Friday was an eye opener...
It went so much better than I thoguht it would. The professor is a really wonderful man. I feel so exposed now to all of these injustices going on right in Chicago that I knew nothing about before a few days ago. ELS teachers are dealing with hellish circumstances. African refugees get beat up, some have never had any schooling prior to coming to the U.S., and they are just being thrown into high school.
A teacher we talked to says many of their parents can't read or write either ... so translators would be useful. She teaches English as a second language to 35 kids at once and there are about 8 different African languages spoken in that class. Impossible to keep up with that. She is so under-appreciated. One boy is suspected to have head trauma because he can hardly feed or dress himself ... his sisters have to help him. And he can't get special help or an aid for at least a year because of how the system deals with immigrants.
I may get to meet some of the kids.
Some don't go to class and just wonder the halls, probably because they're so stressed. I can't imagine what their eyes have seen in the short years they've been alive.
On a lighter note ... Jozef and I had a lovely time this weekend after a stressful week ... this weekend was filled with lounging and watching movies such as
Mall Cop
The Exorcist they old old old one (I find it hilarious)
Fabulous Mr. Fox
"All that noise, and all that sound,
All those places I got found.
And birds go flying at the speed of sound,
to show you how it all began.
Birds came flying from the underground,
if you could see it then you'd understand,
when you see it then you'll understand?
All those signs, I knew what they meant.
Some things you can invent.
Some get made, and some get sent"
Ready for another week?
A teacher we talked to says many of their parents can't read or write either ... so translators would be useful. She teaches English as a second language to 35 kids at once and there are about 8 different African languages spoken in that class. Impossible to keep up with that. She is so under-appreciated. One boy is suspected to have head trauma because he can hardly feed or dress himself ... his sisters have to help him. And he can't get special help or an aid for at least a year because of how the system deals with immigrants.
I may get to meet some of the kids.
Some don't go to class and just wonder the halls, probably because they're so stressed. I can't imagine what their eyes have seen in the short years they've been alive.
On a lighter note ... Jozef and I had a lovely time this weekend after a stressful week ... this weekend was filled with lounging and watching movies such as
Mall Cop
The Exorcist they old old old one (I find it hilarious)
Fabulous Mr. Fox
"All that noise, and all that sound,
All those places I got found.
And birds go flying at the speed of sound,
to show you how it all began.
Birds came flying from the underground,
if you could see it then you'd understand,
when you see it then you'll understand?
All those signs, I knew what they meant.
Some things you can invent.
Some get made, and some get sent"
Ready for another week?