The Turquoise Chronicles

On the outskirts of Istanbul, the sunflowers have wilted but the autumn sun still shines warm and bright. I take a 25-minute bus ride to work each day, which scoops me up from the top of my street and winds through neighborhoods and farmland. I’m really enjoying working in the art cabins, detached from the main school building. I host many classes outside under the canopy shade as COVID is still prevalent. There is no masking requirement here but cases have remained relatively low so far this school year.

This week, my goal was to get my Grade 7 and 8 students excited about using new types of media. Some students have not been in school for the majority of the past 2.5 years. Since art is such a material-heavy domain, they have lost a lot of hands-on exploration time. For this lesson, they rotated media stations, they checked out 2D materials like oil pastel and charcoal to determine what they will choose for their upcoming Nightmare/Daydream Project.

Earlier this summer, I received training in MYP Visual Arts (the Middle Years Program) which serves students in Grades 6-10, a facet of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. IB Visual Arts is a fairly philosophical curriculum based on criteria and standards-based grading (ie. no letter grades or percentages). I find that the IB syncs well with my personal philosophy surrounding the equal importance between process and product in the Arts. You don’t have to have exceptional drawing skills to do well in these courses but you will learn how to talk about aesthetics and critique artwork. As I am once again teaching DP Visual Arts (the Diploma Program, Grades 11 & 12), I am quite pleased to front-load these skills at the middle school level, creating a continuum that will help my students to become lifelong art appreciators (at least that’s the goal!).

Speaking of lifelong activities, I’m relishing the opportunity to coach and play tennis once again. Playing under gorgeous blue skies is a dramatic change from dodging rain and cold even in early September back in Moscow. We’ve had a very strong turnout this season and I’m very pleased to be a part of it. I’m coaching the coed middle school team with the Athletic Director. He previously taught at Seoul International School and we share a number of friends from both Korea and Moscow. The international teaching world is exceptionally small.

One of my other roles at school is as a Grade 12 homeroom advisor. Always a big year in the life of a high schooler, my students are currently deciding what to do after graduation. Options may include university (or “uni”) somewhere in Europe, Asia, or the States, taking a gap year, or starting at the family business. Grade 12 is a really sweet bunch and I feel lucky to have them as my first senior class in Turkey.

Some of you have asked about the differences between Moscow and Istanbul. Aside from the weather (it’s 80F a sunny here today), the two are really quite different. Metropolitan and very “hustle-bustle”, Moscow kept me on my toes at every minute. Istanbul keeps a frenetic but somehow more laid-back pace that is decidedly more provencal (and I’m not just talking about the sunflower fields). The calmer pace has allowed me to create a more well-rounded experience for my students and still have the energy to explore on the weekends (gotta feed your own soul, too!).

I’m headed downtown tonight to meet up with my friend Julie who is in town for work. We haven’t seen each other since I left Moscow and I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll be staying at a little boutique hotel in the Cihangir neighborhood so keep an eye out for that post next week 🙂 Take care, everyone!