Role Play

One of my favorite elements of Peace Corps is that I get to play pretend a lot. A year ago if you had told me that I would be teaching high school I would have laughed at the impossibility of the idea. But here I am, a high school teacher in Nicaragua. I had little to no training in classroom management (and it’s probably obvious to the seasoned professors) but I’m learning new techniques daily and getting better and better at standing in front of 40 fifteen year olds and holding their attention for longer and longer spans of time (sometimes forcibly, sometimes through bribery.) The first week was the hardest. I work in five schools; with both 10th and 11th graders and some schools have two sections. That means that I had to give 13 introductions, and in theory (if my schedule didn’t overlap) teach 13 classes per week. Wowza. I digress. The first week was the hardest because I’m NOT a high school teacher. But, it’s my job, so the only option was for me to get in front of the class and pretend that I have all the training and preparation that I need. And it was probably awkward. BUT, the next time was better. And after 13 introductions, 13 first classes, 13 second classes, I can now say that, yeah, I’m a high school teacher, and when I walk down the street my students say “Adios, Profe.” And it’s kinda awesome, because I get to play a role that I would never have imagined playing, and I’m getting pretty good at it.