I have had 3 weeks with students now… well, a 4-day week, a 5-day week, and then a 2-day week and a few days in between where we had special activities planned for the kids so I didn’t get to see all of my classes.

I am teaching at an international school just outside of Cairo. It is a unique school in that it teaches both British and American curriculum. When the students are in 7^th grade they select which vein they will go down and remain in that curriculum until they graduate. This affects what class selection they have, how those classes are taught and graded, the curriculum of instruction, what major tests they take, and ultimately where they apply for university.

Primary school goes through 6^th grade, then middle school (or Key Stage 3 on the British side) is shortened to 2 years, 7^th and 8^th grade, and then they are in high school (and AP, IB, DP… or a bunch of other acrynym letters I am still learning on the British side).

As a secondary music teacher, I teach in both the British and American sections. I have never taught on the British side before, so I am still learning about how the structure is different. Fortunately for me though, I pretty much teach the same thing in all classes. I teach grades (American)/years (British) 7 and 8. I was teaching a year 9 GCSE music class, though it was cancelled because only 3 students had signed up for it. I also have a grade 10 homeroom that meets everyday for 20 minutes, and once every two weeks for 55 minutes.

The way the scheduling is set up is on a 2-week rotating schedule. I see all students in grade/year 7 & 8, but only see them once per week. And that’s if we don’t have a day off or an activity planned that they get pulled for. If you do the math, I will see my students a maximum of 35 times throughout the whole school year. 35! My instructional planning has had to change to accommodate this challenge. Typically, I like to plan out multi-day units for my class. This is what I am doing currently, but it is hard because some classes have missed their meeting time so they are on day-1 of the activity and others are on day-3. I may have to change and only do single-day lessons. I often think back to an undergraduate music class, taught by one of my favorite teachers, Dr. Janet Barrett; there was a day that she posed a question to us (I’m not sure exactly how she phrased it): What is your music-topia, ideal program? I know for sure that seeing my kids only once per week doesn’t fit my music-topia ideals.

There is a sign on my door that says Ms. Gilmore: Instrumental Music… but that’s not what I teach. I am teaching general music. I would love to be teaching instrumental music, and the school would love for that too, but with the current set-up there is no way to accommodate that. This is my 12^th year teaching, and the first year that I have ever had a classroom with desks. It’s definitely not a setting for instrumental music. I am though confident that I can help to change this around. There is a choir where there was not in the past. There is a band in the primary grades that doesn’t carry through. I will do what I can to make some waves at this school and increase their musical opportunities and growth. Step one is that I have started an after school secondary concert band. I got a list of names of students who had played in concert band in the past and am hoping to get a core group of kids who are excited about this opportunity again. My hope is that we will be able to be a visible presence around the school to get more kids interested and signed up. I want the excitement about band to be contagious! Maybe the kids will want to meet more frequently than just once per week too- we’ll see.

There is a strong Peripatetic Music Department at the school. This is a program through which they hire professional musicians from the community to teach weekly 30 to 45-minute pull-out lessons on instruments and voice. This program appears to be really strong. I hope to strengthen the connection between our programs as well to get those students playing in the concert band. I spoke with one of the instructors in the program and he is hoping to start a string orchestra in the school. I offered my help in this, as it’s a strength of mine. Oh and by the way, Martin has been hired to teach guitar lessons through this program! He will be teaching two days per week.

The students all wear uniforms to school. They are pretty strict even about the type of shoe, color of sock and even hairbands. Thankfully teachers don’t have to wear uniforms, though I practically had to buy a whole new wardrobe moving out here because they are very specific of what should or shouldn’t be worn as a teacher. I even have to dress up on work-days when there are no students in attendance.

Here’s the structure of the school-day: We have homeroom for 20 minutes, then period 1, then a half hour break. I learned that most Egyptians don’t eat first thing in the morning, so this is when most of them eat their breakfast. Then they have periods 2, 3, and 4, followed by a second 30-minute break. Many students choose to eat again, or just hang out with friends. Then they have period 5 and head home for the day. I was told that when they get home they eat a very large meal. They have an option to join sports or a smattering of clubs that meet afterschool.

Here’s a bit about the kids I teach. I have a total of 340 students-17 different classes. That’s a lot of names to learn! And they are tough names too, as 95 % of the students here are Egyptian. Generally, the kids have been impressed with my pronunciation. They say I can just pronounce it like the American way, but then they get a huge smile on their face when I say it right. It’s a little thing that I’m hoping will go a long way in building relationships with my students. (They also get a big smile and laugh when I can’t say certain sounds in their language too!) The students at my school come from very wealthy families. They are the top 3% I was told. This brings certain challenges of its own. For many of them, their parents are frequently travelling, which means that many of them are raised by maids, drivers, or tutors and thus don’t have proper discipline and for some even compassion at home. At home the students speak Egyptian Arabic, they learn proper Arabic at school, and must speak English at school. In addition to this, they often choose to learn Spanish or French. This means for most of them, they are inherently uncomfortable at school. I would be too in their shoes. Oh, I must tell you- Egyptian people are loud! When they speak with each other, to me it often sounds like they are yelling at each other, but then they start laughing. They are just loud in their communication. The same is true for the students. One student asked me why I spoke so softly. He noticed a difference in our cultures too (Don’t worry I have raised my voice/yelled in a few of my classes already!).

Egyptians are very family-centered. They often live with or nearby cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. They love talking about their families, and they love hearing about my family. They are also very affectionate. When you greet an Egyptian friend, you will receive a hug with a kiss on each side of your face. The same happens when you leave. The kids show affection too. Boys/men will walk arm-in-arm with each other and girls/women the same.

So I’m learning there are differences I must be aware of in these students. They are differences that make them who they are. It is important for me to know these backgrounds to teach them effectively- at my former school this is called equity. My perspective on equity is quite different now. They are not majority middle/upper class white Americans like I am used to teaching.

Though some things are the same; kids are kids everywhere you go. The kids crave attention, seek to please, and hate to disappoint. They love technology and always want to be on it. They also love music. I look forward to sharing my music with them and they are so excited to share theirs with me. I am learning about sha3by music. Many of the kids are into it. It’s hard to explain, but it’s fast, has tons of auto-tune on the vocals, and is mostly electronic. When they play it for me they dance; a common dance is swirling their arms around. I’ll see if I can find a video online to show you.

There have definitely been some teaching challenges this school year, but I know one thing for sure:

I am so thankful that I teach music- it is the universal language.