Ms Chang's Top Teaching Moments

The school year is finally coming to an end. And as much as I love my students and teaching, there were certainly moments of crazy frustration. But nevertheless, this has been one of my most rewarding years teaching Language Arts and Social Studies. Here are my top teaching moments in Costa Rica so far:

Entrepreneurship Project:
Ever since the inception of the project, students got so excited and competitive. I didn't fully realize the extent of the impact of this project until I read some of my students' blog entry. This proves that education is effective when meaningful experiences and connections are made. This unit helped me realize the importance of creating meaningful experiences that would 'awaken' students' strengths and talents. Below is an excerpt of a students' blog entry.

"Since I was a kid, I’ve always had talents within me that I’m starting to realize now. For example, I never knew that I could handle a business the way that I did in the entrepreneurship project. I never thought that I could finance projects and get two times the profit. I never knew that I could be a leader and enjoy making new projects and ideas. I guess I’m innovative, creative, open minded, hardworking, tough, and most importantly, I set goals to myself. Aside from these talents, I know that I need to develop new talents so that I can become an engineer or a business man. I can develop new talents that I will learn during my years of study and dedication. I think that these two careers are the ones for me, I like building and creating stuff, I like managing my own businesses, I like numbers, and many other things."  
 
An Inspector Calls:
There is nothing more rewarding for a Language Arts teacher walking into a room full of teenagers begging to read. Literally Begging. "Ms Chang, can we PLEASEEE read today." There is something magical about connecting literature to the mundane and to real-life drama, and seeing students taking pleasure in it. 

A Passion for Debate and Public Speaking:
I introduced my students to Model United Nations and the Classic Debate earlier on during the school year. Students spent weeks doing research and learning how to structure arguements and counter arguments. Some students went on to participate Model United Nations in other schools. My proudest moment was when I learned that one of my students won Top Delegate in one of the Model United Nations at one of the best schools. And one of my other proudest moment was when students asked me to practice their debating skills in my classroom during lunch time. Seeing them voluntarily discuss about Women's rights, Domestic Violence, Religion during their free time made me literally cry internal tears of joy.

All in all, I have really come to see education as a way to empower and to equip students for the future. They need to be challenged to grow, nurture skills for real-life situations and to step out of their comfort zone.