Problems I Don't Have

Many teachers have names ruined by “challenging” students.

They no longer want to name their child Thomas, because for a whole year Thomas spent every other day in the principal’s office.

Amber is out because she cried every day for a month of Kindergarten.

I feel very lucky because I have never once had to deal with this problem.
Yes, I’ve had challenging kids, and yes I’ve had criers, but the only names that have been ruined for me are Hispanic and Turkish.

I doubt Maria, Jose, Berkin, Derya or Bilgesu were ever in the running for names I might give to my offspring. It’s one problem in life I don’t have to worry with.

So that made me think, what other problems am I absolved from having to deal with?

Well, I don’t have to listen to loud car commercials screaming at me to “Buy, buy, buy before the Semi-Annual Labor Day President’s Day One Day a Year Choose Your Weekend Sales Event ends!!!!!!”

I don’t have the problem of running up a huge air-conditioning bill, as I have no A/C.

I don’t have to spend half a month's salary on gasoline because I don't have a car.

I don't have a morning commute, don't have to yell at traffic and don't feel bothered by a "level 9 jam factor" on 121.

I can talk about personal issues with Chris while we're grocery shopping because no one can understand us anyways.

Never do I have to wonder if bottled water is actually better than my tap water - it is.

I can't shrink my clothes in the dryer because my dryer is a big ball of fire in the sky.

I don't have to worry about keeping my grandmothers in the loop by writing long-hand letters and mailing them since both my grandma's are technological genius's and not only read the blog everyday, but email me as well (way to go Nan and Nana!).

And maybe the best part of all, I don't have the problem of boredom.

Everyday is a new adventure, a new challenge, a new laugh and sometimes, the realization that I have one less problem.

(P.S. Chris has been busy with the camera taking pictures of all the students here at BUPS this last week, we'll be back to the high-quality multi-media Wehkamp blogging that you're used to in no time.)

Hump Day - by Christopher

After writing such a long, laborious and descriptive narrative analogy two posts ago I have run out of analogy juice. So instead I'll simply direct your attention to the picture above:

That was Wednesday. My first Turkish hump day.

I was like this man. I was attempting to balance myself in a way that was completely unnatural and uncomfortable to me. In my case, I struggled to balance my duties as an IT intern and as an ICT teacher.

The IT intern is needed all over the campus in every building at every computer where a fellow faculty member can't log in. The ICT teacher is needed in one specific classroom, in one specific building, at several specific times throughout the day. IT intern gets stopped on his way to anywhere by anyone who needs their printer firmware upgraded, a longer ethernet cable, an update on when scanners are arriving (I don't know), or their class files from last year transferred to their new computer. So ICT teacher barely makes it (running) across the campus to his class on time as eighteen amped-up 5th graders hit the door at the same moment he does.

Lunch break gets cut in half when IT intern gets called away by IT director to go set-up new counselor on third floor of building next door. ICT teacher calls teaching partner on the way and reschedules their planning meeting for later. IT intern gets stopped on the way there by another teacher who only needs five minutes, please, just five minutes, figure out my internet, please. IT intern arrives to new counselor late, finishes setting-up late, and so ICT teacher barely gets to class on time as fifteen amped-up 4th graders hit the door at the same moment he does.

Twice today I almost grabbed someone's shirt and shouted in their face, "I don't know what I'm doing! I've never done any of this stuff before! I shouldn't be allowed to tell children anything about computers! Or anything about anything!! I'm bluffing my way through EVERYTHING!!!"

But now that I'm at home in my 70's Turkish chair listening to Herbert Von Karajan on my headphones and typing this I realize that I've been bluffing my way through every job I've ever had in some way or another.

What makes this job different and great is that everything I do involves fixing computers or teaching computers. And I love computers. Always have. No matter how stressed I was today, I never really felt like I was working. Certainly not the feeling of drudgery I normally associate with working. When I got home from work I stripped down to my underwear, fired up my laptop and went to work reasearching and designing a lesson plan to teach podcasting to my 5th graders.

So yes, Burke. The first thing I took off when I got home from work was my pants.

And I may be onto something here. Not like 'I'm reasonably sure I could tolerate this career for thirty-five years,' more like 'I'm reasonably sure I would enjoy something about this career each day.'

I've arrived to work thirty minutes early every day this week and I kind of liked it.

Most of you who know me have now turned off your computer, outraged that I would lie to you so blatantly. For you few who remain, I assure you I'm reporting nothing but the straight poop. This work doesn't feel like work. And I know, I can already hear you from all the way around the planet: talk to us in three weeks, Chris. Let's see how fast your mouth is running in three MONTHS of this. Tell us all how much you like it then.

I hear you. Don't go overboard, look before you leap and a third cliche. Gotcha. I'll update you on this topic as the journey unfolds.


PS - We ate Turkish Schlotzkey's last night and it was AWESOME. No, I did not try the dirt w/ cream on it.

Rules, But No Consequences

Today I realized that Ms. Verda and I have no set discipline plan.

We elicited classroom rules from the students on Monday. They did a great job of telling us to be nice, to be respectful and responsible and to be clean, etc. But we never discussed consequences for breaking those rules.

How, after teaching for 6 years did I manage to start the school year with no set discipline plan?

Could it have anything to do with the fact that I'm living in a country where I can't even properly order a pizza?

Only today did I notice that no consequence plan was in place when, while serving lunch duty, one of my students threw a piece of bread across the table and onto the floor.

And I'm not over-exaggerating when I say that was, and has remained, the first and only discipline problem I've had in two full days of school.

No lying, stealing, cheating, hitting, cursing, running, talking, etc...the kids are good kids and so happy and nice to each other, the teachers, the staff, and the school property.

The school comes with other challenges of course, but it's nice that they're different challenges than the ones I'm used to.

Right now my feet feel like they have been walking for 3 days across a rocky cliffside in stiletto heels.

It's only 8pm but I think I am going to bed whilst Chris forges a battle with the four (yes four) laptops scattering our living room.

He'll be happy to tell you about his first few days of school after he is victorious with all these portable computing devices.

First Day of School

We did it.

We did what we came to do.

Today Chris and I began meeting our students and began teaching them.

Chris had a class of 5th graders and a class of 3rd graders rotate through his computer lab.

I met my homeroom class of 15 second graders.

Chris snapped a quick photo of us as we were touring the library.

Today we mostly discussed rules, organized school supplies, toured the campus, did introductions, and ate lunch.
Our goal today as a school was mostly to make sure the students went to the toilet, and got on their buses correctly to go home.
I think it's safe to say we were successful in both endeavours.

To celebrate (yes, we're celebrating at day one - we take every success very seriously here), Chris and I took the campus bus and found the "faculty only" restaurant.

Well, truth be told, we took the faculty bus and found the health center, the pharmacy, the electrical engineering department, human resources, a sculpture of the university's founder, and a philosophy of AI professor, without whom we never would have found the restaurant.

The bistro, as it's called, has great food and an amazing view of the city.

We ate Tostitos and beans and toasted our good fortune to have found each other and have found such a great new home.

Then we got buzzed off of one glass of wine because we're at 1800 ft. above sea level and that's 1200 more feet than we're used to.

Bring on Tuesday.