For my final weekend, Michelle took me to the Big Apple, as I'd expressed a desire to see it at Christmas-time. A native of Long Island, we stayed with Michelle's friend, Kim, travelling up on the Friday after school.
We stopped briefly to explore the Yale campus and grab a coffee (it was a bitterly cold weekend) before entering New York state. My first glimpse of the city was across the water from our bridge: it looked beautiful.
I instantly liked Long Island; the streets and houses are more reminiscent of those in the UK. We ate in a fab diner on the Friday evening and picked up some rather tasty bagels to take into the city the next morning.
Heading in via train, we arrived at Penn Station to a rather surreal sight: multiple Santas - everywhere! To this day, I'm not quite sure why there were so many but I did capture some of them on film.
We began our day at Central Park, which is impossibly huge. From there we checked out the large piano, as featured in 'BIG,' in FAO Schwarz and drooled over diamonds in Tiffanys. We then made our way to 34th to gaze at the infamous Macy's Christmas window displays before heading down Broadway to Times Square. From here we passed the Saks' light and music display on 5th before meeting friends for dinner.
It was then time to brave the crowds (think sardine tin - crazy busy) surrounding the Rockefeller Centre, where we witnessed a proposal under a tree adorned with sparkly lights. The ice rink wasn't at all like I'd imagined but the tree was suitably impressive.
We then headed to, and up, the Empire State Building for panoramic views of the city at night. Incredible! A NYPD helicopter even entertained the tourists by hovering at balcony level before looping the skyscrapers.
After a leisurely brunch in another fab diner, we headed back to Massachusetts. New York wasn't at all what I'd expected (noisy, dirty, packed) and I'll savour my bite of the Big Apple for many years to come. Thanks Michelle :)
On the 9th December, at approximately 5.30am, a magical thing happened: the phone rang.
Ok, so phones ringing aren't usually especially magical but this particular call signalled a snow day and thus bonus snoozing time!
After a few extra hours in bed, I ventured out to explore the picture-perfect landscape: New England is particularly magnficent in the snow!A fair few inches had fallen and my walk through the forest was particularly peaceful - there weren't even any other tracks in sight.
As most houses are already decorated for Christmas, the sparkly white stuff served to infuse the day with a festive air and was a welcome addition to my experience. Sadly, my colleagues weren't quite so happy as days are added to the end of the school year when a school has to close during term time. That's a cultural difference I don't think I'll be taking back!
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
A new bathroom duty record was set today: 32 students!
Last Saturday was the Super Bowl game between NHS and David Prouty High School. As a self-confessed sports-phobic, please excuse me if I get any of the following details wrong, but 'super bowl', is essentially an American football final and the name comes from the Championship game of the National Football League, which traditionally takes place on a Sunday.
The game was scheduled to take place at a larger stadium on a college campus some distance away from Northbridge. Fans could be bussed there, but we opted for a car. School games are popular, high profile events here and generally generate a huge turnout. Entry to the game costs $10 and talent scouts are often present.
Not deterred by the driving blizzard or bitter cold (it snowed the whole time - sitting on cold, wet metal benches in the open air wasn't exactly pleasant), both sides had a decent representation in the stands - mainly fellow students and family members. Each side is supported by the school band and a cheerleading squad and it's clear who's sitting where as everyone wears the school colours and merchandise (I didn't disappoint on that score, although it wasn't obvious under my hat, coat, scarf and gloves!). NHS's colours are maroon and white and the school has the ram mascot (a student dressed in a ram suit accompanies the cheerleaders and generates school spirit). The fans are a passionate bunch, too - cheering, shouting and stamping their feet throughout the match.
The match itself was confusing to me, as despite the best efforts of my colleagues, I just can't get my head around the rules - but then I don't really understand the rules of football/soccer, either! I know the game is divided into four quarters and that the time for each section can be stopped and re-started and that teams can call 'time out' to discuss strategy, but I still haven't really got to grips with what's actually happening on the field - the teams will assemble, go into a sort of rugby scrum (which I believe is called a 'fumble') and then stop. This process is repeated until one team gets the ball to the end of the pitch (which I think here is called the 'field'). I used the crowd's reaction to judge whether what was happening was good or not and responded accordingly!
Sadly Northbridge didn't win on this occasion (the final score was 11 - 7) but they did, I think, play a fine game. Watching my students play, cheer and dance in a ram suit was, in itself, rewarding. Go Rams!
On Friday, I ventured to Shepherd Hill Regional High School, which is a larger school in a different district, as I'd been asked to present to a class of students who have been following my exchange. Situated outside of a town and serving several, Shepherd Hill has a very different demographic to Northbridge and so I took the opportunity to observe some lessons whilst I was there, including a Science lesson, as one of the teachers I'd been scheduled to observe was absent. It's a rare opportunity for a teacher to observe in a cross-curricular capacity and I found this lesson just as interesting and useful as the English lessons I've sat in upon.
In some schools in the US, Drama doesn't really have much of a profile and Drama as an elective subject has only recently been introduced at Shepherd Hill, though they couldn't have a more enthusiastic or able teacher. We engaged in a lengthy discussion about the subject - he was surprised at how our Key Stage three students are given a Drama allocation as part of their normal timetable and are taught the skills that we teach them at that age - and I was treated to a tour of the theatre. Mrs Williams will be pleased to note that the Drama teacher and I will be remaining in contact, sharing resources and collaborating upon my return to the UK!
My presentation was well received; the students had prepared many questions for me and I enjoyed sharing my culture with them.
It's an interesting school, filled with magnificent murals all along the corridors, which create a welcoming atmosphere, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being there. Thank you, Miss Ganger for inviting me :)
'I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go.'
Rachel Joy Scott
Last Thursday, a change took place at Northbridge High School. Students and staff alike were profoundly affected by a presentation given by Craig Scott, a survivor of the Columbine school shootings and brother of the first victim, Rachel Scott. Having seen the presentation at Hyannis last year, members of the School Council raised the money for it to be brought to Northbridge with the aim of creating a permanent positive culture change and it certainly was a powerful experience; one I will never forget.
On Tuesday, April 20th, 1999, two students at Columbine High School launched an attack which resulted in thirteen fatalities and twenty one injuries. Most of the killings took place in the school library, where Craig Scott was located, and that was also the location where the killers took their own lives. Scott led the survivors out of the library, only to later discover that his sister had been the first to be killed.
Rachel Scott had been the kind of person who sought out isolated students and befriended them. She wrote an essay detailing her vision of creating a 'chain reaction' of compassion, through doing kind deeds for others, and on a drawing of her hands wrote that one day those hands would touch millions of people's hearts. Her family have made this vision a reality. The organisation tours schools and businesses internationally, promoting Rachel's ideals.
The presentations last an hour and are targeted to the given audience (we had different presentations according to age during the school day and a community presentation in the evening). The events at Columbine are only touched upon; the focus is very much upon Rachel's life and her vision. The message is clear: life is short and should be lived to the full. The audience are left with five challenges to accept, these being:
1. Choose positive influences. 2. Dare to Dream (and write down your goals/ keep a journal) 3. Engage in Kind Words and Acts. 4. Look For The Best. 5. Start A Chain Reaction.
Both students and staff can then sign a huge banner to show that they accept the challenges and this banner will be left permanently on display in the foyer, as a reminder to all.
The presentation is followed by a workshop for a select group of students, who will then found a Friends Of Rachel club. These students will be responsibile for implementing the wider cultural changes within the school and will become ambassadors for the Rachel's Challenge message; they are asked to model kindness and compassion in all that they do. Initiatives such as a programme to befriend new students and write letters of thanks to auxiliary staff will be implemented in addition to projects to raise money for charity and make links with less fortunate children globally. Ultimately, the aim is to foster an 'atmosphere of kindness' and ensure that students are provided with character-building opportunities in addition to a standard education whilst at school.
At the workshop, students were asked to say what impact the presentation had had on them. Responses included: "It made me realise I've been mean to people who really didn't deserve it and I'm going to try and change that", "It made me realise it's time to act" and "it made me want to be a better person." I was struck by just how profoundly students were impacted; at the end of each presentation the audience - even the stereotypical 'Jocks' - were openly in tears and the desire to change was audible for the rest of the day. Although Scott lightened the dark content of his presentation with comic moments, he spoke of how the last words his friend heard before being shot that day were words of racial abuse and the last words he spoke were, "I want my Mom." He asked the audience to close their eyes and imagine being on the opposite side of a room to all the people that you care about in the world...and that it is the last time you will ever see them. It was these moments that were the most powerful and which had the most impact on the audience. If the Friends of Rachel group can successfully maintain that mindset then Rachel will not only have succeeded in touching millions of people's hearts, she'll have changed them for the better.
His name has, in recent years, become synonymous with horror films, such as The Devil's Rejects and the 2006 remake of Halloween and it is this inherent showmanship that makes Rob Zombie one of the best live rock/ metal acts there is. Massachusetts born, Zombie is currently touring the US to promote his forthcoming album, Hellbilly Deluxe 2. Having last seen him perform in London on the original Hellbilly Deluxe tour, eleven years ago (he's not performed in the UK since), it was with eager anticipation that I headed to Boston last Wednesday to see him play at the infamous House of Blues.
Security for gigs is much tighter in the US than the UK - perhaps due to incidents like the shooting that killed Dimebag Darrell five years ago - and before entering the venue we had to show ID (my Welsh driving licence required the verification of 'The Expert' - a fellow Brit), remove all items from our pockets and be patted down. Cameras were strictly forebidden. Once the gauntlet had been run, I (quite literally) bounced my way into the venue, only to discover that our tickets were for the mezzanine level on the second floor (I hadn't booked them). This was disappointing as that level offered limited views of the stage; indeed, aside from Scott, who's six foot three, we couldn't see a thing. I was, however, accompanied by no less than two Scotts that night, the other of which discovered we could get down to the ground floor level by expressing the desire to purchase merchandise. So that's exactly what we did.
We were then able to procure ourselves a prime spot near enough the front to have both a good view of the stage and elbow room. The atmosphere was super-charged, despite the lack-lustre performances by the support acts; the fictional (they featured in Zombie's Halloween II) CaptainClegg & The Night Creatures and Necromantix.
The headline act opened with a clip from Zombie's recently-released animated film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. The band took to the stage to the rather eerie What Lurks on Channel X?and then launched straight into Superbeast, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. Zombie worked the crowd, playing on the rivalry Boston has with New York (Sox vs Yankees), as he'd played there earlier in the week. We were treated to a veritable aural banquet, including Living Dead Girl, Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy), American Witch and Demon Speeding, along with White Zombie classics, such as Super-Charger Heaven and More Human Than Human (at which point a giant robot with glowing eyes took to the stage). To ensure that our eyes were equally happy, immense screens projected a plethora of horror-related images from old films and manga cartoons.
Half way through his set, Zombie left the stage to focus the audience on Tommy Clufetos' impressive drum solo and during a rendition of ThunderKiss '65 (which he made the audience beg him to play), he walked right through the crowd, from the back of the venue to the stage, accompanied by John 5's epic guitar solo. Sadly, he turned to head back to the ailse two people away from Scott and I, so I didn't get to high five him but I did get closer than I ever thought I would!
Only two songs from the forthcoming album found their way into the set and Zombie cleverly ensured that these were well received. "This isn't a gig, it's a party," he told the crowd, "and nobody likes a party when they don't know what's going on." Dividing the crowd by gender, he allocated key words from the chorus to Sick Bubble-Gum and engineered a competition (females got the word with the most syllables!); thus the crowd were able to sing this yet-to-be-released song along with the band. For the second number, What?, Zombie ordered all males to vacate the mosh pit to allow an all-girl - 'safe' - mosh pit to ensue.
Despite two encores, ninety minutes of Zombie-action just wasn't enough: the crowd lingered long after plecrums and drumsticks had been scattered amongst us (I was lucky enough to procure myself one of the former). Despite having to be up incredibly early the next morning, Scott and I lingered too - it was a phenomenal show. For me, seeing Rob Zombie play on home turf was the experience of a lifetime and is a definite highlight of this exchange.
Prior to Thanksgiving week, Northbridge held its first round of parent-teacher conferences of this academic year. Having been told of the power parents hold in the US and how vocal they are should they be unhappy with any aspect of their child's educational experience (it is not unusual for teachers to be contacted, or challenged, directly or for complaints to be made to the Principal), I was a little apprehensive as to what their reaction to me would be.
I needn't have worried.
The day before the first conference (there are two), at another 504 meeting, I met one of the parents I have been engaging in (requested) weekly email communications with. I was aware that she has been pleased with her son's response to my lessons as she has repeatedly provided me with positive feedback, telling me I have a 'rare gift' in bringing out the best in him which 'few teachers possess' in addition to how much of a difference I have made in him (I'm not sure if this can be entirely accredited to my teaching but he is certainly noticably more enthusiastic and focused that he was at the start of term). That said, I still wasn't prepared for her reaction upon being introduced to me: I offered her my hand but she instead opted to bear-hug me. It was a shock, but a pleasant shock, none-the-less!
Parent teacher conferences here occur twice-yearly, each over the course of two days, following the issue of report cards. Report cards provide a 'final' grade for a term, which occurs approximately every 45 school days. The grades for that term are final and will count towards the students' GPA (grade point average) and the next term's grades start with a clean slate. On the first day, school finishes early and after a short break there is a two hour time slot in which parents can meet with teachers. On the second day, there is a two hour slot after school, from six to eight pm. Parents have to call the school to arrange appointments, which are usually five minutes in length. The system works well, as those parents who cannot attend the evening session have the option of coming in the early afternoon instead. Teachers are provided with a list of parents and times, which enables them to print off a progress report, detailing the students' grades and assignments. Parents and teachers meet 1:1 in the teacher's classroom. At high school level, turnout isn't traditionally that high, although this year was fairly busy. Very often though, as is the case in the UK, the parents who the teachers need to see aren't the ones who make appointments!
On both days, I had a good range of appointments for all my classes, which was pleasing. Most parents seemed more interested in asking me about the UK than discussing their child's progress but I was relieved that, overwhelmingly, I was told that my students have enjoyed my teaching, have learned a lot and will miss me when I return home. Even those parents of students who aren't doing well didn't have any complaints; I could have not been more relieved!
Ever since receiving confirmation of this exchange, I have been looking forward to experiencing a 'real' American Thanksgiving with eager anticipation. It's a tradition which dates back to the seventeenth century, when the Pilgrims received help from the Wampanoag tribe to enable them to survive the harsh winter. The original feast lasted three days and records state that one of the foods consumed was 'fowl', which is probably where the tradition for having turkey originates from. Since 1941, the holiday has fallen on the last Thursday in November and has, just like other 'holidays', become increasingly more secular. It's now also commonly called 'Turkey Day'.
There is no half term in the US, so the Thanksgiving break is a welcome relief from school for students and teachers alike. I've been told that the Wednesday of Thanksgiving week is usually a half-day of school but this year we were fortunate to have the whole day off, making last week a two day week! As this is the holiday that most people head home for - moreso than Christmas, I've been told - I imagine it must have made travelling a whole lot easier.
The result of most people returning home is that Thanksgiving eve is traditionally the biggest night of the year in terms of going out. It's the time to reconnect with school friends and bars are therefore packed. Not one to miss out on the action, I decided to embrace this tradition whole-heartedly. We started the night at a Chinese restaurant - at a table for 20 - and then undertook the equivalent of a pub crawl - except here the distances between venues are so great that to do so requires the use of a car (there's no public transport either)! Our evening finished at lights up, at 2am. I think bars are open later as clubs are mainly only found in the major towns and cities. The vibe was very much New Year's Eve-esque, though without the extortionate door fees.
Thanksgiving day had very much the feel of Christmas to me, just without the presents and decorations. After a brisk walk through the woods, we headed over to a relative's house for a huge gathering - this time exceeding twenty - and LOTS of food. Being an only child of two only child parents, the sheer number of people was initially overwhelming but I relaxed over drinks and appertisers and chatted easily to my hosts and their various family members, all of whom seemed genuinely interested in me, this exchange and the UK.
The dinner itself was laid out on the counter and we all helped ourselves before sitting at the dining table(s). Again, it was reminiscent of Christmas: roast turkey, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce (which can sometimes come in cans!). There was also a green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, straight green beans and yams. This was followed by a plethora of desserts, all home-made: apple pie (pictured above), pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream. I don't think I've ever felt so full! I thoroughly enjoyed every mouthful though.
After dinner we all curled up to watch Home Alone on the hu-u-u-u-u-u-ge flat screen tv (a tradition with this family - Thansgiving signals a daily Christmas movie), played games and chatted. It was a truly lovely day and I couldn't have spent it with a nicer or kinder group of people: thank you so much!
The day after Thanksgiving is known as 'Black Friday' and is the most important shopping day of the year. It also signals the the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Our closest equivalent would be Boxing Day, as all shops hold sales, with extended opening hours. Black Friday is on a more epic scale though; some shops open at midnight, others at 4 or 5am and shoppers have been known to get violent. Now, I'm not a shopper. In fact, I hate shopping but a small part of me felt as though I should sample this tradition too. I therefore decided to head to an outlet village which was opening at midnight, as, being a night owl, that appealed far more than heading out at 5am and I'd somewhat naively believed that most people wouldn't be doing the same. I couldn't have been more wrong. At 11.30pm, the queue of cars running in one direction from the village was a mile long and police and workers had been drafted in to assist with traffic control and parking. Many of the shops had a line of people at least fifty deep just to get in and have a look around! Needless to say, I perused the less popular stores, bought myself some half price Curls Rock (Tigi) and headed home. Not one of my wiser decisions, but an experience, none-the-less.
All-in-all, I thoroughly enjoyed my Thanksgiving experience; it was certainly worth the wait and was almost like having a bonus Christmas day. Certainly, Christmas is now the focus of New Englanders: most people put their trees up this weekend and houses everywhere are fast becoming adorned with wreaths and twinkling lights. I shall endeavour to capture some on film before I leave as they're picture-book pretty.
At every stage prior to undertaking this exchange - selection, induction and orientation - the British Council and Fulbright go to great lengths to ensure that exchangees are aware of the potential hardships and pitfalls of the experience. Nothing, however, can fully prepare you for how deeply bad news from back home can affect you when you're an ocean away from all that is familiar; how utterly isolating it is.
Think of a student giving their teacher a gift. What comes to mind? Probably an apple, right? It's a meme that I can remember being aware of from a very young age, though I've never actually known of any teacher actually being given one and, until now, I'd never received one myself. I'd believed it to be the fabric of movies and idealised fantasies of school.
It was therefore a lovely surprise to be given a glossy red apple as a gift from one of my Sophmore students this week (pictured above).
Perhaps it's another cultural difference, as UK students rarely give their teachers gifts - at least once they reach high school age - and yet teachers in the US are treated to 'Teacher Appreciation' week! Or, perhaps not: I really don't know.
Either way, the gift was very much appreciated; thank you, Matt! :)
'They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them.'
There are so many more cultural differences between the UK and America than I could ever have anticipated before taking part in this exchange; I love discovering them, which is fortunate, as they are an almost daily occurance! It's almost like living in a parallel universe, where everything looks familiar, but when examined, nothing's truly the same.
This week, during a lesson with my AP class, as part of our current focus of honing their ability to provide a fully developed analysis of specific devices, we were discussing Seamus Heaney's poem, 'Mid -Term Break'. Surprised that not one of my bright, articulate students had picked up on the plurality inherent within the phrase 'poppy bruise', I questioned them about their take on it. Most didn't even know what a poppy was! Drawing it on the board for them, I explained the significance of the poppy in the UK; that in the UK, paper poppies are sold in the run-up to November the 11th and people wear them to remember those who died in the World Wars, the proceeds going to servicemen and women who are injured today. Adding that the poppy emblem was chosen due to the large number of poppies which bloomed in the battlefields at Flanders after WW1, so symbolising the bloodshed of trench warefare and that, in the UK, we also have two minutes' silence at 11am on 11/11, to respect those who lost their lives.
So, upon waking this morning (aside from thinking 'hurrah, it's not 5.30am ;)), it struck me that, for the first time in living memory, I would not be wearing a poppy on Armistice Day. My parents are currently out visiting me and they too had left their poppies behind as they would not have been allowed the pins on board the aircraft and they didn't think to pack them. I felt slightly perturbed by this, as both my grandfathers fought in WW2 and so, for me, it's been a time to remember and respect what they went through.
In the US, Armistice Day is called Veterans Day (offically there's no apostrophe) and it's a national holiday (hence my lie-in). There is also a further national holiay at the end of May, Memorial Day, which also commemorates those who have served in the armed services. I am unsure whether there is an official period of silence, as, being a non-working day, I wasn't in public at eleven am. There are definitely no poppies, or equivalent: my students weren't the first to ask about their significance!
With no school, my parents and I decided to venture to Plymouth (or 'Plimoth'). There, we happened upon a British shop (who'd have thought touching a packet of Angel Delight could have inspired such happiness?!) which had a British Legion box of poppies! So I did get to wear my poppy this year, after all.
In the true spirit of the Fulbright exchange, where two cultures are intertwined to further cultural understanding, I was able to wear my UK poppy with pride, whilst celebrating Veterans Day, US-style! We may have different ways of remembering, but the sentiment is the same. And, for once, whether British or American, we're both seeing the date the same way: 11/11.
Duty here is very different to that expected of a teacher in the UK. Break time doesn't have the same function and isn't for teachers, so there isn't any break duty. Neither is there bus duty.
Instead, once every seven days (because that's how the timetable rotates), during a free lesson, teachers are assigned a location to monitor. I struck lucky and got bathroom duty.
Bathroom duty consists of sitting at a table opposite the male and female student toilets (bathrooms here) with a clipboard, a clock and a pencil. Students who need to use the toilet must get their subject teacher to sign their 'passport' - a card which shows why they are out of lessons and for how long - and it is the job of the teacher on duty to sign when they leave the toilet, noting the time. Students must also fill in the form on the clipboard. Only one student is allowed in the toilet at a time. The system clearly works here and has helped to eliminate smoking in the building.
As an interesting aside, the watch today was set according to the 24 hour clock, when usually it's not. The vast majority of students, even those of high ability, struggled to ascertain what the time was when faced with '13.23', or whatever. Some took guesses, "That's twenty three minutes past two, right?" and others just asked me. One student even offered to alter the settings on the watch! I've heard that this may be because there aren't any 24 hour clocks at the middle school but I'd not encountered students trying to tell the time this way before.
I've certainly got to know a lot more students doing this duty! As mine falls last lesson of the day, I get a frequent flow (excuse the pun) of students - twenty eight in today's lesson. It does, however, mean that I can't really multitask!
For my first American Halloween, I experienced proper Trick or Treat-ing, with some small people in costumes. It's less about teenagers out for some spare cash here and more about children and sweets (or, rather, 'candy'). Households actually enjoy the process, stocking up on goodies and leaving their front light on to invite people to call. Participants carry pumpkin-shaped containers, or goody bags and everyone wishes each other a 'Happy Halloween'.
Some people really go to town on decorating their houses too - they vary from cobweb-draped bushes to a veritable mini movie set!
The lovely Homecoming 2010 t-shirt my Seniors gave me as a gift on Saturday.
Last weekend wasn't just Halloween, it was Homecoming for NHS. Homecoming traditionally occurs earlier in the Semester, as past students who have gone on to college attend. Luckily the weather was fine - even balmy - and the turnout was still impressive.
The festivities commenced with a 'Pep Rally' on the Friday afternoon. The whole school gathered on the bleachers in the Field House whilst the school band played and the student wearing the school ram mascot costume geared up school pride. Once settled, the Seniors facilitated a series of activities for our amusement, which mainly involved embarrassing teachers! I participated in the 'new staff' musical chairs and, although foiled in my plan to be first out (I actually made it just past the halfway mark), I was happy when my turn came to leave the 'stage', as I'd begun to sustain injuries - Principals here fight dirty! ;) Students were also directed in how to perform their 'Fight Song' - which they clap along to, en masse and encouraged to compete to spell the RAMS mission statement aloud.
The rally was followed by the Homecoming dance, which I'd volunteered to chaperone. Think of pretty much any High School-based movie you've ever seen and you've got it. The Field house had been transformed by some rather snazzy lights, a curtained area for a dance floor and a big screen showing music videos. Carved pumpkins adorned tables and at the entrance were Halloween-themed balloons. Luckily, the chaperones didn't encounter any incidents - the students mainly huddled together in the centre of the dancefloor for the duration of the night - which was almost a shame as my colleague had his torch to hand! The Homecoming court was announced and the King and Queen crowned. Highlight of the night was when the majority of the students present danced, in formation; just like in the movies! 'What song?' I can hear you ponder. Thriller? Nope, only some danced to that, though I wish it had been. The song that broke these students out of thier huddle was...Cotton Eyed Joe *face/palm*.
The following day, Halloween, saw a series of sporting fixtures being played at the middle school. In addition to the games, there are stalls and food - I bought some very tasty fries from Admin (SLT to you), run by students and teachers alike. Luckily I escaped being put in jail or being annoyed (people could pay for students to do either, or both, to specified individuals) although all the money goes into various fundraisers for the school, so it's all in a good cause. There is a definite vibe at Homecoming - a party atmosphere - and the students love it! It's a whole community event, as well.
Students here with specific needs can be put on a 504 plan, which provides accommodations that must be made for them. When the review of this plan is due, a meeting is called where subject teachers and Guidance meet with the student in question and his/ her parents.
Teachers must provide a print out of all the students assignments and grades to date and be prepared to provide feedback, respond to the parents' questions and suggest grades which the student can 'make up'. This then leads into discussion of any changes necessary for the student to ensure the 504 plan is still relevant to them.
My first meeting of this nature was an interesting experience, not least because I did not expect the student to be in the room, witnessing and participating in the discussions; though as it is about them I can see the logic in it, especially as High School students here are older. It was also interesting to hear what other subject teachers had to say about that student; there were striking similarities!
Mrs Williams and I had a fab time during her short stay, doing all things 'American'. We ate some truly epic food, went mansion-spotting in Newport and perused Super Walmart for Thanksgiving goodies.
She too came to school with me, spending time with each of my colleagues and conducting a formal observation of one of my lessons for my professional development at home (thanks for that, Ms Conway :p).
It was lovely to have a little bit of Fairfield here in Northbridge. :D
The Fulbright in-service workshop for exchange teachers and their mentors took place from the 21st - 24th October in Nashville, Tennessee.
My mentor, Paula, and I flew from Providence, Rhode Island. We boarded the smallest plane I have ever been on - the overhead compartments were only big enough to store a handbag - and I was suddenly thankful we didn't have a direct flight: it felt like we were flying on a model plane. Luckily, we arrived safely at our final destination and caught a taxi to the hotel (much to my amusement, the man at the taxi rank congratulated me on my achievement of being at such a good 'school', which bemused me somewhat until I realised that I was wearing my MIT sweatshirt and he'd taken me for an *actual* student!).
Arriving at our base for the workshop, the VanderbiltHoliday Inn, I was greated by a flurry of hugs and a real Welsh cwtch from my UK counterparts. Spending time with them, catching up and comparing notes, was brilliant; we had a fab few days, despite the early starts and hard work!
AED surpassed themselves with this workshop; dull lectures were kept to a minimum, being replaced by interactive sessions and time, in an actual school, observing American teachers teach. This, for me, was the most valuable experience as it's something that is difficult to find time for in a normal teaching day. Interestingly, whilst some lessons were delivered in a very different way to the lessons a UK teacher would teach, watching other teachers was like watching myself. I made lots of notes, took on board the learning points and gained a new wave of enthusiasm for my classroom experience. We were also fortunate enough to be based on the beautiful Vanderbilt university campus.
As all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, we left him in the hotel and spent the nights on the town. For a metaller, the home of Country was quite an experience. Cowboy boots and hats were, quite literally, everywhere. We took endless photos of neon signs and even attempted a bit of line dancing - and yes, they did play Cotton Eyed Joe. Fail. Whilst I won't be doing *that* again, it beat sitting watching everyone else do it and it was certainly entertaining. Epecially the line dancing version of YMCA and when a dedication was called out to the 'Pocket Monkeys' ( a misunderstanding of the request for the Fulbright Pocket Moneys, being as the surname of our Fulbright guy is Money, and, well, you can guess the rest).
Parting on the Saturday was a sad experience - Gil from Canton and I stocked up on cwtches - and I shall miss my fellow exchangees, though no doubt most of us shall see each other again. I'm certainly not short of offers of places to visit thoroughout the US and, after the year is done, Europe too. I couldn't stay sad for long though, as that evening was the evening of Mrs Williams' arrival. Plus, as I was collecting her from Boston Logan, I got to say that I'd 'done' four states and three airports in one day!
As the majority of my students here had held the stereotype that Brits have tea and crumpets each day (which I was quick to dispel, I may add) but didn't actually know what a crumpet is, Ryan brought a veritable banquet of them with him when he came over, as he spent a day in school with me.
My Honors and AP classes performed their 'Beowulf vs Grendel' skits (drama performances to you and I - all very impressive) that day and once we'd reflected upon and assessed them, they were treated to a crumpet - or two. The consensus seemed to be that they are similar to English muffins here but still fairly unique in taste and texture. Most students seemed to rather like them though! :)
After school, some of the Seniors took Ryan and I out for dinner; a very bizarre concept to me but they were keen to do so and I was touched by the gesture. There is an institution here, known as 'Wright's (Chicken) Farm', which is an all-you-can-eat establishment renowned for its succulent chicken and tasty fries. Sounds good? Sadly, for me, it wasn't.
"We only serve steak and chicken here," the waitress informed us.
Fine by me. I asked for the chicken, adding that I have an onion and garlic allergy and therefore would need plain pasta and salad.
"You can't have the chicken; it's cooked in garlic," she informed me cheerily.
We ordered the steak. She brought out salad containing onions and pasta coated in sauce.
"It's a shame you can't eat the chicken; it's so good," she added helpfully, as she served the fries.
Despite the waitress-from-hell, the meal was entirely pleasant. My students took the opportunity to ask a million questions about the UK and the differences in the school systems; I took the opportunity to find out more about them. They also told me what they've liked most about my lessons and how much they feel they're learning.
I may not have been able to eat the infamous chicken, but I left that night with a Ready-Brek glow anyways. Thank you Seniors!
October proved to be a busy month, with visits from my lovely boyfriend and my friend/ colleague, the equally lovely Mrs Williams (thanks for the socks!!), plus a Fulbright workshop in Nashville, Homecoming and Halloween, all in addition to school stuff and other shenanigans. I have therefore not had time to post anything at all.
November is likely to be even busier ( grades for the first quarter close, my parents visit, it's Thanksgiving, etc) and so my posting is likely to remain sporadic but, for now at least, and by popular demand, I'm back!
At just five weeks into the new school year, teachers here have been busily printing off 'Progress Reports' for every student they teach. These are computer-generated and contain the grades, and average overall grade, for each students' work to date. Each assignment (homework/ classwork, quiz, test, writing/ book project) has a different weight towards the overall score and the aim is that by the end of the term, students will have multiple grades for each category. By the time I leave, I believe I'll have generated two further reports for each student in additon to a day and an evening meeting with parents.
As an aside, parental involvement is far greater here: each week I have to email several parents directly with updates on and the homework I've set for their child (although the silver lining there is that I get some lovely replies, feeding back the positive impact I've had: it's time-consuming but it can be rewarding) and they can call a teacher's classroom phone directly; no buffering secetary or opportunity to speak at a time convenient to the teacher! I get the impression that parents have far more 'power' here than they do in the UK - they're certainly more actively involved in the minutiae of their child's daily education.
Every student has a guidance counselor, who assigns their classes and generally takes care of the pastoral side of their school career. Guidance also monitor their grades and can tell students what their current attainment levels are. I have therefore had several students approach me - and even email me on my school email - over the past few days, asking what they can do to boost their grades before their reports are printed. Mostly, these are students who have not submitted work: if work isn't in on time, ten points are deducted. And ten more are deducted each day the work is late, up to a maximum of five days, when it receives zero. Receiving zero can seriously impact on an overall grade. Pupils who play sport, such as football, require a certain grade level, so in a school as sports-focused as Northbridge High, it's mainly been students who 'need' a higher grade in order to be able to play this week.
As is the norm in any school at report time, generating them has been a logistical nightmare; not least because our printer has been out of order for some time now and so to print anything, we have to go to the school library. Having used the Moodle application on the school network to 'teach' me how to generate the reports, it took me several attempts to complete all the necessary stages (I had to ensure each included a disclaimer, in addition to the setting-up stages) but I got there in the end and managed to print off all my classes' reports in a relatively pain-free, if time-consuming, process.
Teachers distribute them directly to the students and they aren't in an envelope, so I'm anticipating being challenged over some of the grades tomorrow!
...ok, so it doesn't *quite* work, but you get the gist, right?!
As fall descends upon New England, pumpkins have begun to take over: the porches of houses are adorned with them; farm stands are littered with them, of all conceivable shapes and sizes; pumpkin festivals are being held; coffee shops sell pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkin doughnuts (or donuts, this side of the pond) and pumpkin muffins and I've begun to spy pumpkin pies for sale. Pumpkins, it seems, are so hot right now!
As mentioned in my previous post, students here are very grade-conscious: there is the expectation that they will be graded for everything that they are asked to do and if they're not, it can affect the way that they apply themselves to the task. Having seen the work some of these students produce, I think perhaps an ongoing system of assessment can, and does, help to ensure students give their best; I'd love my students back home to give as much of themselves to a task. However, the flip side of this seems to be that students here can often feel under enormous pressure. The majority of both my Honors and AP students were relieved that they were not being graded on the game-show 'quiz' (I explained the objective was to consolidate their understanding and knowledge of the topic as this will enable them to perform better in subsequent tasks). We've discussed the difference in the system and have agreed that whilst I will regularly employ the range of assessments they need in order to maintain their GPA, I will also be setting tasks UK-style where the focus is very much on the outcome of the task itself and how it will benefit their learning experience. I'll also be using AfL, which is something they do do here, just not as extensively. My AP class were especially delighted with this suggestion, I imagine because for them, the stakes are even higher.
These students are also currently under the additional pressure of applying for a place at college (i.e. university). In the US, each college-bound student will write and submit a resume to Guidance, as these will be used by both them and teachers to write references. There is an online application system called 'Common Apps' which enables students to write a single application for use with over four hundred colleges. Some colleges require individual applications. The vast majority of colleges require students to write an essay (usually on a general topic which will ultimately provide an insight into the individual) and pay an application fee. Whilst they choose a subject to 'major' in, they will continue broad studies at college (English, Math etc) and degrees usually last four years. Also, colleges here differ from UK universities as a significant number are faith-based; so a Catholic college, for example. Over the coming weeks, students can attend open days at the college(s) that interest them. The whole process is therefore an added stress in their final year.
I am therefore interested to see how my mixture of UK and US assessment methods will pan out: it could go either way! With the context collaborative presentations, the students knew they'd be getting a classwork effort grade, so if in future I assign a similar task without such grading, I will be taking note of whether they apply themselves with as much enthusiasm and dedication. Either way, they're really responding to my methods, which is fantastic.
The AP class presented their context collaborations today and they somehow managed to be even more impressive than with their previous efforts: they devised a five act puppet show on the Epic Warrior and chivalry, a cookery programme complete with eggs that cracked to reveal Saxon, Angles and Jutes yolks and accurately measured props in order to bake Angle Saxon cookies, and an amazing dramatisation on religious change. Videos of these presentations should be uploaded soon.
The Honors classes have furthered their knowledge of context - and also the key features of Anglo Saxon poetry (our warm up focused on definitions and examples) - through looking at a short Horrible Histories clip on ritual and exploring the fate of bog bodies through the analysis of some of Seamus Heany's poems (most rewarding moment of the day was a student who has now developed a love for his poetry). Somewhat fortuitously, British news today revealed a significant discovery of an Anglo Saxon treasure trove in Suffolk: one million pounds worth of Anglo Saxon gold and silver which is likely to change our view of the period entirely. We therefore read, watched and discussed the news articles (which even contained reference to Beowulf!). Tomorrow we'll be listening to the Prologue in actual Old English before getting stuck into the text proper.
The success of this weeks' lessons has also helped me to feel less pressured, as I feel as if, for this week at least, I've done what I came to do: a good job.
Both Honors classes have now presented their collaborative context research pieces and overall, their presentations were as impressive as those given by the AP class (see above for examples of both their work and that of the AP class). I was treated to a Town Crier, a poem, recipe, map, several timelines, a menu and 'Did You Know?' lists. Even more unique was the 3D warrior head, decorated with stained glass mosiac and musical notes to represent how the stories of a warrior's achievements were told, a rather realistic issue of Time magazine and a rap!
The sports-themed game show quiz (complete with opening theme music) also seemed to work well as a consolidation task: students were given ownership of writing both the questions and finding the answers beforehand and their answers demonstrated a solid grasp of the contextual information. They seemed excited by the theme music and prizes and became quite impassioned at times! I did get several students requiring clarification on how they were being graded though, as the expectation seems to be that I would grade them for such a task (and even the word 'quiz' itself has a very different meaning for them; I had to emphasise the 'game show' element in order to enable my students to fully grasp the nature of the activity). In the end, I opted to give them a class participation grade as their true understanding of context will become apparent in their ability to apply it to their analysis of Beowulf.
Teaching here so far has been relatively uneventful. I've been pleased with my lessons and have enjoyed working with my students; I believe I'm establishing a rapport with all my classes. I've had sunshine moments (where the sun seems to shine that bit brighter), such as when a College Prep student told me he's stuck the essay he'd got an A for on his fridge, so he can feel good about himself whenever he goes to get a drink and when a parent praised me on my 'astute' observations on her son (it is usual here to have to email a parent with a brief summary of lessons and homework by a specified day each week; I have to do this for three or four students. I've also picked up the phone in my classroom to find a parent on the other end!). That said, I've also had moments where I've fretted over all the forms of assessment I need to undertake and also how to plan using textbooks and an entirely different curriculum.
I'd therefore been worrying about how to approach Beowulf - specifically the ten or so pages of contextual information at the start of the unit in the textbook - with honors students when I've only previously taught it to twelve year olds, and British twelve year olds at that (I do think there is a difference in terms of contextual knowlege, due to cultural differences). I'd mulled over approaches for days, setting the reading as homework before I'd made a final decision on the route I wanted to take. So today, I was delighted when the route I took seemed to be a resounding success.
In addition to writing the lesson objectives on the board, I also wrote up two columns: A and B. Column A contained a range of presentation methods, such as a recipe, flow chart, images, etc. Column B listed the five key areas covered by the contextual information in the textbook. After a brief starter, I explained the class was to be divided in two and that the two teams would be competing against each other (this always ups the ante!) for a prize. The teams were told that they should decide amongst themselves who would work on which area but that by the end of the lesson I wanted all five pieces of work from Column B, presented using a range of methods from Column A (one of which was 'other', so that they could be as creative as the bounds of their own imagination). The teams will be presenting their work next lesson, enabling them to further consolidate their understanding of the topic (as they are more likely to retain the information if they have to explain it to someone else) and me to decide a winner. In both classes, all the teams threw themselves into the challenge with gusto and the standard (and creativity of the) work they produced was phenomenal. I even got asked by several pupils if they could do further research and add to their presentations for homework! Additionally, the students were very vocal in their praise of the task, which was satisfying to me.
I'm looking forward to the presentations and intend to consolidate the introduction to the unit by getting them to submit their own quiz questions (of the game show kind as opposed to the US school kind) and we'll culminate with a version of the Talking Football game, adapted to suit the rules of American sport (as most students here are very sports-focused).
My AP class also blew me away today with their presentations on mythical allusions. Even when I taught A level students I don't think they ever gave so much of themselves when presenting work - or allowed themselves to be quite as creative - as these students. Some had made actual children's story books, complete with illustrations, and delivered the story in the form of 'circle time'. Others made huge poster boards or professional PowerPoints (in one case, where each slide had been physically drawn by her on the computer too). The highlight of the lesson though was the presentation given by the token male of the class, who'd made a series of masks (see above) and acted out the tale of Medusa, playing every role.
Having worked in schools, and with classes (and I'm not talking about Fairfield here) where even the most interative, creative, 'bells and whistles', lesson seems to have little effect, even on the able, to be able to harness the creativity and enthusiasm of these students is in turn infusing me with possibilities: this could be fun!
Last weekend I was joined by a fellow UK Fulbrighter, Matt, who is spending the year at an elementary school in Washington DC. Matt flew in to Boston Logan Friday evening, so collecting him from the airport was my biggest driving challenge to date. I managed to get there without any problems and even persuaded the surly police man to let me stop at arrivals for, "two minutes" (how one is meant to collect anyone from the collection point if they're not allowed to stop is beyond me). Fortunately, Matt was able to get to the car within the allocated time slot. The journey back was slightly more eventful, as the SatNav I was using (yes, *me*, using a SatNav!) took us into central Boston, instead of out to the Mass Pike. This was rather daunting, to say the least, but I kept telling myself if I could drive central London at rush hour (which I have done, albeit many moons ago now) then I would be just fine. And I was. Just.
Saturday started with a drama, but thankfully not a crisis. We'd decided to get the train to Boston from a nearby station but alas, on a Saturday, we had a choice between 9.38am and sometime between two and three in the afternoon. Neither of us are natural early risers, so the former didn't appeal, but the latter wouldn't have afforded us enough time. We made it to the station, or rather, platform (as passengers must buy their tickets on the train) with only minutes to spare. Expecting to have to place a parking ticket inside my windscreen, I left the driver's door of the car open whilst we went to pay. The system for payment, however, was so strange to us both that I decided it warranted a photo (see above). Basically, there was a metal plate containing lots of teeny tiny metal slots. To pay, we had to insert $4 (either in coins or notes) into the teeny tiny hole that corresponded to the number of the parking space we'd parked in. A metal implement on a wire was provided to help jam everything in. To take said photo, I placed my purse and bag on a top of a handy bin. I then dashed to lock the car and we headed to the platform. We quickly realised (by the fact everyone else was facing us) that we were actually on the wrong side of the platform and legged it across the bridge, making it on to the correct side just as the train drew to a halt. Relieved, we boarded.
Saturday was a beautiful day; unadulterated azure skies and pleasantly warm. We settled back in our seats and chatted away happily. That is, until the ticket collector arrived and I discovered my purse wasn't actually in my bag, or anywhere else about my person. I imagine I must have looked just about as distressed as I felt as the ticket collector told me to take some time to decide what I wanted to do, talked me through my options and left us to mull it over. He'd mentioned calling Grafton police and it was at that moment I realised that I didn't have a clue how to do that, or even how to find their number. I decided to call Christina, who's been a good friend to me since my arrival and who is a colleague at my school. She lives fairly close to the station too. She was fantastic, immediately leaving to see if it was still at the station. Waiting for her call seemed to take forever though - I felt sick, scared and very, very stupid. Luckily for me, the purse was where I'd left it - on top of the bin - complete with all its contents. As Matt didn't want to miss out on the full Boston experience, Christina agreed to hold on to my purse so that we could continue our journey.
Rather ironically, I was to be Matt's tour guide in Boston. Luckily for me, I have been there several times now with Michelle and Michele, both of whom have told me about the various sections we've been walking around and we've also taken a guided tour of part of the Freedom Trail. We began our day at Boston Common and then followed the Freedom Trail to its end. As we walked, all the snippets of information and history I'd gleaned began to slot together and I was able to tell him a fair amount, I think. We also ventured onto parts of the Trail which were new to me too: we climed all 294 steps of the Bunker Hill monument and boarded the USS Constitution, which at almost 212, is the oldest commissioned battle ship in the world (HMS Victory is older but she's permanently docked).
The afternoon was entirely pleasant: we talked, we laughed and we ate ice cream. We'd decided to take the eight thirty train home but I'd somehow not read the train timetable properly and we discovered that train only went part of the way back. We therefore had a further four hours to kill before our train home (which also happened to be the last train home). Matt suggested the cinema, so we navigated our way to a rather lovely one near the Common. Alas, our film choices were limited to three films which fell within our time slot and the best of these appeared to be the latest Matt Damon offering, The Informant. If you were thinking of going to see this, don't bother. Seriously. Experiencing a cinema in America was, however, interesting as it made a cultural difference apparent that never would have occured to me: the audience react far more to the events unfolding in front of them. The film was peppered by loud, hearty laughter from a fair proportion of the audience and several people even shouted out comments to the screen! Despite the film not being to our taste, it passed the time (and I discovered a fab white cherry slush drink) and we made the final train without further incident.
Sunday mainly consisted of a leisurely brunch - blueberry pancakes for me, cheese and ham omlette for him - and then a return to Logan. And yes, I *did* end up in central Boston on the way home. Again. I really need to figure that one out by the time Ry arrives! Despite the dramas, I thoroughly enjoyed both Matt's company and the weekend. Good times!
'Leadership is a quality of those who earn the respect of others through the wisdom of the combination of their words and their actions.' Walter Grant IV
A school is only as good as the people who lead it; I have, in my time, taught in many schools with fantastic staff but weak management and making any form of progress is virtually impossible. Part of the reason I knew Fairfield was for life and not just for Christmas was because of the exemplary leader we have in Chris Barker. As a teacher there, I feel supported and enthused with possibilities.
Northbridge High School has a shiny new leadership team - here known as 'Administration' - and thus even to those who work here permanently, they are still a relatively unknown quanitity. I was therefore pleasantly surprised today, upon being asked to meet with the Principal, to find that they are also both strong and supportive.
In my previous post, I told of my anger at being called out of a lesson by the local intrepid reporter. As it turns out, he had neither the permission nor the blessing of Administration to do so and furthermore, they will ensure this does not happen again - to anyone. I was told that they support me and if this instance should reoccur then I simply have to make a call and they will deal with it. It was reassuring to hear that they too feel the most importance place for me to be is in the classroom. Additionally, they are highly visible within and around the school - the Principal often 'walks through' lessons and this too is a sign of good leadership.
I shall now relax, breathe and return my focus on the most important people in my working life: my students.
I actually got genuinely angry today, which is a rare event for me. What was that? A difficult student? Nope. An annoying colleague? Absolutely not. Red tape? Not even close.
As I was teaching a class of seniors, the phone in my classroom rang. Upon answering, I was asked to go to the school office. I explained that I was teaching but the secetary insisted I was to report there immediately, suggesting I ask a colleague to watch over my charges. Cold fear began to trickle down my spine: I was sure only bad news could await me.
My mind racing with potential scenarios, all of them horrific, I left the adjoining door between my classroom and Matt's open and hurried to the office, only to find...
....the local intrepid reporter.
As aforementioned, this gentleman has been after me since day one. I have evaded his attempts to photograph me to date, as is my right, but as I am aware that it's good publicity for the school and how prestigious the Fulbright scheme is here in the US, I have maintained that I will co-operate with him in every other respect. He's twice been provided with my contact details with the promise of an interview if he is to arrange a convenient time yet, until today, I'd heard nothing.
Evidently he has no awareness of the professional responsibility of a teacher or respect for the job that we do, as he had the audacity to ask me for quotes he could use in his feature and a photograph - right there and then! He'd refused to take no for an answer from the office staff, insisting he see me immediately. I explained to him, as calmly and politely as I could, that should he wish to arrange a mutually convenient time to talk I will provide him with anything he wants to know...except a photograph. I instead offered him a number of equally relevant photographic alternatives, none of which he was prepared to accept. Clearly, he was determined to go round in circles so, eager to return to the purpose of this whole exchange, I firmly told him if he really wants the feature, he needs to arrange a more suitable time to talk. Honestly! The cheek of the man.
* I do know how to spell 'seriously' - it's deliberate corruption for use on the interwebs and 'tamping' is Wenglish for really angry...or heavy rain...
School life, that is. As I write this, I have completed my second week of school and I'm really rather pleased with myself. All my lessons to date have gone smoothly (here's to them staying that way) and I've even mastered the discombobulating rotation of classes and strange end- times to lessons: I've finished each lesson bang on time.
Aside from having to bombard Kristin with questions about the way she assesses the tasks she sets (to ensure that everything's the way she wants it upon her return), I think I've managed to ask the minimum of my colleagues - or at least I hope I have. They're incredibly supportive but I do like to be independent and am perfectly used to hitting the ground running, in a strange system, and just going with it. Also, as teachers here can really pretty much do as they please, lesson-wise, many of my colleagues haven't used the same tasks or texts. Assessment is definitely the only area in which my confidence wanes: it's become clearer over the last week but I still get confused over the exact difference between a test and a quiz and when you use them. The fact that students can and do get graded on doing work in class (basically, staying on task - American students expect to be graded for literally everything they do and are highly unlikely to produce anything if they're not getting credit for it) is also confusing to me as deciding on a mark out of one hundred for each student for classwork feels a bit like I'm basically pulling a grade out of the air!
I'm still stuggling with the early starts too: I've been early for work every single day but I really do feel very ill until around half way through the morning. The actress in me (the one that only comes out when I'm in a classroom...I think) has enabled me to do what I believe is at least a passable job at my usual enthusiastic delivery of content, even if I'm actually feeling below par. Even though school is over by two in the afternoon, I'm not really making the most of the rest of my day: to me, it feels like about 8pm. I've actually been going to bed here much earlier than ever before during my adult, or even teenage, life.
I love my classes though. Even the surly College Prep class are now responding to my greetings and my teaching. They've tried it on a few times, so I've reaffirmed my expectations and even the lesson which crossed both sides of lunch today - Friday - wasn't a problem. Drama games work well as starters and plenaries and I even got them to adhere to a period of silent individual work. The other College Prep class are sweeties. My seniors and AP students are simply delightful - as much as I love Fairfield, I've missed having A Level students and so it's been nice to teach at that level again. They're providing me with a brilliant insight into local culture in addition to enjoyable lessons. Diligent and enthusiastic, they produce high quality work on time, every time. This week we've been working on resumes and college application (read 'university') essays, which has been an enlightening process. Most rewarding of all, several students in every single class that I teach have repeatedly asked me to stay for the year! It's probably just talk, with an agenda, but it's still nice to hear. That said, I do miss my younger students, my form class and all the bouncing around in my socks that would usually be an integral part of my teaching.
I'm also on top of all the grading - marks get entered in a 'rankbook' on an application called IPass - and hope that I can remain so. I've been using my prep time effectively: I've also put up a display of the bio poems produced by every class and planned and prepared resources for the next week. The computers in the library are booked (another unfamiliar system successfully navigated) and I've begun getting my head around the Literature textbooks. Teachers here don't routinely get taken for cover for most of the year (though that's now also true of the UK too, except for Fairfield where the teachers have less classes on their timetables than the national average, so any cover isn't actually eating into the preparation time they're entitled to) though their 'duty' is an entire 67 minute lesson every seven days, as opposed to a fifteen minute break duty once a week. My duty is in the foyer, which I'm told is a good location. I must sit at a desk and check on any students who pass/ try to leave the building. Staff on duty can use the time to mark or read, though they will most likely be routinely interrupted. Mine seemed very long indeed, and I'll be sure to have a fleece with me for the next one: it's cold down there!
Teachers must also attend an hour-long after school meeting once a fortnight on a Tuesday. Our first one was this week. Facilitated by the local police, we received a presentation on 'lock downs'. Since Columbine, American high schools all have a lock down system where, upon a tannoy announcement, teachers must check the corridor, gather in any straggelers, lock their classroom door and herd their students into the corner furthest from the door and windows. Lights and any equipment must be switched off and everyone is to remain in this position until a signal is raised. In the event of a real scenario, local police would not wait for a SWAT team, as was the case with Columbine. Instead, they would immediately enter the building in search of the attacker(s). Disturbingly, we were also shown a video of the weapons high school students have brought into schools and where they've hidden them. The guy in the film had a grand total of one hundred and twenty concealed about his person, including a pen that has a blade concealed within it. I really hope that these precautions never become necessary in the UK.
I will end with an observation that amused me when travelling home one day this week. I've been staying after school most days, but on this given day I left at quarter past two. As I reached the junction for my street, I discovered I was behind one of the yellow school buses (which cannot fail to make me think of South Park, for some reason). It turned right, as I needed to do, and then immediately stopped - literally at the end of the road, meaning I could not make the turn. Initially puzzled, I watched as a little red 'Stop!' sign popped out of the driver's side and the students begin to disembark. As there's no public bus service here, there are no bus stops. Therefore, the bus has to stop in the middle of the road and the 'Stop!' sign becomes necessary. I aim to capture this digitally before my exchange comes to an end: it's a must-see!
On Labor Day itself, I attended a cook out (that's a BBQ to you and I) at my friend Michele's house in Worcester. We were asked to bring something to share, which I did, but I also decided to take along a jar of Marmite as it was something Michele and I had discussed and she was up for trying it.
As it turned out, several people got in on the act. Unsurprisingly, it turned out to be none too popular on the whole and the jar ended up accompanying me home at the end of the night! The consenus seemed to be it'd be better as an ingredient in a soup or some other concoction, as opposed to spread on toast. Watching the expressions as each person had their first taste of the rich, yeasty goodness was a joy to behold: I captured them all on camera. I think Marmite-tasting sessions may well become my entertainment option of choice at times when there's not much else on!
Aside from torturing my new friends, the day was really rather pleasant: good food, good company and lots of laughs. Michele even made me a special garlic-free dip so that I could join in with the eating-of-nibbles, a gesture that really touched me.
All-in-all, the Labor Day weekend was a good un'; definitely a good alternative to a British bank holiday (which don't exist here). I look forward to the next one, Columbus Day, with eager anticipation...especially as Ry will be here then, experiencing it with me *bounce* :D
'There are only 10 types of people in this world; those who understand binary and those who don't'
(I don't know the original source, so I'll instead credit Mr Neil Lewis for that one ;))
Last Sunday, Michelle and Ronnie took me on a tour of Boston. We parked under Boston Common and embarked on a tour of the Freedom Trail (a brick line that weaves its way round all the historical places in Boston - what a fantastic idea!) led by a costumed guide. Finally, all the snippets of American history I'd been hearing slotted together. The tour only took us through a section of the Trail and I fully intend walking the rest at a later date. A Duck Tour (which takes you around the city in a vehicle that travels on both land and water) is on the cards, too.
The highlight of the day, however, was a trip to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - aka the MIT. My primary reason for wanting to see the campus was not because it's known for producing some of the greatest minds, possibly in the history of ever, or its technological prestige: I'd promised my very good friend, Tom (mykins) that I'd go there and provide a pictorial tour. The campus has some amazing architecture and interactive glass-walled buildings which could keep me occupied for hours (I'm easily pleased!). I fully intend returning to the campus to spend some time at the museum: so expect more on this place in the coming weeks.
WaterFire is an event held in Providence, Rhode Island several times over the summer season. Once dusk falls, around one hundred bonfires are lit on the canal system. Music is played and visitors can take a gondala or boat ride past them. There's also a fire juggler (he's above and also in #3). Whilst I'd have liked more of a history to the event, it is pretty magical and smells just like Bonfire night!
Day one teaching at Northbridge High School. Having been told by a colleague to aim to arrive before 7am as the traffic situation isn't especially easy to navigate once the buses and parents are there, I pulled up in the 'parking lot' with ten minutes to spare. Despite it being early September, my alarm had gone off when it was still dark, and, being a night owl, I was feeling far from my best...unfortunately for me, this is to be my life for the next sixteen weeks.
The high school system here is very different to the UK equivalent. School starts at 07.20 (aka stupid o'clock). There is no registration (the electronic attendance taken at the start of period one counts for this purpose) and so teachers here are teaching by 07.25. I'm pretty sure most of the students are struggling as much as I am to function on any level at that hour, so just how productive this start time is remains to be seen. Being the first day, the timetable was a one-off seven period day, meaning lessons were on average around 45 minutes. As there's only a ten minute break after lesson one (for this teachers remain in the corridors or with students - I'm missing Kath and her flapjacks already) and a twenty five minute lunch around 11am (yes, 11am!!!!! That's technically breakfast, not lunch, if you ask me). Lunch also forms part of an extended lesson, based on a rota according to the floor you're on. So I have students for twenty minutes, then we go to lunch and after twenty five minutes they return and the lesson resumes for a further hour. Teachers here teach pretty much straight through from 07.20 to 11.23 without any sort of break! Lesson-wise, the seven period day was like a weird form of speed dating (minus the dating part, of course).
Being used to Fairfield, I was initially surprised by how rude the students seemed: they wander into classrooms without knocking or even acknowledging the teacher; no one lines up; chewing gum is generally accepted (although staff *are* free to make their own rules - the words 'fighting', 'losing' and 'battle' come to mind) and, with my first college prep class, only one of the 17 or so students responded when I greeted them at the door. Also, when I invited said class to note down a stereotype and/ or question about Wales or the UK and post it under a series of magnets on the board, I had zero response. Not one student wanted to know anything. They did, however, sit in silence and followed my instructions without any problems.
As the day progressed, I realised that that class were not indicative of all US students. Most are genuinely interested in the culture difference and pleased to have me teaching them: I have some lovely classes. The youngest students I teach here are sixteen years of age, so it's a little different to what I'm used to but I'm really enjoying having 'A-level' students again. I was also pleased that nearly all my seniors responded to me greeting them at the door! The rest of my classes seemed pleased to have the opportunity to ask questions about my country. The stereotypes were interesting: having tea and crumpets was a frequent one but I also had the 'bad teeth' stereotype cropping up - again. One student even wrote that Brits don't have much need of electricity as we mainly live in huts in the hills! Most heart warming were the comments that appeared, several times over, from each class ' 'it's true that you have cool accents'.
Each lesson passed quickly and by the end of the day, I felt I'd started to gain an insight into the students who will be in my charge until Christmas. The school day ends at 13.55, but to someone who's only had a twenty five minute break in seven hours, it feels more like 20.55! Goodness knows what coming home to hours of marking every night is going to feel like.
Day Two - 12.50
My timetable is somewhat jammy, in that I have a free period every afternoon, after lunch. Teachers here have one - sometimes two - free periods a day, though the timetable runs over a seven day period so the total number will vary each week. Lessons last for sixty-seven minutes and one of these free periods will be spent on duty, supervising the foyer, but for now I have been able to enjoy the time to prepare for the next day. As there is a four minute passing period between each lesson, they all end at really weird times - like 10.48, 11.23 and 12.56. Today was the first day of a 'proper' five period day (which has entirely different times to the seven period day) and although I am still bemused and confused by the times on the schedule, I successfully managed to end each lesson right on time!
Having only taught my Honors and AP students, today was really rather pleasant. Which was fortunate as I'd had even less sleep than afforded by the ridiculous start time due to a rather horrific non school-related nightmare. We worked on letters of introduction and chatted about cultural differences. I'm starting off doing pretty much excatly what Kristin would do, though I did build in some of my own activities and a smidge of AfL, which seemed to work well. Within the first two lessons,the Superintendent of the district and both Principal and vice Principal came in, at various points, on a 'walk through'; they were doing this to everyone (I did wonder!!), I later learned. The Administration seem very supportive, which is nice.
One thing I simply cannot get used to is the tannoy system. Every classroom has a speaker built into the wall and every morning at the end of lesson one, the call will come for us to all stand and face the flag to pledge allegiance. This is followed by announcements. However, the tannoy frequently crackles into life, mid-lesson, to make an announcement, meaning the teacher and students have to pause in the middle of whatever they're doing/ saying and listen. One tannoy message instructed us teachers to check our emails! My students tell me sometimes a message will be delivered to individual teachers this way, too. Personally, that's a little too reminiscent of the telescreens in 1984 for my liking! Similarly, teachers can be contacted mid lesson via the phone in their room, even for matters which do not relate to the class that they teach.
Day Three - 15.30
I am pleased to report that my first week ended smoothly. I had the vice Superintendent walk through with the Principal today and she commented that she liked my lesson objectives; she also seemed impressed with what we'd been doing. Good times! I am aiming to keep the grading systems here in place but introduce more AfL too, along with my own style of delivery, as it's worked well thus far.
All the lessons went well - even with *the* college prep class. They did try it on initially but I reiterated my expectations and remained calm and consistent, despite the best efforts of one student who was really quite rude. Gradually, they began to meet my expectations (at least, for now!) and they ended up being the first, and only, class to applaud my letter of introduction to them! I don't believe they were employing sarcasm, either: they've finally started to ask questions about my culture and the difference with schools. Bizarrly, the turning point seemed to be when I told them that when I'm happy, I bounce. Go figure!
The rest of my classes were as lovely as ever. I was touched when reading through the letters of introduction written by the honors classes as many had said how pleased - more than one even used 'honoured' - to have me here, teaching them and that they hope I have a fantastic term. I'm encouraging them to dare to be an individual, injecting originality and creativity into all that they do, and their letters showed promise. I've also had several students imploring me to teach them for the whole year!
My students have given me the best insight into the school system so far. UK students have it so much better, I think. High school students here have to pay a sum of money at the start of each school year to entitle them to participate in any school-run activities. Those who play sports pay an additional fee - and it's not cheap. They are also expected to equip themselves with notebooks (in place of exercise books) and for some courses, they must buy textbooks also. And this is the comprehensive system, not private! Many of them work, meaning they finish school around 2pm and then work from 3 - 9pm. Only then can they start on their homework. Due to the grading system, where *everything* counts, if they are late submitting their homework they will probably get a zero. Homework has a much lower percentage in terms of their grade point average but it is still a tough penalty. I'm interested in how much of an effect it has on the sort of students who are perpetually in detention in the UK for not having their homework.
So it's all been good so far, but I've not yet had to really get my head around the multiple deadlines for each class each week: vocab tests, pop quizzes, tests etc etc...that bundle of joy awaits me after the Labor day weekend (like a bank holiday weekend, though I'm still trying to find someone who can tell me the background behind it).
Will I manage to cope with the amazingly complex grading system? You decide!
