Yesterday I said I was going to try to squeeze in my two-entries-per-month I was aiming for.
So today I shall.
Yesterday I focused on the negative aspects of January, so today I will focus on the good.
The students whom I have taught since Christmas have all been quite wonderful - a few exceptions to the rule, but overall they have all been a pleasure. While back with supplying I've returned to schools I've taught at before (actually, my two favourites really) and it made me really happy to be remembered and welcomed back. It means a lot to me when someone remembers me, as I tend to assume that I'll be forgotten after a few weeks. I don't think my brain will ever change in regards to that, but it does allow me to be really pleased and happy to hear things like "welcome back" and "don't go". I even had a student groan when he found out what class I was teaching - not because I was teaching his class and he didn't want me there, but because I was teaching the OTHER year 6 class and he wasn't going to have me as his teacher.
Those sorts of things just make you feel really good inside.
My friends, on both sides of the pond, have kept my sanity this past month.
My flatmates have all been amazing (and hilarious) and are rather lovely people. I went out dancing with Lucy (one of my flatmates, another Canadian, for those of you not in the know) for her birthday with some of her friends. It was rather a fun evening, even if I WAS stressing about work. We went somewhere called the 100 Club and there was a live jazz/swing band playing. I, being the knob that I am, invited some guys to ask Lucy to dance since it was her birthday. It kept me amused, at any rate. Sometimes I baffle myself with just how opposite I am to myself.
My nanolondon crew have been amazingly supportive via twitter, messages, and in person. I don't know what I'd do without them sometimes, as it's so important to me to have friends outside of teaching. Although I am blaming them for an addiction to Twitter that we have all mostly been infected with. But, I suppose as far as addictions go, Twitter is rather harmless. They're just such lovely people, the entire lot of them. I just wish I saw them more often, and hope that my more stress-free life will allow me time to do so! Just need to get my act together and actually invite more of them out places, instead of only going when they invite me out. Cause how is that any fair!
Siggy&Jen and Gareth will get their own little mentions as they're Brits but not part of my London crew at all. But Siggy managed to keep me all relaxed when I was stressing out. This is quite the feat seeing as I spent SEVEN HOURS in the Imperial War Museum with him. It was quite tedious! Informative, and interesting information, but not my cup of tea. I did it solely for him and treated it as research for it my parents ever come over to England. I now know that I could easily abandon my father in there for a few days as he would not get through it in one day, and that if I absolutely must spend the day in there again that I shall most definitely find one of those portable stools to cart around and bring a book. In other news - mom and dad, you would both love the museum. Remind me to ditch you in it when you piss me off and hope you can't find your way home, ok? haha. As to Gareth, he is a friend of Tanis (my sister in law for those of you who have no memories!) and the poor sap has been stuck listening to me moan and complain on and off since I arrived in England. He even manages to snap me out of it by sarcastically insulting me somehow or another. (Do keep in mind, this is ME we are talking about, and I don't believe I've ever been not-amused by sarcasm, so well-done Gareth!)
My Canadaland friends. I haven't really talked to anyone very often, but as I'm doing a few shoutouts I'd like to point out that Ashley and Kristin quite stubburnly insist on having shitty sleeping habits, and thus are always awake when I wake up at 6am and are around to chat with. Even when I'm grumpy or inattentive to the conversations, I do always smile at having messages sat there for me while I've gone to brush my teeth. Sometimes I'm just not with it enough in the morning this past month to remember to respond, and sometimes I'm sure I've been snappish but these ladies put up with my splendidly in the morning when they should be sensible and go to bed. <3 Much love to them!
Peri (who will not read this as he does not have the internet at home as he is a loser and also won't know I called him such but this is purely his own fault) I'm going to give his own little paragraph too. (he also won't know that he's getting a paragraph all to himself! This is what happens when you do not use the internet!) Poor, poor Peri. For those of you who can't recall who Peri is, this is because I've only known him since last year at York. The poor soul was stuck having placement with me, plus a rather horrid Education class that we both despised. This meant that he heard me bitch and moan all year, and somehow had to composure to not kill me where I stood. He even went so far as to drive my sorry ass back home after placement, ditching class to go for beer, taking me to get groceries, coming to say hello after I endured the hell that was Convocation, and then taking me out to play pool before I left for England (we were both equally horrid at it!). Peri has done all of that sort of stuff for me DESPITE all the verbal abuse I've thrown his way (although he's never yet been caught unawares when I ask if I can kick him). He's continued that into this year! What a knob, if he was smarter he would have blocked all contact with me. However, as he has a blackberry, he has been getting routinely spammed on my way home from work or when I am otherwise away from the house and need either a laugh a smile or somewhere to vent. And, to further prove to all of you that I am amazingly lucky in the friends I have acquired over the years... he dutifully messages me back and even told me a story upon demand once.
What amazing friends I have!
So while I really have had very little to post about lately, I think a post primarily dedicated to pointing out just how AMAZING my friends is a good way to write a post. I'm just a lucky one, that's for sure.
So my dear friends, I love you all, please keep putting up with my sorry ass!
PS. If I didn't mention you by name or "grouping", I have not forgotten you. It just means that perhaps in the past month we haven't had much chance to speak! So *coughcough*dropmealine*coughcough*
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
January Hell
Salut my friends and family!
It is a testament to how insanely busy my January has been that I have not written twice this month. I've tried to write twice a month for the duration of my time in London, and this month I finally failed.
Perhaps I'll do a meme after this, just to make myself better by seeing (2) next to January! Or perhaps I'll split this post into two posts, depending on what I write about. We shall see. Or perhaps I'll just leave it at (1) so that I will always remember the insanity of this month.
We'll let's see. The last time I wrote was before New Years Eve - I spent NYE in my standard fashion - at home on my own! I completely bailed on the plans that I had, as I was just not keen that day on using public transit! I fail, I know, but to be fair, I had an enjoyable evening watching Mr. Bean and chatting with people back in Canada land, and I did indeed stay up until midnight.
My January since then has consisted of teaching and overworking myself. I've barely seen my friends, and I have both cancelled plans and bailed out early on the ones I've attended. Even when Siggy came to visit me from Bristol, the majority of my conversation was stressing out about work as it was all I could really think about. Fortunately Siggy didn't mind, as I DID spent 7 HOURS STRAIGHT in the Imperial War Museum with him. This is quite the feat for me, and I'm rather proud of that accomplishment! I didn't even complain! It was actually a better museum than I thought it would be, it's really well done. Just not my flavour of history.
The year 5 class I spent January teaching are wonderful children. The other teachers in the school are all quite friendly. I was having a hard time with the school since I'm both new to teaching and new to the country, and in three weeks I had 1 prep period. I was barely able to keep up even though I was working through my breaks and lunch breaks, staying at the school until after 5 and often after 5:30, and still working when I was at home.
I'm no longer at that school, and I'm glad of it. There were offers of support, and the year 6 teacher was quite helpful and I'll miss her, but even though support was offered and I said yes I could use help, I never actually got any. I think the school wanted someone with more experience, even though my experience level has always been open. I just don't know if they realized that when saying that were willing to help a teacher get QTS, that it meant a very brand new teacher and I think stuff got confused. Who knows.
I won't really go into details on this blog, as it's public. All I will say, is that I wanted out. So I've spent the last week back to supplying and have had multiple comments on how I seem a lot happier. Cause I am. My stress level is going back down and I've actually got energy again. When I've smiled and laughed this week - they've been real smiles and laughs. I've actually enjoyed the conversations I've had. When I take some time to relax, I don't feel guilty or stressed out because of x,y,z needing to be done. It's great.
The worst part about the whole experience is that it's making me question if I am willing to put up with the education system in this country. I hate that the job made me feel like I owe Ontario's Curriculum a huge apology! I'm not sure how much of it was the way that particular school was, or how much of it is really country-wide. I'm thinking it's a combination.
The education system here seems about ass-backwards or at least a few decades behind Ontario's curriculum. From what I've gathered from this country, their idea of "differentiated learning" is to segregate the students within the classroom, where the 'smart' students are at one table doing activity A, the average lot are doing activity B, and the 'low' group are doing activity C. The students are expected to all progress at the same rate - which means that there is zero scaffolding being done to help bring the lower group closer to the average. It is basically what I've been taught in Ontario is completely wrong.
In Ontario, I'm used to where all the students are doing the same activity - you just provide extra challenge for the higher students when they're finished, and find accommodations for the lower students to help them achieve the same end goal. It's common practice in Ontario to have mixed ability tables, so that the students can actually learn from each other. Here in England... the students are always arranged in ability tables, so the lower ability students cannot usually turn to each other for assistance. There's no student-teaching going on at all in English classrooms, or at least a very minimal amount.
I've also found that homework is given out for homework's sake. This is COMPLETELY frowned upon and discouraged in Ontario - if you give students homework in Ontario you really have to justify it. Usually it's something that the student didn't complete in class (and you have to justify why they didn't finish in class and why you know they can understand it and finish it at home) or is something that the student will NOT need assistance with. Which means homework is sent home rarely in Ontario.
Also, every school here seems to work on some sort of sticker-reward chart. The students want a sticker for EVERYTHING that they do. it's a little sad. I like stickers and all, but it sometimes feels like it's getting ridiculous here!
Ah well.
I hope that the next time I take on a long-term (I definitely need a break from it for now) that I'll be in a more supportive school, and not a single-form school where I'm the only teacher for the grade.
It's just getting really frustrating how everything here is centered on how it looks on paper.... being able to tick off that a classroom has/uses 1,2,3,4,5.... instead of actual student learning or really looking at if what's in the room is actually being used to an advantage. It just needs to be there, to be seen. As long as it looks good on the paper or in a photograph, then it's a-ok in this country.
I hope I'm wrong about it.
It is a testament to how insanely busy my January has been that I have not written twice this month. I've tried to write twice a month for the duration of my time in London, and this month I finally failed.
Perhaps I'll do a meme after this, just to make myself better by seeing (2) next to January! Or perhaps I'll split this post into two posts, depending on what I write about. We shall see. Or perhaps I'll just leave it at (1) so that I will always remember the insanity of this month.
We'll let's see. The last time I wrote was before New Years Eve - I spent NYE in my standard fashion - at home on my own! I completely bailed on the plans that I had, as I was just not keen that day on using public transit! I fail, I know, but to be fair, I had an enjoyable evening watching Mr. Bean and chatting with people back in Canada land, and I did indeed stay up until midnight.
My January since then has consisted of teaching and overworking myself. I've barely seen my friends, and I have both cancelled plans and bailed out early on the ones I've attended. Even when Siggy came to visit me from Bristol, the majority of my conversation was stressing out about work as it was all I could really think about. Fortunately Siggy didn't mind, as I DID spent 7 HOURS STRAIGHT in the Imperial War Museum with him. This is quite the feat for me, and I'm rather proud of that accomplishment! I didn't even complain! It was actually a better museum than I thought it would be, it's really well done. Just not my flavour of history.
The year 5 class I spent January teaching are wonderful children. The other teachers in the school are all quite friendly. I was having a hard time with the school since I'm both new to teaching and new to the country, and in three weeks I had 1 prep period. I was barely able to keep up even though I was working through my breaks and lunch breaks, staying at the school until after 5 and often after 5:30, and still working when I was at home.
I'm no longer at that school, and I'm glad of it. There were offers of support, and the year 6 teacher was quite helpful and I'll miss her, but even though support was offered and I said yes I could use help, I never actually got any. I think the school wanted someone with more experience, even though my experience level has always been open. I just don't know if they realized that when saying that were willing to help a teacher get QTS, that it meant a very brand new teacher and I think stuff got confused. Who knows.
I won't really go into details on this blog, as it's public. All I will say, is that I wanted out. So I've spent the last week back to supplying and have had multiple comments on how I seem a lot happier. Cause I am. My stress level is going back down and I've actually got energy again. When I've smiled and laughed this week - they've been real smiles and laughs. I've actually enjoyed the conversations I've had. When I take some time to relax, I don't feel guilty or stressed out because of x,y,z needing to be done. It's great.
The worst part about the whole experience is that it's making me question if I am willing to put up with the education system in this country. I hate that the job made me feel like I owe Ontario's Curriculum a huge apology! I'm not sure how much of it was the way that particular school was, or how much of it is really country-wide. I'm thinking it's a combination.
The education system here seems about ass-backwards or at least a few decades behind Ontario's curriculum. From what I've gathered from this country, their idea of "differentiated learning" is to segregate the students within the classroom, where the 'smart' students are at one table doing activity A, the average lot are doing activity B, and the 'low' group are doing activity C. The students are expected to all progress at the same rate - which means that there is zero scaffolding being done to help bring the lower group closer to the average. It is basically what I've been taught in Ontario is completely wrong.
In Ontario, I'm used to where all the students are doing the same activity - you just provide extra challenge for the higher students when they're finished, and find accommodations for the lower students to help them achieve the same end goal. It's common practice in Ontario to have mixed ability tables, so that the students can actually learn from each other. Here in England... the students are always arranged in ability tables, so the lower ability students cannot usually turn to each other for assistance. There's no student-teaching going on at all in English classrooms, or at least a very minimal amount.
I've also found that homework is given out for homework's sake. This is COMPLETELY frowned upon and discouraged in Ontario - if you give students homework in Ontario you really have to justify it. Usually it's something that the student didn't complete in class (and you have to justify why they didn't finish in class and why you know they can understand it and finish it at home) or is something that the student will NOT need assistance with. Which means homework is sent home rarely in Ontario.
Also, every school here seems to work on some sort of sticker-reward chart. The students want a sticker for EVERYTHING that they do. it's a little sad. I like stickers and all, but it sometimes feels like it's getting ridiculous here!
Ah well.
I hope that the next time I take on a long-term (I definitely need a break from it for now) that I'll be in a more supportive school, and not a single-form school where I'm the only teacher for the grade.
It's just getting really frustrating how everything here is centered on how it looks on paper.... being able to tick off that a classroom has/uses 1,2,3,4,5.... instead of actual student learning or really looking at if what's in the room is actually being used to an advantage. It just needs to be there, to be seen. As long as it looks good on the paper or in a photograph, then it's a-ok in this country.
I hope I'm wrong about it.
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