Sometimes things happen so fast we don’t even know what hit us.
Since 1st of September I am a school teacher – I teach grammar and literature – in one of the elementary schools in Tallinn and to this day I have a quizzical expression on my face. I still don’t know how it happened.
Truth be told, I can trace it all back to a jazz concert in the beginning of June after which I met a young woman who almost demanded I’d become a teacher in the school she worked at. Five days later I was sitting in the headmistress’ office and pretty much signed the contract. It really did happen that fast. I never looked for a job. In fact, I don’t think I even prayed for one. The job sort of dropped from the sky. Or was dropped from the heaven (depends on a viewpoint).
So I just finished week 4 of teaching. And in this short period of time I have gone through a good number of phases. First the „being afraid of children“ phase. I mean, I am teaching 10-12 year olds! Me who has disappeared every time volunteers are asked to teach a children’s Sabbath school class. Me who observes any and every 11 year old with suspicion. Me who has never studied pedagogics. Fortunately, this phase seems to be over now. Then that was followed by panicky phase when it would take me every free moment to search for materials and make slides for classes. My kitchen table would be constantly covered with all sorts of text books and printed pages and I would send frantic messages to my closest colleagues, asking for help. Things are quieting down on that front, too, it seems. And then I had a very short phase of „I am going to be a perfect teacher and tell those kiddos everything I know about life. And they will sit still and look adoringly at me every day“. That phase took only two days to disappear. Oh, well. Now I seem to have entered the phase of „Okay, I have as much to learn from these kids as they have to learn from me. And the kids are wonderful one day and the next day they drive you absolutely crazy, don’t let that throw you off balance. The progress is slower than you expected, don’t let that bother you too much, either. The homework is not always done nor the books read, that’s okay. And the telling of all your wisdom needs to wait because first we need to get through the boring basics of grammar. Breathe. All is fine. The school holidays aren’t far any more.“ I will probably stay in that phase for a while (maybe for the whole school year).
The colleagues are really nice. The school itself, too. It’s a Catholic school situated in the middle of our wonderful Old Town. So the classrooms are only some 500 years old. During the past two weeks a massive film crew has taken over our school yard with their trucks and equipment (they’re shooting some scenes for a medieval detective movie) so some mornings I am greeted by medieval monks when I go to school. Not bad, I say, not bad at all. :)
It’s just about the worst year to try out teaching, of course. There is so much fuss about the virus and PPE and what not. I get tired of the news. I get anxious about my own health (is this my throat that's aching???). And I get tired of waiting for the inevitable – the instruction to move from my beautiful classroom to Google Classroom. One day it will happen. But until then, I try and enjoy the messy school life, the never ending gossip in the staff room, the morning walk to the Old Town (no public transport, we’ve been advised) and the coziness of Old Town cafes. Oh, and free Sabbaths with no preaching. *high five*
