To be, or not to be...Czech?

I have been married to Petra for over 15 years. We have been living in Czech Republic for nearly 12 years. The Czech Republic has been a member of the European Union for 9 years...and yet I'm still not able to just 'become' a Czech. It is not such a straightforward issue for me, as most people seem to think. You would think all of the above would surely be enough to qualify me by now...but you'd be wrong ;-)

Recently, my wife went to see the Foreign Police Department to see if I could change my status...and I can...BUT with certain conditions - which have led me to clarify some advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of being Czech:

• I would be able to vote for ANY and EVERY election - at the moment, I can only vote for the European elections and the local one in Velká Bystřice.
• I would have my very own ID card, which would mean that I wouldn't have to take my passport to E.U. countries.
• I would be able to pay for my waste disposal (is that really such an advantage?) 
• I wouldn't have to give up my British passport...

Disadvantages of being Czech:

• I would have to pay for my waste disposal ;-)
• The process would cost me 10,000kč - and that, in itself, gives me a lot of pause for thought!!

At the moment (and the time to do this is running out!! - from next year, I would also have to do a very difficult Czech test!!), I am almost decided not to begin the process. Part of me would love to be associated with this country, even though there are many negative reasons to be embarrassed about it (mainly to do with the politics) - but 10,000kč (around 300 pounds!!) is a lot of money to part with for the honour and privilege...unless, of course, you, my Czech readers, can persuade me otherwise!! :-)

Still, even though I will remain an Englishman in VB, there is a Czech part growing in my heart!

Why I knee-d to be off work for 2 or 3 weeks :-)

In my time at SGO, I have had, on the whole, a good record of health. I can only recall 2 instances of enforced sick-leave during my 7+ years there...the first was a chest infection, and the second was the removal of my gall bladder and the resulting stones which were squatting there...

However, the third period of sick-leave is imminent...
Since the holiday in the High Tatras, I have had a swollen left knee - not painful at all - just quite swollen, and a bit awkward when kneeling down, or coming down stairs etc. After a couple of painful 'punkces' to remove the fluid, nothing changed - so it was decided to send me to a specialist - Dr. Kalina. One look at my x-rays was enough for him to conclude that an operation would be best to 'tidy things up in there' - my meniscus (for the medically-minded among my readers) is the source of my woes. Actually, he assured me that the operation is fairly straightforward - I go to a hospital in Prostejov this Saturday, it'll last 1/2 hour, and after a rest my lovely wife will drive me home, and then my short-term battle with mastering my pair of recently bought crutches will take place....two floors to ascend - should be fun ;-)

If all goes well, I'll have the stitches out after a week, and then be at home to recuperate for another week or two - and if all goes well, then I can go back to work. I hope so. I love my job...but I'm not such a good patient either. I much prefer to be out and about.

But, I can remain positive - it'll be a time to rest, to reflect, perhaps catch up with some reading, mails, films, maybe even some people might come to visit! ;-)

And I hope, that my knee will be much, much better :-)

The honest young man - and teaching about life, not just English

A couple of weeks ago, I had the unusual situation of a student telling me in an essay that 'my English is not so good, so that is why my father translated this essay for me...' :-) As honest a confession as I will ever get! I wrote that while I appreciated his efforts to communicate with me on the topic, it was his English that I wanted, and not his father's - so, his father got a 1, and the student got a 5 :-( However, the happy ending to the story is that I offered him, in view of his honesty, to re-do the essay...which he did, and he got a much better mark :-)

Some people would perhaps think that this student was a bit naive or foolish to admit what he had done (but the truth is, the level of English was too good for him, I could see that!!), but on the contrary, I find it very refreshing to see that some students still have some character, which has not been eroded by the cynicism that comes with the almost compulsory cheating that seems to pervade the Czech education system. Such qualities as honesty, integrity, and honour are admirable and should be encouraged...which made me reflect on what I have been trying to do for the last 7 or so years...

It is one thing to teach English - grammar, vocabulary, tenses, pronunciation, sentence structures etc...and on the whole I enjoy that - but it is much more rewarding and challenging to teach about life; which is basically what the student needs to be prepared for after they leave the relatively safe environment of SGO. In recent weeks in some of my seminars, students have discussed and done some talks on homelessness, and whether anything can be done - on 'my creed'; what I believe in and why (one student later told me it was the BEST seminar he'd ever been in :-)), capital punishment - is it effective, and if we have it, then how should people die...and why? In the past there have also been some great talks on what makes a good marriage/relationship. Isn't this what students really need to learn - instead of 15 types of herbs, or (as one teacher was desperately searching on the internet today) are there really 50 islands in New York!!?? (Who actually cares?? :-O )

Surely more relevant teaching is needed; and if it can't be provided in other subjects, then I guess English is the place to begin.

Of course, one of the biggest challenges to this is to encourage students to think, and to have an opinion, and to be able to express themselves. So often, they are conditioned to repeat by rote, parrot-like, lots of information without any sense of actually exploring a topic. After all, you can teach a parrot to speak English, but not to think in the language... :-)

I know there are a handful of teachers who try to get students to 'come out of the box', and I commend them for it - but it can be a long haul...

Perhaps we need to change the Maturita topics for the future? 

Maybe such a list would comprise of:

• Love and marriage
• How to handle your money
• How to deal with death/dying
• How to get the most out of your life
• What is really important about life?
• Social issues - can you make a difference?
• How to be effective in politics
• How to build up your character
• Learning to live with your mistakes

Well, that's just a taster :-)

Methods of punishment

Following on from my last post of why some teachers get angry, it seems natural to deal with the topic of how teachers punish...and there are a variety of ways, so it seems:

• one of the very old-fashioned ways, which is (surprisingly, in my opinion) still in existence, is writing 100 lines!! Is this really so effective?? It never was when I was a student ;-)
• giving a '5' for pretty much anything - the reasons range from 'not doing the homework' to 'because the teacher doesn't like you' - one teacher was famous for giving out 5's like confetti :-) 
  
• Extra homework - which usually means an essay about why you caused the problem for which you've been given the extra homework...
• getting a 'dudka' (warning letter for your parents) from either the class teacher or director for a variety of offences, which now include proven cheating (essay or test etc) and unauthorised use of the new lift. But is it really a punishment? One of my students said he was proud of his collection of 'dudkas' and used them as a form of wallpaper :-) 

However, I'm not averse to dishing out my own form of punishment:

• forgetting a textbook - singing a song, in English (lyrics can now be provided for a selection of songs)
• using a mobile phone in the lesson - any furtive movement under the desk, in the pockets etc usually indicates use of a mobile phone...in the first instance, the offender gets a yellow card, which is carried forward to future lessons...if they offend again, they get the red card, which is the BIG punishment...and it all depends how I feel on the day...and is a secret until it happens :-)
• saying 'I don't know' in answer to a general question, such as 'what do you think about....?' - this is punishable because 'I don't know indicates a reluctance to think - the punishment? A sweet :-)
• continually speaking in Czech during the lesson - will cost the student a bottle of good quality beer...well, they like Czech so much, they can give me something that is good Czech quality :-)
• coming to a lesson late - a song, in English
• regular failure to hand in a essay on time - a final agreement/deadline is made with a handshake...and if the student doesn't deliver the essay by the agreed date, then they will have a make-over from their classmates...or others, if need be! This happened last year to Tony (then of 4AF!)...

I am always looking to be creative in my punishments. If there are to be punishments, then it should be fun, at least for the students that are disrupted by the others; and my experience has shown me that it works :-)

Why are some teachers SO angry??!!

"Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one."

Benjamin Franklin

Within a few weeks of the start of the new school year, I was aware of some incidents where teachers got angry. One I actually witnessed. I had entered the building early one morning - a group of students were gathered on the stairs, obviously waiting for someone. As I went up the stairs, I heard a very angry voice - and discovered a teacher (who will remain nameless here ;-) ) shouting at a student (known to me), and getting very upset about it.

I went on my way, wondering what could have been so serious... I thought the student had broken something, perhaps even hurt someone, or said something bad to the teacher. Maybe even some financial misdemeanour? (...though that hasn't been considered such a serious problem at this school in the past!) Later, I saw the student and asked him what the problem had been. He had forgotten to change his shoes for slippers. Really. That was it! I confess to being amazed... First of all, did such a broken rule merit such anger? And then, what was that kind of anger doing to the teacher? Surely there are more important things in life to get angry about?

On discussing anger in some of my lessons, I discovered that teachers got angry over some interesting things:

• homework not being done
• not closing the door to the class before the teacher arrives
• students not coming to collect the cassette recorder for certain teachers - the instant punishment for this one was a test, at 7.05am!! (This happened to 2 different classes, and was after an angry outburst...)
• forgetting exercise books
• dropping papers on the floor which were being collected by another student
• because another colleague disagreed with them :-)

It seems that many teachers adopt the Al Pacino shouting style :-)

And all of this was within a few weeks of the beginning of the new school year :-) So much for the relaxing summer break...

All I ask is - is such anger justified, certainly over what can be considered 'minor offences'? And is it ever ok to be SO angry as a teacher? What will be the after-effects? Respect...or, more likely, fear? 

And if you, dear reader, have had some interesting experiences of a teacher's anger, then please feel free to express it on this thread, and of course, keep the names of the offenders out of it - unless you feel it's absolutely necessary :-)

And just in case you're thinking, 'I wonder if Mr Everill has been angry at SGO?' - well, if you have seen that, then post it here :-) I have been annoyed, yes - but not angry as I know I can be...after living and working for 6-7 years with homeless teenagers, I believe that there is very little that could happen here that would make me as angry as I got back then ;-) - certainly during my lessons. But there are some things that I feel quite angry about...and this subject is one of them - hence, this post :-)

Stories to tell :-)

Well, when the new school year began, I had every intention of writing regularly & giving some insights into the life of an English teacher at SGO in this momentous year...the year of our expansion. The year when we put another notch on our prestigious belt :-) Just hope we don't become flabby :-) !!
But then lessons began, lesson plans had to be done, essays began pouring in & needed to be marked, and before I knew it, we have crept halfway through October and I've written nothing since the first day back!! :-O
It is time to put that right!
I'm just posting this to say - stories are coming!! :-)
Here are some themes: (written mainly to remind myself)
- the honest young man
- why are some teachers so angry?
- methods of punishment
- why I love English Club so much
- teaching about life, and not just about English
- further thoughts about the new building
- to be, or not to be...Czech?
- why I will be out of action for a short time
- and some other stories too :-)

But most of all, I just want to say that I love the work that I do - it continues to be an honour and a privilege, and I'm very thankful for (on the whole) enthusiastic, polite & cooperative students who continue to surprise & encourage me with their creativity :-)
Thank you.