And So It Begins...
I am resolved. I would like to publish a blog at least once a month despite my crazy chock full brain at the moment. It needs to happen. Not only is it cathartic, but it also keeps you all updated since I hardly ever get to speak to you all! And, now that I am finally teaching 7th graders, I will now have boatloads of stories to tell. Yay!
Yes, I have moved on from the comatose 8th graders to the mentally insane and energetic 7th graders, hoity toiter honors 8th graders, and the slowly leaving their comatose state 9th graders. I never thought I'd get the opportunity to teach this subject since my degree is in Elementary Ed. and English. Who knew that Kerilee Nickles would be pondering the skills of geography and the woes of history and talking away to groups of young people who have no idea that in reality, I'm just a regular girl who doesn't feel like an adult, and who doesn't actually know everything. One of my classes is World History. Ok, so I have to know the history of the world. The WORLD. That really narrows it down, doesn't it? Is it taxing you might ask? Why yes, it is. I find myself scratching my head as I try to get my brain around the rise of Ancient Chinese civilizations and the list of different dynasties before I teach the lesson. Good lord, do we need to know all this? Not a chance. But, I still want to be able to be at least somewhat intelligent when speaking to the class.
It's the honors 8th graders that I'm sure will be calling me out for my many failings. US history is so much fun for me, but I'm really wanting to focus a lot on how history connects to current issues, and boy is it tough. I told them that I am your guide, but I do not by any means know everything, so please correct me if I'm wrong. Hopefully it will all work out fine.
And, then there's the 7th graders. My goodness, it's like teaching elementary again. I have each student in all my classes write their name on a popsicle stick and put it in a box. That way, I can pick out their names to call on them. I label these sticks the "magical popsicle sticks". I say they are magical because it's not my fault if the student gets called on. Blame the sticks. And, as soon as I uttered the word "magical" to my new 7th graders, you could see the still lingering elementaryness in their eyes. It was a beautiful sight. And they reacted with excitement and enthusiasm. I could even turn on my super cheery elementary teacher voice, and they ate it up. But, they have so much energy. I feel like an old woman trying to herd hyenas or something. Hyenas will not be herded, but in this case, they will learn.
And all of my new students actually TALK! They respond to me and don't look at me like I have a trillion heads! At last! I can say hello without people looking scared. This is excellent. Now I have 7th graders coming and speaking to me in full sentences. When they leave, I get a confused look on my face. "What breed of Kang Chiao student are you? Haven't seen your kind around these parts before..." I had my first great student story this last week. One of the students was complaining about how heavy their geography textbook was. He said, "It's as heavy as a Bible!" Now, this is strange to be hearing in a mostly Buddhist country. Many times I've mentioned Jesus for history class, and people look at me like I'm crazy. "There was a guy who walked on water? What? Someone survived a 40 day flood on a boat with 2 of all the animals in the world?" It's actually crazy. Anyway, I laughed and said, "Well, it depends on what kind of Bible." The boy then replied, "The Holy Bible!" Ah yes. Funny weirdos make my day just a little bit easier.
It has been such a tumultuous journey in this early school year. As soon as we came back, we had to hit the ground running. We moved to a new apartment, had to sort all of that out, and we had to start going into school three weeks early to teach two weeks of summer school and blindly try to figure out what we were doing in this new year. Then, as everyone came back, we had to have literally one BILLION meetings to try to sort out this new curriculum framework they want us to use. It's such complicating paperwork, and suddenly people who aren't used to collaborate are being asked to collaborate, and it's just a bit of a mess. Teachers really want their freedom (especially at this school), so you find that there's a lot of resistance to listening to other peoples' ideas. And, then the kids started! So, it's one thing after another. Not only do we have to teach kids information that they can take with them but we also have to...
-teach them this new framework because it affects our teaching style and our grading
-set out boundaries and guidelines so that they don't ruin your life (I have 28 9th graders fitting into a prison cell style room. 28!!!! Is this not insane??)
-teach each student how to think and to question
-teach each student how to be a good person
-teach each student how to be responsible, organized, independent, etc.
-keep track of each student's EVERYTHING. I'm surprised they don't ask us to track bathroom sessions!
-teach them basically everything ever!!!!!!!!!!!
Teaching is basically an impossible task. The admin throws all of these expectations at you in the beginning, but as things simmer down, and students can at least write their names on their paper and follow the directions for whatever task they are asked to complete, I consider that a win. They are trying to pin a Western system onto an Eastern education style school. These students aren't quite ready to problem-solve and inquire. They need help just getting through the day! So, wish me luck with my impossible task. Goodness, I need to get out of this profession one day! But, I still do enjoy when I see a student smile at one of my jokes and at least relax enough to enjoy the class. That sometimes makes it all worth it.
Yes, I have moved on from the comatose 8th graders to the mentally insane and energetic 7th graders, hoity toiter honors 8th graders, and the slowly leaving their comatose state 9th graders. I never thought I'd get the opportunity to teach this subject since my degree is in Elementary Ed. and English. Who knew that Kerilee Nickles would be pondering the skills of geography and the woes of history and talking away to groups of young people who have no idea that in reality, I'm just a regular girl who doesn't feel like an adult, and who doesn't actually know everything. One of my classes is World History. Ok, so I have to know the history of the world. The WORLD. That really narrows it down, doesn't it? Is it taxing you might ask? Why yes, it is. I find myself scratching my head as I try to get my brain around the rise of Ancient Chinese civilizations and the list of different dynasties before I teach the lesson. Good lord, do we need to know all this? Not a chance. But, I still want to be able to be at least somewhat intelligent when speaking to the class.
It's the honors 8th graders that I'm sure will be calling me out for my many failings. US history is so much fun for me, but I'm really wanting to focus a lot on how history connects to current issues, and boy is it tough. I told them that I am your guide, but I do not by any means know everything, so please correct me if I'm wrong. Hopefully it will all work out fine.
And, then there's the 7th graders. My goodness, it's like teaching elementary again. I have each student in all my classes write their name on a popsicle stick and put it in a box. That way, I can pick out their names to call on them. I label these sticks the "magical popsicle sticks". I say they are magical because it's not my fault if the student gets called on. Blame the sticks. And, as soon as I uttered the word "magical" to my new 7th graders, you could see the still lingering elementaryness in their eyes. It was a beautiful sight. And they reacted with excitement and enthusiasm. I could even turn on my super cheery elementary teacher voice, and they ate it up. But, they have so much energy. I feel like an old woman trying to herd hyenas or something. Hyenas will not be herded, but in this case, they will learn.
And all of my new students actually TALK! They respond to me and don't look at me like I have a trillion heads! At last! I can say hello without people looking scared. This is excellent. Now I have 7th graders coming and speaking to me in full sentences. When they leave, I get a confused look on my face. "What breed of Kang Chiao student are you? Haven't seen your kind around these parts before..." I had my first great student story this last week. One of the students was complaining about how heavy their geography textbook was. He said, "It's as heavy as a Bible!" Now, this is strange to be hearing in a mostly Buddhist country. Many times I've mentioned Jesus for history class, and people look at me like I'm crazy. "There was a guy who walked on water? What? Someone survived a 40 day flood on a boat with 2 of all the animals in the world?" It's actually crazy. Anyway, I laughed and said, "Well, it depends on what kind of Bible." The boy then replied, "The Holy Bible!" Ah yes. Funny weirdos make my day just a little bit easier.
It has been such a tumultuous journey in this early school year. As soon as we came back, we had to hit the ground running. We moved to a new apartment, had to sort all of that out, and we had to start going into school three weeks early to teach two weeks of summer school and blindly try to figure out what we were doing in this new year. Then, as everyone came back, we had to have literally one BILLION meetings to try to sort out this new curriculum framework they want us to use. It's such complicating paperwork, and suddenly people who aren't used to collaborate are being asked to collaborate, and it's just a bit of a mess. Teachers really want their freedom (especially at this school), so you find that there's a lot of resistance to listening to other peoples' ideas. And, then the kids started! So, it's one thing after another. Not only do we have to teach kids information that they can take with them but we also have to...
-teach them this new framework because it affects our teaching style and our grading
-set out boundaries and guidelines so that they don't ruin your life (I have 28 9th graders fitting into a prison cell style room. 28!!!! Is this not insane??)
-teach each student how to think and to question
-teach each student how to be a good person
-teach each student how to be responsible, organized, independent, etc.
-keep track of each student's EVERYTHING. I'm surprised they don't ask us to track bathroom sessions!
-teach them basically everything ever!!!!!!!!!!!
Teaching is basically an impossible task. The admin throws all of these expectations at you in the beginning, but as things simmer down, and students can at least write their names on their paper and follow the directions for whatever task they are asked to complete, I consider that a win. They are trying to pin a Western system onto an Eastern education style school. These students aren't quite ready to problem-solve and inquire. They need help just getting through the day! So, wish me luck with my impossible task. Goodness, I need to get out of this profession one day! But, I still do enjoy when I see a student smile at one of my jokes and at least relax enough to enjoy the class. That sometimes makes it all worth it.
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