Meetings

By the second week of school,  the English teachers were having a horrible time adjusting. One teacher came out crying during recess because the Arabic teacher was giving her so much trouble. We had a few meetings to discuss our issues among ourselves but the English director for our school advised we suck it up for now. Since we had no principal there was no one to bring our issues to.

During a meeting by Mrs. Sharina, the Arabic director announced there would be no curriculum. Since, Mrs. Amal was saying most of my lessons were too difficult I was looking forward to having a curriculum.  It would have given me a better guideline how to structure my lesson plans. She also announced our supplies, books, computers etc were still in route and hopefully we'd get them by next month. She said the word insha'allah almost after each sentence. That means in English "God willing" or "If it is God's will". I really didn't like that word. People used it a lot here. It would be much more beneficial for people to be responsible for their actions. Instead of saying  insha'allah, people should make sure the supplies will be delivered at a set time. I found that very strange they were so nonchalant about things. In America time is money, you can't just guess when things will happen or you will waste time and money. I had barely any resources. I had my preschool activity book and that was it. My internet access was limited because the school had no connection. We also learned that our principal was arriving later in the middle of the week. Her name was Mrs. Tina and she was from Montana.

At the end of the week, we had a meeting and all the teachers had to be present. In the past, some of the Arabic teachers would go home. Mrs. Tina was tall, blond hair and had a tattoo on her ankle. She always dressed nicely, wearing suits and usually pearl earrings. She was very down to earth and easy going. In the meeting, she told us the English teachers are the main teachers and the Arabic teachers must assist us. The Arabic teachers always talked during our meetings. They showed poor conference/meeting etiquette. As soon as the principal said  the English teachers were the primary teachers they grew silent. They didn't appear to be happy about the news at all. I was nervous the Arabic teachers would give the English teachers an even harder time. They are so laid back its not even funny. Some of the English teachers told me how their Arabic teacher would come in thirty minutes late to class. They are allowed to breastfeed so the teacher can come in late without giving notice. There were no strict guidelines for the Arabic teachers. In my head I kept comparing rules to the U.S. which was not a good idea according to some friends.