Meeting the Parents

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!

Turkey Day

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.

Stop All The Clocks...

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.

RIP, Jim Pascoe.

Cross Blog-ination

Tenuous title, I conceed, but the English department at NHS has developed its own blog, which we have all been asked to contribute to.

You can find my first instalment here, if you're interested.

Memes really do come true(!)

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! :)

11/11

'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.

It's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it...

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!

Halloween

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!

Homecoming

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.

My first...

...504 plan review meeting.

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!

My first...

...Hostess cupcake, given to me by a student. Mmm! Thank you, Genni!

Good Times...

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

Cotton Eyed Who?

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 Vanderbilt Holiday 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!

Crumpets and Garlic Chicken. Tasty!

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!

Back In Black

Missed me?! Thought so ;)

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!