When Canadian kindergarten teacher Sarah Miles stepped off the plane last August, her first thought was to wonder what she’d got herself into. “I’d never felt heat like that before—I’ve never left North America before—so this was a big trip for me,” she recalls. “I had found this job online, had the interview, and decided to come all in the space of about a week – it all happened very suddenly.”
But Sarah has decided it was a good decision. “I really like it here. I like the school—it’s small and friendly and I love my class. I love that every single one of my 14 students is from a different part of the world with a different experience—I’m the only Canadian in the class,” laughs Miss Miles, a four year veteran of the profession who is enjoying her first year at the Canadian International School in Khalifa City A.
While teaching the youngest students at the school is harder than it looks, Miss Miles absolutely loves her life in Abu Dhabi. Take a look at a typical day…
5.00am: Sarah drags herself out of bed for a half-hour run with her flat mate. Then it’s home to get ready for work; this morning it was yogurt with papaya and coffee—lots of coffee—for breakfast.
7.30am: Arriving at school, Sarah gets ready for the day, setting up the songs, boards, and study/play centres her kids will use today. At 8am it’s time to pick up her students from the gym and walk them back to class.
8.15am: Show and Share time, when the kids can bring in a toy or just share a story with the rest of the class. “The object is for the kids to bring in something different or tell a different story, but the kids don’t always ‘get’ it. One student showed us his new shoes every day for a month, another one brings a different car almost every day, and one loves to show his school sweater. But I don’t mind. The real point is to encourage them to speak and use conversation, especially in English.”
9.00am: Academic subjects can be tricky when most of the class is younger than five, but Sarah teaches literacy, maths, science, and social studies. “In social studies, we talked a little bit about Canada and the seasons, but it’s hard to teach the seasons when so many of the kids have never seen snow and don’t understand cold.”
10.30am: Little bodies can sit still for only so long, so when everyone starts to get squirmy, it’s time to meet on the carpet. Sarah turns on some music and they dance those wiggles away.
1.00pm: Once the kids are either on the bus or have been picked up by their parents, Sarah has time to eat her own lunch, tidy up her classroom, and prepare for the next day. Unlike teachers of older students, the kindergarten teacher is interacting with her students the entire time they’re at school (with the exception of a few hours a week when the kids are with their French or Arabic teachers).
3.30pm: Time to go home. Most days her afternoon is just as full as her morning. “Because of the weather, I’m doing so many things that I would never do at home. I joined a beach volleyball team and every Friday we all go to the beach at the Corniche,” she says. “Three days a week I go to boot camp at Sas Al Nakhl. It’s a solid, intense hour of the best workout I’ve ever had, but it’s also fun. I’ve also signed up to do karate, and I’d like to get my scuba diving certification.”
6.00pm: After dinner, Sarah Miles still stays busy. She may play Wii with her neighbours, call home, or research her next trip. “Because this is such a perfect place in the world to travel from, I’ve been able to travel a lot since I’ve been here. I’ve already been to Jordan and Scotland, and I’m planning trips to Greece and Oman.”
Final thoughts: “Everyone has been really helpful since I’ve been here. The kids’ parents are always giving me travel guides and information I can use on my next trip, the teachers who were here last year have been an invaluable resource, and I’ve made friends with colleagues who are also new this year. We’re all having a great time figuring everything out together, but it helps that I like my career and my school so much. I laugh really hard every day—it’s a fun, fun job.”
Laura Fulton
