Cultural Night
Week 3 started off strong, with cultural night being its highlight. All of the volunteers who worked on escape rooms together were invited to attend a cultural night hosted in a shared apartment of Erasmus volunteers. There was only one requirement - do not come empty-handed.
And truly, what can be better than gathering around a table with your peers, eating Greek pastitsio and Ukrainian Roshen sweets, drinking French wine, while also snacking on Italian biscuits and Polish sharlotka? Every dish carried a piece of someone’s home, and every bite felt like a small cultural exchange. Add to that music from around the world, as all of us had quite an exquisite taste, and playing Georgian card games until 5 am - just a chef’s kiss, and pretty much a recipe for long-term friendship.
Speaking Club
If you know me, you would also know that mentoring is one of my passions. That is how, more than two years ago, I got into teaching. I tutor English and maths not only to Ukrainian high schoolers, but also to university students and adults. I try to make my lessons as non-routine as possible, always creating new games and engaging activities to keep my students focused but also excited about learning.
However, one of the activities that I had wanted to do for a long time was to start a speaking club, where students would be able to discuss their favourite books and movies, talk about school or work, and debate whether school uniforms should be mandatory or not. The opportunity presented itself when I was brainstorming ideas for the Learning Agreement for my LiA. When I spoke to the director of DRONI about starting a speaking club in one of the youth centres in Tbilisi, he immediately supported the idea.
I carefully prepared the lesson plan, making sure to include engaging icebreakers, and was extremely excited to launch the Speaking Club. I was told that the youth centre I would be teaching at was located very far north in Tbilisi, and that they had been looking for English-speaking volunteers for a long time, but no one had been able to come. This motivated me even more, as I genuinely believe that even small actions can change someone’s life in a positive direction, and nowadays English is essential to flourish in society.
When I arrived, I found out that I would be teaching 13 Georgian teenagers, ranging in age from 9 to 17. And if you have never taught before, let me tell you - it is a very challenging audience. All of them were excited that a foreigner would be teaching them, and the 60 minutes flew by, filled with conversations and laughter.
In my classroom, I had only one rule - students had to speak English and only English. This was not meant to limit them in any way, but rather to give them the opportunity to think outside the box and express themselves more creatively, while also developing their language skills.
Fortunately, it was easy to build rapport with my students because, through my approach, they quickly realised that this was not a typical classroom with standard lessons and grades. I made sure they understood that I was not there to keep them “hostage” if they did not want to be there. This classroom was open to anyone willing to show even a small amount of interest in the subject - everything else was in their hands.
P.S. I was slightly traumatised after being asked about my first love, the war in my home country, how I graduated high school during the war, why I do not have a typical Slavic accent, why I look so young, and then being playfully mocked for my pronunciation of Georgian letters. The key to handling all of this is understanding your audience and responding in a professional way. I chose to approach these questions with humour, and that is how I bonded with my students, showing them that I was not the “typical boring” teacher they were used to.
Website Time & Escape Rooms
I told you last time, dear reader, not to be surprised by the number of times I would mention the term “escape rooms”. This week I had to scroll for hours and hours on Amazon to find the relevant materials for our static escape room, doing what all finance students do - comparing prices and choosing the option that brings me the most utility.
Additionally, having experience in Python, I was also asked to help with building a website for the Youth Center that DRONI collaborates with. They need this website to transition from in-person registration in September, with never-ending queues, to an online platform that would handle this process automatically. So this summer, I also had to dig into the dark corners of my memory and do a bit of coding too.