holiday, wine and Rwanda.

It's 2 weeks of spring holidays and I'm relaxing. Last term was hard. I was so exhausted, but the end is in sight! Four weeks of teaching, a week or two of revision, exams and that's about it!

I've done more work these holidays than the previous ones. I'm teaching my History class about Rwanda, and researching it has affected me more than I thought it would. I actually stopped sleeping, so I decided I had better stop reading for a while! It's pretty haunting stuff, but I think it's important to teach kids that these things go on in the world and that they're so privileged to live in wealth, freedom and safety.

But I've taken the time to chill out, the weather is finally warm and sunny, so I made a trip with a friend to some gorgeous wineries to taste the local produce. Now I can't wait for Summer.

P.S. the smart board is a hit with my Year 11s! Hopefully it's helping them learn as well!

Hanging head in shame...

It has been too long - I've been overwhelmed at work and suffering from serious winter blues and so blogging has been the last thing on my mind. When I write, I really enjoy it. I feel the real me is freed and I can say and do what I want. Yet I don't do it enough.

Taking on two new classes half way through the school year has been more work than expected, especially since the history class has meant I've had to make up all my own resources. I'm enjoying it, but this is the point where all the students and teachers are sick, tired and really flat. As the kids say, CBF... (if you don't know the meaning, have a guess!) We're hoping that the staff student footy match next week will boost the enthusiasm of everyone in the school community (especially as the staff have no chance against a team of 17 year old, athletic boys!). Footy here is AFL - Australia's own variety of kicking and running with a ball. It's a religious experience for many people here, not me, though the players do look good as they run and jump around the field...

We have excitedly had data projectors and smartboards installed in some of our senior classrooms, so that we can use this technology regularly for learning. However, it has come to my attention that "technology" for most teachers equates using PowerPoint slide shows to teach. Both classes that I have taken over relied on this method of delivering information more than any other. The students have come to expect to learn in this way. The teachers have simply read the textbook, drawn out the key points and delivered it to the students in a more visual, more digestible way. It seems to be just an updated version of what we call "chalk and talk" - or teacher centred learning. I understand the need to do this at certain points in teaching, but does doing this regularly actually help their learning?

My concern is this: is this method just adding to the increasing literacy troubles of students? By taking notes from a slide-show, the students can get by without having to read more complex texts, it seems as if this way of teaching is aiding their laziness. In history, I have added required reading to the curriculum and the students find even a page of writing too overwhelming. These are 17 year old students who are soon to be sent out into the real world.

School's back (nearly)

Two weeks has flown and it's back to school in two days. I found out today what most of my allotment will be for next week (finally), I get to teach Year 11 History (Yay!), but they are yet to give me one other class. What will it be? (PLEASE, not some junior* class!!!)

SO... any great activities for teaching the Cold War, just let me know.


I'm now thinking of claiming my Summer trip to Cambodia as a work-related tax deduction (visited the Killing Fields to see the extent of Pol Pot's devastation on the country - direct result of the Cold War). Don't know if I'll get away with it...

*US translation: junior refers to Yr 7 & 8 (13/14 year olds)

Relaxing?

- my city (on a brighter day than the ones this week!)
I've spent a week doing not much - and it has been so lovely! I've cleaned the apartment, cooked, rearranged furniture, slept, had my niece and nephews for a sleepover (cleaned again after that!), slept some more, spent time with friends and stayed up late to watch Wimbledon (the final started an hour ago and it's now 12.45am). I really should go to bed.

Another week of holidays, but I have marking and planning for next term to go. The difficulty with work is that I'm not even sure what classes I'll have!

In the last two days of term, our senior history teacher left the school for another position so the school has two weeks to cover his two classes. I've been asked to take one of the classes, but I haven't been told which class yet, which is a little ridiculous. The Year 12 History class is "Revolutions". They study the American first then the Russian. I'd be focusing on the Russian revolution, which I've studied, but I know nothing about the American Revolution (something about taxes?) and I'll have to help the class revise for their final exam. The Year 11 class is 20th Century History post 1945, which I feel much more equipped to teach because it was my University major. Regardless, I haven't taught either before and will need time to prepare. When I know what I'm teaching, I'll be asking for help. Any history teachers out there?

I have been teaching two Year 10 and two Year 11 English classes this year, but it looks like I'll be losing at least one Year 10 class in favour of a Year 11 or 12 History. I hate changing classes mid year. It's not fair on the kids (especially if they get a dud teacher. I'm not the most brilliant teacher in the world, but I do okay and the kids like me). I've also started preparing for next term, which is annoying. But I understand the school's priorities. It's easier to cover a Year 10 English class, than a Year 12 History class.

I hope I'll find out in the next day or so. Call me a control freak, but I just can't quite relax until I know what the deal is.

Better go to bed, falling asleep, can't tpye prporely. Though Federer is about to lose Wimbledon for the first time in forever.

'Till next time!

Why do I teach?

Holidays have arrived, after the final crazy weeks of term, in which our principal has left for another school and two of my favourite colleagues have also resigned. I have two weeks of hibernation ahead (coinciding with the coldest week of winter we've had). Two weeks of considering "Why I do this job" whilst trying to reestablish a more balanced existence.

California Teacher Guy asked me if had come up with any answers for "Why do it do this job?" I have to say, if anything the question seems to be just getting bigger.

My immediate answer is cliched: I do it for the kids. There is a lot of truth in this for me, though. I see a value in teaching in a part of town where higher education is not the norm, where some students are the first in their families to finish high school, where parents have never read a book. I love seeing that moment where understanding clicks in a student's brain and after weeks of complaining about studying Shakespeare, they say "You know, this is a pretty good story." I like being a patient ear for students who don't often get it elsewhere. I like helping students realise that there are many more possibilities for their futures than just getting a job.

But the biggest problem I have at the moment is the travel. I'm driving an hour and a half each day, over 70km, with skyrocketing petrol - this will soon cost $2500 a year. It's tiring. There are many schools closer to home that would make life easier, but the schools where I live are in higher socioeconomic areas where tertiary education is the norm and students are driven to achieve the ambitions that their parents or society expect of them. Around here, there is little difference between state and private education, so the temptation to work for a private school becomes greater (though the idea grates against my moral code).

I guess it is a moral issue really, ties to the strong values of social justice my christian upbringing instilled in me. Why do I teach? Because the idealist in me wants to make a difference, to make the world better, to help those who need it and appreciate it. The cynic in me is growing stronger though, but I desperately want to stop it from taking over. Unfortunately, I just feel so worn down, after four weeks of illness. The question I need to ask now is: Is it worth the sacrifice?

On a lighter note: a couple more Dumb and Dumber stories, one that made me giggle while trying not to smile, the other that made me roar with laughter:

Dumb: While introducing Macbeth to my Year 11 English class, we began to discuss themes and symbols and the role they play in the text. Most students were contributing to a discussion about what themes were. When I asked "what is a symbol?" Dumb replied, "Isn't it the round, shiny thing on a drumkit?"

Dumber: I was visiting a colleague's classroom on the last day of term while taking some photos of the school and I saw Dumber leaning on a chair that was still upturned on the table from last night's cleaning. Dumber was discussing something with the class and distractedly stuck her fingers into the hollows in the legs of the chair (the rubber stopper bits always disappear). After a few minutes, she realised her fingers where completely stuck. She stood up with an upturned chair sticking out behind her and began shaking it to try to get it lose. By this point, most of us were in hysterics watching her, but she still couldn't get her fingers out and only freed herself when a teacher and a student pulled one end of the chair and as she pulled her fingers out. True slapstick comedy to liven up an otherwise mediocre day.

Sick and guilty

I've been sick now for two weeks. First with the flu, and now with a secondary infection. Stupid workaholic me, pushed myself to go to work all week and now I have hardly managed to get out of bed all weekend.

It was exam week last week for my Year 10s and 11s. I also had to prepare my Year 11s for their final assessment task, which is this week coming. I have had assignments and exams to mark, and reports to write by Tuesday. For the first time ever, I don't think I'll make the deadline.

Why do I feel so guilty? In most other jobs if you're sick, you don't have to leave work for others to do, and you don't continue to work at home. I should have had last week off, but I didn't because I don't want my students failing. But they don't really care anyway, so why should I? I have 90 exams to mark - at least 15 hrs work - 10 minutes per exam. Most of that marking is done in my own time after work. Reports, likewise.

Why do I keep doing this job? For the hours of work, the stress and the responsibility, we get paid pittance. Will it ever change?

The Business Council of Australia (Made up of the CEOs of the top 100 Australian Corporations) have put together a huge research report into the state of education in the country and what is needed if we are to provide for the future needs of industry. They believe teacher shortages and the dropping standard of education is the biggest problem the nation faces. Their research has found that the quality of teaching is the most important factor involved in improving student learning. They suggest that top teachers should be earning A$130,000, not the current A$70,000.

But when will the government listen?

He's back.

While i've been off work with the flu, I still managed to hear that they've taken my darling ADHD student back! I know I didn't think he should have been asked to leave in the first place, but seriously - get some integrity and stick with the decision!

He is going to be gloating about his victory over the school authorities for the rest of the year.

Just another of the incompetencies of government school management...

Expulsion

This week, I had to sit in on a meeting where a student (who I have worked closely with for three years) was asked to leave. This 17 year old boy is no angel. He can be rude and crude, he suffers seriously from ADHD (the real kind, not the kind made up by bad parents) and he has been trouble for years, his pediatrician thinks that he's a 14 or 15 year old behaviour-wise. A few years ago I took him on excursions in the city and as we were travelling around by tram, he would run from one window to another and turning around to say "Look at that!", then "Look at that". His head would hang out the window with his tongue lolling, just like a puppy. On these occasions he was also completely obedient and did whatever I asked.

However, at school he would disappear from class, rarely do any work, swear at teachers, refuse to wear uniform, lie continually, jump over tables, climb fences (or anything climable), run around the room and do stupid dangerous things, the latest being throwing an egg at a kid's head in food technology. I don't think he has ever beaten anyone to a pulp, which is usually what gets most students kicked out. He is a smart arse through and through and lives for football (not surprisingly, he is a really fast runner too!), but he also has an endearing quality that makes him hard to dislike. He adores his girlfriend, walks her to school and to class (even though it usually makes him late) and once he trusts and likes you, he will do anything for you.

Having worked with the kid for years, I have seen a huge improvement in his behaviour, his attitude and his respect for teachers - he even opens doors for them now (only the teachers he likes, mind you), not many other kids will do that. But the powers that be decided that the egg incident, and the fact that he's probably failing half his subjects, combined with a number of smaller incidents, meant his time at school was up. Alternative programs are the way to go.

When he was told, he bawled like a baby for at least half an hour. It was heartbreaking seeing this tough, fully grown kid react that way. When the meeting was over he told me that he "just wanted to die" and that his heart hurt. It was awful. His mum told me that he will go home and kick everything in sight, probably breaking everything that he hasn't already broken.

I don't know what he will do. He wants to be at school and in his stubbornness he is refusing to think about any other options. He's already been in trouble with the police for some car stealing shenanigans and he's apparently been pretty violent at home towards his (single) mum. I only hope that his heart will overcome the impulses of his mind eventually. It is sad that after all these years of supporting him, there is not much more I can do. I guess now I can give that attention to someone else who needs it.

Long time no write...

I know it's been a while. Again. Sometimes life just gets so overwhelming that writing doesn't get much of a look in.

This seems to be the longest term ever and I've been enviously reading the blogs of my northern hemisphere colleagues who are gearing up for summer. Here, "down under", winter is setting in. I know many people wouldn't really consider our winter very serious, we still have 10 hours of daylight, it doesn't snow and right now the sun is pouring in my window. But there is still a chill that can cut to the bone, the grey skies can last for weeks, numbing the soul, and single glazed windows and poor insulation really don't keep out the frosty nights.

Undoubtedly, I suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Although right now it's probably more a general depression, or just plain loneliness. For someone who has contact with a thousand people every day, I'm always surprised when I find an attack of the lonelies coming over me.

My sister has just had her fourth child and she's finding it a bit overwhelming (recovering from a c-section, suffering from carpal tunnel). She's struggling to be supermum, which she's always been before. I'm selfishly finding it difficult to sympathise with her and I feel bad about it. She chose to have a fourth child, I can't even find someone I would consider having a child with. I don't want to have her life, but I'm jealous all the same.

At least work keeps me busy. There really isn't a dull day. But right now I'm tired of it, and want a different life for a while.

Dumb and Dumber

This week my Year 11s have continued writing their blogs. Their writing is basically stream of consciousness so they have horrific spelling and punctuation.

When I reminded one student (I'll name her Dumb) to go through and edit, Dumb said she already had. I asked, "what about making all the "i"s capitals?". She replied, "Why would I put capital letters in the middle of a sentence?" I didn't really know how to respond, I was dumbstruck... (bad pun). She really didn't understand that this was standard practise! When I was about to explain, another student (she can be known as Dumber) leaned over her shoulder and said "I never knew they were meant to be capitals, Miss." Both Dumb and Dumber were completely sincere. So I gave them a lesson they should have learnt by the time they were 10, not 17!

Dumb and Dumber regularly produce comments like this in my class, they frequently leave the rest of the class speechless with their stupid statements, and this is a class that never stops talking!

Last year, we went on a trip through the centre of Australia with 70 Year 10 students. For those that don't know, Australia is BIG and the landscape varied. We live in a city with a mediterranean climate, with four seasons that are generally mild. So travelling in a bus for days to reach endless plains of red desert is a brand new experience for our sheltered suburban kids (and me!).

Being on a bus with 35 students for hours at a time does tend to send the teachers a little insane, so we took it upon ourselves to make the most of their ignorance and gulibility. For example, we told the students that if they wanted to stop the dingoes coming near their tents, they needed to put a circle of shaving cream or flour around them every evening. Even though they told us they knew we were joking, when packing up the next morning there were at least three circles on the ground.

Another time, Dumber asked a teacher while walking through the outback, "Sir, will I see lions out here?".

When we crossed the border from South Australia to the Northern Territory, we informed students that they needed to set their watches back four hours. Dumb did. As their names imply, the NT is directly north of SA, and thus in the same time zone.

Crossing the border also means that visitors have to throw out any fruit they have, this is to stop fruit flies contaminating the landscape. However, the teachers managed to convince a whole bus of students that this also included any fruit flavoured lollies (candy). So the students handed over their sweet stashes and the teachers ended up with a boxful, which they proceeded to consume!

The strange thing is that Dumber is actually quite bright when it comes to school work. It's just that words from her brain bypass the filter system the rest of us have and exit straight out her mouth.

Blogging at School

This week I've been teaching blogging to my students and it's been surprising seeing which students have really taken to it. (We're using edublogs.org - its meant to be safer for the kiddies, but I have to say that blogger is much more intuitive!)

The task they have is to create a fictional blog to demonstrate how blogging can give a voice to someone who may otherwise not have that voice. It's a response to reading The Baghdad Blog by Salam Pax (a fascinating insight into an Iraqi perspective on the Iraq war, but much too complicated for my Year 11 students).

One of my students, who is less than motivated at the best of times and refuses to read ("I don't read, miss")has spent hours considering what he is going to write about. He's discovered that this is an opportunity to express what he's going through at the moment and perhaps work towards some solutions.

Other students are letting their imaginations go, planning to give perspectives on life from bulimics, addicts, gangsters (the Melbourne ganglands wars are a big topic at the moment, thanks to Underbelly), a person with multiple personality disorder, someone with autism (inspired by The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime), even the life of a cannibal (entitled the skin's the best part). I'm actually looking forward to marking this work!

On the down side, when I explained to the class that they needed to "draw on" their understanding of The Baghdad Blog, one student, who always speaks the obvious without thinking, said, "We have have to draw?" Her class mates just turned around to her and stared. I myself, had to cover my mouth with the handout I was reading from to hide my smile. It didn't work.

Parents and students

Two weeks into term and I'm again exhausted. But I still love my job. It is exhausting physically and emotionally, but there are moments when I know it's where I'm supposed to be.

This week was parent teacher conferences, an evening of smiling and nodding and looking for positive things to say about students that drive me up the wall on a regular basis.

However, parents are unpredictable creatures and it is worrying how often I become the advocate for a student. I spoke to a parent who is actively encouraging her child to leave school at 16 because he's not achieving very highly. However, he's an intelligent, creative kid who is one of the best creative writers I've taught and loves acting. Her great idea is that he joins the airforce! She was so critical of him, looking for every chance to find fault and even when I defended him, she didn't want to hear it.

But at least she turned up. Some parents are simply not interested.

The positive side of the evening was that parents thanked me for the amount of effort I was putting into helping their kids. It's amazing how just a few words of acknowledgement makes you feel worthwhile.

On another note, this week one of my students told me that she has a tumour in each of her breasts, one is frighteningly large. She had surgery yesterday to remove the tumours, they will also do a biopsy to see if they are malignant. I can't imagine what she will be going through, it would be difficult for me at 30, let alone a girl of 16.

This is part of being a teacher. I have become so much more aware of the day to day trials of people as these kids share with me snippets of what they are going through. I am able to be a support and encouragement in so many different ways on a daily basis. I know that lots of these kids won't remember me when they are living their adult lives, but I hope that they will go out into those lives having learnt at least a little from their time with me (even if they still can't spell.)

Holidays & Hobbies

I'm halfway through my two week break and I've finally slowed down to a normal pace. It's unfortunate that these holidays are so early, it's only been 7 weeks since Summer holidays ended and we have 12 weeks of term ahead. The Department of Education thinks that holidays can only happen whenever Easter falls, even if it's early. They don't want to give us an extra day off during term time!

It always takes me a while to adjust to not being at work. I think it's because teaching is so structured that I don't need to think about when to do things - I have bells to tell me! I work at such a frenzied pace that I don't realise how exhausted I am until it all finishes.

I hibernated for the Easter long weekend, my brain couldn't shift into gear to socialise or do much more than clean up a bit, read and watch tv.

I've also realised that I need some other interests to balance out my life, all my time seems to be zapped up by work and I don't want it to be that way. Unfortunately the hobby I love best is travelling - and with a mortgage to pay, travel is a luxury I can't afford for a while. Photography is another, but that tends to go hand in hand with travelling. I will admit that I am have been known to crochet a mean baby rug - but that little hobby sometimes seems embarrassingly grandma-ish.

I'm hoping that blogging will be another way to expand my interests and interestingness (I know that's not a word!). Any other suggestions for some new adventures?

Global Warming and the simpsons

Today it is 40 degrees celsius and we are at school. No air conditioning in my classrooms today, just poorly insulated rooms with fans to move around the stifling heat. The kids are so well behaved and putting up with it bravely (at least the heat is dulling their desire to rebel) but really, they can't be expected to do any real learning. I mean, it's meant to be Autumn in March - the month of the best weather in my city. I guess this is just another sign of global warming.

Speaking of Global Warming, my Year 10 classes have been studying "An Inconvenient Truth" and looking at how it persuades its audience. Today I have made a transparent excuse to watch "The Simpsons Movie" to see how it deals with the issue of climate change and makes reference to An inconvenient truth (there is one scene that is a direct parody). The kids see right through it, but who cares, it's too darn hot!

My Learning Outcome for this lesson is "To understand how comedy communicates" and the Challenge for the Day is "to be a still as possible to keep the temperature down".

I'm such an awesome teacher!

Hope no one passes out today. There's usually at least one.

Seeing students in the street

I have made a conscious decision to live a 30 minute drive from my school. The key reason for this is that i don't want to see students out of school. I don't want them serving me in the supermarket and I don't want to bump into them when I go for a walk. (Also the school is 45km out of the city and is pretty much the country - which scares me).

So this morning, Sunday, I walked up the road for coffee and the paper and directly at the end of my street I saw one of my students!

Now we have 1600 students so the chance of finding one who is in my home group, 35km out of her habitat has to be pretty low. Which of the following things do you think I should have done?

a. Cross the street and say hi to her and her family.
b. Wave casually and keep walking.
c. Duck my head and walk quickly in the opposite direction.

I chose C. It was a gut reaction that I didn't even think about. I did not want to break the sanctity of my private space.

I hope she didn't see me.

Child Genius

Today I saw with my own two eyes that the class divide is definitely deepening in Australia.

I just began a tutoring job for a Grade 6 boy who attends a private school. He is brilliant at maths. I've been employed to help him improve his English skills so that he can get a scholarship for High school at one of the elite private schools. His reading and writing was well above standard, with a fabulous vocabulary and orginal thoughts.

Put this kid in the classroom with my Year 10 kids and he would out do most of them.

What does this say about our education system? A school in the lower socioeconomic parts of town does have lower academic standards than private schools, unquestionably. Are the students less capable? I don't think so. But they don't come from a culture where higher education is aspired to.

Their parents may not have finished high school, so from Year 10 onwards - they're on their own. Their parents might be completely supportive of their education, but they can't help the kids with it.

How do we overcome this problem? I have some extremely bright students who don't have the drive that this 6th Grader has. Perhaps they don't know how far they could go. Or they don't aspire to things beyond what they already know. Can this be changed? Should it?

I really want my students to be their best. I'd love to see them go to University and change the world. But if that's not what they want, should I be pushing them on to this? What's my role?

All I know is that a Grade 6 kid whose parents are willing to spend 100s of dollars every week on extra tutoring is going to whip the arses of most of my students who would prefer to socialise than study.

Cupcakes

One of the students in my Year 11 English class is a pain. He has been since i first taught him in Year 8. He's actually a nice kid, but doesn't ever want to do any work and gets himself into trouble constantly. He does stupid things like start fights over haircuts with kids who will tear him to pieces.

I like him, but lots of teachers can't handle him in their classes. I hope that he makes it to the end of school.

Today it was exciting to be told that things are looking up for this student. As part of his hospitality training, the class entered a cupcake competition with 100s of other students at the top chef training school in the country. The one prize was a day working with the head pastry chef/trainer, worth $1000.

My student didn't win. However, his teacher asked what happened and found out he had made it into the top 6. The chef commented on the perfect presentation of his cupcake and his dedication to the preparation. After some discussion he gave the teacher his name and number and said the student should contact him and join one of his classes for the day - which was equal to first prize.

On hearing about this today, the whole staff room spontaneously cheered as we saw a ray of hope for a troublesome student. Any achievement at our school is celebrated - who knows how long it will be before it happens again?

It was just a cupcake.

But cupcakes do make us happy.

Do you ever want to give up?

Recently I have had a number of people comment on how easy my job is with all the holidays I get. They act as if it is the easiest job in the world and teachers are in it for an easy ride. Clearly they have never known a teacher very well. Not only do I find myself working hard to get students to take learning seriously but I also feel that I'm constantly defending myself to prove that I'm a professional and worthy of respect. I'm not sure if I have the energy to put this amount of effort in for much longer.

Apples for teachers

I've never been given an apple by a student. I have had an apple thrown in my direction (I don't think it was intentional, but its difficult to tell) and have picked up numerous decaying apples from various places in the school grounds (bins are difficult to use apparently), but I've never been given an apple.

Last Christmas, I received 3 christmas cards and a plastic christmas decoration from my students and I was elated. Good thing I'm not in this for the gifts!

My apples are metaphoric ones. The rewards come about in that moment of enlightenment that flickers in the eyes of a student. Or at that rare time when students are so involved in discussion that they don't notice that class is over. Or the look on students' faces when they get good results back after working really hard on something. The apples aren't always frequent, but they are enough to keep me going back for another day.

The beginning...

Starting a blog is really hard. I guess I'll begin with why I'm starting. I'm a teacher and being a teacher is certainly an interesting job. It can be inspiring and exhausting, exciting and emotionally draining. So I wanted to write about some of my experiences. From being in the classroom to being in the staffroom (can you guess which one causes more stress and frustration?)

I'm a teacher from Australia teaching English in a suburban state school. The school certainly has similarities to the TV show Summer Heights High, where the students come from diverse backgrounds, have diverse abilities and diverse goals in life.

I like the kids I teach. They do funny things and make me laugh. Sometimes they're feral. Mostly, they mean well. I've been here a few years now, so the students are used to me and tend to go along with what I ask. They have an automatic resistance to new teachers. But I guess we all tend to resist the unknown.

I like the staff i work with... well most of them. Some are my closest friends and I think I'll stay friends with them for a long time. Others are, well, interesting. I guess I'll let you know about them as they pop up in my day to day adventures.

So, if you stumble upon this blog for a read, I hope you enjoy it and feel free to post a comment.