Teaching teenagers who live on the mountains

clio.gr · Post by **clio.gr** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 8:41 am

All these years I've been working in Athens and recently I've been posted as a subtitude teacher of Secondary education at a school located up on the mountains of Peloponisos.

Well, it is a far different situation. My students are living in nearby villages and in a class I can have from proficient (1% in the whole school) to completely illeterate (with English) teenagers who work in the fields and are more interested in olive trees than in learning English.

I want to know them better (I have no idea of their interests and everyday life and they wouldn't discuss with me anything because they are afraid they will become subjects of severe gossiping) in order to make my lessons interesting and to understand their mentality.

Any ideas?

Sally Olsen · Post by **Sally Olsen** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:23 pm

They might tell you old tales or myths which are great ways to find out about the area and the local roots - you could start with scary stories.

As they tell them you can block out the story as a storyboard like they do in the movies - just with stick figures.

Then get the students to write the story or dialogue underneath the pictures and then you could even make a booklet of the story or a poster story for the hall with students acting out the parts of the stick figures with appropriate props and scenery behind them.

You could do this for several stories and then divide the students into groups and give them a digatel camera to record the storyboards.

Type up the stories so everyone can have a copy to read and you can do exercises with them as you would with any writiing - would it be better to use the present continuous or the present tense here? How can we add more adjectives to make the sentence stronger and more descriptive? Are there verbs that would better describe this situation?

Finally you could divide the students into small groups with a camera person, a director, and actors for the parts and make small movies with dialogue.

Then show the movies to the class and get them to edit or add and finally show them to other classes, parents, administration, and share with a class abroad who has done the same thing.

You can make posters to advertize the movies and write different endings or compare with stories from other cultures, have discussions about the morals of the story and how it would play out in someone's life today and so on. That keeps the talk on a different level from every day life but really deals with their everyday problems.

I bet some of the stories revolve around those olive trees, how to take care of them, what makes them grow well, and what superstitions people have about making them grow well which will help the students who actually stay to grow olives.

Of course, you can always go the scientific route and just study olives and olive trees.

Senorita Daniels · Post by **Senorita Daniels** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 7:32 pm

How about asking them about the local culture in general? They could talk about local festivals, what typical Greek weddings/ funerals/ holidays are like, and you could tell them about the same things in your homeland.

Lorikeet · Post by **Lorikeet** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 8:10 pm

How about finding out about olives and olive trees? How do they grow them, take care of them, when do they pick them, how to tell if they are good, what effect does the weather have on them, etc.

clio.gr · Post by **clio.gr** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 7:45 am

Thank you all.

We have talked about traditions which are more or less the same with my homeland which is Athens.

i've tried talking about living in Athens and asking them about living in a village on the mountains and they were not so willing to say more than "Athens is a jungle". So I need to understand their mentality and their way of thinking because i've sensed that they were somehow offended or upset by talking about the big city.

Every Greek knows about olive trees and believe me it has been worked a lot by all of the teachers.

I like the suggestion with visualise myths. The village has no internet and the school no digital camera but we can write a theatrical play and maybe present it to the whole school. With the younger ones we can play short sketches.

After fifteen days in the village, I've noticed that the girls can cook very well and I'll ask them to create a cook book. You see the villagers believe that their children should marry very young and have children.

[/b]Thank you all. Your are very helpful

clio.gr · Post by **clio.gr** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 7:56 am

Sally,

Special thanks.

Their stories are on how their forfathers fought the Turks and how cleverly they were lighting fires on the mountains to show the Turkish army that they were many.

These mountains were of the few Greek territories that were not occupied and they are proud of it.

When i said they are interested on olive trees and sheep, I meant that they don't care about English or anything else but they care about going to their fields and taking care of their sheep.

Even those who want to leave their village and do something else with their lives they think that English is something foreign, difficult and useless. So I have to convince them that it is easy and useful to learn. Can anyone help me on this too?

Sally Olsen · Post by **Sally Olsen** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 4:12 pm

Most of us truly understand your situation. It sounds like you are finding ways to overcome it though and value their experiences.

People who do other things than watch TV or use the computer know a lot of other things -how to judge the weather, smells that give them information, stories that their elders told them that warn them not to do some things and to do others, examples of people who did things that didn't work, stories of the outside world that are designed to keep them home, ways of having fun, skills with their hands, yearly traditions that they look forward to and life traditions that they want to follow because it is comfortable.

You can learn things you don't know about and it will make you a "better person" too. But keep in mind that teachers from "outside" bring a disrupting element to the situation and you will be resisted by both parents and students.

You may help some student break away and think about a larger life but that can go either way. Without the preparation of growing up in a city, the city can be a jungle so when you do encourage them, help them to prepare in all ways.

It is the way of life that disruptive elements come into the situation too. It brings in new genes into the pool (not that I am suggesting that you add to the population), and new ideas so you can't help being who you are and wishing for what you would like to happen and has enriched your life.

Sally Olsen · Post by **Sally Olsen** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 4:13 pm

We talked about this quite a bit in the Sticky on motivating students http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/teacher/v ... .php?t=738. It is a problem all over the world, so you are not alone. It seems to me that they are right in the main and probably will never need English. But learning a second language has great benefits for the brain and perhaps you can tell them about the research done on bilingual children and how much more flexible their brains will be. I used to invite local people who were respected and who spoke English to the classroom to talk to the students about why they learned English. Role models seem to have some effect on some of the students. But there are always some students who are just not good at languages and so I just worked on the exams with them to train them to take the exam so they wouldn't be held back in other areas. They passed the exam but could not speak or really understand anything they were doing. They seem to have gone on to do well in the careers they have chosen though.

clio.gr · Post by **clio.gr** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 8:46 am

Well I think you are quite right.

The fact is that most of these teenagers were never given the chence to see if they can learn a second language.

i'll tell you something that describes the situation.

A rich villager who made a fortune in Athens gives every student who enrolls at the highschool a pc as a present. Moreover the village has got PSDN internet connection.

The majority of the students have their pcs untouched and on display at their living rooms. Although there is a lesson on computers for every class of the high school.

I disagree that English will be never needed to them. Even if they grow olives and feed sheep, it can give them a whole new perspective of the world around them and of life in general. English is an international language and they desperately need to broaden their minds and build a stronger personality.

Sally Olsen · Post by **Sally Olsen** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 4:30 pm

It would be nice if they did want a whole new perspective on their life but I found that many students think they have the perfect life, live in the perfect place and don't want anything different. They have their family to support them, have their eye on the perfect partner, have a job they know and even perhaps enjoy waiting for them, tons of friends, know the rules of their area and how to stretch them and so on. Can you argue with that? We asked many people we visited in France to come to visit us in Canada and they would say, "Why? You are here to visit us in the most perfect place in the world, so your place must not be as good." "It is different." we would say. They answered back, "Why would I want different when I have my cheese, my baguette, my wine and my wife?"

Perhaps you could get invited to supper in those student's houses who have unused computers and show them how to use them after finding out at dinner what they are interested in?

clio.gr · Post by **clio.gr** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:03 am

Yes, I can argue with that because I am an educator.
I fight to develop their minds not to make them leave their village or their homes.
I want them to do whatever they like but to use their brains and not to accept whatever it is presented to them and appears to be the easy way. And English is a great tool of knowledge. Isn't it what education is for? Knowledge?
I am afraid if educators give up and say I won't bother, then we can close schools down (esp. in those areas) and can teach only the children who care.
Ia a teacher's role and job only to pass knowledge or to help the student develop his/her personality?
I think you haven't understood that society there is not so open. Everybody is afraid to talk or to say more than the weather or football. They are afraid of gossiping, that's why I've been invited a thousand times to their homes and nobody says anything. And what's more, young people there have nothing to do except going to the village caffeteria and it is our job to give them alternatives.
These French people were the victims of bad education.
that's why i admire the Finish education system.

Sally Olsen · Post by **Sally Olsen** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 4:36 pm

Sorry, didn't mean to give you the impression that you should give up. If I were in that situation, and I have been, I wouldn't give up either. You must be who you are and do your job.

You ask what education is for. Wow, that is a philisophical puzzle but I guess when I teach I am trying to do a multitude of things - make a safe environment in the classroom for people to learn, get people excited about what I am teaching, get to know the students and help them to develop as a team as well as individually, help the students pass whatever tests their society has set up for them so they can accomplish their dreams and just have a lot of fun.

Then there would be my life within the school as playground supervisor, colleague and employee and I would try to update the curruculum, help other teachers who tell me their troubles both professional and personal, work with the teacher's organization to make the profession a better one, and so on.

Then there would be my life as a temporary commuity member and I would do as you and go for dinner, participate in some sports, hang out at the cafeteria to see what the students are talking about and what the social dynamics are and so on. In that area, I would be encourage students to make their community a supportive one and so I would have to sit back for a long time to learn what they value, the underlying motivations, things I would never know about unless I listened carefully and observed patterns of behaviour over the whole year. In my experience it takes about six months before they start to talk at dinner and I am trusted to be a temporary member of the community.

I usually make a lot of mistakes along the way and do things that people find funny or potentially offensive so apologize and try to correct them if possible or if I can't, explain why I do and think the way I do.

By the way, I thought the French had an excellent system of education when I taught in a small town on the coast.

clio.gr · Post by **clio.gr** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:59 am

Well you are a remarkable person.

I agree with you and that is why I try to see what I can do to provoke their interest and to stimulate their minds.

By the way your idea with the myths and the stories is working. Next week we celebrate the Greek revolution against the Turkish occupation and there are many tales concerning these villages and their role during the fight for liberty.

The mountains were very difficult to be conquered and people here (and all the Greeks) are proud of their history and ancestors.

Thank you for your help.

Sally Olsen · Post by **Sally Olsen** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 1:13 pm

I think you are remarkable too. Not many people try so hard or care so much about their students. Keep us posted on what is going on.
I would be glad to send a video of my students from Greenland acting out their myths. They are not about protecting their country because they have never had to do that but have interesting myths aout things that do threaten them.

Senorita Daniels · Post by **Senorita Daniels** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 2:22 pm

Maybe you could have them do some research on something they know, like olives, and then wrote about it in English. Wikipedia.org is a multilingual website that we use for research here, and is free. They would be able to use their computers for the research.