Post London

Last weekend, Amanda and I traveled to London, England for an international teaching job fair.  We have enjoyed our time in Kuwait and the Middle East, but the time has come for us to move onto a new school and a new country.

Going into the job fair we were both pretty nervous.  We had already declined to renew our contracts with our current school, and we were dealing with the anxiety of not having lined up anything for next year.  Add to that our lack of experience (only 2 years, and no IB) we weren't sure if we would be competitive.  We were, though, and we had a wonderful experience.

The process is a bit insane, but well worth it.  We arrived to the fair on Friday, and we immediately began going to a few presentations. They were from the fair organizers, and,  later, the recruiting schools themselves.  These were great, because they afforded us the opportunity to see what the schools and countries were like.  We came out pleasantly surprised by quite a few of them.

While the interviews are happening, candidates and recruiters can place messages (CVs and notes in the case of candidates) for each other in the designated mail boxes.  Amanda and I each had a mail folder, and we were asked to interview with several schools through this process.  In turn, we put our CVs and a visual cover letter in the mail folders of several of our top choice schools.

The visual cover letter is something we created in PowerPoint   We initially created it for the interview sign-up session (see below), but we decided to include a few in the packages we were submitting to our top choice schools.

At 4:00pm on Friday the interview sign-up started.  This is a mad house period of 2.5 hours where candidates shuffle around a couple of rooms asking to have interviews with schools for positions they have posted. You don't have a lot of time to speak with each school, so you have to make it count.  In all but one case the recruiters were very friendly when we approached.  If they didn't think we would be a good fit (no IB, for instance) they told us and we moved on.

Several schools offered to look through our packages and contact us later about interviews (and all of them did, it turns out).  The schools that we pre-applied to remembered us even if they hadn't scoured our CVs yet, because of our visual cover letters.  They stood out and seem to make a difference.  Once you go to all of the schools you want to and line up your interviews for the next few days you are done for the night.  We were beat, but we decided to go to the restaurant/bar for a snack/drink before heading back to our hotel.  Interestingly enough, we were approached by a recruiter from a very, very good school while we were there.  His school only had a position for myself, but they happened to have seen our CVs and visual cover letter (with another recruiter, I think) and they were impressed.  We ended up meeting the next day for an informal interview.  It was a great contact to say the list!

Anyway, the first day of interviews is slightly nerve-wracking.  While the interviews are happening in hotel rooms, more school presentations are going on.  Also, each interview requires a fair bit of research.  It is a bit of a nightmare trying to fit everything in, as we were lucky enough to have lined up 5 interviews on the Saturday and two on Sunday with great schools.  All of the interviews were pretty informal, but all of the interviewers asked great questions.  On Sunday, we decided to cancel our two interviews because we had a couple of offers and one still pending.  By the end of the day on Sunday we finally got the offer we had been hoping for!

We are moving to Manila this summer to begin our adventure at the International School of Manila.  We have been researching this school for a while, so we were both ecstatic to be offered positions.  Amanda will be teaching Grade 3 and I will be teaching Grade 6 English and Social Studies.  We were both anxious going into the fair, but it was well worth it in the end.

Whoa.  It is late.  Time to go to sleep, so I can get up and watch the Ottawa Senators beat the Carolina Hurricanes.

A Teachable Moment for Them and One For Me.

Today (September 21) is my birthday.  This year I am lucky, because it falls on a weekend day (school week in Kuwait runs Sunday-Thursday).  Amanda has some things planned for the day, but, mostly, I just want to relax.  I still have some work I want to get to, or September 22 will be terribly busy.

Yesterday, I came outside to greet my grade eights as I do every day.  We are still practicing routines and fulfilling expectations.  One of my expectations is that before class begins they line up outside my door in a single-file line and they are quiet.  This helps to calm down the noise before the enter the room, and it helps to start the class on the right foot.  This group was a much talked about group last year, because of the many behaviour and discipline issues that came up.  I only had them for homeroom, so I never really saw much of that.  I'll be honest, before this year began I figured they would still be a tough group.

I was wrong.  They are great kids, and they crave structure and routine.  To that effect, we had to practice entering the classroom a couple of times yesterday.  In both instances one or more students were far too chatty.  I was getting in a huff by the time I had everyone seated.  I lectured them on the importance of our routines, and then I had them take out their books to start on the bell work.  Many stared at me dumbfounded, and I felt like I had accidently brought the wrong class inside.  I asked again, and they slowly started to take out their materials.

I turned to the Smart Board and I drew the screen shade down, so that they could read the instructions.  We were going to do a rapid writing assignment.  I turned around to explain this, and I was met with every single student standing and facing me.  It was like something from Children of the Corn.  And then they sang.  "Happy birthday," came at me in force.

I felt low.  I just berated them for not following rules and expectations, and now they are happily wishing me a happy birthday.  They are kids, they do get excited, and I need to remember that.  I even got a sweet card from one student, and a bottle of cologne from another.  Unfortunately, I don't wear cologne and it is a staple for teacher gifts in Kuwait.  I have five or so bottles stashed somewhere.

As an aside: My grade 8s love the crafting folders.  I already have one student who is a Master Noun Navigator, and several others who are close.  The image is the badge that they receive on Edmodo.

A look at the new classroom

The first day of school is tomorrow, and I already feel much farther ahead than I did at this time last year.  Amanda and I still hadn't arrived in Kuwait yet, and we wouldn't for another 6 hours or so.  The day before school started.  Eek.

My classroom is coming along nicely though, and I am really excited to get all of my plans started.  I've included a few pictures of the current set-up.  Let me know what you think! *The banquet chairs are not staying...our plastic chairs haven't arrived yet*

This is my "Crafting" centre.  The numbered and coloured folders tell the students which part they are on.  The folders contain the activities themselves. If they are just beginning the skill than they start with orange/one and move on from there.  The tree diagram on the shows the process.  Click here to see it up close.

Here is my missed work wall.  The days of the week are listed at the top, and the grades below.  If a student misses a day or more (up to a week) they will find all activities in the corresponding folder for the day(s) they missed.  It might seem like a lot of folders where 3 (for each grade) would do the trick, but I think this will be easy in the long run.  I won't have jumbled pages and the kids will know exactly where to go based on the day they missed.  After a week I will pull out all material, and the students will have to come directly to me for the information.  On the right you can see the words Powers, Galaxy, and Midgard. These are the names of the narratives we will be weaving in those grades.  Powers has a superhero theme, Galaxy has a space theme, and Midgard has a fantasy theme.

I have decided to implement a hand signal program in my classes.  It may seem a bit juvenile, but I taught these students last year and it was a constant struggle to keep them from blurting out whatever came to their mind.  I've seen the signals made with more gestures, but I feel that these four sum up the majority of the reasons a student needs to yell out.  I got the simple hand designs from IIT Bombay.

My desk and whiteboard.  I'm going to hang up some pictures in that corner in a week, so that it creates more of a "get to know Mr. Phillips" vibe.

These are located right beside the door in case students ever need a quick refresher.  I will talk about both of these programs in more detail later.

The view of the room as you enter.  It will be interesting to see how this has changed when June rolls around.

And the Planning Continues

We've been back from our glorious honeymoon for a few days now, and I'm already back at planning for the upcoming school year.  I kind of have to, I suppose, since our year starts on September 2!  Yes..our school week in Kuwait runs from Sunday - Thursday.  A bit odd, but I kind of like it.

Prior to the start of the summer, when I had some downtime at the end of last school year, I began planning out bits and bobs for the upcoming year.  Some things will stay the same and others have changed multiple times, but I'm trying to get the details right.  Best practices, I guess.

My units have been planned and now I am busy planning those first few weeks.  My wife and I have another week and a half here in Canada and then we fly back to the desert.  Once there, we will have a week or so to get our new classrooms set up, meet some of the new staff (including a new Principal for me), and prepare ourselves mentally for the craziness that is September.

I'm detailing some of the procedures and routines I want to cement with my students at the moment, and then I will move onto other aspects of my new classroom.  For instance, I still need to fine-tune my levelling system.  I haven't been working on it for a little while (busy getting married and all), so I mostly just need a refresher for myself.  I'm also busy planning out how I want my room (of which I have no concept of size or shape) to function.

I'm excited for the school year to begin, but I know that I still have a lot of work to get done before I even greet my first student.  Speaking of which, I should get back at 'er.

Honeymoon

I've been getting a lot more hits in the last week thanks to my guest blog post on the Class Dojo website, and I just wanted to send out a quick post about my lack of activity lately. I'm on my honeymoon!  My wife and I are currently enjoying what Cuzco, Peru, has to offer. We will be scaling Machu Picchu in a few days!  We will be back in another week and the posts will follow shortly after that. School is right around the corner you know.

Jeff

Travelling as a Teacher

My wife and I are fortunate enough to both be teachers, which allows us the ability to be quite mobile in our life.  Over the last few years we've been able to rack up quite a few stamps on our passports.  In fact, my is dangerously close to being full (I don't want to pay for a new one, because it expires in April).  One of the best parts of travelling is the stories we create and the depth in which we experience a variety of cultures.

I think that being able to travel affords a teacher the opportunity to broaden the scope of their teaching, as well as the connections they create with students in an increasingly multicultural classroom.  I'm often able to get my students to think about topics in the context of other students in different parts of the world, I can provide simple stories to get them interested in a lesson or topic, and I am able to inspire them to see the richness of the world around us.  We are vagabond teachers and I couldn't ask for much more right now.

Every place we go and every culture we visit we enriches our lives, and, as teachers, we are able to enrich the lives of our students.  Great teaching can come from teachers who don't travel, but I do think that travel adds authenticity to many subjects we teach.  Not to mention that travelling forces us to be a global citizen rather than a local one.  Just my two cents, but I couldn't imagine never seeing the places I've seen.  I met my wife in South Korea while we were teaching English, so I might be a bit biased.

Summer Vacation - Friendly PD

Amanda and I have now been back in Canada for just over two weeks, and time feels like it flying by. Before we left Kuwait for the summer I was envisioning myself relaxing for a few days and then getting down to some prep work for next year. In hindsight that was probably pretty bold thinking when I have a wedding to plan for and friends and family to see. I'm still churning out the ideas, but the physical work has slowed down. Amanda, though, is still busy making great resources on her site.

One thing that has come out of our visiting with friends, besides the great time we have reconnecting, is the exchanging of ideas. A lot of my friends are teachers or are married to teachers, so they have an invested interest in the discipline. It can be a pretty special thing to sit down over drinks and discuss hot education topics. Collaboration and sharing are the only way that we can grow as teachers and individuals. To be able to sit down and throw ideas about changing or improving education is an invaluable form of professional development. What I'm doing in my classroom, or planning too, might seem completely foreign to my friend who has just entered the profession, but he listens and tries to understand the aim I am trying to meet. Similarly, he has a lot of fresh ideas that he wants to develop and use that I think are great, but might not necessarily have been ones I would ever have thought of.

Even our non-teaching friends often get in on the chatter, which is probably because they are forced to...oops. However, they have a variety of professional and educational backgrounds, so they bring some out-of-the-box thinking to the dialogue. It is fantastic, and it is something that helps to reinvigorate the teaching mind.

School's Out, Now The Work(?) Begins

Yes he does.

Amanda and I are a day and a half from boarding a plane to fly back to Canada for the summer.  We are both very excited to see our friends and family who we haven't seen since we came to Kuwait last September (with the exception of my awesome sister who met us in Portugal for a spring getaway).  It looks like we will be back in Kuwait around August 22, which only gives us around 2 months at home. I know that the non-teachers out there are up in arms about the fact that we get summers 'off,' but trust me I have plenty on my plate.

I will be doing a lot of education planning this summer, as most teachers will be.  I have all sorts of ideas I need to perfect in order to start them in the fall.  I've set myself up for a lot of work, which wouldn't be so difficult to complete if I wasn't also getting married in a little over a month.  Amanda and I still have a fair bit of work to do on that front, and then we pack up and head to Peru for 2.5 weeks of honeymoon joy.  Wait...why was I complaining again?  I can't remember.  The summer is almost here! 

Photos from the past year

We leave shortly, so I thought I'd post a few photos from the past year.

Marina Mall - Kuwait

View from our apartment - Kuwait

Painting a student did with our school's initials (way too much paint used) - Kuwait

Portugal

Portugal

Colombo - Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

View from where we stayed in Ella - Sri Lanka

Elephant safari gone wrong!  He is chasing us after getting too close.  The picture is blurry, because I was getting bashed in the head by branches as the jeep drove away. - Sri Lanka

Random Thoughts

Amanda and I moved to Kuwait last September (the 11th, actually).  Before we left, I had many conversations with people about why we were moving and what it was like living in Kuwait.  

Amanda and I had a variety of reasons for moving to Kuwait, but they mostly revolved around the lack of jobs in Ontario. Teaching is an overpopulated industry in southern Ontario, because it is a very attractive career choice.  It is a relatively lucrative career, at least in Ontario, because teachers have a strong union that makes sure they are paid for the good that they do.  I am excited to eventually get myself entrenched there, so that we can start paying into the wonderful pension.

However, for the time being, we are expatriates working overseas to get experience and pay down our lofty debts.  We live and work in Kuwait at a school teaching our province's curriculum.  It is great to be able to teach the curriculum we love.  It really is the best choice we could have made.  I've already paid down a creeping credit card and my line of credit.  All that I have left is my beluga-sized student loan, and Amanda's equally hefty one.  A tall order, but living overseas will help us pay it back quicker (no car, rent, etc.).

Kuwait, as a place to live, is a bit boring.  There isn't a lot to do here.  That's a blanket statement, but Amanda and I are often talking about the lack of interesting things to do.  We are probably part to blame, but there just isn't  lot happening at any given time.  Toronto and Korea, both places we know a chunk about, all have a lot more going for them.  Kuwait has a lot of shopping, but that's not really my thing.  Not at all, actually.  I own a sparse wardrobe.

Driving is insane here, and we seem to witness or nearly witness an accident every day on the way to school.  They don't seem to see life as precious here.  It isn't uncommon to see a kid jumping around un-tethered by a seat belt, while a mother or father chats on the phone, drinks a coffee, and hopes their knees can hang on to the steering wheel.  This isn't hyperbole.

The maximum temperature for today is 45 degrees.  IT goes down to about 35 (maybe) at night.  Kuwait is hot.  It is a dry oppressive heat.  When I walk outside, it feels similar to opening the door to a pre-heated oven.   Oddly, though, it gets quite chilly in the winter.  I didn't expect that.  Not Canada chilly, but still jacket weather.  

We fly home for the summer this Thursday night (Friday morning, actually).  It looks to be around 25-30 degrees in Barrie (where we are from), so not exactly the kind of heat we are used to. It will do, though.

An empty space

Took a couple of pictures with our iPad today. My class is looking pretty barren now that there aren't any students left. My desk, on the other hand, is a disaster of paper.

A New Classroom, A New Adventure

My name is Jeffrey Phillips. Welcome to my blog.

As we approach June, I've started to reflect on the last year in the classroom. My soon-to-be wife, Amanda, and I moved to Kuwait from Canada last September to start working at an Ontario curriculum based school. In the next few weeks our year will close out and we will fly back to Canada for the summer. We will be back again in August to start our second full years as teachers. This year has been a big learning experience, as I imagine the first year is for every teacher. Even as exams approach I am thinking of things I want to do differently next year, things I want to change slightly, and things I want to research over the summer.

Part of the reason I am starting this blog is to monitor my own professional progress and to reach out to like-minded professionals. I have survived my first year as an English and Art teacher for grades 6, 7, 8, and 9. Next year I will only teach English for our grade 8s, 9s, and 10s. I'm already formulating a plan of attack for next years curriculum, and the more research I do the more interested I become using a game concept based methodology. I'm not necessarily talking about using games in the classroom, rather I am interested in using the ideas and tropes found in most games in my year, unit, and lesson plans. I want to incorporate the interest that kids have in playing games into the lessons I teach them.  I want to change the way I'm doing assessment.

I have a lot of big ideas, and over the course of the summer I plan to develop them extensively. My progress, research, and insight will be blogged about consistently (I hope). Technology is changing the way we educate our kids; this is the new classroom.

That's all for now.