Mark update

I need to write about Mark because frankly, he is having the roughest time. All four of us came here with slightly different expectations of how we'd be spending our time. But the one expectation we all shared is that we'd find a way to enjoy ourselves for the year. Mark has landed in a new teaching culture which is what he was after. But sadly, he is struggling daily with finding ways to enjoy himself. He would probably never tell you all this himself (though I will get an okay from him before I post) but it seems crucial that this story be told. He is working in a system that still "tracks" or streams students. Therefore, by the beginning of 8th grade, each student is put in classes according to their test scores the year before. And the students are all labeled as such (8-1, 8-2, 8-3, and so on) so everyone knows whether they are in a high class (lowest numbers) or a low class (higher numbers). Including the students. The kids in classes one and possibly two will be tracked to go on through Year 12, graduate high school and go to "Uni." The kids in the lower classes will not be expected to go past Year Ten and will never darken the doors of a University. Mark says 400 of the 700 students at his school are seen as throw-away students.

Teachers are expected to teach something, anything to these kids in the lower classes even though the students have very little motivation to succeed, as you might imagine. They'd have to buck the very system charged with educating them to move up a class or more in order to get a better education. The system doesn't believe they can do it so you can imagine what they believe about themselves. Therefore, most of Mark's classes are students who, while incredibly polite and friendly, are out of control behaviorally. Many exchange teachers who Mark has commiserated with have used the word "feral" to describe these kids. They throw things out windows, get up and leave class right in the middle, talk non-stop through the entire period, throw spitballs up at the ceiling during class and get precious little done. Mark is testing every classroom management technique he's ever heard or thought of.

The feedback he gets from other teachers when he asks for ideas is to lighten up, don't lose sleep over these kids, focus on the ones who want to learn, don't expect the "bludgers" to do a thing. We Americans take ourselves way too seriously, he's been told. When he was talking to a teacher at another school about his theory that all kids are capable of learning but he was having a hard time reaching these kids, the teacher said, "Ah, such naivete. So refreshing. Go on."

What breaks my heart, and why I am writing about this (since Mark probably won't) is because Mark's phenomenal teaching skills are not being utilized to the extent that they could be. These people have no idea what they have in their building and it may be that, at the end of the year, they will have missed him completely. Who knows, though. A year is a long time and I've never seen Mark work so hard to try to figure out a seemingly unworkable problem. I'm always eager to hear at the end of each day what he's done and how it's gone.

There are successes, he will want me to tell you that. There are quite a few, actually. He has reached many students already and is seeing learning happening in all of his classes. One of his hardest classes--Year 10-4--have responded remarkably to an idea someone gave him. He gives them packets of handouts for each unit and then offers certificates to students as they finish each unit. They are so eager for their certificates that they are actually working. And demanding those certificates when they've finished. Even the most troublesome ones are engaged more than they had been. He has one class--Year 8-1--who are the most studious and motivated kids he's ever taught. "If I don't finish this in class, canI bring it home, sir?" He loves those guys. Sometimes he has to tell them to put their pencils down about 5 minutes before the end of class because he wants to chat with them.

Currently, as I write this, Mark is on a camping trip with the Year 7s. They went about an hour north on the coast to a Bush Camp/team building camp with about 150 12- and 13-year-olds and a handful of teachers. Mark was hopeful that this would be a good experience but was willing to go just to have the experience regardless. He is leaving me voice messages about what an amazingly well organized and executed adventure this is for the students and how much he is enjoying getting to know them better. He has done some of his own fear-facing this week, apparently, by jumping off and swinging from things from very high heights. I am hopeful that these few good days with these kids will generalize into the classroom some the rest of the year. Time will tell.

Outside of school, Mark is enjoying the time we are all together since he's not running to golf practice or golf tournaments or golf with his buddies. And we're enjoying being a foursome more often than ever before. He's tan from the beach, fit from his morning runs and very, very happy that our shipping FINALLY arrived only 8 weeks late because in that delivery were his bike and golf clubs. Hey, wait, does that mean we're not going to have him around so much anymore???

So, if you happen to have a moment, and you are so inclined, please put a good thought out there that Mark has just the right intuitive thought about who he is as a teacher in the classrooms of Australia. I'm enjoying my front row seat as I watch Mark adapt and adjust and possibly affect a nearly unbearable situation to turn it into an enjoyable and successful experience for himself and his students. We'll see!