It was a half-day scheduled today. I had a lot of administrative things to take care of - but had most of the 5th grade in my room for the morning session - then the entire school went to the performance hall for a terrible awards ceremony. There were too many awards, students weren't allowed to clap until the end, many students were absent, and it all seemed so meaningless. Maybe the awards should be bigger, maybe it should be done earlier - I'm not sure how to fix it, but it was painful.
In the afternoon we met over next years schedules. I was supposed to take the lead position over the 5 fifth grade classes, but I took myself out of the position. When the principal had asked me - I thought she had meant to lead the 5th grade English team, and I had answered of course, because it was natural for me to take that part over.
I later learned she meant the whole 5th grade - which meant more general responsibilities. I didn't want it because I still felt the English team needed sorting. There were also a few people in the 5th grade that had been here longer than I and had experiences with what worked at the school and what didn't, so they were the more natural choice. When I asked why not them? I was told their English wasn't strong enough. To which I responded;
1) Their English is fine, you just need to be patient
2) We can't create divisions and segregation in leadership based on language
3) We are in Turkey . . .
My principals considered and agreed.
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