Keeping myself honest

I have to admit, when I first decided to start writing a blog I was skeptical. This is totally the sort of thing the average person either can't follow through with, or does a really mediocre job with. And guess, I'm no different. My posts have been infrequent, inconsistent, and often a mess of thoughts ridden with errors (someone decided I should be teaching english too. . . . yikes.) 

But hey, that's okay! I find that I often share the most negative aspects of my experience in one-on-one conversations with my close friends from home, because I find myself needing to vent. But trying to think of things to write in this blog (no matter how infrequent) has truly kept me honest. It forces me to think and to evaluate what my thoughts and emotions. When you get into a daily routine, it's easy to forget about all of the interesting details that an experience like this has to offer. Forcing myself to checkin, even if no one ever reads this, has been a fantastic motivator to remember why we're all here and to organize my emotions regarding this experience.

Be honest, we have needs

My entire life I have defined myself predominantly as a musician. Sure enough, I just went 4 months without touching an instrument before I caved and bought myself a guitar (soooooo needed to do that).  I lost my largest identifier and most important thing in my life very quickly, and am completely immersed among people who have lived lives that mean they won't quite understand what is that's missing from my life. When I tell locals I studied music, I immediately get asked to start singing pop tunes. (Not that this is all that much different from the American concept of what a music degree means). But as any artist will tell you, recognition is important, but that's not why we create art. Artists create art because of an inexplicable, insatiable craving at the deepest level of the soul that demands to met. I got honest. I have needs. And now I own a guitar. "I've got blisters on me fingers!" Still on the hunt for other things, but it's enough to keep my sanity for my time separated from Western concepts of classical music. 

Be honest, education is a mess, globally

The world is obsessed with making comparisons to other nations in an effort to paint themselves as successful, and find others that are doing right to make that success become a reality. That being said, the more you read about education, the more you realize that there aren't many educators out there who are satisfied with the state of the education system in which they exist. Unfortunately, there are even fewer educators out there that are striving to be an agent of change within the education system. 

Two of my favorite things that remind me of my role and how it pertains to students: 
"You believe in Santa Clause, you don't believe in Santa Clause, you become Santa Clause."

​Also, something my student teaching mentor shared with me that I will never forget:

“Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, 
"It made a difference for that one.” 

Be honest, it's for the students

It's not about me, you, a resume, coworkers, principals, money, or government officials. If these are the motivators of any educator, they're in our classrooms for all of the wrong reasons. With that, here's some photos of 130 students from 3 different schools being awesome! 

A camp themed "Making Music Builds Brains" in order to help the students better understand the english language through music. We sang, we danced, we played games, we got emotional, and camped in tents 10 feet from our classroom door, and it was awesome. 

Shoutout to my close friends and fellow ETAs for being the number 1 contributors to guiding these students to producing some AWESOME music and presentations in english.