Teach Teacher
The weekend is coming to a close. Tomorrow it is back to work as usual. I haven't really talked much about my new position as one of the GED teachers/tutors, but I am going into my second full week in the position. I have three classes that I teach starting at 7:45 am and ending at 1:00 pm, Mon.-Fri. Although it is a much heavier schedule, I like it better because it helps the time go by faster. The students test next week so I’ve got to really settle down and get serious this week.
Last week I jokingly said that I was going to create a GED prep book, called ‘GED PREP-PRISON EDITION’ because the stuff that goes on in this class is too funny. I thought I was the teacher but, in actuality, I am the student. I have learned some things that I never thought I needed to know, for example, how to make Meth. Yep, that came up in class. Why? Because there is chemistry on the science portion of the test and what better way to make someone understand a concept than real-life application? Examples that I have used to convey the material have ranged from fights with baby daddies to explain stress and adrenaline to how to make sure you get your fair cut of the money after you do a deal to teach the concept of fractions and percentages. You can ALWAYS trust that the students will have an entertaining story to tell to bring the concept to life.
I have also incorporated riddles into the class to promote critical thinking skills. On Friday the riddle was, "People buy me to eat, but never eat me." Of course, one of the student's answer was "A prostitute." Yeah, no. Not quite. The answer was actually a plate. LOL! This is just one example of what I have to deal with on a daily basis. Needless to say, I stay laughing and my day goes by very quickly.
In addition to smiling because of the jokes, I am also enjoying seeing the smiles on the faces of women who genuinely want to learn but struggle to even read. I have one student who says "Fo Real?" every time I tell her she got the correct answer. Her eyes get so bright and a smile fills her face. Another student, who is really, really smart was running a whole meth lab, ALLEGEDLY, but did not even know how to read. I call her a hood alchemist because she knows so much about mixing substances and chemicals. The other day we were discussing the properties of water - liquid, solid, and gas. The question asked something about which liquid would freeze first, water or alcohol. She stated that water would because the liquor (alcohol) she made would not freeze. LOL! Lawd, help me. But, she got it right. Whatever it takes to get it. When she explained the steps of how to make meth, I was absolutely dumbfounded as to how she figured it out when she could not even read. Some of the steps were pretty dangerous and I am still trying to understand how she did not blow herself up. The shit is crazy.
I was hesitant at first about leaving my easy kitchen job, however, I am certain that I am in the right place at the right time. I am a teacher, a fourth-generation educator. So no matter where I go, or what I do, I will be doing just that…teaching.
