minimalist

after walking through this school after lunch countless times i'm used to the routine. the children pack up their things and head to their after school program, some are even in the school. in these classrooms monitors and materials that are stowed in the back of the class set aside for these programs. meanwhile i'm in a library where ottomans are desks, the curriculum is on scraps of paper that change day to day, and there isn't a textbook in sight.

i remember when i was given the reigns to teach an afternoon class all by myself. i was ecstatic. on my schedule i was so optimistic that in november i planned an independent novel study. reality has sunk in. even the word novel is something lost in this learning environment but i have accepted these discouraging facts. i'm an esl teacher not a language arts teacher at some prestigious middle school in southern ontario. teachers and admin have not granted me any sort of advice or goal for my afternoon classes, thus, i'm doing what ever i feel like which is coaching these kids to not only read but understand what they're reading.

do i need a smart board? do i need a textbook? do i need a fucking curriculum to teach children? no, but sometimes i wish i could reward them with youtube videos on a big screen. i'll admit worksheets have been overused as have shared and group readings but when there's nothing cool and educational inspiration doesn't kick me in the teeth. in the beginning i only had a plethora of books-- 80% about drivel they couldn't understand-- and a whiteboard the size of a monopoly junior board which was the glue to having instructions and examples for my little learners. only recently did i find a half-busted whiteboard in the garbage heap of a resource room. now life is significantly better because i'm not crammed for writing space.

for the record i'm not venting about my lack of resources i'm just enlightening you, the reader, that education doesn't ride on flash and jazz. it helps in some cases but its founded on the questions you ask and the discussions you have about the answers. these kids are learning about plot and inferences, countless times in the beginning kids would pull words off the page and use it as their answer. that didn't fly with me, paraphrasing isn't a word my co-teachers know so i've had to get my students to paraphrase by talking about pictures and the bare bones of our scholastic and hello reader products. most of them are fighting with this and now some are starting to win and its nice to see. after my first class of grades 3-4 storytelling, as we call it, seeing the product is like watching the sun rising in the west.

and i've done that with creativity and hard work on both sides of the worksheet. after being in teacher's college with a smart board in every room, then the same deal in my first placement i realized that teaching can be low maintenance and easy to get kids involved. my second placement was in a low-end toronto school with little extra-curricular activities and zero spending money. i was stuck using overheads, worksheets, and writing notes on a 'black'board. reality sank in that equal education doesn't exist in ontario. mind you the professionals i met on my second placement could teach circles around those smart board technicians. still, there isn't an educational equality. i'm still not the best but getting these opportunities to be a minimalist teacher is so helpful because the world isn't perfect: power surges, computer malfunctions, misplaced flash drives happen to the best of us. its always nice to have mediums other than pen to paper and a voice (lemon juice helps with that issue) but warming up to this job with minimal resources benefits, and preserves, what makes someone a good teacher. i mean c'mon, who needs a shift key especially if you're doing an editing workshop?