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| I swear I don't look like this in class :)lool |
After two weeks of illegal parties at school, football playing, fattening cakes and to top it all of, the Matawa (the religious police) paying us too many visits, you can't argue I am in the middle of the riots of all times. However, I missed most of the action, because I am always in my classroom busy teaching or preparing for the next day's class.......what I signed up for before I came to Saudi.
This week has been pretty mind blowing. It took us about a week to mark one quiz! Not an exam, a quiz that should take a teacher only 2-3 hours to mark. It would take a day to get it double marked and triple checked. However, it took us a week. The only word I have to say for this "ground breaking". It is no shocker for me, because I know the team I am working with. Some teachers couldn't even teach for a whole week before they decided that "it is not for me" and quit a long the way.However, they upped their position, by playing "assistance academic supervisor". Then you have the teachers that go to the salon to get their hair done to kill some time. I couldn't get my hair did since I have 50 heads to look after....what I signed up for before I came to Saudi.
It seems that we don't have our priorities straight. It seems that it is more important to have boxes in each classroom for the students to put their bags in during the exam than to finish grading papers. I didn't take a box, because I don't need one. I think placing the bags in front of the class by the door has been the most affective method that doesn't need improvement.
So, yesterday we had to have a meeting. Which we didn't need! But we had to have it. It turned out the person who planned this meeting couldn't even attend. So, another teacher had to come in and take over the meeting. This meeting was the most affective one. We wrote down what needed to be done. Priority one, get that quiz marked and put the grades in the system. Then check your speakers and set up for exams. Everyone one got to doing their job and we got more done than we did before. However the meeting was deflated when one teacher(the one that couldn't teach for 1 week) chipped in her 1 cents "and guys don't forget to take a box for your classroom." I think I accidently vomited in my mouth and swallowed it. That was her contribution to the whole meeting "get a box". That needs a gold star on the forehead.
Today was the final English exams for the girls. They were pretty nervous and I assured them that it would be just fine. However, my day today didn't start at work actually....it started at home. At 6:40 in the morning our front doorbell rang furiously. I was wondering who could possibly have something to say to me at 6:40 in the morning. So, I stayed in my room getting ready for school, pretending that I didn't hear the doorbell. My brave room mate decided to answer the door. Guess who was our guest? The one and only manager. I didn't know this, until the conversation became something violent-like. So, I got a bit of what it was all about. My room mate has been sick for two days and she told me. Actually she bought herself a shot from the pharmacy to self medicate herself, but that didn't work. She looked like death yesterday and even cancelled her yoga class. So, I knew she wasn't so well. However, my manager failed to believe her, accusing her of making "lame excuses". She carried on saying "well, teacher A is sick and she is in hospital, but you on the other hand should come to school, because it isn't that serious." Of course my roomy flipped her lid and tried to explain how serious her condition is. However, through all the screaming no one was listening to no one. Soon, all I heard was "you know what , I think you should leave and don't ever ask me anything ever again at school. You want to treat your workers like crap, well there you go. " Somehow the manager didn't want to leave. She just stood there. I was walking in and out getting my bags together and pretending that I wasn't hearing, seeing nor speaking no evil. My roomy told her again "you need to leave, because I got to get ready for school and you are wasting my time." Then the manager said "no, YOU are wasting my time, because I have to get ready for the exams," I was thinking to myself, actually how would you get ready for the exams if you are not even on the bus to school yet?? Anyhow, between all of that, that is how my day started. When our bus turned up to pick us up, my roomy sick as hell bravely got on the bus and shouted out loud "I just want to let you all know that I was threatened in my own house." Manager didn't have anything to respond to that. So, I just tucked my headphones on and proceeded to listen to some good Michelle Branch "loud music" on our way to school.
When we got to school, some teachers found out that their speakers weren't working. Wait, let me correct that. Some teachers complained about a week ago that their speakers aren't working and needed to be fixed before the final exams. However that problem wasn't attended to. Wait, let me correct that again. The problem was attended to, but with a mere shrug of the shoulders......BINGO. However, luckily, my room never had speaker issues, so I was ready and set to set my girls up for the exams. However, a meeting was called for at 08:00 in the morning, which really bugged us all. We have been having this meeting for the past week about things we already knew. However, this meeting was started by some teachers that were busy surfing the Internet and facebooking during an exam. So, we all had to pay by sitting in a meeting that just kept repeating about invigilating correctly and what was the most important point of that meeting?? Nothing really!
Today's meeting was a bit different, we were told that we were not going to invigilate our own students and be in our own rooms. OK. The students don't get to move classes, but we had to move classes, and quote "to make sure the teachers are not helping students and do favouritism." OK. So, don't move the students but move the teachers? I was a bit pissed, because I was moved to a class, which didn't have speakers for the listening. So, I had to run around to get crap portable speakers so that the girls can do their listening test. In my opinion I would move the students around. Students cheat by writing certain things on their desks, where as if you move them to a different room, they would get a different desk and therefore the rate of cheating decreases. But hey!!, the teachers are the problem!! My brave room mate mentioned this in the meeting this morning. Guess what was the response from the manager "Oh please S***,..." What the manager failed to understand is that she just brought our ethics down. She just made us look like as if we are the untrustworthy ones. Excuse me, but we are the ones that catch the girls cheating. If you put your teachers down like that, how on earth would they ever like you? Let alone respect you? No teacher is that dumb to help a student out. Man, even if you are not in Saudi for the teaching, you are there for the money, you won't let some cheating keeping you from having your pay check!!
The best thing I learned from the dude that made FORD cars, he used to take care of his people. He used to treat his workers with kindness and respect to make sure that they are satisfied and happy. If you treat your workers as if they are the criminals to everything, then they will not be your biggest fans. It is not maths nor science to figure that out.
To end all of that, I have to say that today was a pretty emotional day for me. I had to say goodbye to my students. I always fall in love with my students, regardless of how difficult they can be sometimes. I hate handing them over to a new teacher. However, I told them that they should be excited for their new teacher and that she might be really good for them. They all gave me good bye hugs and wished me well on my holiday and telling me to be safe and to return safely to Jouf. One students in particular, who I extremely admire, actually had tears. I told her "I am only going to be gone for the holidays, you will still see me around at school." She gave me a hug and couldn't let go. I hope, really Inshallah that she achieves all the best in life, because she is smart, articulate and extremely intelligent in everything that she does. Saudi needs such strong women to lead their schools and spread the love of education through girls and women like her.
Right now, I can breathe a little better. This semester has been really trying with all the changes and the backwardness. I can't wait to hop on the plane and fly off the Turkey to see familiar faces and to be surrounded by warmth and love. Most of all, I am doing this for my students. I will go to Turkey for them, take pictures and bring them something back. Most of them will never see Turkey and I will be their ambassador.
I learned one thing from this semester. PATIENCE is an ABSOLUTE VIRTUE. Love is the divine conqueror of all things. PRAYER is the first action of faith and FAITH lies within the belief of God and actually doing what you set out to do. With regards to my new manager, the only thing I have to say is a quote form the Qur'an, Sura Al Yasin verse 10 : "It is all the same for them, whether you warn them or don't warn them, they don't believe."
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