Welcome to the Blogosphere!

Teaching is hard. I didn’t need to come to Vietnam for that reality to be substantiated. Whether I was student teaching, teaching math to G.E. D students, or teaching as a Peace Corps Volunteer, it has always been hard and it will probably always be hard. However, it remains one of the most rewarding challenges that anyone could face.

Here in Vietnam, I am teaching five classes, 3 sixth grade general math classes and 2 seventh grade pre-algebra classes. As some of you may know, I thought that I would be coming here to teach social studies, but a week before we left I learned that there was a greater need for math teachers and I was switched to math. After initially being very disappointed, I accepted my fate, mostly because I knew the possibility existed and I maintain the philosophy that most things are what you make them.
One of the greatest challenges teaching at the school here is not what I’m teaching, but when I’m teaching, because of the schedule. The classes are 55 minute periods as opposed to 80 minute blocks I was used to teaching in Atlanta, thus it has been difficult for me to teach my lesson in that amount of time. To add to that, Thursday is “club day” in the afternoon which cuts 10 minutes off of each class. To further compound the difficulty for me, the class schedule is not a regular daily routine. Sometimes I may teach one sixth grade class three consecutive lessons, before I teach the next sixth grade class once. Since I am not organized by nature, this is a big hurdle. This job, for the first time in my life, will require me to become ORGANIZED. I have no choice: Organize or die.

So luckily, Sharon has agreed to aid me in my transformation from “unorganized, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-and-hope-it-works” teacher to a more organized teacher. One thing that is better is math is easier to plan for then Social Studies.
The students here are much different than anywhere that I have taught before. They are much more obedient; although kids will still be kids and will try you and occasionally test my patience (they can get very noisy at times). However, they are the easiest group of students I have ever taught in that if I ask them to quiet down, they listen; when I ask them to call out answers, they are always quick with an answer, or an attempt at an answer if they are not sure; and they do their homework. Yes, you read that right. They do their homework! Last year, teaching in inner-city Atlanta, maybe one-third of the students turned in their homework. So far this year, 90% of the students have turned in their homework. They are motivated to learn and are extraordinarily gifted. A few of the students can do math in their heads as fast as I can. One often gets the questions right before me. And he’s 12.

The biggest challenge is that many of them do not speak English very well. It is sometimes difficult to assess if they understand me (I am trying to talk slower). The kids are 90% Vietnamese, but I have at least six kids from Korea, two kids from the US, one from the Czech Republic, and one from Germany. A few more students have lived in other countries. One of my students lives near me in District 5 (Sharon I were surprised by a “Hello teacher” greeting on the street).

When I was interviewed, I was amazed at how fast the school had grown, from 35 to 300 to 600 in two years. I have come to understand that as more Vietnamese people have become affluent opportunities for better schools have not kept pace. Thus, there was a waiting list at the other international schools. The government recognized and relaxed a cap on the percentage of Vietnamese that could attend schools such as ours. Since school started at least 10 more students have been added to our rolls.

As the year progresses I will try to write a few more nuggets and include some pictures. I will be running the Model United Nations club at the school, which presents opportunities for foreign travel. But, hey, you have to crawl before you can walk, so this is my official entry to THE BLOGOSPHERE!!!