School Spirit

Today turned out to be a really good one by the time I got home. Sure, first day of the final week of term and the kids were a little off the planet. I blame the final week of term, a rainy, cold day, and… yeah. That’ll do. They were off the planet, but we got just about everything I wanted done. Their lockers are clean and most of their good, presentable work from the term has been taken down from the walls and glued nicely into their profile books, ready to be taken home at the end of the year. But… they were off the planet.

Not to worry. The afternoon picked up quickly.

Those who’ve been reading this blog for a while may remember a few of these bits I’m going to bring up again. First…

Early April I was asked to write a reference for one of the kids in the band. He’s played drums for us for over three years now, but with the inclusion of his brother this year, he’s been able to move onto electric guitar instead. It’s been a lot of fun including an electric guitar into your regular school band orchestral music. We’ve even started playing a blues piece and he just leans back and adlibs solos.

Anyway, a few days later I had the reference written, and he commented on it, which was nice. He thought it was pretty decently written and then, as seems to be the norm with kids around me, made a slightly little joke about me to keep my feet on the ground. Well, this afternoon his mum whispered some news in my ear.

The little bugger got the scholarship this afternoon!

I haven’t had a chance to see him since he found out yet, but we’ve got a concert and rehearsal and pizza lunch for the band kids tomorrow anyway, so I’ll have to give him a hearty slap on the back. Great news to start the afternoon off with.

Second…

I’ve been following a few kids with their basketball for a few years now. This season I’ve ended up scoring most of the games for them as there’s been very few parents turning up to watch (probably due to the Tuesday afternoon timeslot, to be fair), and until two weeks ago, they hadn’t lost a game. Then they did… on the final match of the season. But that was okay, because if they won the final the week after, they’d be straight into the Grand Final anyway.

But they lost that one too.

So they had to turn up this evening to play the team that beat them the week before in a second chance final to make it through. They pulled away to win by about eight goals. A great story from my perspective, as these two kids deserve the success after the various paths they’ve had to travel over the last few months outside basketball. Drove home quite chuffed and proud tonight, even if the do end up getting done Wednesday night and lose the Grand Final. They fought back and will walk away Wednesday night with something to sit on their desk, eh?

Does mean I’ll have to cancel my dentist appointment for Wednesday afternoon though. There are more important things than dental hygiene, eh?

Besides… it’s a good excuse not to have two teeth out.

Thanks, boys.

Related Posts: The kid needs a reference… , Writing a reference… follow up, The only loss for the season…

You hear a lot of talk about teachers through the media and your every day man on the street. Your every day woman on the street too, but I’ll use the common phrase here and if anyone gets their back up because it’s not politically correct then just substitute the gender of your choice and read on, eh?

That’s the way.

Especially now that, here in Victoria, the Government and the Union have come to terms over a new pay deal (which is still to be signed off on – no word on when that may happen, but that’s another issue I’m not interested in rabbitting on about), there’s talk about what we should also be doing to earn it. Or, what we’re already doing to earn it but what the Government wants us to do as well. I’m just going to leave this bit hanging though and say that, often, especially in regards to building a relationship with the kids, it doesn’t start and end with those two book-end bell tolls at the start and end of each day. I find it carries on, and is often more powerful, when developed outside the school setting.

And I’d like to add too that, for me, it’s just as rewarding for myself as the kid, maybe more so in some cases. At school, the relationship is always that of the student and the teacher. If you play the card right though, outside of the school setting, these kids you’ve made an effort getting to know start to move closer to equals without losing that respect for you. I know several kids who see me closer to an equal rather than just a past teacher because they saw me showing an interest. In school situations they switch back (usually, it must be said – you can’t always keep the cheek down, eh?) to that student to teacher relationship, but once outside of that again, it’s back to a healthy mutual respect.

I’m sure other teachers may disagree with this in some cases and prefer not to blur that line between the relationship, and that’s fair enough. For me though, a bit of blurring outside of the school grounds can work wonders for both parties. There’s things kids won’t necessarily feel comfortable sharing with a teacher, but if they see you as something more than that, they’ll open up if they think they need to.

Here’s where I’m going to with this.

One of my kids let me know that he and his family were off to watch the footy on Saturday night, down at the MCG. We both support the Bombers, despite their very ordinary year so far (and the prospect of much more pain to come in the near future!), and I told him that I’d be down there watching too. Well, he had to know where I’d be sitting so I showed him the back of my membership card and he told me he’d be sitting somewhere down at ground level.

‘Maybe I’ll see you there then, eh?’

By Friday they’d given me their seat number so what else could I do but wander along before the game started and say hello, eh? I’ve met with kids at the footy the odd time before (once sneaking my way into the ticketed Members stand to do so – that’s another story), and besides, this kid’s a real genuine little feller. I caught them wandering out of one of the retail shops there just before the game (there goes $100+ in merchandise right there!) and had a quick little chat with him before the match started.

Then the family coming with them appeared around the corner. Someone’s been telling stories about me because once I’d been introduced (’who’s this bloke hanging around your son?’) it was all excitement from these people I’d never met. I’ll have to ask him what was said on Monday… you shouldn’t get that excited meeting a kid’s teacher at the footy, surely?

Anyway, instead of sneaking into their ticketed area to find them for a decent chat later, we organised to meet just beyond that rail I wasn’t allowed to step beyond (but I’d have found a way…) at halftime.

Now, I know right now that this is now one family I’m never going to have an issue with, and one kid who I’m pretty sure I’ll have on my side for the rest of his primary school career. How? One little visit at a place the kid is interested in. Show you share their interests (even if you wouldn’t generally do so normally – kids just appreciate you turning up) and their trust just builds.

And what did I get out of it?

A got half an hour of quality time with a top little kid and his family and a strong little parting handshake.

Monday it will be student to teacher again, but below that facade will be a stronger level of respect from both of us.

To me, that’s something that will help the kid more than a week of schooling.