So let’s go right into it!
My name is (as already mentioned above) Pascal Keller,
I am 23, young and from Germany. ¿En serio eres alemán? Yes, as unbelievable as
it sounds.
In January 8th, my beautiful mother gave
birth to me and my twin brother in a city named Ludwigshafen, Germany.
Misfortune seldom comes alone ;-)
After spending the first two years of my life there,
my family decided to move to a their small native village called Hauenstein.
Hauenstein has no more than 4000 inhabitants and is
located in the south-west of Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It
is surrounded by the beautiful Palatinate forest and is truly a small treasure.
In Hauenstein and the neighboring cities I grew up
with my fantastic family and spent the main part of my childhood. When I look
back, I can truly say I had a fantastic childhood with tons of fun and marvelous
experiences. On that note, I’d like to introduce you my family: my two
brothers and my great parents :)
This is my fantastic family:
Early in my days, my passion for soccer came to life.
I played with this stupid ball whenever I could and as long as I could. Today still,
soccer is my biggest passion. I simply love it!
Besides from playing soccer, I spent most of my
leisure time doing the following activities /hobbies. They give me joy and make
my life special. Check it out:
Skiing
Singing
Reading (I am a passionate reader)
Learning new things
Traveling
Spending time with friends and enjoying life
By now I hope you know me a little bit better and got
a first impression about who this Pascal Keller is. And also I hope this first
impression is a good one, haha ;-)
So you now you know me personally. But what did I do
professionally?
To get a better understanding of my professional
background I’d like to you read little bit more about my "career" up
to now.
At 19, I got my high school degree at the
Trifel-Gymnasium in Annweiler and decided to move to Mannheim to study Business
Administration at the Cooperative State University Mannheim, Germany. During
these three years of study I also worked as a trainee for an international
automotive supplier called Tenneco. With this, my three years of study gave me
practical experiences as well as profound academic knowledge on my major Business which
was indeed, not a bad combination ;-)
At the age of 22 I finally got my Bachelor’s degree in
Business Administration and my first big job offer from Tenneco. But instead of
taking this job offer, which would have promised me a secure job for the next
two years and good money, I decided to make a change. This job was not for me.
I wanted to have a new experience and live my dream of going and working
abroad. So I took a social internship with the world’s biggest student organization:
AIESEC. After a period of exploration I decided to do a six-month internship in
Mexico, Aguascalientes.
After arriving at the beginning of October in Mexico I
worked for the first three months in a language project called My Language
Buddy at the E-Max-Institute in Aguascalientes, where I gave German classes to
university students. By the beginning of New Year’s 2015, I moved on to a new
project called Global Leadership School (GLS) at the Universidad Tecnológica El
Retoño (UTR) in Aguascalientes. I have been working in this project since
January 2015 and giving classes about "How to build a successful career".
And now that you know me better, I’d like to tell you
more about my work experience in the UTR and especially in the GLS-Project.
About the Universidad Tecnológica El Retoño
The Universidad Tecnológica El Retoño (UTR) is a public institution of higher education in Mexico, offering short-length technical careers integrated to the General Coordination of Technological and Polytechnic Universities. The UTR began operations on August 27th, 2012 with the initial enrollment of 310 students.
It is the first institution in Mexico to
work under the BISTU system (Bilingual, International & Sustainable
Technological Universities). The UTR was thereby the first entirely bilingual
public university in Mexico and at lot of universities followed since then. At
the moment the UTR offers higher education to over 600 students in the fields
of Marketing, Human Resources, Information Technology and Mechatronics. More
information about the UTR is provided under: www.utr.edu.mx
About the GLS-Project
The Global Leadership School Project (GLS) was created
by AIESEC. AIESEC is a global platform for young people to explore and develop
their leadership potential. It is a non-political, independent, not-for-profit organization
run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education.
The GLS-Project is a project created to inspire young
students on high school and university level and give them an understanding of
leadership as well as insights in others cultures. The main goal is to inspire
students through international knowledge exchange, to motivate them to do more
and broaden their current mindset. All of that happens via workshops in high
schools in a very diverse, multicultural environment. This environment will
encourage the students to have an awareness of the world issues, learn about
other cultures and create an international leadership profile.
The UTR is one of the partner universities that cooperate
with AIESEC to make this project real. As a young and open-minded university,
the UTR quickly saw the benefits this project offers to all participants: the
students’ possibility to know about new cultures, the trainees’ chance to gain
real-life experiences as leaders, and great opportunity for the university to
improve its image. Up to today the cooperation between the UTR and AIESEC can
be considered as a success story. Six trainees from all over the world
participated in the project and not a single one left it without having made
life-changing experiences.
My personal "Global Leadership School" story
Why I wanted to work as a teacher
Right after I made my decision not to take my first big
job offer but instead take up a social internship experience and develop myself,
I had a pretty good idea of my "perfect" internship: I wanted to
teach. I wanted to work with young students at a university or teaching
organization, preferably in the field of business or personal development and work
for at least three months to have an impact on my students.
To say it with the words of the inspiring Nelson
Mandela, my biggest motivation was this:
"Education is the most powerful weapon you can
use to change the world."
- Nelson Mandela"
As a teacher, you get incredible joy in seeing the
difference you make as students gain new insights, become more interested in a
subject and learn about themselves. Every day, teachers mold the future through
impacting their students’ views and understandings. Teachers foster creativity,
develop character, give students new perspectives with which to view the world
and provide students with the skills they need to reach their potential and
lead productive lives.
As many other individuals I was attracted to teaching
by a sense of service, because I wanted to make a clear, tangible difference in
the lives of others. As a teacher, you see the fruits of your efforts everyday
as you use your intelligence and creativity to help students become excited about
learning and promoting a change in their lives. I wanted to improve the life of
others. I wanted to be a mentor, a friend and a guide to the world enabling the
students to live a life of success and happiness.
To break
it down these were my 5 goals working as a teacher:
1.) Inspire students to become a better version of
themselves
2.) Help them to lead a successful life
3.) Encourage them to dream big
4.) Learn about myself
5.) Innovate what is normally taught at schools and
universities
How did I end up working for the UTR in the GLS
project?
The GLS project was for me one of the biggest reasons
to come to Mexico and especially to Aguascalientes. Honestly before I came to
Aguascalientes this city just did not exist in my little small world. Of course
I heard about Mexico City, Guadalajara and Cancun but Aguascalientes? Where the
hell was this? A tiny spec on the map of the world. At least for me.
But things changed when I clicked through all the internship
opportunities on the AIESEC platform and discovered the GLS-Project at the UTR.
What I read there immediately caught my full attention: Working for three
months at an international and bilingual university and giving classes in the
field of leadership. This sounded almost too good to be true.
The GLS-Project fulfilled my idea of a perfect internship
almost completely. It was exactly what I was looking for the whole time. I was excited
and nervous at the same time. Would I get the chance to work in this great
project or could I not fulfill all the requirements to work there?
I gave it a try and applied immediately for the
project. A few days later I got the responds and it was....positive! The UTR
was interested in me. YEAH! The first step was done.
And after five weeks of insecurity, step 2 was also
taken. I finally got my acceptance note which stated:
"Dear Pascal, hereby I confirm that you will be
working at the UTR in the GLS-Project starting in January 2015. Congratulations
champ!"
I was the happiest man on earth for at least two
minutes. My dream, my idea was about to become real. It showed me: Dreams can
become true. What it takes is work, preparation and of course a little bit
luck. And I had all of these three things.
Finally step 3 followed in January 2015: I started
working in the GLS-Project on the 5th of January 2015, and finished my work
exactly two months later on the 5th of March. Although I only engaged myself
only two months in the GLS-Project I can say that the experience I acquired by
working in this project has been the best professional experience in my life up
to this point. It was simply amazing!
My UTR & GLS experience - a summary
In this blog post I would like to share with you my
best experiences as well as the worst experiences I had while working in the
GLS project. Furthermore I want to write about my lessons learned as a teacher
working in this project. It is kind of a summary of almost everything I experienced
the last two months at the UTR. I hope sharing my experiences and lessons
learned will give you valuable insights. Enjoy the read ;-)
Why I love the UTR
The UTR is a pretty young and small university in
Aguascalientes. Compared to the other universities in Aguascalientes the UTR cannot
really compete when it comes to numbers of students, numbers of teachers,
numbers of buildings or numbers of successful graduates. The UTR also does not
have decades’ worth of history and tons of traditions. But what the UTR has is
an innovative concept and ideas to change the education in Aguascalientes.
The UTR was the first institution to work under the
BISTU system (Bilingual, International & Sustainable Technological
Universities) and has been role model for a lot of other universities. This is
what I really like about this university: It is just different. This uni is for
example also as the first (and up to now) the only in Aguascalientes which
decided to work with AIESEC in the GLS-project.
The UTR saw the benefits this program brings and
invested in it. Furthermore they build up relationships with the US-department
to get teachers from the USA to the UTR. With that the uni gets new, fresh
input from people all around the world on a constant base and that is what
keeps innovation and new ideas coming. I really like that the UTR is not afraid
to go new ways and takes risks to improve their education program and to give
their students more options to learn. The management does in my opinion a
pretty good job to differentiate from its competitors. I am excited what the
next innovation of this university will be and which steps it will take to stay
one step ahead.
The UTR
family
The UTR, its students and staff really became kind of
a family for me right from the first day. A family I felt at ease, home and
welcome. The UTR and its members cared about me and made everything to make me
feel comfortable. It started in December when Gaby and Haydee took the time to
get to know me and my ideas. They showed me the university, introduced me to
everybody available and by that just showed that they were happy.
I was about to start working for them. On my first day
I had a perfect start with a nice breakfast and good speeches. I really felt
welcome. Everybody, my bosses, my colleagues and my students were so nice and
eager to get to know me that I sometimes felt overwhelmed. I met so many nice
and inspiring people that I could not be more grateful.
The UTR is truly a small family that cares about all
its members. The family cares about their teachers, about their students and
all the rest of the staff. Friendliness, kindness and warmness are here not
only values on the wall but are lived daily. It felt great to be part of this
family and I will never forget all the support, help and appreciation I received
during my stay at UTR.
Good organization
I can only speak for myself but my work at the UTR and
in the GLS-Project were really organized, which is not always that normal here
in Mexico—as I had to experience several times.
It started with two pre-project start meetings where
we discussed the milestones of the project, continued with a Welcome-day, a
kick-off meeting, weekly meetings with Haydee, and ended with a final project
presentation. Right from the start I got my schedule and could work with it. As
a German, what I met here in the GLS-Project, were almost the same as German
organization standards which made my work way easier and more predictable.
Modern,
clean, international
Yeah what shall I say? The UTR is really nice. It’s a
really clean, modern equipped and absolutely international university. The uni
is cleaned daily and I barley saw a cleaner institution in my life. Furthermore,
the university looks really modern. They buildings are brand new and almost all
the classrooms are equipped with a projector and nice pieces of furniture.
These are optimal conditions to work. And then it is also an international uni.
Almost everybody speaks English and an additional language so you can easily
communicate as a foreigner. I loved to work in this international environment
with colleagues from the States (Los Gringos) as well as from Mexico. They
coached me and broadened my perspectives. Thank you for that.
Great
extracurricular education
Another point I really love about the UTR is their
great extracurricular education they offer for their students as well as for
their teachers. Every Tuesday and Thursday students have the possibility to
choose between tons of extracurricular education. The students can learn German
(with the best German teachers in the world ;-)), learn Japanese, learn to
dance, to paint or participate in various sports and it’s all free. They do not
have to pay a single additional penny. Also teachers get the chance to learn
new things. They can come to German, English or Japanese classes or they can
even go to the USA to improve their English. You see there are a lot of
opportunities for everybody.
Super nice
students
The last and probably the biggest reason why I love
UTR are its students. They are simply awesome. The students here come from rather
"poor" families and often grew up with less than we Europeans take
for granted. One could now think that they are unhappy with their lives or they
lack education. But the opposite is the case. The students are super humble,
kind and the majority is happy because they get the chance to study at the UTR.
They are open-minded, eager to learn and friendly. I enjoyed it every day when
the students greeted me friendly with "Hey Pascal" or "Hey
Teacher" and a smile on their face. I also enjoyed it when students came
to my class, paid attention and just showed that they wanted to learn. I really
liked when we had fun together, when they taught me something or when they
invited me to some events or private parties although I never found the time to
really show up. Sorry for that!
Students, in case you read this: Thank you so much for
being my students. Stay as you are and go your own way!
What could be improved at the UTR?
If there is one main thing that could be improved at
the UTR, that it is (for me) the campus around the university. The university
is (for me) not a university in the original sense. What is missing is the
campus feeling. This is due to the fact that the UTR is pretty young. I could
imagine the UTR being much cooler with a sports campus, a library or rooms for
independent study. The students as well as the teachers could enjoy their time
at the UTR with that even more. But I think the management already knows that
otherwise they wouldn’t be building a library at the moment ;-)
What do I
think about the GLS-Project?
Working in the GLS Project was for me one of the best
professional as well as personal experience I in my life up to now. Although I
did not receive money to work in this project it gave me more than money could
have ever given me, and that is why if I could I would choose to work again in
the GLS-Project every time they offered.
Working in the project gave me the opportunity to work
at a university with an international context without any experience or
training as teacher. Since several years ago I dreamed of teaching in a more or
less "professional way" and the GLS Project let this dream came true.
In Germany, where I come from, it would be
inconceivable that a young guy who just got his degree taught at a university
level. In this aspect we are very “German”. That means a long teaching professional
background or at least a degree in pedagogics would be required to teach. But
here in México, here at the UTR it was different.
Since it is at a community college—or technical school—level,
they did not require a whole career on pedagogics; however, did emphasize on the
mastery of several career-specific skills, a good English level and (more
important than anything else) a high personal motivation as well as something
worthwhile to share. I definitely fulfilled these requirements and so it was
not a big deal to come to work here at the UTR. Looking back I’m more than grateful
that the GLS Project exists and that I had the chance to make my contribution
to this great project.
I truly love and lived the mission of the project. It’s
the idea of making a positive impact in the lives of young people by sharing
knowledge, ideas and culture as well as inspiring them to become leaders.
Living up to this idea gave me priceless experiences and learning which I will
take with me for the rest of my life. Furthermore, I myself became what this
project is all about: a global leader.
My best
experience working in the GLS Project
Sometimes I had my doubts whether all the work I’m
doing here at the UTR and all the hours I’m spending to prepare my classes is
really worth it, or if my idea to change the life of my students is just a
flight of fancy. Sometimes when I was tired after having five classes in a row
and when my only thought was "I want to sleep!" I really doubted if
all my effort was really appreciated.
I mean I came every morning to the UTR at 7.30 a.m.
and left at 5.30 pm in the afternoon. Those were 10 hours of work, almost every
day without any salary and maybe without appreciation? I was not sure if this
was worthwhile. Nevertheless I kept working hard and tried to give my students
the best content possible.
Although when I was tired and had to give class at
15.10 pm, I willed myself to make this class best class of the day. My
motivation and my passion drove me every day to my highest performance. And soon
I recognized: "Yeah at least some of your students are with you, they come
to your class, they listen, and they want to learn!" Slowly but steadily I
got the feeling I was doing the right things at the right time with the right
students.
Every smile, every friendly "Hey Pascal” or “Hey
Teacher" lifted me up. And then there were some students who showed me
their real appreciation and gratitude. That was all I was looking for and the
following words were possibly some of the most beautiful words I have ever
heard in my life. They mean more to me than what I can express:
"Todo
el mundo te ama, Pascal. Nosotros no queremos que te vayas!"
- A female student
"I am so grateful that are here Pascal. You are
such a nice and smart person .With every word you say you change my small
little world. Thank you so much for giving me the best classes of my life.
- Another female student |
| My first "love" letter as a teacher |
These words, these lines were all that I needed to be
happy. These words of appreciation and gratitude were more for me than money
could ever pay, and they gave me the drive to continue the in the path I have
chosen.
What is money against a word of sincere appreciation
and gratitude? Nothing!
Money can buy you a house but not a home. Money can
buy you party-goers, but not friends. Money can buy you a woman, but not love.
Money can you pay for a job, but give no passion. And this is why I think
volunteering and especially working as a teacher is so interesting and so
valuable: even if you earn no money, sacrifice a lot of time and invest a lot
of your love, you get something back that everybody in the world is looking
for—gratitude, appreciation and recognition.
And that's the best reward that exists and the feeling
of gratitude was probably best experience I had during my work here at the UTR.
My worst experience working in the GLS Project
Of course where there is a lot of light there as to be
some shadow. That counts for life as well as for my time at the UTR.
Along with all the awesome experiences I was allowed
to have, I also had some bad days with bad experiences. One of these bad
experiences was a Monday were I was really busy with one class after the other.
I remember this day perfectly clear. I was a little bit sick this day, but
nevertheless I tried to be a good teacher and not to show my students my
exhaustion.
But nothing worked this day. Projectors did not work,
students came late and were not interested in what I had to say and I
recognized that I did not reach my students. It made me feel sad and kind of
disappointed.
But this was not yet the top of this bad day. For my
last class at 14.20 pm I prepared really well to end the day on a positive
note. But as I entered the room there was exactly one student. One single student
out of 25 (which are normally in the class) considered it important to come to
my class. ONE!! Disappointment turned into frustration.
It was a big lesson I had to learn: There are days in
the lives of everybody where nothing works and where you just get disappointed.
The point is: we have the power to decide who or what will disappoint us. Also,
we will always have the power to respond differently to disappointment. Either
we take it personally and quit or we see it as new experience in our life.
Either we let disappointment beat us or we beat it. And I beat it.
24 lessons I learned working in the
GLS-Project
1. If you
work with passion work does not feel like work
Confucius, that wise man said it so right:
"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your
life." That is exactly what I experienced while working in the GLS
Project.
Many people and many of my students asked me why I came
here to Mexico to work for $0 while I could have received 2000 Euros each month
for 8 hours of work each day in Germany. Many of my fellow teachers respond
with an incredulous shake of the head, when I told them that I'm working at UTR
more than 35 hours a week and do not receive a single penny but instead pay
money to be there. I really worked hard every day, had a crowded schedule, had
to prepare three classes and worked in countless extra projects during my time
at the UTR.
My days are therefore long and my nights short. Why
did I take all the effort and all the work to do something I did not get paid
for? Why did I work more than I've ever worked at Tenneco when I got paid for
it? The answer is: passion. It is was my passion to work as a teacher, the fun
of dealing with the students that drove me to give in each lesson 100%,
sometimes even more.
I got up every morning with enthusiasm and I also worked
hard even if my colleagues said time and time again: "You work too much,
you should chill out more." Sometimes I was even more motivated by my
students themselves, or because I simply loved the topic I talked about.
It was great for me to see that passion and the love
for your job are truly the biggest motivators. It is was not the money which
drove me, it was not a boss that forced me to work hard but only my passion and
especially my idea to help other people, to inspire them and teach them
something that can lead to a positive change in their lives. And although I
sometimes felt exhausted or tired when I came home I felt good and relaxed.
There hadn’t been a single day I wasn’t happy to come to the UTR and that was
because of one thing: the fire within myself.
2.
Teaching is not only about speaking. The king is listening.
When I thought about teaching I thought it means to
speak, to explain and to speak again. But is really the king of teaching is
listening. There is a saying which goes like this:
“God gave us two ears, but only one mouth. Some people
say that’s because God wanted us to spend twice as much time listening as
talking. Others claim it’s because God knew listening was twice as hard as
talking.” And so it goes that listening is an important skill, but it can be so
hard to do it well and so challenging to make it meaningful.
I truly love this saying. Since I worked as I teacher
I know that talking is really important but that listing is even more
important. If someone listens to another with full attention, conviction,
commitment, and support, the speaker feels affirmed and important and has a
sense of his/her value and the validity of his/her feelings, ideas, and needs.
You first have to understand what your students want from you; you have to
understand their feelings and needs before you can exactly give them what they
want. And you only understand if you listen first and speak second.
3. You do
not need tons of experience to be teacher and to be respected by your students
Before I started working as a teacher I was a little
bit afraid mainly because I lacked experience in the field of teaching. I had
never worked in this field before and now I should teach daily in front of 25
young students? That thought made me feel uncomfortable. But I quickly noticed
that being a good teacher is not that much about experience but more about your
ability to communicate, to deliver your message and of course self-esteem, the
belief that you can do it.
Being a teacher is to be a natural leader. It’s all
about being present, authentic and convincing. You do not need to have 20 years
to teach someone and you do not to be 40 years old that your students respect
you. They only respect you and follow you if they see that they can learn
something valuable from you, they understand you and your message and above all
that you are trustworthy. This made it for me possible to teach and being
respected although I had no experience, no “teaching title” and no real age (I
mean some students were older than me, haha).
4.
Knowledge wins in “brain vs brain” battles, but being real and authentic wins
trust (and that is the first step to teach!)
This is probably one of the biggest lessons I learned
as a teacher.
I figured out that trust is the biggest step to
"get" my students’ attention. Trust is the basis of every
relationship and so it is as well with the students / teacher relationship. You
have to be trustworthy for them because only if they trust you they will open
their minds to your words. First the students have to know you as a person, as
a human being to trust in you. Once this trust is established you can go on
about “teaching”.
So I think it is important to first reach the students
emotionally before you try to reach them intellectually. Only trust gives you
the opportunity to reach them with your teachings afterwards. In my opinion the
best way to reach them emotionally is to show that you are a human being with
feelings, values, ideas and dreams. That’s why I shared with my students my dreams,
my family and my values.
By that I allowed my students to know me as a person
and we built a good relationship. Once I built up this relationship I tried to
stay connected to the values I shared. I tried to be authentic and real the
whole time. A sense of humor and my own personality were therefore the
essential part of every classroom. I told personal stories, made jokes and
tried to have fun with my students all the time. Authenticy gave me credibility and that gave me the key to open the minds of my students.
5. Being a
teacher is a lot of work.
I always imagined teacher as an easy job you can do
without much effort: talk a little bit about something you are good at, do some
workshops, have a good time with your students, have a lot of breaks, have a
lot of vacations and spend a lot of time drinking coffee in the teachers room.
That was my assumption of a teacher’s job and I now
have to admit I was totally wrong with that. Being a teacher requires a lot and
is absolutely a full time job which can be more exhausting as a normal 9-5 job.
You have to devote lots of time to plan your lessons,
do researches for your teaching material, break down the research information
into understandable parts, prepare all material for your lessons (power points,
games, workshops), and so much more. During the class you have to be 100%
present, deliver your message, talk, explain, listen, mentor, urge, remind and
so on and so an.
You see? Being a teacher is not really about drinking
coffee and lots of vacations but more and more about hard work which can be
tougher than expected ;-)
6. Teaching
is a learning experience.
I always learned so much through the process of
teaching. When you’re busy taking classes and writing papers, sometimes
actually having time for learning is hard. It’s true – you learn information
best and at its deepest when teaching. Every time I teach a lesson, I learn the
material in new and profound way.
I also always learn so much from my students. I learn
from their own life experiences. I also learn from their insights. They see
aspects all the time in the sources we use that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise
– and these are awesome teaching moments. I also learn about Mexican culture–
old traditions, new styles, and slang–from my students. It was simply great.
7.
Technology can help, but cannot replace a teacher’s knowledge
In our multi-technological world with all the Iphones,
Imacs, Tablets, Apps we are easily tempted to let the technology do the work
for us instead of working with us. I really think PowerPoint presentations are
nice to upgrade your class because they can serve as a visual reminder and
supporter but I also think that they should never be the center of your class.
A lot of people (students and teachers) are of the
opinion that a good PowerPoint presentation is enough to have a good class but that’s
absolutely wrong, I think. If you are dependent on technology to deliver your
message and are not able to deliver it without it, you are not a real teacher.
A teacher is and will always be a person who has to
deliver his teachings with his words and attitude. If you are not able to
explain something by a diagram or a sketch when your presentation is not
working you yourself did not really understood the material.
I experienced that relying on the technology is like
relying on rain in Mexico: better don`t do it. Often the projectors did not
work or my laptop did not work or both did not work. I then needed to have my
material in my head and deliver it only with a marker, a white-board and my creativity.
So technology can help, but not replace a teacher’s knowledge.
8. You won’t
reach everybody as a teacher
While my classes at the beginning were really crowded,
slowly but steadily, the amount of students who visited my class decreased. At
the beginning I was really worried about that because I thought it was my fault
as a teacher. I thought I gave them nothing of value. But today I know: as a
teacher you cannot reach everybody.
Some students are just not interested in learning
something about success in life and career. They just like to hang out with
girls, do nothing or want to stay the way they are now. It’s not my fault as a
teacher that they do not come to the class. It’s just that some are interested
and some are not. You have to accept that as a teacher and focus then on
working with a small group of students who really want to learn instead of
trying to please everybody.
9. It’s
okay to be, to act and teach differently than the teacher down the hall
When I came to UTR it was absolutely obvious that I
was different from all the other teachers. I was the only one who had no
experience or training in the field of teaching, the youngest and the only one
who did not get paid for his work. Furthermore I spoke about topics that were unusual
for a 23 year-old guy: about success in life and career.
A lot of people could not believe that. But I did and
that was enough. I was different and that was perfectly fine for me. I taught
not in the normal, formal way but used a lot of "bad words",
"bad stories" and "bad examples" to get the attention of my
students. Was that okay? I don’t know. But my students liked it and that was the
only thing that mattered to me.
I also acted different than the other teachers. The
students could talked to me as a friend and call me Pascal instead of
"Teacher". I had just a completely different approach than a
"normal" teacher and that was not bad at all. It was good like this.
It’s okay to be, to act and teach differently than the teacher down the hall. Coco
Chanel said it so right:
"In order to be
irreplaceable one must always be different."
10. You
should like people
I love people. And I love helping people. I consider
one of my biggest strengths to connect with people and that’s why I wanted to
teach. If you don’t like people, confrontation or managing in general, don’t
teach. You will be miserable and ineffective for the people who need you. As a
teacher you will be the whole day with and around people. If you do not enjoy
do not become a teacher. Period.
11. You
should like speaking in front of people and should be able to explain things
As a teacher you speak a lot. So much that sometimes
your throat hurts because of all the speaking during the day. So if you do not
like speaking this job is not for you. Also if you cannot or do not like to
speak in front of people, this job is not for you. I for myself love talking in
front of people and I feel comfortable while doing it. So for me teaching is
exactly what I like to do. But is it also for you?
12. You
have to speak the same language to be able to teach
I learned that only if you speak in a language your
students understand you can teach someone. You can be intelligent, have a great
message and a perfect power point but if your students do not understand what
you are talking about, everything is in vain.
I had that problem when I talked to my students in
English about things that I thought are clear to my students but they weren’t
at all. They did not know what "networking" means and they did also
not know what a "puzzle" is. I took this words for granted until I
found out I was wrong with that.
So when 20 students didn't understand my lesson, it
was really my problem, not theirs. That taught me to look for the little
details that I might be forgetting, and to try to look at things from the
audience's perspective rather than mine.
And most of all, that taught me about the importance
of speaking the same, understandable language. That’s why I used a lot of
informal language and to get on the level of my students. Also I started to
speak kind of a "Spanglisch" which means I spoke in a mixture of
Spanish and English.
With that my students could really understand what I
was talking about. I got their attention and could keep it for a while.
Speaking the same understandable language is therefore the key to teaching. To re-cap in wiser words than my own:
13. You do
not to have be a genius to teach
I found out that you do not have to be an absolute
expert or a genius in a specific field to teach. Important is only that you
know more about the topic than your students know and to prepare well. I am
surely not an expert when it comes to success in career and life but I knew
more than my students about this topic because I engaged myself with it the
last two years.
So I was able to teach them because they recognized
that I was an "expert" in this field. So the bottom line is: Teaching
is not about being THE expert but just two steps better than your audience. That
makes all the difference.
14. As a
teacher you have power
I’ve come to the conclusion that I am the decisive
element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate.
It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous
power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or
an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal.
As a teacher you have power to decide what others are
learning and by that you have a high responsibility. If you teach bad things
your students will take this with them and live these bad things. If you teach
good things your students learn these good things and will live them. So you
can make the difference between good and bad. You have the same power as a
teacher.
15. To
dress like a professional can help you as a teacher
"Clothes make the man" is an old saying but
as it as old as it is true. By dressing as a professional you get treated like
a professional because people associate wearing a suit with hard work and
professional conduct. This like detail can make help you be more respected.
Little things like the clothes you wear, how tall you
stand, and your body language make an enormous difference in how others
perceive and pay attention to you. The clothes you wear can also influence how
you act, so even though I don't need to command a classroom anymore, I've
learned to dress just a little bit better at times when I think it would
matter.
It's a balancing act, though, between being and
looking comfortable in such clothes and playing the part. Important is to
always stay yourself and to be authentic. It makes no sense in my opinion just
to dress nice. If you are not truly committed to it, leave it and wear whatever
makes you feel comfortable.
16. Make a
plan and prepare even if you don't stick to it
Preparation is the key for a successful class. If you
are not prepared the students will quickly recognize it which devalues you as a
teacher. I prepared my 50 minutes classes—sometimes—in two or three days. Sounds incredible but it
helped me to truly understand what I want to talk about and what message I want
to deliver.
I also prepared for every lesson a lesson plan with
exact times and actions. These gave me feeling of security when I entered the
class room. While some teachers work great with their lesson plans I, on the
other hand (despite all my planning), tended to impulsively veer from my
original plan. That didn't make my lesson plans useless, though.
As Dwight Eisenhower has said, "In preparing for
battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is
indispensable." The day might not go as planned on my to-do list or
schedule, but the planning at least gives me something to fall back on and the
flexibility to adjust throughout the day.
17. Create
different learning pathways and adapt to the needs of your students.
One of the most common challenges I faced was how to
deal with the different skill levels students bring to the classroom. Some
students had a really good level of English (the fourth graders) while other
students barely understood a single word I spoke (the first graders). Also I
found out that the differences in age have a huge influence in the
understanding and acceptance of issues.
While the older students could 1) understand what I
was talking about, 2) could see the importance of it, 3) appreciated it for
their future; the younger students were not really interested when I talked
about success in life and career. This just was not important for them at their
age. So instead of sticking strictly to my lesson plan I created different
learning pathways for both groups. I adapted to the needs of my students.
With the younger ones I did more conversation classes
where they would be active, whereas with the other group I stuck to my lesson
plan. By doing that, the classes were made more fun for me, and I guess also
for the students.
18. Love
your job, your students, and they will love you back.
No matter how hard you try to pretend you love your
job, if you don’t, the students will see right through you. Students feed off
of the energy that the teacher gives off in the classroom. If you love your
job, they will know it. If you hate your job, they will know it. If you are
enthusiastic about the topic the chances are high they will be too.
If you are not, probably they will be not. If you do
not care about them they will probably not care about you—or your class! But if
you love them they will start loving you. Students (I figured out) remember
little of what you taught them, but will never forget the way you make them
feel. That’s the simple rule.
So, seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest
gestures often make the biggest difference. I tried to be always friendly,
helpful, open and smiling and so were the students to me. People are always the
mirror of your own behavior.
19.
Deliver value and your students will come
Your students pay to come to university and they spend
their precious time to come to your class. So your students are more like
costumers, right? To a costumer you would never sell cheap products or give
wrong information because you would be afraid to lose business with them.
This is the same approach I had with my students. I
always tried to deliver them value and a good content. They were my customers
and I had to serve them. Whatever I did in class had the purpose to give my
students at the end of the class something valuable. Whit this I made sure that
my students would come back to my class because of the simple fact that every
class would give them something useful. And who does not want to have something
of use for his or her life?
20. You
should be flexible and have a Plan B
No matter how fabulous or indestructible you think
your lesson plan is, you should always have a Plan B. The UTR is equipped with
state-of-the-art technology that fits the lifestyle and social culture of your
students. But none of that helps when the technology doesn’t work at the exact
moment 30 students are staring at you.
Then it’s good to have an alternative. I figured out
that a nice discussion round or a "agree-/disagree-game" can be a
valuable alternative in cases your students are tired, do not understand you,
or the technology is not working.
21.
Students will not do optional. Students need to be forced to do it (most of the
time)
Unfortunately, most students only do what is
absolutely required, if even that. When I asked my students to do things as
homework voluntarily because this would help them to understand the topic
better everybody nodded their head saying to me: "Suuuuure we’ll do
it!"
Did I ask the next class if anybody did the homework?
Yes. And everybody shook their head awkwardly. I realized that students are
kind of lazy. They often need external motivation of a higher force (for
example grades or due dates), otherwise they won’t do it. Hoping for an internal
motivation is often like hoping for the rain in the dessert.
22. Off
topic lessons are sometimes the best. Just let it flow.
I’ve found that you do not always have to stick to
your lesson plan to have a good class. Lesson plans are fantastic and
necessary, but I’ve found the best classes and most effective learning happens
when there is wiggle room to throw out the lesson plan and stay present enough
to respond to what the students really need.
Give them some autonomy to take responsibility for
their own learning. Be open enough to let them inform you of the gaps in their
knowledge. They teach me how to teach them. Sometimes you have to adjust to the
feeling of the class and just change your plans when a discussion occurs.
Often a discussion veers off into things that are off
topic and that’s perfectly fine. For me the off topic discussions about Mexico
and the Mexican culture were more valuable than talking about success. These
were the moments I had a connection to my students where everybody was engaged
and where can an opportunity for students to see me and their classmates as
regular people (students seeing us as normal people can be very important to
their success) was provided.
23. Your body is too precious to neglect. Take breaks.
During my 2,5 months at UTR I worked probably more than ever before in my life. I teached, I prepared, I researched, I read, I wrote on my blog, I organized my master and much more.
I liked to do all this work and I am not complaining about anything because I choosed to do so. However, sometimes I felt tired and exhausted. But instead of taking a break I continued working because I had the thought in my mind: "You have to get things done. Work!" I came from the classroom where I thaught, went to the teachers room and worked there, then got back to classroom thaught, went to the teachers room and worked and so on. Without any big break I worked sometimes the whole day and that led to a poor quality of my classes as well as of my private life. I forgot things in class, I thaught without enthusiasm, I was unfriendly with students, I was stressed and simply could not give my best.
This was the turning point where I started to take at least two big breaks during the day: One meal with my colleagues (Mercedes, Naty, Vera etc.) where we talked and just had some fun and one nap in the afternoon. This was a true game-changer for my work and helped me to stay energized during the whole day. So the lesson I learned was this:
23. Your body is too precious to neglect. Take breaks.
During my 2,5 months at UTR I worked probably more than ever before in my life. I teached, I prepared, I researched, I read, I wrote on my blog, I organized my master and much more.
I liked to do all this work and I am not complaining about anything because I choosed to do so. However, sometimes I felt tired and exhausted. But instead of taking a break I continued working because I had the thought in my mind: "You have to get things done. Work!" I came from the classroom where I thaught, went to the teachers room and worked there, then got back to classroom thaught, went to the teachers room and worked and so on. Without any big break I worked sometimes the whole day and that led to a poor quality of my classes as well as of my private life. I forgot things in class, I thaught without enthusiasm, I was unfriendly with students, I was stressed and simply could not give my best.
This was the turning point where I started to take at least two big breaks during the day: One meal with my colleagues (Mercedes, Naty, Vera etc.) where we talked and just had some fun and one nap in the afternoon. This was a true game-changer for my work and helped me to stay energized during the whole day. So the lesson I learned was this:
Our body is precious. It is your vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care. Take breaks. It will be grateful for.
24. I love
teaching.
I love teaching more than I ever dreamed I would.
Teaching and working with students is extremely challenging and rewarding. I
love that I have the privilege and opportunity to teach other people.
I respect
that this is a great charge and honor. I take the responsibility seriously and
carefully pick every part of every lesson and assignment as to have the best
educational impact possible. I love thinking on my feet and leading a
discussion with engaged students.
I truly love teaching beyond words.
Puuuh, this was a pretty long post,wasn`t it? But experiences are not easy to keep short. Thank you for reading up to this point and again thank you if you were part of my experience.
I hope you liked what you read. If yes, please let me know and write a comment below. Soon I will publish my articel about "60 things I learned living 6 months in Mexico" which will be so much fun to read. So stay online and come again.
Saludos and so much love for you guys,
Pascal
