9th day April 13, 2010

Today I had my workshop for district teachers. The first of two (one for tomorrow as well). I can't say I feel great about it, as I think the English language teachers had difficulty seeing how some of the strategies I used could be applied to their lessons, which seem mostly to focus on straight memorization and no critical thinking or discussion. They were polite and tried some of the activities with a measure of bewilderment. I'll make some adjustments that Lyuda and I spoke about afterward and hopefully tomorrow's group will get more out of it. I think that the fact that I am an English literature and writing teacher trying to give foreign language teachers some strategies is difficult, let alone the translation element. I felt that many of these teachers did not have as strong of English skills as does Lyuda.
In the afternoon, Lyuda's 5th and 7th forms performed some English language skits and songs about springtime. The students were delightful-- so wanting to do their best, so proud of their lovely costumes. Afterward, the visiting teachers, Lyuda and I all took a shuttle bus downtown to "The Olymp", the same restaurant as last night, for a genuine feast: borsh, of course, two kinds of salad (with lots of mayo as usual--their salads are not green salads as we would expect, but more like our potato and pasta, rather heavy, usually with peas and/or carrots), a chicken and mushroom dish, and a main course of chicken and mashed potatoes, wine and coffee or tea.
After everyone left, we went around the corner to the little office supply store (I still can't get used to the lack of visibility of businesses. You never know what is inside any building you walk into.)and bought more supplies for tomorrow's workshop. One of the things we should be grateful for in our school is that we have basics like paper and copy machines. Lyuda had to print everything on her home computer and had to buy all the workshop materials with grant money.
From there, we visited the district office, where Lyudmila made sure to tell me to notice how they were paid to sit around and do nothing but tell others how to do their jobs in the schools. In the large, open room with about a half dozen desks, there were only three people there. They spoke with me for quite awhile, mostly admiring the 4 or 5 phrases I have learned in Ukrainian and laughing at my complete inability to pronounce "hryvna", their word for their money. Next, we visited the public library "for adults only". There I was shown their "resource room" which came in 2001 from American grant money: 3 computers, a printer, and free internet access. They were rightly proud of it!
Finally, we returned to Lyuda's home, relaxing with some Bailey's (her favorite) and MORE chocolate. We planned the changes to the workshop and discussed the next 48 hours as I would be leaving Novoukrainka soon. Packing, transportation, luggage, etc. until Oleg returned from his classes in Kirovograd. I wish I'd been able to spend more time with Oleg, but he was gone these two weeks for his recertification coursework. He's a sweet man, but Lyuda lovingly chastises him for not remembering his English from his school days and that if he had studied and practiced more he could speak with me and travel to America as she has.