I'm feeling a little guilty for not writing more.
When I learned I was going on this exchange, I thought I would be diligent in documenting the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations, the joys and sorrows that such an upheaval creates...
Sorry, mate. I've been pretty busy.
Don't get me wrong. It isn't a bad thing... it's just... well, I've been as busy as a first year teacher... which for those out there who remember your first year of teaching (if you are teachers) should make you cringe.
Despite my recent shift from WCHS to Pioneer in 2017, things in Canada didn't change all that much for me. I went from being an English and Social Studies teacher who sidelined as an Outdoor Ed teacher to an English and Social Studies teacher in a different grade and classroom. The classroom shift/school shift was difficult, as WCHS is by far a newer school and the classrooms are more modern in many ways, but beyond that, I only needed to brush up on curricular objectives. The schools both had central libraries which signed out most books, both had designated classrooms where I could store my materials and where students came to me. Both had technology that was easy to use and which was, while not "cutting edge" at least standard in most classes. I based my lessons around the justified assumption that, 98% of the time, the technology I needed to use would work. I had lessons I knew well, I had concepts that I felt needed to be focused on in the earlier grades... I knew the system.
I don't know the system here.
I would like to believe that I am a good teacher... but it's disconcerting to be in my 13th? 14th? year of teaching and feel like an absolute beginner.
Don't get me wrong. I still understand classroom dynamics and behavior management. Unfortunately, the students here respond slightly differently to my established management practices, and the "pyramid of intervention strategies" is subtly different. Were I any less experienced as an educator, I think this experience would be even more challenging. I'm incredibly glad that I waited until now to pursue this, as I feel more confident when dealing with problems (even when I don't know exact protocol, I have dealt with virtually every example of student behavior so far exhibited).
Allow me to elaborate.
I have a relatively balanced timetable, for which I am incredibly pleased. It is not so with every exchange teacher, and I thank my lucky stars that I was given more than the worst classes in every level. Still, in the classes where there are challenges, the fact that Australia tends to stream classes based on academic performance (which, in turn is often predicated upon behavioral concerns) means that students in the less academic classes tend to be the greatest behavioral concerns, also. I have three classes where the behaviors have caused issues, and it has been a struggle.
The fact that the technology seems to be constantly trying to undermine me doesn't help.
If you have ever taught a class where students are on the edge of disruptive behavior, you know that they need things to run smoothly. If there is a problem with a projector, with a DVD, with the power point you try to use, they will seize that and chaos ensues. It doesn't matter how quickly you manage to rectify the problem, the fact that the teacher had to divert their attention ensures that the rest of the class becomes a struggle to return their attention to task.
During the last three weeks of teaching, during which I have needed to use technology every one of the four to six periods I teach each day, I have had the technology in the classes I teach work properly a total of twice.
Twice.
My lessons revolve almost entirely around technology.
I have brought in cables to connect my laptop to the smart boards.
They didn't work.
I have connected smart boards effectively only to find that there is no remote to turn on the projector, and there are NO FREAKING BUTTONS on the projector.
I have used USB connectors, HDMI connectors, HDMI to VGA adapters (to televisions, to projectors, and to smart boards)... and this worked TWICE . Every classroom is different, and I move between 5 different classrooms during the course of a day/week. I have bought new connectors and they proved to be flawed and won't work even at home between my own laptop and my TV...
Ultimately, a colleague brought in a mini-projector and I have resorted to using this, though it doesn't play sound at any kind of volume, so I'm going to have to find a new solution when I need to present film or video clips, but it has acted as a stop-gap so I can put on my notes and my visuals, my power points and my outlines.
When you add behavioral classes to that on-going technology failure, you have a first-month power-struggle for control of the class. Add to that an unfamiliarity with both procedure and department requirements, and things tend to escalate.
I had forgotten what it felt like to be a first-year teacher.
Fortunately, phone calls home still tend to be effective... for the students whose parents who answer and respond.
I just feel sorry for the kids that want to learn (which are most of them). Between my stumbling through my lessons, trying to make technology work properly, and the disruptive kids trying to make as much chaos as they can, the kids who want to learn are left in the lurch.
Still, things have begun to settle.
I'm learning to rely on my own technology (I'm buying a mini-projector), and the students with significant behaviors are working themselves into behavior plans that are effectively enforced by the Head Teachers and Deputies (and God help them if they end up getting referred to the Principal!!). Without a number of years of experience, however, I can imagine that this initial period could push a teacher into wanting to quit. It's like having all the behavior issues of a substitute teacher with the responsibility and marking/planning of a classroom teacher.
Still, this entire experience has forced me to become a better teacher (not that it shows just yet). I have always known that one of my weaknesses as a teacher is my lack of organization. I can't afford that, here. Whereas in Canada I know the curriculum and am allowed to employ my professional judgement and discretion about how to implement that curriculum within my classes, here the department, school administration, and the government effectively prescribe the method, order, and assessment tasks expected for the presentation of that curriculum.
For those of you who know my teaching methodology, you probably realize just how alien that is for me. I am, more than anything else as a teacher, a strong advocate of individualism within the classroom... a concept that is not condoned here. In WCHS, I fought against the idea of collective units, against the idea of department-standard assessments outside of the final exams... Here, that is the norm. In Pioneer I eschewed the materials contained in the T: drive in favor of forging my own path through the content and curriculum... here you need to have defined unit tasks - consistent both in topic and in the time of delivery - that SOMEONE ELSE MARKS (like it was a PAT)...
...
... and I don't totally disapprove. There are distinct benefits to both students and teachers to having consistency in assessment and content, in order and outcome, in scope and sequence.
There is a lot that we have to learn from each other.
I suppose, more than anything else, that is the key take-away from this entire experience. It is the ultimate Profession Development... I get to see a Carnival Mirror of our educational system... and when I get home I can comment on what I think might be ways to grow within our division and in particular within WCHS and Pioneer...
...Still, I wish that it wasn't quite so busy. There is a lot of exploration I would like to do that can't happen because my time is spent elsewhere, like at meetings (which happen far more frequently than they do at home), and at planning (which would be easier if I was as familiar with the curriculum as I am at home). There is a lot to this country that I haven't seen yet.
One of the things I miss most, however, is the Book Club that Pioneer has (and has included WCHS staff in). It appears that teachers here aren't quite as interested in such meetings. I'm optimistic, however, that I can change that attitude.
When I learned I was going on this exchange, I thought I would be diligent in documenting the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations, the joys and sorrows that such an upheaval creates...
Sorry, mate. I've been pretty busy.
Don't get me wrong. It isn't a bad thing... it's just... well, I've been as busy as a first year teacher... which for those out there who remember your first year of teaching (if you are teachers) should make you cringe.
Despite my recent shift from WCHS to Pioneer in 2017, things in Canada didn't change all that much for me. I went from being an English and Social Studies teacher who sidelined as an Outdoor Ed teacher to an English and Social Studies teacher in a different grade and classroom. The classroom shift/school shift was difficult, as WCHS is by far a newer school and the classrooms are more modern in many ways, but beyond that, I only needed to brush up on curricular objectives. The schools both had central libraries which signed out most books, both had designated classrooms where I could store my materials and where students came to me. Both had technology that was easy to use and which was, while not "cutting edge" at least standard in most classes. I based my lessons around the justified assumption that, 98% of the time, the technology I needed to use would work. I had lessons I knew well, I had concepts that I felt needed to be focused on in the earlier grades... I knew the system.
I don't know the system here.
I would like to believe that I am a good teacher... but it's disconcerting to be in my 13th? 14th? year of teaching and feel like an absolute beginner.
Don't get me wrong. I still understand classroom dynamics and behavior management. Unfortunately, the students here respond slightly differently to my established management practices, and the "pyramid of intervention strategies" is subtly different. Were I any less experienced as an educator, I think this experience would be even more challenging. I'm incredibly glad that I waited until now to pursue this, as I feel more confident when dealing with problems (even when I don't know exact protocol, I have dealt with virtually every example of student behavior so far exhibited).
Allow me to elaborate.
I have a relatively balanced timetable, for which I am incredibly pleased. It is not so with every exchange teacher, and I thank my lucky stars that I was given more than the worst classes in every level. Still, in the classes where there are challenges, the fact that Australia tends to stream classes based on academic performance (which, in turn is often predicated upon behavioral concerns) means that students in the less academic classes tend to be the greatest behavioral concerns, also. I have three classes where the behaviors have caused issues, and it has been a struggle.
The fact that the technology seems to be constantly trying to undermine me doesn't help.
If you have ever taught a class where students are on the edge of disruptive behavior, you know that they need things to run smoothly. If there is a problem with a projector, with a DVD, with the power point you try to use, they will seize that and chaos ensues. It doesn't matter how quickly you manage to rectify the problem, the fact that the teacher had to divert their attention ensures that the rest of the class becomes a struggle to return their attention to task.
During the last three weeks of teaching, during which I have needed to use technology every one of the four to six periods I teach each day, I have had the technology in the classes I teach work properly a total of twice.
Twice.
My lessons revolve almost entirely around technology.
I have brought in cables to connect my laptop to the smart boards.
They didn't work.
I have connected smart boards effectively only to find that there is no remote to turn on the projector, and there are NO FREAKING BUTTONS on the projector.
I have used USB connectors, HDMI connectors, HDMI to VGA adapters (to televisions, to projectors, and to smart boards)... and this worked TWICE . Every classroom is different, and I move between 5 different classrooms during the course of a day/week. I have bought new connectors and they proved to be flawed and won't work even at home between my own laptop and my TV...
Ultimately, a colleague brought in a mini-projector and I have resorted to using this, though it doesn't play sound at any kind of volume, so I'm going to have to find a new solution when I need to present film or video clips, but it has acted as a stop-gap so I can put on my notes and my visuals, my power points and my outlines.
When you add behavioral classes to that on-going technology failure, you have a first-month power-struggle for control of the class. Add to that an unfamiliarity with both procedure and department requirements, and things tend to escalate.
I had forgotten what it felt like to be a first-year teacher.
Fortunately, phone calls home still tend to be effective... for the students whose parents who answer and respond.
I just feel sorry for the kids that want to learn (which are most of them). Between my stumbling through my lessons, trying to make technology work properly, and the disruptive kids trying to make as much chaos as they can, the kids who want to learn are left in the lurch.
Still, things have begun to settle.
I'm learning to rely on my own technology (I'm buying a mini-projector), and the students with significant behaviors are working themselves into behavior plans that are effectively enforced by the Head Teachers and Deputies (and God help them if they end up getting referred to the Principal!!). Without a number of years of experience, however, I can imagine that this initial period could push a teacher into wanting to quit. It's like having all the behavior issues of a substitute teacher with the responsibility and marking/planning of a classroom teacher.
Still, this entire experience has forced me to become a better teacher (not that it shows just yet). I have always known that one of my weaknesses as a teacher is my lack of organization. I can't afford that, here. Whereas in Canada I know the curriculum and am allowed to employ my professional judgement and discretion about how to implement that curriculum within my classes, here the department, school administration, and the government effectively prescribe the method, order, and assessment tasks expected for the presentation of that curriculum.
For those of you who know my teaching methodology, you probably realize just how alien that is for me. I am, more than anything else as a teacher, a strong advocate of individualism within the classroom... a concept that is not condoned here. In WCHS, I fought against the idea of collective units, against the idea of department-standard assessments outside of the final exams... Here, that is the norm. In Pioneer I eschewed the materials contained in the T: drive in favor of forging my own path through the content and curriculum... here you need to have defined unit tasks - consistent both in topic and in the time of delivery - that SOMEONE ELSE MARKS (like it was a PAT)...
...
... and I don't totally disapprove. There are distinct benefits to both students and teachers to having consistency in assessment and content, in order and outcome, in scope and sequence.
There is a lot that we have to learn from each other.
I suppose, more than anything else, that is the key take-away from this entire experience. It is the ultimate Profession Development... I get to see a Carnival Mirror of our educational system... and when I get home I can comment on what I think might be ways to grow within our division and in particular within WCHS and Pioneer...
...Still, I wish that it wasn't quite so busy. There is a lot of exploration I would like to do that can't happen because my time is spent elsewhere, like at meetings (which happen far more frequently than they do at home), and at planning (which would be easier if I was as familiar with the curriculum as I am at home). There is a lot to this country that I haven't seen yet.
One of the things I miss most, however, is the Book Club that Pioneer has (and has included WCHS staff in). It appears that teachers here aren't quite as interested in such meetings. I'm optimistic, however, that I can change that attitude.