What am I?

Ooo... I am a "Self-improving Travelling Lifelong Learner!" I bet the IBO would be particularly happy with that last one- I must be in the write career, with the right organisation!

Got me thinking about where I am at the moment in my life. And because my one of three readers told me to, I am gonna write about it here. NB. One of those readers is my mother.

When I entered teaching, I knew I wouldn't know enough about the stuff I was teaching. Because kids ask questions about everything and anything I probably didn't think of at School and University (Thank goodness- if we all thought the same way the world would not be so interesting!) And in a discipline like science- I knew there would be some things (probably Physics related) that I definitely wouldn't know. SO! I headed out as a teacher trying to learn most of the "stuff" that would be on the curriculum- for the first 5 years. I learnt quickly that only the experience in the classroom can help you with that. Of course there are everyday questions that challenge me about my discipline, but I think generally, I know my stuff.

 Besides everyday, kids want to know stuff like:

"If there is extra-terrestial life, will it be found in my lifetime?"

"What's the purpose of doing a graph by hand if we are all going to just tell robots to do it in the future, or speak it to the computer?"

"Can we spend time trying to invent a new element?"

"What happens if I put my family in a black hole?"

And I thought I would commonly be approached with this kind of question: " Can you find a different way of explaining the law of...... ?

key: "...." means something I thought I wouldn't, or didn't know.

And the thing is, now I feel I can answer that latter question: after 3 years, I'm pretty much done with this part of my teaching. I know my stuff, and I can answer (most) questions. It helps that I taught the same thing for 2 years, for sure. Now I'm ready to focus on the methods of teaching. And THAT'S what excites me. I suppose I better get a job at a school next time that feels similarly to me! 

I'm already working on getting my combined blog with my Grade 11's for Psych, My Psych wiki (still in early stages) which I hope will be contributed to by other colleagues, and of course I have my Psych Facebook Group so I can create events for my students such as "Paper 1 exam" and send them messages reminding them to study. This is all new for me. And being responded to well. And that, my friend, is exciting.

photo from: DucDigital using this license