Bad Teacher Part II: a teacher revisited.

After writing "Good Teacher vs. Bad Teacher" I desperately hoped that what I was experiencing was merely a growing pain, a portion of reality, a temporary upset. Now, I know that there are certain cultural norms that myself or any other expat educator will not single handedly, or even with a concentrated group effort, be able to change. But as teachers we live for change. We breath to see light bulbs go off and character develop in our little ones. Because we all know it's not the paycheck that keeps us coming back! I had to do something. I was dying on the inside! Now the staff had gotten much better. Many more smiles and greetings. Although some will still not even turn their head in response to, "assalamu alaikum." I mean really...if me and you are the only two people in a room you could at the very least acknowledge my greeting! I digress... The staff has been much more friendly, we chat about fashion, food, the administrators, and of course our rowdy students. The students were making acceptable improvements. Many days still felt like pulling teeth and herding cats but we were making progress, baby steps. I was just glad to feel like we were moving! And then...

In January I attended a workshop where Jon Bergman, creator of 'the flipped classroom' was presenting. I'd previously heard of flipped classroom, but I didn't buy in. After his presentation I figured it was worth a try. Flipped Classroom is a teaching model in which the teacher uses a video platform to create video lessons that the students view at home and complete notes as homework, this would normally be classwork. In the classroom the students' classwork is now additional practice or projects that might normally have been assigned as homework. Hence, flip the classroom.

So as I began a new unit I got busy making video lessons, guided notes, and training my students on how to view and take notes from my videos. Initially it felt like we were on a roller coaster ride of 'who's doing their homework' and Miss Zenani going DMX on those who didn't complete their homework. It was a lot of extra work, making videos and writing guided notes, and once again I began to feel weary. The pre to post test results from the first unit were okay, higher than the prior unit with no flip. But I wasn't sure if it was even worth all of the additional effort. Then came the Matter Unit. Ohhhh boy!! I had never seen so many A's (yes 90% and above) from my girls! The growth in that unit was tremendous. I had to show them what hard work could do! After making it a point to return both the pre and post test and call attention to the increase in test scores, I saw almost 100% homework completion in the following units! I was wowed.

As the month of March marched on I didn't even know these girls anymore. Yes some were still lazy, but most were excited! They were collaborative, taking initiative, and some were doing legitimately well (no extra curve or puffed up grading scale). It's been a refreshing change. It's made me feel like I matter to them, because honestly every educator wants to matter.

Here's the icing on the cake! I had to shared my pre and post test results, the students had DOUBLED (yes doubled) their gains! They were making increases of over 50 percentage points! I shared my data with my Science Advisor and Principal. First, the science advisor shares with her colleagues, who are impressed. Exposure! Then she asks if I would share my videos with another school who lost their science teacher. Absolutely! Exposure! Then she puts me in contact with another advisor in our system, after sharing my data with him he tells me he's going to feature me/my flipped classroom in the next EMT newsletter! Bam! Resume builder! The principal shares my data with her supervisor, we know principals love when their staff makes them look good. Name drop! Then she asks me to present to the staff during our professional development week. Well of course I will; I love teaching teachers! Again, resume builder! Now if you know me well, you know I'm not bragging, just gushing. I've been so happy for this turn around. I've been praying earnestly for a new season. And don't we know that God always comes through! So am I boasting about myself? Nope. Not at all. But boasting about my God. Well yes yes! Because favor doesn't come from man. And it would be downright wrong for me to think I did anything or had any influence all on my own.

So the bad teacher gladly eats crow.

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!

I use an iPad app called ShowMe to create my videos, here's the link to my page to check out some of the lessons: http://www.showme.com/Zenani-Fogg

The Upside of Blue

Returning home for winter break was the best thing that happened to me this year, and leaving...well that was the worst. After this much needed trip home I came to realize a plethora of things that I had taken for granted. Simple things that I never cared to give my time or attention. Things like the beautifully barren trees of winter, the smell of rain, the tranquility of cold winter air, the charm in my mother's house, the way my dad sings (very old songs) while he cooks, hearing my cousins play, being annoyed by my Shakiya's constant questions, standing in line at Panera, arguing with my best friend. I know this list may sound cheesy, but it's all the things that grabbed my attention and didn't let go. It is all the things that I never knew I loved and never fathomed that I would miss. It's all the things that makes home...home.

So upon my return to Abu Dhabi, not only did I miss my friends, my church, and loved ones buy I missed the trees, crisp air, rainy days, and parental homes. I missed the smell of coffee, the touch of loved ones, and driving familiar roads. Everything that felt right was a 14-hour flight away and that downright sucked! I was in a serious funk and all over again ready to leave. I could not even remember why I moved here or why I wanted to move here in the first place. I felt foolish that I packed up my life and moved to the middle east. It's been weeks and I'm still trying very hard to make sense out of WHY I left at all! In the grand scheme of things, two years is not very long, but right now it feels like I'm staring eternity in the face.

I had to lift myself up out of it, or at least try to. So I made a list of the character benefits of living in Abu Dhabi. I had to go past the surface stuff of saving, paying off bills, shopping, and traveling because although those things are great they are material and I've been able to survive without them. So I chose to focus on the experiences that are building character within me.

Patience!

I claimed to be a patient person, but ohhh was I impatient. I couldn't wait for anything! Lines in the grocery store, relationships, answers to text messages. I hated waiting. Well until I had to get directions from someone who didn't speak English, I hadn't realized what patience meant. I'm still a work in progress, I still don't like waiting but I can handle it a little better. I've learned that patience means listening closely. It also means understanding that what you want is no one's concern but yours and just might not be an actual emergency...so chill!

Firmness.

I'm a nice person. I don't yell, unless extremely provoked. And I try to get my way with smiles and sugar. Well I guess sugar melts too fast in this Arabian sun because nice was not working when it came to getting things done. A co-worker gave me a piece of advice when complaining about how I just couldn't get things delivered or connected on time. Her advice, "You just gotta be a b*tch." WHAT! ME! lol. So shortly thereafter I put her advice into action and low-and-behold, it worked!! I was rude, cut the man off when he was speaking; I was demanding and in my opinion down right insufferable. But the next day, my cable/internet was fixed! And this seems to still work anytime I need a service completed! So I came to realize that my version of b*tch was actually firmness. I was persistent without a smile. I was sticking to my guns and not taking "no" or "okay later" when the answer should by all means be "yes ma'am we will take care of that".

Communication:

(Disclaimer: I'm still working on it. Best when emotions are not involved)
It's easier to communicate with someone when you both have the same primary language. But being thrust into an environment where English sounds foreign to both parties is quite a quandary. I'm more conscience about how fast I am speaking, not using contractions, splitting verbs, or using sayings that are common to in our American vernacular. I've also learned to listen more closely and ask more questions because I have to keep in mind the dual meanings of words. For example: "open the light" or "turn the lights on"...same same.

Directness.

This combines firmness and communication as I've found myself in situations that were very new to me and probably would not ever occur if I were at home. There are the numerous times that I've firmly reminded strangers that they could not cut in front of me in the grocery store line, or any other line for that matter. But the best example is this one: while standing in line for cell phone services there was a man standing dangerously close to me and he was repeatedly touching his privates! Ummmm eww gross! But I didn't freak out (although I wanted to). I looked him in the eye and with a straight face said, "Back up, now." He then apologized and backed away.

I'm glad to be able to learn new things and develop in such unique ways. I don't think missing my loved ones will go away or decrease in these next two years. But God knows what he's doing.

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!