Education, On My Mind

Why I Teach

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A brief conversation took place between a former student (now a freshman in college) and myself on Facebook today. With some editing to protect privacy, it went like this:

Student – The fire alarm would go off right before I decide to go to bed.
Me – Better than right after!
Student – Suddenly a fire alarm before bed doesn’t seem so bad.

This, in a nutshell, is why I teach.

I teach to help young adults understand ideas and concepts that they wouldn’t understand without guidance. I teach to point out different perspective or different methods of examining an issue, question, or problem. I teach to push my students to think in ways that they didn’t know they could. I teach to prove to students that humans are fallible and that, as humans, they are fallible. I teach to help young people find themselves and find where they fit in the world, what they are capable of contributing, and how they can achieve their dreams. Teaching is a pleasure, a joy, and an honor.

Every so often people learn that I’m a high school teacher and tell me, “I couldn’t do what you do!” As I continuously emphasize to my students, we all play to our strengths. I would make a terrible accountant, doctor, engineer, construction worker, cashier, hairdresser, office manager, etc. None of that matters, though, because I have been told by colleagues, parents, and students that I am a “damn good teacher,” which is precisely what I want to be.

No one is good at everything but everyone is good at something. This is an aspect of life that we learn as we get older, when we realize that not everyone will end up on TV, in the movies, on the front of book jackets, or making millions. As we get older and have more experiences, we, as humans, learn to put our efforts where we feel we can be both happy and successful.

I teach in order to help my students feel comfortable with that reality.

Singapore

Singapore x3

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This past weekend was my third trip to Singapore. Every time I go, it gets harder and harder to come back. Every time I go, I am more convinced that Mitch and I need this to work. The type of life we could lead in Singapore is what we thought we’d find when we moved to Southeast Asia. We didn’t do nearly enough research about Seremban itself, unfortunately. Some of my friends have given Seremban a funny, accurate, and crude nickname and they’re right. (Hint: Starts with “sh”, ends with “itemban.”)

I don’t have much to show from this weekend in terms of photos because we spent quite a bit of time in museums. We saw an amazing da Vinci exhibit at the ArtScience Museum that included 13 original pages from the Codex Atlanticus, da Vinci’s largest notebooks full of sketches, inventions, mathematical formulas, and notes to himself. The exhibit itself was interactive, too, with challenges to build and think like the great Leonardo. I highly recommend it if it ever comes by wherever you are. We spent a little bit of time afterwards at the Asian Civilisations Museum but we were both pretty tired of standing by that point, so we’ll have to visit again another day. It does a really objective and sensitive job showcasing Asian cultures. I don’t think it’s supposed to be free, but it was! Finally, we happened upon the 2014 World Press Photo Exhibition. It’s true what they say, that a picture’s worth 1000 words. That’s even more true when each picture includes a caption explaining the circumstances behind its taking!

Now onto the few photos I took:

Skating rink inside a mall - I'm not convinced that's real ice because it certainly doesn't look like real ice!
Skating rink inside a mall – I’m not convinced that’s real ice because it certainly doesn’t look like real ice!
Cavenagh Bridge is Singapore's only suspension bridge and it's been there since 1870! This sign made me giggle.
Cavenagh Bridge is Singapore’s only suspension bridge and it’s been there since 1870! This sign made me giggle.
Mitch with a very reasonably priced tiramisu and two delicious glasses of wine at Boat Quay. Please note that the tiramisu came in a jar!
Mitch with a very reasonably priced tiramisu and two delicious glasses of wine at Boat Quay. Please note that the tiramisu came in a jar!

On a very personal note, I love seeing Jewish life in Singapore. It reminds me that there are parts of Southeast Asia where I can be myself.

Possible a JCC?
The home of Singapore’s Jewish Welfare Board
Synagogue
Singapore’s main synagoI also really enjoyed seeing a church across the street from the Jewish buildings.
Church
I also loved seeing a church around the corner from the Jewish buildings.

We’re off to Surabaya, Indonesia this weekend to visit a volcano! I will definitely have pictures of that!

Malaysia, On My Mind

Where Things Are Now

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Things are pretty much the same, and status quo is alright sometimes. I still love my apartment (I made a burnt eggplant and tahini salad Monday night and spiced lentils with cucumber yogurt tonight), still hate the town where I’m living (thank goodness for friends and Tuesday night badminton), still love travelling (off to Singapore this weekend, Indonesia next weekend, Hong Kong in March to see one of my best friends, hopefully Vietnam in February), and still miss home, family, and friends.

For once, however, school is going well! I have 14 students now, a proper class in comparison to 4. There’s so much more I can do! Unsurprisingly, teaching a real class of elementary students is a real challenge for me. I’ve never worked with students this young and I’ve never taught every subject. Classroom management is completely different, of course, and I feel like I’m constantly trying and scrapping ideas. If it’s anything like my first year teaching, give me 2 months and I’ll have it down without a problem. And there is no way anything can ever be as hard as that year; at its worst, teaching fifth grade can’t even come close. Right now, though, we’re very much in the push-and-resist phase. I think I’m winning. Since the administrators at school are fighting amongst themselves (on a hilarious email chain onto which the entire staff is copied!) we teachers have been left alone, which is how I like it. I have a lot of autonomy in my classroom and I really love that.

Talk at school has long been about plans for next year, and now next year is here. I’ve made my plans as best I can but they’re contingent on Mitch’s ongoing job search in Singapore. I finally understand why the people who teach overseas are either teaching couples or single; the job market for me is very different than it is for Mitch. Neither of us really understood what that meant. If we had to do it all over again, we would have done it differently. Now, we’re trying to pick up the pieces of all the determination we have left because we really do want this to work.

Now that I know more than I did 14 months ago when I took a job at a brand new international school halfway around the world and Mitch agreed to come with me, I can offer this advice: Listen. People around me who know the world better than I do made suggestions that I ignored or explained away. Fatal error. Listen, heed, and be patient.

Photos, travels, musings, and ideas on education by someone trying to make the world a better and more peaceful place