What a freaking day! Today was my last Fun Day with Kids World 4 (aka my favorite class), and I had promised them a movie. My plan was made in advance. Today I was told we don't have a laptop use 30 minutes before my class, and that I should change my plan. Could I? Yeah, I'm awesome like that.
But that's not how I roll. I promised KW4 a movie, and gee dangit, they were getting a movie. My CT (Chinese Teacher) asked around but nobody was willing/able to let us borrow a laptop. My Chromebook doesn't have the necessary ports to hook up to the projector, so I was told again I would have to change my plan.
Apparently, the school laptop being not mission-capable was known to the CTs and the branch manager, but no steps were taken to repair it, nor was it common knowledge among the NSTs (native speaking teachers). We're at the end of the semester for most of our classes, so we will need the laptop for various Fun Days that are happening. For it to be down now is unacceptable. (In addition, we will need it for our annual summer camp classes that we teach in two weeks.)
My solution? I said I would unplug one of the office PCs and bring it upstairs so I could show my kids a movie today. One of the CTs said a desktop computer was "too heavy" to bring to the second floor, and I told her "not for me." Then I asked her which computer she thought I should unplug and bring upstairs, and if the one I was nearest to had a password, etc. At this point she finally deigned to let me use a laptop, and the kids had a great Fun Day in class.
Allow me to point out that on Fun Days we either do little DIY projects or watch movies (in English, typically with a worksheet and/or an English-language discussion about the film). For every Fun Day I've had with these kids over the past two years I've gone the DIY route, but this time they specifically requested that we watch a particular movie. Naturally I agreed and had it ready for them today.
The other issue is KW4's graduation, which is on Monday. We have known about this for a while, and I've been discussing it with my CT for a few weeks at least. I even swapped classes with another CT so I could be there for graduation. Somehow none of the kids' parents were notified that we'd be doing a graduation day (which is the class CT's responsibility). My CT is still pretty new, but surely someone more experienced is showing her the ropes, and at least one other [experienced] CT has been aware of the upcoming graduation.
So come Monday I'll either have some parents and we'll do a 1-hour class graduation, or I'll have only students and we'll do another Fun Day to end the class. This is supposed to be my farewell to this group of kids that I adore. I've taught them since Kids World 1, lesson 1, and taken them all the way through the KW program. That's just over two years of weekly classes with these great kids. They're my favorite class (not counting my Kindergartners).
Someone dropped the ball, and I'm more than a little rankled because of it.
Apparently, the school laptop being not mission-capable was known to the CTs and the branch manager, but no steps were taken to repair it, nor was it common knowledge among the NSTs (native speaking teachers). We're at the end of the semester for most of our classes, so we will need the laptop for various Fun Days that are happening. For it to be down now is unacceptable. (In addition, we will need it for our annual summer camp classes that we teach in two weeks.)
My solution? I said I would unplug one of the office PCs and bring it upstairs so I could show my kids a movie today. One of the CTs said a desktop computer was "too heavy" to bring to the second floor, and I told her "not for me." Then I asked her which computer she thought I should unplug and bring upstairs, and if the one I was nearest to had a password, etc. At this point she finally deigned to let me use a laptop, and the kids had a great Fun Day in class.
Allow me to point out that on Fun Days we either do little DIY projects or watch movies (in English, typically with a worksheet and/or an English-language discussion about the film). For every Fun Day I've had with these kids over the past two years I've gone the DIY route, but this time they specifically requested that we watch a particular movie. Naturally I agreed and had it ready for them today.
The other issue is KW4's graduation, which is on Monday. We have known about this for a while, and I've been discussing it with my CT for a few weeks at least. I even swapped classes with another CT so I could be there for graduation. Somehow none of the kids' parents were notified that we'd be doing a graduation day (which is the class CT's responsibility). My CT is still pretty new, but surely someone more experienced is showing her the ropes, and at least one other [experienced] CT has been aware of the upcoming graduation.
So come Monday I'll either have some parents and we'll do a 1-hour class graduation, or I'll have only students and we'll do another Fun Day to end the class. This is supposed to be my farewell to this group of kids that I adore. I've taught them since Kids World 1, lesson 1, and taken them all the way through the KW program. That's just over two years of weekly classes with these great kids. They're my favorite class (not counting my Kindergartners).
Someone dropped the ball, and I'm more than a little rankled because of it.
___________________________________________________
THE ONE AND ONLY,
MAC III
MAC III
Feeling generous? Want to help support a starving artist? Click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment