Mark's school update

Hello out there in Blogland. Here is a school update from Down Under.

It is now the end of week 4 at Cardiff High School and I am getting considerably more settled in. The routine is more familiar and I know when and where to go most of the time. Although they got me again when on Thursday a bell rang during recess and all my Maths colleagues that were enjoying their morning tea got up and walked out of our office. I had no idea why. After sitting alone for a couple of minutes finishing my Diet Pepsi (I am the only soda drinker and not interested in quitting – though it is a shocker to pay $9 a twelve pack – but oh so worth it and anyway, who wants tea when it is 80+ degrees outside), I took a peak outside to see the entire school (700+) lined up for an assembly. Apparently there is a special ring to the bells for an unscheduled assembly and they all knew what it meant – I clearly did not. So I quickly I scurried outside to the Quad where everyone was gathered to hear a special announcement that students were permitted to wear Newcastle United Jets attire on Friday as the local soccer team had made it to the national finals this weekend in Sydney. I must say it was bizarre to hear the kids the last couple of days hooting and hollering “Go the Jets!” I kept asking people why they say “go the Jets” instead of just “Go Jets”. No one had a good answer, and they all looked at me quite quizzically, so I suppose we’ll just go with it.

Here are some thoughts I have garnered the past few weeks about school here versus what I know at Thornton.

Curriculum – really pretty similar to ours, though they do have some funny names for some things like “surds” for rational numbers and “indices” for exponents. I have to be sure to adjust the language of any worksheets of mine that I use from previous years or else the kids are thrown into a complete tizzy.

Resources - not even close, they lack so much that we take for granted. From whiteboards to LCD’s to printers and copiers, all of which they have but on a much more limited basis, it is a step back in time. The text books are adequate but geared for better readers and some are quite antiquated.

Student ability – for the most part similar to ours but here they track students by the beginning of year 8 based on end-of-year 7 exams. So, as a teacher, it is wonderfully easy if you get a top class and torture if you get a bottom one. I am really getting a close up view of the benefits and shortcomings of tracking. I have a top year 8 class that is a dream and bottom year10 class that may drive me back to the grog. It must be so demoralizing for the kids who are in the lower classes years 8 through 10 to know they are identified school wide as the “slow” ones. Students are able to move up based on improved performance but the lower level classes do not easily lend themselves to scholarliness, as they are usually a controlled riot at best. I now at least have some understanding why the US is so keen on mixed ability classes.

Student Behavior – This is the one area I struggle with identifying clearly yet. On the whole, my classes are louder, rowdier and more unruly than anything I have ever experienced at Thornton. On the other hand, the kids are more respectful, honest and kind hearted than most at home and are genuinely interested in my experience here. It appears that mainly, they just want to have fun and they don’t want school to stand in the way of it. The work ethic is moderate and the work product so far is pretty mediocre, (except of course for that top year 8 class – they are like the IB kids at home. I gave two of my year 8 boys some extra work to do yesterday to improve their understanding, and while I did not even have them on my schedule today, they came and found me this morning to show me what they had completed so far and to ask a couple of clarifying questions so they could finish over the weekend!)

Hours – Absolute luxury! School starts at 9 am and ends at 3:20. You can imagine how it freaks me out each day at to look at my watch, see that it is 8:15 am and think, oh, I better get going to work! It is wonderful to be able to get up and get some exercise before school and still be able to see my family before starting my work day.

And then there is Sport. Every Wednesday the kids get early release at noon to do sport - and I have the tough duty to take 20 of them to Newcastle beach to play beach volleyball. They love when the other teacher and I get in there and play with them – and so do I. Then the kids head back on the buses at 2 pm and I get to hang on the beach until 3:30 when Nancy and the kids come meet me for some more beach play. I am working hard to encourage a few kids to sign up for golf next term so we can go play nine at a nearby course.

Last Friday was the swim carnival where the whole school went to a nearby pool for a day of swimming races and relays. I cannot tell you how blown away I was by the whole experience. I got to watch 500 teenagers hang out all day and have nothing but good clean fun. It was seriously unreal. Not one fight, no one sneaking off to get high or smoke, and most kids even participated in the swimming events.

Faculty – They are entirely lovely. Everyone is incredibly nice to me and it appears that they are actually nice to each other too! They seem to be genuinely interested in each other and the students – I even heard an English teacher offer to cover a class for a Maths teacher who was attending a funeral of a students’ parent. Of course there are some personality issues that pop up, but they seem a bit less frequent than I am used to and usually joked about rather than festered.

General - There is no PA (public address system), no campus security or cop, no tagging (at least not on the school grounds - there is plenty around the city), teacher extra duty is 20 minutes twice a week during "recess" or lunch - yes they have both recess at 11:15 am and lunch at 1:30 pm, with the whole school at the same times. Every Friday the faculty do a special “tea” where a group of teachers provides treats and we all gather for a chat up with the Principal.

Finally, the Temperature: Blessedly, it has been much cooler the past few weeks. The downside is lots of rain which has put a bit of a damper on outdoor play some weekends. The best news is, this past week, as it has warmed up again (near 90 ° today) I am not sweating like a waterfall any more and really do not even feel it as much. I seem to have acclimated somewhat.

Bottom Line – School is good. I have had to work hard to find ways to best help each of my classes – each of which have a unique group personality and needs - but I like that part. I am having some little successes with each class, of course not as frequently as I would wish for, but that is the challenge of teaching. I am forming some nice relationships with kids and am enjoying the staff. The schedule is a breeze and I am excited to see how the rest of the year unfolds as we move into fall and our first round of term exams.

Thanks to everyone for their support and well wishes along the way. Blessings on you and yours,

Mark