Learning

I have taught in some very interesting classrooms.  My first 5 years were spent teaching in a private school on the island of Cyprus.  The students were all evacuees from the civil war in Lebanon and ranged in age from 4 ½ to 17.  Only one of the students in the school spoke English as his native language, all the rest spoke either Arabic, French, or Greek.  The school was run on the American system and we had American textbooks and curriculum.  I taught English, science, and computer literacy. 

Some of my students learned best when they were left to figure things out on their own with just a little direction from me.  Others learned the most when they were helping their classmates with their work.  Only the older students needed more guidance and some if that probably came from the fact they were more affected by the civil war than the younger children, even within the same family.

Practical experience was the best teacher when it came to the computer literacy classes.  The younger kids took to the computer with no problem whereas the older kids were a little more intimidated by the machines.  One student adamantly refused to use a computer but his objections were religion based.  All of the children, young and teens, were very capable by the end of the year on the computer.

Some of the younger children liked the games with the sounds, colors, and ‘game’ atmosphere that made learning so much fun.  Even some of the older children took their turns with “Fractured Mother-Goose” to improve their English.  This was not your traditional lecture-hall teaching!