I have never thought about the struggles teachers go through on a daily basis or how much work they truly put into teaching. As a child, teachers seem to come in, teach you, go home, and from there. We assume they enjoy their evenings and vacations. However, after this study abroad trip, I have seen the hard work and impact teachers actually have. There is no downtime as a teacher, even during the summers. There are lesson plans to make and strategies to form for teaching kids. Each student has different learning curves, and an educator has to be prepared for any struggles a child may have. Teaching, especially in younger classrooms, also requires multiple skills. Any aged student gets distracted easily, and this is especially true for elementary school and middle school levels. An educator has to struggle every day with keeping the attention on them. My group was given the task of teaching k-7th grade students. We had to come up with our own lesson plans and utilize these plans in the classroom. Our biggest struggle throughout the week was keeping the kids interested long enough for them to absorb information. This included having fun activities, increasing classroom engagement with questions and games, and being funny, when appropriate, during the lessons. Without these strategies, the kids would quickly turn to whatever was more interesting in the room. Luckily, my team was entertaining enough to keep their eyes on us, and our students seemed to have learned a lot. They all seemed to enjoy class time and didn’t mind sitting through it once we learned how to grab their attention. I have more respect for the education career after going on this study abroad trip, and it is evident how hard teaching actually is. While I don’t think I will be going into this profession anytime soon, I bow down to those that have the patience and love for this career path.
Sijawahi kufikiria mapambano ambayo walimu hupitia kila siku au ni kazi gani wanafanya katika kufundisha. Kama mtoto, walimu huja, wanakufundisha, wanakwenda nyumbani, na kutoka hapo. Tunafikiri kwamba wanafurahia jioni na likizo zao. Hata hivyo, baada ya safari hii ya kusoma nje ya nchi, nimeona kazi ngumu na athari walimu kweli kuwa. Hakuna wakati wa kupumzika kama mwalimu, hata wakati wa majira ya kiangazi. Kuna mipango ya masomo ya kufanya na mikakati ya kuunda kwa ajili ya kufundisha watoto. Kila mwanafunzi ana njia tofauti za kujifunza, na mwalimu anapaswa kuwa tayari kwa mapambano yoyote ambayo mtoto anaweza kuwa nayo. Kufundisha, hasa katika madarasa ya vijana, pia huhitaji ustadi mbalimbali. Mwanafunzi yeyote mwenye umri mkubwa huchanganyikiwa kwa urahisi, na hilo ni kweli hasa kwa shule ya msingi na ya sekondari. Mwalimu lazima apigane kila siku na kuweka umakini juu yao. Kikundi changu kilipewa kazi ya kufundisha wanafunzi wa darasa la k-7. Tulilazimika kutengeneza mipango yetu wenyewe ya masomo na kutumia mipango hiyo darasani. """Jitihada kubwa tuliyofanya wiki hii ilikuwa kuwafanya watoto wawe na hamu ya kusoma na kujifunza." Hii ilijumuisha kuwa na shughuli za kufurahisha, kuongeza ushiriki wa darasani na maswali na michezo, na kuwa na ucheshi, inapofaa, wakati wa masomo. Bila mbinu hizo, watoto wangegeukia upesi kile kilichokuwa chenye kupendeza zaidi katika chumba hicho. Kwa bahati nzuri, timu yangu ilikuwa ya kufurahisha vya kutosha kututazama, na wanafunzi wetu walionekana kuwa wamejifunza mengi. Wote walionekana kufurahia muda wa darasa na hawakukosa kukaa wakati huo mara tu tulipojifunza jinsi ya kukamata umakini wao. """Nina heshima zaidi kwa kazi ya elimu baada ya kwenda kwenye safari hii ya masomo nje ya nchi, na ni dhahiri jinsi kufundisha ni ngumu." Ingawa sidhani kama nitaingia katika taaluma hii hivi karibuni, nainama kwa wale ambao wana uvumilivu na upendo kwa njia hii ya kazi.