An Internal Conflict...
Hola, mi amigos...how are you all doin?...im doin okay...trying to fulfill my promise by posting every other day...are you guys keepin up with me?...im exhausted and hella busy, but im doin it for you guys ;-)anyways, this should be a pretty short post...for the most part, i need advice on an important issue ive been grappling with...so, please help!...oh, but first, the above picture is of my 2nd period class...theyre good kids...though today they had a quiz and they would not stop whispering and talking after they finished...damn teenagers!...
okay, this is the internal conflict ive been having the last week or two...my dream was always to eventually move to delafield (WI) and settle down there...for some odd reason, ive fallen in love with the city and its school district...i love how its suburban yet quaint and sorta rural...i love the small, olden days village with the shops...i love how theres still a walmart and movie theaters...i love how the urban sprawl hasnt caught up to it too much (the city is constantly voting down proposals for new buildings and businesses)...and i think that the school district, though i really dont know anything about it, would be excellent to teach in...it would obviously have tons of funds (maybe even a computer lab!?...tafuna has never seen one of those!), students from affluent, educated families, highly organized, professional administration, and supportive parents...oh, and i can only dream of the beautiful house i could own...delafield has always been my goal...and it still is, in a way...but lately ive been feeling different about where i want to teach...
since being here in american samoa and teaching in milwaukee, ive realized how much i absolutely adore working with diverse students...i have found it to be incredibly rewarding...i love the kids and where they come from...sometimes from all over the world...i love how i cant pronounce their names (at first)...i love how they come from working-class, impoverished families and cities...it seems, in my humble opinion, that i connect with them tremendously...and i admire their attitude on life and their street smarts...theyre very grateful for the things they do have...my kids in milwaukee, and here on the island, are so thankful and eager to learn...this isnt always true, but theyre definetly not spoiled and bratty...yeah, they might be rude and disrespectful...but theyre also really enthusiastic and energetic, and truly want (and need) to learn...thats the other reason why i would love to work in a more urban, diverse school...i love the feeling of being needed...i would like to teach at a school that actually needs me...and where students and families and the community NEEDS me...it sounds conceded, but i guess i dont want to waste my time and energy, ya know?...now, i do realize that suburban kids need good teachers and role models, too...afterall, the suburban kids are also shooting up their schools, becoming drug addicts, killing their classmates while drunk driving, developing depression, and commiting suicide...and thats why this decision i need to make after i come home is so difficult...and conflicting...ill give you my list of pros and cons in a second...and then youre all gonna make the decision for me :-)
this is what happens when you give your camera to two samoan teenagers...they take off their shirts, spread fake blood on eachother, put masks on, and pose in the most violent, action-packed way they can imagine...my students are so weird...PROS for the SUBURBS:
- Well-funded schools
- Students from affluent, educated parents
- Organized, professional administration
- Beautiful, peaceful environment
- Nice stores and shops
- Quaint, quiet homes and neighborhoods
- Safe, productive town
CONS for the SUBURBS:
- Spoiled, rich kids
- Controlling parents who think their child always deserves an A
- Demanding administration who think your students always deserve an A, and that your classes must meet all state standards and pass all testing
- A prosperous school doesn't really need me
- No diversity...mostly white, well-to-do families with children named Sarah and John
this is a picture of the children from my church...they did a little song and performance for us...it was soooo cute and sweet...it was cavity-inducing...PROS for the CITY:
- Diverse students...black, asian, mexican, latino, russian, etc. with names like Dusko and Lalomoana
- Students from hard working, lower class families
- Students from neglectful, abusive, and dangerous homes and cities
- Freedom to teach what i want and how i want...with no nagging from administration and parents
- Decrepit schools that actually need me
CONS for the CITY:
- I really don't want to live in the city...i despise the city life
- Too dangerous
- Too stressful...why deal with disrespectful, naughty kids like that all day?
- The community doesn't give a damn about its youth, or anything for that matter
- Too hopeless
- Too loud and overpopulated
just a picture of whats right outside my bedroom window...did i post this pic already?...im running out of images to post, as you can probably see...usually theres roosters and chickens all over this little yard...
okay, well theres the decision i need to make...technically, i dont need to make this decision for another two years...when im finally off this island...but i am starting to think about it...ive even gone to the extreme and thought about working in los angeles...i know, sounds crazy...but i think the diversity of cultures in L.A. would be extraordinary...but i really do wanna come home after im done with american samoa...so, i was thinking waukesha would be a healthy medium...kinda suburban and kinda urban...though it has nicer, more wealthy areas, it still has a big working class, poor population and a significant number of mexican families...but that seems so boring to me...i need adventure and excitement...maybe africa?...thats my other place ive been imagining myself teaching lately...most likely though, ill be coming home to wisconsin...its just, where will i find the most fulfilling, satisfying job...i know what most of you will say..."joe, any school could benefit from your teaching"...but what school (and city) will benefit ME and what I want out of my life?...thats the million dollar question, folks...help!
this is just our laundry area...next to our house...i love sitting here and doing work and waving and saying "hi" to all the passersby...this is also where we do our drinking with our friends...and we also play cards in this little nook...
last thing...i wanted to leave a link for you guys...its not that great, but check it out if you want...
oh, and here's my dream home...well, the city at least...
http://www.cityofdelafield.com/
also, one of my favorite online, pop culture commentators has written a article about three of my favorite things...disney (on ice), survivor (which has kicked it into high gear recently), and superheroes (i say batman begins is the best comic book movie EVER!)...
also, one of my favorite online, pop culture commentators has written a article about three of my favorite things...disney (on ice), survivor (which has kicked it into high gear recently), and superheroes (i say batman begins is the best comic book movie EVER!)...
hey, suzy and jacob...look at this list of the "top 50 Lost loose ends"...yeah, i didnt even try to look at all of these...but this proves that the show is either brilliantly complex or irritatingly pointless...i kinda think the latter...
alright...i should get going now...did any of you check out those clips from my last post?...i wanna hear what you thought about them...anyways, i have some quizzes to correct...ttyl...love ya and miss ya...
-JOE
p.s...thanks kourt for the message and the heads up on the book...
"It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end."
-Ursula K. Le Guin
posted by Samoa Joe at 1:21 AM
5 Comments:
Hey Joe,
This is Mrs O (Kristy's mom). I heard you are having a great time teaching over there. I also heard about your lizard friends...no thank you!
It sounds like a really neat experience. Sounds like you are trying to make a desision on where to go in the future. All I can say is follow your heart! No matter where you go you will do a great job. If you don't like city life LA is NOT the place to go...nuts!
If you move back to Waukesha you could always marry Kristy and live happily ever after in that dream home in Delafield (ha) Whatever desision you make will change your pattern on life....but you gotta do what you love and what is best for you no matter what anyone else tells ya.
Heard you'll be home at Christmas, good! Be nice to see ya, You can Help us move kristy into her condo :) Take care,
I know Kristy misses you lots!
Love, Sherry
this is much too long, so sorry in advance...i tend to babble a lot!
i can see how, as a teacher, your conflict would definitely pose a problem for what you want to do with your future. i'm not a teacher, however, i have many teacher friends and also, i have been a student. i think from those perspectives i want to share my little outlook. after all, you asked for it :)
ok. you know i grew up in eagle river. not sure if you've ever actually gone up there, but it's even more rural than delafield, all quaint and small and old fashioned, etc etc etc. probably similar to what you have dreamed of for so long, and exactly what most people who grew up in the city do dream of. now, let me clarify:
-the schools aren't that well funded. right now, no public schools are, especially in WI. unless you really like whitefish bay or something, you're not going to be seeing a large flow of cash for your classroom and programs. honestly, my education was not that good, despite what northland pines school district test scores will tell you. i didn't learn much of anything in HS and i wasn't really challenged a whole hell of a lot in my 12 years in that district. i learned much much more from what i did outside the classroom in extracurriculars. luckily, they didn't cut the hell out of all of them until after i left.
-organized, professional administration...doubtful. unless you do your research and know teachers from a certain district, that's wishful thinking. most administrators are just as screwed up and corrupt and selfish as the next, no matter where you are.
-environment...well, it could be nice, but a building is a building.
-stores, neighborhood, quiet, safe productive...don't get caught up in that ideal, because that's exactly what it is, just ideal. you'd think little eagle river would be the quaintest, quietest, safest place ever, but it's just not true. productive...i'm not exactly sure what comes out of delafield, but i know in my small town, there were approximately 10 productive people and one of them was my dad. and the urban sprawl will catch up with delafield sooner than you think. give it 5 years and it won't be quite so quaint anymore. no more farm fields!
-just because kids from suburbia tend to be less diverse doesn't mean they aren't diverse per se. you can't use where someone lives as a basis for whether they're rich or poor, spoiled or not, educated or a derelict. sometimes people seem a certain way in school but home is a completely different story. and it's definitely pretty generous to assume all suburbanites are educated and well-to-do...because wow, i've met some real pieces of work so far down here in Chicagoland!
-you do not have to live in the city to teach in the city!!!!! if you stick around milwaukee it would involve a drive, but many other major US cities have amazing public transportation systems that are economical and honestly, a great source of relaxation at the beginning and end of your work day. i like it anyway :)
-you'd be surprised at how many small towns give a whole lot less of a damn about their "youth" than cities. at least a lot of cities are trying now. the more retirees you get, the less the youth matters. and most of those retirees are not living in the cities right now.
k, done with my comments on your comments. moving on, you're right. any school WILL benefit from having you on their teaching staff. but the school needs to fit your needs too. teaching is a tough job and you need to want it and love it and it all has to be a right fit. i guess i think it's most important to check everything out ahead of time, and check out a ton of different options so you can choose what's best for you. city or country, rural or urban, "diverse" or "not diverse." personally, i'm a city girl who loves to visit the country. i'm incredibly happy here and i won't ever move far away from any city, and in fact, i'll probably move into the actual city in a few months. but i also love my country roots and i live for the smell of home and the view from the bluff. so in conclusion to this INCREDIBLY LONG babbling (i'm so sorry!!!), i don't have an answer one way or another. basically, you can still have both in almost every part of the country, AND you don't have to commit forever. you're obviously up for trying new things and new adventures in life...you don't have to stop doing that...ever! :)
I think Africa would be wonderful! If i was single w/ a teaching degree i would certainly be drawn to that...maybe you could wait till my kids are grown and we could go do it together :)
Well, you didn't go into teaching for the funding. Nor the computer labs. You went into teaching because of your connection w/ kids...where do YOU feel that connection is the strongest? The only negative i think of working in the city is lack of parents & community within the building. You have heard me say a hundred times that is what i like about Muskego El (which i don't think is the norm throughout the district) I think it would be difficult to teach at a school without that sense of community and i think the kids learn so much from that....then on the flip side those are the kids that especially need someone to take an invested interest in their education. You have enjoyed teaching in the suburbs of Sussex (beautiful well funded school) as well as Hamilton (city/ non involved parents/ less funding)- you had good experiences at both of them- so to me that says teaching a child is teaching a child and that is what you like to do- whether in the suburbs or the city a good teacher has the means of planting a seed in any child. When it comes closer to the time of returning i would look into job openings in both locations and consider things like the unity of the staff (are your co staff members burnt out or still excited to teach), what is the principal like (HUGE to me), what is their teaching philosophy. i think of one of your first posts that said if i can teach here in this classroom w/ no fancy resources- no windows etc. i can teach anywhere...put your passion anywhere and i think you will have an enjoyable teaching experience and the kids will benefit from it all the same-- when you are no longer feeling passion it is time to move on. So, basically i think you should teach in Muskego. ;) TOTALLY JUST KIDDING!!!!
We don't care we just want you to live close to us. Please come home.
awe. charlie and chase are to dang cute. so i just wanted to know why that one girl and that one boy get to wear yellow/blue when everyone elses wears white/red
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