Year Two Wish List

Five weeks from today the school year in Poland concludes, and I’ll fly to Chicago for a month of summer vacation before my second year of teaching in Cieszyn! On July 25, I’m talking at St. Luke’s (in Park Ridge) at 11:15 a.m. about my experiences. Please attend if you’d like to hear about this year (and my plans for next year!). People have been amazingly supportive of my work here, and I’d love talk to everyone and thank you in person!

It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to return to Cieszyn for a second year of teaching. Your first year of teaching is a lot of “trial and error” and a lot of learning – learning about the school culture, the students’ language level, and how to best get students excited about learning English. The second year is a fantastic opportunity to apply all your knowledge and insights and better address the students’ English language learning needs. I’m thrilled to teach here again!

My school provides a living allowance for food and necessities, but cannot afford to pay other expenses, including my international airplane ticket. I was overwhelmed by the financial support I received during my first year of service, and I’d like to ask you to think about supporting my second year if you’re in a position to do so.

This spring, ELCA Global Mission committed to a long-term partnership with Cieszyn’s Lutheran schools. The Lutheran schools in Cieszyn have limited resources for their students and teachers. Providing the schools with a few supplies would support years of future collaboration between ELCA volunteer teachers and our Lutheran sisters and brothers in Poland.

For year two, I’m fundraising for airfare and an intensive summer language course and also for funds to support English extracurricular school activities and the purchase of a few school supplies.

*Here’s a wish list for year two:

Classroom set of English-Polish dictionaries and a reference thesaurus: 6 dictionaries ($25 per dictionary, one dictionary for every 2-3 students in a class) and a reference thesaurus ($50).

School supplies: $15 a month. Students do not have an English textbook. $15 a month covers photocopying expenses and supplies for special class projects like markers and poster board.

Digital projector: $500. The classrooms do not have computers, televisions, or projectors. A projector would allow teachers to incorporate visuals (including film clips, maps, and photographs) into their lessons to help the students learn new vocabulary.

Weekly “English breakfast”: $20 a month. Students are always asking for extra opportunities to practice their English. Students meet in the morning for 45 minutes for conversation and a snack.

Weekly after-school activities: $20 a month. Activities include cookie decorating and baseball games, and, of course, opportunities to practice their English. $20 a month covers minimal supplies and a snack for the students.

Virtual sheet music subscription: $50. There is no band/orchestra program in the school. Instrumentalists are invited to attend after-school “jam sessions” so they can experience playing with other students in an ensemble. An online music subscription provides the sheet music.

Intensive 28-day Polish language course in August: $42 a day, $300 per week. I’d like to enroll in an intensive Polish language course before resuming my teaching duties in the fall. Language instruction would let me better serve students with no prior English instruction, including elementary school students and older adults in my church congregation.

Roundtrip airfare from Chicago to Warsaw: $1,500.

*How to donate:

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Park Ridge, IL (my home congregation) is collecting donations. Checks are payable to “St. Luke’s Lutheran Church” and should be designated “Sarah - Poland.” You will receive a charitable donation tax receipt.

Here is the church’s address:

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church

205 N. Prospect Ave.

Park Ridge, IL 60068

USA

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at sarahpolandsarah@gmail.com.

Thanks for your support!

The Bases are [Extra] Loaded

Do you remember substitution days in middle school and high school? You’d arrive to class to discover that your teacher was absent and you’d feel excited and a little giddy. Now, the giddiness didn’t always accurately reflect your level of interest in the class or your relationship with the specific teacher; for me, it reflected the joy of an unexpected and welcome change in the [sometimes monotonous] school day. With a substitute, perhaps you’d get to watch a movie or have time in class to (gasp!) finish your homework.

I realized recently that I’ve stripped my students of the opportunity to experience this “substitution giddiness.” I substitute for absent teachers at my school frequently. When I asked my work colleagues in September what to do when I substitute, they said, “Teach an extra English conversation class.” That’s logical. I took their advice seriously and treated substitution lessons like my scheduled lessons. I planned for them, set lesson objectives, and took advantage of the extra time with my students.

Luckily, my students have yet to groan when I substitute for them, but this spring I wanted to infuse new life into my substitute lessons. How could I distinguish my substitution lessons from my English conversation lessons?

This spring I’ve decided to treat my substitution lessons like a separate course called “American Culture.” We frequently talk about American culture in my conversation classes, but it isn’t the focus. I decided that for substitution lessons, it’s okay to have a lesson that’s not solely speaking focused. Plus, the best way to get the students to speak is to engage them in a new activity that arouses natural curiosity and therefore a natural desire to ask questions and talk. And I want substitution lessons to feel different and exciting. I also believe that you can’t (or, at least, shouldn’t) teach language without teaching culture. They are intricately and undeniably connected.

I’ve had two units so far in my “American Culture” course: dancing and baseball.

American Line Dancing

When students arrived to this substitute class, we pushed the desks to the walls and danced! Line dancing is a great classroom activity because 1) you don’t have to force people to pick partners and 2) everyone is dancing identical steps so it’s easier to teach. It was a great opportunity to let the students learn through movement and observation. They listened to my instructions but also watched me perform the steps and connected the movement with the English vocabulary. I am not a dancer but luckily thanks to my music background I have good rhythm, and thanks to Colleen, who is a dancer, I'd had an American dancing "refresher course" before teaching the lesson. I've also learned this year that how I approach the lesson (i.e., with enthusiasm and high expectations) is the key factor in the lesson’s success.

We started with the Chicken Dance, the Y.M.C.A., and the Macarena to warm-up. Then we learned the Cupid Shuffle and finished with the greatest challenge, Cotton-Eyed Joe. The Cupid Shuffle is great because it’s easy to let the students personalize the basic steps, and they loved the music for Cotton-Eyed Joe. We had a Cotton-Eyed Joe “dance-off” at the end of class to the 5-minute song (last person dancing “won”). I’ve had the opportunity to do this substitution lesson with almost all of my 7^th grade classes, and they always ask me when we’ll get to dance again. Here are the students posing for a "Y.M.C.A." photograph.

Baseball

It’s finally spring in Cieszyn (with magnolia trees blooming everywhere!) and, if we want, we’re allowed to go outside with our classes to the church park that’s across the street from the school. Two weeks ago we had beautiful weather and I decided to teach a baseball substitution lesson.

Now, if you know me, you know that I’m the person who wears the wrong colors to sporting events, and that, although I enjoy sporting events, I’m never particularly interested in who wins. I’m not especially qualified to teach people how to play baseball. (A couple friends and family members asked point blank, “Do you know anything about baseball?” when I told them of this lesson plan. I wasn’t insulted; it’s a fair question. In high school I attended almost every football game because of marching band and after all that exposure I still don’t understand the rules.) But I did my research and also knew that I would be teaching a simplified game.

The students looked at me like I’d lost my marbles when I announced we were playing baseball (don’t tell the students, but I’m always very excited when I get this look because I love surprising them). We talked about the basic rules, the names of the positions, and other baseball expressions. Then we played!

The majority of the students had never played or watched baseball before. We had a lot of fun learning the rules (again, language learning through movement; understanding the rules by applying them). It was a fun listening activity because (especially for the first 20 minutes), I helped the students with every play of the game, telling them when and where to run, what to do to get a player “out,” and answering lots of questions as they tried to apply the rules we had talked about.

The students did great, but it’s a steep learning curve when you haven’t lived in a culture where baseball is very popular and you’re exposed to the game regardless of your level of interest (I’m living proof).

Here are a couple fun baseball mishaps:

1) I realized I needed to specifically teach them how to hold the bat when the 1^st student batter stood directly behind home plate and swung the bat like you’d swing a light saber in Star Wars, straight out in front of you.

2) Sometimes I saw the students incorporating football/American soccer rules into the game. For example, I had to tell a lot of students that they couldn’t kick the baseball to their teammates; they had to throw it.

3) Before we played the game, I told the students how to get a batter “out” including by “catching a fly ball.” I had demonstrated this rule by having a student bat and I [miraculously] caught her hit in the outfield. I thought they understood until the time the pitcher threw the ball, the batter swung and missed, the catcher caught the ball and all the students yelled, “He [the catcher] caught the ball! He caught the ball! She’s [the batter] out! She’s out!” I had to laugh because, well, we weren’t the best pitchers or catchers so it was a miracle when the catcher caught the pitcher’s throw. I had to clarify that the batter had to hit the ball and someone in the outfield had to catch the ball for an out. Unfortunately, it didn’t count if the catcher caught the pitcher’s throw.

4) My favorite baseball mishap reinvented the phrase “the bases are loaded,” where there is a runner on every base (1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd). I was quite busy during the game, keeping an eye on everyone. Lots of students had questions about the rules, students needed help holding the bat semi-correctly (I’m not going to pretend that I know the best way to hold a bat), pitchers were throwing balls way too high, etc. After one hit, I looked out into the field and discovered that the bases were loaded – with four people. There was a student on first, two students on second, and a student on third. I realized that I’d never told the students that you could only have one person on a base at one time. Here's a photograph of the "extra loaded" second base (Zuzia and Sara were the runners, Patryk behind them is the 2nd baseman, and Jan in the foreground was the pitcher).

It’s funny to realize that although I’m not a baseball expert, I know quite a lot about baseball because of my culture. You can’t avoid it! The lesson was also an example of how specific language is and how easy it is to think you’ve explained a rule well, but then you realize that you didn’t!

I’m thoroughly enjoying my “American Culture” substitution course and thinking about units for upcoming substitution classes this year and next! Any suggestions? I’d love to hear them!

We Will Follow, Calm and Fearless

The tragedy of April 10. It’s a lot to process. I grieve for the family and friends of the crash victims and for Poland, a country too frequently plagued by tragedy and loss this past century. I’ve grieved with my neighbors here but I’ve also sometimes felt like an analytical observer rather than a participator. Lately I’m an information gatherer, trying to understand the significance of the event, the emotional reaction of the country, the state of the government. I’ve talked to everyone about the tragedy – work colleagues, students, younger people, older people, people in the Czech Republic, people in Slovakia, people in America. I’ve watched people hang flags with black ribbons and say prayers and light candles at the memorial in the town center. I’ve studied every related article in the Polish English newspaper I read online. I’ve browsed international websites, especially BBC, CNN, and other American news sources.

People from America have e-mailed and said, “You’re there. What’s it like?” Four words that resonate with me after almost two weeks of processing the tragedy and its implications are HISTORY, STABILITY, FORGIVENESS, and FAITH.

HISTORY:

The terrible plane crash killed not only President Kaczynski but other high-ranking government and military officials. The crash killed the country’s president, the deputy foreign minister, the national bank president, the head of the National Security Office, the army chaplain, and numerous other military, political, and church leaders. I’ll admit that upon hearing the horrific news the morning on April 10 I couldn’t help but despair, “Why were they all flying together?!?”

They were flying to Russia to attend the 70^th commemoration of the Katyn massacre, where in 1940 22,000 Polish military officers and leaders (doctors, professors, lawyers, priests, journalists) were murdered by the Soviet secret police. Russia only recently (in 1990) accepted responsibility for the massacre after decades of elaborate cover-ups (including fabricating evidence to prove the massacre was a Nazi operation).

The symbolic nature of the site of the plane crash is sad; the parallel between the massacre and the plane crash haunting. Twice the Russian site hosts the death of Poland’s top military, government, religious, and intellectual leaders.

You can’t understand the tragedy here without understanding Poland’s past. The plane didn’t crash in Russia. It crashed near the site where the bodies of 22,000 murdered Poles were buried and concealed for decades. You may have read that people here were upset when foreign leaders canceled their plans to attend the funeral. Yes, the volcano interfered, but people (including me) were disappointed by European leaders in close proximity to Poland who had the option of driving or traveling by train to the late president’s funeral but canceled “because of the volcano.” It’s not people canceling; it’s a repeat of WWII where France and Britain promised to attack Germany if Germany attacked Poland and then France and Britain “canceled” at Poland’s time of need and directly violated their past agreements. People pledged their support following the tragedy on Saturday and then bailed. History is alive here. Poland didn’t need another tragedy. They’ve had a lot of loss in the past 70 years.

STABILITY:

The crash killed a significant number of senior officials. But despite the tragedy and blow to the country and its government and military, it’s strangely and miraculously calm here. People are mourning, in shock, but not frantic or terrified. There’s no fear of military invasion, of someone leaping at the opportunity to capture Poland at its weakest. Is it crazy to think about a military invasion? No! Because the peace here that allows Poland to mourn without fear for the security of its country or an imminent invasion from its neighbors is a [quite recent] blessing! The government is stable. Following terms in the Constitution, presidential elections were rescheduled for June 20 (instead of the autumn). I’m grateful for a peaceful transfer of power – a victory for any country. I’m amazed by the stability, the calm.

FORGIVENESS:

The word that resonates best with my understanding and observations of the past two weeks is FORGIVENESS.

Why did the plane crash? Probably due to pilot error. He shouldn’t have tried to land the plane in the heavy fog. But you know what’s amazing, inspirational? No one here is angry at him. Polish newspapers aren’t printing exposées on the pilot whose mistake [may have] killed almost 100 people. (Could American journalists resist this temptation?) People here I talk to aren’t pointing fingers either. There’s a feeling of “it’s a tragedy regardless of how or why the plane crashed.” Perhaps top officials did pressure the pilot to land, whether or not we’ll ever have that confirmed by a recording. Perhaps the pilot alone was mistaken in his decision. But when people talk of the crash and the pilot you hear “he was human too and we need healing, not finger-pointing” in their tone of voice. And that’s forgiveness at its core. We are only human.

And President Kaczynski was only human too. A lot of people in Poland didn’t like his policies or his administration. The country probably wouldn’t have re-elected him in the autumn. Some people scoff at how when someone dies we only remember the best of him or her. But President Kaczynski loved his country, his family, and he served them to the best of his ability. We should honor and respect him for his work and forgive him for his faults. The news here is focused on his “good” and, although perhaps in a less apparent way, I interpret this focus as the country forgiving him for his faults and uplifting him for his gifts and years of service to his country and its people.

People at President Kaczynski’s funeral on Sunday spoke of a desire for Polish-Russian reconciliation, and at the core of Polish-Russian reconciliation is forgiveness for the horrors of the past. I’ve had the opportunity to read an English translation of the speech President Kaczynski wrote (but never delivered) for the 70^th commemoration of the Katyn massacre. In his speech about Katyn, Kaczynski also wrote of a hope for reconciliation: “May this wound fully and finally heal. We are already on this path. We Poles acknowledge and value the actions of Russians of recent years. This path, which is bringing our nations together, we should continue to travel, not halting on the way or retreating back.” Following the tragedy, I’m overwhelmed and humbled by Poland’s efforts to forgive.

FAITH:

In church the Sunday after the crash, we sang hymns that asked for guidance and peace. I was almost brought to tears by the first verse of one well-known hymn. I’ve included the English translation here:

Jesus, still lead on

Till our rest be won;

And, although the way be cheerless,

We will follow, calm and fearless;

Guide us by your hand to our Father's land.

One line of the second verse states, “let not faith and hope forsake us.” That’s how Poland responded to the tragedy: with sadness, but also with faith, with hope, with a prayer for healing. With a spirit of forgiveness. Mournful, but fearless. They keep faith. They persevere.

A special thanks to everyone who sent me e-mails after the tragedy on April 10. My colleagues, students, and friends were touched to hear that people in America sent their condolences and are praying for Poland following the tragedy and during this state of transition. Please continue to keep Poland in your prayers.

Peace,

Sarah

z przyjemnością

My school background and interests inspired my lesson plans this month – a unit centered on how we learn foreign languages. My educational psychology studies and the liberal arts philosophy of my university have significantly influenced how I teach. Educational psychology, in a nutshell, is the study of how people learn, and, therefore, how teachers should teach. My liberal arts education upbringing taught me that it’s important to individualize learning and that teachers should empower students to become life-long learners (one of my favorite essays on the benefits of a liberal arts education says that it “frees you from fear”).

For me, teaching and learning are two of life’s greatest joys. I’m arguably equally happy sitting in a desk learning as I am teaching at the blackboard. Throughout this year, I’ve experienced dozens of amazing teaching moments where I’ve felt a wonderfully overwhelming feeling of connection with my students.

Here’s one of my favorite teaching quotations:

"Students learn what they care about," Ericksen said. Goethe knew that: "In all things we learn only from those we love." Add Emerson's declaration: "the secret of education lies in respecting the pupil," and we have this formula: "Students learn what they care about, from people they care about and who, they know, care about them." Barbara Carson

In my opinion, mutual respect between students and teachers is the key to a successful learning environment. It’s very important to me to show my students that I respect them and the knowledge and experiences they have. I never forget that, especially here in Poland, I am frequently the pupil too in a new school system and culture with lots to learn. My students are always fantastic teachers, eagerly explaining peculiar (to me) school traditions or translating posters and bulletin boards for me.

I created this “language learning” unit to help students better understand how we learn foreign languages and to also give them the opportunity to “officially” or “formally” teach a lesson of their own creation. All, of course, in a unit that maximized the time they also spent speaking in English in my classroom.

The goals/objectives of my “how we learn foreign languages” unit included:

• To discuss and analyze different language learning theories
• To help students recognize that individuals differ in their learning styles and ask them to identify their language learning style(s)
• To ask students to think critically about how we learn – and therefore how we should teach – languages and apply different methods in mini-lessons
• To give students an authentic teaching experience where they taught a 10-minute foreign language lesson

Here’s how I tried to accomplish these goals:

WEEK 1: I created handouts for the students outlining half a dozen language learning theories and other theories about how people differ in how they learn best (example: multiple intelligences). We discussed the theories and then I asked students to identify the theory or theories that best describe how they learn English. We had great conversations because students were excited to discuss with their classmates how they differed in their language learning styles.

WEEK 2: The following week, students worked in pairs and had to create three mini-lessons where they taught their classmates only one new English word. In their three mini-lessons, they had to incorporate their knowledge of language learning theories from our Week 1 discussion and create three different ways to teach one new word. (They did a fantastic job and I’m planning to copy a couple of their brilliant lesson plans in the future. They were extremely creative and thoughtful.)

WEEK 3: To conclude the unit, I wanted to give my students an authentic language teaching experience and therefore...every pair of students had to create a 10-minute lesson where they taught me 10 Polish words! I know, you’re thinking “What?!? Polish?!? Isn’t it English conversation?”

One of the challenges I’ve enjoyed this year is creating lessons that get students interested because then they forget that I’m [forcing] them to speak English. It’s way better to design engaging lessons than having to repeatedly say, “Now, I expect to hear you speaking in English.”

The students’ lessons were, despite the fact that they taught me 10 Polish words, conducted in English 90% of the time. They had to justify their lesson plan in English, describe all directions for games and tests in English, give me feedback on my pronunciation and spelling in English, and answer my questions in English if I was confused. They spoke longer than they had in any previous speaking task I’ve assigned them this year, and no one complained!

To me, the project was a win-win situation. It was an authentic learning situation. I don’t know Polish; they do. Sometimes I can’t imagine forcing my students to act out another “authentic” dialogue where one person “pretends” to be, for example, the waiter at a restaurant, and the other person is ordering food. Let’s face it. It’s not 100% authentic unless you’re sitting in a restaurant where the waiter only speaks English and you have to order. Of course, language learning is about preparing for authentic language interactions (like ordering at a restaurant in a foreign country), but no matter how good the lesson, it’s not exactly like the authentic experience. I know that when I learn a new Polish word out of necessity (i.e., I need to buy something at a store but it’s kept behind a counter and I’ll have to ask for it), I retain the knowledge because I need to. My students don’t [currently] need English to survive (well, except to “survive” a conversation or class with me) like I need Polish, and it’s a fact I’m very conscious of when I try to create lessons that have a clear purpose and are engaging for them. For this project, having the students “teach” me English words wasn’t authentic, but switch to Polish, and bam, it’s an authentic teaching experience.

When I announced this project, the students were extremely excited. They talked about the project outside of class because numerous teachers said, “Oh, I heard that you’re...” and by the end of the week students arrived to my class and were bouncing with excitement in their seats for class to begin because they had heard from their peers about the project.

They had 45 minutes in class to prepare their 10-minute lesson and to...

1. Select a theme and select ten words to teach.

2. Decide how they would introduce the words to me.

3. Decide how they would help me practice the words.

4. Decide how they would test to determine if I remembered the words.

5. Decide how to assign me a grade for my work/performance.

6. Justify all the steps of their lesson plan with “evidence” from the language theories we discussed Week 1.

Typically if I give students a “work session day,” I walk around the classroom, answer questions, and encourage students who are less motivated, but my students were very secretive when planning their lessons and frequently hurried to hide their work if I walked too close to them. They kept saying, “It’s a surprise!” I finally sat down at my desk and watched my students in a flurry of picture-drawing, flashcard-making, game-designing, and lesson-rehearsing. Two groups did let me photograph them working.

WEEK 4: The fourth week they taught me their lessons. Hands down, it was my favorite week of the unit. Their lessons were magnificently designed, revealing their unique personalities, their creativity, kindness, humor, and excitement to teach. We had a blast and a lot of laughs.

Here are the highlights of their “Teach Miss Sarah Polish” lessons:

1. I loved gaining new insights into how my students learn languages because their lessons reflected their individual learning styles. Interestingly, almost all of my students included visuals in their lessons. It’s sometimes a little difficult for me to include visuals in my lessons because I don’t have a computer/projector in the classroom, nor do I have access to a color printer or a lot of magazines or books with photographs. But after hearing my students say that visuals help them remember new English words, I’m going to (somehow!) try to incorporate a lot of images into my future lessons.

2. Seeing how kind, patient, and encouraging my students were as teachers. I was their vulnerable pupil, and they cared for me. They patiently repeated a difficult word half a dozen times, gave me a second chance at an exercise, or provided suggestions about how I could remember the word. They never mocked me (and trust me, my Polish skills are frequently mock-worthy). They “caught me” and “help me up” when I fell. They encouraged me and praised me. I trusted them with my “sensitive soul,” and they didn’t disappoint me. I also loved watching students who are sometimes shy or quiet in class thrive because they were less self-conscious and felt more confident because they were teaching Polish (again, despite the fact that they were, nevertheless, speaking in English 90% of the time). My butchering of Polish words also provided a lot of comic relief and helped everyone relax.

3. We were very playful. Laughter, excitement, and enthusiasm are infectious, and they filled the room when the students taught. My students never mocked me, but we laughed and laughed and laughed during their language lessons. It’s important for students to feel safe in the classroom because then they risk mistakes. We had a lot of shared laughter during the lessons that showed that mistakes are a natural – and necessary – part of the learning process. Laughing because someone drew a picture on the board that no one could identify (see the photograph of the two boys below – sadly, you can’t see the unidentifiable fish that they had drawn on the board – I also had no right to laugh because my drawing skills are non-existent), because my pronunciation was hilariously bad, or because of other silly mistakes. For example, one group had me play a game of memory where the Polish words and their English equivalents were written on cards and turned upside down. You flip over two words at a time and try to match the Polish with the English. I had a lot of issues. Not because I couldn’t remember the words, but because I forgot (ironically, in a game called “Memory”) that you don’t continually flip over two random cards, you try to REMEMBER where a correct pair is located. Whoops. In one class, an observing student asked one of the current “teachers” for permission to go to the bathroom, and I almost died laughing.

4. The students were incredibly engaged, even when they weren’t teaching but watching their classmates teach me. They were very, very eager to teach me and help me learn the words...frequently (and hilariously) even if they weren’t technically one of the two partners currently presenting/teaching.

5. My students’ lessons were fantastic. They were unbelievably creative in the themes they selected, ranging from vegetables to insects to Russia to pirates to Harry Potter. I’m also proud to report that I earned “As” (or 6s here in Poland) in almost all of my lessons. (I enjoyed “bargaining” with my teachers for partial credit if I only missed one teeny-tiny letter in a twelve letter word, and students were also very forgiving and sometimes “turned a blind eye” if I said the wrong word but realized my mistake and quickly corrected myself.) That’s not to say I didn’t have difficulties. Here are my favorite challenging words:

• “Wrzesień” or “September” If anyone asks, I’ve decided to create a new “Polish birthday” for myself to avoid ever needing to tell someone that I’m born in the month of September. I think I’ll adopt a “Maj” or “May” birthday. Just looking at the word (especially the “wrz”) terrifies me.

• “dżdżownica” or “earthworm” Ironically, it’s quite easy to pronounce (juh-jove-knee-sa), but I’m always baffled by four consonants in a row, especially when two of them are the letter “z”.

• “z przyjemnością” or “with pleasure” For a phrase that expresses a feeling of, well, pleasure, I feel extremely pained when I try to say it. Word of my inability – despite a lot of practice I must admit – to pronounce this phrase has swept the school, and this week almost every class began with one [class elected and brave] student asking, “Miss Sarah, how do you say ‘with pleasure’ in Polish?” I always try, but I’m sad to say that my learning “curve” with this phrase currently resembles a plateau. Some day.

I could write 10-pages detailing all of my students’ lessons, but here are a couple photographs and a couple favorite teaching (or should I say “learning”) moments.

One group (they taught me “computer game words”) gave me an oral test and when I got the right answer to a question, they held up a sign that read “That’s wonderful! You have an amazing talent for learning languages.” It put a smile on my face.

The two photographs below show the lesson materials from students who taught me farm words. They were incredibly thorough in their teaching and included the phonetic spelling of every Polish word to help me with my pronunciation. They also brought dirt (“gleba”) and hay (“siano”) for me to touch when learning the words. We then sang a song they wrote to the tune of “Old McDonald” with their 10 Polish words.

Lots of students drew pictures on the blackboard. Here’s the group that taught me one of my challenge words, “dżdżownica,” or “earthworm.”

One group of three girls taught me 10 meat words (poultry, bacon...). For their lesson, they wrote and performed a puppet show where a butcher visits a farm and (close your eyes if you don’t like blood and I also apologize in advance to all the vegetarians) well, butchers all the animals. For example, he meets (or should I say “meats”) a cow and then kills the cow and then the students showed me the Polish word for “beef.” The students concluded their show with the statement “No animals were killed in our production.”

When you look at the last two photographs, you’ll probably first wonder, “Why is that poor boy chained to a pole” and then, “Why is Sarah allowed to work with children?” Of course, there’s a logical explanation. The boys (including Adam, who’s chained to the pole) taught me 10 pirate words. Next time I meet someone on the street, I’ll tell him or her [in Polish, of course] that my parrot has a wooden leg and an eye patch and that I’m off to bury my treasure on a tropical island. For their lesson, one student was the pirate ship’s prisoner who was (naturally) tied up for the part of the lesson when I first learned the words. Then, they put him on an imaginary “plank” and quizzed me on the words. If I forgot a word, Adam walked one step closer to the edge of the plank and, I was warned, a “watery death.” I am happy to report that thanks to my students’ superior teaching skills and my “superior” Polish skills, no students drown in my class that day.

6. At the end of every class, I said goodbye to them in Polish (“do widzenia!”), and they laughed. This week, I’m grateful that I could show my students that “I am the teacher, but see? I have something to learn too. And you can teach me.” And they replied to my request with an enthusiastic, “Yes!” Thanks for the lessons. A+, kids. A+.

Why Poland?

Here's a reflection I wrote for St. Luke's upcoming April newsletter.

When I tell people I’m a volunteer English teacher at a Lutheran middle school and high school in Poland, they occasionally ask “Why Poland?” Some people quickly add the [logical] follow-up question that would help clarify my decision for them: “Are you Polish?” they ask. “No,” I reply.

I’m not critical of people who say “Why Poland?” when I tell them of my work because I understand that it’s new territory: for me, for the people in my life, for the ELCA.

Last February, I applied for an ELCA teaching position in Slovakia. In May, the ELCA contacted me and asked if I was open to serving in Poland instead. (Yes!) It’s the first year the ELCA has sent teachers to Poland. I quickly switched from researching Slovakia to researching Poland and the concentrated population of Lutherans who live in the south of this Roman Catholic country. “Lutheran missionary in Poland” isn’t a phrase we’ve frequently heard. We know about missionaries in Africa and Americans teaching English in India, but Poland is unknown territory. Why would a central European country need a partnership with the ELCA?

When my school asked me to return for a second year of teaching, I said an enthusiastic “yes” because of my answers to the “Why Poland?” question. Now I’d like to share my answers with you. Why should the ELCA send English teachers to Poland?

Because Lutherans are a minority here. Of the 38 million people in Poland, only 76,000 are Lutheran (0.2% of the population), and the majority of them live in southern Poland where I teach. Lutheran schools – few and far between – allow Lutheran youth in a Roman Catholic country to learn about their faith in school. This opportunity is so unique that students travel up to 70 minutes by bus to attend my school. (All students in public Polish schools are enrolled in required Roman Catholicism courses; Lutheran courses are not offered except at Lutheran schools.) One way that the Lutheran schools in Cieszyn attract students is by having native speakers teach English classes. By partnering with the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland and providing native speaker English teachers, the ELCA supports schools that allow Lutheran youth to learn and grow with people in their faith community.

Because learning English creates opportunities for people here. This fall, when I asked my students why they wanted to learn English, dozens replied that after graduating from university they plan to move to an English-speaking country, find a job, and send money back to Poland to help support their families. A lot of people here struggle financially. They cannot afford to heat their homes, or they can only afford to heat their homes with coal. The country also struggles. The Polish government cannot afford to support its rail system and has all but shut it down. Towns cannot afford to salt their roads or plow their streets in the winter. Schools cannot afford to offer extracurricular activities or after school programming. Poland is working to secure a place in the global economy, and having citizens who know English is one step toward achieving that goal. Because adults living here often need better English-speaking skills before their companies will promote them to mid-level or management positions, I offer free English tutoring and conversation classes in the evenings.

Because Poland is a country with a rich, vibrant culture and history, but also a country battered by a century of war and oppression. It’s the land of Chopin, Copernicus, and Marie Curie, amazing hospitality, beautiful historic cities, gorgeous landscapes, and friendly people proud of their heritage and centuries-old traditions. But it’s also a country recovering from a terrible century. The Soviets and the Nazis did their best to eradicate Poland, destroying its cities, stripping the country of its leadership, and murdering almost 6 million of its citizens during WWII. Poland’s crime? It’s geographical location between Germany and Russia. The people here have always fought back; they’ve always resisted. But resistance (especially to the Nazis) had terrible ramifications. I’ll never forget the sickening piles of baskets at Auschwitz, identical to the baskets women in Cieszyn carry when grocery shopping on Saturday mornings. Americans call communism “evil,” but for the people here it provided a little stability after a horrific war. For Poles, learning English and striving to enter the global economy is also their way of recovering after a century of loss and destruction.

Because we are more alike than we are different. Because Polish teenagers, like American teenagers, need a kind ear. Because my students’ senses of humor, kindness, and intelligence shine through despite the language barrier. Because people here welcomed me, a stranger. Because with the people here I’ve experienced God’s compassion, God’s love.

Because we are called to serve one another, to love one another. Because we are all God’s children and God is everywhere – in Poland too.

So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:5.

Thanks to everyone who supports my work here.

Peace,
Sarah

Rule #1: Always Bribe the Judges

This past Friday, we didn’t have school. Instead, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., we had school-wide Olympics at our local university’s gym and pool. The 7 gimnazjum (middle school) homerooms competed against each other and the 6 liceum (high school) homerooms competed against each other in swimming races, jumping events, running events, volleyball matches, etc.

Like Studniówka (the Polish senior prom I attended in January), the Olympics celebrated school community. Here are photographs and stories from the Olympics!

Costumes

Every homeroom had picked a theme and dressed up according to their theme (homeroom teachers too!). I was very impressed with their creativity!

This 7^th grade homeroom wore elementary school uniforms (suspenders and all!).

A freshmen class of construction workers (they also created a fantastic construction zone in their section of the gym).

7^th grade vampires. (I'm pretty certain the Twilight-Robert-Pattinson-obsessed girls in their class picked this theme.)

7^th grade mimes.

My personal favorite – this senior class was on a safari/camping trip.

They sang “camp songs” during breaks and hung out by the tent they had pitched in the corner of the gym.

Events

Here’s a photograph of the opening ceremony for the gimnazjum (middle school). Let the games begin!

Middle school basketball events.

High school volleyball matches.

Swimming relay races – my favorite event!

The cheering squads at the pool waiting for the next event.

Food – the key to a successful Olympics

Knowing that the Olympics lasted all day (and knowing how crabby and unpleasant I am when hungry), I packed a lunch on Friday. What I had forgotten was that I was attending a Polish gathering, where serving guests lots of food is a responsibility taken very seriously. I arrived at 8:45 a.m. and by 9:30 a.m. I had received a stack of cookies, chocolates, three drinks, and a sandwich to eat. At 9:30 a.m.! Why all the food?

Well, it’s an “Olympic tradition” for teams to bribe the judges (teachers at our school) with food and drink. I wasn’t a judge, but was showered with bribes anyways.

Here’s a photograph of the judges’ table. It was always well stocked with drink and food bribes from various teams.

One freshmen class had a “tea theme,” and they bribed the judges with wonderful tea. Agnes walked around with the menu (see it printed on the side of the box?), you picked your flavor, and her accomplices served you your tea!

“Vampire blood” (with the blood type of the unfortunate human donor noted on the cup) from the 7^th grade vampires.

Me with a piece of delicious traditional Polish apple cake - a bribe from my class of sophomores who were “village people”.

Needless to say, I didn’t starve at the Olympics or eat my packed lunch. I also went home with a bag of leftover sandwiches (that I tried to politely refuse but my attempts failed miserably) that I could (theoretically) live off of for two weeks. Polish hospitality (including the importance of food at celebrations) is best summed-up with the Polish proverb “Gosc w dom, Bog, w dom” (“A guest in the home is God in the home”).