Ms. Hartwig and Ms. Large Go to School!

Monday was our first day of classes. My new name is "Ms. Large." My students (of all ages!) find my last name hilarious. One student raised his hand asked, "Ms. Large? Like Ms. Large as in small?" "No," I answered seriuosly, "Ms. Large as in 'BIG.'" The class died laughing.

So far, classes have been very busy. The woman who is in charge of the schedule had to go to the hospital for surgery this week, and so our schedule has been crazy to say the least. This week, I have had 90 extra students to teach. I do not know which ones will be mine this semester and which ones I will have next semester - so I teach them all. Needless to say, my classes are packed.

It is Slovak tradition for students to stand whenever their teacher enters the room. Teachers come to class as the bell rings. When I walk into class, my students stand. I say "Hello," and I invite them to bow their heads while I pray the prayer of St. Thomas before reading and study. Then, I tell the class they may be seated. This classroom ritual felt a bit odd to me at first. It is certainly more formal than anything I am used to in the States; however, I have found over the last week that this structured beginning helps to define "class" and "learning" time.

I am gaining a reputation as a very tough teacher. On the first day I have a particular class, I introduce the syllabus by saying, "In this class, you will do a lot of reading and a lot of writing about (the given subject). This class will not be easy. It will be difficult, and you will need to work hard - but you will all do well." Then, as I explain that they will have homework in English every night, I watch their eyes get big. As I tell them they will have a quiz or written assignment in English every class, I watch their eyes pop out of their heads. At this point, I usually say, "To be a good reader in English, you must do a lot of reading in English. To be a good writer in English, you must do a lot of writing in English." Judging by my students face, I don't think that they appreciate this logic.

On Monday, I taught all of the second years in Old Testament. I was impressed with their English, but I was not impressed with their classroom manners. One group was particularly chatty. I stopped talking not once but TWICE in class until they were quiet. Each time I sternly reminded them of the classroom rules to listen and be respectful. By the third time, I was pretty frustrated with this group. So, I asked them if they knew what the word "respectful" meant. They said they did, and I told them that their actions did not demonstrate this knowledge. I invited them to look up "respectful" in the dictionary and read the definition to me. Then, I asked them if they knew the word "obnoxious." They did not. So, I invited them to look that word up in the dictionary and read it aloud. I told them that today their actions were "obnoxious." Because of that, they must copy the definition of "obnoxious" ten times. I told them that during our next class I expected them to be respectful. To help them remember what this words means, I told them that they must copy the definition of "respectful" ten times. They were not happy with me at all, but would you believe that the next time I had these kids for class, their behavior was excellent?

Last week, I was warned by the other teachers that the students hate their religion classes. Some of the students dislike these classes because they don't like the religion teachers, and some of them hate religion classes because they do not believe in God or consider themselves Christian. Most of my students do not attend church, and some are very adamantly atheist. These students don't understand why they must have classes in religion - and they don't consider these classes relevant to their lives. For this reason, I had the following discussion during the second day of all of my religion classes (Old Testament, Life and Teachings of Jesus, and Reformation History).

I asked my students the following questions:

1. What comes word to your mind when you hear the word "religion?"

Usually, they said things like: "God," "Jesus," "hope," "boring church," "love," "peace," "no belief," etc.

2. Is religion a good thing? Why or why not?

At this question, some students articulated that religion was a good thing because it gives hope and peace, most religions teach love, etc. Other students said that religion may be a good thing but that people use it for bad. They cited instances in which people hurt others in the name of religion.

3. If the three world religions (Islam, Christianity & Judaism) teach love, why do you think so many wars have occurred in the name of God?

The students really got into this question. They said that different people have different opinions and beliefs and no one will every really agree. They also said that people are convinced that their beliefs are right and everyone else is wrong.

2. Who practices religion? Why?

After defining the collocation "practice religion," I invited these students to raise their hands. They shared that they worship, believe, etc. because their parents do, or because God has called them, etc.

3. Who does not practice religion? Why?

Again, I invited these students to raise their hands. These students share that they do not go to church, believe, etc. because they have never seen a miracle or evidence of God. One student said God was created by people to make them feel better about themselves. Other students said they were too lazy to believe in God.

After the students shared, I thanked them for their contributions to the class discussion. I told them that in this class, there are some students who believe in God and there are some students who do not believe in God. I told them that I grew up as a Christian and that I studied religion at the university. I have my own thoughts and beliefs about religion and God. Then, I told them that they are fourteen, fifteen or sixteen years old. They have their own thoughts about religion. That is fine and good. I re-iterated the fact that I am not here to preach to them or to make them believe one thing or another. I will respect their beliefs and they will respect my beliefs and each other's beliefs. I told them that there would be no "wars" in our classroom. I said that different students will have different beliefs and opinions and everyone may think that he or she is right - but in this classroom, we will all listen to one another. Then I told them, "Despite all of our differences, we will still be learning about the Old Testament, Life and Teachings of Jesus or Reformation History." Surprisingly, my students responded very well to this discussion - there was a lot of head-nodding. Later, many students wrote about this class in their journals, and they seemed very open and willing to listen to each other and to learn the material. (Thank God!)