Lao Shi

China is about seven weeks behind me and I’m back in Brooklyn, sifting through notes from students, looking at photographs, trying to organize all the bits and pieces and memories I’ve brought with me and finally be home. I have neglected this task for some time, in part because emotions still linger, in part because […]

My last day in China a colleague said to me: “I haven’t gotten a chance to read your blog yet, but I’ve heard you have a problem with Christians.”
Is that what comes across here, that I have a problem with Christians?
I don’t have a problem with Christians per se, and I stick by this. […]

Because I have a compulsion for completeness I need to disclose an act of self-censorship on this journal:
Several weeks ago I removed a post from January 3rd in which I mocked a colleague’s blog, a first grade teacher who wrote in December that she was happy her students knew that the true meaning of Christmas […]

This past week my resignation officially became public news at the school.
In typical school fashion, my students heard the news through rumor and gossip before I officially announced it to them. I sent an email to members of the administration venting my frustration at this, as I found it distressing for students to learn […]

In New York, typical school party fare was pizza, rice and beans, chicken, pasta salads – the usual American stuff. At today’s Christmas party I was treated to:
Korean sushi rolls, which were filled with ham and veggies instead of fish.
Warm peanut milk with glutinous rice balls and peanuts, which tasted kind of like […]

An excerpt (un-proofed) from the journal of one of my students, speaking about a combined session of girls and boys Oatmeal. Oatmeal is the youth Bible study group – apparently boys and girls are usually separate, I guess to keep them focused on the Lord’s good word instead of their neighbor’s good legs:
So yesterday’s oatmeal […]

Instead of showing Dead Poets Society in class on Thursday, I taught a lesson on censorship in which I retold the story of the film and shared the administration’s reason for deeming it inappropriate for the classroom (though I kept out the part about the parents complaining so as not to sow unrest among the […]

Alright, so I’m at it again… more school related drama.
I wanted to show my seventh graders the movie Dead Poet’s Society, as it has strong thematic connections to our class novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Specifically, ideas such as “carpe diem” and, in particular, a favorite of mine this year, “question authority” are essential […]

Some people have asked me whether, in such a mono-cultural environment, where the dominant culture is a conservative Christian one, I talk with my students about religion or politics, since my views are obviously very different from theirs. YES, I DO. Last week I got in hot water because I shared my thoughts too openly […]

Friday I had the strangest meeting with a principal I’ve ever had in my short career as a teacher.
On Thursday, instead of a faculty meeting, we were forced to attend the Chinese track principal’s retirement party. It was supposed to be a surprise, but you can tell from the guy’s face he knew all about […]