New School, New School Year

Friday we had our school open house. Monday will be my first day teaching at MEF International School, İzmir.

I thought I'd describe the work of these last 4 weeks for those I've taught or taught with, just to show some of the wrinkles of international teaching. This is my first experience teaching outside of the United States, and it has been revelatory.

When I went into planning for teaching English in grades 8 through 12, I had to adjust to a completely new set of standards. For many years standards for international schools were based on those set by Cambridge University in England, where the college entrance exams are known as "A-Levels." Four of my five classes (all but 11th grade) use the Cambridge standards, either through a program called IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education--grades 9-10), the A-Levels (grade 12) or the middle school"Checkpoint" exam that my 8th-grade students will take. More about 11th grade later.

For the Cambridge classes, there is a long, written exam I prepare my students for. The A-Level exam is four questions on two topics, which will be written out next June over 135 minutes. The focus is more on literary terms and critical analysis than exams in the States, which are multiple choice and focus on reading comprehension, vocabulary and other "bubble-worthy" skills.

There are several confusing things about the Cambridge standards. The first is the array of English courses they offer. I spent a few days planning to teach English Language & Literature to my seniors, only to find out that the class would be English Language (which is more of a linguistics course on the history and variety of the English language). 

Also, the Brits have a different way of counting grades. They count kindergarten as "Stage 1," which moves the other grades up by a number. I was working on my 8th-grade planning, only to have the 7th-grade English teacher tell me, "Wait, that's what I'm doing." I moved to "Stage 9" which is for the 8th-grade classes!

Teaching is hard.

I think I'll like the Cambridge form of exam far more, because I have always stressed writing in my English classes.

In recent years, a competing set of standards, the International Baccalaureate has grown in popularity. We are introducing it this year in the 11th grade and next year will have the "Diploma Programme" in both of the upper grades. The Language and Literature course is designed as a two-year course, but there is a series of four papers and one oral exam these students will submit (no multiple choice tests here, either.) The IB is based in Switzerland and has ties to the French baccalaureate exams kids there take to complete high school. So far, it seems like the IB is more focused on philosophy --students take a 'Theory of Knowledge' class from the humanities teacher-- and there is a greater stress on global applications in the selection of literature and in the themes kids can write about.

Here is a look at my teaching schedule this year.

You will notice that my schedule changes from day to day (although not week to week). This is the kind of schedule most teachers around the world carry. Most days have 2 planning periods, although Friday looks pretty full. I have filled in supervision duties on specific days. I'd estimate that my time teaching students is about 15% less of the school day than it was at my school in Tennessee. Of course, I'm head of the English department, and I'm on a couple other committees, so there will be plenty to occupy my time. 

Speaking of schedules, we have been asked to arrive no later than 7:30 am and stay until 4:30 pm (school starts at 8:40 and ends at 3:25). This is longer than I was expected to stay at my Tennessee school by about an hour--I arrived at 7:30 there, too.

I rationalize this when I realize that I will eat both breakfast and lunch at the school cafeteria, which is nice. I also hope to take nothing home this year for grading or planning. I should get all work done on campus with that extra hour in the afternoons--fingers crossed.

Several had asked before I left about the kids I'd be teaching. I know now that my biggest classes have 11 students (8th and 11th grades), and my smallest class will have 4 students.

For obvious reasons of privacy, I won't post the names of my students, but here are the nationalities. İ should specify that the "American" students all have Turkish names and seem to have lived most of their lives here. Still, they have one American parent, and many hope to go to college in the States. One 11th-grader told me that he has an uncle in California and hopes to study at a UC school there.

That's a look at my planning, my schedule, and my students. I forgot to take photos of my room, but I'll post some on Monday. I was able to add a few American touches, despite the fact that the packages I mailed myself from the states a month ago still haven't arrived, and I had packed a few extra classroom items therein.

This is Turkey. I won't stress about packages. I am really, really looking forward to this new school year!