Questions of School: Part One

A few days ago, I recieved mail. Two letters from my family, to be exact. This may not sound signifigant, but trust me when I say that it was WONDERFUL. If you knew about the postal system here (don´t worry, we´ll get there) you would REALLY apprecaite how exciting this was....But this post is not about mail. Rather it´s about what was INSIDE the mail.

Ok, not completely. In the letters from my Mom and Grandma were a lot of warm fuzzy things about my family that made me feel warm and fuzzy. I have read them several times. I love them. But that´s not really an interesting post.

In her letter, my Grandma sent me a whole slew of school related questions. I plan to answer them, one a day, until I have worked through them all.I definitely have a lot more to say about school, and this seems like a pefect way to update more, respond to my Grandma´s letter, AND try out a new style of post (smaller and more frequent). Ready?

Q1: What are the teacher/student relationships like?
I think a lot about student teacher relationships can really be derived from what the students CALL their teachers.

In my public high school, it was "Mr." and "Mrs." There were some teachers you were close with, others that you weren´t. Teachers were there to help if needed, but personal lives were mostly shrouded in mystery. Teachers were not really friends, but it was possible to develope an "in school" relationship by being attentive in class.

At Conserve, I called my teachers by their first names. They were there for us in ways far beyond just academics. We were invited to their houses. We spent time together on the weekends. If I began to fall behind at all, my teachers would immediately notice and be there to help. They welcomed us into their lives for a semester, and this is not something I will ever forget.

In México, we call our teachers "maestro" or "maestra": "Teacher". That is what the teacher is there for: teach the class, then leave. The teachers come to us, so we don´t see any personal belongings on their desks. We don´t even use their last names. No teacher has offered to help beyond class. They are just there. Lecturing, or maybe collecting homework, but seemingly uninterested in what is going on for the students personally. I think this is part of the reason that my brain has such a hard time comprehending that both Conserve AND Mexican school are in the same category of activity. And if I REALLY want to confuse myself, I can try to remember WHS too....wait...That was less than one year ago, WHAT? I digress:


Some of teachers here have obviously received private lessons from Professor Snape. You have to ask permission to enter a class if you are even a second late (er than the teacher. They are sometimes early), and I have seen teachers legitimately refuse to let a student enter. "No Ricardo, I don´t want you today". The sad student will sit in the hall for the remainder of class. They also don´t have to use too much of a verbal filter: "Ricardo (poor Ricardo) your homework from last night was a peice of S###, do you have the brain of a baboon?" <-- That is a direct quote. The students, not unexpectedly, don´t like these teachers, and are very naughty, making the teachers more mean, which makes the students more naughty, and so on and so on. This is the worst case scenario.

There are other teachers who are LOVED. They refers to us all as "hijo" or "hijita". They ask questions in class, and let students give opinions. Because relationships between students and teachers are very distant here, something as small as "You did a nice job" makes students say WONDERFUL things about that teacher. These classes are much more efficient.

As an exchange student, I receive a huge range of differet treatments. Some teachers don´t make eye-contact with me when they lecture. They put my homework on a "special" pile, and I don´t get comments. Other teachers made me introduce myself on the first day, and have consistently used me as a classroom resource: "What would the American have to say about that?" Some teachers have treated me kindly, and say my Spanish is coming along well. One teacher told me I don´t have to come to class if I don´t want to. Another teacher told me it was ok for me to do my homework in German if I need to. At least I´ve got that releif....

I´m really impatient to be good enough at Spanish that I can legitmately contribute to class time. Right now, it´s frustrating to feel so stupid. I know what I want to say, but just can´t. I think that I have the¨"brain of a baboon."

Anyway,thus far none of the teachers have forced me to sit in the hallway during class, and I hope to keep it that way.