November 8, 2008--Saturday--First Day of School

Today was the first day of English classes with Abdellatif. First, we drove from Rabat where he and his family live to the town next door which is called SalE. His high school is a public one called Alayoubi Lycee. He told me before that the biggest challenge for teachers right now in Morocco is the classroom sizes (one that we Americans may face soon enough).

He was right. His first class this morning had 41 students in it because there were three students who were absent. The Moroccan Educational Ministry provides a text that all teachers must follow very closely. This is very different from our system of education where each district and sometimes each school provides their own guidelines.

The classroom is void of educational resources except the teacher, perhaps one text per two students and a chalkboard. My first impression was that this would be a difficult setting in which to learn; however, the students are eager to answer questions and always raise their hand and say, "teacher. teacher." For every question he asks, he has at least ten to fifteen raised hands of students who want to answer. Amazing.

You can tell that his 27 years of teaching makes him comfortable with the students and at ease with confidence. Sometimes I find myself frustrated and raising my voice when students don't listen; he however, is always calm and very politely asks the students even though the classroom is full.

I found the pedagogical styles to be similar even though he has a lot less to work with in terms of materials to use. Sometimes he would write the incorrect answers he heard on the board and then ask another student to correct it. Sometimes he could just naturally correct their sentence and move on with the lesson. There were parts of the lesson in listening (which for today I got to help the most with!) and writing. It was wonderful that for 100 percent of the class, he spoke in English except for once when he asked a cultural question and then the students could respond in French. In this class, they are like our Freshman so they are working on the simple present tense but many of them have had English prior to this class.

All girls in public schools are required to wear white smocks though the guys can wear whatever they want. I found this interesting and asked about it and so Abdellatif asked his students as well. The response was that it is the law so they do it. I responded in French "because the sky is blue." Abdellatif thought that perhaps it is to help with the class distinctions but then I think this should be true as well for the men.

My favorite class was the one we had afterwards with the "sophomores." This was a little more advanced and its main purpose today was to talk about the culture. Abdellatif introduced me and the most out-spoken student asked me where I was from. We then moved to questions about Moroccan culture and what the students would say regarding their culture to foreigners. It was interesting to hear what the students said.

First; religion which is such an important part of their culture but with that they spoke about tolerance as well. I have viewed first-hand the tolerance that they have shown me as I do or ask inappropriate things. (Those of you who know me well know that I can put my foot in my mouth more often than not and do stupid things without really intentionally wanting to harm anyone but none-the-less thoughtless at times). Hand crafted items from Morocco was another response and it made me sad to think that so much of what we have is made from China and we have lost a lot of our culture but then also, our culture is such a blend of other cultures from around the world as well.

I think it was his principal who first said to me, "But you don't look American." And in fact, everyone here has thought that I was either Japanese or Chinese, at least in origin. I am a constant reminder that the US is indeed a melting pot.

Oh and in a hurry today I accidently wore my crocs to school. It was a big hit and was actually what labeled me as "American." Funny. I am enjoying my stay here very much. It is fascinating beyond words and I am always being treated with the very best of hospitality. I find myself very lucky.

P.S. Yes Ali, I am getting and appreciating all of your updates about school qt CHS through text messages! Keep them coming so I can stay in the loop!