Good Teacher vs. Bad Teacher

To be quite honest, I was ready to come home after one month. I was fed up with the lack of systems and logistics. For example, it took two weeks for the technician to come install my internet and cable because the man processing paperwork wrote my cell phone number down wrong! Then when the technician came, the internet wasn't working so he left! He literally said, "it no work" and walked out the door! I. Was. Livid! It took another two weeks of my making phone calls and sending emails for someone else to come and fix the defunct installation. Now I normally wouldn't care about cable/internet but internet was and is the only way that I can communicate with my loved ones at home. It was extremely hard to only be able to talk to my parents using the weak internet connection at the coffee shop across the street. Nothing seemed to work right, there was a new senseless frustration everyday.  I quickly learned that when it comes to customer service nicesities just don't work, rude works. I don't like it but it gets the job done. 
Most of all, the reason why I came, to teach, seemed like a sick joke. I was really waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out with a big smile telling me that I'd been 'punked' and point out the hidden cameras so that my real job could start! School seemed to be a complete disaster zone, chaos that made 2009-2012 ILPCS seem like a walk in the park (and my dear friends from Lincoln know it was far from that). One day, within my first two weeks at the school, another staff member even tried to bully my computer from me! I mean really...who does that?? And to top it off, our paychecks were late, with no real explanation or projected pay date. They literally said, "if you're lucky, you'll get paid next week or maybe the week after that." Needless to say I wanted to come back home to what I knew in the United States! Well as you can see I stuck it out, and we did get paid, that really helped things look a little brighter.
As I approach the three month mark things feel more settled. School feels easier. But it leads me to wonder... Have things gotten better, or have I lowered my expectations? I think that it's a little bit of both. I'm no longer shocked at the screams and screeches coming from the hallway. I limit my time telling girls to get to class and clearing the halls of ones that are skipping because it pisses me off to high heavens when students yell at me for telling them to go to class. Not to mention they are yelling in Arabic and I have no clue what they're saying. I've come to the sad conclusion that actual 7th grade curriculum (and definitely 7th grade U.S. resources) will not work in my 7th grade science class because the language needed for vocabulary and the skill level for inquiry just isn't there. As an educator it makes my heart heavy and makes my hands feel dirty. I think that teaching is one of the most magnificent professions that one could have! Teachers influence and educate future generations. We mold young minds. We are more intelligent, creative, innovate, and talented than we will ever give ourselves credit for being. We work long hours with no thought of over-time (I would always laugh when parents would see me leaving school at 6 or 7pm and ask if I got paid extra..."ummm no"). We wipe tears, debunk fears, and encourage our pupils as if they were our own off-spring. We love them and we 'teach like champions' because we are someone's hero! Every year I've fallen in love with a new group of children. But this seventh year of teaching has been different. I've been disrespected past what I've ever experienced and devalued past what I anticipated. I've been met with a disgusting disdain for education, a lazy disposition, and a dishonor of the classroom. I want to love them, but honestly...I don't. Maybe I will, maybe this love takes a lot more time and trust. Maybe I won't see the fruits of my labor until the end of the year. Maybe I'll only see one light bulb flicker a week. Maybe...I have a lot of maybes.

But at the end of the day, I live in another country and I'm going to travel to and see people, places, and things that I've only dreamed of! If it was all good, I wouldn't be able to grow. So I'll just continue to trust what God is continuing to unfold along the journey.


Thank you for partaking in this dose of 'A Journey Along the Journey'! I hope that you continue along the ride, until we meet again...be blessed!