The Bumpy Road

The more I work at the school, the more accustomed I become to their systems and the way things work (thank goodness!). I see pros and cons to the way things are done, but just find myself acting like a sponge, continually soaking things in.

Coming in as an outsider to anything always provides an opportunity for an interesting perspective. Here, it is a completely new education system, new school managerial system, everything is new. I am continually learning, but also continually comparing. This is why I love teaching abroad so much. There is so much everyone can learn from each other. Having a few vastly different experiences opens my eyes to so many possibilities, so many opportunities, and takes me a wonderful journey of learning. I have seen the good, the bad, the ugly and the wonderful whether it be in Canada, El Salvador, South Africa or England (and growing...).

Being in a place for a short term, such as one year, has provided me with some new opportunities. Opportunities I didn't really realize until this week.

I still have a dream of changing the world, and I am not throwing that out the window, but what I have realized is, is that I am still on the pathway to that dream, I am not there yet. In El Salvador, one of the schools visited we travelled down this dirt road, extremely bumpy, steep hills, only our master driver Pedro could get through there. We were all very nervous in the car, but when we arrived we were showered with joy. I had the vision of that joy coming immediately in my mind. What I was forgetting was the bumpy road it took to get there.

This week I had two observations, one ministry affiliated observer to improve the maths department in the school and one by my mentor in the school. Both lessons went great. All positive feedback. The best part however, is the support these two are offering. They know the challenge of my students and the population I deal with day in and day out. They also understand I am not teaching my subjects, I am learning a new system, and there is a lot going on right now. They are here to coach me through this process.

When I was 10 I moved to Oakville, joined the competitive soccer (football) world and played for a great team, great coaches. The following summer, I got cut from the team. I was shattered. When leaving Brantford everyone told me of the future for soccer it would bring me. That future had been stopped. But only momentarily. This is when I joined the Bryst academy. I trained, and I trained hard. I learned as much as I could and practiced non stop. Eventually, I was brought great success in the soccer world, reaching pinnacle moments I never thought possible. Right now, I am training, I am practicing. With the help of these mentors/coaches I am on the path to becoming that teacher I dream of being. The practice is intense and challenging, but if I had quit when I got cut from the Sting, I would not be standing where I am today.

No doubt these students are hard to handle, no doubt there will be good days and there will be bad days, but I am ready for it. I survived another week, I did hand out my first, second and third detention this week. But I also had a student come to me to ask me to mark his double side page of algebra work he decided to do when he was bored.

Learning is a never ending process. Life as a student may be over, but I am only just beginning my journey of life long learning.