Graduation Day

Two weeks is up. Just like that, our first of four workshops is over. And with this group, our graduation is a joyful one. The students danced. Oh, did they dance. Before our ceremony had even begun, we all gathered together just outside our conference room. Here, our students began to whoop and holler, bouncing up and down to some sort of song or chant. As I later surmised, it is Iraqi tradition to celebrate teachers by singing and dancing together in a circle. They pointed their video cameras and camera phones at each other as they did this. I believe the song's translation might be something like, "Marie, she is our teacher. She has taught us. Scott. Scott is our teacher. He has taught us. Shane. Shane is our teacher. He has taught us. Mark..." We were to be placed in the center as the singing occurred. It was both exciting and unnerving.

Then we handed out certificates and gave and received gifts. Several students had prepared small speeches, and we were given an impromptu song and a poem. One student, one of my favorites, even imitated us. And boy, was he spot on. He mocks my propensity to get choked up when I read or tell certain stories. You can see all four of us teachers get mocked here (as well as Mark getting caught up in a mini-circle dance of his own).

The energy was palpable. It was a perfect ending.

At the end of it all I sang a song that is nothing special musically. In the video, you can barely hear the guitar, but I think it came off better in the room. It is hopelessly insular, with tons of inside jokes. For example, I make a joke about eating elephants, which referred to a class lesson wherein I pose the riddle, "How do you eat an elephant?"

The point of that particular lesson was to encourage teachers to attempt the impossible. (Answer to the riddle, "How do you eat an elephant"? Well, silly, one bite at a time.) Since some of these teachers face daunting--I repeat, daunting--challenges, we spoke in some detail about how to solve some of the most unsolvable riddles. For example, imagine 60 students and 40 chairs. Or imagine a thatched roof and no flooring. As a result of my belief that they are meant to solve the impossible situations placed in front of them, some of the students began to refer to themselves as "elephant eaters."

Back to the song. I added teaching moments from the other teachers, such as Marie's use of a favorite phrase, Scott's punctuation lesson, and Mark's enthusiasm during reading theater. And I also added phrases that had linguistic meaning, such as the phrase "never be alone" (a networking principle we taught) and the phrase "learn a little, use a lot," which referred to the principle of practice. I even threw in Martin Luther King Jr's line about brothers and sisters (see the previous post).

So the song will most likely be lost on most people, but I'm putting it in here anyway. It is set to the tune "Rainbow Connection," and I'm pasting the text and video below. Oh, and I better mention that the phrase, "Teachers 4 Ever" is a title that the teachers gave themselves as part of a declaration they all signed, so I play with that phrase in the song as well. Part of the graduation involved them signing this declaration. It was a beautiful moment.

Anyway, check out the video just below the text.

Teachers 4 Ever"

Why are there so many trainers in front of me?
Never seen such a thing in my life.
They’ve come from all over, hoping for training
I’ve left all three kids and my wife.
But I’ve come with two experts
named Scott and Marie;
we’ve done all we can to prepare.
We know that we’re ready,
it’s time now to teach them,
the teachers, the trainers, and me.

Have you been half asleep?
Marie will help wake you,
keep on learning
she says with her eyes.
Scott will make punctuate
Sound like “pronunciation,”
and says planning lessons is wise.
Shane is a bit confused, he thinks that the teachers
are actors who eat elephants.
Osama helped behind the scenes,
and Josh came, but then he went;
Husna had the grace of a queen.
And then there is Mark
who reads with his whole body;
he tells us we shall overcome.
And now I see brothers,
and now I see sisters;
The teachers, the trainers, and me

A drop becomes two, then three,
suddenly it’s an ocean;
I know that you won’t be alone.
You’ll have us for always, we’re the teachers 4 ever,
we’ll be with you even when you go home.
Can you stand right now and declare it together
That we can bring peace to this world?
learned a little, we’ll use a lot
We’re in this 4 ever,
The teachers, the trainers, and me.