My hopes for this Blog

Beste Internationale Collega, I am a Dutch TCK, married to a TCK, raising two TCK's and in my 18th year of teaching and coaching in an International school setting. It is my personal opinion that we, as those who work with International students and colleagues could use some resources in creating world classrooms; be it in Physical Education, a Kindergarten class, or AP Biology.
In my opinion an International classroom is one that has empathy for everyone's International story not only for the TCK but also for the Army kid, the missionary kid, the teacher kid, the navy kid, etc, etc. A classroom that shows who teaches there and who learns there, Internationals. Staff meetings that facilitate awareness around the topic of working and living in a transient culture. In-service sessions that give us hands on opportunities to create toolboxes which will help us connect with our peers better, with our students better and with their parents better; because we are not the same as a school back home. I am generalizing here but we are in schools where mobility and transition impact our climate, our community, our enjoyment of life, our jobs, our students and ourselves all the time. I believe that by being more aware; it will help us be a community of support, ideas, care, empathy, understanding and a willingness to learn from each other; whether you are only starting the international journey now, or whether you have been in it for a long time.
I look forward to sharing your tried and tested tricks and advice right here on The TCK Teacher. Here's to making it a small world, together; by giving ourselves and our students a safe place to call "Home" away from "Home", your classroom, our International schools. Ilse

Monday, August 1, 2016

Activity (SA) - Create your own "you know you are a TCK when" list.

For those who know all about TCK's there are lists out there that have statements regarding being a TCK. Many of them make you nod, many of them make you smile, many of them make you remember.

I have shared a list with my students and then in small groups I have asked them to come up with their own list. Then I take some time to have the different groups share and of course allow for time to talk about their statements and the feelings that come with those. In turn the list could be printed and laminated and hung on the wall.

Here is a list that seems to have the most common descriptors on it. it was written by a former student of mine for buzzfeed.








31 Signs You’re A Third Culture Kid

When you share this on Facebook, it will be liked by friends from 12 different countries.


According to sociologist David C. Pollock:

According to sociologist David C. Pollock:
Luchunyu / Via shutterstock.com

But, of course, you knew that already.

But, of course, you knew that already.
Ssuaphotos / Via shutterstock.com

1. You can curse convincingly in at least five different languages.

You can curse convincingly in at least five different languages.
GraphJam / Via cheezburger.com

2. To everyone’s confusion, your accent changes depending on who you’re talking to.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

3. And you often slip foreign slang into your English by mistake, which makes you unintelligible to most people.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

4. You’re really good at calculating time differences, because you have to do it every time you call your parents.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

5. But you also have your computer programmed to help you out when your math fails.

But you also have your computer programmed to help you out when your math fails.
Rega Jha

6. You start getting birthday wishes several hours before your birthday, from your friends farther east than you.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

7. Your passport looks like it’s been through hell and back.

Your passport looks like it's been through hell and back.
Charles Taylor / Via shutterstock.com
Or, more likely, your passports*, in the plural.

8. You have a love-hate relationship with the question “Where are you from?”

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid
Miramax Films/Paramount Vantage
You have both a short and long answer ready, and you pick one depending on who’s asking.

9. You run into your elementary school friends in unlikely countries at unlikely times.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

10. You’ve spent an absurd and probably unhealthy amount of time on airplanes.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid
Paramount Pictures

11. And you definitely know your way around jet-lag recovery.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

12. Your list of significant others’ nationalities reads like a soccer World Cup bracket.

Your list of significant others' nationalities reads like a soccer World Cup bracket.
Handy, huh?

13. And your circle of best friends is as politically, racially, and religiously diverse as the United Nations.

And your circle of best friends is as politically, racially, and religiously diverse as the United Nations.

14. Which is great, except that you “hang out” more online than in real life.

Which is great, except that you "hang out" more online than in real life.
XKCD / Via xkcd.com

15. So when you do see your best friends, you lose it a little.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

16. You’ve had the most rigorous sensitivity training of all: real life.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid
Always take your shoes off in a Thai household, but never show the soles of your feet to an Arab.

17. You get nervous whenever a form needs you to enter a “permanent address.”

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

18. You know that McDonald’s tastes drastically different from country to country.

You know that McDonald's tastes drastically different from country to country.
And you can rank them from best to worst.

19. You’re a food snob because you’ve sampled the best and most authentic of every possible cuisine.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

20. You convert any price to two different currencies before making significant purchases.

You convert any price to two different currencies before making significant purchases.
CVM / Via shutterstock.com

21. You don’t call it “home.” You call it “passport country.”

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

22. You often find yourself singing along to songs in languages you don’t speak or understand.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

23. You miss BBM, but Viber and WhatsApp will do for now.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

24. You’re the token exotic friend in your non-TCK crew.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

25. Love it or hate it, you have a strong and well-informed opinion on the I.B. system.

Love it or hate it, you have a strong and well-informed opinion on the I.B. system.

26. The end of the school year was always bittersweet because so many people moved away.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

27. And, no matter how many you say, good-byes never get easier.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

28. But the constant flow of new friends more than made up for it.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

29. Now you feel incredibly lucky to have loved ones and memories scattered all over the globe.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

30. You know better than anyone else that “home” isn’t a place, it’s the people in it.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

31. And you can’t wait to see where your life adventure takes you next.

31 Signs You're A Third Culture Kid

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