Picture a circle on the center of a blank page. Along the circumference of the circle are six spokes, evenly spaced. If you were to write down one word for each of the spokes that defined who you are, what would you write?
For me, these words are: female, older sister, Chinese, Canadian, teacher, learner... These are important parts of my identity, they fundamentally shape who I am and how others view me, however, if I am not careful, they can also label me and lock me in. We all have assumptions about ourselves that can hinder us from reaching our true potential. To be more specific, I recently had a conversation with a good friend of mine who told me about an article she read that said the reason why many females are overqualified for their jobs are because women tend not to apply for a position if they feel they do not fulfill all the requirements, whereas males will if they feel they fit most of the criteria. I wondered how many opportunities I missed because I told myself I wasn't good enough to try. I recently interviewed for a position that required teaching AP physics. With my measly, almost-two years of full time teaching, and zero experience with physics (or AP for that matter), I definitely did not think I had all the requirements for the job. But I thought about what my friend told me, and I said- to no one in particular- "Heck, what do I have to lose?" Lo and behold... I was stunned when I landed an interview... and even more amazed when they called me back for a second one. If such a small shift in my thinking could have led to such a significant outcome, no doubt this can apply to all areas of life and learning as well. I am currently reading Mindset by Professor Carol Dweck. I wonder a lot about how I can help my students uncover the hidden assumptions they have about themselves in order to develop a growth mindset. We talked about what it means to have a fixed versus growth mindset at the beginning of the year and what that looked like for different people. We explored the nature of science and how important it is to acknowledge failure in science. We discussed our ideas about how success is like an iceberg; magnificent and grand on the outside, when in fact much of it is submerged and hidden below the surface. I try to make it real for my students and have them connect it to their own lives, but most of all I'm trying to build a classroom culture that enables them to feel safe taking risks, making mistakes, and to fearlessly embrace new challenges. I struggle with this every day. Sometimes I feel like I am making good headway, and other times I feel like I'm picking my students up by the feet and trudging them through the mud, shouting, "Come with me! There is a light at the end of the tunnel!!! Just keep moving!" And with that last bit of imagery, I shall kindly remind myself that learning is a process, and that we each move on our own time. When I think about Carol Dweck's research on mindset I am reminded of my grandfather, who, throughout all the years I have known him, has shown me in his own way that it is NEVER too late to learn a new skill or to grow your mind. When I was eight or nine, I remember grandpa practicing to get his truck driver's license. He had only been in Canada for a few years at that point, had never driven a truck before, did not have access to one, and was unable to take lessons, but that did not stop him. He took us out to Canadian Tire and bought a toy truck with remote controls. I remember watching him maneuver it around the carpet in his bedroom, studying it from different angles, gathering information about the spacing, and so on. He practiced like this diligently for days before his driving exam. Even I tired of watching the little truck move around in endless loops, turns, and parking maneuvers, but grandpa always aimed for perfection. This was the type of man my grandfather was. I used to hate going to Chinese school on the weekends, but grandpa insisted that I persevere because he was afraid that I would lose my heritage and that my future children would forget their ancestry. This thought frightens me also. I never used to think learning Chinese was very important. I just knew how going to Chinese school made me feel - stupid and inadequate. It was like being sent to a correctional facility for not being born to the right circumstances. To hide my feelings of inadequacy I worked even harder to get good grades. I memorized difficult words, I practiced spelling them out over and over, and people told me how smart I was. It wasn't until one day my grandpa said something to me that I finally was able to breathe. I didn't even know it then, but I was suffocating. I had been trapped by the need to prove how good I was, that I too could read and write, two things that seemed to come so effortlessly to others. I used to cry myself to sleep because it seemed that no matter how hard I tried or how much I worked at it, I would never be fluent in Chinese like my family. So, when grandpa said those words to me I knew the facade was up. I didn't have to pretend anymore. He said, "Even if you are not very smart or talented at something, with effort and practice we can make up for the things we lack. This is me, your grandfather." And then he said, "You and I, we are both hard workers, no?" I will never know what prompted grandpa to say those words to me, but I just know that when he did, at that very moment, I felt true clarity and a huge sense of relief. It didn't matter that I wasn't great at something, what mattered was that I tried.
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I've been talking to my students about sex - a lot. Students are very curious about sex and have very serious questions and concerns like, "What happens if humans don't have pubic hair?", "Why do people feel so ashamed and embarrassed when we talk about sex?", "Why do we have marriage?" and, my personal favourite, "What are the pros and cons of having a BF or GF?" It is rare to hear a question like, "What are the reproductive parts that a sperm must travel through in order to fertilize an egg?" and yet, that is what I am expected to teach and what students are expected to remember. To be fair, just talking about the pure mechanics of human reproduction makes my job and the student's lives a lot less uncomfortable. If we all just avoid the touchy-feel-y emotional stuff, we can probably just leave it to fate and the off-chance that students can be trusted to educate themselves and make good choices, right? In all seriousness though, if we expect people to know about consent, safe sex, and healthy relationships, then we need to talk about those things. Teachers have so much power and influence over their students that I think we owe it to them to have open and honest conversations about topics sex, sexual health, and relationships. "Okay, Miss Biology Teacher," you might be asking, "what makes you so qualified to impart knowledge about sex, sexual health, and relationships to students?" Okay, I admit, my five years of post-secondary education did not prepare me for this. Sex-ed did not prepare me for this. Truth is, I'm improvising. I mean, I'm still trying to figure out a lot of this stuff for myself. What I do know is, I have been granted this incredible opportunity to start a dialogue with my students about a topic that's very real and extremely relevant to their lives. Yes, it's embarrassing, awkward, and hella uncomfortable to broach the topic of sex with a room full of hormonal teenagers. Do my students sometimes make inappropriate jokes or comments in class? Do they giggle uncontrollably whenever they use the word "ejaculation"? Are they expected to treat each other and themselves respectfully in the safe space we have created together? Are they just trying to figure out who they are and how they fit into this world just like the rest of us? The answer to all those questions is, absolutely, yes. The teenage years can be a strange and disorienting time, which is easy to forget when you're legally an adult. Teens do a lot of weird things and say a lot of things they don't mean. Coming from a person who's already gone through that stage of life and lives to tell the tale, those teenage years don't seem so consequential anymore. It is easy to be dismissive or indifferent to the problems experienced by my students because I forget that I am looking at their problems through my own eyes. Of course, I can't make this time any less strange or disorienting for my students, but I can listen to them and help them understand that this stage of their life is anything but inconsequential. They are going to experience failure and make bad decisions - it is a natural part of growth and there is nothing shameful about it. Teens have the same needs adults have; to feel validated, loved, cared for, and to be given the time and space to figure themselves out. For the most part, teaching and learning about human reproduction with my ninth graders has been a relatively matter-of-fact experience. Partly, I think it has to do with the fact that my students are English Language Learners who did not know what a lot of the vocabulary meant and so were completely uninhibited in its usage, "Miss, what is erection?", "Miss, what does orgasm mean?", "Miss, what is pubic hair?". I think the other part of why this whole experience has felt so emotionally sterile is cultural and has to do with the values and environment my students grew up in. I have noticed that they are generally shy about broaching the topic of sexual intimacy. We have not yet had a discussion about cultural norms and the role it plays in terms of our decision making when it comes to sex and relationships. A good next step I'd say. Some cool sex-ed resources to check out:
For the last two months at my new school, I have been devoting so much of my time and energy planning and preparing that I haven't really been enjoying the actual teaching. This past weekend was the first weekend where I hadn't felt pressure to do something - I could just be. Sure, there was marking to be done and rubrics to be made, but I no longer felt the urgency of it all. I simply existed. I was just another presence in the universe with no agenda or ulterior motive. It sure felt great. I had a life again, and it was mine. For the first time in a what feels like a VERY long time, I did not put my students first. That much needed mental break was just what I needed to be able to step back and appreciate all the good things that had been going on in my classroom that I subconsciously chose to ignore. It's ironic really, that choosing to be a good, well-organized, and prepared teacher for me meant being less emotionally available to my students. An odd realization to have, but a necessary one. Teaching is very much a collection of moments, and if I'm not careful they quickly slip away and are lost to the busy hum of school life. Yet, it is precisely those little moments that make teaching so extraordinarily wonderful. You never know when it'll happen, but when it does, it is magical. Today, a student of mine, one who is not particularly keen or motivated in school, who frequently falls asleep in class, and is usually late, RUNS into my class at lunch time and excitedly yells, "MS. SOO I'M HERE! CAN I LOOK AT THOSE FLOWER PARTS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE?" Me on the outside: "Why, yes good sir, you may examine those flower parts under the microscope." Internally: "OMG, YAAAAS!!!"
Music to my ears. As we near the end of October, we are finally starting to get a semblance of the Fall weather one would expect back home in Canada here in Seoul. As the leaves begin to fall, so too do my spirits in dreaded anticipation of the dark winter days ahead... I still spend long hours at my keyboard typing away and planning each day's lessons in detail. So many thoughts run through my mind I'm surprised I get any productive work done at all.
Slowly, I have begun to settle into a routine of work, eat, plan, sleep, repeat. Little perturbations in this routine are often accompanied by feelings of guilt. I know in my mind that there will undoubtedly be many mistakes in my teaching and yet I still find myself trying to avoid them all. Slowly, I've let myself forget what it's like to spend an hour each day exercising and working on my health, or letting my mind just wander. How will I ever learn to enjoy the moment when I'm always thinking of the future? I've decided to start small. Today, I have dedicated some time to write in my blog. Tomorrow, I will make time to exercise in the morning. This week, I'm going to dedicate an hour each day doing something solely for me and recharge. This girl needs some #solitude. Hello Friends and Visitors! I've officially been living in Korea for just under a week now and thought I would take some time to debrief my experience here so far. I am currently living in Seoul where I will be teaching science at an international school for the next ten months. So I might not look like a super model, but I am slowly beginning to understand why backpackers spend so much money on their gear. The act of travelling itself is not as glorious as it seems - just imagine being sticky with sweat, fully aware that the guy who was standing next to you a second ago has moved away because of that ungodly odor coming from your body, and then really wanting to quench your thirst on the plane but worried that you might get stuck going to the toilet after somebody's just taken a big dump. When it comes down to it, making your travel experience as comfortable as possible is well worth the extra effort. When I traveled to Kazakhstan last year, I was too cheap to spend money on a good travel pillow and took the "memory foam" one we had lying around at home. You ask, how can you ever go wrong with memory foam? Let me tell you... not all memory foams are created equal! There is real memory foam, and then there are the posers. I ended up spending eighteen hours on the plane trying to sleep with a lump of coal on the back of my neck. Despite my somewhat unkempt appearance, I managed to sleep in relative comfort during my 14 hour flight to Hong Kong from Toronto, and 3 hours from Hong Kong to Seoul, Korea. Here are a list of five things I learned while in Korea thus far: #1. A little preparation goes a long way. Last year, I picked up some survival Russian phrases (i.e. hello, nice to meet you, goodbye, and thank you) before heading out to KZ, but did not bother to learn Cyrillic until much later on. This year, I decided to learn Hangul (Korean alphabet) before my arrival in Korea, and BOY, WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT MADE! Rather than having to devote extra attention to learning the language in addition to getting settled, I've been able to do the latter in a relatively care-free way. It also helps that Korea is very English-friendly; street names and subway stops are translated into English, and I have ran into quite a few English speakers on occasion in shops and restaurants. #2. Expect to be surprised. People generally have a very romantic view of life in the big city, but it definitely has its own drawbacks. To be sure, I'm loving the convenience of living next to a subway station, being able to hop out on the street and pick up free wi-fi at any one of the nearby cafes, and having easy access to all the goods and necessities I need. However, my apartment is basically one room with no clear or distinguishable bedroom, living space, or kitchen; it's sort of all just blended together. Same goes for the bathroom, the floor of the bathroom serves as the floor of the shower. This style of bathroom is actually pretty common to Korea and China, so if you've never experienced anything like this before, it might take a while to get used to. #3. Expect to have your mind blown. As in, elevator buttons that you can un-press, diagonal crosswalks, key-less door locks, and little foam pads for your car door. Honestly, Korean people think of everything. #4. Be grateful for the little things, like being able to unlock the main door to your apartment. So my first day here I was given a sheet of paper with a map and the pass-codes for the main door and my apartment door. On some locks, there is a special combination of keys you must press in addition to entering the code, I did not know this, so I figured I would just keep trying different combinations until I found one that worked. Well, my landlady caught me in the act of struggling and I guess I looked like I was trying to break in. She sat me down in her little lookout area while I attempted to explain that I was a teacher who had just moved in and that I was just trying to get back into my apartment.
There are many other little things that I never thought twice about in Canada and had to re-learn while in Korea. Like, figuring how to get hot water for a shower, turning on the gas so I can use the stove, setting up password protected wi-fi on a Korean-only site, and learning how to properly sort my garbage (they take this very seriously in Korea) to name a few. I spent the first night showering in cold water because I didn't know how to turn on the boiler. I spent the second night showering in cold water because I didn't realize the hot and cold symbols were mixed up! Don't worry, this story has a happy ending: I am now able to take hot showers. =D #5. Watch your spending, because temptation is everywhere! 1000 won here, 2000 won there, and pretty soon you'd have spent a good chunk of your money on a) food, and b) things you never knew you needed, like that cool organizational storage unit designed specifically for your bras. "Summer's off." "All the vacations!" "Only work 10 months of the year." Anyone who's ever cited the above reasons for why they became a teacher is a liar, and anyone who assumes the above is actually true has clearly never lived with a teacher. While I can confidently dispel the myth that teachers do not live at school, I cannot say that the dwelling of a teacher (or any educator, for that matter) has not effectively become a school, in the sense that the "teacher hat" rarely ever (truly) comes off. While I'm sad to say that my year of teaching mathematics to a brilliant group of students in Kazakhstan is now over, I am happy to report that I will be working as a science teacher at a Canadian international school in Seoul, Korea come Fall. Currently unemployed, I have been spending my summer months contemplating the new school year to come. As a new teacher, I get thrown with a lot of advice: "Make learning interesting" "Don't just lecture" "Let your students have FUN!" "Whatever you do, don't smile until December" "Whoever said not to smile until December is throwing out a bunch of bull-crap" I mean, all this advice is helpful in some way, but mostly, I worry. I worry because I know that the advice usually stems from some past experience; perhaps my adviser has had a brilliant teacher in the past and wants to give me some insight on best practices, or maybe the experience was so traumatic that it is a warning against what I might become. I know, and am reminded every day, that teachers have a tremendous opportunity to influence the lives of their students, whether its for better or for worse. I would be lying if I said that thought has never kept me up at night. So what does a young, novice teacher like me do during their free time? Well, this summer (like the last, and probably for many summers to come) has been filled with a lot of reading; books about science education, classroom management, cognitive psychology, teaching and learning . . . you name it. Books, and also a lot of web-surfing in search of inspiration and ideas for the next school year. The great thing about being a teacher today, versus 50 years ago even, is the incredible, vast, and extensive amount of information available literally (excuse the cliche) at our fingertips. With the advent of online textbooks, YouTube, massive open online courses (MOOCs), I really have no excuse for not knowing better. The issue now becomes knowing how to efficiently and effectively conduct searches, filter out the big ideas, and not get caught in fun yet unproductive Pintrest spirals, or the ever-so-looming YouTube vortex. I find myself constantly striving to be perfect. I work, rework, and surgically remove minute details in my lesson plans until I am convinced they are just so. Then along will come some new insight I've read in a book or online article and I will repeat the process all over again. I worry about many things:
Will my students find this topic interesting? Can they relate this to their own lives? What will they remember 10 years from now? Is this an example of content-based, activity-based, or inquiry based teaching? How can I work towards developing lessons that are more minds-on rather than hands-on? How can I better scaffold this project to ensure top-quality work? . . . and so on. The result of all this worrying is twofold: 1) my brain is now attempting to process more information than it can actually take on, and 2) very, very slow progress with my unit planning. I realize that I need to just give myself permission to just be okay with being a novice. I mean, there really is nothing more liberating than knowing you are not the best and that it is okay (splendid, even) to keep learning - that is a belief I want to instill in my students too! Of course, knowing all this, it is still a constant struggle to be mindful of it, and I am sure I will be reminding myself (and my students) of this more than once. So here's to wanting to be a great teacher, but okay with being good (modest?) one (for now). Angela Duckworth is an American psychologist whose work is dedicated to helping kids succeed (you can read more about her here or watch her TED talk here). Her book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance provides a summary of her own research and related findings on grit and it's reliability as a predictor for future success. The last chapters also include insights on parenting grit and examples for how teachers can create a classroom environment that supports grit. As evident in the title of her book, Duckworth defines grit as passion and perseverance for long-term goals. It is reminiscent of Carol Dweck's research on growth mindset, the idea that your skills and abilities are not fixed, but can be developed over time. The message of grit is similar to one that my grandfather has often repeated, "I might not be smart, but I know how to work hard" - that is, hard work exceeds talent. With effort-ful and deliberate practice, we can all acquire the skills we need to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. Duckworth's research has been mentioned in Paul Tough's book, How Children Succeed (see my blog post here) which in large is what compelled me to learn more about her work. Of particular interest to me is how I can use this information to better inform my classroom practices as an educator. Throughout my reading I made some observations and reflections, which I share below. The 'Fragile Perfects' and Creating a Classroom Culture of Error The term "fragile perfects" was coined by Duckworth to describe those who have yet to experience failure in a particular area, like straight-A students who have yet to receive a failing grade before they reach university. "Fragile perfects" are most at risk to be lacking in grit in their adult life. In order to develop grit and resilience, however, opportunities must first arise that demand it. While I do not believe it is within our scope as teachers to intentionally help our students fail, I do believe, however, that setting high standards* and creating a classroom culture of error can go a long way in fostering grittier students. (*still trying to figure out exactly what this means) First, it is important that each student is adequately challenged in the classroom. When basketball coach Ken Carter (made famous by Samuel L. Jackson's portrayal in the movie Coach Carter) benched his entire team for their low academic performance, he was met with anger. "Basketball is the only positive thing these kids have in their lives," many teachers and parents argued, "If you take that away from them, they have nothing." But therein lies the problem, Carter asserted. If we hold our students to low standards, we box them in and we send the message that they aren't capable of doing more. Carter had higher aspirations; he believed that every one of his students could go to college. Rather than relenting to public opinion, Carter fought to continue the lockout despite protestations from his community. Playing basketball, like learning, is a privilege that needs to be earned. As teachers, we need to resist allowing students to fall into passive learning modes and refuse to accept anything less than their best. One of my favourite quotes from Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov is, "The reward for a correct answer, is a harder question." I think that as teachers we need to send the message that great success demands a high level of challenge and rigor, and that everybody is capable of success so long as they are willing to put in the work. Next, it is important to show students that perfection and being right is not as important as the ability to bounce back from failure. Creating a classroom culture of error means that teachers need to be conscious of how we react when we make mistakes in the classroom. Do we get flustered and embarrassed, or do we say, "Oh it seems I've made an error somewhere, let me try again"? How we respond to incorrect responses and the words we choose when praise students also matters. Do we praise on intelligence or effort? "You're so smart!" sends a different message than "I like the way you kept trying to rework the question even though you didn't get it right the first time." Adequate challenge, a culture of error, and specific praise all make a difference in creating situations in which students gain more confidence taking on increasingly more difficult challenges. Goal Hierarchies One approach to prioritizing goals in your life is to create a list of all the things you want to accomplish, and organize them according to their goal hierarchies. It's easy to say, "I want to be an all star baseball player," but it doesn't always work out that way. In the short term, you might be praised for your ambition towards this higher level goal. However, simply having a high level goal without any mid or low level goals to support it is just an empty goal. Aligning your goals into one goal hierarchy that supports a higher level goal looks something like this: "Pitching . . . determines what I eat, when I go to bed, what I do when I'm awake. It determines how I spend my life when I'm not pitching. If it means I have to come to Florida and can't get tanned because I might get a burn that would keep me from throwing for a few days, then I never go shirtless in the sun. If it means I have to remind myself to pet dogs with my left hand or throw logs on the fire with my left hand, then I do that, too . . . Pitching is what makes me happy. I've devoted my life to it . . . I'm happy when I pitch well so I only do things that help me be happy." - Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver in Grit Generally speaking, we are not all that extreme. Nor are we all fortunate enough to have realized what our passions in life are. As a teacher, I think it's important to realize that most of us only see our students in the classroom context. We cannot force our students to enjoy learning science or math, but we can share the joy of learning and help students develop the skills needed to accomplish their personal goals. I admit, most of my students will probably never have to use advanced trigonometry ever again in their lives, but it doesn't mean that they shouldn't learn advanced trigonometry. In learning content that is difficult and challenging, students inevitably hit a brick wall. It's what they do in those moments of difficulty that is most defining. Whether they give up or persevere can either set them on a path for future failures or successes. Thus, I believe that the value of content is its ability to drive skills development in order to help learners become proficient citizens of the 21st century. Developing An Interest - Play, Passion, and Purpose The importance of discovering and developing one's interest is a topic explored in depth throughout the book. Is it true that the more you are interested in something, the harder you'll work at it? Or is the opposite true: the more you do something, the more interested you'll become? Duckworth contends that there is a third, more important consideration - do you find your work meaningful? To illustrate her point, she recounts the tale of the three bricklayers: “There were three bricklayers. Each one of them was asked, ‘What are you doing?’ The first one said, 'I’m laying bricks.' The second said, 'I’m building a church.' The third one said, 'I’m building the house of God.' The first one has a job, the second a career, and the third a calling. " Duckworth's insights are not groundbreaking or new. Time and time again, we are told to follow our passions and that if we are able to do what we love, not a single day of it will feel like work. Yet how does one develop a sense of purpose? I noticed an interesting parallel between Duckworth's ideas about developing and interest, and Tony Wagner's beliefs about fostering innovation in today's youth. According to Wagner, play, passion and purpose are forces that drive young innovators. Both Duckworth and Wagner emphasize the importance of a childhood of unstructured play and supportive parents who give their children permission to pursue their interests and develop their passions. As a classroom teacher, the most powerful tool I can provide my students is choice. In giving them room to explore a variety of topics that interest them, I can hopefully pave the way to helping learners develop a lifelong purpose. Final Notes I would recommend this book to any educator, administrator or parent looking to foster a culture of grit in the classroom, workplace, or in their children. In education, there seems to be an increasing trend in emphasizing the development of positive character traits (e.g. grit, resilience, optimism...etc.) rather than intelligence, which is well supported by the points made in this book. Also, I enjoyed the personal anecdotes and stories which helped make the research findings more relate-able. Moving forward, I'd like to adapt some of the ideas in this book into my classroom teaching. Specifically, I want to open conversations with my students about growing grit and developing a growth mindset. I hope that these conversations will be the spark needed to set students on a path to continued self-improvement. Duckworth, Angela. (2016) Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Simon & Schuster. Privilege is like an invisible door. You can walk right through it and never realize it's there until it shuts close for somebody else. y grandmother never went to school past the age of ten. She's a little too loud and boisterous at times, is never afraid to speak her mind, and to my family's embarrassment, can always be found haggling shamelessly with local shopkeepers to maximize savings. To some, her behavior may appear crude, but to me, my grandmother exemplifies the kind of rare and selfless individual who gives so much of herself away to help others that she's perfectly content with just being happy that others experienced success from her sacrifices. Grandmother never went to school past the age of ten. Being the eldest of three children, she stayed home full-time to look after her younger siblings. Born and raised in a time and place where getting an education was considered a luxury, my grandmother never had the chance at a post-secondary education, but I did. I am afforded so many more opportunities because of the country of my birth and the situation of my upbringing. It took me a while to realize it, but the success I've experienced in my life was as much pure luck as it was hard work. I was born into a privilege that my grandmother did not have and I have the chance to do something about it. Inspired by my grandmother, I adopted a simple classroom activity about privilege from an article I found here. I remember talking excitedly with a friend about this activity and the powerful messages it sends about the concepts of privilege, equity, and equality. I was not a teacher yet, but I was keen to start building the foundations for a classroom environment structured around social justice. My friend considered this for a moment, then said to me, "It's a great exercise. But the problem with these types of activities is that it can't just be about awareness. Okay, so we all have privilege to varying degrees, some more than others - so what? The question you need to ask next is: 'Now what can we do about it?'" I took her suggestion to heart and asked my students exactly that. With some help from a colleague, here is the follow-up activity I presented to my students: 1. Draw it- draw a picture to show what you would do to solve this problem. 2. Share it- share your solution with three other students in the class. 3. Write it- Now that you've listened to others' solutions, write down a few sentences to add to your solution. Despite the language barrier, my students surprised me with their many insightful responses. See their work below: Instead of sitting in rows, we should aim for a more optimal arrangement. Even better, perhaps we should all be equidistant from the bin. Sometimes, we need a little help from each other. Or maybe each person should be given multiple chances. Or what if... we each had our own bins?
Lesson Theme: Introduction to Probability and Counting Prerequisite Knowledge: Permutations and Combinations Here's an activity that I introduced to four groups of tenth graders in a recent unit on probability:
Provide minimal guidance as the groups decide on the number of combinations for each scenario. I made an exception for students who asked clarifying questions, such as: - Are there any repeating digits? - How many digits repeat? The hints are open to interpretation on purpose in order to get students thinking about the sorts of constraints they would need to consider when calculating the total number of outcomes. The discussion phase of the activity provided a rich opportunity to address student misconceptions about permutations and combinations, as well as the importance of reasoning, i.e. Does this number make sense? Is this estimate too high or too low? How does this number compare with my initial guess (intuition)? What if there were no constraints, what would the answer be? The Solutions: TEAM GARRY - 3 digit code, repetitions allowed. This hint is not much of a hint at all. "Repetitions allowed" could mean that there may be or may not be any repetitions in the code. So, one possible answer is simply 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000. There are ten ways of picking the first, second, and third digits. TEAM ORVILLE - 3 digit code, no repetitions. This narrows the playing field a bit. 10 x 9 x 8 = 720. Ten ways to pick the first digit, only 9 choices left for the second, then 8 for the third. TEAM APRIL - 4 digit code, numbers 2 and 3 appear in the code. (a) This would be significantly easier if the ONLY numbers in the code were 2 and 3. There are only 4 possible combinations, which are easy to figure out by hand: {2323, 3232, 2233, 3322} or 4!/ (2! x 2!) = 4. (b) With repetition. There are 4 ways of positioning the "2" in a four digit combination. For each way that the "2" has been positioned, there are 3 ways to position the "3." In total, we can arrange the digits "2" and "3" in 4 x 3 or 12 ways. If repetition is allowed, the total number of combinations would be 12 x 10 x 10 = 1200. (c) Without repetition. Similar to above, except that once we have found a placement for the "2" and "3", there are only 8 and 7 digits left to choose from respectively. The final answer would be 2 x 8 x 7 = 672 My notes and observations:
I ran my first ever half marathon today in Almaty, Kazakhstan and set a new personal record of 02:06:28 in 21 kilometers. To me, this record is less of an indication of the time and effort I have put into training, but instead it represents the numerous voices of encouragement and motivation from strangers I have met in a strange land, all of whom I am now proud to call friends. Without them, I'm not sure I would have ever participated in a marathon in the first place!
Origin Story When I first arrived in Kazakhstan, several of my colleagues had already participated in the Almaty marathon the previous year; some ran the 10K, some did the 21K, and a select few opted for the full 42K. As they each recounted their stories of training and triumph, I got a sense of the camaraderie and unity that was borne out of the journey they all shared as they strove to push mind and body to new heights. I wanted in. Over the next few months, I found myself training harder and running longer distances than I have ever done in my life. I shared many eventful runs with my training and running partner, Orville, who is, to put it simply - a black man in Kazakhstan. The local people tend to gawk at him with mixtures of fascination and awe. He is always being honked at by passing cars, interviewed by local television stations, and requested to have his photo taken (with or without permission). Orville regards his famed status with much grace, which I greatly admire. It makes me uneasy to see the way people behave around him just because of the color of his skin - but I diverge. Today, records fell. Legs sore, body fatigued, and yet my head is above the clouds. I am extremely happy I was able to meet such a great group people and be able share this moment with them. I have been doing a lot of reading (self-help mostly) and thinking (about the future) lately, though none of this has resulted in any sort of definitive action. This past week has been filled with many ups and downs, and it was one of those weeks that felt as if the downs tremendously overshadowed the ups. I have behaved in ways in which have made me ashamed of my character - I gossiped, and I complained - a lot. I am also guilty of being a massive consumer; a consumer of lies, outrageous acts of injustice, and rumor. I am sick of the complaints and I am tired of the negativity. It is time to break myself out!
I briefly thought of titling this blog post "Commitments for the Future" but that just made it sound vague and ironically non-committal. The future can mean tomorrow, or it might be some abstract entity far off in time and space. In the end, I resolved to come up with a list of "Do Now's" (so named after a common teaching strategy described in Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov). As a good friend once advised me, "New Year's Resolutions are a scam. If there are things you really want to commit to doing, then they should just be 'goals.' You don't have to wait for a new year to start living the life you want," (his approximate sentiments in my words). Without further ado, my current list of Do Now's: 1. Create more, consume less. 2. Stop complaining! Nobody wants to hang around a killjoy. 3. Drink more water. 4. Eat more fruits and vegetables. 5. Train for a half-marathon. (Run a half marathon before the end of the year). 6. Implement a "no eating out week" at least once a month. 7. Stop eating at least three hours before bed! Otherwise your sleep will be uncomfortable and your belly will feel like a stack of bricks (I know this from experience). 8. Work to pay off student loans. 9. Invest in a retirement plan before the year is out. 10. Read at least 10 minutes a day. 11. Level up in adult-ness. (Work in progress). Admittedly, the goals themselves need some work in terms of specificity, timeliness, and a way of measurement. But hey, I think it's a good start. For reasons I still do not fully understand, my grade 10 classes were combined with another teacher's classes today. Classes are 80 minutes each, and are split up into two 40 minute blocks. I spoke to the teacher of the other group beforehand, and from what I could tell from her limited English (and my non-existent Kazakh), it seemed like we would each teach a 40-minute lesson to the combined classes. It was not until the lesson began that I realized this teacher wanted her group to work separately from mine. The lesson ended up being a disaster, a huge flop, an extreme "UGH" moment if you will, and one that I'm not too proud of. It felt like I was trying to teach against a storm. I felt disrespected by the other teacher and students in the room because they were being extremely noisy while I was trying to get through my lesson. I asked them to quiet down a couple times but then the noise level would eventually go up again. Thinking back, I wish I had been more adamant on insisting that I kept my classes and never combined groups in the first place. Again, for reasons I cannot explain, it seemed imperative to the other teacher that we kept the two groups together. So by the time my second class came along, I devised a new plan. I was better informed the this time around. I knew I had to share the same physical space with the other teacher and her students, and I knew that there would be at least minimal amounts of talking. I also knew that I didn't want to enter in a shouting match with the other class (fighting fire with fire just makes a bigger fire). Instead, I tried my hand at silent teaching. I left the following note up on the board for my class at the beginning of the lesson: The Results - What Worked: The silent teaching definitely got the students' interest and forced them to keep an eye on the board so that they could keep up with what was going on. A few students got the idea and were able to explain verbally what I was trying to do non-verbally - and English is their third language! (So proud!) The other class was noticeably more quiet this time around, and without me having to go into a shouting war with at least a dozen other voices, the noise level was much lower in general. I also noticed that some students from the other class were intrigued by what we were doing on the board, and stopped to observe our lesson. Once all six trigonometric proofs were finally complete, I gave a dramatic pause, and POOF - I got my voice back! What Didn't Work:
The students who are less visual were really craving verbal explanations. While classmates volunteered to help explain concepts to those who didn't understand the first time around, two students told me that they still felt really confused after the lesson. I wish I could find a way to make this a less teacher-centered lesson, and create more opportunities for students to get involved. I did call a couple of students to the board once I felt they got the general idea of the proofs, but I was not able to assess all my students one-on-one. An exit slip would have been useful had time permitted. Next Steps: I'll try my hand at silent teaching again in the future, but I'd like to find ways to create even more student involvement. Our topic this time was the sum/difference identities for trigonometry and it was very theory-heavy. Next time I think a topic (or even short demonstration) that is more straightforward to understand will be more effective with this teaching strategy. Also, I resolve to make facial expressions more dramatic for a fuller effect! Other Notes: I later realized my big dramatic moment at the end wasn't as dramatic as I had hoped. I called a student up to the board to complete the last proof, and it wasn't until after I "regained my voice" that I realized there was a major sign (+/-) error! Here are two interesting questions I posed to my students in our unit on the transformation of shapes. (1) Playing card (on right): Where is the line of symmetry? I handed each pair of students a printout of the king of hearts and asked them to identify the line of symmetry. (2) M.C. Escher (below): Is this drawing symmetrical? Why or why not? It may be a good idea to preface both of these questions with, "What is symmetry? Give an example to support your answer?"
tedious, and it gives me some time to respond to all their entries. I try to vary the writing assignments as much as possible to add interest to the lessons, and students are encouraged to include pictures or diagrams to support their explanations.
The Solution: Both the above questions are meant to test how well students understand the idea of symmetry. Symmetry is any transformation that leaves the original shape or object unchanged. (1) In the playing card example, students often say that the line of symmetry is horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. In fact, there is no line of symmetry - as that would indicate reflective symmetry (mirroring an image). The type of symmetry exhibited on a playing card is rotational symmetry by 180 degrees (or point symmetry), meaning that you can cut the image in half at any angle through the centre of rotation, and the two halves will look exactly the same upside down. (I actually got my students to cut their playing cards in half at different angles to illustrate this property). (2) Most students are likely to state that the drawing does not exhibit any type of symmetry at all. Again, students at this stage tend to be familiar only with the idea of reflective symmetry. I will accept their answer as long as they provide a suitable justification. However, what I'm trying to get across with this question is that tessellations (translating an image/object) are a type of symmetry also. This creates a nice lead in to further discussion on geometry as it relates to art, or vice versa. Here are some teaching notes on a recent lesson I did on inverse functions with my group of grade 10 students. Learning Objective: Understand the definition of inverse functions and their relevance to everyday life. 1. Setting the Stage with Office Supplies Beginning the day's lesson with a "picture talk" can be a good way to get students to practice using subject-specific terminology. The pictures can be controversial, or you may choose to pick analogies relating to the topic of discussion, like the one below for instance. I find that leaving the questions open-ended gives students more freedom to get creative with their answers. A series of open-ended questions you might ask: What do you notice about this photo? What do you think 'x' represents? Predict: How do you think this photo relates to our new topic? Teaching Notes: A lot of my students like to shout their answers out loud when they get excited about a topic, which tends to drown out the quieter students and does not give them enough time to think. But sometimes, I get excited too and I basically just end up shouting “YES!” while enthusiastically pointing and staring wide-eyed at the students who yelled out the answer I was looking for. "The answer I was looking for" - which meant ignoring all other answers that may have added important insight to our discussion. Such habits are dangerous because they tend towards a classroom environment in which it is not safe to take chances or make mistakes. When I dismiss wait time and only acknowledge the quick answers, I am effectively giving everyone else the permission to shut down and stop thinking. To combat the issue of the shouting-the-answers-out-loud thing, I introduced this image by inviting students to take ten seconds (any more and they would have shouted the answers anyway) to silently look at the picture and gather their thoughts about it. When ten seconds had passed, I asked them to share their ideas with the person sitting next to them when they were ready. 2. Lesson Objective and the Enigma Machine By now, it is likely that students have guessed that the lesson has something to do with "functions" and "opposites." At this stage, I presented the day’s lesson objectives and key terms (with translations), along with a dashing photo of Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game.” I gave a brief synopsis of the events in history in which the movie is based, and explained how it related to our topic of inverse functions. In retrospect, I probably should have posed this as a question instead: "How do you think this relates to our topic?" 3. Intro to Cryptography Next came the fun part, and what formed the bulk of the lesson. The students worked pairs and were asked to decode a hidden message within a twenty minute timeline. The less hints you give, the more challenging the activity becomes. (You can download the activity page along with my teaching notes below). Once the twenty minutes are up, you’ll see some students scrambling to finish decoding the message. Debrief the activity with them. Discuss strategy- for instance, how were they able to determine the cipher? Follow up- how do you think Alan Turing and the British Intelligence were able to crack the unbreakable code? (May choose to show video clip of the relevant scene in the movie for dramatic effect). Extension- What is the probability of randomly guessing the code correctly? What assumptions do you have to make in order to do so? (Can also relate topic to permutations and combinations). Teaching Notes: I downloaded a 20 minute digital countdown timer and added it to my ppt so students can keep track of how much time they had left for the task. If you have any English Language Learners in the class, it may be helpful to post the English alphabet on the board as an added hint. 4. Consolidation I ended the lesson by asking students to write a short journal entry relating to the picture shown at the beginning of class. I think a better journal prompt would have incorporated a debriefing of the cryptography activity. The students' journal entries gave me individualized feedback on how well they understood inverse functions and the composition of functions. A common mistake I noticed was mistaking the concept of reciprocals with inverse. Some students wrote that 2 and ½ were "opposites", and therefore the inverse of each other. Something to address in my next lesson. Earlier this week, our school Principal passed away. The announcement of her death was sudden and unexpected, and the impact it has had on our school staff and students has been tremendous. We were called into the assembly hall mid-day to be given the news.
It felt surreal as I stumbled back out into the hallway, surrounded by my teary-eyed and visibly distressed colleagues who were deeply impacted by the news. As teachers, we are always told that our jobs are not just about teaching and that we must simultaneously act as parents and counselors - those words never felt truer. "Put on a brave face," I told myself as I headed to my next class. But as soon I saw the look on my student's faces I knew I could not leave the matter untouched. Grief has a way of hitting us in strange and unexpected ways; I surprised myself when I got a bit emotional while speaking to my students. I told them that they had a right to feel whatever it was that they were feeling, and that it was okay to cry, to feel sad, or to even feel completely unaffected. It is moments like this in the classroom that remind us that no matter the amount of resolve and strength you have as a teacher, you are, and can only expect to be, well, human. My lesson on permutations was inspired by this post by Dan Meyer. I teach a group of very bright and mathematically inclined students at our school. While my students' computational abilities and mathematical knowledge are almost second to none, a majority of them tend to lack skills of inquiry and critical thinking. This is due to the fact that the curriculum is dense and completely knowledge driven, which leaves little opportunities for linking (making connections) or creativity. I believe the second culprit of this phenomena is the post-Soviet style culture and traditions in which the Kazakh education system is rooted. I see that my colleagues are under constant pressure to deliver heaps of content from a prescribed curriculum which is flawed to begin with. To provide some context, one term is roughly 6 weeks long. In those six weeks, we typically cover three units of work, with a prescribed 12-16 hours of teaching per unit. The end of each unit is followed by a formative assessment (1-2 hours). This leaves 10-14 hours of actual instructional time, of which is no where near enough time to cover all the topics we need to cover AND engage students in meaningful inquiry-based projects. As a result of the limited time constraints, we are basically teaching one new concept a day. The students, meanwhile, are left to soak up as much as they can (like sponges that retain very little water, or knock-off expandable water toys that actually stay the same size) before the end of term summative. Add to this the other 7-10 classes the students are required to take, and you can see the students have an enormous workload. They are in school six days a week, at least 9 hours a day. There's just no time! The default solution? LECTURES. There aren't many opportunities for engaging students in rich learning tasks, but I try to squish in bits of it whenever I can. As I said, my students are extremely gifted but are used to thinking in terms of algorithms and formulas, so I often get a lot of blank stares and a lot of "Why are we doing this?" when I engage them in conceptual thinking - which is exactly the point! "Why ARE we doing this?" I ask, and that really grinds their gears! Slowly but surely, the students are getting used to this rather "oddball" tendency of mine (in their p.o.v.) to turn things around put the onus of learning on them. And golly I think it's working! So anyway, here's how I began our unit on Combinations: I placed students into groups and organized a placemat activity. Instead of me asking the questions, I wanted to know what opportunities the students saw when looking at this picture. Some answers they came up with (no modifications made): - How much combinations can be made sum of digits in each number is 53? - How much combinations do we have if key consist of 3 digits? - What is the possible length of the hardest password? - How many possible variation of making code with all numbers (all numbers can be used one time, and must be used)? - How many numbers that password include? - What is the probability of randomly unlocking the lock? - How many explosive charges are required to blow it? As I ponder this list I see a rich minefield of opportunities before me. Within a five minute brainstorming session, my students touched on permutations, probability, and of course, "real-life" problems. I put "real-life" in quotations here because I believe the relevance of math to everyday life is relative. My version of "real-life" is different from my students, and I certainly don't expect all my students to be making calculations with factorials on an everyday basis. I was blunt with my students, though I certainly didn't mean to be... it sort of just slipped out. "Some of you might never use this again in your lives," [cue snickering, whoops], "but..." There's always a "but" of course, and I'll leave it to you and your imagination to fill in the rest of the sentence. Once the snickering subsided, I proceeded to introduce factorial notation. The sequencing worked out beautifully because once the students were familiar with factorial notation, we revisited the lock picture and the students were able to derive the formula for permutations themselves! All I did was ask "How many possible combinations are there?" and students were quickly able to discover that we needed to define more parameters in order to answer the question. E.g. How many digits are there in the code? Can numbers be repeated? Beautiful! At the end, I gave them the following exit questions: 1. Define permutation, in your own words. 2. Give an example (not used in class) of a permutation problem. I was surprised at some of the responses I got. First, I learned that the class had a diverse understanding of the word "permutation" (I never actually gave them a definition), so now I know where the gaps in my teaching were. Second, not only did their examples show me the depth at which they understood the topic, but some students were able to accurately predict the types of questions we would be covering in future lessons. So instead of using textbook questions, we can explore the ones they came up with in class. Brilliant! I somehow always manage to fool myself into thinking that knowing is the same thing as doing. Many new teachers get too caught up in the trap of wanting to be well-liked by their students. While there are good reasons for the "students don't learn from people they don't like" argument, I don't think that being well-liked by your students is a key attribute of a good teacher. As long as we make teaching about ourselves, we are losing sight of what is important for the students. At the end of the day, it isn't about how much they like me, but how much they learn from me. Despite knowing this, I still find myself looking to gain my students' approval, because deep, deep, deep, deep, deep down, this is what it feels like to be the "cool/fun teacher" that everybody wants to hang around with: It's like that one tiny sliver of light you see at the end of a long, dark tunnel that says, "You're still relevant! We need you!" The one great paradox of teaching that I feel will probably haunt me for years to come is trying not to take defiant behavior or ill-intentioned comments personally when I genuinely care about about my students and want to do good by them. At one extreme, trying too hard to be the "cool teacher" means jeopardizing my professional boundaries and compromising the integrity of my classroom. We've all heard this in teacher's college, "Be friendly, but you are not their friends." Of course, being totally impassive to your students feelings about you does not work either; at this extreme you risk being completely detached from the process of their learning. Maybe then the key is not to gain your students' approval, but their respect and trust - a much lengthier and more complicated process... Yesterday I taught a lesson about Euclid's theorem of proportional segments in right angled triangles (a wordy way of saying, "the geometric mean of a right angled triangle is the altitude from the 90 degree angle to the hypotenuse." OK, I don't think that explanation was any actually better). For my starter activity, I gave students three red right angle triangles and one blue rectangle. The triangles can be rearranged to fit inside the blue triangle. I wanted students to use this fact to help them prove the similarity of all three triangles. The idea was to use the rectangle to show that all three triangles shared common lengths and angles, and hence, are similar. It was an activity that combined spatial geometry and logical thinking. I was quite proud of the lesson and thought that this would be a good activity for students so they could play around with the shapes and see their proportions.
Then one of them said, "This is so boring. Why are we doing this?" Those words cut through me like knives. Talk about being impervious to student comments. I did not know how to respond to that statement so I ignored it and instead asked, "So have you figured out how to fit all three triangles into the square?" and I moved on. But really, that comment affected the whole tone of my lesson. Instead of giving students the freedom to make their own discoveries, I spent the rest of the lesson trying to defend and prove the value of my starter activity. I ended up doing most of the work, and I let the students get away with passive note-taking. [Ugh! Seriously April, stop being such a pushover.] Next time I will STAND MY GROUND, and no matter how long the awkward silence, or how much the students refuse to think critically, I WILL eventually get it out of them. They're here to learn dammit, and I'd better make sure they are they ones doing the work. I hope to eventually gain my students' trust; trust that I have their best interests in mind and will plan and deliver meaningful lessons and activities for them. Until then, I suspect I will have to deal with a lot more resistance. I don't teach for the vanity, and let's face it - teachers do not exactly have the best reputation these days. Something stupid about money-hungry fiends who take up way too much of the taxpayer's money, blah blah blah. It's not like we are educating the future citizens of the world or whatever, so no big deal. For the record, it is a huge burden to teach kids stuff they will never use in real life. Even textbooks have to work extra hard with their fancy graphics and enticing fonts to convince children that modeling the shoulder height of a male African elephant is an example of using cube roots in "real life." Note that the problem states "a male African elephant," as in a (singular) male African elephant. Why the hell does nobody ever care about the female population? What made this particular male elephant so special that he can have his shoulder height modeled by a mathematical function? Won't the other elephants feel left out? Some days I feel as if I am teaching from inside of a five foot thick cinder block that's been buried ten feet underground. A few sympathetic students will strain their ears and squint their eyes, but no one is really listening. Other times my lessons go so horribly that I wish I could morph into a bird and fly away. At least that will be more exciting than what my students will have to endure. There are moments when I forget that teaching is not the same thing as learning, and there are instances when I knowingly commit the heinous crime of giving my students the "I taught it so you should know it" attitude. I know, I'm awful. I have been told that it can take years to make a difference in someone's life, and most of us do not have the privilege of witnessing that change. I have also been told that making a difference in somebody's life can be as simple as handing out a lollipop. My "lollipop" moment happened on my graduation day.
Four years ago I was an orientation leader for the incoming class of con-ed 2015, Queen's University. A couple of us volunteered to write letters to future members of the con-ed family that year. I had a lot of fun with those letters and wrote them on hello kitty paper and decorated the margins with stickers from my personal sticker collection (of which I am very proud of). Only one person out of five responded to my invitation to email any questions or concerns they had to me. Orientation week came and went, and for a while, that was that. In all honesty, I had forgotten all about those letters. But one of those letters had been sent to a young man named Mike. Mike went on to become the Rector of Queen's University in 2014. On the day I received my Bachelors of Education, I walked across the stage of Grant Hall to shake the Rector's hand. He leaned in and said to me, "April I just wanted to tell you that you were the one who wrote the letter to me. The one with the hello kitty stationary and all. I wanted to tell you what a difference it made." I was so shocked I nearly pushed him off the stage (okay, it was a gentle nudge, but my family members who were watching from the balcony swore that it looked like I punched him in the shoulder). That story still gives me warm fuzzies every time I think about it. Who would have thought that a letter I wrote, and purposefully sprinkled with tacky looking gold-trimmed stickers would have been something that could ever have an impact? I mean, okay, I doubt I drastically altered the course of his life by sending him that letter, but I will be forever grateful to Mike for showing me what I difference I have made. To quote Drew Dudley who quoted Marianne Williamson, "Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, and not our darkness, that frightens us." Sometimes our students have small ways of telling us we matter, and they will come at moments when we least expect it. On Friday, I complimented a student for the cute stickers she had on her notebook. Surprisingly, stickers are not easy to come by in Kazakhstan, and if you know me, you will know that I am a proud owner of a shoe-box full of stickers that I have been hoarding since I was seven. Today, that student came to school with a pack of happy face stickers. She gave them to me. So, to my fellow teachers who may feel discouraged, worn out, or overworked, I say - teach on! Follow your guts and stick to your principles. Teach because you matter more than you know. Teach because you are powerful beyond measure. Teach because you have the courage to teach. On Friday, a few of my grade 10 classes began the new unit on "nth roots." My "lesson planning" currently consists of getting orders from my co-teachers on what they expect me/us (?) to cover the next lesson, me taking pictures of the related work pages, subsequently decoding these work pages which are all in Russian via an online Russian keyboard, and then translating them via google translate. The process looks something like this: Step 1: Obtain photos of the exercises my co-teachers would like to cover for the next lesson. Believe me, I am not exaggerating when I say that these are all to be covered within one forty minute lesson. Oh, and have I mentioned that the curriculum here is about a trillion times more advanced than the Canadian one? Units covered in the grade 10 math curriculum include sequences (okay, so far so good), nth roots (seems alright, until you see what types of questions the students are expected to solve), properties of functions (don't see this until gr. 11 in Canadian curriculum), vectors and equations of a line and circle (gr. 12), reciprocal functions (gr. 11/12), trigonometric functions (gr. 11/12), probability (at grade level), modelling mathematics (11), transformations of shapes (11/12), combinations (12), and finally, logarithmic and exponential functions (11/12). My first reaction was shock and awe, and I think those are still accurate descriptors for how I feel now. Step 2: Convert questions to an electronic format. Step 3: Copy and paste Russian text into Google translate. Pray that the translation is comprehensible. Step 4: Do the work! --> Understand it! --> Master it!
Sometime in the distant future: Actually plan the lesson! Teaching is a deeply humbling pursuit. No matter how much I think I know, I discover that there is always more to learn. Sometimes I feel silly taking notes in class while my co-teacher is teaching. Sometimes I think I hear them making fun in their native language. But I persist anyway. I am here for the students and I will put in my best effort, even if it means looking "stupid" in front of the kids. I want to show them that it is okay to struggle and that everyone will at least once in a while. I am not just here to teach Math, I am here to teach the students. Besides learning a bit of math, I hope that my students learn the skills of patience (because math has a reputation of creating short-tempered monsters), persistence (do the work, and the payoff will come), and that mistakes are okay (life is messy)! Okay, I know this is way late, but I thought I would compose a list of my packing successes and regrets: a) for future reference, and b) for anyone who might be considering travel/living abroad.
Some things I was glad I packed:
Some things I wish I brought:
I've been able to purchase all other things I need here for low to mid-range prices so thankfully my list of packing regrets is not sky-high. To give you an example, I was able to purchase the items below for about 20 USD in total, which amounted to less than $2 an item. Last Thursday, I finally got to meet some of the students I will be working with this year and it was a real pleasure getting to know them! I started off by introducing myself as one of the new international teachers at the school. Teachers go by a first name basis at the school, so the students call me "Ms. April." Since I will be working with them for the entire year, it was only fair that we take some time to get to know each other. I passed out two pieces of paper to each student (one white, one blue), and my first task for them was as follows: The first unit we are covering has to do with series and sequences. The blue paper I passed around to students contained a sequence with a missing number. The idea is that answer to their sequence problem would determine the order in which students would speak. In theory, this seemed like a great way to tie in bits of math instruction along with my introductory spiel, but since all of them were English Language Learners, this part of the activity took longer to explain than I had anticipated. While the students worked on the Starter activity, I passed my camera around and asked them to take a #selfie of themselves so I would be able to better learn their names. The students had a lot of fun with this, and I got some pretty nice pictures at the end: I had a professor in university who started off his very first lecture with the statement, "Ask me anything," and it's stuck with me since. I appreciated how he did not choose to just hide behind all the abbreviations attached to his name (trust me, there were many), and owned up to the fact that he was a real life human being who eats, poops, and sleeps just like you and me. So, I let my students ask me anything they wanted to know about me. I figured they were all curious to learn more about the new young and beautiful looking international teacher at their school (ha!). Most of them wanted to know where I was from, what I thought about their country and their city, how long I would be staying at the school, and what my hobbies were. I answered their questions in earnest and they shared some facts about themselves. I am from Canada; I've had a very enjoyable time in Taldykorgan so far and I love seeing the mountains as I walk to work everyday; my current contract allows me to stay for one year; and I enjoy reading, playing volleyball, badminton, and drawing. I learned that most of the boys enjoy playing football (soccer) and basketball while the girls had a wider range of hobbies, including playing musical instruments, watching anime, and reading. I got the feeling that the students wanted to share more, but their limited English language prevented them from sharing any thoughts that may have been too difficult to express. After the sharing, I showed the students some pictures that represented me and where I am from. In particular, they were very interested in my grade 8 class photo. I explained to them that I grew up with people from many different ethnicities, and that there was no single colour of skin that defined "Canadian." Also posted some examples of my artwork from high school since drawing is one of my hobbies. I got a big reaction from the boys when they saw my pencil crayon drawing from the cover of "World of Warcraft" which I wasn't expecting. I think I gained some massive cool points for that. I shared with the students what my reasons were for teaching, and talked a bit about my teaching philosophy in language that was more accessible to them. I framed my classroom expectations within a brief talk I called "How to Ace Math Class." There are only three rules in my classroom and they are not optional. They are: listen ACTIVELY, take good notes, and participate! I took some time to talk about what each rule entails, and explained the rationale behind each one. I chose these specific rules because I learned from the experience international staff that the students will often chat among themselves during instructional time, and that they are used to being spoon-fed information so it is not unusual for students to sit passively in class. I think if I were to teach in Canada, I would have to rethink these rules a bit. Keep in mind that many teachers in Canada and the US will spend at least the first week discussing expectations and classroom procedures, I only had 20 minutes - and that is longer than most local teachers spend on this topic. The culture here is just different, and the norm is to jump right into curricular content. The good news is that there are no major behavioural issues with the students. As I learn more about my classes, however, I will continue to introduce and rework new routines and procedures on an as-needed basis so that we can have a successful year together. My concluding message? "Never miss an opportunity to be fabulous," (advice from one of my teacher idols Tina Seelig).
Today was the official first day of classes, and I did absolutely nothing. As someone who values organization and preparedness, I am left feeling adrift. I feel like I'm stuck in a cycle of restlessness and unproductive-ness, and I'm itching to get out of it. But since everyone is assuring me that this is normal, I am doing my best to just go with the flow. Flexibility is Key To give you a little bit of context, all international teachers are paired with local Kazak or Russian speaking teachers for every class we teach. An international teacher may be working with anywhere between 3-7 national teachers each year. As a result, curriculum planning is arguably one of the most difficult parts of the job. Aside from those who teach English, a majority of national teaching staff only understand limited English. Google translate is not always the most reliable, which means I have to muster all the charades skills I have just to communicate simple sentences with the local teachers whom I work with. To add to the challenge, the school timetables are still in the process of being finalized since every school within the *** network (acronym omitted in case of publishing issues) must wait for a set of directives from the headquarters in Astana before the real planning can begin. This means that everything is currently being run on an ad hoc basis, and will likely continue this way until mid-September. Since I've had so much free time in the last two days, I've mostly been reworking my introductory powerpoint and reviewing key concepts for the first unit I will be teaching (whenever that may be). Aside from wanting to just hit the ground running (a sentiment I've been warned I might later regret having), my experience at *** have been very positive so far. The staff are supportive and the students are extremely talented and well-behaved. Some Background Information About the School ('Shkola') For those who are new to my teaching journey, I am a new teacher at the *** school of Math and Physics in Kazakhstan. *** is a network of schools around the country whose aim is "to increase the intellectual capacity of Kazakhstan as well as to implement the best Kazakhstani and international practices." The locals usually refer to *** as the "President's School." *** is an extension of the public education system in Kazakhstan, but students must pass an exam to get into the school, and they must maintain their grades to stay. The schools have a trilingual policy in which students receive instruction in Russian, Kazak, and English. The facilities are clean and well maintained. The hallways are MASSIVE compared to the schools in Canada. There is a canteen that is open all day, where teachers and students can have lunch for cheap (a regular meal at lunch would cost me no more than 3 USD). In all, there are over 300 staff members that assist with various upkeep activities at the school; from security to plant maintenance (they take their plants very seriously here). The Teachers ('Uchitelya') International teachers are invited from around the world to help shape the new educational models and introduce innovative teaching practices into the country. Out of the 170 or so teaching staff, there are about 20 international teachers. One of my favourite things about teaching in Kazakhstan is getting to know the other international teachers in our staff team. A lot of people back home think I'm crazy for coming here, but it's good to know I'm not the only one! I have colleagues from England, South Africa, the United States, Canada, Germany, Kenya, the Philippines... and now we're all in Kazakhstan! They have all different types of accents and have taught all over the world. I love listening to their stories and hearing about the experiences they've had prior to teaching in Kazakhstan. That's all for now. Stay posted for updates about my teaching journey, and what it's like living so far from home. Leave a comment below if you have questions or words of encouragement, they will be most welcome. =)
I'm so grateful to have the support of my school and colleagues for my transition from Canada to Kazakhstan. As I mentioned in my previous post, I was met by a school representative and driver at the Almaty airport who accompanied me on the trip to Taldykorgan. Then, when we arrived at my new apartment in Taldykorgan, I was met by a VP (one who deals with the international teachers at the school) and a friend of mine who also works at the school. They helped me move my belongings into my new apartment, and later that day, two of my colleagues took me on a basic tour of the town. My New Apartment As someone who has been living the student life too long to have high expectations, the apartment I have been assigned is more than I could have asked for. While the decorations are a bit on the lavish side, I definitely have more space than I need! My apartment came fully furnished with a kitchen, living room, bathroom, bedroom, and spare room. In addition, I have a few updated appliances including a plus size fridge and a new washer. I was also left with some some kitchenware (likely from the previous owner), and given new bedding and bath towels to help get me started. The VP also bought me some food items like bread, yogurt, water so I wouldn't have to starve on my first day. A Festival What a treat on my first day! We managed to run into a festival/celebration (of what, I'm still not sure) in the streets across from my place. There were tents of cultural displays, people playing music, and someone even brought in their pet eagle! The School
About a 10 minute walk from my apartment, the school is large and spacious with a swimming pool (the only school with one in my city), tennis courts, a gymnasium, auditorium, library, canteen. . . you name it. The hallways are also incredibly spacious, contrasted to the narrow ones I'm used to at the public schools in Ontario. There are many pictures and statues of the President Nazarbayev throughout the school. Some things I learned on my trip from Canada to Kazakhstan : 1. Not all travel pillows are created equal. I was cheap, so I just took the one my mom and brother used on their trip earlier this summer instead of buying a new one. My brother had warned me against this, but I was convinced that he was just using it wrong. It was one of those firm, memory foam travel cushions and probably the most uncomfortable thing I could have used on the journey. Luckily for me, Turkish Airlines provided mini-pillows, a blanket, and a "comfort pack" that had things like toothbrush and toothpaste, a sleeping mask, a pair of socks, slippers, and lip balm to all its passengers (Air Canada really needs to step up its game). What I can say for sure though, is that having an uncomfortable travel pillow is better than having no travel pillow at all because after I arrived in Almaty, KZ, I had to take a 5 hour ride to get to Taldykorgan, the city where I now work. Since the bus I rode in was more spacious than the seats in the airplane, I was able to try out different configurations until I figured out the optimal pillow-to-head ratio and positioning to be comfortable for the trip. 2. Starbucks is pretty much the same everywhere. If they don't know how to spell your name, they will make it up. My first ever "butcher your name" experience was at the Starbucks in Istanbul airport: 3. Not all customs officers will treat you like a criminal. Prior to the trip, I had been watching a lot of "Border Security" (on National Geographic Channel) with my younger brother. So, after I claimed my bags at the Almaty airport, I was mentally preparing myself for this lengthy inspection process where I would have to declare all the food items I brought into the country (I packed some comfort foods like candy, chocolate, instant tea and coffee), and to explain that the fuzzy peaches I brought with me were artificial peach flavor, etc. As I was bumbling about the airport with my bags looking for the bag inspection area, one of the officers noticed that I was struggling so she stopped me and pointed me towards a door. I tentatively walked through. . . and that was it! So, for the ten minutes I had been trying to figure out whether or not they would let me bring my fuzzy peaches into the country, the school representative who had been sent to meet me had been standing about 4 meters away from me the entire time. And all I had to do was walk through a door. What a relief it was to see him there! 4. The "enroutes" in Kazakhstan are very different than the ones in Canada. Now, Almaty is only about 250km away from Taldykorgan, but they are currently fixing all the roads so instead of a 2-3 hour car ride, it took about 5 hours, during which I drank minimal amounts of water to avoid making pit stops along the way. 5. A little Russian goes a long way. Prior to the trip, I learned some basic Russian phrases to help get me started (e.g. 'yes', 'no', 'hello', 'goodbye', 'thank you', etc.). Since I've arrived, these phrases have been tremendously useful in terms of basic communication with the locals and it's actually helping me learn the language faster since I am at least somewhat familiar with some of the pronunciation. The native language here is Kazak, but I the official language here is Russian, and most people will know how to speak it. One thing I regret not buying prior to the trip is a Russian phrase book (useful for shopping, asking for directions, etc.). As an alternative, I've been writing down phrases and words in a little notebook I carry around with me, and now I know to look these words up ahead of time and write them in my notebook before going to the market. My next goal is to learn the Russian alphabet.
To read the prequel, click here. Before the school year came to an end, I spoke with a school counselor in regards to my worries about finding a job and having to fend for myself in the adult world. I asked for some practical advice on the job hunt/interview process, and the top five pieces of advice he gave me were: 1. Get a LinkedIn account. It really works! Exhibit A: my current job. Unlike visiting individual job search sites that add spokes to your wheel, networking is like adding entire wheels to each spoke (see diagrams below). 2. If you have an online or phone interview, don't wear pants. Check out my version of "letting it loose" below. 3. Always follow up. Call, email, or send a card to your interviewers to thank them for their time, and this could also be a good time to ask for feedback about the interview. 4. Practice, practice, practice, practice, and practice some more! There's no way you can prepare answers to every single possible question they will ask you at an interview, however, you can think about situations in which you've exemplified a certain skill that's relevant to the position, and practice telling that story in a clear and concise manner. If you're like me, not practicing prior to an interview will only end one way: 5. After you're done school, take some time to relax and do NOTHING (easier said than done). Then devote a good two weeks to the job hunting process - it's a full time job!
So, it turns out I didn't have to spend the full intensive two weeks job hunting... I was haphazardly updating my LinkedIn profile when I saw that a friend of mine whom I worked with two years ago made a post about teaching positions available at his school. I sent him a message, and a few emails, a lesson plan, resume, and Skype conversation later, I managed to get an interview with the school! The interview was an important deciding factor for me, because it gave me the chance to ask the interviewers about the school culture, some of the things they enjoyed most about the school, and some things they thought could use some improvement. Their responses were genuine, and they didn't give me stock responses that made me want to cringe ("Oh the students are great, yeah, really great! [Full stop. No further explanation provided]"). Another thing I appreciated was the fact that the school sent me a sample copy of the contract to review right when they gave me the offer instead of swaying me into an agreement before I could review the terms and conditions for myself. (SIDE STORY: During my time of post-grad panic, I accepted a part time position as a tutor for a tutoring company that was a two hour bus ride away from home. It wasn't until after the first training session that the employer revealed to me that training was unpaid. Which, isn't the worst thing if that was the whole story, BUT I was expected to attend monthly training sessions (an additional 5 hours a month, not including the induction process), AND that bit of information just happened to have been left out of the contract.) Tangents aside, because I was able to see myself working well with the people at the Nazarbayev Intellectual School in Taldykorgan, KZ, because they had been honest and professional in their dealings with me, and because I knew I would have at least one friend at the school, I decided to take the job. Of course, my family insisted that I also do a sh*t ton of research before committing myself to the position, so I did my due diligence and asked as many questions as I could before accepting the offer. After that, the rest of the summer was spent vegetating at home and gathering all the paperwork that was needed to obtain my visa. Up Next: Adventures in Kazakhstan - Getting There |
April SooInternational math educator who writes, occasionally. Archives
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