In five hours, I will be able to say that I've now been living in India for five whole weeks! Crazy. It's funny...some teachers here make the comment, "Man, time has really flown by!" SOME teachers. Not me. For me, THIS week has been flying by, but overall, not so much. In fact, sometimes it feels like I've been here for months, and I can only speculate that that's because so much happens on a daily basis. Seriously, I feel like on any given day so much happens here that it ends up feeling like a couple of days' worth of events.
School itself is a whirlwind. Never in my life have I been so preoccupied with school. I definitely feel like a week and a half ago was my low point (in terms of my stress level). I let it get to the point that I was completely consumed by trying to learn all of these programs, and not only that, I was being way too hard on myself for not catching on quickly enough. But in a way, I sometimes honestly feel like a brand new teacher. Sure, I can get through a day on a wing and a prayer, but to actually feel good about my teaching, to actually feel like my kids are getting the best I've got, that's been a long time. The fact is, I got way too comfortable teaching at TCK. While part of my desire was to move just to "get out of Dodge(bullets)," part of it was the fact that I had just become way too complacent. I knew I wanted a challenge, but man, careful what you wish for. This place has challenged me to the nth (is that how you'd spell it??) degree. Not so much the living in India, and not so much the social dynamic of meeting and interacting with new colleagues, it truly is the self-inflicted anxiety and stress of wanting to do so well and to do that so quickly that has been the most painful at times. But now, five weeks into my stay and three weeks into school, I'm getting to the point where I'm beginning to feel a little more comfortable, and when I take the time to reflect on all that I've learned, I'm feeling a little more at ease, and sometimes, just sometimes, I even feel really good about the way things are going.
I'm getting better with our new reading and writing programs. I'm not 100% sold on their effectiveness, but I feel OK with my own implementation of them. Each day gets better and better with regard to that. Math has gotten better too. I've found some great resources online to help supplement what I'm teaching, and a lot of those are games. My class goes crazy for games (hell, I think any class goes crazy for anything that even resembles a "game). Games are truly the holy grail in a classroom full of kids. In social studies, I've bucked the system (which a couple of people aren't super pleased about) by having my class work on a biomes project. It wasn't really part of the standards, but I went ahead with it anyway because frankly, I needed something for them to do and also because I knew I could bring technology into it and capitalize on the excitement of doing a multimedia presentation. And so far, the kids are REALLY into it. And finally, the bane of my existence...science. Today, I did my first science experiment with the class. At points, I seriously thought about kicking down my classroom door and throwing myself over the balcony, but I kept it together long enough to get through the lesson AND not hurt anyone. It was particularly frustrating because A)It was my first experiment B)It was like 15 steps long and C)Kids don't listen so much when you're constantly stopping to ask questions, particularly when they have science equipment in their hands. It was a difficult process, but like anything, will hopefully only get easier in time.
Now, what's QOL? Any guesses. Well, here's a hint. Last week, I bought a car. A big car. It actually looks more like something you'd take out on safari in Africa. Or the streets of India, which in a lot of ways are very similar in terms of their level of danger. Next, I'm moving to a new apartment next Wednesday. It's bigger, in a better neighborhood, AND it has an awesome beach view. And finally, as you've probably already read, I joined the Park Hyatt, where I can escape on any given day to hit the most luxurious spa I've ever seen. It's got a small, but very nice gym, a kick-ass locker room, complete with stocked lockers (disposable undergarments, plush robe and towel, and slippers), a jacuzzi and cold dip pool, sauna, steam room (which smells like eucalyptus), a rooftop infinity pool, and not to mention, an AWESOME, SWANKY bar and restaurant. And they serve old fashioneds. And they serve Sapphire martinis.
QOL, my friends, is quality of life. I have a QOL that I've never before enjoyed...a (future) cool apartment, a (future) tank of a car, a (future) driver, a maid, great kids, supportive and knowledgeable colleagues, a gym/spa membership, good money, and the infinite potential that awaits me in terms of travel opportunites. You can see what I mean. I'm loving life in India despite the occasional bouts of violent levels of stress, which I hope are mostly behind me. And for those days where the stress level kicks itself up, it's off to the Hyatt I go!
Later, y'all. Time for some ultimate frisbee.
Ben
School itself is a whirlwind. Never in my life have I been so preoccupied with school. I definitely feel like a week and a half ago was my low point (in terms of my stress level). I let it get to the point that I was completely consumed by trying to learn all of these programs, and not only that, I was being way too hard on myself for not catching on quickly enough. But in a way, I sometimes honestly feel like a brand new teacher. Sure, I can get through a day on a wing and a prayer, but to actually feel good about my teaching, to actually feel like my kids are getting the best I've got, that's been a long time. The fact is, I got way too comfortable teaching at TCK. While part of my desire was to move just to "get out of Dodge(bullets)," part of it was the fact that I had just become way too complacent. I knew I wanted a challenge, but man, careful what you wish for. This place has challenged me to the nth (is that how you'd spell it??) degree. Not so much the living in India, and not so much the social dynamic of meeting and interacting with new colleagues, it truly is the self-inflicted anxiety and stress of wanting to do so well and to do that so quickly that has been the most painful at times. But now, five weeks into my stay and three weeks into school, I'm getting to the point where I'm beginning to feel a little more comfortable, and when I take the time to reflect on all that I've learned, I'm feeling a little more at ease, and sometimes, just sometimes, I even feel really good about the way things are going.
I'm getting better with our new reading and writing programs. I'm not 100% sold on their effectiveness, but I feel OK with my own implementation of them. Each day gets better and better with regard to that. Math has gotten better too. I've found some great resources online to help supplement what I'm teaching, and a lot of those are games. My class goes crazy for games (hell, I think any class goes crazy for anything that even resembles a "game). Games are truly the holy grail in a classroom full of kids. In social studies, I've bucked the system (which a couple of people aren't super pleased about) by having my class work on a biomes project. It wasn't really part of the standards, but I went ahead with it anyway because frankly, I needed something for them to do and also because I knew I could bring technology into it and capitalize on the excitement of doing a multimedia presentation. And so far, the kids are REALLY into it. And finally, the bane of my existence...science. Today, I did my first science experiment with the class. At points, I seriously thought about kicking down my classroom door and throwing myself over the balcony, but I kept it together long enough to get through the lesson AND not hurt anyone. It was particularly frustrating because A)It was my first experiment B)It was like 15 steps long and C)Kids don't listen so much when you're constantly stopping to ask questions, particularly when they have science equipment in their hands. It was a difficult process, but like anything, will hopefully only get easier in time.
Now, what's QOL? Any guesses. Well, here's a hint. Last week, I bought a car. A big car. It actually looks more like something you'd take out on safari in Africa. Or the streets of India, which in a lot of ways are very similar in terms of their level of danger. Next, I'm moving to a new apartment next Wednesday. It's bigger, in a better neighborhood, AND it has an awesome beach view. And finally, as you've probably already read, I joined the Park Hyatt, where I can escape on any given day to hit the most luxurious spa I've ever seen. It's got a small, but very nice gym, a kick-ass locker room, complete with stocked lockers (disposable undergarments, plush robe and towel, and slippers), a jacuzzi and cold dip pool, sauna, steam room (which smells like eucalyptus), a rooftop infinity pool, and not to mention, an AWESOME, SWANKY bar and restaurant. And they serve old fashioneds. And they serve Sapphire martinis.
QOL, my friends, is quality of life. I have a QOL that I've never before enjoyed...a (future) cool apartment, a (future) tank of a car, a (future) driver, a maid, great kids, supportive and knowledgeable colleagues, a gym/spa membership, good money, and the infinite potential that awaits me in terms of travel opportunites. You can see what I mean. I'm loving life in India despite the occasional bouts of violent levels of stress, which I hope are mostly behind me. And for those days where the stress level kicks itself up, it's off to the Hyatt I go!
Later, y'all. Time for some ultimate frisbee.
Ben
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