My Gifts of New Czech Friends, Traditions, and…the Return of Homework?

I woke up Sunday morning, before heading out to the Beskydy mountains for an uphill 6k running competition (just a day in the life of my year in the Czech Republic 🙂 ), to the following post on my Facebook feed:

“Teaching is half feeling like your head might explode and the other half feels like your heart might.”

There is a lot of truth to this statement. I typically leave the gymnazium on Thursdays after a long week of lessons feeling like my brain is just going to pop. I leave for the weekend with so many emotions, internalized challenges, questions, and, of course, mini-victories that fill each day…it’s enough to make your head want to explode. There are also sometimes moments when I can’t quite figure a class out – these are the moments that strike me as the most mentally demanding. Each student is very different and it is nearly impossible for me to ensure that I am able to effectively reach an understanding of how everybody is able to grasp a particular lesson. Some students ask questions but some are shy and try to hide.

Before coming to the Czech Republic, I always worked one-on-one with students so I had the time to invest in long conversations that would allow for me to develop authentic relationships and a mutual understanding about the best teacher/student dynamic for the semester and/or year. The bottom line – I have trouble wrapping my brain around how I can try to establish a class-wide understanding during lessons and not just after-school. This is a lesson for myself that I am still learning with each passing week.

I actually planned my first assessment this week and that proved to be its own feat. There is an art to developing an assessment – an art that, again, I progressively learned more and more about with each class. First and foremost, I realized about the significance of time and planning. In a perfect world, I would have an infinite amount of time to thoroughly ensure that each lesson was properly developed and that every student understood what I was teaching when all together in the classroom. However, time is actually the biggest obstacle. There are approximately 180 days in the school year, 45 minutes per lesson and a whole list of topics that need to be covered before the Maturita exam in May. Time is like precious gold and I do not have a lot of it.

I originally planned the assessment to last two full lessons – one lesson for creating the project and one for presenting the project. I also didn’t specify how long the presentations should be and how much time I wanted to hear each student speak. I tried to plan the assessment so it would be as creative as possible; I split up each class into two large groups and told them they were to come up with some oral and visual presentation to teach me about the difference between Czech and American schools. However, I quickly realized that the logistics of my creativity needed to be planned out better. I received some blank stares from students and they didn’t even know where to begin, let alone ask me questions about what I expected.

So, after this first go, I channeled the formative feedback I was given by one of the English teachers and clarified my speech and directions. I also changed the plan to have the students start the project in one lesson, finish after school together, and then present the following lesson. Not only did this work out nicely, but also now the students completely understood the task and were even eager to be as creative as possible – some are creating movies, songs, skits, posters, and one group is even making a children’s book for the local primary school. This week will be an assessment of how well I explained and thought about my assessment as students will present this week and next depending on the timetable for their lesson.

I was also able to show both the English teachers and the students that this type of group project would help all of them develop organizational and communication skills that will translate to any university or vocational setting. I always hated group projects but now as a teacher I can see their importance. Being able to practice communication skills and team collaboration are very practical and valuable and, again, ones that will translate to life at university and/or any jobs that the students wish to pursue. All this thinking is very rewarding but again sometimes makes your head want to pop and really highlights the intricacy of teaching. There are so many factors to consider when planning lessons, factors that you don’t necessarily see unless you are right in front of the classroom giving your lesson and learning from your mistakes.  

Now the second part of the Facebook post – the part about my heart wanting to explode. Each and every week more students are joining my after-school clubs. I even have an advertisement for my baking club on the school website. Last week I brought in pumpkin cake (this week pumpkin muffins), for students to try and they told me that they never tasted anything like it before (in a good way). I also let Pavlina and Roman try these American fall treats and they said that these pumpkin sweets are delicious and not typical here in the Czech Republic. This blows my mind so it is my self-assigned task to try out different pumpkin-based baked-goods every Monday during the festive months of November and December. I both hope to share an aspect of my personal American tradition that I simply love and need to share as I do with my American family and friends every year. My students also showed me some Czech recipes that we will try in the coming weeks, including Honzovy buchty (sweet Honza buns) and Najlepšia bábovka (a marble-type cake).  I may be able to move to a kitchen at primary school very soon so fingers crossed! These moments after-school – these are the moments when my heart might explode. Why?

Well, for starters, more and more students have joined me for runs after-school. Now, my running club is definitely not the most popular of my after-school clubs but I am learning different trails and asking lots of questions about travel, traditions, and simply day to day life in Česky Têšín. I always ask the one or two students that arrive to run about their other nearby villages and they ask the same of me about my town in the 01810. The students have also invited me to go ice-skating and shopping for ball dresses. In fact, I received my first invitation to a Maturita ball that will be held at the end of November. During these after-school clubs I really feel like I am starting to develop some new friendships and moments of empathy. While still only a few students come, these friendships, and more relaxed conversations, are what I long for from my American life and now in the Czech Republic only help make me feel more rooted in my new daily routine 🙂

And finally, of course I need to recount some crazy weekend outdoor adventures that I attended via Czech rails. There was an end of the year mountaineering club party in Stonava (Roman’s childhood village) on Friday night. Here, I also met some new friends and learned about their many crazy and impressive climbing adventures from all over the world, including places such as Kalymnos in Greece and Yosemite in California! The event hosted a very genuine group of climbers, and as Roman explained, climbing fans, and I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of their end of year celebration and hearing their stories from the tops of many beautiful peaks and nights sleeping in the middle of a mountainous area under the stars. I received a little taste of a day in the life of a European climber and it was truly wild! The atmosphere was very entertaining and I met some worldly individuals and even ran with some members of this group in their annual mountaineering club 6-kilometer race in the Beskydy Mountains. This race was foggy, and a bit rainy but a really supportive and beautiful atmosphere. I would say 85% of the run was all uphill so I ended the day with some warm food and tea and then taking a nice long nap.

Again, during the run I completely exhausted myself but the amiable atmosphere and cheerful squad that surrounded the mountains gifted me with even more crazy memories and stories to share with my American home. We ended the event all gathered in a quaint cottage in the middle of the course after the run to come together and celebrate the results of the race. I even met two people who have spent some time in America – one even in Portland, Maine! These surprising connections only makes all of my conversations and cultural exchanges that much more meaningful.

Additionally, on Saturday, I attended a British bonfire with families. Here, I met some English-speaking families in a nearby village and even talked with another English teacher. We exchanged stories about our struggles learning the Czech language and ensuring that we develop an understanding with our students about communication and the most effective language learning skills. There were also a lot children here, all of whom were very adorable and it was neat to hear them switch between Czech and English so quickly. Sometimes sentences would be spoken with a mixture of English and Czech. I did not have the same bilingual experience as a child and this got me excited for my next trip to Ostrava where I will lead a lesson at a primary school for 9-year-old students. This will be a a whole new world of teaching but one that I am very experienced in at Bates; I am excited to try out a day in one of these younger classrooms here.

Actually, I just returned from Ostrava to meet with the primary school teacher who is hosting me at her school this Friday. What I thought was going to be a quick, strictly work-related, coffee meeting about Friday’s lessons ended up being a warm discussion about teaching, home, family, travel, and the importance of self-love. We met for dinner and exchanged stories about crazy family memories, interesting solo-travels, Stratford and Shakespeare, and, of-course, teaching. She greeted me with a warm hug and then sent me off on my train laughing and saying, “It’s perfect. I knew we met for a reason. After Friday’s lesson we will plan a trip to Croatia!” One chance encounter and conversation at the American Corner a couple weeks ago has turned into what I hope to be an authentic, lasting friendship.

While at dinner, this teacher asked me what skills have helped me grow the most so far in the Czech Republic. Immediately I thought about the importance of communication and how I have learned never to be afraid to meet and open myself up to people who I know I can trust – no matter the language barrier and how far away I am and feel from my American home. I explained to this teacher how here in the Czech Republic I not only have had to be mindful about my speech and think about how well my community is able to understand my language but also that I need to develop a community – and this involves more than simple conversations.

This involves stepping outside my comfort zone, trusting my personality and ability to sit down and speak with others, and taking the time to patiently introduce myself and listen and hear other people’s stories. The act of listening, asking questions, and sharing my experiences with others serves as the first set of stepping stones toward worthwhile, communicative friendships. At Bates, most of my friends were within a couple years of my age. Here I have friends of all ages and because of this I am able to learn and connect with many different people of all backgrounds and experiences. This diversity and openness are yet more aspects of my growth and ones that I will surely keep expanding.  

So what’s next? I will lead three lessons at a primary school in Ostrava on Friday about Boston and American traditions such as Thanksgiving and Santa Claus, student presentations, and my first free weekend since September; I will be busy in a couple of weeks so it will be nice to have some rest!

I will also start planning a lesson about American Thanksgiving and am excited to soak in what I have learned about teaching over the past few months and figure out the best way to develop an interactive and exciting cultural lesson about my favorite American holiday. I may even try and prepare tastes of a traditional American Thanksgiving meal for my students… I just need to find a turkey and then everything else should fall into place 🙂

Happy Veteran’s Day! The Czech holiday of similar significance is on November 17^th and is referred to as the Day of the Fight for Freedom and Democracy. This is a day to mark important moments of Czech history such as the divide of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Both are important days of remembrance and reflection and I hope are experienced in ways most meaningful to you and your family.

As always, until next time, and…ahoj! 🙂