Unknown to me, and I believe most Americans, the month of May begins with the presence of Hate all throughout Europe. On May 1st, Neo-Nazis and other groups march through the streets of many major cities. This year was no different, with one exception - in Brno, it was the first time the citizens tried to stop it.
"Brno Blokuje!"
Maybe it's part of being an American post-the-60s-and-70s, but the Czech Republic esspecially has not been without its recent struggles and rebellions - which is why I was and remain not only suprised but disgusted by the reactions of my peers.
Five minutes after receiving a warning e-mail about the event, I posted an event on Facebook. My instinct was to protest - was to be a presence of good. Here's the e-mail:
"Dear students,
This is an important WARNING from the NEONAZI MARCH that those people decided to organise in Brno, on SUNDAY 1 MAY. Their official gathering is planned from 11 a. m. in the park behind the national theatre and the march is going to start at 3:30 p. m., along the STREETS: Koliště, Cejl, Merhautova and Milady Horákové, and back to Koliště.
Please rather DO NOT MOVE AROUND THE TOWN on that day, and if you need to go somewhere, be VERY CAREFUL.
The time AFTER the march is expected to be even more dangerous. It might not be safe in the city in the evening before (Saturday) and the morning after (Monday) as well.
Hopefully nothing happens, there will be many POLICEMEN everywhere, so I do not want to scary you, but it is better to be careful than to get in trouble. It is a DANGER, not an adventure!
If some of you still want to TAKE PART in the blocade, in that case, please be very careful and READ PROPERLY ALL the recommendations on this website: http://brnoblokuje.cz/?page_id=54
Please INFORM ANYONE who might not read this e-mail or anyone you know is going to be or travel in Brno on that day.
There are other things you can celebrate on that day, but safely at home (= in the halls of residence):
1st of May is the Labour Day, a world-wide celebration of work(ers) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Day
and it is also the day of the traditional Czech “Love Day” :) http://www.myczechrepublic.com/czech_culture/czech_holidays/may.html
Best wishes,
M
********************************
MD
Erasmus Incoming Students Coordinator
Office for International Studies , Masaryk University"
In a post-holocaust world, how is it possible that people could be so unafraid of their own potential for needless-mass-destruction? Nevertheless, the responses to my event were just totally unexpected - negative. One girl even asked me, "What do you expect to change?"
I went and it was not only safe, but one of the greatest experiences of my life. At least a thousand people showed up to stand against the neo-nazis. We cheered in Czech and listened to speakers - my friend translated for me. It was an excellent experience.
April 24, 2011
Written Assignment IV: Lessons from the Classroom
CELTA
This
course has been a challenge for me, and therefore has also been an
absolute pleasure. Throughout my academic career I have seldom felt
challenged, though I always manage to obtain a high grade. I’ve become
accustomed to skipping homework and generally procrastinating because my
intellectual abilities have outweighed my behavior. I’ve sensed for a
long time that I wasn’t really learning much in the classroom – that I
was missing a deeper understanding – but for some reason whatever I did
was declared good enough by my teachers and so I have carried on this
way until now.
In this course, I couldn’t rely on my
writing abilities. I couldn’t rely on my memory to sponge up the
material and then wring it out during a final exam. I have my own
theories about intelligence. One part of it is that everyone has their
own sense of intelligence. There are no stupid people, only uneducated
people. Further, those who excel in the classroom are able to learn in
more various ways than the average person. They have visual, auditory,
and tactile awareness of the material no matter how it’s presented.
These learning styles do not necessarily translate into teaching styles,
however. This course has taught me the difference between practice and
theory.
My Own Teaching
For example, I
have, unfortunately, failed two lessons. Before these two lessons,
during my time with the upper-intermediate group in the first half of
the semester, I was on my way to excelling in the course. So what
happened? The second half of the course focused on deeper understanding,
not mere classroom management and confidence. There is a point in
cognitive development when our brains become aware of others. One could
say that I had not reached that point intellectually. I’ve grown so
accustomed to an atmosphere of input/output that when I asked “checking
understanding” questions of my students, I was did so in a way that put
them at the same disadvantage as I have found myself in today. A
reminder to check for understanding has consistently appeared in all my
feedbacks. I was only checking for nodding of heads, or for them to
produce a phrase – not if they actually understood the meaning of what
they were saying. Not to see if they could replicate it to communicate
with their classmates. Not the “how” or “why” but only “if” things
worked. I realize now that while systematic, asking a leading series of
Yes or No questions about the material is the most effective way to know
if the students really understand.
On a positive
note, I feel I have a strong, natural manner with the students. This
sentiment has been regularly expressed by my classmates and Professors
in feedback. Nevertheless, I retain my position that this is teaching on
the shallowest level. Then again, perhaps my real weakness is not
primarily my comprehension, but more so my self-doubt. Knowing that – as
I have for a long time – doesn’t change much on its own, but I am
trying.
Observations
Nevertheless,
through observing my Professors, the Brno ELC teachers, and my
classmates, I have seen a wide range of people all pursuing the same
goal successfully. I have learned from the Brno ELC teachers that the
most effective teachers utilize technology and provide an experience
rather than a lesson. While every portion of the lesson is planned, most
of that planning is anticipatory and open to take different paths
depending on the input of the students. The students don’t realize it,
but they’re almost teaching themselves. In one class we watched in
particular, every fifth word was immediately searched for on Google and
authentic images helped fill the gap between question and explanation.
Future Plans
Looking
to the future, I know I want to be a teacher. I want to be a writer
too, but teaching is immediately rewarding and fulfilling in a different
way. I feel comfortable in the classroom and from my feedback I
understand that I have some natural abilities in that area, but before I
can be an effective teacher there are still things I need to wrap my
head around.
First, I must deal with changing my personal habits.
I need to create lesson plans in advance so I can work with my advisor
and learn what will work and what will not before the actual lesson.
Within lesson design I need help distinguishing between what does and
what does not “teach” a certain skill or language point. If this sounds
too theoretical it is because that’s the way this issue presents itself
in my mind, and why I’m insecure about it. Once I graduate from this
course I will be on my own and hopefully by then I’ll be prepared and
able to make effective lessons by myself.
Secondly,
while I can cope with the idea that I must do a personal grammar lesson
for myself before I can feel comfortable teaching any language point, I
still need to work on my self-awareness when it comes to language. As
articulate as I can be, I grew up in an environment of slang and poor
grammar and I sense now how that can confuse me when teaching. It is a
minor adjustment, but an important one.
Thirdly, I
sincerely have to work on my confidence. I know this doesn’t have much
to do with skills, language systems, or vocabulary but all that is more
natural to me than believing in myself while in the midst of failure.
In the future, things will go wrong, and I don’t want to lose a job or
who-knows-what just because I couldn’t pull myself back up. I absolutely
believe I have the aptitude, the potential, to be a really amazing
teacher – I just need some patience, mostly with myself.
More
than anything else, I sense that coming to Brno and attending this
course has been a changing point in my life. I believe I will look back
on my experience here and recognize the moment when I finally grew up. I
realize this paper might be more for technical aspects of teaching, but
I would be lying if I didn’t give time to these more abstract and
personal matters – in my life, and in my teaching future, I feel they
are the most important lessons I will have learned. That and thinking
time – always give plenty of thinking time.
I left by train on April 1st to Prague, where I would meet up with my best friend from high school who was flying in from Turkey. Before I was to leave, however, several things were to happen. One, running to catch my bus, I would arrive just in time only to discover that they had sold my ticket for not being there 5 minutes earlier. So, with the image of my friend stranded in the Prague airport wondering where the hell I was screaming in my head, I burst into tears right then and there. It was important because it had been the first time I cried since my first day in Brno when I was, then just as I was now, boarding a bus. At any rate, I never want to ride the bus again, if I can help it.
The train was a thousand times better and only 100 crowns more. It was the first time I've left Brno since I got here in February, and I'm always amazed at how similar everything is. Everywhere, grass grows. Everywhere, people talk about nothing. Everywhere, there are comings and goings and shadows and sunsets. There are houses and stretches of land and houses again. This could be Pennsylvania. This world speeding outside my window isn't so unfamiliar. I wonder why I ever expected it to be...
Prague itself was lovely, but not quite as romantic as it might seem. I've never really been a city person though I do like Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco - Prague was nice but infested with the same old New York City commercialism among history - the same tugging along of full-wallets and screaming children. Billboards and shop windows. Art and junk all crushed together like the crowds stomping along the cobblestone streets in their inappropriate shoes. We too shopped. We ate. I's first request was for bacon - anything bacon. We slept in a hostel and we talked and we smoked. We visited the Museum of Communism and The Mucha Museum. It was a good time, a nice time. But when we got on that train back to Brno, that's when the fun really began.
I stayed the week and I brought her to most of my favorite places. The tea room. To my class. The Hobbit pub. The pub with the trains that chug around the bar and bring your drinks to your table. We smoked with Lord Firecrotch and played pub quiz and watched a Czech interpretation of a western. We talked about her Dad and her love interests and Turkey, Turkey, Turkey. She met my friends and drank the beer and the week was soon over and back again to Prague and she was gone. She's never gone though - there is a thread between our hearts that I think can never be broken. I know this now more than ever.
It was the longest time - the first time - we've hung out and not gotten into a fight. Maybe we're growing. Maybe B was right - travel does change you. It puts something new inside of you - a sort of rock or stone that keeps you in balance when life's little miseries would normally knock you sideways.
She's worrying me though - my I. I won't write much about it here because I'm learning the art of restraint. All I will say is that I really hope one day she will have the home she deserves.
Berlin?
First I was supposed to go to Olomouc this weekend. Then I was supposed to go to Vienna. Now, the goal is to rent a car and head to Berlin, meeting up with another good friend there. I love love love to drive and I've dreamed of driving on the Autobahnen since I realized what a gas pedal can do to your soul. I'm sure it will be a logistical nightmare to get sorted out but I've got to try...
Poezie
I'm also getting a tattoo. I've decided to get a replica of Mucha's Poetry from the Four Arts on my arm. It's everything I want my tattoo to be - something Czech to remember my time here. Something about writing, and something beautiful. I want to wear a little bit of my soul on the outside. It's very intricate, but surely it will be easy enough to trace for a tattoo - just have to find the right artist. I'm supposed to being having it done in Olomouc with M, but no word yet on if the artist she knows there will do it or not or the cost.
Life's Vices are Spices
I've been getting headaches, feeling dizzy, a little sick. The cigarettes might be taking their toll - or it's allergies from the changing weather - who knows. My laptop broke the week before I's visit and I have no idea what to do about it. I'd rather visit some city than pay to fix it - it's just an inconvenience. When the summer fully appears, I might be thinking differently about that though - depending on where I end up. Everything is just going so well - I can't help but wonder when my luck will run out...or else burst and spill over like a balloon filled with water, soaking me in miracles. I have to say love has been on my mind. I want to be in love - even if it's in love with my own work. I feel something brewing - a story, an event - something in the air, coming. Maybe I should just lay off the smokes for a little while...
