The Teacher’s Lifestyle

You can find your moment every day, something you look forward to, a ritual that becomes a lifestyle that keeps you feeling and looking; healthier, happy, refreshed and at ease. 

How many times have you looked forward to the holidays? How many times have your holidays seemed so short, making you begin to look forward to another one? The teacher-life is one crazy one, and many teachers live a monotonous life, full of work and less fun.

I have walked into school many times in the morning looking all neat and nice but by the time it’s school over, many things would have fallen out of place. We work with children on and on and it seems like there’s no breathing space, no time to do any thing for yourself. You get exhausted, feel worn out and look forward to the public holiday, the short breaks and the ultimate long one. It is not news that teachers come refreshed and full of smiles, very patient and hardly irritable after every holiday. Just give them two weeks and the holiday behaviour is gone; hair out of place, heavily pressed for the toilet, cold lunch, cold tea, more likely to be irritable, head buried in work all day, generally worn out.

You may say to yourself ‘I work round the clock, taking five minutes for a self-moment would not work!’ Think about it this way, giving up 5 minutes may be the ‘secret charger’ you need to go through the day as a happier and more fulfilled individual.

Every teacher deserves that sane moment right there in school every day and there will always be time for what you consider important to you. All you need to do is plan your day and make up your mind to establish five minutes a day doing something for yourself, something that calms you, satisfies you and refuels you.  Before we go deep into that, consider owning five minutes from one of the underlisted, depending on what works best for you on a daily basis.

1.  Just before the students arrive. This one is for the early birds, if you do not usually get to work on time, it’s not for you. I love this moment a lot because it gives me some sort of peace knowing I can have some peace and quiet in my work space, even if it is for fifteen minutes.

2.  On the way to assembly. Not all teachers are saddled with the task of taking children to assembly. It appears so simple but that is a ‘you-time’ for a teacher who may have so many subjects back-to-back. How you utilize that you-time can affect your day positively.

3.  When you are not teaching. Do not rush to mark that pile of books just after one long class, five minutes for yourself would not hurt.

4.  Your students are having an outdoor/out-of-class lesson with another teacher. Use this time wisely otherwise you would realise you did not do anything of value to yourself and even on-the-job at the end of that supposed free time.

5.  The official break-time. When you are not on duty, make good use of your break by taking a break. If the pupils need a break, you need it too.

6.  Between lessons. You can create a ‘you-time’ between lessons if possible. When we begin to look at ‘you-time’ ideas, you will see what fits in here. Trust me, some teachers get so tensed up during lessons and would need to consciously get very short breaks during their lessons.

7.  On your way to your out-of-class duty post. Don’t be the one who is always caught running to the duty post, make the process count a bit more for yourself, just be intentional.

8.  After school. Many teachers may find this easier to achieve, but it is better to strive for a personal time during the work hours, you need it to ease up your day.

Over the next few weeks I will be showing you several ways you can take a moment for yourself daily and be a happier teacher.

Kindly drop a comment if this post was useful.

How Do I Know What To Display in My Class?

Getting Appropriate Classroom Displays

It can be tough getting displays ready for the term. Inasmuch as you want to have a beautiful class, be sure that the displays you put up are meaningful and appropriate for the pupils in the class. To this end, you should encourage your students to look and learn from them so that the purpose of putting them up can be achieved. Look at the points below to guide you when thinking of displays.

1.   School’s basic requirement. Every school has basic requirements and you should be aware of them. If you are unsure, ask your supervisor.

2.   Subject based- What new things will pupils learn in your class this term? Are there going to be some difficult/tricky topics? Get displays for these topics to help children learn easier and have access to continuous learning/ reference.

3.   School theme for the term. It is important to set up displays with the school theme in mind, this will help you drive the message more easily in your classroom.

4.   Class goals – What do you want to achieve with your pupils? Convert your goals into displays so that your students are constantly reminded. Get relevant quotes, instruction charts, etc.

5.   What should your students know? There are many things you want your pupils to know by the end of the term, one sure way of getting that through is putting them up as display. E.g. word registers, writing skills, good manners, etc.

Classroom Display Ideas

·       Rules

·       Welcome back display

·       Word wall – new words, tricky words, key words for the term, etc

·       Birthday chart

·       Development chart

·       Progress chart

·       Alphabets

·       Numbers

·       Steps in writing essays

·       Manners/ good character

·       How to write a sentence chart

·       Basic fraction chart

·       Rights of a child

·       Science process skills

·       Students’ work

·       Capitalising letters

·       Goal wall

·       Months of the year

·       Days of the week

·       Weather chart

·       Relevant banners – captions for your display boards. E.g. writing, words, science, etc.

·       The colour wheel

·       Book wall – list of interesting books to read in the term

·       Math wall – shapes, addition, subtraction. Fraction, average, etc.

·       Parts of speech charts – adverb, adjectives, etc.

·       Science words/instruments to look out for in the term

·       Sight words

·       Place value

·       Sea animals

·       Mammals

·       Queer animals

·       Uncommon fruits/vegetables

·       Words/pictures (language teachers)

·       Reading wall display

·       Punctuation displays

·       Science – rock/minerals chart

·       Literacy - Sentence types chart

·       Art wall

·       Instruction charts – homework, silence zone, etc.

·       Motivational charts – quotes, inspiring words/photos, etc.

·       Facts chart

·       Borders

·       Synonym chart

New Session Palava! - Setting Up the Class

Putting Things Up!

Every class teacher knows that the beginning of a session is always a time to put things up in the classroom. It’s such a big deal because it creates your desired atmosphere for your classroom. Your students are looking forward to a beautifully decorated classroom, your supervisors will even give you their expectations and undoubtedly, your colleagues are also itchy to see what you are letting out of your sleeves.

What to put up?

While some teachers usually have a mental picture of how they want their classrooms to look like, others don’t. Some have a mental picture but do not even know how to bring it to life. Then ,confusion sets in for the first few hours, and when the ideas finally come, you are under pressure to finish up on time. (check for post on Classroom Display Ideas) by 7.00 GMT+1)

1.   Get a checklist. If you are like me, then you want to be sure you have all the basic requirements on check first. It differs from one school to the other (find out from your supervisor), when you have a checklist you tend to work smarter.

2.   Think about themes. You want to be sure you know what the school theme for the year is, this will give you ideas on important displays for your class.

3.   Your class goals. Every year, teachers start the session with a goal on what they would like to achieve with their pupils in class. To make some of these goals sustainable, you can build a display around it to help everyone stay focused.

Steps to set up the class

Getting a list of all your display items may seem like a great accomplishment, but that is only the beginning of your journey. You need to figure out how to get the displays done and then how to put them up nicely.

·       First things first. Decide which displays you want to create and the ones you would buy. Creative teachers prefer making a larger percent of theirs because they have wild ideas. It is okay to buy displays if you cannot create them, but the goal is to work towards learning to make yours because it is more economical to do so.

·       Ask for help. Identify colleagues who find it easy to set up their classrooms and ask them for ideas. This has worked for me many times. By the time you engage these people, you begin to get ideas that activate your own creativity.

·       Look for experts. You may not be great at designing your own displays or be able to get somethings done for yourself, it is okay to get someone who can help you. An expert could be your friend, spouse, a colleague, your child or a paid expert.

·       Get inspiration from colleagues. One easy way to get inspiration is to take a walk around your school, visit other classes and see what your colleagues are up to.

·       Go online. The internet has become a solution to many of the issues that teachers face. Teachers share tips and even show you how to get things done. You can get specific help by googling it, checking on YouTube, asking a question in you teacher communities, following creative teachers on Facebook, Instagram or just signing up on Pinterest.

Drop a comment if this was useful.

COOL TEACHER TIPS : PLAN & PREPARE

Do you consider planning and preparation as an investment or a waste of time? Those who say it is a waste of time may have their genuine reasons due to experiences in the past. If you have planned for class activities or any other thing at school that turned out to be a flop, you may say planning is not necessary.  However, well documented plans afford us the opportunity to retract and improve on our approach, this turns out to be beneficial for you and your students in the long run.

WHAT TO PLAN FOR

• Methodology
• Classroom management
• Resources
• Dealing with peculiarities: children and parents
• And so much more

WHY DO I NEED TO PLAN?

The teacher is continuously faced with numerous tasks to accomplish, without adequate planning, one is most likely to fail in some aspects even though you thrive in other areas.We do know that if you are ever given a choice to win-some or win-all, you will choose the latter. Good planning and preparation help you win more often than you would without the pair.

If you are still wondering why you need to plan, you should keep reading.

1. Planning helps you to focus on what is important per time. With so many deadlines, you may want to be sure you are doing the right task per time. 
2. You set and keep up with standards (lesson delivery and every area of your teacher life) when you plan. Planning brings your wishes to reality because every teacher has big dreams for their classroom but not all are able to bring these bright dreams to fruition because they were not properly planned for.
3. You become a better manager through planning.  Properly engaged learners are more likely to be better behaved than those who are left idle or those without clear instructions. If you have ever been in a situation where your resources were not ready, complete or appropriate, then you can agree that when the teacher gets disorganized, the class is equally disorganized too.
4. You become a better teacher.  This one always works. A teacher with intentions to plan researches, practises, reflects, learns, relearns, fails, succeeds and much more. Because all these things build you, you earn the respect of your colleagues, administrators and students.
5. Your students learn in a more enriched environment and achieve better results.

WHEN DO I PLAN AND PREPARE?

It is no doubt that the free periods we get at work do not suffice for the kind of planning and preparation that produce effective results, we need more time. Whatever time is comfortable for you is fine as long as you can do your planning.

1. Staying back after close of work is effective for those who can do it. You have more quiet time at work to reflect and let the ideas flow.
2. Some teachers prefer to come to work pretty early when there's hardly anyone else around to distract them.
3. Others cherish the peace of their homes and would rather stay up late at wee hours to plan and prepare.

HOW DO I START MY PLANNING?

1. Write notes. A teacher who wants to succeed at planning will have to write down important things at different times. You write when you want to reflect on your practice/day at work. A to-do list works wonders and will give you direction, help you stay focused and increase your chances of having a peak performance. 
2. Do a draft of your lesson by breaking down each aspect of delivery into minutes. Play out every part and see if you really will achieve the intended purpose at the specified time. (look out for future posts where I will be teaching you how to organize your activities and make sure Blended Learning is achieved).
3. Your colleagues are valuable resources which should never be ruled out. Observe other lessons and ask questions. Allow others to observe your class and also tell them to give you honest feedback. Use the results of these to plan for your class. 
4. You can find a lot of information on whatever you need to know by surfing the net, reading a book or doing a short course.  You do not always have to stare at the ceiling or give up when you lack ideas. Doing research can provide you with more ideas on how to deal with issues in your class.
5. Always document your ideas as they come. If you choose to wait for a special time to recall them, important details may have been lost.

I AM NOW A CERTIFIED TEACHER

Congratulations filled the air upon receipt of this document just last week.

It took a year to get this processed; signed, sealed and delivered. Who would have thought this was something I would be proud of fifteen years ago. Right now, I am incredibly proud of it.

I  really did not consider it important when I had just started teaching, truth be told,as much as I  wanted to be a teacher, I also wasn't ready to be committed ( Lol...Does that sound like what a guy will tell a lady?)

So, somehow I never applied for it until a few years ago when David and I got nominated for an award in Lagos state with a huge monetary reward. I did not bother going on with the procedure because I was told being certified as a teacher by Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) was compulsory. David who is a go-getter  went on with the process and interestingly moved all the way up to the finals. He had gotten to the top four in that award but had to drop out as he was not certified. It was then it  dawned on us the importance of the certificate and so we decided to start the process of getting it.

Since I received this certificate, I have been made to understand the numerous benefits I stand to gain as a teacher.

Don't sleep on a bicycle like I did, it took me over eight years to start processing mine. This certificate is gold to a teacher the way being a chartered accountant is to the accountant.

I know there are people reading this now who have gotten theirs. Kindly share with us the benefits teachers can get with this certificate and also tell us if you have one.

WHEN TEACHERS DISGUISE

Many people seem to crave the weekend for several reasons. Even in work places, parties are thrown on Fridays and those who love to get their groove on move from one event to the other throughout the weekend. Another category uses the time to get personal things sorted out.

I grew up knowing that many use the weekends to cash in on strategic meet ups; to close business deals or meet prospective clients.  Others just want to make the acquaintance of people so as to increase the value of their network.

At meetups/events, when people introduce themselves they would usually say something like 'My name is Mr/Ms......, I am into entertainment or investment banking, nice to make your acquaintance.' And courtesy demands that you return that gesture by introducing yourself as well. Even if you miss the line of mentioning what it is that you do, it does not take long for someone to pop the question 'so what do you do?'

Well, word has come to me that teachers still find it difficult to mention that they are indeed TEACHERS. Some simply lie or mention something else that they do.

It is can almost be forgiven because I have WALKED into rooms in the past where I would timidly mention that I was a teacher and the expressions were priceless (negatively).
Teachers know how they are perceived by a lot of people and would rather stay safe by hiding from who they are. The stigma attached to teachers being poor is still so strong and it has affected how we are perceived.

The narrative is changing, many teachers have broken free from the yoke of poverty ( that is a topic for another day). Better still, teachers are intelligent, creative, problem solvers, nation shapers and many more. Which of these do you fall into?

It took me a lot of thoughts to accept myself for what I had decided to do as a career, understand why I was doing it and define the mark I intended to make. By so doing, my career has become the easiest story I know to tell. Believe it or not, I now walk into gatherings with my head held up and talk about being a teacher to people in more 'lucrative' professions, hold them spell bound and begin to receive comments like 'Can we do something together?'

Someone once mentioned that if you are a teacher and all your friends are teachers, you are headed in the wrong direction.

The level of exposure you have is how far you can show your students. Take bold strides today, there's so much more to you than talking about your students to your spouse or network of teacher friends.

1- Discover yourself
2- Work on yourself
3- Use it to change your narrative.

Still wondering about how to go about this, drop a comment or visit @teachersidaraanddavid on Instagram. We love to see teachers becoming more of whom they intend to be and even beyond.

08167434858,08034085285

TEACHERS CAN BE MORE...

This is third term and the session is going to end before we know it. Are we just going to let the same old cycle begin next session?

I am hearing someone say 'NO.'

Talk is cheap!

What are you doing about the dreams and aspirations you have always nursed? Think problems, think solutions! Money comes only to those who help solve problems.

Everyone can be a problem solver if only we think a little harder.

Before you know it, it's going to be a new year again.

Be intentional about your goals! Don't just have dreams, reflect, look for ways to get them done, ask a friend, take a course.

Success will never show pity to those who hope and do nothing.

#mytwopence
#muchlove

REINVENT YOUR CLASSROOM

Teachers are often prone to get overwhelmed with school activities, lessons and everything else in between. When teachers are faced with meeting deadlines, completing the syllabus and all one will agree that all these can make a teacher develop patterns and routines to ensure that all these are accomplished.Also, there is the issue of lack of sufficient time allotted to the numerous school ‘must dos’. So, you find out that some teachers become experts in routines and gradually lose the ability to be creative.

Good news!!! You can reinvent your classroom every once in a while by disrupting your routines and procedures without losing focus. There are simple ways you can add fun and excitement with or without technology. I do this regularly and the pupils always love it.

WAYS TO REINVENT YOUR CLASSROOM

        Introducing games
·         Use of music
·         Dance
·         Movement
·         Talk
·         Activities unassociated with the subject, etc((The teacher has to be creative, purposeful and thoughtful about this)

WHEN CAN YOU DISRUPT YOUR CLASSROOM ROUTINE

•   Before school assembly in class

• Before the first period of the day

• After the last period of the day

•  Somewhere in between your lesson

•  The transition from one class to the other, etc.

Disrupting your classroom has more advantages than disadvantages. Some teacher may begin to think of time, disorganized class and all. But, these things are important for different reasons.

•  It relaxes the students.

•  It makes a lesson or day memorable

• It helps learners (especially the kinesthetic) to connect the activities with the lesson and remember more easily

• It eradicates boredom.

•  It creates excitement that makes students interested in learning.

EXAMPLE

A teacher just concluded an hour of a Numeracy lesson after which the pupils are expected to immediately begin another one hour Social Studies lesson. A simple activity either teacher can do at the end of the Numeracy lesson or the beginning of Social Studies. Tell every child to:

• Stand

• Walk ten steps north of the classroom

• Turn around and walk towards the east of the class and touch the wall

• Finally, touch one more end of the class that they desire.

Then the teacher says, ‘who will be the last?’ The next reaction is always amazing. The movement awakens them, makes them more ready for the next class and all. The first time I did this, the students loved it and asked for it again. However, I am careful not to use it too often so it does not lose its ‘magic’. There are some I do once and that is it. The most important thing is to add excitement to your classroom as often as you can Regular is boring!    

Wait Time: A Priceless Teaching Technique for Teachers

Wait time! So simple yet so powerful.

Many times, teachers unknowingly make students come up with hasty conclusions by the way they ask questions and demand for the answers in class.

Scenario

The teacher asks five-year-old pupils to mention major landmarks leading to the houses. And, in less than three seconds the teacher is breathing down on them to supply answers. Before you know it the teacher begins to get angry when the pupils cannot supply him/her with reasonable answers.

The next time the teacher does the same thing and so you see a cycle where pupils are trying to meet up with a teachers expectation of ‘prompt’ but ‘poorly thought out’ answers.

Try out Wait time!

It is a learning tool used by teachers but if well understood and utilized by the teacher it will largely contribute to developing one of the most important 21st-century skills, critical thinking.

How does it work?

• You ask a question.
• Tell the student to think about it by weighing other options before arriving at an answer.
• Give the student quality time to think about the answer (the teacher decides the length of time, based on the nature of the question).
• Prompt the students when it appears they are not getting the answer as quickly as they should, the problem may be with your question.
• Listen for qualitative responses from the students.

Result

•  It will increase the child’s ability to think in class.       It will increase the chances of a child to transfer the skill to his/her personal life.
•  The child will come up with better decisions and answers
•  The is most likely to solve problems easier and more frequently than a child who does not think though question.
• This will ultimately prepare that child to become an influencer as he/she will become a problem solver.

How well do you use this tool in your classroom?

ONLINE COURSE ALERT: BECOMING A TRENDY TEACHER

Jolaawo was a 24 year old guy from an average Nigerian family. His parents were teachers and he always wanted to be one as well.

He used to  believe that as a teacher, hewill close early from work and have  other small businesses that can fetch him more money.

Soon, he realised that being a teacher requires more time. In less than a year, he lost his drive.

 He would  rush off from work to meet up with lessons, leaving a lot of school work undone and in no time, became an under performer at work.

 One would think he raked in cool cash from his after school endeavours. Right?

He was losing on both sides and because he paid no attention to professional development,he quickly became stale and kicked out of work.

He was smart, young, had the relevant qualification, knew the content of the lesson.

Problem:
He was not up to date. He was loosing his relevance bit by bit and had no idea of it.

Don't be a Jolaawo,
•click on this link forms/d/1D6iesCmpNXsWIyQi6pOFNTokn433xjXqslt85whmSAI/edit?usp=drivesdk
•fill in your email to get more details

Email: teacheridara@gmail.com

WORK LIKE THE LIONS

Ever heard of that feline called the Lion? I think that's an asinine question.  You see what I  did with the-ine words there?

 Well, when hunting the lion works in a team of "professionals" called a "pride", unlike its cousins the cheetah, tiger and the leopard.

Ever compared each animal's hunting success rate? Okay, that's for National Geographic to school us on the exact figures. But,  the clear definition of roles in the Pride is thrilling; the Spotter, the Distractor, the Catcher and all. Interestingly, that doesn't negate the fact that the lioness can also hunt (and succeed) alone, but the BIG kills in the jungle always require the team.

The professional environment is a "concrete jungle", involving competition with other companies and the same rules replicate themselves-in human form.

WORK AS A TEAM

Find the people who have the same goals as you do, so that the objectives and vision are clear, and always stay clear.

However, there are certain prerequisites that make for a "well-stewed" team. They are LOYALTY, HONESTY, NO BACK-BITING or GOSSIPING, CLEAR DEFINITION OF ROLES, DEDICATION AND THE POSITIVE MINDSET, RESPECT among other sub-prerequisites.

Most importantly for us, one ingredient that stands out is LOYALTY, a few of the other criteria are birthed from loyalty and that's why they say "Loyalty is expensive, do not expect it from cheap people".

Be loyal to your team. Be loyal to the organization. Achieve big things.

Go get them.

SUNDAY'S STORY

This little chap, Sunday, is a pupil of a school that we, David Obianyor, Idara Umosen and a formidable team,have been working with in partnership with the kind Obaforehanmi for about three months.

During our last leg of the first phase of the project, his father, our contracted painter, was full of joy and excitement.  He mentioned how his son had told him about the transformation going on in his school.
We patiently listened as he express his joy endlessly.

Soon, Sunday showed up to help his dad out and we were delighted to have a word with him. He kept on looking and moving around, marveling at the work done in the classrooms and the school at large.Afterwards, he stared endlessly at his own classroom without saying any words.

We are excited that the pupils will learn under better conditions and use a more befitting toilet regardless of rain or other harsh weather conditions

Furthermore, we met another student of the school (adult education) who we contracted to do a few carpentry jobs. He was excited to help as well.

Lessons learnt: Every learner enjoys and appreciates a more conducive learning environment.

We say a huge thank you to Obaforehanmi(TF) for leading our paths to this school and allowing us to partner with you on this project that was so dear to her heart.

TEACHERS: QUIT BLAMING EVERYONE-EVALUATE YOURSELF

There you go again, sitting down at the edge of your bed at the wee hours of the morning, head bent, hands clasped in grief and despair. One of your popular lines is, “When will things start working for me?” Wallowing in self-pity you console yourself that one day will be your day but to make matters worse, you remember that you are a teacher, a Nigerian teacher for that matter. Expectedly, you begin to curse everyone whom you believe could be responsible for your travails; the government, your employer, the circumstances of your childhood, the supervisor who you think despises you, the youngster at work who’s getting everything you believe you deserve but you never blame yourself for anything. Surprisingly, you have repeated this routine for many years, nothing has changed except the bulging bags under your eyes, the fine lines that have emerged on your face to remind you that you are getting older and that you have only a little time on your hands. It is the end of another year, you should not be doing that again, there are better ways to reflect on your life.

I beseech you right now to absolve everyone else of all blame and focus on yourself. Success is a choice, trust me it is not going to just fall into the laps of whosoever wishes for it, you have got to work it. This is that moment when you quit making excuses; just take the right steps. Life will always take advantage of those who will not do anything to take advantage of life.

In 2017, I gained new grounds; personally and as a brand. For readers who do not know me, I am a teacher without apologies and the brand, Teacher Idara is purely educational and it is owned by teachers, David Obianyor and Idara Umosen.  Teachers can gain new grounds if they take the right steps. In this post, I will be guiding you through practical ways to make your first baby step towards being a successful teacher. Grab a pen and writing pad and change the way you have been handling situations.

1. REFLECT ON YOUR GOALS (OR WISHES)

This may be in areas of personal development, classroom management, your community, your school, promotions, awards etc.

For example, this year, one of my goals was to become a visible teacher on the social media platform.

• Make a list of everything you aspired for in 2017.
• Tick off the ones you achieved.
• Put a question mark in front of the ones you did not achieve.

2.  LESSONS LEARNT FROM VICTORIES

This could be your victory or that of others.

For example; this year, I learnt that the more knowledge I have, the more power I have.

• Turn to a new page of your writing pad
• List out your achievements (or that of others)
• Enumerate five lessons learnt from each of them

3. LESSONS LEARNT FROM FAILURES

This could be from your failure or that of others.

For example, after my first radio interview at Eko FM (thank you Segilola for that experience), I realised that I found it difficult to address questions relating to a fraction of my audience (public school teachers) and I took steps.

• Turn to a new page of your writing pad
• List out your failure or unachieved goals (or that of others)
• Enumerate five lessons learnt from each of them

*Look out for more posts on more steps to take to become successful as a person and as a teacher.

*Feel free to drop your comments. 

*You can follow me by mail by submitting your email in the box at the top left side of this page.

SAFETY TIPS FOR TEACHERS

About two years ago, I was on my way back from private tutoring when this happened.

I had chosen the location because of it's proximity to my house without considering how much disruption traffic will cause.

At 8:40pm I drove off from the lesson hoping to get home in less than 30 minutes but that didn't happen. On that day there was a standstill.

I remember looking and the time going by, I called close people and told them what was going on. I got so tired that I kept dozing off.

Boom! I jerked up, opened the door to run out of the car and was pulled back by my tightened seatbelt. I stopped to figure out what had happen but could not tell. 

At the loud sound, I saw bright lights and splinters of glass flying towards my face. What had hit my car? I could not tellWhat had struck my car. I became extremely frantic, it was 10:35pm o was still stuck in that traffic, my glass was broken.

I remember some guys in a big truck kept looking at me and smiling, some guy told me sorry. A vehicle with a middle aged couple stopped by to ask me what was taken from me, that was when it dawned on me that I had been robbed. My handbag had been taken out, but my phone was with me. 

At this point I wanted to scream because I felt so vulnerable, there was still this bad traffic  and a few hawkers were coming around to look and sell their wares.

I endured it till we were able to move, I took a look at the point the police usually stayed but they had probably closed. I drove home in a rush and finally arrived around 11pm.

I had never been so shaken in my life like that. Shattered glass on my body, all over the car and a missing bag full of documents and money as I had just returned from a camp that weekend.

The nice part is that by God's grace, I got calls from market women and random people and received my important documents.

I remain thankful because mine ended wellbut we can never be careful to make sure we have got the loose ends tightened.

Lessons

1. The route from the location should be properly taken into consideration. What level of traffic it is prone to, and at what time it is.

2.  Teachers need to understand properly the timing for the lesson. It is okay to be aware of the duration and fix a start time. But, you may need to do your test to ensure that your expectations for time duration and start time are in order.

3-  Prevent your lessons from dragging into the night. Go early and leave on time so you can feel safe.

4-  Keep your possessions away from sight .

5- Choose locations that are close to you and not prone to heavy traffic.

6- If you like to have multiple lessons plan your days properly. Let proximity be a deciding factor so that you do not have to stay out late meeting up with your targets.

7- As a teacher, you have the liberty to pick out a timing that works for you. So next time you are on the negotiation table, ask for timings that work for you and then come to a compromise at worst case scenario.

I changed my lifestyle from that day and you can change yours too. Don't put  your life at risk by staying out so late for lessons. 

I still think about interesting conversations that ensued between a certain parent and me. I  was asked to start sleeping over  on the days I had lesson to avoid being out late. I did not accept the proposal but painfully had to stop.

The most important thing I have continued doing is to avoid driving late. 

Stay safe!!!