Nossa, nossa. Assim você me mata (PG rated version)

Ai, se eu te pego
Ai, ai, se eu te pego

Sitting in the bar, writing these words, I feel like I am almost home. Loud words pounding in my ears, the bass vibrating through my body. Peace. After the day I have endured, the noise and familiarity was welcomed. Today made me look at the cracks in my life and fill them with something new (and not poly-filler as my dad would say to me). New friends, a new career, a new home in the UAE. Well maybe after I get used to the fact that my parents are not here to hold my hand and guide me through life.

At this moment in time a band is playing, well playing mainstream music that I dislike (actually when I have had a few drinks I find myself singing along to anything). However my music opinion aside, the sound that they produce is rather great. In fact they may have introduced me to a song I had never heard of before; the title of this post actually.

With a Bacardi Breezer in one hand and my pen in the other, I am set for the night. To do this sort of writing, the freeing of my emotions and the letting go of what is inside of me, I have left two of my friends outside to drink their vodka.  Is it socially acceptable to be all emo and write in a bar when I could do this at home where it is comfortable and warm. To be honest with you all, I am actually quite introvert. The best moments of my life have been when I succumb to the isolation of my own company. I would apologise for the rambling but currently the guitar riffs I hear are trying to help my body lose control, and I need to be careful before I start writing some x-rated story. Yeah that has happened before, but for now lets focus on the band.

Right now it appears to be someone's birthday and the band is getting the whole crowd involved. Scenes like this warm the heart. The song choices are amazing (yes I know I said they were mainstream) and they have also chosen songs that make you stop and think "oh wow. I haven't heard that song in a while". Then all of a sudden your body develops a mind of its own; first the tapping of the foot, then the rhythmic leg bounce and before you know it, your body is upon the dance-floor moving with a spirit so free that it is contagious to everyone around begins to dance -or if you are like me then your are looking like you are having some sort of fit. Ok, back to the band. See, I digress rather easily.

The band is named Diesel, and they are actually a group that can play. I have seen my acts before in local bars and pubs and the song choices are more cheesy kareoke than entertainment. Yet Diesel manages to avoid this and create an atmosphere that is so electric, the rhythm of the music can be felt throughout your body, racing through your veins and hitting your soul in all the right places.
You just have to let go and let the music run through you.

Natasha, or Tash as some people call her, is one of the vocalists. She has a beautiful voice and definitely knows how to start a party in style. Let say girls, she has the best sense of style I have seen in a long time. Though lets not take that away from the amazing voice she has. For someone to vary their style of singing the way she does, is incredible. The moves on that girl in heels whilst she is singing are simple but they capture the attention of both men and women in the room.
Next there is Patrick, another vocalist who looks almost like Bruce Willis. He reminds me of a man with a young boy's soul-so full of life and the ability to range his songs from those before my birth to things like Macklemore's Thrift-Shop. That has got to be a skill.
We also have present a guitarist called Thomas and the bass player named Dean. The way those guys capture your attention through the riffs is astounding. The way they move their fingers...in fact I cannot say what I want to say cause it would be highly indecent and inappropriate for such a review. Though the coordinated outfits would make any woman's hormones go crazy.
Finally we have the drummer - Marcus. You can see the talent in the sounds he produces and the emotions showing on his face. The sound made creates a new version of the song taking it from cheesy pop to almost rock-like and alternative. The way he hits those drums a girl could only imagine. Ok lets try to get this back on to topic before the tone will turn into something completely and unintentionally dirty.

The band look like they actually belong together; like pieces of a jigsaw they fall into the correct place. They also remind me of a snowflake. So unique and beautiful, yet they create a masterpiece when placed next to each other. When you look at a masterpiece, it sometimes brings you close to tears. That is your soul letting you know that you should grasp this moment with both hands and treasure it. That is what the audience should feel when they are in the presence of Diesel. A moment never to forget. Each moment so unique.

I could continue to write this piece for as long as I wanted too, but I could never give the band enough attention and justice they deserve.  So I shall end this note rocking out to Linkin Park and ironically it didn't really matter that I was some girl sitting in the corner of a bar writing this. In the end this me. This is the music. This is Diesel.

Ai, se eu te pego,
Ai, ai, se eu te pego
Read more at http://lyricstranslate.com/en/ai-se-eu-te-pego-ah-when-i-get-my-hands-you.html#F770Ovgbk6jU2Upy.99

Ai, se eu te pego,
Ai, ai, se eu te pego
Read more at http://lyricstranslate.com/en/ai-se-eu-te-pego-ah-when-i-get-my-hands-you.html#F770Ovgbk6jU2Upy.99

Ai, se eu te pego,
Ai, ai, se eu te pego
Read more at http://lyricstranslate.com/en/ai-se-eu-te-pego-ah-when-i-get-my-hands-you.html#F770Ovgbk6jU2Upy.99

Ai, se eu te pego,
Ai, ai, se eu te pego
Read more at http://lyricstranslate.com/en/ai-se-eu-te-pego-ah-when-i-get-my-hands-you.html#F770Ovgbk6jU2Upy.99

Ai, se eu te pego,
Ai, ai, se eu te pego
Read more at http://lyricstranslate.com/en/ai-se-eu-te-pego-ah-when-i-get-my-hands-you.html#F770Ovgbk6jU2Upy.99

Ai, se eu te pego,
Ai, ai, se eu te pego
Read more at http://lyricstranslate.com/en/ai-se-eu-te-pego-ah-when-i-get-my-hands-you.html#F770Ovgbk6jU2Upy.99

Ai, se eu te pego,
Ai, ai, se eu te pego
Read more at http://lyricstranslate.com/en/ai-se-eu-te-pego-ah-when-i-get-my-hands-you.html#F770Ovgbk6jU2Upy.99

The end of one teaching experience....

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

                        (Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland)

Education allows every individual to create their own paths in life; whether that’s to explore themselves as a person, extend their knowledge and wisdom, or even help develop a career that they would like.

Teacher Professionalism:

Professionalism, in any aspect of teaching, is a critical component of education. Professionalism, to me, means a commitment to teaching my subject knowledge to others and presenting what is best for the learners. It also means having the right skills and attitudes modelled for the learners – to be a positive role in their education. By having the right attitude to teaching, I can take more risks with lessons and make changes that will improve the learning.  I have also learnt that flexibility is the key to being professional.  As I was unable to teach my specialist subject, English Literature, I had to adapt to teach Functional Skills Literacy instead. Here I did encounter problems and mistakes within my teaching of this subject, but my experience helped me overcome this issue. Teaching a different subject helped me to be resilient and adaptable when such problems did arise.

My teaching experience also helped me to develop a professional attitude to treating all students fairly and look for the best in my learners. The learning environment showed me how focusing on the strengths rather than their criminal record helped remove bias and prejudice from myself and other learners.  This also strengthened my ability to follow through on disciplinary methods for the more disruptive learners.    

Teacher Values:

My values of teaching have changed throughout the experience I have been given. At first, I thought teaching was about being knowledgeable about the subject I teach; however, you must have the ability to communicate to pass on that knowledge. Communication here relates to the concept that teachers must be able to connect with the learners, and keep them interested in every session that occurs. Yet it is not just the learners you need to communicate with, it’s communicating your thoughts and feelings with other members of staff to help develop yourself as a teacher.

I also believe that trust and confidence are important in teacher values. My mentor has helped me with this aspect as my learning environment required a high level of trust and confidence in the learners. I was only allowed to share information told to me by the learners when it threatened the safety of the learners and myself. However I must understand both the learners’ educational and emotional need regardless of their criminal background.

Another value that has been shaped by my experience is my level of organisation and more pressure has been placed upon me due to the nature of the learning environment. The learners’ work has to be marked promptly as no work is to leave the learning environment for their own safety and maintaining their ILPS at the end of the session was a difficulty. As a trainee teacher my lesson plans had to be created well in advance and any resources had to be sent to the deputy leader for system checks. This developed my ability to create lessons that were simple, practical and achievable for the learners and the focus was only on them.

As a result my mentor at my learning environment helped in the shaping of my teacher values. By sharing my thoughts and reflecting at the end of every session, I was developing as a more professional teacher all the time. Here teamwork by all the members off staff, and my tutor at the university, provided me with tips to control, manage and inspire the learners and the sharing of resources; this increased my level of confidence in teaching and make me realise you do not have to be alone in the learning environment.

Motivating and Engaging Learners:

I cannot pinpoint the exact moment were I finally managed to motivate and engage all learners at the same time; it was simply a case of trial and error. This was due to the churn factor of new learners and the leaving of old learners. However, one way to overcome this problem was to embed a multiple of teaching resources that took into consideration the needs of every individual; for example one typical lesson would use activities on the smart-board to allow group work, and the learners would develop their skills by using comprehension tasks and worksheets which allowed for individual or paired help. By employing different teaching methods in each session meant that the students were constantly challenged, but were allowed to complete the work at their own pace to achieve more than their potential.

One thing I did learn from this was patience; some days the mixing of resources worked whereas other days, simple tasks were the key. By taking into the consideration of the learners' needs in a more active way, I asked the learners how they preferred to learn. This meant that they played a more solid role in their learning. However, I finally realise that it is not always possible to produce creative lessons in such an environment due to the issue of safeguarding the individuals; i.e. competitive tasks normally resulted in learners being disruptive and physical. Yet it is possible to produce these tasks in small quantities and not reuse the resources over again and the session would still be effective.

Teaching Experience:

Throughout my teaching at HMP Durham Prison, I have found it most challenging in terms of its preparation for lessons. Unlike other educational institutions, everything I prepare has to be checked for the safety of the learners and me.  Yet I managed to overcome this by using many online resources such as the SkillsWorkshop, BBC Skillswise, and even the Online English Dictionary. These resources were simple to modify and adapt to each session, and the learners took to the tasks straight away without a problem. Marking work was also a problem within the environment. I had to learn to create assessment tasks that could be marked within the sessions and would still provide an opportunity to provide feedback for the learners.

A typical day would consist of new learners stating they did not want to be in this class, that it was ‘useless’ to them. I learnt to take these comments in stride, and found a way to encourage the learners to stay in education. By acting more than a teacher to them, and actually listening to what they had to say the learners began to trust my teaching methods and turned up to the following session the week after when I was teaching. Many had said that their school ‘teacher did not care’ about the individual and their learning, and began to appreciate that I went out of my way to include them all the time. This also showed me how much learners rely on praise subconsciously. John Wooden once said that:

“Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference.”

Throughout the two and three hour sessions I taught that learners seemed to enjoy the lesson more when they were praised on their achievement. However I made sure not to over-praise as it would appear that I was being condescending to some. The effect of my praise towards the learners seemed to carry on beyond the classroom doors. This showed exactly how communication “must also depend on how interested in other people we really are”.

“When you study great teachers... you will learn much more from their caring and hard work than from their style.”

 I believe that without my mentor and my tutor showing how they invest in what the students actually say then I would not be able to create an environment where learners would feel like they can walk away saying that they have actually enjoyed the lesson and that they have learnt something. I hope with everything that I have learnt over the year, I will pass on to my students. I know that obstacles will stand in my way, but that will make my career choice more exciting.

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