Venezuela

I have a student who is from Venezuela, She may be the funniest person I know she is so loud and passionate about everything and so funny, it has been a challenge teaching  her because she only speaks broken English there have been multiple times I have asked her to repeat her question and finally have said “I’m sorry, I don't understand what you are saying" It usually takes the whole class to interpret what she is saying she has become a million times better but just a few stories of our communication barriers:
Yesterday she came exploding through the door as usual saying "Hay erie buddy lisen to me! duz enny buddy wan a home decor?" we all looked puzzled and I asked "Home decor??? I asked "Home decor???" she said no no no mamma cita (She calls me mamma or mamma cita) "hone decor" still puzzled I asked "what?" "Decorations for your house?"  "no no no !ma car I sellin it!" "oh you mean Honda accord" "JES! That is it!" "ma honna da core!" another story that is more embarrassing for me than her is when I was teaching about the layers of skin and for who knows why the book describes a layer of skin as” horny” as in a bumpy rigid layer Venezuela asks "Mamma what is horny?" "Trying not to laugh I say “ it is a term used to describe the layer of skin. "I'm sorry what you say? Horny??? How you spell that?" by this time everyone is giggling to themselves as I spell out horny "H-O-R-N-Y"  "Stil no understand I will goggle it" "you mean google it ?" "Jes that’s what I say mamma" this is just the tip of the iceberg of the communication run- ins we have had but it sure keeps us laughing!

Loved this class!

Baby beaver or vole? Mole? Rat?

A student brought what appeared to be a baby beaver in the class she found it in the road and needed to save it. Seriously? Baby beaver in class was not in the hand book I couldn’t make this stuff up. I didn’t know what to do, she said she rescued it from a car hitting in the parking lot.. Seriously? There were numerous discussions of lice and nats and rabies and cats and the animal shelter and determining if it was a beaver? vole? Mole? Or rat? for 5 hrs. straight.

New Class rule:

NO ANIMALS IN CALSS (including voles)

Good news moments:

A student told me thank you for teaching them, they had so much fun today. Its days like this that outweigh the bad ones.

Another student told me I looked like the Victoria secret model Gisele … and get this they were being sincere, greatest complement I had ever received, it’s days like this… that I love my job !

fungal what?

I taught theory on hair growth and diseases tonight I had been teaching all day I was exhausted  unfortunately my brain was mush by 8:00 and I accidentally said  Fungal Orgasm instead or Fungal Organism…enough said?....enough said.

Because thats what you do in...

I was a torturer last week. Yep. didn’t know that about me did you? Yes it is true I stayed awake all night thinking of ways I could torture my students and at last I came up with an excellent way PERMING! Dun DUN DUN. I don’t make them practice perms for their education no sir I don’t make them re roll perms for practice to perform on a real client no sir, I do it out of pure torture. There was much weeping and wailing and nashing of teeth, there were eye rolls, and complaints and mental punches to my face, but I took it like a champ. Oh ladies it’s only day one of perms I have a whole week of torture prepared for you! Mwahahaha! One student yelled out to me “Why do we have to do PERMS!!!” and another student responded “Because that is what you do in hell..Perms.”

HA

While teaching I have discovered something about myself something I never knew I had within my and that is I discovered I am a real bad A. I am usually a chill person but deep down inside me was a hard core teacher waiting to erupt and has it ever! I have encountered so many things here in my short time teaching that I thought would never happen at a school. I have never seen this side of me I am strict, blunt and straight forward something I usually and not. All day I have to be critical of students work and tell them exactly what I think of what they have done. This has been hard for me telling a student that their haircut is way off! that one side is 2 inches longer than the other, some students can handle some students feel like is a personal attack. I have had to be careful with this, I hate hurting peoples feelings it makes me feel sick to see that drop in someones face when they have been told...the truth. But that is my job, the only way to make them better is to correct them. So I have tried different approaches instead of telling them how off it is off, I ask them to recut it while I am watching them to see how they cut and what is making them cut to bad. And make it a point to always attach a positive with a negitive. And then there are those students who just think I am strict and criticle just because I can. One of my students told me " You know what... Your a real hard A$$."  I didn't know what to say? I have never been told that I suppose I have become a real "HA"  I don't know if I like that? I have filled in for instructors on the floor( where the students work on actual clients) and I noticed my old students wouldn't have me check their haircuts I asked them why they weren't calling me over to check them?They told me they don't like me to check their haircuts because I am a perfectionist and make them re-do it. If there is one thing that this job has taught me it is toi be a perfectionist, I check a million haircuts a day I could do it with my eyes closed and I guess that has made me a real HA. I have been given jo many titles by students= more posts to come :) I think I will take HA as a compliment I could have been called much worse.

Underestimate

I have so many stories to tell being a hair teacher, the good the bad and the straight up ugly! I didn't want my blog to be cluttered with my job stories so I decied to start this little gem. I have been a hair instructor for 9 months now and boy did I underestimate what I was getting myself into, I have moments when I want to cry due to frustration and then there are those magical moments when a student understands a concept, that little light bulb flickers on and  they no longer need your help round brushing ... or atleast they don't think they need your help. Being a teacher has been one of the funiest and most challenging  jobs I have ever had. I hope you enjoy!