Dream Job, Nearly

I am sometimes blown away by this job and how enjoyable it can be. In the years I have been a teacher in the past, I have never had a teaching assistant, let alone one who is a college degreed opera singer! It is a real privilege and joy to have her for many of my classes. Sometimes I have a professional dancer as my assistant. And the work day--imagine having enough time to do your planning and keep up with grading, coordinating with other teachers and actually laughing over things at lunch. Did I step into a dream or is this for real? OK, the conditions are not what I had before, like the brand new school, antiseptic cleaning, adequate heat and hot water. And I will not deny that those things are all good creature comforts that I wish we had here now. But now I have to ask myself how relevant those things really were to an education. OK so we are leasing a former Chinese high school, with no hot water in the bathrooms, the service people never use detergent or cleansers on any surfaces and the place is frequently freezing cold. Still it is a pleasure to be in a school where kids love to learn and have the opportunity to teach some gifted youngsters and other absolute beginners on the violin. Kids from South Korea , Japan , US, Germany, Australia and Iran. A place where the two highest administrators actually believe in arts and music education. A place where if your hearts are settled in the right place with integrity, pacing and values, the rest falls into place. It is gravy. Those creature comforts really pale in comparison to teaching kids with supportive families in a fair school environment where staff are not so stressed out about their jobs that they can actually enjoy what they do on the job. Isn't that how it's supposed to be? Let's stop blaming American education for the problems it is enduring. Let's find a way to make education something we as a culture actually value and care about. It saddens me that I have to step outside my own culture to experience this.

A sub, here for 3 days, made a comment that he really liked the laid back atmosphere, with 6 or 7 kids in some classes. This is something of a dream. I feel like I paid my dues and now I get to actually focus on teaching and the kids. I love the 5 minute commute by bike. I think if I really hunker down and don't go wild on spending in the big city I can pay down my student loans in 5 years or less. In the states I'm looking at another 20 years of payments on a teacher's salary.

Tonight some teachers will meet up at Moon River Diner, me included. I think I am ready for downtime over a milkshake.