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...
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Mr. Mattson is a highly respected "institution" in Northbridge. He is Harvard educated, and has contributed much to our town and to our schools. While quirky and perhaps a bit eccentric, it is with an extremely affable intent, and with that status and respect comes the ability to interrupt a teacher during their lessons; most of us don't mind because we know him all too well. Ever the dedicated newspaper reporter he is tenacious and determined to get his story.
ReplyDeleteFor a man who's Harvard educated, he gets an awful lot of things wrong in his 'journalism'.
ReplyDeleteIn my own personal view, the ONLY thing that should interrupt a teacher's teaching is a family emergency. I wouldn't care if it was the Queen wanting to see me, if she hadn't arranged a mutually convenient (i.e. non-teaching) time, then she could pootle all the way back to her palace and have a cup of tea. Teaching is a profession and should be treated as such.
Sam - you really need to be careful of what you are saying here. I don't care if you publish this post or not, but frankly you are bordering on a stereotypical upstart Brit. Mr. Mattson is probably the one person in that town who absolutely respects the teachers as professionals and is the first to write about and publish the amazing things we do each and every day. I'm sorry but you have crossed the line here. You should be careful, as a newcomer, who you alienate. Perhaps it is you who do not respect his journalism. No one says his journalism is perfection, but it is a reflection of his style. Who are you to come in and insult him like that?! Your comment, in response to my comment, is inappropriate , unprofessional, and insulting to a well respected member of the community who is hosting your stay. That is my opinion. Perhaps a bit of maturity in your blogging, and a bit of thinking before you "speak" would do you some good. These sorts of thoughts should be reserved for your personal, unpublished, unblogged, non-facebooked, journal.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I'm of the opinion that Sam is free to write whatever she feels appropriate. If you want to vet your own personal blog more strictly, then that's fine but you cannot expect to impose your own standards on other people. I'm sure she is mature enough to accept responsibility and whatever consequences her actions may have.
ReplyDeleteAlso, whilst you may be comfortable with this reporters behaviour, having developed such a rapore with him, attempt to empathise with an outside perspective - a gentleman who you've know for very little time appears to be interrupting your lessons and bothering you, acting in accordance with the "pesky reporter" sterotype.
Respect is something that is earned, not expected. During my day to day activities, I meet very highly respected people and can do nothing more but give them the respect I feel they deserve, based on my experiences with them, regardless of whatever "reputation" they may have. If this reporter has not shown Sam that he is worthy of her respect, how can you expect her to treat him with respect?
Also, why should a reporter have the right to interrupt lessons? His history being irrelevant, I wonder how you might react if you discovered your childs education was suffering from outside interruptions, especially if Sam is amicable to meeting up on a mutually conveinant junctures.
I do not have an issue with Sam feeling that her time was impinged upon...in fact, I did not take issue with one thing she wrote in her original post.
ReplyDeleteMy issue which has caused me to engage in some "seriOs tamping" came in response to her comment to my comment, which I made in order to clarify the kind of person Mr. Mattson is, so that people across the pond would have a clearer vision of his personality, and perhaps empathize with his responsibility as a reporter who is determined to get a story published on a deadline. There is no doubt that he can, at times, be the humorous "pesky reporter" stereotype. In fact, we affectionately probably think that he invented the stereotype!
I do take issue with insulting Mr. Mattson as a well respected citizen of the town and his "journalism", which she really does not have much first hand knowledge of, other than perhaps one article which happens to be hanging in my classroom. I have known Mr. Mattson as the "small town reporter" since I was a little girl. He has covered town politics, education and sports in our town for as long as most people can remember. He is getting up there in years and sometimes may take liberties with his writing, but never anything that cannot be "forgiven".
I am not imposing any personal standard upon Sam's blog, but as writers and teachers of writing, we always teach our students to be aware of whom their audience is, I am only suggesting that she do the same. In this case, Mr. Mattson is an audience reader since this is a public page, and during this exchange we are representatives of our home countries and bear some responsibility of being careful what we say and the tone with which we say it. From the Fulbright end in America we are made aware of our role; so No, we are not necessarily free to voice every little thing we think at the moment we think them.
It is the implication that Mr. Mattson does not respect teachers as professionals which is most certainly untrue.
However, he is a much loved figured in the town, and if I were to walk into Fairfield and begin to find fault with much loved members of the community,no matter who they may be, and post them on my blog I am sure it would irritate her also and I certainly know she would not hesitate in letting me know about it. However, I certainly would have the sensitivity to others not to engage in such writing, if indeed there were such instances, which there are not.
I'm sorry if I misunderstood your original reply to Sam's post but when you say you had no issue with Sam feeling her time was impinged upon, you did in fact originally comment that "and with that status and respect comes the ability to interrupt a teacher during their lessons", which to me seems like your defending his actions, which would, in fact, contradict Sam's feelings of annoyance.
ReplyDeleteI can sympathise that there will be difficulties as a journalist and, in order to get a full, accurate story quickly, there may be instances that cause one to be disliked and so, instead of blindly defending *any* journalist, it would be much more fair to admit there can be instances of annoyance but *despite* those, he is a decent character. Unfortunatly, this attitude wasn't implied strongly enough in your previous posts (though I can be rather dense at times, hehe).
I can appreciate that an uninformed opinion is not fair. I, personally, try to be thoughrally opposed to them, but if you can admit yourself that he occasionally takes liberties with his writing, just because it's something that can be "forgiven", doesn't mean it's not something that can also be "criticised".
Again, I can understand that you are representatives of your respective countries but, personally, I would much rather read a blog that is honest and open about the difficulties that you have encountered. A blog that accuratly depicts the journey, rather than a story of a pipe dream. And yes, if you were to censor your blog less, then I'm sure Sam would have something to say about it but I would equally support your freedom of speech and opinion.
So let's say this...with Mr. Mattson's stature he is sometimes given the opportunity to interrupt teacher's lessons in order "to get the story", because the school administration finds that the press he provides is valuable enough in such a way that they "the administration", (and by this I must base my experience on past administration, since this year there is a new administration whose policies may be different) often allow Mr. Mattson the liberty to interrupt teacher's lessons, and thus he has come to expect it, because the articles are highly valued and oftentimes deadlines for the paper are such that it is allowed to occur.
ReplyDeleteSam may not like it, and yes it can be annoying, but it usually does not occur without approval and clearance by the administration, who apparently don't mind because they see the value with the community and the positive public relations that his articles foster. Perhaps it is a cultural experience, but the value of good press for schools can never be underestimated, especially in a town such as Northbridge.
It is not just teachers who get interrupted in their lessons, but students as well who sometimes are pulled from classes to participate in one on one, or group interviews with him about various activities and sporting events. It may be frustrating, but it does not happen because he does not respect the teaching profession; quite the opposite, in fact.
Just to clarify one other point. I have not "censored" my blog. I have engaged in "tone checking" always weighing carefully the meanings and double entendre my words or vocabulary could have or imply. Words in America, when used here could have the exact opposite effect upon the reader that I intend...case in point, the word "quaint", which I used to describe Sam's home upon first arriving, made her take offense, as she was thinking I was insulting her home, when in fact I was not, it was a compliment. Unbeknownst to me, the word "quaint" has a negative connotation here in the UK. Now I know. I do take my time and edit, rewrite and edit some more, though it may not seem so with all my typos...but I get crosseyed with the computer screen and still cannot proofread properly without hard printouts. My blog is a true and accurate depiction of my experiences...what I am not sharing with the world are my severe anxieties, frustrations and very low moments, as well as "heat of the moment" experiences, which are personal and private and not for the world to see.
Indeed, my second comment to Sam may in fact have normally been one of those, but in this instance I felt the need to share it.
I have had my moments throughout this exchange, trust me, when I have been angry, frustrated, disappointed, and anxious, but most of that does not have a place in a blog which is being read by my students at home and my students here. Some of it is not appropriate to share with this particular age group, who are also Micaela's friends and with whom she must attend school. Much of it is too personal to share outside my core group of friends. Perhaps those judgements, attitudes, and sensitivities have evolved as part of my life experience, which is considerably more than Sam's as a result of my advanced age... ha ha.
Ok, I *was* going to delete all these comments as I don't consider any of them especially appropriate, However, Kristin, as you did feel the need to share your views and my blog is also a true and accurate depiction - very much aimed at my particular target audience, I can assure you - of my experience then I shall leave them be. Also, the above comments allow your perspective of Mr Mattson to be aired.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned in my entry, I fully intend to provide NHS with all the press coverage, and indeed support, it needs. Furthermore, I have every intention of being a positive representative of my country and I would post nothing on here that I would not openly say to anyone. In the case of Mr Mattson (who I was not intending to name) he is already fully aware of my stance on the incident.
My intention was never to post a slight on the character of anyone. I base my opinion on facts alone and I stand by my 'judgement'. Clearly, we differ in opinion here and there's nothing wrong with that; we just need to agree to disagree.
I have nothing further to post as you seemed to have clarified yourself in a very thorough manner.
ReplyDeleteWhilst there are some things I disagree with, they are meerly differences in opinion which I wouldn't expect to argue over. Similarly, there are many things which I am now more amicable to agreement.
So I'll leave it there :-)
Agreed. We wouldn't be in our exchange positions if we were not open communicators. I don't often hesitate to "tell it like it is"; as you do also.
ReplyDeleteI'm an outside reader who has taught in both the US and the UK, and I want to say that I do find the interruption of a lesson to "get the story," extremely unprofessional. There is no reason in the world that a professional journalist (of which both my own parents are), could not schedule a mutually agreeable time to meet with and interview Ms. Sheppard. The point is that her lesson was interrupted, and we all know how such an interruption can get students all out of sorts. It sounds as though there is plenty of room for both parties to get what they need and want, but by making an appointment. The Administration at my school would NEVER allow any member of the press to interrupt instructional time. It would be handled in the office and I would not know about it until much later. The reporter's credentials have nothing to do with the situation at all.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this post, and even listening to two other teachers at Northbridge High, I do have my own comments on this.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'll give the point that someone in his standing, should be given the respect that he has deserved, he needs to be able to meet Sam halfway. Unfortunately, while his job might be a typical 9 - 5 with deadlines, a teacher's is much more demanding. Being a (yes, surprisingly, very good student), I would almost be insulted if my teacher left my class to conduct an interview. Maybe if it was the New York Times or the Washington Post, but for a local paper? I'm not sure I see the point in that.
Yes, you're both doing a great thing with the Exchange program, but to disrupt your job? Your day to day function? I can't see that as being a good thing. And with deadlines? He can surely do an interview at 3 PM and have it done for the next day's news. Ask any sport reporter how they do it.
It looks like it's not so much a respect issue, but just a common courtesy.
However, I do feel that with the exposure you both have on these blogs (and with freely advertising the Fulbright program), there comes a "responsibility" to what you write. Not a matter of censorship or anything of that sort. But a responsibility to be careful and respectful of what you say. If this was a personal blog, free of any references to your job or professional standing, then sure (and yes, I have problems with management interfering on my time, they get enough already.)