Journal entry by Al Negstad — a minute ago
Today I returned to school after a week's absence. The enthusiastic reception I received was heart warming. 3rd and 4th graders were on the schedule so tomorrow it will be 5th and 6th. The principal is gone this week for some meeting. There are many meetings, much record keeping and bureaucracy. Unfortunately the pedagogy is not helpful and there is much that leans against good teaching. Three of the student teachers were at the university this morning and will be gone again tomorrow. One of them is the de-facto 5th grade teacher in lieu of a certified teacher. Therefore, that class had no teacher for the morning because substitutes are never used. Each time I passed by their room the students were sitting quietly at their desks apparently working on something. Perhaps the most discouraging thing is that the students teachers are not bringing better teaching techniques. An example of this is one of the student teachers was assigned the task of teaching first grade for an hour. She brought them to the assembly room, sat them on the floor, and spoke to (at) them with a microphone. Throughout the day teachers wander the building on various tasks or can be seen sitting at their desks in their classroom not engaged with the students. A general lackadaisical attitude permeates the school.
In a recent blog I wrote about the speaker trucks that roam the streets. Today one parked on the school parking lot facing the school 25, yards away, speakers blasting at full volume. It sat like that while I was trying to teach 3rd grade. After about 15, minutes it drove away. Perhaps I am just too noise sensitive but all the classroom doors are open, 2, to a room, all facing the parking lot...it was loud. Maybe Thai have hearing loss from all the noise and that's why they talk so loud.
Recommended Reading: I just finished Educated, Tara Westover, it's a memoir, and writing it was a part of her healing process. She was raised by fundamentalist, survivalist, Mormons in Idaho. The combination of love and extreme control, complicated by an abusive older brother, left her with extensive internal conflict. She's brilliant, was accepted to BYU at age seventeen, although she never attended school and homeschooling was almost non-existent. The story is gripping and a page turner. My take is that she suffered from PTSD and her writing effectively illustrates that inner turmoil. Have any of you read it? If so please comment.
Blessings,
Al
The picture is of the Eureka Tower in Melbourne, 975 feet high, with the southern hemisphere's highest viewing platform. The skydeck is a glass cube that projects ten feet out 285 meters high. We weren't allowed to take pictures in it because they went to sell theirs. People on the walks below looked very small through the glass floor on which we were instructed not to jump.
In a recent blog I wrote about the speaker trucks that roam the streets. Today one parked on the school parking lot facing the school 25, yards away, speakers blasting at full volume. It sat like that while I was trying to teach 3rd grade. After about 15, minutes it drove away. Perhaps I am just too noise sensitive but all the classroom doors are open, 2, to a room, all facing the parking lot...it was loud. Maybe Thai have hearing loss from all the noise and that's why they talk so loud.
Recommended Reading: I just finished Educated, Tara Westover, it's a memoir, and writing it was a part of her healing process. She was raised by fundamentalist, survivalist, Mormons in Idaho. The combination of love and extreme control, complicated by an abusive older brother, left her with extensive internal conflict. She's brilliant, was accepted to BYU at age seventeen, although she never attended school and homeschooling was almost non-existent. The story is gripping and a page turner. My take is that she suffered from PTSD and her writing effectively illustrates that inner turmoil. Have any of you read it? If so please comment.
Blessings,
Al
The picture is of the Eureka Tower in Melbourne, 975 feet high, with the southern hemisphere's highest viewing platform. The skydeck is a glass cube that projects ten feet out 285 meters high. We weren't allowed to take pictures in it because they went to sell theirs. People on the walks below looked very small through the glass floor on which we were instructed not to jump.
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