My teaching career started in Barrie Ontario. It would take about 50 minutes travel time to St. Joseph Catholic High School, and approximately the same amount of time, return trip home in the late afternoon. I remember the price of fuel at that time was 37- 39 cents a litre, because I would usually refuel in Barrie. In the winter, with bad weather, it would of course take me longer travel time.
I did this for two years. Incidentally, the first year, I was still living with my parents, so the travel time was a bit more. The second year, Florinda and I lived in Thornhill for six years.
After, I interviewed for a job at Father Bressani Catholic High school in Woodbridge. This interview opportunity came from a contact at St. Joseph, a colleague mentioned to me that her brother-in-law was planning to leave Father Bressani, a member of the music department, and if I was interested in reducing my travel to Barrie, consider going for an interview. So, I did. My travel time was significantly reduced. When living in Thornhill, my travel time would be about 15 minutes, and with traffic, maybe 20 minutes. Then, we moved to Maple, and my travel time to Woodbridge involved slightly less distance and so, 12-15 minutes to travel time to school. I would travel to Woodbridge for the next fifteen years. Then, I interviewed at St. Elizabeth Catholic High School in 2003 for the Arts Deparment Head position. Again, this opportunity came about through connections with administrators who I had worked with and were now at St. Elizabeth. These colleagues thought I would be a good choice to fill the role since the new RAP (Regional Arts Programmer) was about to begin, year 1. My travel time is about 12-15 minutes each way. Well, the return trip is usually a bit longer due to traffic. That’s the big change I have noticed over the years - the traffic is so much more where we live!
I still consider myself very fortunate that my travel time to work has been and continues to be very nice to deal with. Compared to many other people who spend so much of their day on the road, dealing with traffic or distance, or both. I think it’s one of the reasons I stayed at the schools for so many years. Currently, I have some colleagues who travel for 60-90 minutes one way! Imagine the wear and tear on the vehicle, the cost of fuel, the emotional, mental and physical drain on our bodies!
Indeed, I have been very fortunate!
Friday, 26 January 2018
Saturday, 6 January 2018
I am interested in writing a music education method
I think I have some good approaches to learning music that can be shared in a small written book. Over the years, I have tested many good ideas that I feel have improved the music education experience for my students. It's a matter of compiling these ideas and arranging them, like a piece of music, into an organized form. I just need to get started. I think I have the theme of the introduction done in my head. So, stay tuned for more about this challenging project I have in mind for the near future.
Friday, 5 January 2018
When I started my teaching career . . . a comparison reflection
When I began full time teaching at St. Joseph's High School in Barrie Ontario back in 1986, there were no: 1) I-phones (recently the I-phone 10 was released) I should share the following observation about social media and comment on young people and their attraction or rather distraction to phones: a) the phone is certainly a real distraction in the classroom for students. In fact, I often witness during lessons, and even during performance rehearsals, student eyes “hooked” by their phones, which are located on the music stand. In addition, sometimes, some students even stop playing and immediately move their focus to their respective phones!; b) Over the years, I have observed young people walking (for example, in a mall) in a perfect horizontal line, each of the group of three friends talking on their respective phones and not engaged in conversation with the persons directly next to them! If anything, the phone has both brought people together (from great distances, now, this is fantastic, to be able to video converse with family across the world in real time and at no additional cost), and created a block - a barrier to real life interaction with someone, looking at them in the eye!
2) no video cameras for added security (today, one can control home security using their phone from long distances);
3) personal computers were just starting to gain attention (in fact, at St. Joseph's High School, I used an Apple IIe computer with a purchased MIDI Sound card which offered me 4 tracks to accompany a choir at liturgy celebrations! - keep in mind that MIDI technology had previously been introduced in 1983, and I was inspired!);
4) some of my colleagues were free to smoke cigarettes in the staff room, (today, students must be a prescribed distance from the school building, in fact, I think if students are under age, they are fined a substantial amount, even if they are located away from the school building);
5) all the men wore shirt and a tie, with some wearing a jacket also, (today, it's rare to find, however, I still wear a shirt and tie, everyday. I think it has helped me and continues to help me garner respect. Personally, I am a strong supporter of dressing professionally as a teacher. It's interesting in a Catholic School System, where students are expected to wear the school uniform, do make a strong point when they question a teacher's remarks about following school policy with respect to wearing the school uniform, when the teacher is wearing jeans himself? Are not teachers expected to be good role models?;
6) Fundamentals meant something of value back in the day. I mean, respect for human dignity, using appropriate language, really trying to demonstrate effort to improve, was noticed, (today, I think "laziness" or even perhaps entitlement is the replacement fundamental?);
7) There are way to many identified students - I mean, to me, it appears that these students are using these programs to take advantage of the system. So many students are offered modifications and adjustments to their individualized programs. I think it's ironic that these specialized approaches to learning, which are intended to help students to better cope with learning, in short, meeting their needs, is actually putting them at a disadvantage when they graduate and have to compete for placements or job opportunities; Further, It’s not acceptable to “fail” today! We have established teams of partners in education to help every student to succeed! We need to find ways to help lighten the load on students, to remove pressure situations, to help a student at “risk” better handle the challenges. When I entered this teaching profession way back, I think it was more acceptable to allow a student who was experiencing difficulty time to find his/her way to resolving problems. Yes, we offered suggestions and assistance, but there was space to allow the student to grow and try different strategies, and yes, in some instances, measures of success varied. Today, it’s so different. We remove the responsibility from the student and the adults carry the entire load, I think. The adults, administrators, teachers, parents appear to make the decisions and direct the young person to accept and follow! I think we will all agree that learning takes many forms and shapes, and occurs in most if not all insurances. The potential is there to experience, and sometimes, I wonder if we have taken away some meaningful growing experiences for our students because we expect them to succeed and not fail in any way. We applaud even the most mediocre effort and accomplishment, and give out awards just to encourage young people not to give up. Studies show that we learn the most when we are challenged. I fear that we try to take away challenges today in an effort to make life easier.
8) Way back when I started teaching full time, a student was challenged to develop skills and understanding; challenged to grow stronger after experiencing a failure. Today, parents intervene immediately when the sense a sign of trouble for their son / daughter, and the "soft" approach steps to resolve the problem is taken. The result of this, in my opinion, is that many students are not able to deal with challenges and even failure because they do not know how;
9) Back in the day, when I started teaching, there was more autonomy, more trust granted a teacher to arrange educational activities, experiment with creative ideas, and there was more flexibility. Today, it seems to me that everything is controlled: What you teach, how you are to teach it, how you are to evaluate; too many guidelines to follow;
10) It's too risky today to arrange excursions! Some students simply cannot be trusted and the blame will fall on the supervising teacher! The last excursion I completed was 2013, a great trip to Austria & Czech Republic;
11 Hiring practices and procedures have certainly changed. I remember the school Principal having much more power in hiring a teacher for their particular school. I remember mailing over 100 packages, addressed to the school Principal and school, seeking full time employment. It was challenging back then to retain a teaching job, but I think today, with all the guidelines and policies in place, it’s even more challenging to get a teaching position, even get a position on the supply list! Some would be teachers have to volunteer for years to even get a chance to get their name on a list for consideration, and many simply give up. Getting an interview is so very difficult today.
12) When I started full time teaching career, grade 13 existed and today, the curriculum has experienced so many changes, and continues to be under review, and many students opt to stay another year after grade 12 because they do not feel that they are ready for the next step.
I suppose there are many other comparisons that I can make. We all understand that change is inevitable, that we cannot and perhaps should not stop progress. Indeed, I have experienced a lot of change in education over the years. But, I think the changes have paralyzed us into a paranoia, where we suspect everything, question everything, and trust nothing. Oh yes, I believe that the destruction of the family unit took place when Sunday Shopping became a reality! That's another discussion for another day!
2) no video cameras for added security (today, one can control home security using their phone from long distances);
3) personal computers were just starting to gain attention (in fact, at St. Joseph's High School, I used an Apple IIe computer with a purchased MIDI Sound card which offered me 4 tracks to accompany a choir at liturgy celebrations! - keep in mind that MIDI technology had previously been introduced in 1983, and I was inspired!);
4) some of my colleagues were free to smoke cigarettes in the staff room, (today, students must be a prescribed distance from the school building, in fact, I think if students are under age, they are fined a substantial amount, even if they are located away from the school building);
5) all the men wore shirt and a tie, with some wearing a jacket also, (today, it's rare to find, however, I still wear a shirt and tie, everyday. I think it has helped me and continues to help me garner respect. Personally, I am a strong supporter of dressing professionally as a teacher. It's interesting in a Catholic School System, where students are expected to wear the school uniform, do make a strong point when they question a teacher's remarks about following school policy with respect to wearing the school uniform, when the teacher is wearing jeans himself? Are not teachers expected to be good role models?;
6) Fundamentals meant something of value back in the day. I mean, respect for human dignity, using appropriate language, really trying to demonstrate effort to improve, was noticed, (today, I think "laziness" or even perhaps entitlement is the replacement fundamental?);
7) There are way to many identified students - I mean, to me, it appears that these students are using these programs to take advantage of the system. So many students are offered modifications and adjustments to their individualized programs. I think it's ironic that these specialized approaches to learning, which are intended to help students to better cope with learning, in short, meeting their needs, is actually putting them at a disadvantage when they graduate and have to compete for placements or job opportunities; Further, It’s not acceptable to “fail” today! We have established teams of partners in education to help every student to succeed! We need to find ways to help lighten the load on students, to remove pressure situations, to help a student at “risk” better handle the challenges. When I entered this teaching profession way back, I think it was more acceptable to allow a student who was experiencing difficulty time to find his/her way to resolving problems. Yes, we offered suggestions and assistance, but there was space to allow the student to grow and try different strategies, and yes, in some instances, measures of success varied. Today, it’s so different. We remove the responsibility from the student and the adults carry the entire load, I think. The adults, administrators, teachers, parents appear to make the decisions and direct the young person to accept and follow! I think we will all agree that learning takes many forms and shapes, and occurs in most if not all insurances. The potential is there to experience, and sometimes, I wonder if we have taken away some meaningful growing experiences for our students because we expect them to succeed and not fail in any way. We applaud even the most mediocre effort and accomplishment, and give out awards just to encourage young people not to give up. Studies show that we learn the most when we are challenged. I fear that we try to take away challenges today in an effort to make life easier.
8) Way back when I started teaching full time, a student was challenged to develop skills and understanding; challenged to grow stronger after experiencing a failure. Today, parents intervene immediately when the sense a sign of trouble for their son / daughter, and the "soft" approach steps to resolve the problem is taken. The result of this, in my opinion, is that many students are not able to deal with challenges and even failure because they do not know how;
9) Back in the day, when I started teaching, there was more autonomy, more trust granted a teacher to arrange educational activities, experiment with creative ideas, and there was more flexibility. Today, it seems to me that everything is controlled: What you teach, how you are to teach it, how you are to evaluate; too many guidelines to follow;
10) It's too risky today to arrange excursions! Some students simply cannot be trusted and the blame will fall on the supervising teacher! The last excursion I completed was 2013, a great trip to Austria & Czech Republic;
11 Hiring practices and procedures have certainly changed. I remember the school Principal having much more power in hiring a teacher for their particular school. I remember mailing over 100 packages, addressed to the school Principal and school, seeking full time employment. It was challenging back then to retain a teaching job, but I think today, with all the guidelines and policies in place, it’s even more challenging to get a teaching position, even get a position on the supply list! Some would be teachers have to volunteer for years to even get a chance to get their name on a list for consideration, and many simply give up. Getting an interview is so very difficult today.
12) When I started full time teaching career, grade 13 existed and today, the curriculum has experienced so many changes, and continues to be under review, and many students opt to stay another year after grade 12 because they do not feel that they are ready for the next step.
I suppose there are many other comparisons that I can make. We all understand that change is inevitable, that we cannot and perhaps should not stop progress. Indeed, I have experienced a lot of change in education over the years. But, I think the changes have paralyzed us into a paranoia, where we suspect everything, question everything, and trust nothing. Oh yes, I believe that the destruction of the family unit took place when Sunday Shopping became a reality! That's another discussion for another day!
Tuesday, 2 January 2018
I started today
I started today to do some work for school, in preparation for next week's return to my teaching duties. In particular, I inserted marks using the program available on-line access, and completed some planning. I hope to continue tomorrow with another class, do some evaluation and begin preparations for CPT delivery. So, I am pleased that I have this additional holiday time to gradually ease myself back into the routine of education work. It's a different pace and not overwhelming at all. Thanks, the timing of this year's holiday schedule is nice, even though it is terribly cold outside.
Bye for now . . .
Bye for now . . .
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