When teaching turns to business

As an international educator, I have been blessed with the ability to freely travel the globe. I have the right "all-American" look, the desired education and certification, the freedom to not be geographically restrictive, and after ten years of traveling... I may have found that one place I have been looking for. Although in daily denial, based on the hardships endured, which is common for any international teaching gig. There is an element of time, quite different for each individual. But deep down inside, I may actually "like" it here.

After teaching a year at a government high school in a "small city" of 600,000 people, being among one of less than a dozen people who could actually carry on a conversation in English, I was seeking a less-populated, more "western" environment. and I may have found that "perfect place" in Northern China.

Notwithstanding that I am, and forever will be that "spoiled California boy," combined with the fact that my students insist that I am not really an adult (discussing baby, child, children, youth, teen-agers, middle-aged and the old and elderly), they consider me a "big boy."

While they don't really know who Peter Pan is, and haven't been exposed to much western culture, because of previous, and current government restrictions, and as most of their conversations revolve around Basketball and the NBA, conversation is limited. It is my job to adapt current teaching modalities to include current "eye-opening" and "there's a whole new world out there" philosophies.

For that task, preparing interesting lesson plans can often be challenging to teach the topic, while providing current relevant information that may interest them. Every "Fun Friday" I have a 10 question EXAM (Specifically used for the importance of the grade, or "Mark" as they call it). "High Marks" or "Full Marks" is what they want the teacher to "Give" them. But they have not yet mastered the fact that it is NOT the teacher that is giving them their score, so it is up to me to collaborate with my peers and ask for assistance to teach the students that we do not give them their mark... They learn, or they don.t learn. The assignments, papers, speeches, presentations, group work, quizzes, tests and exams, are all on them... Even my Chinese counter parts didn't quite understand my request.

Be that as it may, "Fun Friday" exams are followed by a movie segment (in order to do my grading in class, so that I don't have to do work outside of school). They get their grades before the end of the class. The entire point of this mindless babbling today is that I showed the boys Disney's Teen Beach Movie, which is chock full of dialogue, exciting time shifts, amazing clothing styles, and above all the songs.

The only song that the students here know is One Directions "One Thing." and it hurts my ears to hear it. I like the, no, I love the song. But their pronunciation, and God forbid they use a microphone, just pains me to eternity. So What can I do about it? Teach them to sing.

I read a book a long, long time ago saying you can’t teach a pig to sing, it is impossible and it annoys the pig. Well, these boys need to be a little annoyed right now. They have one thing and one thing only on their mind... And it's not girls!

Computer games. Walking in the hallway, not watching where they are going, in class, before class, during class, after class. On their laptops, tablets, iPads, iPad mini's and phones of all shapes and sizes. "LOL" is the most common game.

After completing Disney's Teen Beach Movie in three weeks time, They asked for more. So I think I will go backwards first and show the High School Musical series from the beginning. Its relevant to their environment, and age group.

When teaching turns to business. The school I currently work for was just listed for ipo on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and I look forward to joining in on the growth of the curriculum and company.

Here is the link to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to see the current value of the Maple Leaf Education System stock price:

http://www.hkex.com.hk/eng/invest/company/quote_page_e.asp?WidCoID=1317&WidCoAbbName=&Month=1&langcode=e

I was fortunate to buy low, 45 days after the Initial Public Offering, and have enjoyed the steady rise and growth, as my own growth in the company becomes more permanent and stable. Buying at 1.95 HKD, with a value of 2.80 HKD as of publishing today, and owning a substantial amount of shares, as I try and re-invest my salary into the company growth... I can only hope that an education stock such as this company, can only maintain its healthy gain.

Sad thing is, E-trade is eliminating its global market as of June 12, 2015, I will be forced to liquidate and sell all of my shares, fee-free from E-trade, as it is them closing that leg of their business, and will be forced to re-purchase at a higher price. Working my way around this as an American citizen, working in China, trading with an American company on the Hong Kong market, I anticipate my ease of transition a bit worrisome. Billionaires do this type of thing everyday. There must be a simple way for me to do it. I will find a way.