2007 BRINGS "NEW" SCHOOL, "NEW" SCHOOL SYSTEM, "NEW" APPROACHES!
This really wasn't going to happen! That is, that I would continue this blog...one that no longer has a "Joburg" connection. After all, we're back in the good old U.S. of A., and Flint, Michigan isn't exactly what Johannesburg was all about.
The emails and messages from South Africa are encouraging, even refreshing. It's just good to know that we have friends there...folks who enjoyed our company and seemingly miss us. There is so much we miss too, of course.
With Monday cancelled because of frigid weather, we definitely miss South Africa's weather! Well, I actually didn't mean Monday was cancelled! I meant SCHOOL was cancelled. And now we hear that Tuesday school is also cancelled! To be honest, I haven't really noticed that it has been THAT cold. For some strange reason the cold hasn't even bothered me. Perhaps I enjoy cold weather more than I do hot weather, I'm not sure.
We were told that "Africa is for the strong" when were there. Heck, MICHIGAN is for the strong! It's all in one's perspective, right? I sort of like the cold and snow--it makes one feel as if they are going to conquer it and overcome its ability to stop human endeavors. To me, the cold is invigorating...it strengthens your resolve to fight the elements. It's like chopping wood to build a fire. First you get warm chopping the stuff, then it rewards you by warming you the second time (only you now get to relax in front of the fireplace and enjoy a brew or two while reading the newspaper!).
The teaching load here is a "piece of cake" compared to my assignment at Norkem Park High School. Quite frankly, teachers at NPHS are way overworked and way, way underpaid! The classes are too large there. And, somewhat like here, the administrators are overburdened and given the impossible task of trying to please everyone. It just doesn't work.
There seems to be an unreasonable fear of offending kids, their parents, school board members, and pin-head bureaucrats at the highest echelons of education. I guess some would call some administrators "gutless." Indeed, some are always "looking over their shoulders", paralyzed with fear over decisions that might offend someone. And no, I'm not gonna name names...you can fill in the blanks. Everyone knows what I'm talking about, especially administrators.
I'm faced with difficulties now. I have to look at over 40 boxes of my personal things, piled on the counter next to the windows of Room #8 at Southwestern Commencement Academy. It was Southwestern Academy when I left back on January 8, 2006. Someone decided to rename it...probably without community input.
The boxes block out the sun (when there IS sun, that is!). I stare at them each and every day, thinking that it is going to be like Christmas when I start to unload them. But why should I? I was told there might be another move by the end of the year. Why get "comfortable?"
The inevitable is starting to happen though: two boxes have been opened and the contents dispersed to shelves and waiting empty spaces. Some things are missing...but are they? Maybe, just maybe, the electric pencil sharpeners I had when I left are packed away in one of those boxes. There is no way that I can find out what is in the huge pile without grabbing a box and unloading it.
It should be noted that the stuff didn't get in the boxes by itself! My exchange partner, along with some of her friends, no doubt, had the unenviable task of sorting things and packing it all way. All that happened because of the massive changes that came about in the Flint School System as a result of a reorganization plan put forth by our new superintendent. Folks keep telling me that "you couldn't have picked a better time to leave town, John!" Conversely, does that mean that my exchange partner couldn't have picked a worse time to come to Flint? Only she can answer that question...
And so it is. It seems as though every school in Flint is now named "Academy." I was transferred to the old Flint Academy back in 1980--when the designation Academy meant something. That academy was something very special. We had about 600 students, most of whom were wonderful kids--and students who really wanted to excell. The teaching staff had few problems--we did what we were hired to do: TEACH! It was "fun" to teach there (never ever did any of us refer to teaching there as "work"). And it was "fun" for students to learn there.
This blog entry is beginning to sound negative. No way. I've always said change is good...but change just for change sake, is not good. It's too early to tell whether or not I will weather the changes...my guess is that I will. After all, the changes I had to endure while on the Fulbright assignment in South Africa, were truly many and varied--the cliche' "out of your comfort zone" certainly applied.
I've been asked to submit an essay on the Fulbright experience to The Teachers College, Columbia University. They want me to write about if the time teaching there changed my teaching style in any way. The Commentary Page Coordinator of their Teachers College Record publication also wanted me to touch on what the experience taught me, plus how it might have changed my conceptual view of education.
Answering those thoughtful questions will take some effort, but I'm going to enjoy the challenge. You can be sure I'll stick to the professional, teaching experience of being in South Africa. And that will involve carefully chosen, meaningful insights--relating to what was the teaching assignment of a lifetime!
Please know that it's good to back in Flint. But I will always miss certain things about my teaching stint in South Africa. My colleagues there deserve the highest praise for doing what they do with so little. Little praise, little pay, little time-off, and little resources. It all adds up to little rewards for giving so much to so many--God bless you all, Norkem Park H.S. staff! You are true professionals!
The emails and messages from South Africa are encouraging, even refreshing. It's just good to know that we have friends there...folks who enjoyed our company and seemingly miss us. There is so much we miss too, of course.
With Monday cancelled because of frigid weather, we definitely miss South Africa's weather! Well, I actually didn't mean Monday was cancelled! I meant SCHOOL was cancelled. And now we hear that Tuesday school is also cancelled! To be honest, I haven't really noticed that it has been THAT cold. For some strange reason the cold hasn't even bothered me. Perhaps I enjoy cold weather more than I do hot weather, I'm not sure.
We were told that "Africa is for the strong" when were there. Heck, MICHIGAN is for the strong! It's all in one's perspective, right? I sort of like the cold and snow--it makes one feel as if they are going to conquer it and overcome its ability to stop human endeavors. To me, the cold is invigorating...it strengthens your resolve to fight the elements. It's like chopping wood to build a fire. First you get warm chopping the stuff, then it rewards you by warming you the second time (only you now get to relax in front of the fireplace and enjoy a brew or two while reading the newspaper!).
The teaching load here is a "piece of cake" compared to my assignment at Norkem Park High School. Quite frankly, teachers at NPHS are way overworked and way, way underpaid! The classes are too large there. And, somewhat like here, the administrators are overburdened and given the impossible task of trying to please everyone. It just doesn't work.
There seems to be an unreasonable fear of offending kids, their parents, school board members, and pin-head bureaucrats at the highest echelons of education. I guess some would call some administrators "gutless." Indeed, some are always "looking over their shoulders", paralyzed with fear over decisions that might offend someone. And no, I'm not gonna name names...you can fill in the blanks. Everyone knows what I'm talking about, especially administrators.
I'm faced with difficulties now. I have to look at over 40 boxes of my personal things, piled on the counter next to the windows of Room #8 at Southwestern Commencement Academy. It was Southwestern Academy when I left back on January 8, 2006. Someone decided to rename it...probably without community input.
The boxes block out the sun (when there IS sun, that is!). I stare at them each and every day, thinking that it is going to be like Christmas when I start to unload them. But why should I? I was told there might be another move by the end of the year. Why get "comfortable?"
The inevitable is starting to happen though: two boxes have been opened and the contents dispersed to shelves and waiting empty spaces. Some things are missing...but are they? Maybe, just maybe, the electric pencil sharpeners I had when I left are packed away in one of those boxes. There is no way that I can find out what is in the huge pile without grabbing a box and unloading it.
It should be noted that the stuff didn't get in the boxes by itself! My exchange partner, along with some of her friends, no doubt, had the unenviable task of sorting things and packing it all way. All that happened because of the massive changes that came about in the Flint School System as a result of a reorganization plan put forth by our new superintendent. Folks keep telling me that "you couldn't have picked a better time to leave town, John!" Conversely, does that mean that my exchange partner couldn't have picked a worse time to come to Flint? Only she can answer that question...
And so it is. It seems as though every school in Flint is now named "Academy." I was transferred to the old Flint Academy back in 1980--when the designation Academy meant something. That academy was something very special. We had about 600 students, most of whom were wonderful kids--and students who really wanted to excell. The teaching staff had few problems--we did what we were hired to do: TEACH! It was "fun" to teach there (never ever did any of us refer to teaching there as "work"). And it was "fun" for students to learn there.
This blog entry is beginning to sound negative. No way. I've always said change is good...but change just for change sake, is not good. It's too early to tell whether or not I will weather the changes...my guess is that I will. After all, the changes I had to endure while on the Fulbright assignment in South Africa, were truly many and varied--the cliche' "out of your comfort zone" certainly applied.
I've been asked to submit an essay on the Fulbright experience to The Teachers College, Columbia University. They want me to write about if the time teaching there changed my teaching style in any way. The Commentary Page Coordinator of their Teachers College Record publication also wanted me to touch on what the experience taught me, plus how it might have changed my conceptual view of education.
Answering those thoughtful questions will take some effort, but I'm going to enjoy the challenge. You can be sure I'll stick to the professional, teaching experience of being in South Africa. And that will involve carefully chosen, meaningful insights--relating to what was the teaching assignment of a lifetime!
Please know that it's good to back in Flint. But I will always miss certain things about my teaching stint in South Africa. My colleagues there deserve the highest praise for doing what they do with so little. Little praise, little pay, little time-off, and little resources. It all adds up to little rewards for giving so much to so many--God bless you all, Norkem Park H.S. staff! You are true professionals!
posted by JOBURG JOURNAL at 7:01 PM
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