I was so over-confident at my job intervew for this post, It was September, the College year began in January and ended in October. So with a few weeks to spare till the end of the final year of study I happened upon an advert placed in a lil local newspaper, actually I saw it a few times and something about it just made me certain it was mine. I only applied at the very last minute and made no other applications whatsoever. My family had much history in the community, 4 of my 8 siblings had attended the school, my oldest brother and his wife had run the pta years before, most of the teachers and even the secretary were the same ones that had known me as a child. Oh, yes, the job was mine. It was going to be the best job in the world and I dreamt I would become one of those teachers that taught in the same position for hundreds of years and kids would ask me if I was alive when the dinosaurs were on earth!
My first year was fun and exciting, frustrating and challenging, gruelling and diplomatic, outrageous and bizzare, professional and elegant. I discovered a side of me I loved and hated. I was indeed a work-a-holic. They way we were taught at college was to teach the whole child. Body, mind and soul. Body, being the physical and academic and technical; the mind not just the over achievers, but to see each child as a different part of a machine, completely different but every part just as important. To teach to the emotions and realise every child has a different home environment that needs to be considered. My first year class consisted of a handful of children who had lost a parent tracgically within a year or less. It was a group so unlikely to be put together, and yet we had an amazing year! I faced the challenges of working in a small community where many of their parents had known me as a child, were related to my family or were friends of my siblings. Teacher could not go anywhere or do anything without the world knowing! Luckily the flip side of that coin worked to my advantage as I often knew all about their news before they even told the class and telling tall stories soon came to an end!
My social life had become non-exisistent as a separated parent and "public figure" the last thing I wanted was my personal life to be public and my own children to become confused or rumours at school etc.. (My daughter attended the school too)
At that point I had in my mind that I would be alone forever and have a few good friends and a dozen cats when I was old and grey, that was what I told myself. Love was for dreamers and perfect families didnt exist, my very classroom reflected that. The dysfunctional family was now the norm and funtional families were in the minorities. As the saying goes we cannot chose our family, and if we could... would we?
My social time was spent exploring a wonderous gadget I had discovered... Mobile internet! Oh, the joys! South African was not as technologically savvy when it comes to broadband and ADSL connections and you can survive pretty well without a computer, but without a mobile phone with internet capabilities? Oh, Hector, No! lol
Every kid had a cellphone and they were downloading music, hanging in chatrooms, using mxit and the likes. I found online trivia sites and gaming chatrooms the most appealing. We have the advantage of having a very wide variety of internet ready phones at our fingertips, no BREW apps and restictions by service providers. (ok, ok, I'm a geek! I just do my research well :) So we have Blackberry and Nokia smart phones not just handsets or paperweights lol So along with the world of technology comes meeting new people, sounds strange but its totally true! Many of my closest friends I have met on the internet.
So after my first Christmas as a separated woman, (and no support from the paternal donor) I find this awesomely dodgy site where one can be entertained by automated Trivia questions as well as chat along with other people. Majority of these people are the:"Hey baby, what you wearing?" types or the more straight forward of the variety, whom mostly I ignored and merrily answered the trivia.
I had been meeting people for drinks or lunch or at a club always ensuring they knew a) I was not looking for a man and b) I don't need coitus. I was a proud mom just looking for friends or someone to chat to, to break away from the everyday stuff, and mostly people were very understanding. I never went alone to meet them and I always made sure they thought I was more of a weirdo than they were!
School progressed and being an extrovert and someone who does not know how to say: NO. I was soon emerged in many activities that were not in school hours nor rewarded monetarily. My contract had a lovely clause I read after signing:" Extra-curicular activities shall not be renumerated. " I was the first aid official to the entire intermediate phase this meant that at any point during my day if a student grade4-7 was injured badly or simply got a paper cut, they got sent to my classroom whether I was teaching or not I was to see to them. No, my american friends we do not have school nurses, and the office didn't want kids in and out all day. I was teaching all 8 learning areas to my class as well as teaching Religion to the class next door and the grade6's, technology to Grade 6's and Art to Grades6 and 7. I sat on the religion comitee and the fundraising commitee. I helped co-ordinate inter-school sports and coach volleyball and netball. We started an art club as well, there were 4 teachers including myself who were recent grads and we had spunk, spark and enthusiasm! Even when we were shouted down by the dinosaurs and Trunchbulls we kept going as we knew they were us once and we were doing this for the kids! We had many run ins with authorities and survived them well! It is very hard to be the teacher when your collegues were once your teachers. The student in you is still scared of detention and demerits! It was school policy to give demerits and after 10demerits you got a DT slip that had to be signed by your parent. By the end of my first year I had learnt so much, I had cried so much and laughed so much. I should have written a book, learners say the funniest things and yet now, I cannot remember any to share with you! Perhaps I am becoming a dinosaur!
You may be wondering why I am being so general in this discussion of my experiences, well I shall tell ya. See that year, I was summoned to the office during my holiday. Turns out, the head had been informed of someone writing or leaking confidential school information on a certain social website.The dinosaurs did not use puters, and were not about to I guess the evil machine theory stems from here. The person was not a staff member or a parent but simply a past student. Well as I had close ties to this person it was assumed that I leaked information, which i did not, at least I don't remember, buut then the CONFIDENTIAL info was SO trivial I could have! Anyhow in an effort of diplomacy and secrecy and to keep all things cloaked and clandestine I hope I have not disclosed any info to you that you may use against the school that I have not mentioned, and no names have been changed to protect the victims nor have they been enlisted in protection programs for their own safety but I have left the country since! More on that NEXT!~>
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