Posting from school

Hello all!

This post is actually coming from inside Amherst Regional Middle School.

Amherst Regional Middle School

I'm substituting today in the QLC (Quiet Learning Center), which is a place alongside the Dean of Students. Here in Amherst, they have two different types of "vice principals"-- the Dean of Students, who takes care of disciplinary action and consequences with students, and the Vice Principal, who works a lot with curriculum and teacher development. It's an interesting concept, I haven't decided how I feel about it yet because I haven't really been able to see them in action too much yet. This subbing job specifically, at the QLC, is very... slow. It's for students who have been sent out of the classroom for disciplinary reasons or students coming in for lunch detention. So it's a good thing it's slow, but provides a very slow day for me. :) I actually feel pretty bad for getting paid to sit, but you have to take one for the team once in a while. ;)

I've noticed a LOT of differences lately between Amherst school district and the districts I'm used to back in Idaho (Boise/Meridian). First of all, just so everyone knows, this is one of the most liberal towns in the United States. Northampton specifically, which is about 5 minutes away from where we live, is incredibly democratic, which is very different from Idaho to begin with. Pretty much everywhere you go, you see supporters of Obama and the democratic party (great for Rodney and me-- we've always been leaning that way).

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Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 18, 2006
Democratic
8,350
49.18%

Republican
1,076
6.34%

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The whole feel of the town is much more casual because of this, with lots of local things to do and a small-town feel I couldn't really experience in Boise (it being so huge and all)! Amherst is also very literary-conscious... it has many many libraries and bookstores, more compacted into a smaller town than I experienced in most of Boise/Meridian. Included in the mix is the largest library in America, and the largest academic library in the world. Emily Dickenson was born and raised here, Robert Frost lived here for a while, Eric Carle (who wrote The Very Hungry Caterpillar, one of my favorite childhood stories) lives here and has his museum here, even Noah Webster-- the creator of Webster's Dictionary! :) It's a wonderful place for me to feel comfortable, as an English teacher. Students in the schools are constantly with books, but not disruptive about it. When they finish an assignment, they automatically take out a book and silent read. There's no pulling teeth required! :)

The City of Amherst

Anyway, back more to schools-- I think because of this small-town, liberal feel, school systems are created under a completely foreign style. The middle school is VERY similar to Meridian/Boise ironically, but the high school is just so incredibly different. Walking in to the high school, you notice a few things-- students with hats, bandanas, headbands, baggy sweatshirts with what looks like gang symbols, which anyone who has worked in the Boise/Meridian school districts would know is a big culture shock. If a student in Boise/Meridian so much as flips a hood on top of their head, they're told immediately to remove it. You also observe students hugging, holding hands, sometimes kissing in the hallways. Swear words are thrown around very quickly and easily, and around teachers, without any sort of acknowledgement (which again, not necessarily saying that it's good/bad, just very different). The students are kind, saying hello passing by, but have a very casual and easy-going atmosphere about them.

Amherst Regional High School

Entering the high school classroom, it's immediately hard to control. Now I've had a year of teaching experience, so I know how difficult it can sometimes be to control a classroom, but from the moment students begin filing in, it's immediately a different feel-- students are encouraged to have points of view and voices, which is fantastic. It's very hard, however, to get adjusted to how much they express their feelings and the amount of free-reigned talking that goes on in class. It's not even necessarily disrespectful-- just different. When I give out a task or am speaking to them, they listen and respond well. They're still great kids, it's just a hard adjustment trying to communicate with a wall of voices. They swear in class, as well. When I asked them to not use that language, they immediately know I'm from another area. "Teachers swear in front of us all the time." Wow.

Here's the kicker... their test scores are fabulous. Some of the best in the state. And when they actually receive their work, they work dilligently. They are talking with one another, but doing the classwork primarily. This is much different than Boise/Meridian schools I'm used to working with, where you sometimes have to keep kids focused and on-task. Here, they're constantly working, just in a much noisier and casual atmosphere. They're telling stories, sharing their feelings on other teachers, swearing up a storm, all the while a paraprofessional is in the room claiming 'this is how each classroom is... it's the area.' Very interesting.

I really want to stress again how much it's not the students. I think the students are the same kids I've been working with from Day 1 in Boise. I really enjoy them, they're great kids, they just grew up much differently than I did. Everything they're doing here seems to be working, I just wish I felt more comfortable in the classrooms. I actually get a sort of "helpless" feeling a lot, which isn't great. But again, it's normal here. It's the way of life, the general attitude. Outside of the school, I absolutely love it, but in the classroom, it's definitely the biggest kind of culture shock I've experienced. It's now just about adjusting...and hoping for the best.