Middle School Sports

So far I've missed 11 hours of lessons over the past week to attend our school's sports games. I have now seen 6th and 8th grade boys basketball and 7th/8th grade girls volleyball. and boy has it been an interesting experience...

As mentioned, we've had to miss school to go to these games. Why their matches are in the middle of the school day I have yet to understand. But it may be because these kids attend school until 4pm. Not like when I was in high school and athletes had the last period for PE and would go to their games then or after school, around 3pm. But here they are in the middle of the day. So literally right before our English classes begin, the VP comes and tells us to take attendance and then take the kids to the bus because we are going off-campus for the games.

So the bus ride begins. It is truly awful. I thought my rides with the kids in the mornings/afternoons were bad, but that's only about 1o students with me. But 50 young Turkish kids on a bus and it's just insane. I swear worse than any American school bus I ever encountered.

Then we get there. Last week it was pouring rain. That wasn't fun. Today it was freezing cold inside the gym. I'm learning I have to come to school prepared everyday just in case we are going to another match. Usually the school we are playing also has some students there, either just one grade like us, or their entire middle school (remember, these are small, private schools).

The players come on the court. The students start cheering like crazy. It's really cute to watch. and then I listen as they are their own cheerleaders, coming up with whatever chants in Turkish they can agree upon. If we're real lucky, the auditorium plays music on the loud speakers, and before I know it, my insane 8th graders are singing and dancing to "I'm sexy and I know it" and speaking more English than I've heard all year. Screaming and jumping on the seats. Pure excitement.

The game starts. Most kids stand for as long as possible, cheering when their classmates do something great- steal the ball, score, spike and hit another girl. And a majority of the students are excited, singing along, and watching the game. Only one 6th grader the other day sat alone and read. (That would have been me.) But now for reasons I don't understand I really enjoy watching sports, and have loved going to these matches. The other teachers complain about having to go and supervise, and for missing precious lessons, but I'm having a great time. Anything really to get out of the classroom. At least in this setting it's acceptable and encouraged for the students to act like wild animals. The other day I even got to say that some of my horrible 7th graders couldn't go to the game due to their behavior in my class. They weren't too pleased about that.

So as the school has given the teachers more responsibilities and the students more lessons because they've done poorly on their state exams, we are now missing lessons to watch these games. I understand it's important to encourage players- they just light up when they see their friends (and teachers) have come to see them play, and I've been really happy to see my own students play too- but this is just another instance I won't understand Turkish ways.