Into the Woods

Just a quick note to say that I've been safe and sound in Ottawa for the past week, and have been having a lovely time. Tomorrow I'm off to teach musical theatre at camp for two weeks and it's in the middle of the wilderness, so you probably won't be hearing much (or anything) from me until I get back. Be well!

Freedom (almost)

I went dancing last night and remembered why I love it. Then I dragged myself into work this morning and remembered why I don't do it more often.

Two more days of work and then I can dance to my little heart's content! (But I'm going to cry when I say goodbye to those kids).

Teaching children with exceptionalities

My apologies: this is going to be a long one.

A while back, I mentioned the school I want to create one day. Ever since I first came up with the idea, it's been running marathons in the back of my mind. I am constantly thinking about everything from building design and location, staff recruitment and development, funding and scholarships, daily schedule, how to incorporate a myriad of subjects/topics/methods/projects (and how to present them to a diverse group of "exceptional" kids), individual education plans, mentorship programs... everything. It literally never stops. What I should really do is acquire a notebook for recording all of my ideas, and actually I think I will do that at some point this weekend. But in the meantime, I'm going to do a bit of recording here.

This morning, I headed over to my local Eat. for coffee, breakfast, and some leisurely Saturday morning textbook reading. I have this wonderful book--Children with Exceptionalities--that I acquired for a distance ed course that I never finished (shame on me). I love that terminology because it's much more inclusive and positively spun than "special needs."

Quote:
We all have certain strengths, we all have limitations on our mental and physical ability, and we all have some disabilities, however minor, when it comes to learning. Most of these problems fall into common areas--a tendency to be easily bored, distractibility, poor study habits, poor memory, inadequate motor control, family interference, and so on. Some of us have problems learning a foreign language; others forget directions or people's names. For most of us, a perfect backhand is an unreachable goal. ... In some students, the learning difficulties are more serious, and the children deviate more significantly in one way or another. These are students who are exceptional. ... In an educational context, children are considered exceptional only when their educational program must be altered to meet their unique needs. ... Children who are gifted and talented are recognized as exceptional because they too need specialized help from professionals to fully develop their unique abilities. (4-5)

This is my target market. Children who are exceptional because they fall on either side of the normal range for mental, physical, or social ability, and therefore require an altered program to fully develop their skills. The range of skills and abilities therein is ridiculously broad and diverse. My challenge is to create a program that can be adapted to suit all of their needs. And not just to a regular mainstream standard, either. I want my students to possess a superior understanding of the world and develop the skills to successfully make positive changes within it. No small feat.

So how do I plan to achieve this? The answer to that is still a work-in-progress, as I still have many years of learning, research, brainstorming, and experimentation ahead of me. To be honest, I don't think I will ever perfect the system, but hopefully I will touch a few lives and get people thinking about how they can improve education (for all children, not just the exceptional ones).

So far, here's what I want for my school:
- Small classes with low staff to student ratios
- IEPs with regular reviews for every child (with which all staff will be familiar)
- Comprehensive staff development programs and a focus on teamwork and idea generation within the team
- Recruitment and selection processes for both staff and students that are designed to find people who are diverse but equally likely to thrive within the school's environment
- A "firm but fair" behavioural management policy that aims to work with individual children's needs and personalities and encourage child and familial input, but demands child effort and improvement to ensure that all children involved in the program can make most of it
- Child yoga and other similar activities every single morning (I've been doing yoga lately with my kids at school and not only do they love it, it's really having positive effects)
- Balance of structure and child-generated learning based on a Mantle of the Expert model
- Using the above mentioned Mantle of the Expert, learning through the arts, and other techniques to investigate a broad range of subjects and ensure holistic/cross-curricular learning and skill development
- Focus on real world applications
- Focus on school, community, and global involvement programs
- Lots of open, frank discussion and debate
- Peer tutoring and mentorship
- Employment of technology, social media, and old fashioned pen and paper to communicate and learn from people all around the world
- In the secondary program, allowing children to focus their studies on a particular area (if they so choose) while ensuring they also round out all other basic and related skills
- Co-op and entrepreneurship programs
- Creative problem-solving to implement high impact, low cost solutions
- A bunch of other stuff that I should have written down and will hopefully remember
- A bunch of stuff that isn't really relevant to this post
- A bunch of stuff I haven't thought of yet

Right now, I'm thinking a lot about how I can use this sort of approach to get kids to teach themselves more than just how to use a computer. I've also been thinking for a while about how my system applies to children with autism (mainly the primary module, as I already know the secondary format would be awesome for them). This blog post made me realize it might be a lot more relevant to them than I originally thought, but I plan to do a great deal more investigation on the subject (quite possibly through my Masters studies).

My current belief is that education that is relevant, hands on, and student-driven is adaptable enough to be useful and attractive to nearly all children. Every child will develop skills that will help them survive, flourish, and even make a difference in the real world. And every child will be able to pursue subjects that interest them to the fullest extent that they can. The idea is to encourage a love of learning, investigation, and creativity.

Just like the eventual program itself, I aim to make its development a collaborative effort. One of my challenges is making sure that everything I do transfers to a diverse range of children, not just what I think would have worked well for me. So my questions to you are: What made a real difference to you during your school years? What do you wish you'd had (more of) in school? What ideas for education have you come across that resonated with you? How would you expand on or modify any of the ideas I've mentioned? How could they have been adapted to best suit you or your siblings/children, particularly if you/they are considered exceptional?

I have piles of specific projects that I want to try, but I'll save those for another day.

Sometimes the road less travelled is the best way to go

One by one, some of my fellow Canadians teaching in London are revealing that they feel as though they're putting their lives on hold or even regressing by being here. They watch from afar as their friends back home are reaching new milestones--graduations, marriages, babies, home ownerships--and are judging the progress of their own lives by the same yardstick.

I can relate to that feeling, but from a completely different context. I graduated from high school two years early and was on a path to earn 5 degrees by the time I turned 25. I'm about to turn 27 now and I only have one degree that I just earned last spring. On my way to getting there, I felt pathetic about my measly progress as I watched what seemed like my entire high school cohort (and several cohorts behind me) go on to earn their postgraduate degrees.

But now that my BA is proudly hanging on my wall, I see things a little differently. I realize now that the path I took made me who I am today. I have a wealth of real world experiences that I never would have encountered in school. And I have training in other areas that were never on the original plan. Inadvertently, I am now better prepared for the things I want to do with the rest of my life than I ever could have hoped, otherwise.

I suppose I don't feel the same way about being here because living abroad has always been part of my life plan. I spent years filled with envy of the people I knew who were travelling the world. I feel as though I've accomplished a great deal by coming here (although I feel that I still haven't travelled enough). There's still so much more for me to do, but owning a home doesn't even come close to being on that list.

I have a plan for the future, and another year of travelling and gaining experience in London schools is step number 1. Those are the most important things for me to be doing right now, and I feel sure that the future will thank me for it.

On Modern Jive

I felt this topic deserved its own separate entry.

Last Sunday, I had my first ever bonafide Modern Jive experience. I headed out to the Marylebone Summer Fayre knowing there would be Modern Jive but expecting there to be a fair bit of West Coast Swing, as well. Alas, there was practically none, and so I had to have a go at this slightly-scary-to-me dance that I'd heard so much about.

Allow me to explain. Modern Jive (also known by the brand name Ceroc) is a dance form practically unheard of in North America but very popular in Europe. Inspired by swing, salsa, and other partner dances, it has simplifed footwork so that it's very easy to learn.

I first heard of it several years ago in a blues dance forum. We had a hot (and somewhat nasty) debate over the inherent evils of Modern Jive, which (as far as any of us could tell from descriptions and YouTube videos) taught people to dance with little-to-no connection, musicality, or technique. If you're a swing and/or blues dancer, you'll know that lack of connection, musicality, and technique = Satan. I decided that it wasn't fair of me to judge a dance that clearly had different values from my own, and so I put it on the shelf with other things that I don't personally care for but don't necessarily oppose.

Then I moved to Europe. Suddenly, Modern Jivers were a part of my reality. They were coming to my blues dance classes and made up the majority of the West Coast Swing scene. I was surprised to realise that these Modern Jivers actually made really good westies. They had style, they had technique, they had musicality, and they had connection! One of them explained to me that the MJ scene had stagnated several years ago, and so they'd turned to learning WCS technique.

But how was my experience actually dancing Modern Jive? I had a good time! Some of the dancers were pretty good, and although the dance style itself didn't do much for me, I also really understood for the first time how great it is that it exists. Many of us who partner dance often lament about how tragic it is that social dancing is no longer a part of popular culture. We go on and on about its social, emotional, and physical benefits. And yet, in the same breath, we are prescriptive about how this social dancing must be executed and which values people who participate must share. Thereby excluding a large number of people who might otherwise enjoy social dancing and its benefits.

The truth is, no matter how much joy and fulfillment some of us find in practicing and developing our craft, the majority of people in the world don't have the interest, the time, or the opportunity to focus on this particular pastime. Perhaps dancing intimidates them. Perhaps dancing isn't one of their primary passions in life. Perhaps they'd like to make it a priority but other realities stand in their way. But I believe dancing can and arguably should be a joyful part of any person's life, no matter how casual they want or have to be about it. Those who want to learn more, will.

What I saw last Sunday was a group of people who enjoyed dancing and who enjoyed the benefits of the social community they had formed. These are the parts of social dancing that are most important when it comes to the social, emotional, and physical benefits we extol. These are the sorts of interactions that are missing from our every day modern society. And these are the things that our society can reclaim if everyone is made to feel welcome dancing whichever style they want, with whatever skill or commitment level they have to offer.

Back in the golden era of swing, people weren't all Frankie Manning and Norma Miller. Most people just had fun messing about, moving to music, and socialising with people. Most of their dancing was bloody awful by today's swing scene standards. But they had something that most people today lack, and I for one would love to see us claiming it back.

If you don't already partner dance, I really encourage you to give it a try. The benefits, as I've mentioned, are enormous. Start with a dance style done to music you enjoy so that you'll remain inspired and can have fun even if you're sitting out for a while. If you're mostly into contemporary music and worry that you have two left feet, Modern Jive may well be a good option for you. It doesn't matter what you do, so long as you get out there and do it.

Incidentally, I think the rest of us dancers have something to learn from Modern Jivers. Many of them have said to me, "When I tell other dancers that I'm into Modern Jive, they tend to snub their noses up at me. I don't understand why they do that. I don't do that to them."

Life goes on

Ok, so it's been a while...

Nathan and I broke up last week. I sort of had over a month's warning, but I'm still having a rough go of it, cycling through the 5 stages of grief on repeat.

We remain good friends, though. Last weekend, we even managed to spend a perfectly delightful day together in Brighton, wherein I dipped my feet in the (much colder than in Hawaii) ocean and we strolled along the pier, sampled sinfully indulgent Thai food, poked through a museum where I found a chair that I will one day own, browsed (ok, shopped) in quirky little shops, played board games in a pub, and generally decided that Brighton is much more than what meets the average tourist's eye (though the touristy stuff was fun as well). There are no pictures, sadly, because my dad managed to drown my camera on our dolphin excursion and Nathan was lazy about using his ;)

Other than that, I'm looking forward to heading back to Canada in 22 days. Spending a few hours with friends during my layover in Ottawa was amazing but also made me really homesick for the first time since I moved here. I'll be spending a week in Ottawa followed by two weeks at the best camp in the universe followed by four more weeks in Ottawa and then topped off by a weekend near Boston (for a dance event). Then home. Yes, London is home.

Once I get back, I have no idea what the next year will have in store for me. But I didn't know what to expect when I first arrived, either. If there's one certainty I can cling to, it's that it won't be boring.

My life is rough, I tell ya

As we speak, I am lounging on a deck chair, listening to the roar of the Pacific Ocean. I never want to leave.

Yesterday, we took a boat out to the sandbar, which is essentially a beach in the middle of the ocean. People set up chairs, tents, and even barbeques... right in the water.


Today, we headed out to Coconut (Gilligan's) Island.


Famous for its place in the opening credits of Gilligan's Island, it is now a research facility owned by the University of Hawaii. We got to learn all about its history and a little about their current research. I met some sharks, conspicuous sea cucumbers, feather duster worms, a baracuda, and a very friendly puffer fish who followed us around.


This afternoon, we headed over to Honolulu to go parasailing.


This isn't us, but it could have been. I'm regretting not bringing my camera up for the ride. I was going to, but then chickened out... worrying that I might drop it in the ocean. But the ride is fairly gentle and I could have held on to it, no problem. Oh well. I'll know for next time!

Tomorrow, we're getting up at the crack of dawn to drive to the other side of the island for our dolphin/sea turtle adventure. Can't wait!

Have I mentioned that I never want to leave?

Sunshine and lollipops (no more rainbows for now, please... I'm tired of the rain)

Forgive me, readers, for I have sinned. It has been 3 weeks since my last blog entry.

Last time I wrote, I spoke of my loneliness in London and my plans to do something about it. Do something, I have. My social calendar has been downright packed ever since! The changing weather has helped a lot too. I think the dreary London winters really encourage people to crawl into their holes, but as soon as the sun comes out, they all crawl out again in droves. Literally. Anyway, the combination of sun and socializing have gone far toward improving my mood.

And so has... being in Hawaii! I arrived here on the island of Oahu a couple of evenings ago. It's remarkable how very different it is from London and yet how very at home I feel. We're staying in an incredible beach house in Lanikai/Kailua. And yesterday, in fulfillment of the main purpose for my trip, my dad and his wife had their ring blessing here. It was fun and lighthearted and I met dozens of new people.


Isn't it beautiful? That's the view from our back yard!

Other than that, I haven't been up to much yet. After encountering at least 40-50 Man o' Wars on the beach yesterday, I wasn't brave enough to get in the water.

I have quite a few exciting plans for the rest of this trip, though. Swimming with wild dolphins and turtles, surfing, parasailing... the list goes on! I can't wait. But until then... aloha!

Alone... hopefully not for long

I was warned before I came over here that London could be very isolating. I didn't mind that at first; I had my fellow Canadian teachers, my dance friends, and my new boyfriend to keep me company. I actually quite liked being able to disappear into anonymity whenever I wanted to.

But then a series of things happened: I stopped going dancing, I stopped hanging out with my new friends, I switched to a bigger school where the staff barely talk to one other, and my boyfriend moved to India. Now, I am quite thoroughly alone, and London's anonymity is no longer a positive trait.

The past few days have been stressful and I've realized more than ever how much I miss having friends I can hug or even just talk to. I miss my social network in Ottawa and I regret neglecting my social network here.

But it does no good for me to just moan about it. It's time to take action and start rekindling and building new friendships. People of London, I want to spend time with you! This is such a great city, and there's no excuse for me not to be rocking it out.

It starts today with a trip to Portobello Market.

Looking on the bright side

Today has been pretty rough, but at least I have....


... to look forward to in T - 20 days.