No Easing Out or In (and Educating ELL Educators)

This can either be seen as well planned or poorly planned.

I ended the school year in June by plunging into a conference, followed by a significant vacation. (I've only been to Europe twice in my life. The first time was to France in 1990. The second time was to Portugal in 2024.) It was a very abrupt switch, to go from lessons with elementary students to lectures with academics to immersing myself in a completely different country. 

I'm going to begin the school year this September in a similar way. I'm going to go on my very first cruise just before school starts.

Usually, I spend the first week of July and the last week of August puttering around my school, tidying up and getting things in order. Last year, I examined my school library collection and helped with a huge inventory project in the summer. I like to attend the TDSB New TL Unconference and Fan Expo Canada with my daughter in late August. It's like slowing inching your way into a pool; it helps me to adapt to the new routines and slowly say goodbye to the slower days of summer. There will be no gradual acclimatization for me this year. To mix my metaphors (from swimming to driving), it's pedal to the metal and start the race immediately.

How might this change impact me and my students?

I'm not sure. Let me try and list some potential positives and negatives.

Energy

+ I'll be fresh and full of stories from my summer adventures

- I'll be tired from travelling all over

Preparation

- I'll not feel as "ready" as some of my colleagues

+ I'll feel more akin to my students, creating more empathy

Decoration

- I won't have "Back to School" displays already up

+ I can create and co-construct displays with my school community, giving more agency

Stress / Mindset

+ I won't be worrying or overthinking before school begins (hello school anxiety dreams) or doubting my abilities because I'll have something else fun to focus on (Have I packed everything?)

- I may not be able to take that "pause" time to mentally prepare for anything that's thrown at me, which could add to my stress

One thing that will be a consistent presence during this time (other than my family, of course) is the AQ that I'm currently taking as a student. My York University AQs that I teach are summer-specific. I taught 3 in July and 4 in August; they only last a month for a very intense learning cycle. I am taking my ESL Part 2 AQ with Queen's University. It qualifies as a "Late Summer" course, which means that it runs from August until October. 

I've only worked on two of the seven modules in the course so far. The top thing that I've embraced from the course so far is :

Like being a TL, it's important to look inward and examine how your own culture and identity impact the way you [might] do your job.

For instance, I really liked this reading from Unlocking English Learners' Potential, where they asked us to reflect on our attitudes and beliefs around certain topics, such as punctuality, the role of the teacher in class, student participation, student non-verbal communication, student interactions with teachers, independent vs collaborative learning, and plagiarism. The point was to see that there are different cultural norms associated with these, and great variability even within cultures and social groups. Culture is complex, dynamic, evolving and manifests in different ways. Teachers are inclined to see their cultural norms as "correct" and then see deviations from this norm in their students as evidence that the student is not successful or doing poorly.

Admittedly, this is true, especially for me and "discourse behaviours". I come from a West Indian background, where talking over people and interrupting (notice my choice of descriptors?) is natural. However, as a:

• female who has seen "mansplaining" a bit too often, 
• someone born in Canada (second generation of immigrants), and 
• teacher who took Tribes TLC training, which focuses on "attentive listening" (wait your turn to speak). 

I've internalized and adopted that method of conversing so much that having loud, overlapping debates irritates me. I like things a bit more orderly. I need to remind myself that it isn't necessarily rude, but just a different way of interacting. I need to tell myself that those talks I gave in the past when I was heavily a part of the GamingEdus about respecting "gaming culture" and "school culture" as two separate but equally worthwhile creatures, also apply to other forms of culture too.

This chart outlining the three "levels" of culture is helpful.

I'm not sure if there will be an "easing in" period with my new position as a 0.5 teacher-librarian and 0.5 ESL teacher. I know it will take a few days to organize the schedule of seeing the primary / early junior division students, based on the classroom teachers' schedules, the number of students that need service, and other factors. I'm grateful that I will be sharing this role with Connie Chan. She will be responsible for the late junior / intermediate division students and I will lean on her heavily for support and guidance as I "transition in".

I realized as I typed this reflection that I have almost no photos to accompany my post. That's not appealing visually. People like hearing about my recent Fluevog addiction, so I'll end this post with some photo highlights and wondering at what point I'll stop purchasing ones for my collection. I'm at 17 pairs so far and every time I think "I won't get any more", I find a great deal on Facebook Marketplace or on one of the Fluevog groups I belong to (or I go shopping with my sister or my friends that wear Fluevogs). To connect it back to the theme of today's blog, even though I "eased in" to being a "Fluezzie", I have a feeling I won't be able to "ease out"; I think I'll have to "quit cold turkey" and leave all those lovely Facebook groups to resist temptation. After all, in March of 2024 I only had six pairs (with three new pairs added back then) and now look!

This is my collection, not counting my two most recent acquisitions. (15 + 2)

The bottom two rows are the ones I wear the most. Putting them all together like this also helps me notice trends / patterns (I really like round toes and Mary-Janes) and "gaps" in my collection. (Some brighter colors, like orange, blue and green, along with some more pointed toes, might add some variety.) These Leonoras might be a consideration for the future once they go on sale.

And yes, I take "shoe selfies":