My Teaching Career Part 1: Waterloo County

*** As I am retiring in January 2017 after 35 years in education, I will be sharing my 

       memories in 5 posts as follows:

       1. My teaching days in Waterloo County 
       2. My memories of St. Matthew High School (Orleans)
       3. My years as a Vice-Principal
       4. My time as a Principal
       4. My time as a supervisory officer 

Reflections on My Classroom Years in Waterloo County

I began my teaching career at Elmira District Secondary School (EDSS) in September of 1982.  Why, you might ask, did a guy born and raised in Ottawa choose to teach with the Waterloo County School Board?  The simple answer is that I accepted the very first teaching job offer I received!

I cut my teaching teeth, as the saying goes, at EDSS.  I am indebted to William (Bill) Exley, who was the Department Head of English there in 1982-1983.  Bill spent considerable time and energy mentoring me in the art of teaching English.  From him I learned that the role of a language arts teacher was two-fold: to help students develop both a deeper appreciation of good literature and a commitment to clarity in expression.  Bill Exley had what perhaps his most famous student, the prolific writer Malcolm Gladwell, identified as "presence" - that charismatic aspect that all great teachers going back to Socrates have possessed.  (Note: Gladwell mentions Bill Exley's teacher presence in What The Dog Saw, p. 131)

Malcolm Gladwell (bottom left)
with Elmira Debating Team

As much as I learned from mentors such as Bill Exley, I learned even more from my students during my first year of teaching at EDSS.  At the end of the year, I asked all the students to comment on how effective they thought I had been as their teacher.  Their responses were quite humbling.  Although some said some complimentary things, a significant number suggested that I needed to spend less time teaching English and more time helping them understand what was being taught!  Needless to say, I had a rather sleepless night in late June when I finished reading all of their comments.

In my very first classroom at Elmira DSS
(The picture was taken on a Saturday; I didn't dress like that when I taught!)

However, from that time forward, I was resolved that I would never again lose sight of individual student needs in the drive to cover the curriculum.  Looking back, I am so very grateful to these grade 9 and 10 students at EDSS for their honest and invaluable feedback.  

When my one-year contract expired at EDSS, I moved on to Eastwood Collegiate Institute (ECI) in the heart of Kitchener.  Unlike at EDSS, where I taught a mix of English and History, at Eastwood I taught all English - grade 9, 10, and 11.  It was great to be in one subject area, but the marking load was daunting.  I spent many lost weekends during those 2 years at ECI marking essays, and during exam weeks, a few sleepless nights.

 

Despite the heavy teaching load at ECI, I got involved in a number of extracurricular activities, as I also had at EDSS.  I figured that doing so was a good way to not only build rapport with students but also contribute to the very positive climate at the school.  I served as yearbook advisor and also coached the Midget Boys' Basketball team.  At EDSS, I had also helped out with both cross-country running and track and field.  A veteran teacher at EDSS said something to me that stuck with me during my entire teaching career: "Good for you, Peter ... Nobody had to tell you to get involved around here."

Me with a talented group of Midget boys basketball players at ECI (1984)

In many ways, ECI was a school ahead of its time.  Its staff was devoted to success for all students and meeting a variety of student needs.  One innovative practice it featured was Language Clinics. These were early versions of achievement centres, in which groups of students who were identified as struggling to make standard in literacy were placed in small remedial groups for one period a day to receive intensive support from a language arts teacher.  These Language Clinics also were used to provide enrichment activities such as speed reading for gifted students.  I had the great privilege one year of being assigned a Language Clinic period.

As a young single teacher, I also found ECI a fun place to teach.  I hung out with a small group of young and mostly single teachers.  There was lots to enjoy in the Kitchener-Waterloo region, including picturesque towns like St. Jacob's and Elora, the nearby Stratford Festival, and of course, Oktoberfest.   

I even had a brush with greatness while helping out as the shot putt official at the regional high school track & field meet one spring.  Shot putt was a field event I knew little about; however, even I was impressed with one student in the event, whose name was Junior Lewis.  He threw the heavy ball several feet further than anyone else.  I learned a short time later that this young man, Lennox Lewis, was the reigning World Junior Heavyweight Boxing Champion.  A few years later, he went on to win the Olympic Gold Medal in heavyweight boxing in Seoul, Korea (1988) and became Heavyweight Champion of the World! (If only I had kept the shot putt, or taken some photos!)