When The Teacher Owns The School...

A pic of my third baby.

I suppose I could have named this blog a bunch of other things. An idea that often pops into my mind is When The Teacher Owns The School. Though it is absolutely tied to the schoolhouse and I often post lesson descriptions, pics, ideas, and more...I find myself using this blog as an outlet as well. So far I've blogged about being completely lied to and taken for a ride by a previous employer, which serendipitously led me to the schoolhouse, about the decision to not test at the school, irritation from being professionally stood up, the children's book I have now written and will soon have illustrated...the list goes on and on.

I've worked in a few language schools in Rome, and what oftentimes strikes others and even me as a professional is the intimacy with which I approach my work at the schoolhouse. I often refer to it as my third child.  Much like a new mom out at Wal-Mart, I am ready and willing to whip out the photo book of the sparkling new addition to our family at a moment's notice. Ok, no. I really don't carry photos of the schoolhouse around, but I do find myself divulging information about the school and how it's coming along with the ENTIRE WORLD via this blog on the internet with frankness and clarity that most school owners, at least here in Rome, would not ever permit themselves to use. Sometimes I even curse, much to my mother's discontent.

Lately I've been pondering whether or not I disclose too much. I mean, you look at other schools' fb pages or blogs (which very few of them have, and if they have them they aren't active) and there's, like, nothing. No details. No pictures. No idea. No clue. I know for a fact that many are afraid of being "fregati"--or having their ideas stolen and reused. This is an issue I do not have.

I am American. As evidenced by our invention of reality t.v., we're into sharing. I am a teacher and have been so for 12 years. I have both a Masters and a Doctorate degree in education. I do this stuff in my sleep. I do this stuff for fun. I have met Dr. Harry Wong and took his advice to teachers to "steal" great ideas from great teachers "because they love it" to heart. I wish every language school in Rome were doing things the way we do them--that would mean that kids and teenagers and adults would actually learn English...not just pay out the wazoo for lessons photocopied from a grammar book.  Don't get me wrong--I don't want my ideas stolen without credit being given to me and without my permission--which is why I copyright my stuff--but I find it odd and troubling that here in Rome, the status quo is to not show or share at all...for fear that, at best, someone will rip off their ideas, and at worst, they'll expose just how mediocre they really are.

I've resolved that I am a proud mama--proud of all three of my babies...Noah, Milo, and The English Schoolhouse. So I will share, discuss, and wonder aloud...because this is what mamas do. This is what happens when the teacher is a mom, and the teacher owns the school.