Monday, Monday --- "Monday morning, you gave me no warning of what was to be..."

Today was my first "real" Monday on regular timetable, as last week, the first day of school, was not a "normal" Monday, so I had no warning of what a full Monday would be like. It was a marathon day, without a prep period, and it was full of surprises from beginning to end. Add a staff meeting to the end of the day, a hungry, yet ill-feeling Micaela to keep me company on the way home, every pub from here to nowhere closed on a Monday night (reminiscent of many, many years ago in Massachusetts where restaurants were not often open on Mondays) and another day of not arriving in Gilwern until past 6:30 p.m., and you have the makings of a very long Monday, Monday!



First, it started with Form Tutor and registration. Time in which I am required to check each child's homework diary to make certain that their parents have signed it. I am also to sign each diary and read any notes that may have been made by parents concerning their children and then respond briefly in acknowledgement, and if necessary follow up with any concerns that have been expressed. During this time I am also to take the register, pass out any flyers or make any announcements and also send children out of the class is they have been requested to be elsewhere. Because I also dropped the ball last week with my Year 7 English and forgot to have them choose a free book from a library program, I also needed to get that done. Needless to say, I was trying to juggle a million different things at a time and the students who needed to go for their academic testing did not get sent out because I was still doing my housekeeping chores. For some reason it just all seemed very chaotic.



I am still adjusting to the 20 minute "homeroom" and then the "registration" period that occurs again after lunch...and all the clerical issues that are dealt with a bit differently here, than at NHS. At NHS school wide announcements are done all at the same time over the intercom,(for those of you confused by Miss Sheppard's use of the word "tannoy", I believe she is referring to a British manufacturer of loudspeaker systems- I too had to look that one up) computerized attendance is done at the start of each lesson throughout the entire day,(not kept in a teacher diary) which also provides instant access to know if a child is cutting a class, absence lists are no longer generated on paper, and the Pledge of Allegiance is done daily along with a moment of silence. I actually miss the flag in my classroom and saying the Pledge daily.



I also received a good lesson in the stereotypical tough British school master who requires complete obeyance with the rules. I will affectionately call this person, Bill Nye the Science Guy. (For those of you who don't know, Bill Nye is a popular, Public Broadcast System ((PBS)) Emmy Award winning children's television show where children learn all about science - see the link below.) Now, I have had some interactions with this teacher, and overall I would classify him as a pleasant, helpful, and amiable chap; Micaela loves his science lessons! So when he entered my classroom this morning and wanted to speak with the class I graciously gave him the floor. Hence, I was rather shocked when I experienced, along with my little Year 7 students, his "wrath", albeit perhaps an alter-ego, over late exercise books with the past week's homework assignments and a very severe and stern warning not be late with them again. Apparently the little people are expected to turn in their exercise books on Monday mornings before 9 a.m. While I realize that Bill Nye the Science Guy was "acting" intimidating, in order to scare the little peanuts into never being late again - it worked - even I was scared. To add to that, I had just finished reading a note from a "mum" indicating that her child was overly obsessing with his homework and fretting over not getting it right, as a result fearing getting into trouble, to which the last words in this note were, "that's just not quite right." I responded by saying, "no worries, we will do everything we can to help Student X"; and I had assured Student X he would not get in trouble for having problems with his homework... and then Bill Nye the Science Guy arrived and the little peanut cried.



I have been asked often if I think that American high schools are a lot more relaxed than English high schools...after today I would like to say yes, but that's only the surface. I think that it is hard to compare the atmosphere of Fairfield with NHS - both being quite different and dealing with quite different age groups, socio-economic groups, and ethnic groups and having much different social/cultural influences upon the environments. To add to that are the inate differences in expectations that are inbred within the two school climates. The above scenario, as illustrated, while perhaps unexpected on my end, was not so unexpected for the students, as this "stereotypical" behavior is often times part of building responsibility in these students, and even what adults educated here have often come to expect. I can clearly picture in my head, the above scenario taking place in Northbridge and the parents immediately placing phone calls to the teacher, principal and probably anyone else who would listen, along with a teacher/parent meeting, etc. Perhaps in some respects, the authority of the classroom teacher as strict disciplinarian is more respected here, in the United Kingdom, than at home. Perhaps that is why, while we would often like to employ much stricter methods of behavior management, we do not, for fear of reprimand or parent complaints. Perhaps, our society in the U.S. has usurped the discipline ability from our teachers, as even many parents don't have the authoritarian gumption to discipline their own children. I have been told that even talkative students have occasionally been required to copy pages from the dictionary as their form of "punishment". In America, this might be classified as "old school", as our methods of discipline would more closely involve after school and break detentions for minor infractions, to in-school suspensions and out-of school suspensions for the most major of infractions.




Overall I think that perhaps the discipline policies and procedures may be much stricter at NHS, than at Fairfield, if not for the sole reason than that there are 800 students at NHS and stricter policies must be in place in order to maintain a safe and orderly climate to learn in. Students at NHS must have passes to be out of class at any given time. Students are required to have passes in order to enter classes late. Backpacks, jackets, drinks, ipods, and cellphones are not be allowed in the classess; some of which are also true here at Fairfield.



Regarding dress codes and attendance procedures, forms of address to teachers, entering and exiting classrooms, and entering and exiting assemblies, it is much stricter and more formal here at Fairfield. Although I think that the "bell system" at NHS keeps everything running on a strict timetable, with a very specific "passing" time being built into the bell schedule which is quite necessary when moving 800 students from one class to another at the same time.



Here at Fairfield, the bell may ring a few minutes early, or a few minutes late, and then students are only allowed to leave when the teacher allows them too, as a result, often times I find that my little Year 7's are still "packing up" and the Year 11's may already be at the door waiting to come in. Part of this is my continuing adjustment to watching the clock and making certain that I am remaining on task and thus the lesson will end when it should. At home I am not conscious of watching the clock so much. Sometimes I have been surprised by a bell that rings a few minutes early. Later I was given a good piece of advice from Mel, "the bell is for you, not for the students"...now a new mantra...especially with the older students, to whom I have stated that very line to several times this past week; especially when they are anxious to get to lunch or break.



In the area of homework and getting it done there are many differences. I think, from what I have seen, and from what Micaela is doing, American high schoolers get much more homework - I think, however, the accountability for getting that homework completed may be somewhat lax for American high schoolers.



This is why I say that, first, the Year 7 students would not be in an American high school. They are too young and thus would be in a Middle School. Historically, the concept of a middle school is conscious about building self-esteem during the years from 5th grade to 8th grade (Year 6 to Year 9), so to be so strict over missing homework is not usually something you would find in a middle school. If students that age were to forget or be late with their homework they would get a gentle reminder to get their homework in by the end of the day, or the next day, and encouraged to try not to be late again. Eventually, if this problem persists calls home would be made and harsher reprimands or detentions would probably be issued.
Second, if American high school students, the ages of the students I normally teach at home, which range from 15 to 18 years old, were to be late with their homework or just not do it, there would be consequences that would affect their ultimate term and year end grades because they would recieve zeros for the assignment. Nothing else need be done. Although to clarify, missing homework, in and of itself would not be enough to bring a students grade to "failing", it would, however be enough to reward a student for excellent effort and thus raise a B+ to an A-.

High school students, in both countries, are expected to take responsibility for their own achievement and to get their homework done, the processes of creating this expectation is much different. My trick at home is to check homework randomly, which usually encourages students to get it all done because they never know when I may count it in their grade. That way it is a reward system, which can help your grade, and not just provide a penalty for missed or incomplete homework. Homework is usually not "graded" for right or wrong answers, as, since it is homework, it should be expected that mistakes will be made. Some courses, such as math may "grade" homework, but I generally do not in my English classes, I just want to see that some effort has been made to get it done.
Hence, my frustration today with two of my classes, opposite ends of the age groups, who did not complete their homework and thus, in the case of the Year 10 students, were unprepared to present their power point shows in class. In fact, 5 out of 10 groups were not prepared. Don't get me wrong, I am not criticizing the students here as opposed to students at NHS, I am sure that the same preparedness ratio would have been true at home too, (in fact, I am positive of that, especially with some groups of students) however, the difference is in the "assessment" of the task as homework - or in the case of a final powerpoint presentation, a test grade. What exactly does one do to "penalize" students who do not complete their homework and are not prepared for classes since there is no "grade"to give; and vice versa how does one reward students who do get their homework done? Ultimatley, I am sure it will affect their final assessment on their final essay product, both positively and negatively, but in the moment what does one do?


My reaction was to say, "you're going to get a zero for the work, " but that has no affect here, since "zero" doesn't really exist. Mrs. Young suggested that other teachers make students stay during their lunch to complete the homework, (an option that would not be available at home, since students cannot be kept from their lunch as a punishment -only their 15 minute break) and I'm sure, even further than that, is the option of assigning a "detention" for not having the work complete. Although, I have learned that an after-school detention is reserved for rather serious offences, as letters must be sent home to parents and there is a process to issueing them; hence another difference. An after-school detention at home, would still be classified as a "minor offense" - class disruptions such as overly talkativeness, repeatedly being unprepared for class, minor disrespect and no letters must be sent home, a simple 24 hour notice will suffice. My personal philosophy, especially with high school students, is that I should not be inconvenienced because they were remiss with their homework. In the end, being at a loss this time, I sternly reprimanded them for not having their homework and not being prepared to present, expressed disappointment in their lack of responsibility and warned them that if it were to happen again they would indeed miss their lunch or get a detention, the only real options I seemed left with at the time, and the seemingly acceptable practice at Fairfield, (or in the case of after school detention, not really). Learning curve... that was a "rookie" experience we were often warned about while preparing for this exchange, as indeed I had this issue well in hand many, many years ago.

Later, there were the little tikes, Year 7's, who did not have their "trees" in hand for the family tree project. While I was prepared for a few students who may not have been prepared, I was not prepared for over half. Despite notes in homework diaries and typed notes home explaining the task. Again, stern warnings about not having homework, threats of detentions, but not with so much toughness as Bill Nye, because that's just not me. So - some quick thinking and I improvised with drawings of trees, and once again the "learning curve" hit full force, in dealing with so many ability levels at this very young age; a project which I thought would take one lesson, will probably take two lessons. I am also finding it very difficult to deal with the four or five students who need constant reinforcement, redirection, and specific assistance to accomplish what is a seemingly simple task - but that is my "high school" brain talking...and I need to shift to the middle school brain for this particular group and get to their level and their time table...it really is not a very easy thing to do after so many years of teaching the older student.

On a lighter note - as Micaela and I were eating our not so wonderful dinner in a local pub... accompanied by a terrier named Gaspod who feverently laid near our table and began to lick himself, and not having too many appetizing items on the menu to choose from, (Liver & Onions, Stuffed Hearts of Sheep, etc...) finally settling on lasagna (not the kind we make at home) and pan-fried chicken with chips - seemingly, safe choices; most likely cooked in the kitchen of the family living quarters, - I learned an interesting thing. For an entire week, outside of not actually making it to break time until the end of the week, I kept wondering, where the "flapjacks" were. Even when I wandered down the past two days, I could not figure out why I kept missing the "flapjacks, and all there seemed to be was a platter of cookie bar type treats - sort of like a combination between a rice krispie treat and a warm granola bar; but where the heck were the "flapjacks"??? Apparently, Micaela, having had a conversation with another teacher earlier on Monday, learned that teachers are treated to "flapjacks" at break time...and in her earnest enthusiasm asked, "You get pancakes at break time?" - to which the teacher responded with a description of the above type treats. We both had a good laugh over that one, as all this time I have been enjoying the flapjacks afterall!

Monday, Monday ...so good to me.

http://www.billnye.com/