Teaching is hard. I don't think anyone in education would disagree with that statement. I've substituted before but I wasn't prepared for life as a full time regular teacher.

That doesn't mean I'm not a good fit. Just that I get to struggle a bit more than other teachers might struggle. It doesn't help that I started about midway through the Spring Semester. I had to hit the ground sprinting.

I expected that coming to an Asian country meant the students were going to be super respectful and diligent. Ha! Turns out people are people everywhere. Students from over 30 countries fill my schools rosters as well as faculty from over 15 countries. With that kind of eclectic mix of nationalities and origins you're going to have a more "American" experience than Asian one.

Still, I quickly found that the difficulty in teaching was not in how to explain a challenging word to a student or even in keeping up with grading. No, the difficulty came from two daunting words: Classroom Management.

I have struggled to keep my more rambunctious classes interested and working. Even the classes that are full of diligent students are losing steam here at the end of the year. I'm looking forward to summer and having time in between my trips and next school year to read some teaching resources.

All this is to say, I'm growing as a teacher each day. It's hard but I'm having the time of my life. If the video and photography thing doesn't pan out then it's good to know I can always teach.

That's all for this week travelers.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May He make His face shine upon you.
And give you peace.

See ya next time!

- Ken See
Silk Road Mission