By Elaine Gallagher
UNO speaks….of critical thinking, of creativity, of leadership, of challenge, of utilizing various intelligences and cooperative learning.
UNO speaks …in support of project-based learning, oral fluency, CLIL philosophy, and world-class excellence during this evolution, this transformation in education that UNO proposes.
The school year has begun in Mexico and I’m already off visiting schools, meeting with parents, providing in-service courses for teachers and administrators, and giving demonstration classes to students, with educators observing. Sometimes, I have four 2-hour courses in one day, with the area-Coach doing a super-human job of getting me from school to school, arriving on time. As many hours as I may work, I can tell you, from first-hand observation, the Coaches work more hours every day than you can imagine, 7 days a week.
UNO speaks, providing Coaches to support our schools….. and the Coaches respond!
As a Coach and I drive to various schools, I’m thinking that most teachers or administrators have absolutely no idea how hard our UNO coaches are working to resolve issues, to plan courses, to accept 5 -10 phone calls or text messages, every hour, to answer a constant flow of e-mail, to check shipments, to drive me around; sometime it’s 4 hours from one city to another, but the Coach is joking, laughing, and in great humor as we drive together.
Each school logically sees their own situation, forgetting that the Coach has 10 -14 schools to work with, some with several different campuses, some which require 7 hours travel by bus to arrive, complicating an already complicated time issue. As I travel with Coaches, I see, first-hand, what they have to do, and think to myself, «How do they keep positive with such a tremendous load?»
Even beyond their job responsibility, which is to provide academic service to their assigned schools, Coaches have to deal with silly, tedious issues, such as restaurants that don’t send a copy of the factura as a meal receipt, so the Coach can be reimbursed. They need to call the restaurant 2 or 3 times to finally get a factura sent. What a nuisance!
Yet, no matter what…..your schools’ great Coaches keep on…. doing their work, supporting academic needs, and representing UNO to the best of their abilities.
So much for the Coaches…UNO speaks…and the Coaches listen…..
But what am I seeing in the schools?
UNO speaks of «critical thinking»… UNO promotes cooperative learning…UNO provides staff development, and model classes. Now, after three years, into our fourth year of implementation, do I see transformation and success? Do I see some transformation? What’s REALLY happening out there that is good and positive?
The next issue of UNONEWS, I’ll continue!
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