Family Unit

Today, my learners began their unit on family.  I opened the topic by doing a listening test where they were required to answer questions about my family.  They are always asking questions about my personal life, so I thought this would make the assignment a little more fun.  I read them a small paragraph three times, and then they answered five questions that I had put on the board.  Overall, they did really well.  It may have been too easy, but who is to say when the average is a 70 and there are learners that are literally getting zeros.  Either way, after our listening test, I allowed the students to ask me questions about my family and myself.  Questions were all over the place.  I had people asking me if I had a laptop or a car back home.  I had another student ask what class I had failed, which I followed up with a “ummm…none.”  That was a crazy thought for them too since so many kids (not all) here have failed at some point.  The winning question however, was when one of my girls asked me if I was married.  I knew where this was going from the start because a couple weeks in I switched my ring to my ring finger, but I let them finish with the topic.  After saying “no, I am not married,” a bunch of them asked why I had on my ring.  Being completely honest with them, I told them that I wear it on that finger because when I go into town a lot of people come up and tell me that we should date or get married.  Well my learners had a field day with that.  They were laughing SO hard, hopefully because they thought it was funny and not because I am ridiculous.  Either way, the class ended with me asking the learners about their families.  I was able to ask questions regarding their tribes, their siblings, their parents, etc.  It was incredibly informative, but also heartbreaking too.  I learned that several of my students are missing one or two parents (I knew this was a possibility, but it’s different when you hear them say it).  I also learned that some students will not see their parents for a whole year!  Because I too am far from my parents and family, I understand the challenges that come with them and my heart breaks for these kids.  They are so strong.  So much stronger than I ever was at that age.  So much stronger than I am at 23.