First Santa Now Lance...Who's Next?

A great deal has been written on line about Lance Armstrong particularly in the last 24 hours so I thought I would add my opinions to the mire. I have just finished watching the second part of Oprah's interview with Armstrong and what I would like to write has certainly increased.
Let me start by stating that I was a huge fan and supporter of Armstrong's. I first heard about him in the mid 1990's and I watched him win a stage of the 95 tour live on television. I remember reading in a small byline of a newspaper in 1996 that he had testicular cancer and would not be cycling in that year's events. Armstrong disappeared from the media's light whilst he was undergoing cancer treatment but like many others I was following closely when he returned to cycling.
I was amazed in 99 when Armstrong won the Tour de France. I spread his story with those who weren't aware of his miraculous recovery and triumph. In 2000 I was in greater awe of Armstrong's accomplishments. I recorded a 60 Minutes story on him to show my then class and I raced off to buy his book Its Not About the Bike, quickly devouring every page. In 2001 when my class did their unit of work on Images of Greatness I did my project on Lance Armstrong coming to school one day dressed as a Tour de France cyclist.
My admiration and hero worship of Lance grew as he continued to sweep to 7 tour titles. I wanted to leave it there. I didn't want to know any stories that attempted to paint Lance in a bad light. I refused to listen when people told me that he must have been taking some serious amounts of performance enhancing drugs. I always leapt to his defence stating that he has never tested positive for any drugs when many others around him were falling down through drug use. I refused to believe people such as Floyd Landis who pointed the drug tainted finger at Armstrong.
Even when the first release of the USADA report came out in 2012 I still wouldn't believe. I was standing right alongside Lance when he said he was not going to fight anymore.
Finally it was only when more details of the USADA report came out that I threw up my hands and said to myself "No more. He obviously was taking PED's".
So to the Oprah interview. I didn't think it was as bad and as cringe worthy as many people thought. Certainly I thought there were elements that were covered too lightly (this was probably always going to occur with Oprah doing the questioning). I liked the way it started getting to the essential question, the question that everyone wanted answered, right away. The arrogance of Armstrong as well as his bullying nature shone through. When he stated that he didn't take much EPO I thought who cares? You still took it. The low point of the first half of the interview was when he stated he wouldn't talk about what occurred between himself and Betsey Andreu. This is when Oprah should have gone for the jugular. Don't let him off easily. If he doesn't want to answer this question there has to be a big reason why.
I strangely felt a sense of sympathy for Lance but then I had to remind myself that he brought everything on himself by his actions regarding drug taking. Yes I almost started to tear over when Oprah read the email from her friend that had a child who had leukaemia and she used Lance as a source of inspiration. Maybe this is what Armstrong wanted everyone to feel. I saw a recognised cycling commentator last night say that Armstrong, by choosing Oprah to conduct his first post drug relevation interview, was just trying to protect his brand. This commentator strongly argued that his first interview should have been with USADA.
The title of my blog refers to discovering that Lance isn't real. The truth has been uncovered. It was all a myth. I feel like a child who has just discovered that Santa is not real.
Of all of the writing that has been produced about Armstrong over the past 24 hours I believe this is the best as it comes very close to how I feel. I love the work of American sports writer Rick Reilly. He has been a long time supporter of Armstrong's and he places his thoughts eloquently in this piece.

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/8852974/lance-armstrong-history-lying 

An Unknown Educator in Wagga

Next week sees me head out into the educational world of Wagga Wagga, tail firmly between my legs, in search of teaching work for 2013. It has been a very different, and humbling, experience to be without a teaching job at this stage of January. I have always prided myself on my ability to secure positions at good schools including securing a job directly out of university. This is a bizarre feeling. I did apply for a few positions in late in 2012 and was devastated to not have even been shortlisted for these jobs and to not have been given the opportunity to state in the interview process why I would have been more than capable.
So casual and relief teaching it is for me for the start of 2013. I am now faced with the dilemma that I am unknown in the schools of Wagga Wagga. I do not want to just be a name on a list that the relief teaching coordinator comes across once all other avenues have been explored. I want to be the first person called to come in and teach.
Next week I am planning on visiting a number of schools to make myself known. I want the powers that be at these schools to know that I have a passion for teaching, a desire to be in a classroom educating, collaborating, learning from and laughing with a group of students. If I didn't want to teach I would not be heading off to visit these schools next week.
What can I bring to a school?

• 20 years experience teaching in schools in New South Wales, Canberra, Melbourne and Hong Kong.
• Have achieved my Diploma of Teaching, Bachelor of Education and Master of Education.
• Initial degree was in the area of Middle School and therefore am qualified to teach in both primary and secondary schools.
• Have undertaken a number of leadership roles.
• Heavy involvement in extra curricular activities of school life.
• Involvement in the wider community through sport and church activities.
• A passion for education.
• A depth of knowledge of technology, curriculum and issues affecting schools today.
• A desire to be involved and contribute to the growth and development of a school.

I am truly hoping someone gives the opportunity in their school. I am confident that I will not let anyone down.

My Educational Philosophy

I am of the belief that it is important for an educator to evaluate why they are in the education business. Why do they teach? It is something that I like to re-evaluate annually adding or subtracting any points that I believe are now relevant or irrelevant.

I was first asked why I wanted to be a teacher in late 1988 when I went to an interview in order to gain entry to university to study education. I hurriedly came up with an answer in preparation for being asked this question. I thought to myself that I would like to teach in order to play a role in the future of the world. I know this sounds incredibly idealistic but 24 years later it is still something in which I truly believe.

In my final year of university we were asked to do an assessment piece by writing our educational philosophy.  I raised an objection to this with the lecturer. I enquired as to how we could be assesses on something which is a personal belief. I then asked the lecturer “To get a high mark on this task do we need to get our philosophy as close to yours as possible?”  To no one’s real surprise I did not excel in this task.

Anyhow in 2012 staff at my then school was asked to include an educational philosophy in our yearly program. Staff not familiar with this process were shown some examples and then we were sent away to write. I enjoyed this opportunity to further up date my beliefs. In the same we that we are continually updating how I teach I believe it is important to update why we teach. So this is what I wrote........

I like to think I provide a warm, caring yet challenging classroom environment for my students. I aim to challenge and set out to do so from the first day of the year. Going hand in hand with the challenge is complete support. Students are going to be far more receptive to being challenged if they know that they are being supported both at home and at school.

To illustrate this challenge and I support to students I use the analogy of learning to ride a bike. It is challenging the first time someone attempts to ride with no training wheels but there is always someone there to run alongside helping whenever it is required.

Students grow from being challenged. If there are not challenged they will not grow.

One of my class rules is to not accept mediocrity. This rule is reinforced to the students. This means that what I expect at all times is for the students to give their very best. If it is not their best they will be asked to resubmit the piece.

Literacy underpins almost everything we do at school. I openly encourage reading ensuring that all students read a novel every two weeks. My goal is for students to grow to love reading. I am always disappointed to discover that they do not read once they have finished in my class. Reading takes an individual places.

Technology plays a significant role in my teaching life. It is important that as an educator I keep abreast of the development in the ed tech world. The student’s of today are always eager to explore and experiment with technology and discover how it will enhance their lives both in and out of school. I like to harness this enthusiasm and use it in the classroom. The classroom of today is changing rapidly and I like to be a part of this change.

In the same sense as technology I am always open, and search for, for new ideas and innovation I can bring to the classroom. As an educator I tire and become bored with repeating the same unit year in year out. I like to find ways to vary and change the content and the manner in which it is delivered. 

Communication is essential for success in the classroom. On the first day of the year I begin communicating with the parent s of my students. It is vital they are aware of all that is occurring in the classroom. I ensure these lines of communication are kept open via face to face, email and phone class whenever it is required.

Homework is a non negotiable in my classroom. I realise it is an emotive topic but I am of the belief that doing homework establishes healthy habits that will be crucial in future education. Students still need the opportunity to relax and unwind but homework and reading need to be an important facet of their daily lives.

Behaviour management is an area which I believe is a strength of mine. I place high expectations on the behavioural standards of the students in my class. From the outset of the year the students are aware of what I expect in the area of behaviour and what the consequences are if these standards are not met.  I am of the belief that self discipline plays a large role in success any field but students at school may often need assistance in establishing this discipline.

The Importance of Puntonghua (Chinese)

One of the many items on my New Year’s Resolutions list is to learn more Chinese or Putonghua as it is called in its native tongue. I realise this may seem rather odd after having just left Hong Kong after eight years but it is something that I am now more determined than ever to achieve. As I do not have a permanent job I am determined to use what time I may have in order to better myself in a number of different ways both in my professional and personal life. Studying Chinese comes under the personal development as it is something that I have always wanted to accomplish.

For me Chinese is a language that is vital in the world today. One can open up so many avenues for themselves if they have a mastery of this dialect. On my first trip to China in January 1998 the group of educators I was travelling with had a meeting with Australia’s Consul-General in Shanghai. One piece of advice that he left us with was to “tell your student’s to learn Chinese”.

One of my previous schools I taught in had students in primary school learn French every second day. Whilst I believe it is healthy to learn any language, I was of the belief that Australian children are missing a golden opportunity if they are not studying an Asian language preferably Chinese, Japanese or Indonesian. It has been refreshing to see some Australian federal governments over the past 20 years focus heavily on Asia as they have seen the importance of establishing links to the continent. I was most impressed to have a Prime Minister in Kevin Rudd who was fluent in Chinese.

During my eight years in Hong Kong it was with interest that I viewed my school’s approach to Chinese. The powers that be at the school rightly understood the importance of studying the mother tongue of the mainland (it was of little use studying Cantonese, the language of Hong Kong, as it is only spoken in one city in the world). Unfortunately many students and some parents did not see the value in these Chinese lessons. All students in the primary school did Chinese lessons each day with classes being streamed from Year 2 onwards into background and non-background Chinese speaking students. Often it was the when the classes were split that issues arose with the non-background students. Some students became quickly disillusioned with the subject and often questioned the value of learning Chinese. Sadly some parents shared this belief and did not show any interest in the results and behaviour of their child in Chinese classes. This is a greatly misguided attitude. Often I would tell my students how lucky they were to be learning Chinese and to embrace each lesson.

The Year 4 students each year would travel to Shenzhen on a school trip whilst the Year 6 students would go to Beijing. One of the purposes of this trip was or the students to practice their Chinese language skills. One of the problems in a major world city like Beijing now is that nearly everywhere the students travelled in the city was that the locals they came across spoke highly passable English and there weren’t many opportunities to speak Chinese. I myself was amazed a few years ago in Shanghai when buying something at a 7-11 when I was asked by the girl behind the counter “Would I like a plastic bag for that?” in perfect English. Don’t worry though, for every local Chinese English speaker there would be thousands more who have no knowledge of the language.

One amusing anecdote is of a student of Australian background who during his 7 years in primary school in Hong Kong showed little interest, made little effort and behaved badly in Chinese classes. He was sent to boarding school in Australia in Year 7 where they studied Chinese. Suddenly he was thrust to the top of the class as he was the only student who had any background in the language. He applied himself fully and shone in all lessons as he took great pride in his ability. This story was shared to me by his parents when I came across them in Hong Kong. I in turn shared this story with the particular student’s Chinese teacher at his Hong Kong school who felt like tearing their hair out in frustration after battling with him for so long.

A more positive story was of another Australian girl who had the first 9 years of her education in Hong Kong before returning to Australia. I ran into her father who told me that she was continuing with the study of Chinese at her school in Sydney and each January she was going to Beijing to attend 2 weeks of intensive language lessons. Her plan when she finished school was to do a double major of Chinese/Economics at university. This was incredibly smart as she will open a world of opportunity for herself upon completion of her degrees.  This point I cannot reinforce enough. If you are a westerner who can speak Chinese there are so many doors and pathways that will open up for you.

Maybe I am too old for these pathways to open I just think it will be mighty cool to have a knowledge of Chinese. Whilst I can speak very basic, rudimentary Chinese there is so much more that I can master so I look forward to throwing myself headlong into this challenge.

Zai jian!

2013: A New Beginning

It is certainly about time that I sat down and blogged again. Call it a New Year’s resolution but I am determined to blog far more in 2013. I find blogging to be a very powerful tool not only for me but I was incredibly impressed by the blogging of my students in 2012.

So for my first blog of 2013 I thought I would blog about a new beginning.

My family and I have been back in Australia for 3 weeks now. I think the realisation that we are here in Wagga for good now has set in and I must say it is exciting.

After 24 hours back in Wagga I said to my wife as we were down at the local shops “What have we done? Am I mad leaving a great job in Hong Kong for no job in Wagga?” I think I am over that feeling now but I do have to stop comparing prices in Australia with prices in Hong Kong.

There is much I will miss about Hong Kong but it is time to look forward. I will never forget 8 amazing years in Asia’s world city but I now look to creating memorable moments in the Riverina’s largest city.

It hasn’t taken long for us to see in up close the real reasons why we came home.  Our children have delighted in the company of their cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. It has always been amazing coming home at Christmas for the past 7 years and spending so much time with our family. What is even more amazing at present is that this time with family will be year round from now on.

My children have loved being outside playing in the backyard until late into the evening until dusk. They love going to local parks, beaches in Sydney and the pool. These are things that Aussie kids delight in and I want my children to now really feel Australian not just a place where we come once a year.

We wait for the next stage of our Aussie lives to approach that is work for my wife and I and school for the kids. I am nervous for my daughter about starting school as she was very apprehensive about moving home. I know she will be fine but I wish she didn’t have to wait a few more weeks before school starts. My wife is very excited about starting her new audit manager role. As for me professionally there are challenges ahead which I look forward to embracing and showing schools in Wagga that I have a great deal to offer a school both in and out of the classroom.

Anyhow 2013 is here, a new beginning for the Spain family, but one which we are very excited about.