Settling In

I’m alive. I survived. But not all is done.

The first week of teaching practice has finished and I’m beginning to get comfortable with the student & teaching atmosphere at St Thomas of Canterbury College. Questions such as “Why am I here?”; “What am I doing?”; “Have I made the right choice?”; and “Where’s the washroom?” have not surfaced since I asked them on day one. I think I’ll do quite well for the next 6 weeks.

The classes I’m assisting are: Year 9 Social Studies; Year 10 Social Studies and Music; Year 11 English, Music, and History. Also, my schedule gives me several spare periods to relax or prepare upcoming lessons. So far, I haven’t been assigned a lesson to teach but I’m expecting that to happen next week. I’ll be ready & waiting. I was surprised to discover the music building to be heavily equipped with instruments and sound editing devices. The music department is better equipped than the music program back in my Catholic high school. There are 2 drum sets, many keyboards & guitars, as well as a small recording studio! I should ask the music teacher to travel to Ontario to be a music lobbyist for the schools over there. I jammed on the upright pianos and discovered they were better tuned than the pianos at the College!

The teenage boys are quite energetic, or should I say teenage Kiwis? I should have written earlier that the slang term for New Zealander is Kiwi. The term arose from WWI; New Zealand soldiers wore the Kiwi bird (national symbol) on their uniform as a form of identity. In Canada’s case, the Maple Leaf won over the beaver. There’s something else I find interesting about Christchurch Kiwis: they always say ‘Thank you’ when getting off the bus. It gives me the impression that it’s the law. Canadians mostly express their thanks in silence.

Like all schools, every class has its troublemaker(s), class clown(s), dedicated learner(s), gossiper(s), and everyone in the middle. There are times when you just want to give the troublemakers a verbal/physical piece of your mind but you quickly remind yourself not to take it personally. It’s all a game of who’s going to cave in first. The small Kiwis are testing the limits of your backbone and you can’t give in. In my case, I did my best not to raise my voice when a student was acting out of line. So far, I haven’t had a direct challenge to my authority from students. The students are curious about my origins and confused about how to pronounce my last name. I’m sure they’ll think of a nickname: maybe Mr. D? Overall, my students’ act okay but there is the occasional outburst or two; must be from too much sugar at breakfast. When it comes to appearance I noticed three distinct hairstyles among the boys: mullets, mushroom cuts, and spike mohawks for the Maori students.

What immediately stood out when I began my teaching practice was the information sharing among teaching staff. All staff members have a booklet that lists students with learning disabilities and ways to assist. That would never fly back in Ontario where confidentiality is intense. I suppose there is some privacy because the booklet doesn’t provide pictures. Also, during morning meetings, problems with certain students are openly announced & discussed in general context; no details are provided. I don’t think the same happens back at home because information is only shared by those involved. Everyone else just learns about it when the problem is long over through word of mouth during lunch or at the water cooler.

Before teaching practice began, the student teachers realized that they were being split up and sent to different schools alone or in small groups, meaning we wouldn’t see each other. It was decided that we would meet at Dux de Lux, a restaurant, bar & grill in downtown on Friday evenings. Apparently, we miss each other. When we assembled today, I was reminded of how big our group was because we took up quite a number of tables. We ordered drinks and appetizers, and talked about surviving Week 1. From what I gathered from everyone, they were all having fun, coping with their students, and even had a chance to teach. A couple of the male teachers already had a few female admirers!

It wasn’t until I arrived that I realized I forgot my ID. Back in Canada I was always asked to show ID when ordering alcoholic drinks. I mentioned it openly and several of my friends replied just to go in and order with confidence because they weren’t ID’d. So I went to the bar, doing my best to act & appear over 18 and steering the bartender away from asking for ID. Luck was with me because I got the beer I wanted! When I got back to the table I saw that one of my friends had bought me a beer because of my problem. Long story short, I couldn’t finish two glasses (I’m a lightweight, so sad), so he had to.

Everyone wished each other good luck on the upcoming week and to be back at Dux de Lux next Friday. We all parted our separate ways with confident smiles on our faces. I think we’ll all make it through the teaching practice with positive results.

If I need to take a vacation after my teaching practice, an ad at the nearby bus stop gave me an interesting suggestion.