Field Notes
Notes on learning, design and the places that teach me something about both.
Singapore, 2020
From January to March 2020 I kept a blog during my Fulbright in Singapore. These are the original posts.
- The Pivot: Singapore Bound
Nearly a decade into teaching in Brooklyn, I needed a pivot. A Fulbright took me to Singapore.
- Touchdown in the Lion City
Twenty-three hours in the air, an immaculate subway, and a neighborhood with a reputation.
- Orientation
Kaya toast, Mount Faber, and a first look at one of the world's most centralized school systems.
- NIE Registration
A student visa, a two-handed handshake, and a classroom of teachers from seven countries.
- Singapore Art Week
A city bet on human capital, and over 100 art events in a single week.
- Yu Neng Primary School, Part I
My first school attachment: 1,200 students, classes of 40, and questions about the Bermuda Triangle.
- Chinese New Year 2020
Red everything, a prosperity toss, a family reunion dinner, and Chingay.
- Yu Neng Primary School, Part II
Back in teacher mode: habits of academic talk, low-floor high-ceiling tasks, spinning tops and paper airplanes.
- Coronavirus in SG 😷
Temperature checks, empty assembly halls, and group work quietly giving way to rows.
- Temasek Primary School, Part I
A rubber duck, a slime debate, a friendly dragon, and my first batik.
- Well, show's over.
The Fulbright Program is suspended worldwide.
- So… what now?
Thirty-six hours to pack, one last night in the city, a sprint through Dubai, and a lot of questions.
- A Cathartic Midnight Musing
Two months later, from a sofa in New Jersey: on grief, rage, and what it meant to feel safe in Singapore.