right by the temple. The ILP volunteers alone more than doubled the size of the branch. But it's so nice to go to church in Ukraine. The bishop and all the couple missionary couples were so excited for us to be there. They even had a little branch party after church to introduce us. It's comforting to know that no matter where I go in the world, I always have a home.

Well, tomorrow I start teaching! Me and Katy teach the morning classes, from 9am-1pm. I have my lessons planned already for the next week, but I'm still really nervous, so wish me luck!!

Here are some pictures of our trek to church :)

Our group, about halfway through the adventure to church!

The Kyiv Temple :)

Sooo happy to be back home finally, with little Polina :)

Finally Here!!

Well I finally made it to Ukraine! I took a 2 and 1/2 hour flight from Denver to Chicago, had a 3 hour layover at the Chicago airport, then got on an 8 hour flight from Chicago to Frankfurt, had another 3 hour layover in Germany, THEN got on a 2 hour flight from Frankfurt to Kiev! And so here I am :) Besides having to completely repack my luggage to avoid paying a $200 'overweight' fee, and besides the Polish man who sat by me on the way to Frankfurt, who kept asking me to stay at his cabin with him and to let him buy me a drink.....the trip was fairly uneventful and safe. 


I got really lucky with my living situation! I get to room with another girl from my group, Kaitlin. So it's nice to not just be with my host family. My family consists of my host mom, Anastasia, and her daughter Polina, who's 3 and 1/2. She's the most adorable girl, but she only knows Russian so it's hard to understand her when she wants to play.

I'm really tired now....I don't think I've slept for more than 30 minutes at a time over the past 24 hours, so I'm going to sleep. But first, I'll show you pictures of everything so far :)

 At the Kiev airport, waiting to be picked up by the ILP bus......

 The head ILP coordinator and our bus that picked us up!!

 Polina, my new host sister :) She immediately found my water bottle and became enthralled with it. She filled it up with water and kept shaking it around, going "svist, svist, svist"

 Our room :) and my roommate Kaitlin

 The room used to be Polina's, but she and her mom now share a room so they could give it to us. Now we get the jungle gym!

 The dining/living room. The apartment is pretty small, but very cute, modern, and well decorated!

 The kitchen!

 Bathroom! I still don't know what the 'other' toilet is......

 Polina and Kaitlin :)

 The view of Kiev, right outside our window!

 The living room. I love the bookcase that goes around the entry!

 Me & Polina. Look at that cute belly :)

Haha Polina again :-) She loves taking pictures on my laptop.

Training

As part of being a volunteer teacher with ILP (International Language Programs), you have to attend a "pre-departure training". So last week, I flew back to Provo one last time to learn all about how to teach and survive in Ukraine. What I got out of it was: boy, do I have a lot to learn!


Their teaching method seems very effective. Basically, we teach by 'total immersion', which means I only speak English to the kids and they're only allowed to speak English in the classroom, no matter how little they know. There are 2 groups of kids I will be teaching: 'Primary' (ages 4-8) and 'Elementary' (ages 7-15), depending on their skill level. In the school I'll be teaching at, "Kiev 2", I'll be teaching both age groups. There will be 3 teachers, and the kids will rotate through our 'activities' throughout the day. That means we'll each prepare 2 lessons a day, that we'll give 3 times each, as the kids rotate through twice. 


The 6 teaching areas we teach are: Arts & Crafts, Games, Gym, Kitchen, Drama, and Shop. Sounds easy enough, right? WRONG! You see, if I were teaching Arts & Crafts, and I wanted to say, make a handprint turkey with the kids, I wouldn't just give them the materials do make it and let them have at it.....no no no. The trick is, you have to TALK about EVERYTHING.....and GET THEM TO TALK, TOO. 


For example, for the feathers, I could ask "What else has feathers besides turkeys? Are they light or heavy? Is this soft or hard? What color is it? Why don't people have feathers? How does it feel? Where does it go? How does it compare to another object? Where is it in relation to another object?.....etc." The more the kids speak, the better. The goal is to get every kid in the room to talk at least once/minute. Even if it means they're just repeating everything you say, they're still speaking, so therefore they're learning.


Now this is harder than you think! In fact, the person training us said that we should be so good at teaching English before we leave, that if we had just a plastic bag, we could get the children to talk about it for the entire lesson.


So, clearly, I have a LOT of work ahead of me during the next week and a half as I prepare....and a LOT of school supplies to buy! I'm bringing 2 big suitcases, one of which will be just school supplies, with everything from construction paper, glue, kids books, and play-doh to marshmallows, kool-aid, kids' cookbooks, and buttons. So my work is definitely set out for me......only 11 more days! Can't wait <3