Winter School

So after weeks of preparation and too much chemistry and physics, winter school began on Monday morning. I didn't have all of the copies I wanted or needed, but I only hoped that the students for the one class would survive without the massive amount of paper. Everything was set. I began my first period class with 2 students. I don't know where the 55 other students were, but obviously they were not enthused about waking up and coming to school for 4 hours. Despite this, I began my lecture on genetics and on the central dogma. Yes, Ms. Huey's central dogma from AP Bio remains a core part of my understanding of genetics, so it becomes what I teach to other adventuring souls. This lecture wasn't terrible nor were my following two. I entered my 4th hour class slightly overwhelmed and covered in chalk dust. I began my lesson that was all over the place. The chemistry teacher told me that the students from this class were very weak and didn't know very much, so I thought it would be most beneficial if I started with the basics. Some of the learners complained to the gap year interns that I should be teaching them exam questions rather than basic chemistry. My response was without this knowledge how do you ever expect for me to teach you organic chemistry or harder aspects of normal chemistry? I left slightly depressed- fortunately I had track workouts in the evening which made up for the bad school day.
The following days have been interesting. Some of my students are super bright and I only hope that they continue on with science at the university level. Other students are not so bright and only know how to copy work from others or sit and look pretty. I have one group in my organic chemistry class that is full of well made up girls, but they don't know anything and I don't think they care if they know anything. One of the saddest things for me this week was explaining Nagasaki and Hiroshima to a group of 17 year olds. Not only do the kids not know what an atomic bomb was or what a nuclear power plant is, they don't even know where Japan is. I know that I shouldn't be concerned with history lessons, but when they are applicable to science, I think that events in the past that are so monumental such as WWII or atomic bombings should be common knowledge. On the days following this lecture, I asked my dear students how many centimeters were in a meter. This question took the learners several minutes to answer and one of the answers was 1000cm are in 1 meter. I wanted to cry in agony. I don't know what some of these kids have been doing in all of their classes since high school began, but obviously whatever it is, it is not learning.
Today went well other than the kids in my 9 am class that only shows up at 9:30. They had forgotten everything I had taught them and were confused with the most basic questions. I wasn't sure what I should do, so I continued on with the lesson in hopes that they would understand a portion of what I was trying to say. It wasn't the most pleasant thing for me to do. I feel terrible for teachers who have to explain the same concept multiple times before their learners grasp the core idea. I don't know what kids like this will be able to do with their lives because they are unable to read English with proficiency, unable to think critically, and unable or not willing to put the work in to obtain a higher level of knowledge.
As the closing for this day, I had a lovely lunch with Heloise and Pauline. It was raining and quite cold, so I went for a run, and contacted one of the dear high school chemistry teachers. I was supposed to teach his learners for the entirity of winter break, but now he tells me that his students want to go back to the Eastern cape an d that they won't need my assistance next week. I felt terrible at first for spending so much time on basic concepts, but I think in the long run this will be more applicable to them and give them the basic underlying knowledge that they will require to be sucessful at anything they choose to do.
Tomorrow is the last day of winter school. I will be glad when it is over- especially since I am teaching 3 different subjects- organic chemistry, basic chemistry, and genetics. My only hope is that my teaching has assisted at least one of the learners here and has helped them to understand some concept with a bit more clarity. I have always had a great respect for teachers and this week has only caused my respect to grow exponentially. Teachers put up with unruly students, students who don't want to learn, students who don't understand the long term consequences of their actions, and long after hours with planning and grading. I don't know if I will ever enter the teaching field, but I do hope that my efforts will be long lasting and perhaps be beneficial to other people. I have been given so much that everyone else deserves to have a portion of what I have been granted as far as my education goes- although I think there are multiple ways I can disseminate this knowledge without being a school teacher.