It is been rough and tough and it is been a great adventure and also lots of fun…I have had that one school year that many of us once in a while you have…the one that comes along every few years…the one that you just hope will not pop up unexpected…the one that just makes you wonder why in the world you did sign up for education…yip…I had the dreaded one year at work. Now before you are jumping to conclusions do not get any ideas that this is anything to with having to deal with little monsters and helicopter dads and/or tiger mums. Nope nothing of that kind.
Rather picture Stallie having to just let go all her plans she made and live from a day to day basis. Expect the worse, hope for the best wa my mantra at most days. Believe me that it has been quite an eventful year in which I just did imagine things a bit different. And although I am a Capricorn and can not always deal that well with change I do consider myself rather experienced enough to deal with the ins&outs of an academic year. Still…there are the exceptional years that kind push me to the limits…and so I have been trying to summarise it in a nice way what I have been facing and all I can come up with is the word ‘an eventful year with many challenges’.
That one TO DO-list I made at the beginning of the year with all my aspirations and hopes and wishes that I had for my department I mentally binned within three weeks in. Oh yes, I had hoped that perhaps things would end up going smoother once Oktober would show up on the calendar but it turned out that I just had to go with the flow. The thing is that due to this that all the other things that happened within this year I not fully got to enjoy.
Work high jacked me and it made me go a bit in overdrive mentally. Yes, I was fully aware that the first year without U would be tough. Still I had no idea that it would force me to end up doing things that made me feel a bit out of control. Plus that I seemed to have the impression that many around me just expected me to just get on with it. What I did but it took a lot of energy from me and even made me wonder if I was doing things wrong.
This school year I have been dealing with hormones that make me rather feel like an out of control teenager in combination with having to mentor. I felt a bit as if I was walking on thin ice on a daily basis and with climate change you do know that falling through is always a possibility. Stallie tried very hard to keep her mood going strong but I have lost it more than once and nope I am not proud of that. What surprised me the most was that I had imagined that I could deal with this but ended up having more than once a kind of ‘crash and burn’- sensation rather than walking on top of the world.
Privately I therefor ended up just filling up my weekends with the things that needed to get done and trying to reload my batteries before going back in. That some teachers give up and suddenly decide that they need to quit I totally get. The thing is that I am also proud of myself that I did get through it in one piece. I might have some tears and feel as if every drop of energy got squeezed out of my system but …I am still standing.
That I love my job and especially the young minds is what keeps me going strong. Yes, I had this year some challenging kids but looking over my shoulders I can even state that I did manage to connect with each one in a positive manner. Yes, these moments are energy boosts and this year I had a lot of successes inside of the classroom that I am very proud of. That I did manage to get some children do get on with their work even when they first were very reluctant. Oh yes, I had to express once in a while that I was disappointed or even felt a bit less hopeful. That is the nature of the beast that I am.
Oh yes, those moments have kept me going and never ever forsake why I still think that teaching and education are what makes me fully committed to the one shot I get at being alive. Yes, I have been saying this over and over again but it are school years as this that will make me extremely happy that I did that one day in July after failing many exams during my first year at uni decided to change majors and even colleges.
It is one of the first impactful decisions I ever made and I had to wait for a very long time that my dad understood why I did refuse to go back. It is been the path that I had chosen to walk on all by myself and hoping that it would bring me happiness, joy and also lots of hope. Hope that could make the difference on a rainy day or even stormy week or month. There have been many joyful teaching moments but honestly it is are mostly the ones that are also take you by total surprise. After all these years that I have been spending on the teaching grounds I still underestimate what the impact of a teacher can be. Oh yes, I even have one of these rather cliché teaching quotes illustrated by Mary Engelbreit in my office standing on a filing cabinet. Still..these quotes make me sometimes wonder if they have just been created for the sake of them. There is so much that makes my job very challenging and not that straight forward that questioning them is not that hard.
The thing is that there are these very extra ordinary times that your students just take your off guard when they share with you that one thing that makes your heart beat faster. This year it was the moment that one of my Year 4 learners came to see me while I was get packed for the next lesson:’C, do you know what…I went to a ice cream place this weekend.’ Me:’Oh really, did you have fun.’ There was a part of me who was rather thinking about my so needed coffee/toilet break and was heading for the door but then this happened. ‘C, I ordered my ice cream in Dutch.’ When I looked up in was staring in the face of a child with the biggest smile you can imagine. ‘Oh wow…well done!’, I replied and within me there was a very intense and warm feeling brewing. ‘My parents were not able to do so but I was.’, the student added. ‘How did that make you feel?’, I asked the student. ‘Happy…’,was the reply. ‘Hey..give me a high five I added.’, and we touched hands and before I knew the student skipped with a happy step.
While heading for my coffee I felt so alive and connected with what I always wanted to be and hoped to be for the ones I have under buy educational wings. That it after more than 25 years still happens and that I do seem to get students to use what they learn inside a classroom in a different setting and without me being around makes me feel rather proud but foremost very happy. The transfer of skills is a very important step in the learning process and that students share this moment with me makes me feel very connected with them and at the same time I feel grounded.
No…it has not been the school year I had planned for and and I had to deal with a lot of big and even some rather unexpected change. I am very tired and and I need this break even more than I needed it the last few years and yes I look very much forward to being nobody’s teacher for a few weeks. I am very much looking forward to my summer read stack and I can’t wait to try out a few new cocktail recipes. And at the same time I already look forward to the next academic school year…The best way to describe it is that I am about to the throw off the warm and cozy blanket that I got used to having wrapped around me while being out there in class rooms and being on campus and looking forward to trying a new one that withholds many surprises.
I wish all my fellow colleagues and teaches around the globe who have their summer break heading their way a great a rejuvenating break. You all deserved..there is no doubt about that! After all now it is your turn to do some transfer of skills out side the classroom. Have fun…and please wear sun screen!
Sweet Italian delights…crispy layers of tingling memories that cover up your heart ‘La vita é dolce!’, Italians whisper in the sweet perfume that lingers around many majestic towers during summer. Scopes of luscious gelato, a piece of crispy tarte della nonna, numerous bottles of vino rosso to fill up your glass Every bite or sip turns into a voyage to something beyond No word that can describe what it feels like and tastes within when it hits your core It feels lighter than anything that you ever have experienced
You are mesmerised by the effect and wish it to be everlasting and never-ending You suddenly feel hypnotised and wonder why you never noticed how deep this sense can travel You desperately hope that this is not just a split second but rather a sensation that will last a life time You pick up every single item delicately and keep your senses open wide You close your eyes and produce sounds that spill it all but only can be heard when you put your ear close to mine You look upon the sky and hope to find there the secret recipe that you have been looking for ages You open your eyes and look around to see if anyone is around who feels exactly like you do;
But then it hits you…
It is a false pretence to say that life is ‘dolce’ when it suddenly turns out to be rather bittersweet There is a lot to be told about those dishes that rather taste as if someone has poured sadness into them. Salt and pepper seem to have an advantage over vanilla, rosewater, orange blossoms and violet candies. The sharpness of these spices open up the rough side of your pallet The part within your life that cuts deep and leave behind salty marks They extinguish in no time when you have tried to sugar coat so many times with cinnamon and cardamon Without no doubt you feel out of sync and you do wonder if it al was just a delusion
All the lemons, raspberries and apricots are suddenly a life time away and you do long to be back in the shadow of the towers of San Gimignano
It is there that you have left behind that one memory that you now long for Deep down you do know that you have to let go and and give in to the salt and pepper aftertaste the cooking time it deserves but not without first trying to travel back to the exact moment that life all seemed perfect bliss and that every scoop of gelato withhold that one secret flavour that you just hoped to keep closer to your heart.
More and more I wonder if this is the dish that I was only once granted to order… The aftertaste lingers around in my beloved memories…
Tonight I guess it is time for another scoop of ‘sorbetto al limone' in the hope to get as close as I can to that city filled up with towers in Tuscany where I tasted life at the fullest.
La vita é dolce quando é la perfetta…anche se fosse solo per un secondo!
P.S.: I have posted this today after been writing but not posting anything for a long time because I kind of lost my spark to do so...for sharing my writing with other feeling that in the end it are just my thoughts and my opinions but today a 87 year old one did ask me why I still do not just keep doing what I like doing and stop worrying about others might think about what I write. Today I said goodbye to this exceptional lady who showed me in deeds that life is something you only get one go at and that you have to make it count. She is the one who told me one day that she loves my writing and that I need to keep on writing no matter what. Aunt M this one is for you...after all it was a bittersweet moment having to say goodbye to you knowing it was the final time before you exchange this life for what comes after it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you have done and said...it matters it still maters...
So…I ruined Christmas and the thing is that I just could not prevent it doing so. Oh, yes I have felt totally run down before at this time and I have been dealing with the cliché meltdowns that tend to come along with filled up stores and parking lots of supermarkets. In the past I have always managed to deal with these and adding them up to my list of Christmas preparations. There is so much that can make me loose it and make me wonder if kind and patient Stallie moved to the Nord pole for the Christmas season. No surprises and not that I never try to be ahead of the game…I do but there is only as much as you can do and this year I found out.
I had been planning ahead of time all those things that you can and yes I did once again postpone the giftshopping but it also helped me to save out money and that is then what I rather would call a win-win situation. One other thing that I ended up doing this season was making my holiday wreath instead of having my lovely friend H designing it. I had fun making it with lovely friends and having a lovely glass of bubbly but that almost sums it up. A few days ago I even asked my two beloved men to throw it out. They looked at me if as I had lost it but hey can you blame me knowing that I just don’t feel Christmas inside of me. Of course they refused but next year it will be H again who will have her wreath decorating our home.
Now if this would have been all I had rather regrets about, then this would have been fine but about one week before we were to break up for the Christmas Hols I started to feel a bit under the weather. I did try to fight back and I even did spend one day on the sofa and did rest up in the hope to fool the Christmas Gringe. For a few days I felt rather fine although I did not attend a few of the annual Christmas get togethers because of feeling still a bit less upbeat and also having to deal with something at home that just took up all my mental space. Christmas shopping was being delayed and I did not ended up going to one of the Christmas markets. Just to be on the safe side… and my mental sanity.
When I then finally ended up in the seat of my hairdressers for my blow out and styling for Christmas Eve and Day festivities I felt okay and all the boxes on my to do list where almost ticked. Last minute I even decided to drive to the one of the British stores and hoping to score some crackers. I use these as a table decoration at my family Christmas dinner. You should have seen me when I managed to get one of the last boxes and that I even got to buy a nice Christmas bookpocket for 5 euros even topped that outing up. Also I had packed up all the things and gifts to take home two days ahead of time so that nobody would have to stress. Stallie did stick to her list and nailed it! Hurray and I have now deserved a nice Orla Kiely bag for Christmas…internet here we come!
It was a very wet, dark and windy Christmas Eve and Peter had volunteered to go and get our dinner. Still I decided to go along and I felt a bit less okay when we go home. It was very hard to shake it off but I did manage to keep smiling and dove into the kitchen. The food was lovely and none of the dishes hard to prepare and I did manage to do the dishes the night itself and not having to ignore them the morning after, what then causes the equivalent of a major hangover without having been drunk. Still I felt suddenly cold and I even started to have chills and no appetite for dessert! I changed into my Christmas pjs in a record time and prayed that this was not going to be what I did think it was.
In the morning I woke up and I just knew…no Christmas Day for Stallie. I did look a bit pale, my nose was blocked, coughed a bit, had a splitting headache and my body did hurt all over and I felt so depressed and anxious. There is no other way of describing myself then feeling horrid. The thing was that my fellow housemates had the inclination to think that I did exaggerated. I dragged myself to two bakeries to pick up the Christmas dinner dessert and our breakfast rolls and that in the pouring rain and wind. Inside all my usual Christmas feels and memories seemed to have evaporated. Instead all I wanted to do was cry and feel sorry for myself.
By the time I had sat down for my cappuccino and my well deserved croissant (I have been cutting down on sweets and other delights and I had not bough one singel croissant for months) P thought it was the excellent moment to start to have rant of being the house a total mess (guess that Virgin Mary would even have declined politely to spend the night in our house) and that he just did not get it that I did not get the message that eating croissants or pain au chocolate was the worst thing I could do! A few minutes later he managed to put the cherry on top of the cake by saying the following: ‘You are normally Christmas in this house and now you ruined it!’, he yelled at me.
I sat there at the kitchen table and I had just no energy anymore and I started to cry. “Why don’t you take a painkiller?’ and ‘That is when you hardly exercise..’ were a few of the other nice pieces of advice I got catapult at me. All I could do was shrug and by the minute I felt worse. When both of them had left the kitchen (nope not cleaned up) I managed to sneak upstairs and next I had to do the unthinkable cancel Christmas Day dinner at my family. The moment my mum picked up the phone the tears just poured out of me. ‘Oh dear…you sound not okay C. You need to take of yourself. We do need the food you prepared but when can figure that out.’ After a five minute teary conversation I went back down and called Christmas to a total stand still.
The looks I got from my two men were priceless and that one of them had a medical degree and was still declaring painkillers the key to salvation at that point was beyond me. Partners of medical personal you must feel my pain…we first have to drop death before we are taken serious! I then started to write short instructions for my son and my family that went along with the food and other packed goodies. P seemed to come a bit to his senses and after I had packed everything into his car he get in and drove with A to my family. It was now officially: the driving home for Christmas was something that was not going to happen this year and I was going to spend mine on the sofa in the company of painkillers, tissues and a thermometer.
The following two days I just have been trying got keep my fever under control and trying to catch some sleep. I did manage to keep my Duolingo Strike going and I also unwrapped the gifts that A brought back from home. But Christmasy I did not feel at all…sick, ill, sad, disappointed , unloved and misunderstood…and tons of other negative sensations were rather running wild throughout my system. My diet consisted out of water and painkillers and some toast crumbs. I guess that I had the most low calorie Christmas Day dinner ever.
It took me till Thursday to get back on my feet and I even canceled other social engagements because I just couldn’t face the music or Christmas cheer. Inside Christmas seemed to have moved on and had already been boxed it up for another year. When my mother called to check up on me and told that I had been missed it made me feel a tiny bit better but not much. ‘Take good care of yourself and you need to rest or you will be down again in a few days.’, she told me. That is exactly what I am trying to do but this one is a sticky one and refuses to let go of me. Yet…
At the moment I am still coughing and not 100% on the same page as most of the people around me. I don’t feel like planning ahead due to threading to relapse. A friend of mine told me that up to three times she was back down before she was back on the right track. I’m now down to two and that cough that I will not easily shake off. Sorry if you over the next weeks run into to me and ask me how our Christmas has been…it is one to rather not to remember and that I hopefully will recover soon from.
Nope…2023 was in many ways rather challenging and at the moment my hormones also seem to have very wild plans for the year to come. In the year to come will be happy that I will get through an other school year in once piece and that my plans for my special birthday will not be intervened by a sick bug or nasty cold. Oh please don’t start me now on the Gaza and Ukraine…I am not living under a rock while I was on the sofa fighting my fever off! Believe me! Okay…let me have now a piece of the ice cream Christmas log I had ordered for Christmas Eve without having to feel that guilty…Okay…thank you.
I do hope sincerely that you all had yourself a little merry Christmas that you were after and that 2024 will be the year that there will be many happy tidings heading your way. Guess we will have to all bite through a sour apple now and then in the year to come but then I do hope their will be heaps of hope and empathy around as well. Best wishes of Stallie to you all.
*A word of caution before reading this very long one: I wrote this entry after being quiet for a long time about something that I passionately care about. In case you need something more entertaining, light hearted and fun then please skip this one. Plus in case you read on…don’t take it personal. This is rather written for all of those who are screaming furiously on social media about long summer breaks, lazy teachers and graphics about educational downfall. Chances are very likely that this is not about you…but still I had to get my sincere opinion out in the open because I care very deeply about my profession and I refuse to give up to the haters and the ones who seem to think that education is just a walk in the park and that they are themselves not part of the solution to make it a better system for all. Yeah…I am that one educational gladiator still standing up right in that gigantic ancient building in Rome believing that we can turn the odds around…
Over the last few years I have rather kept silent when people started to complain or very openly express their thoughts about education. In some cases I had to get out of the room because my body was trying to tell me exactly what I do think and it is very hard to just stay quiet. Believe me many of you are putting my mind to the test and I have an extremely challenging time to just keep smiling and keep breathing. Now…because I do think that it is also a no brainer to at least use my blog space to express my thoughts I decided to sit down, take a deep breath and tell you what I do exactly think when it comes down to education…and please bear with me because it is not as straightforward as you might hope. Most of you have already expressed ‘easy peasy’ and plastered it around everywhere…I did hear and read with great interest your outspoken options. Rest assured…but now it is my turn…and just so that you know some of things you tell me or that I read I do take in consideration, give air time and reflect about. I do but let me know have a go at what drives my mind when I read all the educational 'fuzz'.
A few weeks ago a coworker found out how passionate I am about what I do for a living (and for much more than that monthly pay check or those long summer breaks….yes..the breaks are a nice but they don't keep you going long term, please believen me)when the person started to express his/her honest opinion about the Belgian school system and how bad we were are doing in international rankings . That was all it took to throw the boomerang right back at the individual because I did wonder what exact point this individual was trying to get across surrounded by educators in a school building. I interrupted the conversation and asked the person who exactly was responsible to change things around. The individual needed a few seconds to answer and then said:’The politicians…’. Inside I was already boiling due to the fact that this is most uninspired and cliché response. Not a totally unexpected but still…it made me suddenly go a bit in overdrive.
So no, I did not agree with this person’s opinion but due to not wishing to turn my precious lunchtime into a fierce debate I did just let this response glide down my spine and went along with it. Not that I did not try to point out that students need many things and not just a quick fix by a minister of education who never ever in his or her entire life has been inside a classroom or teacher lounge or headmaster’s office. At a certain point I was so outspoken to point out to I was not going to be one to come up with the right solution or at least not have the power but that I at the same time did question people their ongoing rant with education.
Oh yes, there is so much globally going ‘wrong’ with schools and the schooling of the young minds that I do wonder if it is even worthwhile to still believe that children wish to be in a school. I am dead serious. Almost daily I do wonder what many people out there actually expect schools to do? That a school is not the same spot than most of the grown ups experienced themselves is also a no-brainer but their demands are a bit over the top. One day many of us are calling for a less long summer break for their children and the next time there is an article that when it comes down to educating the young minds about good citizenship there is a crucial role for the schools to play within this process. Two days later on an educational forum are the less positive percentages printed about the level of comprehensive reading skills. It is a never ending debate and more and more it starts to annoy me! (Remember that I did state a few entries ago that if I would come out to blog that I would not hold back anymore as much as I have been trying over the last three years...okay...)
Yeah…students need teachers in order to learn…or at least when it comes down to specific subjects and skills. That is another no-brainer…simple and so that we therefore then need to hire teachers is also self evident. Now being a teacher is not the same as being a student. That also seems a no-brainer but honestly I do think that the first statement is closer to being true than the second one. Just one glance at the number of articles to be found in the national press about schools, the academic calendar, the profession itself, the curriculum, testing and ranking and you know what I mean. So many find themselves spouting their personal and expert opinion on social media that you do wonder when these people get their day time job done. Deep breaths Stallie…you promised yourself that you would not turn this entry into a rant.
The last decade it seems to go only further downhill with our education and many of us feel very opinionated about this. As mentioned before each one of us have been at a certain point in their life inside a school, sitting at a desk and had to sit still, listen, write, read and study for exams. Unfortunately there are still places in the world where education is still not a no-brainer. In some spots in the world children never learn to read or write and in some countries education is considered a threat to the existence of specific regimes. That we had to grant the Nobel prize to a teenager who put her life at risk to get to school is actually for me not a no-brainer.
Honestly, if it would be easy peasy to turn things around, why already have we not done so? There are plenty good and even world class examples of what we envision education to be like for our younger generations. These individuals are after all the ones who will need to make a living and also will have to fill up the federal pension treasure…that is rather becoming a huge deficit according to the national press. Youth is precious and if we don’t give them a sound foundation than it will be very hard to keep going strong…that is also a no-brainer. (Guess by now you have figured out there is a specific word that I will keep recycling…my sincere apologies in case you detest this word. At the moment it also seem to be used quite often in the national press) Therefor education is crucial…we can agree on that…don’t we? Okay…then I can proceed further.
It is not just education that needs a makeover…and here I could already rest my case. I could but then many of you would need some clarification on what I mean by that. So let me spell it out for you…a total makeover is needed and it is going to hurt. No…it won’t be just the bandaid plaster that you are tearing off and hope that it will turn your skin red for half a day only. Nope…I am sorry this is going to be rather the pain that comes along with a root canal procedure at the dentist who makes a lot of money even if you have dental coverage. Do you get the picture? No…still not..okay let me clarify it a bit further especially for you who is getting lo
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Education is not just a school filled up with teachers, furniture and some books and modern technology. There is a whole system behind it and believe me or not, every single one if us is part of that system. Even if you don’t come close to a school anymore and don’t have children. Each one of us has been educated and most of us are nowadays told that we are life long learners. I have already mentioned that one before and not going to spend anymore time on this part of the equation. Nope…this entry is rather about the fact that we need to start to reevaluate what we wish that schools do for our children because honestly many of us don’t even seem to notice that anymore and just keep adding their personal wishes to the school menu and you know what? It is not working…
Oh yes, you might now think that is because teachers just have issues with planning and reshaping the curriculum takes too long and needing to follow extra courses to keep on top of things or because they do not get enough funding to even just renovate their school building or buy up to date IT system or school platform or that we don’t attract not the ‘right’ group of people to study and train for this profession that is truly a calling if you intend to stay in there for the long run. Yeah…that is why our educational system is going busted…oh wait it is not or only partly…believe me.
Now, before you think that I have a very easy time stating this because who knows Stallie personally knows that she works in educational hotspot that has got all that many schools do not have and just dream of. Yeah, that is so true, and after now being a bit longer in that awesome building and on that great campus I more than ever start to realise that it is not only because there is a lack of many things in an average school that our level and quality of education is going down. No…it is simpler and not even costing any money what we are lacking and is not an opinion that some of you will wish to hear. But after the last five years I am just going to get it out….someone needs to do.
Many of us are part of the problem (and therefor also of the solution°…honestly I am not kidding you…and many are not even aware of it. It is one thing to demand things of schools, principals, educators, university professors and teaching colleges and the government and then just hope the magic will do its work when these kids are at school. More and more I seem to have the impression that society is forgotten that children also spend time outside school and that learning is also going on out there. The brain doesn’t stop working once students back up their books and head for home. Duh, I am not an idiot, you might now think and rightly so but honestly one glance around me and I am so sorry there are is big number of people who does behave that way.
It is simple where we are already messing up our educational system and that is by not practising what we preaching. We all want more…more happiness…more freedom…more wealth…more quality time..more health coverage…more rights…more space to be 100% our pure selves without having to justify ourselves. Living in the moment and that at full speed and believe me that is becoming an issue especially if many of us are not even able to follow the traffic regulations. And so I am going to use something as straightforward (I know..I know that some of you will challenge me on calling these regulations straightforward but please just give the me break here for once…please…thank you) in order to illustrate what I am trying to tell you.
Yes…I am talking about these well known things such as traffic lights, stop signs and tons of other rules that we teachers mention about in school and most of us have had to do an extra exam about when we wanted to get behind a steering wheel. Remember? I bet you do and you might even have been dragged to one of these traffic parks to ride your bicycle on or even have done an public cycling exam. You nailed all that with flying colours. But then suddenly something happens and that is that we seem to forget some the rules that we have studied and been told that it is important to follow. ‘Retrieval practise seems very hard to come by these day.’, I told myself in the beginning, but now I think there is something else at work:
“‘That stop sign? I just pretend that I have not seen it?’ , ‘I just ignore that big white line on the cycling path…I am priority when it comes down to traffic users.’ , ‘I let my children cycle behind me when we go out…because I am the fastest.’, ‘A huge big line in the middle road…not surpassing that slow bus in front of that rule does not apply to me’, ‘Oh the parking lot is full but I desperately need that blue t-shirt that is on sale and so I do park here and nobody will notice it.’, ‘Parking on the cycling path is something everybody can do if you need to stand in line for your Sunday breakfast at the local bakery’, ‘Oh yeah, I know that I need to cycle on the other side of the road but for once it won’t hurt.’, ‘I know that I should look first left then to the right and once more to the right when crossing the street, but the driver of that car coming will surely have spotted me before I turn my head.’, ‘I need to call my daughter while driving to the supermarket otherwise she will be upset with me. A handsfree kit? Are you kidding me that costs a fortune.’, ‘A red light for pedestrians…why care? I still can cross the street because no car in sight.’, ‘There is a cycling path but that is not as smooth as the road.’”
Get what I try to telling you? Nope….come on…if you fail to transfer the learning from school into the real world, then any learning is becoming worthless. And that is my very strong opinion. The transfer of skills outside in the real world is the final step in the learning process. It is the one thing that when I was in special education most of the time my students struggled with. It was the ultimate step towards independent living and working. These were the group of learners who had so many learning disabilities that it was hard for them to learn job skills and getting hired was in many cases a fight of the fittest. And believe me, they envied those that are able to do this with ease and no struggles at all.
So when I now see so many people just failing at applying the learning of something that they have covered in traffic lessons in school and have been quizzed about more than once I do wonder big time. If we start ignoring something that is most of the time rather straightforward and just pretend that these rules don’t apply to me and you then I do wonder where those educational demands come from. Don’t get me wrong I do still agree that traffic education is vital but I am not sure why we still bother if many of us don’t put into practise what they have been studying. Plus don’t forget that the young learners are with you out there and that they might be a bit perplexed as well that so many around them just do not what they are expected to do. The learning by example, does that ring a bell?
Therefor I do for the moment have a very hard time with all these opinionated people who come up with specific demands and wishes when it comes down to the schooling of their children or grandchildren. Please do not assume that schools can fix everything for you if you decide that you will constantly take time out from the learning. Yes, reading bed time stories, baking cakes together, talking at the dinner table, having fierce debates about current affaires, experimenting with dough and soap, reading signs, cycling in the park, going together to the public swimming pool and getting changed in a too small cubicle, naming vegetables in the local supermarket, ordering ice cream at the ice cream van outside the park, walking through a city and just take the time to let everything sink in, listening to music and let them imitate it with the help of cooking utensils, throwing an empty drinking can in the right recycling bin, playing chess and other board games, speak a foreign language while your child is around and listen when he or she tries to repeat what you said, counting the money from their piggy bank and finding out how many ice creams they can buy with that amount, getting the paint out and messing up paper and hands and even some clothing, taking them to a football match and cheering on (and cursing as well) their favourite team, going to the movies and paying extra for the 3D glasses, reading the washing labels of their clothes and loading the washing machine, going to museums to just stare in silence at paintings and sculptures, watching a TV- game show and playing along by trying to get the answers right, travelling to far away places in the world, reading menus in restaurants, buckling up in the car, ….
I can go on for hours what learning is going on when you have a child with you. Yes, you might consider it this a natural process but believe me less and less I have impression that parents do some of these mentioned her above. That reading skills are skydiving and maths skills seem harder and harder is not only the responsibility of a school. Undeniable it is a crucial step forward to higher thinking when learning is done in many settings. There are children out there who without school even manage the cruel world but believe me that they would rather spend time in a school and be surrounded by responsible adults who set the right example.
Now, don’t start me on the fact that we then need more people who check up on us applying the the rules and learning. Or that our lives have become too hectic and that most of us have a very stressful day job. Please don’t do that…you do know very deep down that there are moments that you just consider school the easy way out. That teachers need to fix the world and make it happen for your child. All your hopes and dreams you that you are projecting on your beloved child is something that schooling will make happen or at least that is what many seem to . The miracle can happen between 8 and 5 and when they come home they need to do their homework and then we rest assure that their future will look bright. Well…I am very sorry that is not how this works…it never did…and it never will. That is for me the no-brainer when it comes down to education for all. Therefor making fierce demands of what you wish to change in a school, a curriculum, school policy, educational school books and pedagogy also then means that you take raising a child seriously and will give the right example and also are open to change yourself. Plus also be honest about the responsibility you have towards your child when it comes down to learning.
Schools are only a temporary heaven of knowledge and they are also not a guarantee that we all are going to be future Einsteins or successful brain surgeons. it is rather the first place where we get to find out that life is tough and that unpredictability will rather be the norm than the exception. Even the smartest valedictorians find out that high school was rather a walk in the park compared to real thing they face once they graduate. After all, isn’t the proof in eating the pudding and not just reading the recipe and weighing the ingredients and flowing the cooking instructions?
Yes, things need to be reformed with the aid of a serious minister of education (one who not only is thinking of the popular vote) and many schools need to be able to hire the people they need (and keeping them longer than a few semesters) and obtain the funds they need in order to grant any child in any place in this country and beyond the education it deserves. After observing all the traffic offences I am convinced that we need more than ever children who will put their parents back on the right track. Happy and healthy children, who are respectful and caring, have courage and are resilient and are curious to find out what there is out there for them in a world that is constantly changing.
What I really intend to say is that the cliché that it takes a village to raise a child is actually a fact. It is team work and one that takes up a lot time and effort and in most cases you won't get paid for it. You can not just assume that there is a specific beginning and an end when it comes down to learning and that each one of us is key when it comes down to learning. Learning you can’t expect to stick if we just keep pretending that schools will take care of that and once we graduate we can live on deserted islands…we need to keep each other’s mind sharp and expanding our horizons beyond the textbooks and the theories, grammar rules and formulas we have been learning in schools. We have to be open minded, dare to think outside the box and dare to take a risk and give youngsters the benefit of the doubt without belittling them or assuming that we always know better…because believe when I checked last the cycling path next to our main road I can assure we still don’t master those skills.
Oh, and before I forget what we also don't aim for is a cheerful and cheeky tourist who is graving his name and the one of his beloved in one of the Colosseum walls and then states later in his sincerely heartfelt apology that he was not aware of the age of the building he just tattooed! That is also a no-brainer or not? Oh wait, what happened with the subject called history…downsized due the need of more time needed for something else? Guess this whole entry is rather about no-brainers at work…
P.S.: That I did choose this specific picture to go along with this very long entry is not that straight forward but there is a message hidden in this one that is linked to the content of this entry. I love the classics and I can still be blown away by the architecture, the art and all what these civilisations have left behind and on what we as human mankind were allowed to build further. The mind is a very flexible thing and these fierce ladies surely demonstrate this…this building was build in 421 BC and these ladies are still going strong. The same for the music I did pick out to go along with this one.
Here we are…the summer holiday of 2023 is a fact and I already managed to forget
two appointments and believe me I did put them in my smart phone and reminders
were send by the people who I had intended to meet up with. I guess that my body
and mind are still absorbing the rather emotional and rather turbulent school
year that we last Friday wrapped up.
Remember me saying that a school year resemblesrather a Jackson Pollock painting than a Seurat one? One look back over my
shoulder and I can state that the past academic year made me end up with agigantic canvas spilled over with colourful splashes of paint.
At the moment the major sensation is relief topped up with some bittersweetness. Yes, I am happy
that the year is over but there is also a part of me that now feels a bit
empty…. Lots of excitement goes on in the average school year and the
educational hot spot where I teach is filled up with tons of unexpected
adventures. It is one of the reasons why I do think that teaching is never dull.
Plus that your students force you to keep up with lots of trends and your mind
seems to age a bit less fast…or at least that it the impression that I have.
Still…this year is one for the books and I can tell you that this lady had some
very low moments in the last 10 months. Now because I refuse to be too dramatic
and I also try to let go and give some of these rather intense things the place
it deserves. So instead of the rather long and rather painful account of the
past ten months I will try to keep it short and less painful.
Here we go…
Starting September 2023 I will have to get used to teaching and drinking coffee
without my side kick U. Believe me that I am still dealing with the stages of
grief that this bombshell news caused me. Last week we both hugged, cried,
smiled, giggled and were reminiscing about our teaching journey. Yes, I got to
opportunity to say official goodbye and thank you to her but still…
I will miss U big time because after being rather forced to work together and even being a
bit less enthusiastic I ended having the best coworker I could wish for.
Oh yes,
I do realise that there are quite a few unbelievable educators out there and you
might even be one of them but the moment that you need to say goodbye then it
only hits you that it will be rather hard to fill up the shoes that they have
been wearing.
Plus that in a sense that is something that is even a bit absurd.
After all are we all unique people and does every single one of us come along
with some quirks. The thing is that I got so much out of this work relationship
that I just can’t imagine that it will happend fast again with anyone that end
up working with.
No U is not moving abroad and she will remain my friend
but still…it will be different now that she had packed up her bags and left the
building.
Yes, I did make a promise to her and that is that I will for sure take
care of her ‘legacy’. Our Dutch curriculum has got her name written all over it
and she can be so damn proud of it. The positive changes that she made to that
document and the effects that they came along with them were very impactful.
Oh
yeah, I did question more than once that what she envisioned was something that
would work effectively.
A few years later I can state only that this fierce and
very on top of things language teacher surely pushed our international students
forward when coming down to learning a rather challenging language. Especially
when it a one hour subject and that many students will likely forget already
quite a few new words and sentences by the time we walk back into the classroom.
I had alongside this lady very fascinating educational journeys inside and
beyond the classroom. We taught, planned, discussed, brainstormed, created,
baked and dressed up for educational purposes together.
On top of that we bothtraveled to London for an amazing conference about Mindfulness and did we joined
the Year 5 class group on their schholjourney to the Netherlands. Also she
pushed me when it came down to those things that I do rather consider a bit of
my least developed teaching skills such as crafts, cooking and drawing. That she
now leaves due to needing more flexibly and pursuing those things she loves and
adores besides teaching I totally understand.
The thing is that I more and more
realise that what we had is rare and that you can never be rest assure that it
will happen. You do hope that you coworkers are people who you can get along and
who won't make life harder than it already is. The thing is that life is
unpredictable and even tough you do think that your lesson planning is
waterproof there might still fall a skeleton out of the closet.
It is a rare
thing when it happens what happened between U and me. I do more than ever think
that you need to be kind and caring about the people you work with and give the
space to bloom. U her strength and super powers surely made my professional life
also easier but honestly this individual her motivation, passion, ambition,
eagerness, creativity, style and many more things she aced at I will miss for
sure.
In case that you are blessed with a five star colleague then please take
care of them. They are worth their weight in gold and before you know they
leave…in my case I will struggle a while to get used to a teaching life without
her and that will take some time. Fortunately she agreed to come and cover once
in a while and also she still owns 50% of the coffee machine we have in our
office. Guess she already got the coffee part covered…as always prepared this
one of a kind teacher is!
U, thank you once again for all you have given!
Hereby I wish all these educators who retired or who left education for personal
reasons the very best in their next chapter. You aced something that many have a
very outspoken opinion about but many find also find out about that teaching is
so much more than just cop&paste. Ask U she took teaching to a level that I
rather label ‘magic’. Last time I did check U had no wand but I can assure that
many magical moments were created when she was in charge of a classroom
audience.
Please enjoy your summer break and for those who have decided to study
education and becoming a teacher make sure that you take it easy the next couple
of weeks because once we are back on you will wonder why Hogwarts is only a
fictional school and why secret potions and spells are not a subject. Or wait
perhaps that is what coffee is for…oh I now get is why U wished to still own a
part of our coffee machine...pure magic...
For almost two weeks I have not been someone’s teacher and I have savoured every single seconds of that time so far…and when I glance over my photo feed on my phone I can only state that I am having such a lovely time. Last week I met up with K in Leuven and suddenly she wondered what the time is and normally both of us are quite good at guessing but now we seemed both to e totally disconnected and that made me even smile. When we kissed goodbye I felt for the very first time since a very long time truly free of mind.
Over the last two weeks I have been so spoiled by so many things and people. That the trees putting on their colourful coats and that there is a lot to be experienced while the sun is out longer makes me feel hopeful as well. Hope is a very strong sensation it can be enough to get back into a certain modus that you need in order to deal with all the s**** . No, the world and humanity is not perfect. The mainstream media plays the devil’s advocate when it comes down. It feels a lot as if newspapers and social media prefer to rain someone’s parade.
Well…I refuse to let someone pour down the deluge on mine. Hit me…this time I refuse to just give in easily. Don’t get me wrong , I am stil a too big of analytic person to ignore all the shadows that circle around the fun stuff. But if you can not be hopeful on time such as Easter then when can you be? Yes, Stallie still prays and I do it in a very private way. I can do it while I walk through Brussels or when I drive back from work while my son is listening to his music. Personal I don’t need a lot to make me feel connected with something that perhaps so many of us don’t need anymore.
Last week I finally got into that one museum that I have longed to visit for such a long time. I had walked past a few times but never got in. Last week I did and honestly it is a like a cathedral filled up from top to bottom with art that can take your breath away. It is a museum that houses quite a few works that most of us know but on top of that is even more. Rembrandt is just one of them who is hanging out there and his Night Watch will never be on its own during office hours. The painting attracts so many admirers from all ages. Momentarily it is being restored but even behind it’s seen though vault you can still see and foremost sense what Rembrandt managed to put down on a canvas. The impact of that work of art is huge and it will remain surely an art lover magnet.
The thing with me is that I always look for the hidden gems in these places. This simple provincial girl loves getting lost in museums. Yeah…I know I get lost even without intent but in a museum I do follow my own trail and I might be found in the dark corners. It is where I suddenly find back something that my parents taught me and is really look at what is in front of me and then just a tiny bit further. Not just read the little plate that might be plastered next to it. In a museum I find back a bit of the essentials that I need to function 100% my true self.
In art there is something hidden that not necessarily everybody will spot….honestly I don’t think we can but we keep trying. Many artists have not written down why they have created why, where and when. Oh yes, there are the many official portraits we are blessed with. In London there is even the National Portrait Gallery where you can take a stroll along side many famous faces. But still I doubt that we will ever find out in what state the artists was in while they were at work or while there were trying to create something new….
Since that social media is created also visiting art museums have changed immensely and I am not sure that is has been for the better. Oh no, please don’t think that museums should ban phones and cameras…I would not go that far but there is something on my mind when I do see certain people at work with their phone and perhaps even how they behave themselves. Yes, I do have taken pictures of some of the major highlights that the mini brochure of the Rijksmuseum pointed out to me. One glance of these pics and I start to smile but still…
Still…I do try very hard to disconnect in a museum or when I am surrounded by something that has been created by someone else who is so much better with their creative minds and hands. Art speaks and carries a message and some of them will keep people wondering and be amazed. When I saw for the first time a Van Eyck painting I wished to know exactly what type of flowers where in the painting and why he had chosen exactly those and not the ones we had in our garden at home.
Most of my live I have spend visiting exhibitions and museums all over the world that did prohibit taking pictures. As a student I still had to relocate an art catalogue or book in the university library and go and stand in line in front of a photocopy machine (we art students spend a fortune on photocopies and right of reproduction) to take the perfect copy of the picture that our professors had shown us in class.
That we are now in the possession of a build in camera on our phones opens up possibilities but I do wonder how many of us have on top the picture time been mindful enough when being close to the artwork. Inside of me there is still a bit of scrutiny when I take a picture of art work. It is as if that picture will never ever to enough justice to the real thing.
Last week I also wandered through the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. That is surely a museum to visit when you are in town and they have also one of the most advanced luggage vault systems…yeah Stallie managed to forget her own created code and needed assistance to reopen hers. Check it out…it is in this museum that I suddenly witnessed something that I had kind of forgotten about since COVID-19 and that is how humans behave when they are close to art with a phone. It was in front of the sunflowers that I suddenly saw a girl posing next to it…and all I could do was wondering:’Why??? Why would you do this? ‘ I would have loved to have picked her brain and so many others who were moving around whole holding on to their life lines.
The Stallie who walks through museums is probably the most to her true version you will come across. I am then in connection with the past, the present and the future. I don’t hide but I do go totally silent and yes I might observe others and listen into certain conversations. Over the last decade I have travelled a lot on my own and been to some art temples that most of us have on our bucket list and it is then that I manage to fuel up.
In most these art palaces or tiny off the trail galleries I end up I do get so much more than just a glance at art. I make sometimes memories for a life time and most of them I don’t have pics of because or I had my phone locked up in the obligatory wardrobe/lockers or I did ran out of battery and forget to take extra juice for my phone or I just did not feel that the picture would do justice to the work itself…getting the picture here…If not let me tell you the following…
Over the last 20 years I also have traveled with my mother and we do then more than once end up booking time slots for art museums. We both then after a gigantic breakfast take off and check in order to meet up with art. My mother and I did not talk to another when we visit museums…but it is my cool and awesome mother who always manages to see the things that nobody seems to notice when out there with me. She is the one who suddenly will break the silence but not with me but with strangers or even with the artwork itself. And believe me she is the most mindful person in the whole museum.
On a sunny day in Zurich the two of us visited an other exciting museum called the Kunsthaus. It was there that my mother who walked out of exposition room with oily and wet fingers. ‘Mum, come on there was a sign that said you could not touch the stones called ‘olive stone'.’ ‘Hey, I wanted to check if that stone was really covered in olive oil.’, was her pregmatic response. ‘And?’, I asked her. ‘Not as good as the one I cook with.’, was her reply while she had her iconic pokerface on. ‘Do you have any tissues?’, she then asked. 'No, I don't', was my dry reply and I then pointed at a sign to the toilets and she walked passed me while not showing any remorse.
Ladies and gentlemen everything that I know about art is something that I have been reading or did pick up while listening to others talking about the art they loved or studied. It were my parents and some amazing passionate art historian professors who have been pumping so much info and historical facts into my mind. It are those people who walk along my side when I am in a museum. Any museum…and most of the time I try to keep my mind very open and my senses are fully activated because there might be gems hiding in the darker and less crowded spots of these places.
Nope…Stallie has so far in her life never taken a selfie in a museum and is not planning to pose next to any artwork. I let the art rather speak for itself and try to push out all he other distractions and events taking place around me. I want to suck up as much of what the artists did intend and will go back to my center where I will try to calm down and just let the beauty in…it might come in gentle waves or rather be tsunami like.
For those who think that they can catch with a phone those precious moments that they are granted access to art and creativity I have got bad news for you. Unless you decide to create a very nice photo album with one of these amazing photo album apps and if you have taken the time to really look and use your senses. That moment you were there standing is a unique moment…it can not even be caught on camera. The light, the sounds, the smell and foremost the overall vibes that the art itself will try to resonate are never ever the same.
That many of us try to capture that specific moment on is in a way a rather an attempt to cloone that unique moment. It is already gone by the time you press on your button of your camera and all that is left of is a specific memory but if you have not taken enough time to really connect then the picture will never reflect that moment...ever...believe me. That is not how art works...any art....even most professional photographers will agree with me. Some of them have to wait for decades before they can capture that one picture they were aiming for and dreaming of...they live through it...they sense it...and that particular sensation you can't copy with your camera...
My mother is the living proof that art needs to be lived. Nope…this exceptional cool and unique mother of mine will never takes pictures in museums and will rather prefer to buy a postcard in the souvenir shop that she might even mail me or my sister. And no, it might not be the hot shot of the museum she will pick out, rather the one work that everybody seems to ignore or rather has been standing towards with their back while checking if the pics they took were not blurry or have nobody other then themselves in it. Sorry you lot out there with phones polluting the view of others…you are missing out on a lot more than that one perfect picture. But who am I to tell you that…art speaks for itself…ask my mother she knows best and still uses the best olive oil there is in order to cook her delicious dishes.
Being a teacher is very lovely profession. It comes with great things and yes our calendar is filled up with an amount of free days that many envy us for. Still when I decided to become a teacher there was a very big number of teachers. I even remember that we were told that your degree could even help you to get a job outside education and that we had not to worry too much. Still all I wanted was to teach in a classroom filled up with young minds and still dreaming more than worrying about what was ahead of them. This lady signed up for this job not just for 100% but for the 200% and was willing to go the distance for each one of that walked into my classroom. If someone goes after my kids then I feel as if they cut into my own skin. This teacher loves to advocate for all those that I see day in day out coming and going.
After all it are these younger kids that are the future and even if this might sound as a cliché it is just a fact that while we grow older and our hair colour needs some artificial help these young minds get shaped in front of my eyes. Before I now dive into what scares me I wish to point out that over all there is still enough that keeps hope afloat. There are enough youngsters that surely know what they stand up for and creativity is still alive and kicking even when there is now a certain AI available that can do all the work for them. This teacher is not desperate that most of the ones that she has been teaching will not make it. The majority will and that I have been part of that journey is still one of the best side effects of my job.
I am very proud of my students...every single one that I had under my wings since I walked into a classroom. And I don't need champagne or a bunch of roses to thank me for my services...after all I have those extra days of a holiday and I spoil myself with an extra day to the spa to rejuvinate after a long academic year. Or I spend way too much money on my books I picked out for my summer read. After all I have always been used to cooperate in the shadow. This girl loves backstage to operate and will only now and then jump into the limelight when she feels fully prepared. Rather I let my students shine.
Over more than two decades I have witnessed so much that has made me feel up with joy. Those memories nobody will ever take away from me. But at the moment I do wonder where the world is leading to. And honestly I do wonder what part I am allowed to play in it. No, I am not talking about the unpredictability that comes along with planning my lessons or that the there are now policies are once again changed. In most jobs flexibility is a must. That is not what scares me...it is more complicated.
The newspapers and social media are full of buzzwords and most of them also find access into the schoolbuildings and many of them will also be covered in lessons. After all does society has got high expectations of what education includes. Teachers are superheroes when it comes down to absorbing the wishes of others and we listen very carefully to the ones who surround us. Our stakeholders are a very huge group and a very diverse one. The latest insights in so many fields has got an impact on what I do...I knew that when I signed up for the job. It was something that I was fully aware. As a teacher I am very willing to walk into the shoes of someone else because otherwise you will not survive what I do.
There is nothing wrong that policy makers, parents and students tell us what they want. It is part of the process and it makes our job a very interesting one. It is just that more and more I do wonder if these stakeholder also wonder that we are only human and also have certain targets we wish to get. I am not only talking about those things I aim in for in a lesson. It is more complex than this...It is rather linked with the number of shoes I try to walk in...the shoes of someone else. My empathy is tested and my own wishes and certain princples and social skills that I was tought and strongely believe are daily under pressure.
No...I don't get it that I just have to listen to what people wish and want. Nope...I don't...honestly I don't. I am also a human being who has aspirations and strongely believes in certain things. Good things...I have been educated by great teachers...my history teachers aced it and it mainly because of them that I choose for education, my year 6 primary teacher who never ever gave up on me, a specific teacher of Dutch and English and also a teacher of German who have made me pick education were the ones who taught by example. Nope they were not the ones that just came in with a textbook that just read out loud what was in there and shared the correct answers with us. Every single one of them had their own style and ways to get us on board. They stood out because they just went a bit against some of the stream...not that they were creating a tempest. These educators tickled something inside of me and foremost they did it with respect....unconditional respect. The passion they reflected just was so visible. It was a very strong sensation and nope nothing was easily gained but not once I felt as if I was not taken seriously by those I just mentioned above.
Not one of them was the same but there was one thing that they had in common and that was they wished us to be respectful. They also never had to say the word outloud. The respect was tangible and it was mutual. It is something that I can very hard explain. And no we teenagers did not need to be told what that word did withold. Now some of you will now tell me that I need to just get on with it. Young minds are nowadays so much more under pressure than we weren and that respect is something else than what I understand under the word respect. Or that I am just growing old and just can not seem to keep up anymore with all the newest developments in education, technology, pedagogy, art, policies, gadgets,......It is what it is and I just need to move on and just try to keep my head down. Well...at the moment I am bit tired and need to catch my breath.
Stallie still loves passionatedly was she is doing and will still go the distance but now and then I do need someone sincerely checking in with me. Plus if I will open up and tell you that I seem to have the impression that there is a bit too much change that I then need a hug or that you will gladly join me for a magaritta and nachos in my favorite mexican restaurant. You don't need to give me advice because honestly as a teacher I get advice constantly of so many people who freely share their opinions about education and how they would reform the system. Well...I dare you to sign up for a teaching job. Yes, it is one of the best jobs in the world but you need cape and also a magic wand to get through most of the academic years.
But hey, nope I am not going to be able to fix all the issues that we are facing at the moment and I don't have the intention. Partly because so many of us can also take a bit more responsibility to support eachother in the learning process. It starts within ourselves to make a change and I as a teacher I am very willing to support you but I am not going to hand you over a formula to brew a magic potion that will fix it all. We are all in this together and so if you jump on the bandwagon and scream out your wishes and demands you also need to be aware that at a certain moment you will have to come down of that band wagon and get to work... Don't you worry I will keep up my end of the bargain but it takes a village to raise a child...and nope that is not a cliché I am afraid that is the harsh reality. One that offers so many opportunities but only can be successful if we all push together forward...even if we don't know where the road is leading us. Yes, there will be tiptoeing involved and some pushing and pulling but if we hold it together in a respecful manner then chances are very likely that we all will get our final destination...just keep going...don't stop...keep going...
