DAY FIVE

In the morning we had a round table with teachers from varying disciplines discussing the issue of classroom management.  It was enlightening.  I heard some of the challenges here in a village school where the children are together from first grade up and know each other like family which creates unique problems.  Afterwards, with the English teachers we discussed ELL levels and protocol for placing students.

Besides the round tables, Eka accompanied me as I observed a third grade math class.  This room was decorated with children’s work, plants and posters.  The teacher was fantastic, involving the students in the lesson and changing activities with frequency.  After having learned numbers one to twenty yesterday on the bus, I was able to follow some of the questions the teacher was tossing out to the class.

In the evening, I went to the cinema.  I have been wanting to see “The Five Days of August” with Andy Garcia, a movie about the 5-day war with Russia in 2008.  I ended up going alone.  Everyone had told me it was in English with Georgian subtitles, so I was not concerned.  I purchased my ticket and hung out in the lobby practicing Georgian numbers and letters on my IPOD while waiting for 8:00.  Well, 8pm came and went, and by the time the people from the previous session walked out of the cinema, I had almost learned the entire alphabet.

One line into the movie and I knew it was not going to be subtitled but dubbed.  Although I only caught the very few times true Georgian was subtitled in English, posting crucial things like, “Mr. President, your ride is here,” I was able to get the gist of the movie.  It is a stunning poster for Georgia, but also difficult to reconcile that a war had happened here just three short years ago.  Having come to know the people and seen part of the country, I was quite impacted.  Everyone who walked out of the cinema was wiping away tears.