A conflicted teacher

The end of the schoolyear comes with many challenges: mountains to climb and oceans to cross. It is also however, the moment we say goodbye to the students that have managed to pass their exams and graduate highschool. At our school, the actual graduation ceremony is a marathon more than a sprint. We have three nights, one night for each of our units, and each night brings its own unique moments.  Tonight, I attended the graduation ceremony of our vocational education unit. I taught two of those classes in their first two years of school and although they probably don't remember me at this point, I definitely remember them. Ofcourse, whether you teach them for all of their high school career, or just one measly year, there's simply something special about watching students receive their diplomas. So, if I know the kids I always try to attend the ceremonies, to bask in the euphoria of their succes.  And euphoria really is the right word for it, not only theirs, or their parents&

 `I touch the future I teach` Christa McAuliffe  Two weeks ago I called in sick to work. I hadn´t been sleeping much, had already cried twice that week, and the idea of having to go into work gave me actual anxiety. I stayed home for two days, and spent most of the first day in my bed. The second day I got up, went for a swim and then I made quite an impromptu stop.  I´m sure I´ve mentioned this before, but when I was eleven I had a mentor, let's call him Tim, who was (to quote Mary Poppins) 'practically perfect in every way'. Aside from the fact he taught math ofcourse, but I promised to never hold that against him. It will come as no suprise to some of you that I was a loudmouthed, sarcastic kid, even at the tender age of eleven. I masked my insecurities by being the loudest person in the room and I faked confidence every single day. Life at home wasn't always fun, I think it never really is for a lot of teenagers, and so I would often hang out at school after class

 "Death by a thousand cuts"   Form of torture and execution practiced in Imperial China  A new year, a new me. Or well, a new year and the same old me that has issues and feels the need to write about these issues as a form of therapy.  Today I would like to explore some of the ways the Dutch education system screws over children from underprivileged backgrounds. The first, and most important way (to me personally at least) is the insane decision to divide children into educational levels at the age of twelve and to then have these 'levels' decide their entire fricking futures. This process goes against every single thing we know to be pedagogically correct. Because we know that people's brains do not finish developing until the ripe age of twenty six. Fifteen years after the government deems it appropriate for children to be placed on an educational track that will forever decide what kind of opportunities they will be given throughout their lives. We also know t

 `It takes a village...` African proverb  It takes a village to raise a child is a proverb that, when you work in education, is what we affectionately call ´een dooddoener´ (in Dutch) or a cliché (if you prefer the word the English and Dutch stole from the French). Hell, we even have this hanging on the wall of our teachers lounge so that we can all stare at it and realise how hard it is to raise children. Which, I am not disagreeing with! However, I would like to talk about the other side of this proverb, which goes a little like this: 'It takes a village to keep a teacher sane.'  You see, as a teacher you do not work alone. There is no bubble, no deserted island. A school is indeed, like a village, wherein everyone plays their part in order to ensure that the community thrives. And yes, everyone is there for the children. But as a teacher, I would like to shed some light on the incredible amount of work school support staffers do on a regular basis, that keeps us (teachers)

 `Reality is a question of perspective´ Salman Rushdie  Sometimes we all get stuck. I see it happen to my students all the time. They have a certain way of looking at something, and they are unable to look at it from a different angle. It's like one of those drawings where when you look at it you either see a duck or a fox. But once you've seen the duck? You can never ever unsee it.  The trick of course, is to change your perspective, to take a step back and look at the problem from another angle, in other words: change your approach. But, this is easier said that done. Our brains are funny things and stubborn to boot, and not just our brains, our behaviors too! We don't like changing course once we've set out to do something, or at least I certainly don't. It takes something radical, something completely different to change my perspective once I have gotten truly stuck. Today, serves as an excellent example, for it was an unbelieveably hellish day due to many reas

  "No significant learning can occur without a significant relationship" James P. Comer When reading any literature written on the topic of teaching after 1990 you will find that a good relationship with your students is seen as the succes to teaching. By putting in the effort and building a relationship with your students you ensure that they are more likely to listen and more willing to learn from you. This is why, in teacher training, aspiring teachers are told time and again to invest in their bond with the students. Both teachers and teachers-to-be have endless ways of doing so, ranging from journaling, to informal talks in the hallways, to ensuring that in-class activities focus on the interest of the students. However, one thing is rarely mentioned, and that is the importance of showing your students who you are, not as a teacher, but as a human being .  I was eleven when I first went to high school and the first teacher I ever encountered, my mentor, who was also a ma