The Hardest Part of Teaching (Aka- What My Internet Course Didn't tell Me!)

Well, I've had real students for two weeks now.  I get to sit in the teacher's lounge and drink tea when I don't have a class.  Real live humans are supposed to listen to what I say.  I give homework.

I feel like a real live grown-up!

(Have you seen the movie, Catch Me If You Can?  Leonardo DiCaprio plays a guy impersonating a pilot.  That's how I feel.  I'm waiting for the guys in uniform to come get me and drag me away.  Wait, let's be honest... some days, I'm praying for them to come and drag me away!!  Ha!)

Although my experience in the education sector is ridiculously limited, I have already discovered the absolute, without a doubt, most difficult part of teaching.

It is not trying to pretend like you actually know what you are doing while a room full of monkeys acts like... well... monkeys!

It is not praying that you are actually spelling a word correctly as you are writing it on the board for the monkeys.

It is not keeping my impressive white (doctor's) coat clean and pressed.

It is not trying to restrain myself from laughing at the students when they say cheese instead of chess.

The indisputable hardest part of teaching is forcing yourself to stay in a room full of hormonally ripe children who don't really appreciate deodorant, don't have a clue what an Odor Eater is, and don't necessarily see the need for a daily bath.  Your every instinct tells you to run!

Save yourself!  FLEE THE STINKY HUMANS!

Yet, it is your job to stay in the room- windows closed up nice and tight to protect the stinkers from any illness-inducing breezes- and pretend that you are not about to pass out from the intense stench!

My, oh, my!  Middle schoolers have a special albeit odoriferous gift!

Pleasant View

My whackadoo students may be trying to kill me, but one glance out the window of our school and I decide that I can survive another day!

Um... yep, it's beautiful!

Sunday Sneak Peek: Pop!

Popcorn and a movie?  Yes, please!!

Sunday Sneak Peek: MudBoy

There are no words to express how I feel about this picture!  

I can only thank the Lord that my precious husband has taken over the laundry now that I'm working full time!!  Wish we could get Spray 'n Wash here!!

Dorothy Hamill Watch Out!

Our school prides itself on having a lot of opportunities for kids.  They have a bit of a Western philosophy of education.  As a part of that, every school has an ice skating rink.  Our rink isn't really ice.  It's some sort of super slick plastic that is very similar to ice without the upkeep, cold, and painful falls.  Sounds perfect!

Lucy has been so excited to go ice skating.  I ran into her class heading out to the rink on Friday.  It was my free period so I had to sneak in and watch them for a few minutes.

1 Down!

...35 weeks to go!

I finished my very first week of teaching!!  It was hard, and fun, and exhausting!

You can imagine that when I got home and walked out onto my balcony with a big 'ole Coke and some chocolate this rainbow spoke to my heart!!

The Lord is my strength.  He will never leave me of forsake me... even in the depths of middle school!  He keeps His promises!

And I have to throw this picture in, too.  This is Lucy and her buddy, Çinar.  He is in first grade and smaller than her.  His bike is too big for him so they always swap bikes.

He has this fancy, brand new bike that's not really ever been ridden.  Lucy's bike is straight from the ghetto.  You can't see it, but the front tire is white and the back tire is black.  It has a bent up wire basket on the front that Lucy wrote her name on with a Sharpie.  That bike has been well loved and wrecked often for several years.  So, I think Lucy got the better end of this bargain!  Ha ha!

They look so cute cruising through the neighborhood- the boy on the little pink bike and the girl on the big black one!

High School Hijinks

Well, it turns out I have a lot to learn about classroom management.  The 6th and 7th graders are eating me for lunch!  Ha!  I've already done about half the things I said I'd never do.  Whoops!  Thankfully, I haven't punched a kid in the throat... yet!

Yesterday I had my high schoolers.  They are awesome!  About midway through my lesson with my (25!) ninth graders my largest kid, probably 6'2 250 lbs, was leaning back in his chair and went crashing to the floor.  That got everyone's attention!  I thought he was going to go through the floor.  I'm sure the class below us did an earthquake drill!  No offense to Emir, but it was quite a crash!

Later on in that same class we had about 15 minutes left.  I told them I would teach them a game.  They asked if they could teach me a game instead.  I agreed as long as they would give the instruction in English.  So 5 of my guys came swaggering up from the back row.  They started trying to organize themselves and explain a game called Uzun Eşek, Long Donkey.  They sort of lined up like they were going to play leapfrog.  All the while the two guys in the front row had eyes as big as saucers.  One was saying (please read these in an accent), "No teacher!" and the other was saying, "Itz bad game!"  Ha ha!

This is when I stopped the game.  I told them it looked like it might be better to play outside some time next week.  They protested saying, "It's ok.  It's a soldier game."  Yikes!

Earlier in class, we brainstormed ideas for our time together.  This is our list:

sit outside
play games
watch films
listen to music
play football (that's soccer)
sing
karaoke
play American football
dance
read newspapers
street fight
arm wrestle

So... that ought to be interesting!

What's In A Name?

So... I have about 260 different students!!!! (! x infinity)

As you may be able to imagine, one of the hardest parts of my job so far has been trying to learn names.  Folks here take names very seriously.  They are really into the meaning of names and also tend to choose literal names that speak to their hope for their child.

I thought it would be fun to share the translations of some of the more interesting names...

First Names:

Short Story
Strong Forefather
Upright
Coy
Sea
True Khan
Untouched
Deep Water
Gratitude
Moonrise
Moon Hawk
April
Lucid
Jasemine
Spirit
36th Sura of the Koran
Manly
Silk
Pasha
Melody
Sprout (This is Callie's local name)
Command
Hope
Blessing
Gift
Spike
Suitable
Honor
New Moon
İndigo
Living Water
Natural
September
Rain
Cloud
Eastern Blood
West
Laurel
Kiss
Hawk Soul
Green House
Spring
Sunrise
Dedicated
Jesus
Rose

Last Names:

Traveled
Self-Crippled
Rock with Eyes
Humid
Lightening
Sensible
Fabric
Almighty Rock
Gentleman
Son of the Awning
Lots of Melting
Hairless
Snowy Back
Black Abraham
Black Abraham's Son
Sailor
Black Eyebrows
See the Day
Slap
Not Afraid
Bushy
Life Base
Plane
Flag
White Stone
Rock
Weird
Small Boat
Son of the Tall One
Trustworthy
Butcher
Falcon
South
White Road
Reads
Soul that Doesn't Slip
Son of the Ram
Head of the Class
Won't Fit on the Road
White Society
Volunteer
Without End
Slave
Living
Book Seller
Twenty Five
Appropriate
Mediterranean Sea
Epidemic
Uncle
Chopper
Sword
Born
Flower
Black Lake

Ones That are Funny Before Translation:

Tuna
Okay
Bora
Ufuk
Berfin
Taylan
Tolga
Alp
Mine
Yağız
Armağan
Ikra


You get the point.  I had to stop myself.  Once I started going through the names I had to laugh.  For a lot of them this was the first time I had ever stropped to really look at how the names were translated.  There are some really odd ones.  The kids laugh so hard at how I butcher their names.  I told them I was changing everyone's name to common American names like David, Justin, Tom, and Jennifer!

Fanatic

This boy LOVES his teams!  He gets himself all outfitted for the game and watches them so intensely.  I'm sure our neighbors think we're murdering someone whenever there's a goal!

First Day of School 2014

Lucy, 3rd grade

Callie, 6th grade

Noah, 8th grade

My 3 favorite students.

It's my first day, too!

See if you can find Lucy at the morning assembly.
Every morning the students join their class lines in the schoolyard for the national anthem, memorial recitation, morning announcements, and exercise.

Teacher selfie! :-)

Sunday Sneak Peek: Twas the Night Before School Starts

School bags packed and lined up by the door with care.

Uniforms selected.

And I had to show you this one.
Remember these?!  Callie found these at the shoe store and wanted them for her school shoes.
What a blast from the past!  I wore Roos to first grade and loved it when my mom gave me money for chocolate milk so I could put it in my shoe-pocket!

We are ready for a GREAT year at our new school!

Class List

I have been dying to get my class list.  Everyone said that we'd be lucky to get it by Thursday.  We weren't lucky!  For them it wasn't such a big deal.  My co-workers are mostly veteran teachers.  Really, it's only the English department that has a lot of variety in the ages that we teach anyway.  So, everyone else was cool as a cucumber, but my insides have been churning for weeks wondering what ages I would get.

As the native skills teacher, I expected to have each class for two hours a week.  (They have 10 hours of English instruction a week.  The English course teachers have the other 8 hours and concentrate heavily on grammar and mechanics.)  Our school goes from 4 year old kindergarten up through high school.  There is one other native English teacher.  (She's actually a local woman, but she grew up in Australia and has perfect English with the most adorable accent.)  So, I knew they would split the course load between us.  She loves the little ones and I said I was willing to work where ever they needed me.  As much as I like little kids, the thought of filling a 50 minute lesson without speaking a word of the local language (that is against the rules for me) was a bit overwhelming.  So, I sort of thought having the older kids would be a bit easier even though it is a well know fact that middle school kids are completely nuts-o!

We started the day with a teacher's meeting in which by law we had to be informed of several things.  So the vice principal read the "fine-print" type laws to us as fast as he could so that we could all agree that it had been done.  It was as fun as you can imagine.  Then they called the English department out to (FINALLY) give us our class lists.  I got 4th-8th grade.  There are  9 classes.

*Rabbit- trail:  It used to be that when I met someone and they told me they were a middle school teacher I would smile politely and respond with a hearty, "Well, bless your heart!  That is a special calling!"  Inwardly I would do a complete eye-roll and make a mental note that that person was not quite right in the head.  So, the irony is not lost on me that I am now a middle school teacher!  Boy, does the Lord have a sense of humor!

*Also, This means that I will have to teach Noah and Callie!  This is going to be so weird!!  My internet course did not prepare me for any of this jive!!

I had been working with the elementary department for two weeks helping them get ready, so this was a bit of a shock.  After the meeting, we all scrambled a bit and the sweet middle school team lead brought me up to speed on what's going on with them.  Then I went home to panic!  Ha!

Just as I was settling into the idea that I was actually going to be thrown into a room full of pre-pubescent whack-a-dos (I say this in love!  Ha!) I got an email today saying that our class schedule were on the server.  When I checked my schedule I was shocked to find that I also have a 9th and 10th grade class!!!!

If you are keeping track, or even still reading by this point, then you may notice that I will be teaching elementary, middle, and high school!!  Is that even possible for one human?!  Let alone a middle aged woman with a brain that only works half the time who only has a certificate from the internet.  I mean really, any old hack can complete an internet course!

So... here we go!  The adventure continues!  I am excited and terrified.  I have drilled my kids and fellow teachers on their discipline, class management, and and various odds and ends of surviving in the classroom.  I am writing lesson plans and scanning text books.  (And truthfully, I am cooking up a storm to help distract me from the thoughts swirling in my head!  Apple butter, corn chowder, bbq chicken, peanut butter cake, granola bars, marinara sauce... oh my!)

And I thought that getting my white coat properly pressed was going to be the hardest part of my job.  Ha!  Shows what I know!  Actual humans arrive on Monday and I don't think they are going to be admiring the beautiful razor-sharp creases in my lab coat!

“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."

2 Corinthians 12:9

"He remembered us in our weakness.

His faithful love endures forever."

Psalm 136:23

Chopped

Well, this happened...

We went for our back to school haircuts yesterday.  Lucy has been wanting bangs for over a year and I've just sort of tried to hold her off.  I know all to well how truly disastrous bangs are!  

But, as we were searching for a salon something in my head snapped.  I decided that if she wanted to enter into the mortal world of hair-hell, why not?  She's old enough to make her own hair mistakes!  So, I held my breath and said she could get bangs cut.  You would have thought I gave her a pony!  She was so excited.

So, the bangs look cute and they make her happy.  They really change how she looks.

Callie just got a few inches cut off of her beautiful hair.  She has the best hair!  It is so thick and healthy.  It is straight, but not stick straight and stringy.  It's got a bit of body to it.  I always try to trade my fine limp hair for hers, but she won't trade!  Rude!

I got a few inches cut off mine and he sort of layered it around my face.  I don't love it so much, but it will grow out and look the same as it always does in a month.  Ha!

Thankful Thursday

The last days of summer are trickling by.  And today as I pause to purposefully be thankful I can't help but think about where I was on this day 13 years ago.

I had just come in from walking my tiny baby around our neighborhood in his stroller.  I had no idea that anything had happened until my father-in-law called on the phone to make sure we were ok.  I turned on the news and sat on the couch staring at the tv in horror for three days straight!  So today I am thankful for:

* Being a citizen of a free country.  America may not be immune from difficulty, but for better or worse, it is an amazing country!  Living outside the States I can see it even more clearly now.

*Brave men and women who give their lives to serve and protect us.  I am thankful for their families, too.  Being a military family is a huge sacrifice!

*Freedom of education.  I was blessed to be able to pursue my education to the extent that I desired.  This is not the case is many parts of the world due to poverty or governmental restrictions.

*My family members who have sacrificed and served in the military.

*The American spirit.  Truthfully, I'm not typically a  " 'Merica rules" type of person.  I can see our country objectively and appreciate the good things about it.  However, in my experience there is something that sets Americans apart from any other nationality.  We have that "Be All You Can Be" or you really can be anything you dream of mentality.  In America you can be born a poor man and grow up to run a Fortune 500 company.  You can change your job, your religion, where you live, or pretty much anything you desire at your leisure. We dream big and pursue those dreams like no other nationality I've ever encountered.  I think this is what sets us apart from the rest of the world.  And, I am thankful that I was always encouraged to follow my dreams.

"As your name deserves, O God,

you will be praised to the ends of the earth.

Your strong right hand is filled with victory."

Psalm 48:10

Goodbye, My Love

School is coming like a freight train!  We are so ready!  With the start of school comes the blessed weather change!  Fall finally starts to creep in and I can finally stop stressing over the amount of sweat that my body is producing!  Ha!

We knew that last weekend would be our last chance to go to the beach so we made a day of it on Saturday.  We haven't been to the same beach twice... too many interesting ones to explore.  On this day we went down the coast to a beautiful sandy beach that my co-worker recommended.

It did not disappoint.  It was just one of those days that felt perfect.  The kids got along and played well together.  Justin and I napped on the beach.  We swam and played in the sand to our heart's content.  A great day!

Justin and Noah dug a giant hole.  Noah could stand up in it!

Although no sand-trap is strong enough to contain my boy.  He hulked out!

Look who jumped right into what was left of the hole and wanted to be buried, too.

My sweet Callie is a total waterbug.  She hardly comes out of the water.  That little speck in the turquoise swim shirt is her waving at me.

Thank you, Lord for this beautiful place!

Now we are ready for a great school year!  It's going to be a big one for us!!

If You're Keeping Score at Home

Since I wrote this post 2 weeks ago, Callie has lost 2 teeth and Lucy has lost another tooth!  It is so crazy how no one will lose a tooth for almost a year, and then all at once everyone's teeth start falling out!

I have to tell you what a mean daddy Justin is...

Callie was being a total drama-queen about her loose tooth.  She was wiggling and twisting that poor tooth.  It was maybe hanging on by a thread... she could turn it completely around, for goodness sakes.  After an entire day of whining, worry, and all around Callie cantankerousness over this simple tooth Justin relieved her of the problem.  As usual, she was fondling the tooth.  So Justin snuck up on her and knocked her hand.  Of curse, the tooth fell right out.  Callie was so mad until she realized that the tooth was out, she had no pain, and she had survived the near-death experience of losing it!  She wasn't whining when the Tooth Fairy left a lira under her pillow!

Workin' Girl

As of last week, I am officially working a real world full-time job!  I will admit this right here on the internet for the world to see...

I am a 37 year old woman and this is my first ever full-time job!

Eeek!!

Now everyone knows my dirty little secret.  I have never worked a full-time job in my life.  Now, don't be fooled.  I've worked a lot of jobs, including several part-time jobs at once, and often times more than 40 hours a week.  But I have never worked a salary paying, insurance providing, contract signing, grown-up job!

So, YAY me!

Thus far, the learning curve has been STEEP!!!

I'd say my grasp of the local language is pretty good.  But, once again, we've entered into an entire new realm of vocabulary.  Then, of course, there is the COMPLETELY different cultural perspective on just about every speck of the learning/teaching process.  So, in addition to lots of vocabulary, I've learned to keep my big mouth shut and do it like they do it... whatever it is!

I've got one more week until students come, and there's lots of work to be done!


P.S.- Teachers here wear white doctor's coats.  I've got mine freshly laundered, pressed, and hanging in the coat closet at work.  You can be sure that I'll get around to posting a picture of me in it soon!