Same idea, very different execution

ABPS is quite different from PSOhYes, despite their similarly stellar reputations. The reps are for different things, for starters. There are definitely different emphases in all kinds of ways, from a teaching and learning standpoint. And, of course, I am teaching in a very different kind of classroom. But... it also just feels very different. And it's also been a bit crazy.

My cooperating teacher, who I'll call Mr. Lee, just to keep things simple, was sick for the first two days of my placement. The SETTS coordinator honored his request to have the students split and placed in the classrooms of their most recent teachers, which worked out better than you might expect. Both were CCT classrooms, for starters, which helped a lot. It worked out great for me, because I learned a few really cool things from the teachers I observed over the two days. And I got to know two of the three paras a bit, and they're both really terrific.

Mr. Lee was back today and things got back to normal. I met all the kids and they had a normal day in their own classroom. That was nice for everyone. I see now what my advisor means by his being a "therapeutic teacher." You can tell that their comfort, from moment to moment, their agency over what they are doing, and their voices, are most important to him. He comes at classroom management from the standpoint of what is the least stressful for everyone- himself included in that, of course. It's great, and very calming.

The school as a whole- well, I think it may partly be a function of the fact that this school feels much less crowded. So it's not military-style in the hallways, they can go out no matter how cold it is, they have a gym for recess when they simply can't go out, and they don't have to sit still with their hands in their laps very often.

For example, at dismissal, the cafeteria was nuts because of the bus strike (many kids bus to this school as it is a choice school for several districts) and two boys kept running off. At PSOhYes, they'd be called back immediately. Here, the paras were like oh yeah, they'll be back. One girl didn't get packed up by the time the rest of the class was ready to go. They left. I stayed with her and asked if she'd like me to walk her to the cafeteria. She said yes; turns out that was because she didn't know how to get there. But Mr. Lee was not worried, and neither was her grandmother, who was there to collect her. Others in the school would take care of her. That was of course what would have happened at PSOhYes too, but here it's just a lot more relaxed: no one will get lost, this is a safe place, and kids are supposed to run around. No panic.

And speaking of dismissal: instead of packing-up time being a scrum, in the classes I've been in it's "quiet time." There's enough time to do it, music is playing, no one is scrambling. A much less stressful way to end the day.

The stairways are kind of an analogy for that. They seem to defy their penal appearance by having the bright red banisters, and multiple pathways for changing floors. I believe the intention used to be that one flight was "up" and one was "down" but those traffic rules have been abandoned in favor of the relaxed attitude. It's growing on me, for sure.

Saying goodbye

Last Thursday was my last day at PSOhYes. IT was a GREAT day, thanks in part to Ms. Lee, who had some great ideas about what they would enjoy, and also went to a lot of trouble to make the day special. She had never had a student teacher who stayed as long as I did, and she felt that many of the students had really bonded with me, so she made sure that there was time for them to individually say goodbye. I had really bonded with them too- they will always be my "first class" and the one by which all others will be judged, I guess.

Ms. Lee told me before the holidays that I should do whatever I wanted in terms of teaching for my last few weeks. We figured out  few days that I could teach most of the day, and I also designed a Japanese lesson for each subject area. Some worked better than others, but a really effective and timely one was having the students review place value using Japanese numbers. Other teachers expressed an interest in trying it. We had planned a field trip to the Noguchi Musem in Queens, but that got nixed by the school bus drivers' strike, and we decided that at 90 minues each way, it was too far to go by public transportation.

For the last day, I found a few good web sites with Japanese games that the kids could play using the school's laptops. Predictably, getting them charged, set up, etc., for the lesson was not a simple matter and Ms. Lee had never done used the laptops before, which made it all stressful for her I'm sure. She also ordered in some sushi rolls and the kids had lunch in the classroom, which I didn't know was allowed! Between that and playing computer games in school, she made sure the kids will not forget me anytime soon.

We exchanged some gifts. The kids each made me a card, which she attached to a scroll of Japanese rice paper and rolled it all up on a dowel. I read them later with my daughter, and some of them were very touching. She patted my arm and said, "Don't worry Mommy, I'll get you another class." Ah, to be four. But she really enjoyed visiting the class, and she understood that I was feeling a loss.

I am going to another well-known Brooklyn public school, which I will call ABPS, to teach in a 12:1 self-contained special education classroom. Starting Tuesday. Stay tuned.