Why I teach Middle School

According to a veteran teacher for the state of New York, Mrs. Abreu, there really is no other way to teach middle school other than to take to it like it were scotch...Try to get it down, get used to it and eventually, it'll be all that you order!

I think this analogy is dead on in that it may not sound like it will be fulfilling or fun, but middle school is a pretty special place and after you realize that, it's difficult to order a different teaching assignment.

It's always funny to watch people's faces when I tell them I have been teaching middle school for the past 15 years. They wince, say wow or just give the blank look. It tells me that they remember what a difficult time that was when they hit puberty. I take great pride in knowing that I give my kids a safe, challenging and understanding learning environment. If you can handle the delayed gratification, and the sheer wackiness, middle school has a lot of job satisfaction.

Middle school by definition is already its own category with its own unique age group and challenges. Our students are in the middle of the greatest physical and cognitive life changes they will ever face. As a result, they require teachers who are not only trained in an academic subject area but also in understanding the best ways to foster cognitive growth.

Relating to middle schoolers, being fair but goofy, being flexible in approach but consistent in consequences and turning on light bulbs are what make great middle school teachers. There is no better moment for me than being around 6th graders as they learn to see the layers of meaning and to think critically and analytically. The letters and posts I receive from past students indicating the "big ideas" they took from our time together validates student centered, collaborative learning.

Just last week we were at the pool watching our homeroom advisory houses race in recycled plastic homemade boats. And as I watched the kids cheering in the crowd, dressed in crazy outfits waving homemade banners, and I gazed at my colleagues imploring their teams to go faster, and I watched the kids on the boats working harder than I thought anyone could ever work using cardboard paddles atop water bottles; I smiled and said to the parent next to me: "This LOOKS like middle school!"

What one of those 301 pubescent, not-quite-adult, but not-little-kids, (stuck right in the middle of growing up) will ever forget Earth Day 2011 in Dubai?

I know this middle schooler won't. You are what you teach and I quite like being a 41 year-old sixth grader.

Boat Race from Doug Catanzaro on Vimeo.

Uganda 5: Chimps & Rhinos

In Uganda you can take a ferry on The Nile to get to a forest where you can hike to see the chimpanzees in their natural habitat.

The kids crowd the globe on the banks of the Nile.

The chimpanzees build their nests high in the trees.

The chimps rarely sleep in the same nest twice to make them less susceptible to parasites and predators.

Two hikers happily gazing around the forest.

The forest itself is amazing. The tall trees and dense leaves created incredible lighting.

Sunshine through an old chimp sleeping nest.

Spider webs and hornet nests are just two of the life forms we were surrounded by in the jungle.

Fallen trees and snaking vines,

moss colored wood- all created

shady resting spots for animals to take a break from the heat.

A rare Bella monkey inside the branches and roots of the tall trees.

Life in the jungles of Uganda is abundant, interconnected and diverse.

And then, high above us, we were lucky to get a peak at our close relative, the chimpanzee.

It was amazing to spy on this chimp. The similar features and curious eyes made it a bit like looking in the mirror.

And after a morning of watching our primate relative, we then made our way to The Ziwa Rhinoceros Sanctuary. In Uganda, rhinos were once abundant. But now it is only at this sanctuary that you can see these amazing creatures. And it is a very interesting trek as you walk near the rhinos: no fences!

Rosie poses at the welcome center which depicts the history of each rhinoceros. We loved that Augustus, the youngest rhino, was born on Rosie's birthday to a mother named Bella! The girls decided to donate their souvenir money to sponsoring this rhino family.

Here is our group walking in the huge, grassy sanctuary, miles from the nearest town.

Bella and Augustus grazing right in front of us while Bella and Rosie ponder the logic of walking so close to the rhinos. The rhinos can be seen behind Bella's right shoulder.

Up close and personal with the white rhinos!

The guards watch these animals 24 hours a day and know their patterns and habits.  They need such care to monitor the rhinos, and protect them from poachers. Here they go into a pose to keep the rhinos calm.

This is as close as I ever want to be to a wild rhino with no fence between us. Amazing!

We were repeatedly told that the gun was for the noise to startle and scare the rhino into retreat, not to shoot it. It has taken too long to bring these animals back to Uganda and the sanctuary is unwilling to harm the rhinos. Sadly, the gun is also needed to scare away poachers who still threaten this project.

Truly amazing animals for their size, power and horns!

The whole trek lasted about 50 minutes and on the trip, we saw 4 different rhinos.

The guides taught us to be calm and to observe the animal in its habitat. They also reminded us to always know where to find the closest tree for climbing just in case.

Fortunately, that exercise was not needed! 

Uganda 4: Safari

After a whirlwind trip from the school to the airport in Kampala, our group flew on two small, 15 seat propeller planes up to the northwest part of Uganda to go on safari. We flew to Murchison Falls National Park. The flight was amazing as we flew from Lake Victoria and the start of the Nile at the equator, up north to Lake Albert and the Nile on the Democratic Republic of the Congo border. Our short, 40 minute flight saved us a 6 hour drive!

 Here we are after landing on the small Pakuba airstrip.

 The Chobe Safari Lodge picked us up on the runway and 

gave us an afternoon safari on the way to the lodge.

 The giraffes were the first to greet us as we drove through Murchison Falls National Park.

 The park is miles of roaming room for the animals and small dirt roads for the jeeps.

 The gentle giraffes wandered the savannah amongst the acacia trees.

 Down by the Nile, we spotted our first elephant.

 At the amazing lodge, Rosie posed on the balcony with the jungle in the background.

Our rooms were amazing and we had a view of the Nile as well!

We could hear all the animals, especially at night. The elephants came up from the river and were seen around midnight attempting to find their way to our pool before the guards chased them away.

The next morning, we went out for an early morning safari. Seeing the big cats is rare and although we were not able to see any lions, we did run into more giraffes.

These are classic African savannah views. 

Anyone else remember Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom?

 The acacia trees stood tall in the distance on a perfect morning.

 Smile.

 High above us, the wildlife perched.

 We didn't see any lions but we saw what they leave behind. This kill was estimated to be a week old by our guide. The hyenas had all but licked it clean.

 We took a mid morning hippopotamus break. The hippos were cooling in the water and although we walked around and enjoyed listening to their noises and watching them splash around, we remained cautious as hippos are a very big animal and cannot be underestimated as docile.

 Bella enjoyed the jeep rides.

 Squinting with the African sun in our eyes and scores of wild hippos bathing behind us. 

This was surreal.

 A huge meeting place for these large herbivores.

The animals interacting and all crossing paths was interesting to see.

 Rosie and Bella slightly out-cute the bathing hippos.

 Our Land Rover seated 14 quite comfortably.

 Great logo; great lodge!

 Water buffalo with birds cleaning off the parasites.

Some sharp horns!

 Some of the animals seemed to pose for us. 

How safari has changed: Shooting them with cameras seemed so much better than the old way of shooting these beautiful creatures.

 Elephants jogging past palm trees along the savannah. Wow.

 Rosie looks out at a distant giraffe.

 Giraffes, warthogs and the tall grass.

 Back at the lodge, Rosie poses with our guide and driver, Kula.

 We decided to take a swim at our pool that had a swim up bar and overlooked the Nile. 

 The juxtaposition of this portion of our trip with our days at the Masooli School was yet another piece of our service learning. Roaming the beautiful Ugandan savannah on safari reminded us once again of our fortunes. We kept talking about the friendly school children and reminding ourselves about what they were doing at that very moment. It was a lot to take in.

 The path to our rooms

 One view of the Nile from our path, not far from where the elephants had invaded at night.

It was a day full of adventure.

We saw many monkeys just hanging around!