Teaching Changes Lives

Sometimes, teachers will have long days.  I know I've had a few slumps even in my short career.  But once in a while comes a day or a moment or even a sentence that reminds us why what we do is worthwhile.  On days like today, it's important to reflect on that.

The other day during rehearsal for the middle school play, the director and I were chatting with my assistant stage manager, JL.  He asked us, "After this play is over, can I just stage manage for the next one?  And the next one and the next one until I graduate?"  "Of course!" we told him!  (He's great.  He's a dream.  I love training ASMs.)  Our team has thrown around the idea of putting on a full-school musical next year, and he was super excited about that.  He made some suggestions of plays he likes and we chatted about favourite shows.  Then he dropped this gem.

"I used to want to focus on studying history.  But after this?  Theatre and stage management."

Words like that touch a teacher's heart.  I reached out to this kid, told him what a stage manager is, trained him in running rehearsals, taught him how to record blocking.  The director and I are hoping to have him call the show for one of the final performances.  And it made a difference in his life.

Will he go on to be a Broadway stage manager?  Maybe not -- he is only 13, and could change his mind a million times.  (I know I did!)  But maybe he will.  And even if he doesn't, he has found a passion for the arts and for management that will follow him throughout his life.  So whether I one day get to watch a professional show he worked on or see that as a businessman he lends financial support to the arts, I am so proud to think that I may have in some small way contributed to that.  I know I am eternally grateful to those who gave me my start in the arts -- and I never dreamed I'd be here.

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Currently reading:  just started Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson...favourite quote so far:  "[Art] is where you can find your soul, if you dare.  Where you can touch that part of you that you've never dared look at before."
Current high:  RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES
Current low:  scheduling nightmares, the saga continues

An Aesthetic Eye

My friends will be quick to tell you that I am not artistic.  My one major creative outlet is theatrical directing, which also has a really technical side to it, which I think is why I'm successful at it.  "But you sing!" people tell me.  Sure, but I don't compose!  Give me a paintbrush, charcoal, a lump of clay, and I will look at you like you have three heads.  And then proceed to make something wildly subpar.  Even when it came to decorating my college dorm room, my friend AB did most of it last year -- and what she left behind never made it onto the walls.

But here's what I've learned:  in the classroom, visual aesthetics are crucial to creating a positive, welcoming, and fun environment.  Uh oh.

Fortunately, as we discovered in Mindset, a book I read and reviewed some time ago, nothing is fixed!  Intelligence, creativity, and other traits are not quantities set in stone -- we can improve anything if we work on it.  (See also:  Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development.)  Teaching has given me a great opportunity to practice creativity.  Here's a few things I've learned (plus examples from my classroom!).

1.  It doesn't have to be perfect.  Are my third graders likely to notice that, since I used scissors instead of a paper cutter, the edge of that piece of paper curves up in the middle?  And even if they do, will they care?  Probably not.  A big challenge for me is letting go of my inner perfectionist.  The perfect is the enemy of the good.

Definitely not straight lines.  Definitely no students care.

2.  Visual arts not your strong suit?  Become friends with some word processing software -- I'm a Microsoft Office girl myself.  Using MS Word I can find fun fonts, cool effects, and nice straight lines.  For me, this is so much less stressful than writing bubble letters and trying to make my title perfectly centered!

Much more fun to look at than just a black and white piece of paper!

3.  Need something bigger than a piece of A3 paper?  See if your school has a die-cut machine and make it do the work for you.

So much less stressful than writing block letters -- just roll and stick!

4.  If it's colorful, you're well on your way.  Displays should be vibrant, exploding with color!  Instead of printing out something with black text on a white paper and sticking it on the wall, use a colored font with a glow effect, and matte it on a piece of construction paper.

5.  Pinterest is an incredible resource.  Even though I'm not a superstar artist, there are a lot of teachers out there who are -- and they share!  Do a quick search for what you're looking for and in no time flat you'll have a hundred resources at your fingertips, and a million ideas to make your own.

A sign for one of the learner profile attributes, encouraging students to try new things!

6.  Does the idea of writing on the board make you squirm?  I know a lot of teachers, myself included, dread this task.  Look into a document camera, which can project an image of what you're writing on a non-threatening piece of paper in real time, or hook your computer up to a projector and type instead.

Awesome idea I saw in one of my school's kinder classrooms -- put your timer under the document camera so students can see how much time they have left.

7.  Last but definitely not least -- employ the students.  It's their classroom, so invite them to take ownership of the space.  Have them contribute to making displays, labels, and signs.

In the middle is our central idea, "The solar system is comprised of unique and interconnected parts."  The index cards have facts that students have found out about space.  They splatter painted the backdrop and colored the planets.

Creativity takes practice and time.  Some do have a natural aptitude for it, but others of us need to put in a little more work!  And apparently, it's paid off -- to the likely shock of my college buds, all my friends here have commented on how well-decorated my apartment is :)

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Currently reading:  this article, sent to me by a coworker
Current high:  Halloween with my kiddos!
Current low:  scheduling nightmares

Life Hacks

Life hacks are one of my favourite things.  For those who don't know, "life hacks" are little ways of making daily life a little easier.  (Learn more at lifehackable.com!)  As a new adult and a new teacher, I've been finding a few of my own -- not necessarily life hacks, but positive life choices.  Some are teacher-specific, others are living-on-one's-own-specific, and a few are general tips for your well-being!

• Routines are your friend.  Train your body that as soon as you wake up, you get out of bed and hop in the shower, and that those 20 minutes of reading in bed mean it's time to sleep.  It can do wonders for your sleep schedule.
• Wake up relatively early, even on weekends.  The temptation to sleep until noon on Saturday after a crazy week is nearly overwhelming -- resist the urge!  It'll make you stay up later on weekend evenings, and then when you're back to going to bed at 10pm on Sunday night, you'll be staring at the ceiling for hours.  Don't screw your Monday morning, wake up by 9am on weekends.  (At this point, my body wakes me up by then anyway...sigh!)
• Speaking of waking up early, set your alarm for 15 minutes earlier than you actually need to be awake.  If you wake up right on time, you can be leisurely in your morning routine; linger over breakfast and take some time to cruise your Facebook.  If you're dragging, hit the snooze button, but you won't be pressed for time.
• One last sleep tip -- check out the Sleep Time app (definitely available on iPhone, not sure about other platforms).  This app will track when you are awake, in light sleep, and in heavy sleep.  The alarm will wake you up at your lightest point of sleep up to half an hour before you set your alarm for.  (Admittedly, I usually still snooze it until I have to get up...but I love those few extra minutes knowing I still have time to rest!)
• Give yourself time before students arrive in the morning.  I know there are some teachers who rush in five minutes before the kids come in, and I guess that works for them.  For me, I always take the earliest shuttle to school so I can take some time to prepare for the day and enjoy the quiet of the space before my students come barreling in!
• The importance of self care cannot be understated.  Take at least an hour a week for something that's just a little indulgence for you -- for me it's often a weekend bubble bath with some trashy TV, or an at-home manicure.  Even little things like squeezing in a trip to the gym do wonders for me.  Whenever I don't have another event or class after school, I'll spend an hour working out and I feel great afterward!
• On that note, be good to your body.  Drink plenty of water (and strategically plan in bathroom breaks throughout the day), eat food that makes you feel good.  I'll take a couple of weekends a month to cook up a storm of healthy and tasty meals (soups are my favourite!) and pop single-serving containers in the freezer or fridge so I've got easy lunches and dinners ready to go.
• Say yes more.  When someone invites me to do something, my brain jumps to a million reasons to say "no."  I'm too tired, I have a headache, I need Me Time.  Sometimes these things are true -- but 90% of the time I need to grab some coffee, pop an Advil, and reschedule my introvert hour.  My favourite memories of life in SKorea so far have been the hours spent grabbing dinner after a trip to the gym, or drinks to celebrate an accomplishment with my grade-level team.
• Don't play the "just one more thing" game.  I am the worst at this.  I'll stay after school to copy just one thing for Monday...then I figure as long as I'm there I can grade some student work...plus freshen up that bulletin board...and then before you know it it's 7pm.  Set yourself a deadline, and even if you're in the middle of the task, pack up and go home.  It'll still be there in the morning, I promise.

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Currently reading:  ...guys my addiction to Scandal is getting really serious.  Don't worry, I'll catch up soon and hopefully get back to doing some book reviews :)

Current high:  Thanksgiving break in Taipei with YC and EB is booked!

Current low:  just put all the concert and play rehearsals for November and December into my calendar, and things are looking INSANE.

Picture an Astronomer

As I believe I've mentioned previously, grade 3 has begun our second unit of inquiry, surrounding how the world works.  Our focus is on the solar system and the interconnections among celestial bodies.  As part of this, my fellow grade 3 intern and I have been conducting "science lab" twice a week.  Mondays we have mixed groups with all of grade 3, and Fridays are class-by-class.  So far we've done a lesson on orbits, a lesson on gravity, and a lesson on atmosphere.

This Friday, grade 3 is taking a field trip to a planetarium.  In preparation, today's "science lab" was on astronomers.  My co-intern and I each took a small group of seven to ten students for each block and led an activity called Picture an Astronomer (courtesy of my own grade 4 science teacher, Mrs. Tux!).  In the activity, I read aloud a paragraph to students, and they were to draw and write about what they visualized.  Here's the paragraph...

"Close your eyes and picture this scene.  It is the end of a long night at the observatory and the astronomer is closing up as the first rays of dawn are seen on the horizon.  The astronomer is tired and ready for a good day's sleep.  Now focus in on the astronomer, coming toward you on the road that comes from the observatory.  Get a good close look at the astronomer, rubbing tired eyes.  Draw a picture and describe in words what the astronomer looks like."

As you can see, the paragraph carefully avoids making any reference to the age, sex, gender, race, ethnicity, or nationality of the person in question.  I had students work independently without talking to those around them, and they were asked to draw a picture and write down the name, age, nationality, and gender of their astronomer, as well as any additional information they thought of.  Out of the 26 students I had in my three groups, here are some of the statistics on the astronomers they imagined...

• 6 were female (23%)
• 4 were Asian (15%)
• 2 were Latino (8%)
• 1 was black (4%)
• 1 was mixed-race (4%)

This leaves 20 males, and 18 white.  (Side note:  of the female astronauts, only two were not white -- one (my favourite) was a mixed-race single mom, and the other was Asian.  Intersectionality, yo.)

This opened up conversations among them about why they imagined more men than women, more Americans than Koreans, more whites than any other race.  Students posed and responded to great questions -- are boys smarter?  stronger?  better at or more interested in science?  braver?  more willing to take risks?  Why do we have these images in our minds?  What does the media tell us about who scientists are and what they look like?  How does that in turn affect the way we think?  I was so sorry to have such limited time with them to dig into these big important issues, but I hope that they will continue these conversations and begin to see these issues in their daily lives.

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Currently reading:  working through The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao...but I've been distracted by a new TV show XD

Current high:  a busy but productive day

Current low:  the IRS is a maze and I wish they had everything as an online form!  Expat life is hard!!!

Congratulations

Last week, grade 3 finished our first unit of inquiry.  The culminating project was creating a "learner space" which included a word wall, five items that connected to who the student is as a learner, paragraphs explaining why each object was chosen, and a narrative reflection on the learnings of the past six weeks.  We invited all the parents to come view their children's work, and each student gave a brief presentation to their family on their project.

I milled about, taking pictures of the presentations, listening in as students shared their learning, and enjoying the happy buzz.  I popped into the classroom to supervise a couple of students who were packing up.  Ms. W's husband wandered in; their son was presenting to her via FaceTime since she was away on professional development.  "Congratulations," he said to me.

It took me a minute to understand what he was congratulating me for.  Then I realized:  the success of that day did not belong only to the students, but also to the teachers.  We had designed the unit, planned the learning engagements, and guided them along the path of inquiry that brought them to their final products.

I remember once having a conversation with my dad.  He told me that many teachers will say, "Let me tell you what I did with my students today."  However, in his opinion, it is great teachers who say, "Let me tell you what my students did today."  The success of a teacher is not reflected in her or his actions, but in the ultimate success of the students.  Do they engage?  Do they learn?  Because that is where the true success of a teacher lies.

"Congratulations," he said to me.  I reflected, smiled, and said thank you.  While that day belonged to the students and their success, I suppose I owned some small part of it too.

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Currently reading:  still in my articles phase, but trying to take a trip down memory lane and track down Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's Alice series!
Current high:  Skyped with one of my best friends from college this morning, going out with new dear friends tonight.  Also I'm a ginger now!
Current low:  reflecting on life choices...not a low, just pensive

Small Frustrations

As I am sure I have said on this blog before, I am so incredibly happy with my life here.  Beyond happy...blissful, ecstatic, thrilled.  I have great friends, amazing students, fulfilling work, fantastic opportunities, and tons of fun.  I am really thriving in this place, and I'm so excited for what's to come.

But it's not perfect.  And one thing that really grinds my gears is that sometimes, my passion for social justice education is laughed off.  Today as my team planned our next unit, I brought up a couple of ideas for activities that my own fourth grade science teacher (Tux!) sent to me -- one science-based, and one transdisciplinary.  Then I hesitantly mentioned one activity that she sent to me that I think is a great one for sparking conversations, which is called Picture An Astronomer.  In the activity, students have a guided visualisation of an astronomer after a long night at the observatory, then they write down or draw what that person looks like.  The narrative is very careful to make no reference to age, race, or gender, so you can unpack their preconceived ideas about the dominance of middle-aged white men in scientific fields.  Tux suggested using it pre- and post-field trip, so I mentioned it in that context.

As I began to describe the activity, as soon as I got to the phrase "old white men," one of my team members started to laugh.  "I remember a conversation to this effect," he chuckled, referring to a debate on social justice issues we'd had one evening over drinks.  Yes, I recognize that sometimes I can be a little too aggressive when someone says something that I find offensive -- and I'm working on walking the line of speaking up without pushing too hard.  But never mind the fact that microaggressions such as that are deeply harmful to the feminist cause.  Let's get to what I see as the greater issue here:  social justice education matters.  It matters beyond you and I and our different beliefs.  I care deeply about encouraging my students to think in new ways, to be open-minded toward and accepting of difference.  The PYP emphasises international-mindedness, celebrating our differences while embracing our common humanity.  What a great goal.

Honestly, I feel to a certain extent that if one of the four white men in the room had brought that idea to the table, it might have been received differently.  I may be wrong, but I find that when members of a majority group speak out for minorities, they're lauded for their effort, whereas I am brushed aside as an "angry feminist."  (My cousin thoughtfully pushed back on me for my use of that term in a previous post -- but in this context I feel it's apt!)  However, as the only woman on my grade-level team, I feel all the more passionate about speaking up for feminism.  Social justice is important to me, and it should be important to every educator.

The bright side?  For the upcoming unit, my fellow intern and I have been slotted two 45-minute lessons each week with all of grade 3.  I've got my space to share this activity and have what I think are incredibly important conversations for young minds to consider.

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Currently reading:  I'm in an articles phase, lots of stuff in my Pocket which I hope to share here soon!
Current high:  several, but my top two:  one of my students took first prize in a cooking contest with his dad today, and lots of fun social stuff on the horizon!
Current low:  super tired...but looking ahead to a mostly restful weekend