Well here it is, at a close yet again. Just yesterday, I taught my last class of the year, and today my Grade 8 class wrote their final exam, with my Grade 11s left to write on Friday. After that, I have some minuscule responsibilities around the house (and oh you know, report cards) and then I'm done my first year as an adult. Since I think that a lot of you out there reading this blog are teachers, I thought that a reflection (Gah! There is that word again!) may be in order.
I don't have these in any particular order, just some thoughts and observations:
- As much as everyone talks about keeping a "professional distance", I think that students appreciate someone who is genuine. They get a lot of teacher's who they know are not being themselves around them, so if you act like yourself they will appreciate it.
- Always hold yourself to higher moral standards than you would hold them.
- It's ok to get mad sometimes, but it's wrong to stay mad.
- Sometimes the extra mile is not enough, but that doesn't mean you should try it again next time.
- The best advice for professional development I ever got was to write a list of everything that you are good at, and look at it whenever you feel down. Then make a list of three (and only three) things that you are bad at, and never look at it again.
- I think that I am personally good at: Getting my students involved, making myself available for them, explaining things to them in a way they can understand, being funny, creatively thinking of different ways to explain things, and probably a lot more.
- Man that felt good to write down, try it...seriously...
- Marking sucks, but it is never worth stressing out over, it'll get done.
- Be sure to tell students that they have made a difference to you. It will totally make their day.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: The next two were added June 17th, 2008]
- It's ok to get mad at a student, but it's wrong to STAY mad at one
- I think that it's natural to have favourites, but it's wrong to play favourites.
Anyway, that's about all that I can think of right now, I'm sure that I'll add more as I think about it.
Until next time,
G
Showing posts with label Teachin' and Learnin'. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teachin' and Learnin'. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
Reflecting on Courage
This past week has been the Chapel Week for my Residence of boys at school. Needless to say, it was a busy one (thus my lack of blogging), and our theme was courage. I was asked to deliver a short lesson on the topic, as one of the house faculty members. Like last time I spoke in chapel, I decided that it would be good to post my lesson here on the blog, in case anyone was interested in a little divine inspiration.
I'm reminded of a quote by Mark Twain, “Courage is not absence of fear”. Brave, courageous people all have their fears, everyone from soldiers, to sports icons, to people in this room, we are all afraid of something.
Even the bravest person, I can imagine, Superman, has things to be afraid of. We all have our kryptonite, ranging from heights, to spiders, to public speaking. In preparing for this, I asked a number of people what they are afraid of. They gave me a wide range of answers, and a number of guys in Colley told me that they were afraid of clowns and sock puppets, I don’t know what that means…, but there was one answer given that stood out above all of the others, and it also happens to be one of my biggest fears, loneliness.
After giving this a bit of reflection, I realized something; Franklin Delano Roosevelt lied to us many years ago. The only thing to fear is not fear itself, no it is something much scarier and much more tangible than that, the only thing to fear is being alone. With the love and support of your family and friends, you can look off that cliff, shoo away that spider, or even face that scary clown.
I myself have been inspired recently to take a courageous step. Next year, I will be leaving the comforts of Colley House, the City of Oakville, and even the entire Western Hemisphere, as I have accepted a teaching position in China. The thought of uprooting my life, and career, quite frankly, scares me to death. I am worried that I won’t fit in, that things will be too different, or worst of all, I am worried that once I get there, I will be alone.
But when I stop to think about it, I know that I am not at all alone, and I never will be. The world today is a much smaller place than it ever has been. Thanks to the wonders of technology, even though I will be on the complete other side of the planet, the people I love will only be a dial and a call, or a click and a wall post away. And that makes the challenges of moving so much easier to bear; I know that I can face my fears and trepidations.
To be able to truly face your fears, it is not just courage that you need, but company. If you take a second to look around the room, you’ll find all of the courage that you need. Whenever you are faced with any adversity, no matter how bad, you will always have each other.
I know that wherever life leads me, I will have the family that I have gained this year with me, maybe in person, maybe on my computer screen, or maybe just in spirit. I, like all of you here today, will never have to walk alone, and that gives me all of the courage that I need.
Now the main reason they chose it though, was because it is the anthem of both the Glasgow Celtic and Liverpool FC, here is an amazing version with both clubs singing it. Maybe it's the Scot in me, but I am a bigger fan of the Celtic version.
Until next time,
G
****************************************************
I'm reminded of a quote by Mark Twain, “Courage is not absence of fear”. Brave, courageous people all have their fears, everyone from soldiers, to sports icons, to people in this room, we are all afraid of something.
Even the bravest person, I can imagine, Superman, has things to be afraid of. We all have our kryptonite, ranging from heights, to spiders, to public speaking. In preparing for this, I asked a number of people what they are afraid of. They gave me a wide range of answers, and a number of guys in Colley told me that they were afraid of clowns and sock puppets, I don’t know what that means…, but there was one answer given that stood out above all of the others, and it also happens to be one of my biggest fears, loneliness.
After giving this a bit of reflection, I realized something; Franklin Delano Roosevelt lied to us many years ago. The only thing to fear is not fear itself, no it is something much scarier and much more tangible than that, the only thing to fear is being alone. With the love and support of your family and friends, you can look off that cliff, shoo away that spider, or even face that scary clown.
I myself have been inspired recently to take a courageous step. Next year, I will be leaving the comforts of Colley House, the City of Oakville, and even the entire Western Hemisphere, as I have accepted a teaching position in China. The thought of uprooting my life, and career, quite frankly, scares me to death. I am worried that I won’t fit in, that things will be too different, or worst of all, I am worried that once I get there, I will be alone.
But when I stop to think about it, I know that I am not at all alone, and I never will be. The world today is a much smaller place than it ever has been. Thanks to the wonders of technology, even though I will be on the complete other side of the planet, the people I love will only be a dial and a call, or a click and a wall post away. And that makes the challenges of moving so much easier to bear; I know that I can face my fears and trepidations.
To be able to truly face your fears, it is not just courage that you need, but company. If you take a second to look around the room, you’ll find all of the courage that you need. Whenever you are faced with any adversity, no matter how bad, you will always have each other.
I know that wherever life leads me, I will have the family that I have gained this year with me, maybe in person, maybe on my computer screen, or maybe just in spirit. I, like all of you here today, will never have to walk alone, and that gives me all of the courage that I need.
****************************************************
For our anthem, we chose "You'll Never Walk Alone" by Gerry and the Pacemakers, demonstrated here.Now the main reason they chose it though, was because it is the anthem of both the Glasgow Celtic and Liverpool FC, here is an amazing version with both clubs singing it. Maybe it's the Scot in me, but I am a bigger fan of the Celtic version.
Until next time,
G
Monday, January 21, 2008
Another Heart-Warming Teaching Story
Now, followers of this blog probably know that I am a first year Math Teacher/Residence Don at a private school in the GTA. Now in teaching there are a lot of average days, and some very frustrating days, but there are some days, and moments that simply warm your heart and more than make up for any negative moment. On Thursday, I had one of these moments.
See I had to do late night duty on Wednesday night, which means that I had to ensure that the oldest students in boarding were all snug in their beds, when they lights out is at 11:30pm. Now the very next morning, I had a three and a half straight hours of teaching, starting at 8am. Normally this is a minor inconvenience and grumble of mine, but to top it all off, I was feeling exceptionally sick and tired. Nothing major, just a cold, where I needed some mint tea and a lot of bed rest, two things which I was just not going to get with that kind of schedule. Sure, I could have called it in, but I feel a certain sense of pride in showing up to work feeling bad, I like to feel tough after all.
Now the first two classes went alright, my second period students were being a bit of a chore, but they had in class assignments to work on, so I didn't have to be too involved. But then along came my third period class, Grade 8 math. I had a lesson that I had to teach them on graphing, and there really was no easy way out of it for me.
I knew that I needed to suck up my illness and exhaustion, and just do it.
This is when the projector failed on me, and I was stuck teaching like it was the 20th Century, and I had to use chalk and a chalkboard. Now, for those of you who just know me by the blogosphere, won't know, is that I have horrible, HORRIBLE writing. My students have gotten fairly use to reading it, but there was the added challenge that I needed to draw the graph, and make it accurate enough so that it would make sense to 12 year olds who knew nothing on the subject.
I started drawing a horrible, slanty graph, that I knew the kids just didn't get. To top it all off, my exhaustion and illness were getting the better of me, as I was making frequent mistakes. I still had a good 40 minutes of class to get through, and I knew it was going to feel like an eternity.
Then, a hand raised and one of my students asked me "Are you feeling ok?"
"No, I'm feeling pretty sick and tired, I'm sorry that I'm making mistakes, but I'm trying my best" I decided to answer honestly.
It's wroth mentioning that I just two students, who had just transfered into my class from the advanced stream that my school offers, and had therefore done this before. These two kids, raised their hands and said "Do you want us to teach this?" to which, I thought it was a GREAT idea, I passed them the chalk, and sad down.
These two students proceeded to do the next example, and I would occasionally interject and make sure that certain points were emphasized and what have you. But they ultimately did a fantastic job in covering the lesson.
Then one of the boys in my class looks over to me and says "You can tell that you're an experience teacher. They're not as easy to listen to as you are."
With those simple words, I became energized, and my illness faded away. I was suddenly overcome with a great feeling of relief and clarity.
For all that people complain about "kids these days", there really are some fantastic young people out there who are caring, supportive, and mature beyond their years. They could have very easily just let me screw up, make mistakes, and try to grind my gears to get a reaction. But no, not my students, they decided that they wanted to help me out, make me feel better, and learn something along the way.
While I hope that they learned something from the lesson, I am certain that they ended up teaching me instead.
Until next time,
G
See I had to do late night duty on Wednesday night, which means that I had to ensure that the oldest students in boarding were all snug in their beds, when they lights out is at 11:30pm. Now the very next morning, I had a three and a half straight hours of teaching, starting at 8am. Normally this is a minor inconvenience and grumble of mine, but to top it all off, I was feeling exceptionally sick and tired. Nothing major, just a cold, where I needed some mint tea and a lot of bed rest, two things which I was just not going to get with that kind of schedule. Sure, I could have called it in, but I feel a certain sense of pride in showing up to work feeling bad, I like to feel tough after all.
Now the first two classes went alright, my second period students were being a bit of a chore, but they had in class assignments to work on, so I didn't have to be too involved. But then along came my third period class, Grade 8 math. I had a lesson that I had to teach them on graphing, and there really was no easy way out of it for me.
I knew that I needed to suck up my illness and exhaustion, and just do it.
This is when the projector failed on me, and I was stuck teaching like it was the 20th Century, and I had to use chalk and a chalkboard. Now, for those of you who just know me by the blogosphere, won't know, is that I have horrible, HORRIBLE writing. My students have gotten fairly use to reading it, but there was the added challenge that I needed to draw the graph, and make it accurate enough so that it would make sense to 12 year olds who knew nothing on the subject.
I started drawing a horrible, slanty graph, that I knew the kids just didn't get. To top it all off, my exhaustion and illness were getting the better of me, as I was making frequent mistakes. I still had a good 40 minutes of class to get through, and I knew it was going to feel like an eternity.
Then, a hand raised and one of my students asked me "Are you feeling ok?"
"No, I'm feeling pretty sick and tired, I'm sorry that I'm making mistakes, but I'm trying my best" I decided to answer honestly.
It's wroth mentioning that I just two students, who had just transfered into my class from the advanced stream that my school offers, and had therefore done this before. These two kids, raised their hands and said "Do you want us to teach this?" to which, I thought it was a GREAT idea, I passed them the chalk, and sad down.
These two students proceeded to do the next example, and I would occasionally interject and make sure that certain points were emphasized and what have you. But they ultimately did a fantastic job in covering the lesson.
Then one of the boys in my class looks over to me and says "You can tell that you're an experience teacher. They're not as easy to listen to as you are."
With those simple words, I became energized, and my illness faded away. I was suddenly overcome with a great feeling of relief and clarity.
For all that people complain about "kids these days", there really are some fantastic young people out there who are caring, supportive, and mature beyond their years. They could have very easily just let me screw up, make mistakes, and try to grind my gears to get a reaction. But no, not my students, they decided that they wanted to help me out, make me feel better, and learn something along the way.
While I hope that they learned something from the lesson, I am certain that they ended up teaching me instead.
Until next time,
G
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Reflecting on my Vocation
So the past week at my school it was Faculty Chapel week. See, working at a private school, there are definite religious overtones, as the Chapel is a big part of the school schedule and community. While I was initially skeptical of this, the chapel services are multi-faithed, so they include reasons from not only Christian but Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, and secular sources.
Anyway, as part of the Faculty Chapel week, they asked for faculty members to make short (3 minute) reflections on their vocation. So of course, I thought that I would take a chance to chyme in with my thoughts. In typical Glen fashion, I decided that I would relate the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Napoleon Dynamite to my career.
Here is a copy of my speech, enjoy...
***************************************************************
So I was asked to come up here and reflect on my vocation. Well I have only been teaching for a few months, as opposed to a few years or decades like some of my esteemed colleagues sitting to my right, I don’t quite have as much to reflect on. Instead, I will reflect on why I decided to become a teacher in the first place.
When I was a kid, I had four heroes who I held above everyone else. They were not Michael Jordan, or Wayne Gretzky like other boys my age, they weren’t my teachers, or even my parents. No, no, no my heroes were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Every Saturday morning, I would wake up early, grab a bowl of Count Chocula, sit down in front of the television, and I would watch my heroes save the world from the forces of evil, yet again. I knew that when I grew up, I wanted to be just like them. But no matter how many times I asked my parents didn’t buy me a katana or send me to ninja school, they had other plans…public school.
When I was there, I was never able to sharpen my bo staff or numchuck skills, so I had to learn how to fight evil some other way. It was then that my teachers armed me with two very powerful weapons to fight against the forces of evil; they armed me with hope and compassion.
Over the course of my life, I realized just how powerful hope and compassion can be in overcoming evil at every turn, and I believe that there is nothing that they can’t overcome.
Hope will cure diseases and prevent environmental catastrophes.
Compassion will unite nations and bring about peace.
So while I am here teaching function or fractions, in true ninja style, that is just a cover. What I really want to teach are hope and compassion. And if I am able to get that through to even one student over the course of my career then maybe, just maybe one of you would be able to cure cancer, or end poverty. Then I will get just what I have always wanted, I’ll get to be just like me heroes, I’ll get to save the world. And I’ll be able to do it without a katana or turtle shell.
***************************************************************
Until next time,
G
Anyway, as part of the Faculty Chapel week, they asked for faculty members to make short (3 minute) reflections on their vocation. So of course, I thought that I would take a chance to chyme in with my thoughts. In typical Glen fashion, I decided that I would relate the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Napoleon Dynamite to my career.
Here is a copy of my speech, enjoy...
***************************************************************
So I was asked to come up here and reflect on my vocation. Well I have only been teaching for a few months, as opposed to a few years or decades like some of my esteemed colleagues sitting to my right, I don’t quite have as much to reflect on. Instead, I will reflect on why I decided to become a teacher in the first place.
When I was a kid, I had four heroes who I held above everyone else. They were not Michael Jordan, or Wayne Gretzky like other boys my age, they weren’t my teachers, or even my parents. No, no, no my heroes were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Every Saturday morning, I would wake up early, grab a bowl of Count Chocula, sit down in front of the television, and I would watch my heroes save the world from the forces of evil, yet again. I knew that when I grew up, I wanted to be just like them. But no matter how many times I asked my parents didn’t buy me a katana or send me to ninja school, they had other plans…public school.
When I was there, I was never able to sharpen my bo staff or numchuck skills, so I had to learn how to fight evil some other way. It was then that my teachers armed me with two very powerful weapons to fight against the forces of evil; they armed me with hope and compassion.
Over the course of my life, I realized just how powerful hope and compassion can be in overcoming evil at every turn, and I believe that there is nothing that they can’t overcome.
Hope will cure diseases and prevent environmental catastrophes.
Compassion will unite nations and bring about peace.
So while I am here teaching function or fractions, in true ninja style, that is just a cover. What I really want to teach are hope and compassion. And if I am able to get that through to even one student over the course of my career then maybe, just maybe one of you would be able to cure cancer, or end poverty. Then I will get just what I have always wanted, I’ll get to be just like me heroes, I’ll get to save the world. And I’ll be able to do it without a katana or turtle shell.
***************************************************************
Until next time,
G
Saturday, October 13, 2007
The Beauty In the Contrast
Wednesday night I had the opportunity to participate in something very special here at school. I helped take a group of very wealthy private school kids into downtown Toronto to go on a night walk with the Salvation Army.
We took a bunch of supplies, ranging from toothbrushes to socks, with us and went on a tour of the "hot spots" of the homeless community to distribute them and talk with any of the homeless people around Toronto. We first walked through some pretty rough neighbourhoods and got yelled at and taunted by the locals. This frightened some of the students, who have lived, by and large, fairly sheltered lives.
There was this one girl, let's call her Christine, who was especially afraid. She repeatedly asked for me to stay close to her and revealed to me that her number one fear was having someone pull her into a dark alley and shoot her up with heroin. Despite my many attempts at explaining the inherent infeasibility of her concerns, they did not subside.
When we walked through a park, Christine was incredibly afraid of any contact with any homeless people. As the night went on, I gradually snuck away from her, hoping that she would be slightly more comfortable in her environment. I was pretty amazed by the results.
As we approached Nathan-Phillips Square (City Hall for any of you not familiar with the centre of the Universe...) we saw more, and more homeless people. Many students went up and donated their gifts directly to the recipients but I noticed Christine staying with our group. As we rounded the corner, I continued to watch her.
After a while it was fairly apparent that Christine was one of the few remaining students to have not made direct contact with a homeless person. Sensing this, she bit down on her fear and slowly made her way over to a gentleman huddled in a bus stop. I listened as she introduced herself and offered an apple and toothbrush. I could sense her voice shake.
To my delight and her shock, he gratefully accepted and begin to have a real, normal, honest-to-goodness conversation with her. No screaming, no stabbing, no stealing, no injecting with drugs.
She could probably pay off my student loans with her allowance (and that's saying something!), and I would see more money in a month than he would in a year. But in that moment, it did not matter. Right then and there the three of us were all equal. Three exceptionally different lives and social classes all juxtaposed in one surreal environment.
As our group left Nathan-Phillips Square I looked over at Christine, and said the five words that I feel every educator should say as much as possible, "I am proud of you".
I certainly, was not lying on that one. I was proud of her for helping someone in need, I was proud of her conquering her own fears, but most of all I was proud of her for opening up a piece of the real world, not only to herself, but to me as well. Her, and all of the other students there with us, really helped remind me that deep down inside we aren't all that different.
Looking back, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a little bit afraid wandering through these slummy parts of Toronto, but after being inspired by the students and meeting some of these brave homeless people, I can say that much of my fear was alleviated.
While it is not at all easy, I really encourage any of you out there living near a disadvantaged area to go out and find a chance to interact with the people who are far less fortunate than you are. Who knows, it could give you a chance to be proud of that little bit of Christine that lives inside of you.
Until next time,
G
We took a bunch of supplies, ranging from toothbrushes to socks, with us and went on a tour of the "hot spots" of the homeless community to distribute them and talk with any of the homeless people around Toronto. We first walked through some pretty rough neighbourhoods and got yelled at and taunted by the locals. This frightened some of the students, who have lived, by and large, fairly sheltered lives.
There was this one girl, let's call her Christine, who was especially afraid. She repeatedly asked for me to stay close to her and revealed to me that her number one fear was having someone pull her into a dark alley and shoot her up with heroin. Despite my many attempts at explaining the inherent infeasibility of her concerns, they did not subside.
When we walked through a park, Christine was incredibly afraid of any contact with any homeless people. As the night went on, I gradually snuck away from her, hoping that she would be slightly more comfortable in her environment. I was pretty amazed by the results.
As we approached Nathan-Phillips Square (City Hall for any of you not familiar with the centre of the Universe...) we saw more, and more homeless people. Many students went up and donated their gifts directly to the recipients but I noticed Christine staying with our group. As we rounded the corner, I continued to watch her.
After a while it was fairly apparent that Christine was one of the few remaining students to have not made direct contact with a homeless person. Sensing this, she bit down on her fear and slowly made her way over to a gentleman huddled in a bus stop. I listened as she introduced herself and offered an apple and toothbrush. I could sense her voice shake.
To my delight and her shock, he gratefully accepted and begin to have a real, normal, honest-to-goodness conversation with her. No screaming, no stabbing, no stealing, no injecting with drugs.
She could probably pay off my student loans with her allowance (and that's saying something!), and I would see more money in a month than he would in a year. But in that moment, it did not matter. Right then and there the three of us were all equal. Three exceptionally different lives and social classes all juxtaposed in one surreal environment.
As our group left Nathan-Phillips Square I looked over at Christine, and said the five words that I feel every educator should say as much as possible, "I am proud of you".
I certainly, was not lying on that one. I was proud of her for helping someone in need, I was proud of her conquering her own fears, but most of all I was proud of her for opening up a piece of the real world, not only to herself, but to me as well. Her, and all of the other students there with us, really helped remind me that deep down inside we aren't all that different.
Looking back, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a little bit afraid wandering through these slummy parts of Toronto, but after being inspired by the students and meeting some of these brave homeless people, I can say that much of my fear was alleviated.
While it is not at all easy, I really encourage any of you out there living near a disadvantaged area to go out and find a chance to interact with the people who are far less fortunate than you are. Who knows, it could give you a chance to be proud of that little bit of Christine that lives inside of you.
Until next time,
G
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Holding Back the Laughter
While I have only been an official big boy teacher for a short time, I believe that I have already found my kryptonite. While my weakness is not some mystical glowing rock, it is the simple fact that kids are funny. Almost every day I am blown away by the incredible wit of my students. They are constantly doing thing that I find completely hilarious, even when I'm supposed to be getting mad at them.
Today during my Grade 11 class, I was sitting in the back listening to another teacher (I am team teaching by the way, which is AWESOME), and three of my students are misbehaving. They are quietly talking to one another and not paying any attention. I get eye contact with them and they quiet down a bit. One girl goes to throw a water bottle to one of the guys after borrowing it. She throws it in a completely gentle manner, but the guy misses it and well, it hits him in an incredibly sensitive area. I instinctively bite my lip and turn away. I feel my face start to turn read as I hold back my bodily convulsions, because let's face it, people getting hit in the groin is funny.
Instead of trying to do anything about it, seeing it was an accident, I don't do much about it, since I clearly can't even try to act stern at this point. Instead, the next time the group continues to talk, I stand over next to them and they quietly pay attention. Which is great and all, but it doesn't compete with a water bottle in the groin.
So blogosphere, any thoughts on this one? Should I grow up and stop finding shots to the junk so funny, or did I do the right thing then and there? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated on this one...
Until next time.
G
Today during my Grade 11 class, I was sitting in the back listening to another teacher (I am team teaching by the way, which is AWESOME), and three of my students are misbehaving. They are quietly talking to one another and not paying any attention. I get eye contact with them and they quiet down a bit. One girl goes to throw a water bottle to one of the guys after borrowing it. She throws it in a completely gentle manner, but the guy misses it and well, it hits him in an incredibly sensitive area. I instinctively bite my lip and turn away. I feel my face start to turn read as I hold back my bodily convulsions, because let's face it, people getting hit in the groin is funny.
Instead of trying to do anything about it, seeing it was an accident, I don't do much about it, since I clearly can't even try to act stern at this point. Instead, the next time the group continues to talk, I stand over next to them and they quietly pay attention. Which is great and all, but it doesn't compete with a water bottle in the groin.
So blogosphere, any thoughts on this one? Should I grow up and stop finding shots to the junk so funny, or did I do the right thing then and there? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated on this one...
Until next time.
G
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Teachable Moment
In working with young people, we often have these periods in time where the opportunity to present an important life lesson presents itself. We always have a choice in this moment, do we ignore it or take the time, and effort to try and pass an important lesson on to someone else.
This weekend was homecoming for the school that I work at. As a result, there were a ton of activities to build school spirit and foster some community development (and to get some more donations). There was a new event this year that I volunteered for/got suckered into, the Car Rally. A group of parents came to the school Saturday morning and then drove around some of the back roads, made a few stops, showed off their cars and had some good bonding time.
Working at a private school, most of the kids come from affluent backgrounds, so as you could imagine the cars were pretty spectacular. There were a few Ferrarris, a couple of Lambhorghinis, a Corvette or two, a hand full of BMWs, a few custom made kit cars, and even a Rolls Royce. While I sat in awe of cars that I could never afford, I was given the task of driving one of the school's vans with two students who were going to be photographers for the event.
So me in the mini-van go and join a convoy of muscle cars and we head up out of the city and into some great back country roads that I didn't even know existed. The weather was great to have the windows down, crank the music up, and blast along the country roads.
I find myself lagging behind the main group, so I step on the gas a little bit harder. Apparently they didn't design Caravans to keep pace with Ferraris, who knew? I approach this beautiful corner going down a gentle hill, it looks like it was designed for racing around.
Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks this, as there is a police officer waiting for me at the bottom who flags me over. I curse under my breath, and my heart begins to race. As the officer walks towards me I have two conflicting thoughts run through my head.
Earlier in the year I was busted for speeding, and I was able to play the "poor student" card and I had my fine severely reduced. I wonder if I can play the "poor teacher" doing my job card, and get this fine knocked down as well.
The officer was getting closer and closer.
On the other hand though, there are two students in the van with me. I find that one of the biggest challenges when dealing with young people is getting them to take responsibility for their actions. So many people, of any age, are quick to blame others when they do something wrong. I realize that I am sitting on one of those Teachable Moments.
The officer was getting closer and closer.
Here I am faced with a crisis, do I take a more expensive fine and potential point deduction on my licence to do the right thing, and teach these two students a valuable life lesson.
I roll down my window and say "Hello officer".
I listen to everything that the Police Officer says about going too fast, and I state that I didn't know that it was a 50 km/h zone, which I honestly did not, and I take my ticket for $111....yuck.
As I sit and speak to the Police Officer, a number of other cars on the rally drive past me looking right at me. They sure were not going 50.
After we leave, the students make two observations 1) The guy was a complete ass and 2) Everyone else got by going about the same speed. Both points were pretty accurate to say the least.
I take this as a further teachable moment and say that it doesn't matter what kind of guy he was or what anyone else was doing, it doesn't change the fact that I was wrong and got caught. While I'm gritting my teeth and agreeing with them at the most superficial of levels, deep down inside I know that I was wrong and I got caught, so I had to do the responsible thing and accept the consequences of my actions.
I was also pretty worried that I would get in trouble for speeding with students. However, those fears were alleviated when I arrived at the first check point and one of the school's Headmasters comes up to me, puts his arm around me and starts to laugh at me....I even take the opportunity to tell him that I turned it into a teachable moment. I'm officially in the clear.
In looking back, I remember a time when I was maybe 12 or 13 and my mother got busted for speeding with my sister and I in the car right around Christmas. She could have easily played the "Single Mother at Christmas" card and got away with a stern talking to, but she later told me that she decided to accept it full on in order to teach us a lesson about responsibility...apparently it worked.
I got to spend the morning and volunteer my time and teach an important lesson to some young people and it only cost me $111...ahh well, it's cheaper than Teacher's College.
Until next time,
G
This weekend was homecoming for the school that I work at. As a result, there were a ton of activities to build school spirit and foster some community development (and to get some more donations). There was a new event this year that I volunteered for/got suckered into, the Car Rally. A group of parents came to the school Saturday morning and then drove around some of the back roads, made a few stops, showed off their cars and had some good bonding time.
Working at a private school, most of the kids come from affluent backgrounds, so as you could imagine the cars were pretty spectacular. There were a few Ferrarris, a couple of Lambhorghinis, a Corvette or two, a hand full of BMWs, a few custom made kit cars, and even a Rolls Royce. While I sat in awe of cars that I could never afford, I was given the task of driving one of the school's vans with two students who were going to be photographers for the event.
So me in the mini-van go and join a convoy of muscle cars and we head up out of the city and into some great back country roads that I didn't even know existed. The weather was great to have the windows down, crank the music up, and blast along the country roads.
I find myself lagging behind the main group, so I step on the gas a little bit harder. Apparently they didn't design Caravans to keep pace with Ferraris, who knew? I approach this beautiful corner going down a gentle hill, it looks like it was designed for racing around.
Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks this, as there is a police officer waiting for me at the bottom who flags me over. I curse under my breath, and my heart begins to race. As the officer walks towards me I have two conflicting thoughts run through my head.
Earlier in the year I was busted for speeding, and I was able to play the "poor student" card and I had my fine severely reduced. I wonder if I can play the "poor teacher" doing my job card, and get this fine knocked down as well.
The officer was getting closer and closer.
On the other hand though, there are two students in the van with me. I find that one of the biggest challenges when dealing with young people is getting them to take responsibility for their actions. So many people, of any age, are quick to blame others when they do something wrong. I realize that I am sitting on one of those Teachable Moments.
The officer was getting closer and closer.
Here I am faced with a crisis, do I take a more expensive fine and potential point deduction on my licence to do the right thing, and teach these two students a valuable life lesson.
I roll down my window and say "Hello officer".
I listen to everything that the Police Officer says about going too fast, and I state that I didn't know that it was a 50 km/h zone, which I honestly did not, and I take my ticket for $111....yuck.
As I sit and speak to the Police Officer, a number of other cars on the rally drive past me looking right at me. They sure were not going 50.
After we leave, the students make two observations 1) The guy was a complete ass and 2) Everyone else got by going about the same speed. Both points were pretty accurate to say the least.
I take this as a further teachable moment and say that it doesn't matter what kind of guy he was or what anyone else was doing, it doesn't change the fact that I was wrong and got caught. While I'm gritting my teeth and agreeing with them at the most superficial of levels, deep down inside I know that I was wrong and I got caught, so I had to do the responsible thing and accept the consequences of my actions.
I was also pretty worried that I would get in trouble for speeding with students. However, those fears were alleviated when I arrived at the first check point and one of the school's Headmasters comes up to me, puts his arm around me and starts to laugh at me....I even take the opportunity to tell him that I turned it into a teachable moment. I'm officially in the clear.
In looking back, I remember a time when I was maybe 12 or 13 and my mother got busted for speeding with my sister and I in the car right around Christmas. She could have easily played the "Single Mother at Christmas" card and got away with a stern talking to, but she later told me that she decided to accept it full on in order to teach us a lesson about responsibility...apparently it worked.
I got to spend the morning and volunteer my time and teach an important lesson to some young people and it only cost me $111...ahh well, it's cheaper than Teacher's College.
Until next time,
G
Monday, September 10, 2007
Day 1, In the Books..
Hey there, just a quick little personal note from me. I just wanted to let anyone interested know that today, I finished teaching my first class as a real, big boy teacher!!! And it went super dee duper well.
Since my primary responsibility is that of a Residential Don, I only teach part-time. So I only had one class to teach today, Grade 8 math. The class went by really well, as we went over some rules/regulations and then I gave them some light work, and I asked them an important question for their math journals "If math were a food to me, it would be...". For the record, I told them it would be soy for me, since it's in everything I do, but is often hidden.
I don't have much else to say to be honest, other than a big thank you to everyone who has supported me over the past couple of year to have helped get me where I am right now. I'd like to thank you all personally, but unfortunately this impersonal blog posting is all that I can do for now.
I hope that you know who you are, because I sure do...
Until next time,
G
Since my primary responsibility is that of a Residential Don, I only teach part-time. So I only had one class to teach today, Grade 8 math. The class went by really well, as we went over some rules/regulations and then I gave them some light work, and I asked them an important question for their math journals "If math were a food to me, it would be...". For the record, I told them it would be soy for me, since it's in everything I do, but is often hidden.
I don't have much else to say to be honest, other than a big thank you to everyone who has supported me over the past couple of year to have helped get me where I am right now. I'd like to thank you all personally, but unfortunately this impersonal blog posting is all that I can do for now.
I hope that you know who you are, because I sure do...
Until next time,
G
Saturday, September 08, 2007
An Overdo Stream of Thought Rant
I was just unpacking my life and I found a piece of paper of particular interest to me. You see last year in Teacher's College we were asked to spontaneously write our thoughts on Education down, and well I decided to go full scale stream of conscious and see what came up. I thought it may be a good thing to share with any of my teacher friends out there, enjoy...
I am a firm believer that education is a powerful tool. If harnessed properly it is capable of saving the world, if not it has the power to destroy. I believe very seriously that education is, by and large, misused. Far too often it is used to fit people into round holes, despite the fact that they may be square pegs. I firmly believe that education should help nurture creativity and ingenuity and not quash it. It should teach people the value of questions and not merely answers. Education needs to find the balance between the practicality of the issue and the theory that goes into it. Education needs to be inclusive to everyone, regardless of race, gender, social standing, or ability level. Education needs to go beyond mere subject matter and teach holistically. With every subject there should be the goal of making each student a better person in some way. For example, one learns history in order to critically analyze a source, and not to memorize dates and figures. If a student is able to take these lessons and apply them to their lives, perhaps question an item seen on the news rather than accept it at face vale, then the teacher has succeeded. The most important aspect is that every student is a teacher and every teacher is most definitely a student. It is all our responsibility as teachers, students, and human beings to make the world a better place. Education is the only thing that can accomplish this.
Hmmm it's not as long when I type it up now is it?
Anyway, to sum up my thoughts on education...stick it to THE MAN!!!
Until next time,
G
******************************************
I am a firm believer that education is a powerful tool. If harnessed properly it is capable of saving the world, if not it has the power to destroy. I believe very seriously that education is, by and large, misused. Far too often it is used to fit people into round holes, despite the fact that they may be square pegs. I firmly believe that education should help nurture creativity and ingenuity and not quash it. It should teach people the value of questions and not merely answers. Education needs to find the balance between the practicality of the issue and the theory that goes into it. Education needs to be inclusive to everyone, regardless of race, gender, social standing, or ability level. Education needs to go beyond mere subject matter and teach holistically. With every subject there should be the goal of making each student a better person in some way. For example, one learns history in order to critically analyze a source, and not to memorize dates and figures. If a student is able to take these lessons and apply them to their lives, perhaps question an item seen on the news rather than accept it at face vale, then the teacher has succeeded. The most important aspect is that every student is a teacher and every teacher is most definitely a student. It is all our responsibility as teachers, students, and human beings to make the world a better place. Education is the only thing that can accomplish this.
******************************************
Hmmm it's not as long when I type it up now is it?
Anyway, to sum up my thoughts on education...stick it to THE MAN!!!
Until next time,
G
Monday, September 03, 2007
Happy New Year!!!!
I know, I know, New Year's is not for another couple of months, but for those people in Academia the first day of school always marks more of a new beginning much more than January 1st.
I know that a lot of my NipFriends out there are starting their first teaching job tomorrow, and I just want to wish you all good luck with that. I myself still have another week of PD to get ready for the inevitable and dreaded Real World, and trust me I will spend most of this week worrying and asking many of you how things went.
I just hope that all of you out there forget everything that you learned in class at Teacher's College and go with things you learned outside of the curriculum and go out and be the great teachers that I know you can be!!! If you are really worried, remember that there are many worse teachers out there who have been able to succeed in much harder schools than you will be in.
If that doesn't help, here is an official retrospective to the first day of school in the history of the world from some of the world's premiere educators.
Until next time,
G
I know that a lot of my NipFriends out there are starting their first teaching job tomorrow, and I just want to wish you all good luck with that. I myself still have another week of PD to get ready for the inevitable and dreaded Real World, and trust me I will spend most of this week worrying and asking many of you how things went.
I just hope that all of you out there forget everything that you learned in class at Teacher's College and go with things you learned outside of the curriculum and go out and be the great teachers that I know you can be!!! If you are really worried, remember that there are many worse teachers out there who have been able to succeed in much harder schools than you will be in.
If that doesn't help, here is an official retrospective to the first day of school in the history of the world from some of the world's premiere educators.
Until next time,
G
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
The Power of Education
If any of you have wondered why I am a teacher look no further than this video. It pains me on so many levels that people like this exist. I want to be able to either stop people from being so stupid, or at least be able to get a first hand laugh at them for being that way.
Enjoy...
Until next time,
G
Enjoy...
Until next time,
G
Friday, May 11, 2007
More on This Adult Thing
Twice in the last couple of months, I have lamented about growing up and staring eternity right in the face. Now, I find myself even more grown up, but far more at peace with it.
That's right, I am officially employed.
Over the past few weeks I have had a couple of transcontinental phone interviews with a private school back in Canada (that I don't really feel like naming on here, just to keep things private. But if you want to know just drop me an e-mail and I'll be happy to talk about it). And well, they have hired me to be a Residential Don.
I'll be living in the student residences, reliving some of my Acadia time, plus teaching a couple of classes (less than a full load), and running some extra-curricular activities. In short, I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing, something fun, different, and not binding.
Needless to say, I'm pretty pumped about this opportunity I have now.
Alrightie that's really all that I have to say. I would apologize for making this blog post self-indulgent and all about me. But you know what? I think 80% of what has been posted here has been somehow about me and you keep reading, so logically I must be a draw.
Blogging, an ego stroke for nerds...hmmmm maybe I should sell that as a slogan to blogger.
Until next time,
G
That's right, I am officially employed.
Over the past few weeks I have had a couple of transcontinental phone interviews with a private school back in Canada (that I don't really feel like naming on here, just to keep things private. But if you want to know just drop me an e-mail and I'll be happy to talk about it). And well, they have hired me to be a Residential Don.
I'll be living in the student residences, reliving some of my Acadia time, plus teaching a couple of classes (less than a full load), and running some extra-curricular activities. In short, I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing, something fun, different, and not binding.
Needless to say, I'm pretty pumped about this opportunity I have now.
Alrightie that's really all that I have to say. I would apologize for making this blog post self-indulgent and all about me. But you know what? I think 80% of what has been posted here has been somehow about me and you keep reading, so logically I must be a draw.
Blogging, an ego stroke for nerds...hmmmm maybe I should sell that as a slogan to blogger.
Until next time,
G
Friday, April 27, 2007
All Grown Up
Two months ago I made a post about the perils of growing up. Even as I typed about having only 8 weeks left in my program, it seemed like a far off time.
Well the time is now.
I just finished giving my last lesson as a Student Teacher and boy do I ever feel strange now. Already I can feel the terror of adulthood coming my way. I have to start looking for jobs, I have to start thinking about my pension, I have to start thinking about my life in more than one year increments.
But I really don't want to!!!!!
I know that all of my NipFriends back in Canada still have another week to put off this surreal moment but not us over in China. We got to finish a week early which sounds great, but right now I really would love to have another week to hide my head in the sand for just a little bit longer.
My dad has always said that he will die of Eternal Peter Pan Syndrome, he says that he "may get old but will never grow up". I guess the older I grow the more I realize that I am like both of my parents (how is that for a scary thought!!!!), and in this case the apple has fallen directly below the tree.
In the last post I said that I should stop counting down the Days until Spiderman 3, I should get rid of my Superhero pillow case and I should stop making Black Eyed Peas references when I'm teaching.
You know what, to hell with all of that!!!! Just because I'm out looking for jobs and pensions and everything else does not mean that I need to stop having fun. I have the rest of my life to grow up, why should I start now? Why should I start ever for that matter.
So it's decided, I'm putting my adulthood off for an indefinite amount of time. Perhaps the job and pension thing will have to be a little different though....
Until next time,
G
Well the time is now.
I just finished giving my last lesson as a Student Teacher and boy do I ever feel strange now. Already I can feel the terror of adulthood coming my way. I have to start looking for jobs, I have to start thinking about my pension, I have to start thinking about my life in more than one year increments.
But I really don't want to!!!!!
I know that all of my NipFriends back in Canada still have another week to put off this surreal moment but not us over in China. We got to finish a week early which sounds great, but right now I really would love to have another week to hide my head in the sand for just a little bit longer.
My dad has always said that he will die of Eternal Peter Pan Syndrome, he says that he "may get old but will never grow up". I guess the older I grow the more I realize that I am like both of my parents (how is that for a scary thought!!!!), and in this case the apple has fallen directly below the tree.
In the last post I said that I should stop counting down the Days until Spiderman 3, I should get rid of my Superhero pillow case and I should stop making Black Eyed Peas references when I'm teaching.
You know what, to hell with all of that!!!! Just because I'm out looking for jobs and pensions and everything else does not mean that I need to stop having fun. I have the rest of my life to grow up, why should I start now? Why should I start ever for that matter.
So it's decided, I'm putting my adulthood off for an indefinite amount of time. Perhaps the job and pension thing will have to be a little different though....
Until next time,
G
Monday, April 16, 2007
Beating Axl Rose to the Punch
The initials for the band Guns n' Roses are often labeled as "G F'n R". I'm sure that you can figure out with that F stands for. My initials are GFR, I sometimes say "G F'n R" as an homage to the band. And because I think that it's funny. For more than a decade the band has been working on an album called "Chinese Democracy", which will probably never be produced. Well today, I beat them to the punch.
While I have planned and delivered many lessons before, this one was different. Not only was it going to be my first time in front of an entire group of Chinese ESL students, but I had a difficult topic, Parliamentary Democracy. To make it even more challenging, my AT suggested that I include some sort of activity in my lesson. I knew of only one way to do this. Stage a mock parliament.
That's right, the foreigner planned on staging an election in an oppressive communist country on my first teaching day.
I spent the first 40 minutes of the lesson discussing the different groups of Parliament and how they interact (i.e. the Monarchy and House of Lords/Senate do pretty much nothing). And
I described how a bill becomes a law. Then the fun started.
I had them all take a small political survey that I made up to figure out which party they would be in and then I had them divide into three groups to stage the debate. Interestingly enough, both classes had a fairly even split between the Centrist and the Leftist (Liberals and NDP for those of you who don't know that that means) with very few Right Wing members of the class. I even had the parties select a leader to represent them, and giving our class a Prime Minister.
The first Bill we discussed (I came up with it) was that we should ban Cell Phones for anyone under the Age of 21, which was met with genuine disgust. However some students proposed amendments to the Bill with the first group lowering the age to 18 and the second lowering it to 16. Also the first group suggested that we make it illegal to talk on the phone and drive at the same time (a motion which failed).
The second Bill I proposed was switching all of the food at the cafeteria to Western Style Food, saying that it was more cost effective. This was turned down as well but some students suggested that they change some of the cafeterias to Western Food, and many saying that it was less healthy. One bright students said that we weren't asking the students what they wanted so if the students did not like the food than nobody would eat at the cafeterias and they would loose money. It was absolutely brilliant.
All in all it was a really good day of teaching for me thus far. I have the mixed pro and con of teaching the same thing nine times throughout the week, so I'm looking forward to refining this activity and finding some more stories.
I was impressed at how well they responded to Democracy, they got the concept fairly quickly. Hopefully I won't get a stern talking to for this one. If you don't hear from me in the next little while then please just call the Embassy.
Until next time,
G
While I have planned and delivered many lessons before, this one was different. Not only was it going to be my first time in front of an entire group of Chinese ESL students, but I had a difficult topic, Parliamentary Democracy. To make it even more challenging, my AT suggested that I include some sort of activity in my lesson. I knew of only one way to do this. Stage a mock parliament.
That's right, the foreigner planned on staging an election in an oppressive communist country on my first teaching day.
I spent the first 40 minutes of the lesson discussing the different groups of Parliament and how they interact (i.e. the Monarchy and House of Lords/Senate do pretty much nothing). And
I described how a bill becomes a law. Then the fun started.
I had them all take a small political survey that I made up to figure out which party they would be in and then I had them divide into three groups to stage the debate. Interestingly enough, both classes had a fairly even split between the Centrist and the Leftist (Liberals and NDP for those of you who don't know that that means) with very few Right Wing members of the class. I even had the parties select a leader to represent them, and giving our class a Prime Minister.
The first Bill we discussed (I came up with it) was that we should ban Cell Phones for anyone under the Age of 21, which was met with genuine disgust. However some students proposed amendments to the Bill with the first group lowering the age to 18 and the second lowering it to 16. Also the first group suggested that we make it illegal to talk on the phone and drive at the same time (a motion which failed).
The second Bill I proposed was switching all of the food at the cafeteria to Western Style Food, saying that it was more cost effective. This was turned down as well but some students suggested that they change some of the cafeterias to Western Food, and many saying that it was less healthy. One bright students said that we weren't asking the students what they wanted so if the students did not like the food than nobody would eat at the cafeterias and they would loose money. It was absolutely brilliant.
All in all it was a really good day of teaching for me thus far. I have the mixed pro and con of teaching the same thing nine times throughout the week, so I'm looking forward to refining this activity and finding some more stories.
I was impressed at how well they responded to Democracy, they got the concept fairly quickly. Hopefully I won't get a stern talking to for this one. If you don't hear from me in the next little while then please just call the Embassy.
Until next time,
G
Friday, March 09, 2007
8 Weeks Until Adulthood..
I am growing up far faster than I am ready to.
I just finished off my placement yesterday, which went really quite well, and now I am going to enjoy a week of hibernation. After that I have three weeks left at Nipissing and then I'm off to go on placement in China for 4 weeks (plus staying for another 4 just for fun), and then well...I'm all done. After my last day teaching in China I have officially completed my Bachelor of Education requirements and then...well, there it is, real life staring me in the face.
I really have no idea what to do next year. I have looked into some International Schools and some LD Schools in the Toronto area. I really have no idea as to where my life will lead me, not much new on that front I suppose.
It scares me to think that I could be starting my career next year. For the past few years I have been saying "I want to be a teacher when I grow up", and this year I have been saying "I'm trying to be a teacher when I grow up". But what will I see in 8 weeks when I officially am a teacher? "I'm a teacher now that I'm grown up" sounds far too scary for me.
I guess I am just going through the harsh reality that everyone in their mid-twenties has faced over the ages. I have realized that I am not a kid any more. When I first started teaching I would be confused whenever students called me Mr., but now, I've gotten used to it. Man, that makes me feel old. Am I old enough to be a Mr.? Have I actually done enough with my life to earn that amount of respect? I think no, but all of my students and colleagues seem to think yes.
Is it time for me to stop going to camp in the summer? Is it time that I stop saying 'psghetti? Is it time that I move past my Superman pillow case? Should I not be counting down the days until Spiderman 3? Should I not quote The Black Eyed Peas in a Data Management lesson?
Most adults wouldn't be doing any of those things, maybe some day I'll stop going to camp and start saying spaghetti. Just don't count on me changing my pillow case anytime soon.
Until next time,
G
I just finished off my placement yesterday, which went really quite well, and now I am going to enjoy a week of hibernation. After that I have three weeks left at Nipissing and then I'm off to go on placement in China for 4 weeks (plus staying for another 4 just for fun), and then well...I'm all done. After my last day teaching in China I have officially completed my Bachelor of Education requirements and then...well, there it is, real life staring me in the face.
I really have no idea what to do next year. I have looked into some International Schools and some LD Schools in the Toronto area. I really have no idea as to where my life will lead me, not much new on that front I suppose.
It scares me to think that I could be starting my career next year. For the past few years I have been saying "I want to be a teacher when I grow up", and this year I have been saying "I'm trying to be a teacher when I grow up". But what will I see in 8 weeks when I officially am a teacher? "I'm a teacher now that I'm grown up" sounds far too scary for me.
I guess I am just going through the harsh reality that everyone in their mid-twenties has faced over the ages. I have realized that I am not a kid any more. When I first started teaching I would be confused whenever students called me Mr., but now, I've gotten used to it. Man, that makes me feel old. Am I old enough to be a Mr.? Have I actually done enough with my life to earn that amount of respect? I think no, but all of my students and colleagues seem to think yes.
Is it time for me to stop going to camp in the summer? Is it time that I stop saying 'psghetti? Is it time that I move past my Superman pillow case? Should I not be counting down the days until Spiderman 3? Should I not quote The Black Eyed Peas in a Data Management lesson?
Most adults wouldn't be doing any of those things, maybe some day I'll stop going to camp and start saying spaghetti. Just don't count on me changing my pillow case anytime soon.
Until next time,
G
Friday, March 02, 2007
What a Great Friday
I have discovered that the two sweetest words to any teacher are “Snow Day”. As many of you know, Southern Ontario has been hit with a bunch of snow and freezing rain, which has lead to a series of bus cancellations and school closures. So instead of spending the day nurturing young minds, I get to spend it lounging around in my jammies and watching Sportscentre. Some days I absolutely love my life.
I was starting to feel a wee bit shack whacky earlier in the day, so I took my dog Lucy out for a walk around the neighbourhood and surrounding woods. I was amazed at what I saw.
The trees were beautifully covered with a thin sheet of ice, making them look like they were budding diamonds. It was one of those times that I wish that I had brought my camera along, so I could show people just how beautiful the winter can be sometimes. Even cooler than that was the fact that it has warmed up enough to make the ice start to melt. As a result, many of the trees were shedding their frozen layer and it seemed just like it was raining ice down upon me.
All last year I kept saying how much I missed Canadian winters, but all this year living in North Bay, I wondered why on earth I thought that. Today, I realized what it was. As I trekked through the forest among the icy autumn, I felt alone with my thoughts in a way that I haven’t felt in a long time. It was wonderful to breathe in the crisp cool air, trudge through the snow and ice, and to just be. That’s something that I just don’t think you can get in too many other places of the world.
To any other teachers, students, or people in limbo with me, I hope that you had a great Snow Day. I hope that you took the chance to catch up on some marking, lesson plans, homework, sleep, or communing with nature.
Until next time,
G
I was starting to feel a wee bit shack whacky earlier in the day, so I took my dog Lucy out for a walk around the neighbourhood and surrounding woods. I was amazed at what I saw.
The trees were beautifully covered with a thin sheet of ice, making them look like they were budding diamonds. It was one of those times that I wish that I had brought my camera along, so I could show people just how beautiful the winter can be sometimes. Even cooler than that was the fact that it has warmed up enough to make the ice start to melt. As a result, many of the trees were shedding their frozen layer and it seemed just like it was raining ice down upon me.
All last year I kept saying how much I missed Canadian winters, but all this year living in North Bay, I wondered why on earth I thought that. Today, I realized what it was. As I trekked through the forest among the icy autumn, I felt alone with my thoughts in a way that I haven’t felt in a long time. It was wonderful to breathe in the crisp cool air, trudge through the snow and ice, and to just be. That’s something that I just don’t think you can get in too many other places of the world.
To any other teachers, students, or people in limbo with me, I hope that you had a great Snow Day. I hope that you took the chance to catch up on some marking, lesson plans, homework, sleep, or communing with nature.
Until next time,
G
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Breathing a Sigh of Relief
Today was a very big day in the world of Glen. I was being observed. For those of you not in Education, it means that a professor from Nipissing came down to my school, watched me teach a lesson and graded me on it.
This is really important since our success in the program directly relates to the observations made. If we do not pass the observation, we do not pass the program. Also, and more importantly, our teaching reports are things that need to be submitted to potential employers for them to judge us on. Stressful eh?
Another awesome fact about it? This would be my first time teaching this particular class. I had been teaching the Grade 11's but due to my advisers schedule I had to teach the Grade 12 class. It worked out nicely in the sense that they had just had a test yesterday and were ready to start something new and move on. But I was now nervous for two reason.
Ohh and one more thing. It was on Two-Variable Correlation....exactly.
I spent a long time getting stressed out about this very big day. I spent more time making sure that my teaching binder was in order than I care to divulge. I planned my lesson with NASA like precision and I thought of ways to make it as engaging as possible to a group of 17-18 year olds.
The stars must have been aligned just perfectly today. Somehow, someway, I was on. I have taught, presented, or performed fairly extensively in recent years and there are very rare occasions when things click perfectly. Today was one of those days for me. I don't know what, I don't know how, but they just did. I was coming up with examples that I never even considered, I was making jokes that made people other than me laugh (for a change), and most importantly the students were engaged for the time that I was there.
I don't mean to sound too braggy, like I know that I do, but I am still riding the high from that lesson. It is days like today that remind me why I want to do this with the rest of my life. It was fun, it was exciting and I loved it. I don't expect every day to be just like this, but days like today make being sworn at well worth it.
I really don't want to take too much credit as the majority of it goes to the excellent group of Grade 12s that I had. They were really involved with the lesson, they were constantly making relevant jokes and they kept me relaxed through the entire stressful ordeal. I really don't know how I can possibly thank them for the huge favour that they did for me today.
If any of my NipFriends are out there reading this, I hope that your evaluation went/goes well. I know that you are nervous about it, I know that you are tired of lesson planning, I know that the kids are stressing you out, but most of all, I know that you are doing a great job.
Until next time,
G
This is really important since our success in the program directly relates to the observations made. If we do not pass the observation, we do not pass the program. Also, and more importantly, our teaching reports are things that need to be submitted to potential employers for them to judge us on. Stressful eh?
Another awesome fact about it? This would be my first time teaching this particular class. I had been teaching the Grade 11's but due to my advisers schedule I had to teach the Grade 12 class. It worked out nicely in the sense that they had just had a test yesterday and were ready to start something new and move on. But I was now nervous for two reason.
Ohh and one more thing. It was on Two-Variable Correlation....exactly.
I spent a long time getting stressed out about this very big day. I spent more time making sure that my teaching binder was in order than I care to divulge. I planned my lesson with NASA like precision and I thought of ways to make it as engaging as possible to a group of 17-18 year olds.
The stars must have been aligned just perfectly today. Somehow, someway, I was on. I have taught, presented, or performed fairly extensively in recent years and there are very rare occasions when things click perfectly. Today was one of those days for me. I don't know what, I don't know how, but they just did. I was coming up with examples that I never even considered, I was making jokes that made people other than me laugh (for a change), and most importantly the students were engaged for the time that I was there.
I don't mean to sound too braggy, like I know that I do, but I am still riding the high from that lesson. It is days like today that remind me why I want to do this with the rest of my life. It was fun, it was exciting and I loved it. I don't expect every day to be just like this, but days like today make being sworn at well worth it.
I really don't want to take too much credit as the majority of it goes to the excellent group of Grade 12s that I had. They were really involved with the lesson, they were constantly making relevant jokes and they kept me relaxed through the entire stressful ordeal. I really don't know how I can possibly thank them for the huge favour that they did for me today.
If any of my NipFriends are out there reading this, I hope that your evaluation went/goes well. I know that you are nervous about it, I know that you are tired of lesson planning, I know that the kids are stressing you out, but most of all, I know that you are doing a great job.
Until next time,
G
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Alive and Well
Hey all, I just wanted to give a bit of a progress report. All is well for me on placement. I am settling in to my new school and new classes, I teach my first lessons tomorrow. It will surely be a riveting lesson on the Sine Law. I am not nearly so anxious about it as I was last week. I think that I had some pretty awesome people (one in particular...you know who you are, and not just because you are psychic) calm me down and assure me that I will do just fine.
It's kind of funny, I'm normally a pretty relaxed guy and I don't tend to get stressed very often. I think because of that I don't really know how to deal with stress when it comes my way.
Speaking of stress, something that was mildly stressful but overall hilarious happened to me on Sunday. You see, I am at my dad's place but I am home all alone since the parental Unit is off in Mexico for another week...jerks. I spent the day being both domestic and handy, I was cleaning up the kitchen and shovelling the snow off the porch. Then when I go to make myself dinner I notice that the oven is not working. I look around and quickly notice that the microwave display is very low and so is the light on the fridge. Upon further examination some of the lights in the area around the kitchen are dim as well and the TV is not working. I look around, go get my super handy neighbour Ken, and we take a look at things. It turns out that there is not enough power coming into the house and everything that is on the left side of the circuit breaker is working but everything on the right side is not. Of course, the furnace, the oven and the water pump are all on the right side.
I realize that there is not much that I can do about it on a Friday night so I rig an extension cord from the fridge to a plug that is working, I make some awesome vegan chili on the barbeque, get the wood stove working overtime and I go to my first day of placement without showering. I figure what better way to have my students remember me than as Mr. Smelly-face?
Of course, at this point my dad calls me from Mexico to brag about the weather. Seeing as how I am in a house without a functioning furnace or hot water, I am really impressed with myself for not swearing at him.
This of course furthers my belief that I am living in the Glen Show and currently being observed by people all over the world. Some days I seem to be the king of Random Adventures.
And to think, I had been worried about teaching. Clearly, being concerned about warmth and personal hygiene takes precedence over such trivial matters. So if any of my NipFriends are reading this and you are getting stressed about placement, just turn your power off for a while and see how you manage. You may find yourself pleasantly surprised.
Until next time,
G
It's kind of funny, I'm normally a pretty relaxed guy and I don't tend to get stressed very often. I think because of that I don't really know how to deal with stress when it comes my way.
Speaking of stress, something that was mildly stressful but overall hilarious happened to me on Sunday. You see, I am at my dad's place but I am home all alone since the parental Unit is off in Mexico for another week...jerks. I spent the day being both domestic and handy, I was cleaning up the kitchen and shovelling the snow off the porch. Then when I go to make myself dinner I notice that the oven is not working. I look around and quickly notice that the microwave display is very low and so is the light on the fridge. Upon further examination some of the lights in the area around the kitchen are dim as well and the TV is not working. I look around, go get my super handy neighbour Ken, and we take a look at things. It turns out that there is not enough power coming into the house and everything that is on the left side of the circuit breaker is working but everything on the right side is not. Of course, the furnace, the oven and the water pump are all on the right side.
I realize that there is not much that I can do about it on a Friday night so I rig an extension cord from the fridge to a plug that is working, I make some awesome vegan chili on the barbeque, get the wood stove working overtime and I go to my first day of placement without showering. I figure what better way to have my students remember me than as Mr. Smelly-face?
Of course, at this point my dad calls me from Mexico to brag about the weather. Seeing as how I am in a house without a functioning furnace or hot water, I am really impressed with myself for not swearing at him.
This of course furthers my belief that I am living in the Glen Show and currently being observed by people all over the world. Some days I seem to be the king of Random Adventures.
And to think, I had been worried about teaching. Clearly, being concerned about warmth and personal hygiene takes precedence over such trivial matters. So if any of my NipFriends are reading this and you are getting stressed about placement, just turn your power off for a while and see how you manage. You may find yourself pleasantly surprised.
Until next time,
G
Saturday, February 17, 2007
On the Trail Again
Well hey there everyone, just wanted to make a quick shoutout. I'm currently back at my Dad's on placement and so I probably won't be on here much over the next few weeks. I will do my part to post when I can but I have a feeling that I will be a busy boy.
I'm going to be teaching two sections of Grade 11 College Math and one section of Grade 12 University Math. Needless to say, I'm feeling a sense of excitement and apprehension. I have not done much math in a long time (first semester of my fourth year...that's a solid 3+ years ago) and I have been having my doubts as to whether high school math teacher will be a viable career choice for me. I'm rather excited to figure all of this out, and of course, the dreaded observation that I am going to have on February 28th from my Faculty Advisor (dun, dun, dun....)
In a slightly related note, I have realized of late that I want this blog to be kept from my current and future students as much as possible. As a result, I will be going through at some point and removing every reference to my last name. I do not feel that I have much, if anything to hide on here, I would just like to be able to keep a private life that is separate from my professional life. This is why my Facebook badge was removed and I will soon be turning the name of a semi-regular feature here to "Some Insights Into My Twisted Mind" and scanning through a bit more to get rid of the R word. If you are posting on here, please refer to me by my first name or one of the many nick names that I have. But if you are doing it through my Facebook notes, then by all means go to town and call me anything you want.
So I had best take off, I will do my best to update this as often as I can over the next little while, but I of course, can't make any promises.
Until next time,
G
I'm going to be teaching two sections of Grade 11 College Math and one section of Grade 12 University Math. Needless to say, I'm feeling a sense of excitement and apprehension. I have not done much math in a long time (first semester of my fourth year...that's a solid 3+ years ago) and I have been having my doubts as to whether high school math teacher will be a viable career choice for me. I'm rather excited to figure all of this out, and of course, the dreaded observation that I am going to have on February 28th from my Faculty Advisor (dun, dun, dun....)
In a slightly related note, I have realized of late that I want this blog to be kept from my current and future students as much as possible. As a result, I will be going through at some point and removing every reference to my last name. I do not feel that I have much, if anything to hide on here, I would just like to be able to keep a private life that is separate from my professional life. This is why my Facebook badge was removed and I will soon be turning the name of a semi-regular feature here to "Some Insights Into My Twisted Mind" and scanning through a bit more to get rid of the R word. If you are posting on here, please refer to me by my first name or one of the many nick names that I have. But if you are doing it through my Facebook notes, then by all means go to town and call me anything you want.
So I had best take off, I will do my best to update this as often as I can over the next little while, but I of course, can't make any promises.
Until next time,
G
Thursday, February 01, 2007
An Incredibly Academic Assignment
This week in Computers Class, we were given the greatest assignment ever. We had to give ourselves a mark out of 5 for the course but give it to our professor in terms of a video, created with Movie Maker.
I absolutely LOVE playing with Movie Maker. So I decided to overdo it, and include a Star Wars Introduction, a cameo from Mr. Spock, a flushing toilet, an appearance from the Tooth Fairy, and of course me bringing Sexy Back.
In case any of you non-eddie friends out there are wondering, OCUP is the Ontario Curriculum Unit Planner. Something I have ranted about before.
Well that's probably enough of an introduction...here it is, my Self-Assesment Assignment!!!
Hope that you enjoyed it!!!!
Until next time,
G
I absolutely LOVE playing with Movie Maker. So I decided to overdo it, and include a Star Wars Introduction, a cameo from Mr. Spock, a flushing toilet, an appearance from the Tooth Fairy, and of course me bringing Sexy Back.
In case any of you non-eddie friends out there are wondering, OCUP is the Ontario Curriculum Unit Planner. Something I have ranted about before.
Well that's probably enough of an introduction...here it is, my Self-Assesment Assignment!!!
Hope that you enjoyed it!!!!
Until next time,
G
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