Yes. That’s right. I have the best job ever. Teaching at HOPAC is actually a lot of fun. My job is pretty awesome. I get to be mobbed by awesome primary students in the snack bar line. I get to wear crazy colors and celebrate togetherness with students and teachers of all ages. I get…
Category: Education & Teaching
The Fifth First Week of School
Confused yet? I think I might be. Its a good thing this is my fifth year teaching. My schedule this year is 100% insane. Of course, I often enjoy what others deem insane, but this is crazy even for me. At HOPAC, primary (elementary), middle, and senior (high) school is all on one campus, but…
HOPAC: More than just a school
Over the past few months, as I was making my decision to renew my contract at HOPAC, it became increasingly obvious to me how special HOPAC is. HOPAC is far more than just a school, even more than just an international Christian school. The impact that HOPAC has on the community, both directly and indirectly,…
SEW Week 2015
Possibly my favorite week of the HOPAC school year is the annual Service Emphasis Week (SEW). In the past, teams of secondary students have traveled across Tanzania to serve alongside existing NGO’s and missionary organizations. This year, two things changed: the primary students got involved with SEW, and the projects were centralized in Dar es…
Job Fair
I am writing this from Mugg & Bean, a coffee shop in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mugg & Bean offers a “bottomless coffee” for 18 Rand, or about $1.50, which is a cup of coffee with unlimited refills. Starbucks, take note. This, my friends, is brilliant. If Mugg & Bean had free wifi and a power…
Back to Tenth Grade: HOPAC-style
I went back to tenth grade today. In an attempt to understand what it is like for students at HOPAC and to improve my teaching, I shadowed the tenth grade class for the entire day. As a homeschool graduate, the experience was entirely new for me. The morning started with homeroom, which contained the typical…
Celebrating Little Victories
Besides being International Day, Friday was also a day for great celebration. Just before the (incredibly awesome and fun) Black Out Young Life club, one of my students came over and told me that he had gotten the approval to go to the Moshi Sports Tournament in two weeks. I couldn’t even contain my excitement….
Words Matter: Link up!
In my AS English Literature class, we are studying A Passage to India by E.M. Forster, and in the opening chapter of this novel, he uses the words “sallow hospital” as a part of the description of the town of Chandrapore that serves as the setting for much of the book. As one of my students…
Teaching isn’t Boring
Someone told me once that the first year of teaching is always the hardest. How I see it, I’ve had two “first years.” Once, four years ago, in Fort Wayne, when I student taught for the first semester and then took over English 10 and Grade 9 Honors for the second semester. Then again, last…
HOPAC 2014-2015: Day One
Its a wrap. The first day of school is done and over. And all in all, it was far less chaotic than I expected. Maybe its because I’m getting better at planning with the advent of my fourth year of teaching, but I find that unlikely. In all reality, it is simply helpful to be…
Ride Fierce Racing 