Home is more about soul than soil

It is the start of a new school year and we excitedly welcomed 16 new teachers into our ranks this past week.  As part of the orientation committee I spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday getting to know these fabulous new members of the ASM community.  I was quite fortunate to have already begun my ECIS ITC course as it made me super-aware of their different levels of entry as they continue on this transition in their lives.

Water, name badges and welcome bags awaited our new arrivals.
Inside: schedule, contact numbers, a local map and events magazine ~
just enough to be useful but not too much to overwhelm.

I do enjoy the helping and the organizing.  I connected with a fellow orientation team member from elementary who I otherwise would not have gotten to know. Helping new teachers connect to their support network is top on the to-do list and I'm thrilled to say my Italian was good enough to figure out phone plans, deals and get them hooked up.  And I had real fun hosting 30 people at my place for a welcome Lasagna dinner.

I could gush about all the other positive experiences I have had packed into the last 3 days but that wasn't what made me sit down and write.  Instead, it's that awkward pause that has passed between many of us during these initial getting to know you phase, the one that always follows the question "Where are you from?"

cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo by Todd Vanderlin:
http://flickr.com/photos/vanderlin/222462079/

I pause because I don't know how to answer.  Every one of these sub-questions has a different answer: Where was I born? Where did I grow up? Where did I go to high school? Where did I go to college? Where did I get my first real job and start a family? Where have I lived the last 5 years? Where do I live now? Where would I love to live? Where do I feel, in my heart, I am from?

I'm not alone.  Working in an International School environment puts me smack dab in the middle of many others who have the same pause.  I hear pride in their voices as they explain the complex answer to the 5 word question.  On the flip side, one new teacher apologetically answered, "I'm just from one place." I spent a wonderful 15 minutes learning about her family and the stability she knows and I hope, making her feel that she can be proud of her heritage in our transitional community.

I'm waiting for my copy of Third Culture Kids to arrive and am looking forward to my learning and how it will help me in being a better mom, teacher, daughter, colleague and friend through the insight gained, as one of the "floating tribe".

How do you answer that question?

UPDATE: I came across this video by Pico Iyer. He says it all way more eloquently than myself.

What were they thinking?

T-shirt sold by Children's Place that they took
off the shelves after a social media uproar

I'm not sure who was more shocked to see this t-shirt - the mom, the teacher or the woman in me? I've just finished an unbelievable MOOC run by Dr. Jo Boaler entitled "How To Learn Math".  I plan to implement many of the ideas presented over the sessions in my classrooms and I know we will all be better for it.

One aspect we learned about and discussed were the messages that society puts out there with regards to math learning.  That they damage our students, both strong and weak.  While many of us were focused on the more subtle ones like telling kids that it is OK to be weak in maths if you are strong in something else, this doozy of a shirt appeared on store shelves.  I guess there is still work to do!

From the Inside Out

Chapel of Kings College taken by my son while
sightseeing in Cambridge with my mom.

From the inside out is mostly how I saw Cambridge, UK this past month.  I spent 3 jam packed days getting acquainted with the group of teachers who are joining me on the ECIS International Teaching Certificate course.  We were led through the 14 month syllabus and CIE requirements as the rest of the time we will meet in our VLE (virtual learning environment) to collaborate and learn together.

'That's it?' you ask.  "You sat down to write blog post about reading a long, bullet pointed, standard based document in Cambridge with a cool stained glass window from the inside of the Church at Kings College?" Of course not.  I just needed to get the details out of the way before I start gushing about the incredible learning Helen Fail and Corinne Rosenberg led us through.  

While I knew this journey was going to be about me as in International teacher in an International school, focusing on my teaching methods, my students, my colleagues, our school families and the host country/local community I call my home for now, I had no idea that the concepts and theories I'd be exposed to would hit so close to home and give me some personal as well as professional 'aha' moments (and I hadn't even started working on my standards yet).  So I think I'm going to call this next odyssey, "My From the Inside Out Journey."

Over the next year I will blog, as I journey both in theory and practice through the 5 standards:

1. Education in an intercultural context
2. Teaching competencies for the international teacher
3. The language dimension
4. Student transition and mobility
5. Continuing professional development as an international educator

I enjoyed becoming part of a new community and look forward to sharing this year with my fellow Cambridge 2013 cohort.  In just 3 days you inspired and challenged me...what the year ahead holds I'm excited to find out and be a part of.

I'll leave you with my first major aha moment that I hope will help strengthen my relationships with colleagues and also other parents as I have a 7th grader who bravely journeys on with me.

cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo by Agromonitor Agricultura:
http://flickr.com/photos/bioproduct/367245894/

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by Chandrika Nair:
http://flickr.com/photos/35832540@N03/3330701660/

I am a coconut, not an avocado!  I find this hugely ironic since I would eat an avocado a day if possible while avoiding coconut at all costs.  I commit to realizing that choices I make are based on the coconut profile.  So when I'm in difficulty I'll stop to think about that and hopefully be able to remember how much I appreciate avocados and fellow coconuts and work from there.

Sit for a bit and compare the avocado and coconut.  Which one best suits you? In the comments share with me how you think this knowledge can help your relationships?