The Stage

Hello from Ak’ Bol, an eco-friendly resort north of the bridge in Ambergris Caye.  San Pedro High School is about two miles south of us.  I’ve been walking a lot this past week since we’ve arrived from our inland journey.  I actually just rented a bike.  It’s a comfortable beach cruiser with a bell and basket.  I couldn’t ask for anything more.  Just throw my backpack in the basket and I’m off to school.

It has been two days since we started teaching at the school again.  The only thing that seems to be different is that the kids are more rowdy.  After a two week holiday, the students’ energy is quite high.  While they remain as respectful as always (always with the sir and miss) they just can’t stop talking.  I find myself rearranging the seating in almost every class.  The exchange typically goes like this:

Me: “You guys in the back.”

The guilty students looking around at their neighbors as if I surely wouldn’ be talking to them.

Me: “Yeah you two, there are a couple open seats right up in front here I know you want to sit in.

Students: “Yes sir.”

Students shuffle to their new seats.

Problem solved, usually.  This one student refused to move, and when I insisted he walked to the front of the class crossed his arms and leaned back against the chalk board.  The rest of the class started hooting and hollering.  He loved having the stage to show off in front of the students. 

The stage is a funny thing.  Students will act like they can say and do anything they want when the other students are watching them confront the teacher.  However, take that stage away and the student will typically drop the performance.  I ran into this situation a lot with my class back in Wilmington, especially with my general biology 4^th block class.  I quickly learned that it was fruitless to argue or confront a student in front of the rest of the others.

So I asked the student leaning against the chalk board to step outside with me for a second.  After our conversation, during which the student was quick to apologize, he was all about participating in the class.  Even today in class, he was asking questions, and in general, fully in engaged in the lesson.

The similarities between my students here and from back home have been one of the most interesting aspects about teaching abroad.