808's and Heartbreak

Just like old Axle Rose says, 'nothing lasts forever'. Truer words have never been spoken, and today this life-changing practicum came to its end. The nature of International Schools is change, and if there's one thing people who attend them come to understand thoroughly, it's the word 'goodbye'. The school actually has a little ceremony that they do every time someone has to leave the close-knit community. Today it was my turn to stand in the middle of the little hallway.

I won't go into the details, but basically I had a chance to personally thank and say goodbye to every student and staff member. I also had a chance to address them all at once and say a few words. I thanked them for welcoming me with such open arms, even those who I didn't get to teach directly. I told them how much this experience meant to me, and how I was now officially locked-in to this career. I told them it was just a temporary goodbye; because in international education, you never know when your paths will cross again. And that's the truth. Fittingly, my mentor Kristin was the one who put the capstone on the event by saying some kind words that I will never forget. Then they all sang me the school song and waved goodbye.

By that point the water-works were just around the corner and I was so choked up that speaking was not really working for me anymore, so I had to cut it off there. I grabbed my bag and my jacket and my mentor walked me out the front door. I couldn't have asked for a better end to this experience.

Arbeit Macht Frei

Our unit on the Holocaust culminated last week with an amazing field trip that the Grade 8's and 9's took to Krakow. One full day of that trip was dedicated to touring Auschwitz/Birkenau which is located 2 hrs away by train from Krakow in a small steel town called Okocim. I've had a really hard time deciding how to approach this subject from the get-go, and that is probably going to be evident in the meandering nature of this posting.

This whole unit, I felt like something was wrong with the way I was teaching it. The students read all the materials I gave them, watched difficult documentaires, engaged in group discussions and reflected constantly on the tough subject matter. But no matter what I threw at them, it didnt seem to be making much of an impact. For example, at the end of the class on the Nazi euthenasia campaign, where we read heart breaking personal accounts of disabled children being put to death in rudimentary gas chambers, I felt like I had been hit by a steam-roller. The kids seemed to get over the subject matter instantly and began happily chatting away about the weekend as soon as the bell rang. It made me feel like I was really blowing it; how could they not be moved by what they were learning about?

In a way I was scared by what could potentially happen in Auschwitz with the kids. If they weren't being properly prepared for it in class, would going there be a disturbingly shocking event? There is an entire room FILLED with human hair. 90,000 pairs of old shoes. A 15'X40' gas chamber that killed approxiamtely one million people. How could seeing that stuff not shake them to the core?

The other thing that needs to be mentioned is that Auschwitz is now a very big tourist attraction and that had a pretty big effect on our experience. It is a one-day destination that is promoted and covered by every tourism kiosk in Krakow. I am one of those tourists, so I don't have much right to complain, but when we were there, there were thousands of other people there taking the tour. School groups, Isreali soldiers on leave, Bus tours... the list goes on and on. It was a big challenge to see something so intensely emotional in such a overtly public way, as was seeing the disrespectful ways some people treat the grounds. The IDF soldiers were taking pictures everywhere even where clearly marked NO PHOTOS signage was up and even after the guide asked them to stop. And believe it or not, there is actually graffiti all over Aushwitz too! Some of it is the 'never again' variety, some is staunch pro-zionist rants, some is actually run-of-the-mill tagging. All of it is terrible. There's even graffiti in the gas chamber. But to me, the worst part of the tourist angle is that you don't feel like to have time to really take it in. You find yourself looking at a bolt of fabric that was made out of human hair, and you can't even begin to take in how profoundly disturbing that is because the line is moving. You can't really stop and reflect. Its a destination, and they want to put as many people through it in a day as they can. This was something the kids commented on right away.

But our kids did so good. We knew we had a good group, but they showed such a high level of respect and reverence for what they were seeing that you could not help but be feel so proud. But at the end of the day, just as with this entire unit, they happily skipped off down the street towards the train back to Krakow once it was all over. I suppose if actually going to Auschwitz and seeing it for yourself doesn't make a big impact, then maybe your mind just isn't in a place to fully understand it yet. As we'd say in Child Psych, 'Formal Operations' must still be a few years off. And really, can you ever fully understand how terrible it was to live through the Shoa without actually having been there? Can any medium ever do it justice? I will admit, that once I got on that train back to Krakow, and began thinking about the rest of the trip, the horrible, horrible things I just saw began to slip away all too quickly. I myself am not a whole lot different than the students in this sense, I guess.

So in the end, my experience in teaching the Holocaust has been a real eye-opener. I think the most valuable thing I've learned is that there are times where kid's minds just won't sync up with your vision for learning no matter how much you plan for it. But they had an amazing experience, showed a great deal of maturity for their young ages and most of all they learned a lot... even if it didn't fully sink in.

Birkenau's ominous front gate.


Stairs to the gas chamber.


Disgusting.

Make Time For Fun

We got back from Krakow two nights ago. It was a great field trip, and the kids made us all very proud. Nonetheless, even good field trips are completely exhausting for the teaching staff; I've been in bed pretty much all weekend. There is going to be a big, honkin' posting about the academic side of the Aushwitz trip in a few days once I've had a chance to wrap my head around it all. So stay tuned. Until then, here are a few shots and videos of some of the lighter moments on our trip. Bon Appetit!

4 Hour train trip. We played copious amounts of mafia. The kids never get sick of it.




We organized a games night on the last day. Chin-face sing-alongs are good times!

Feeding the teenagers. They're just like baby birds.

This is an old gem from my camp days called the Pantyhose Facelift. Sorry Miss Hutton...


Last but not least we have a great video of the lone male student on the trip, Jules, telling us exactlty what he thinks of the Rynek. Teenage cold-blooded honesty + ESL = Hilarity.

Praha!

What to say about old Prague that hasn't been said before? That's a tough one. Basically its a city that is so achingly beautiful that it makes your head spin. Architecture, art, history, culture; you name it, you got it. The other part of Prague which should be mentioned is its' gong-show nightlife. Now being a professional educator, I have precious little to say about that. Travel writing is definitely not my forte, so I will leave it at this... you should probably go to Prague before you die.


Book-vortex at the Prague library


Center of 'New Prague'. That domed building in the background is the Czech National Gallery where a series of students kept burning themselves alive to protest the communist government back in the day.



This giant statue of the Virgin Mary apparently ripped a thief's arm off for trying to steal her gold chain!


And what did the church do with the bloody, severed limb once the Madonna had finally calmed down and dropped in on the floor you ask? Why they did what any rational group of individuals would do!!! They had it embalmed, ran a chain through it and hung it on the wall as a warning to any other would-be chain-snatchas!


Putting the 'Antics' in Education.Diplomacy.Antics.CabbageRolls

Sights and Sounds of Wroclaw

With the May Day long weekend here, I finally had time to check out my host city. It felt good to shift my focus away from teaching and to something a little bit more relaxed, albeit though for just a couple of days. Enjoy!

All of Wroclaw is connected by a very sketchy tram network. Every so often, you see a Bombardier space-train roll by, but for the most part, its one of the most glaring relics of the Cold War

The Church of Our Savior Jesus. Jaw-dropping even for us heathens

It's all shot-up on the outside.

More beautiful religiousocities

Apparently Wroclaw is world renowned for the sheer number of naked dude statues this town has. They're riding horses, having sword fights, shoeing mules... you name it!

This is this weird abandoned ampitheater/plaza/restaurant just outside the main square. Its known for its amazing views of the city, but when I was there, all I saw were dirty punk-rockers doing dirty punk-rocker things.

A Nazi bunker converted into a disco!!! Astounding! This is where I am going to spend my last night in Wroclaw.

Probably the best piece of public art I have ever seen. Off in the background, they are sinking into the pavement, representing the descent into communism. Then they pop up on the other side, representing the rebirth of Poland. Fantastic!

I don't know about you, but there is no way I would drop 399 Zlot on a humidifier being sold by this guy....

This was something I was really interested in seeing! Here we have some Roma hustling tourists down in the Rynek! The men strolled around from patio to patio, playing songs like 'La Cucaracha' and other nice Roma tunes. The women and children however were running a very different type of scam. They would send the kids onto a patio screaming and making a raucous, pinching tourists and tossing around chairs. Then the older ladies and teenage girls would follow behind them screaming and shouting pretending to be trying to catch the little scamps to give 'em a good backhanding for upsetting us nice foreign-folk. The sucker tourists, feeling bad for the little kid about to get a whooping, were to pay-off the irate grandmas to show that no harm was done and that the little rascals meant nothing by it. But the ruse was pretty weak, and most tourist just stared at them like they were all crazy as the day is long. I only saw one person fall for it. The best part was the whole family would regroup right outside the patio they just finished working to consult each other before moving onto the next one. I love it! Talk about most interesting people watching imaginable!

Quiet May Day and a Holocaust Doubleheader

Well I've wrapped up another great week of teaching here in Wroclaw. It was a bit of an eye opener though for a couple of reasons. I realized something this week; teaching social studies has challenges that no other discipline does. We have to cover some really, really heavy stuff in this class that can tug on human emotions pretty strongly.

As mentioned, I am teaching the Holocaust to the grade 8's while I am here. When I found this out back in Victoria, it was a little overwhelming, but I really felt up for the challenge. Especially because this unit includes a three day trip to Krakow and Aushwitz coming up in 2 weeks! So I did all of the normal, super keen student-teacher stuff. I planned, picked great texts, thought up different ways to assess. I even got to write some IB Curriculum on the Holocaust that future teachers can use. But when the wheels hit the pavement, my initial gusto hit a roadblock.

Do you know how hard it is to sit there and try to educate a bunch of wide-eyed 14 year olds about the ugliest corner of the twentieth century? Let me tell you, its REALLY freakin' hard. It physically drains you. Added to the fact was that this week had a double period where I was formally assessed! That sure ratcheted up the stress level nicely. And you have to make sure the kids understand the gravity of this historical event too, so you kinnda create this somber mood in the class that also has a big effect on everyone. Do kids have to leave you class depressed in order to have had a successful lesson in teaching the Holocaust? I don't know. Depends which part you're teaching, I guess. In All in all, I can tell this will be a very demanding, very long unit.

So I was really looking forward to this weekend to regroup and rest. But I completely forgot about May Day, and now everything is shut down for who knows how long here behind the Iron Curtain. Looks like all I will be doing for a while is enjoying a Zubr , catching up on sleep, planning for my upcoming trip to Prague and maybe even streaming some hockey if I am lucky. I feel as though I've earned this one.