Exhaustion

The theme of this post is exhaustion.  I am exhausted!  Here’s a quick summary of why:

1. This weekend I hung out with my incredibly fun roommates (trying to learn pool, tips anyone?).  There is nothing quite like waking up at 5:30 on a Friday morning, going to five hours of class, taking a far-too-short afternoon nap, and then staying at the bar til 5 am…going from school-schedule-to-university-student-schedule in the same day is killer.

2. Having to switch between German and English quickly and accurately is strangely tiring.  I never knew how incredible it was that all of my professors and teachers could go from perfect English to perfect German and back multiple times in the same day.  My brain cannot get the hang of it, and my German is not improving here as quickly as I’d hoped it would.  I think it’s partially because I’m not letting my English go to hell like I usually do (ie, I start letting German phrases and structures creep into my English).  I don’t want to do that this year because I want to retain my perfect, native English to speak to my students with, but the back-and-forth is proving really challenging for me. 

3. Teaching is exhausting, and I apologize for stating the obvious.  For all the idiots out there kvetching about how teachers don’t work hard enough…well, as I said, you are idiots.  That’s all.  But, I really didn’t anticipate how mentally “on” I would have to be just to lead a two-hour lesson about and in my native language! 

In the hopes that you’re wondering what exactly I’ve actually been doing at school that’s exhausting me so much, here’s a run-down:

Last Thursday, I got to take half of one of my 8^th grade classes for a period to go over some vocabulary.  They didn’t really want to speak English, making it a bit challenging and frustrating.  (I took the other half of the class Friday.)

Also Thursday (and Friday) I got to take three or four of my 9^th graders at a time to do some simple conversation exercises – basically just me asking them stuff about their families, hobbies, etc, but the kids really want to speak English with me and it’s great.

In my other 8^th grade class, I usually stay in the classroom with the teacher, and we help the kids with writing exercises or listen to them present small dialogues.  This class is super adorable and enthusiastic to the point of being out-of-control loud and rambunctious.  But their English is great and their energy is certainly not a bad thing, especially on a Friday afternoon when I’m hitting my wall.

For the very last class Friday, I’m with a group of 13^th graders.  Picture tall guys towering over me and basically everyone looking older than me.  It’s a bit strange!  Their regular teacher couldn’t be there so I got them set up with some worksheets at the beginning of class and then took smaller groups to a different room to learn about the electoral college.  Teaching that complex topic works much better with 18 year olds than 13 year olds, sorry again for stating the obvious.

Then, Monday of this week I spent the day listening to the 13^th graders’ oral exams.  They had to present on an invention and its effects for mankind (topics ranged from the telephone to condoms and the pill…wouldn’t see that in an American class I don’t think) and then the students had to answer questions about topics they’d discussed in class this year.  It was really challenging, not only to listen super carefully so that we could grade them at the end, but also to listen to a presentation in English and then discuss/grade in German!  Again, the back-and-forth was doing me in.  However, it was extremely interesting to hear about the grading process and it felt awesome to actually be able to help comment on what was said. 

Tuesday, then, I taught Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and a parody video to my 10^th graders; they were really well behaved for me and there were definitely some of those awesome moments where they came up with great ideas/interpretations that I hadn’t even thought about.  Also, this was the first time I lead an entire class entirely by myself…it was awesome.  I’m super happy to be finding out that I actually do like teaching itself and not just the idea of it!

Then, I listened to some more of the oral exams, and finished the day with my 6^th graders.  I took half the class at a time (girls first, then the boys) and spent the period letting them ask me questions, and then working on a listening exercise.  The boys were SUPER rambunctious and at one point asked me if the girls were better.  When I said yes, they all got super sad and begged me not to tell their teacher…it was adorable.  Overall though, they are a great group with the energy to rival the 8^th graders. 

So, I’m finally starting to feel like a real person here in this country!  The sense of purpose associated with prepping classes and being at school is amazing, especially compared to how lazy/undirected I felt when just taking university classes in Tübingen last year.  Now, with our Halloween/All Saints/All Souls long weekend, it’s off to Amsterdam!