Back To School

The four of us got off of the school bus around 8, Parker and Devon ran off toward the to playground to play 4-Square or Tetherball or Table Tennis, while Benne and I walked hand in hand to the doorway of his EC-4 classroom. I left him with Miss Lucy, one of the five teachers/aides in his preschool class, then checked in at the UES(Upper Elementary School) office to find my position for the day. I checked the log, signed my name on the paysheet next to the hours I was set to work, then followed the maze of corridors and stairwells to the classroom, 3130, Mr. Snell, fourth grade. Mr. Snell leaned by the desk, seemingly making any last minute adjustments to the sub plans or logging out of his computer. He stood about 7 feet tall and he had to reach down to hand me the plans. In his Aussie accent, he explained to me the sticks, colored popsicle sticks, that would help to keep the students in line. Sticks, huh, usually for me it is a smart-alec comment that turns the kids right around. But that only works because back in my high school classes, my most important asset is my rapport with the kids; I invest heavily in it and value it above all. That takes months, even years, of being in the same building, knowing all of the kids, being glad-handed and expressing respect, all the while, demanding it in return. The sub life doesn't quite allow for such development. You come out of the gate and have a minute or two to make a first impression. I did my usual, handshakes.

"Good morning, my name is Paul Koch, and you are?" I said, moving around the room, taking each ten or eleven year old hand in turn.

As usual, the absurdish formality of this gesture produced chuckles from the group of 4^th graders. I followed the handshakes up with a brief bio, and when I told them I was Parker's dad, indicating with an outstretched pointer finger the classroom just across the hall. They returned with a collective, "OHHHHH!" The glint of recognition in their eyes made me feel good – Parker must be fitting in well.

Mr. Snell left me with a very detailed lesson plan. The kids came in from recess at 8:20am – they start the day with recess – then they dropped off their gear and we were off to the UES assembly. The assembly was about empathy and showcased two projects which had recently concluded - Day Without Shoes and Roots and Shoots. This was the first I had heard of Roots and Shoots, a club which focuses on environmentally friendly projects in the ISB community. Not the first I had heard of Day Without Shoes though, as just a week ago on Tuesday, the boys insisted that they go everywhere without their shoes. It was pretty dirty. If you've been to Beijing, or know much about it, you know that wearing no shoes is, in most cases, not a good idea, as your feet almost instantly become blackened by the fine dust that settles on everything, but in this case, well, that is the point of empathy, right? The kids, mine and the others, seemed to get it.

A young girl led the line back to the classroom from the assembly, and we hopped right into 4^th grade math – eeek!

After math it was back to recess. I went to the cafeteria and ordered a Cafe Americano, a cup of fresh fruit and a water bottle. I stopped by Devon's class to see what was going on. That is my favorite part of this job so far - I am around my boys a lot. I rode the bus alongside Benne today, stuck my head in on Devo's Chinese class, and was right across the hall from Parks all day.

On the plans Mr. Snell asked me to read aloud to the class from The Guinesss Book of World Records. I did, and of course, I turned to the pages that I felt the most comfortable with – Baseball Records. As I started to read, I looked up to find a mass of confused stares. "You guys know baseball, right? How many of you have ever watched a baseball game?"

Five hands.

"Wow, okay, well..."

About ten minutes later and I was finishing up my lecture on how the game works. 9 on 9, balls and strikes, positions on the field, home runs.

"Mr. Koch, what happens if you hit the ball, it doesn't go over the fence, and no one catches it?"

"Great question, Jenny. That's called a hit -"

The lecture continued.

Single, double triple, homerun. RBI, stolen base...

Complete with white-board-sketched diagrams, lists of terms, animated gestures of knocking one out of the park, and question and answer session, I rolled on. These guys figured out in just minutes, what most of my past students all know quite well - just get him started on baseball(or some other equally passionate topic) and we can get him right off track. I only stopped when Mr. Snell stuck his head in the room – BUSTED!

"Aye mate, glad to see you are explaining base-boll to them."

"Oh yeah, well, uh, w-we just were going to read the book, but I thought maybe they needed a little background."

He nodded. Then testing me it seemed. "So, I got a KC jersey from the 80s, who's name do you think was on it?"

I laughed, "George Brett, no doubt!"

The wink and the mouth click with the pointer finger.

I guess I passed the test.

I would have talked baseball all day to these youngsters, but Mr. Snell's visit jolted me into remembering that there were other things to get done and that I had better get back to it. I did share three pieces of information from the Guinness Book(all Phillies of course) – Chase Utley holds, or is tied for, the record for home runs in a postseason, Ryan Howard has the dubious distinction of striking out the most in one World Series, and the Phillies hold the record for being the first team to 10000 losses.

A hand up. "The World what, Mr. Koch?"

"You know, the winner of the American League plays against the winner of the National League in the – c'mon..."

"World Cup!?!" they yelped, unsure but excited.

"No-ew," I sarcastically sighed in response. "The World Series!"

We wrapped it up and they got to work. They really worked. Maps and books, laptops, Smartboard. The kids just went to it. They had a "to do" list on the board of what seemed to be their top priorities, but each student managed his own time; I excitedly watched a truly project based learning environment where the students manage time, set parameters, research, assess, and most of all, LEARN!

Brook looked up at me and said, "This is our class blog, it's just like Facebook for 4-S."

"4-S?" I inquired.

"4-Snell, ya know, 4-S. Parker is in 4-M, Mrs. McGarigal's class."

"Ah, Got it!"

Brooke's right, it is like FB. Most of them were commenting on the page of a former classmate who had left class, moving no doubt to another expat community in some other fantastic destination, where his mom or dad's career demands led.

Some blogged, some made maps, some wrote about a field trip they went on last week.

There was no bell - there are no bells - but when it was time for lunch, the kids got up and went, and when lunch was over they came back to class – amazing concept, huh! I ate lunch at a table alone, and a HS student asked me if I wanted to buy a rose. I made a salad from the salad bar. After I ate, I went down the hall to see if any of the boys were in lunch now too. Bennett was there, eating in the ES cafeteria. We sat together for about fifteen minutes, and he ate forkfulls of Spaghetti Bolognase with one hand and held my hand under the table with the other.

When I returned to room 3130, some of the students were already there, copying their homework assignments into their agenda, and then the questions started.

"Mr Koch, is it time for ZYLAR?"

"Can we ZYLAR?"

"I can't wait to ZYLAR."

"Coach, what time is ZYLAR?"

"Can I get started on my ZYLAR?"

I held up my hands in surrender. "Whoa, whoa, whoa – what the man is ZYLAR?"

"Oh, you didn't know, well let me explain..."

---

So sorry; that's all I can write for today, time for me to go Zip My Lip and Read!

--
Paul Koch (@pkoch9999)

http://dugahole.blogspot.com/

+1703 608-2556

+151 1692-2787