Comments on: The Big Picture http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/ A deaf American volunteer goes to Sri Lanka to work at a school for deaf children in Matara. Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:42:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.3 By: amanda http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-573 amanda Wed, 14 Feb 2007 21:42:25 +0000 http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-573 hi again! just wanted to say that reading the various comments from people in your life has been fascinating. there seem to be people from all sorts of backgrounds, quite a few tied in with education & i've really enjoyed the chance to hear what they have to say -- your idea of blogging has allowed for that opportunity.. just another reason im glad you have this website :) hi again! just wanted to say that reading the various comments from people in your life has been fascinating. there seem to be people from all sorts of backgrounds, quite a few tied in with education & i’ve really enjoyed the chance to hear what they have to say — your idea of blogging has allowed for that opportunity.. just another reason im glad you have this website :)

]]> By: Joyce Mizock http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-570 Joyce Mizock Wed, 14 Feb 2007 18:09:30 +0000 http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-570 Adam - I love reading your blog and am always so moved by your commitment. I hear your frustration that it's not shared by some of your fellow teachers. My husband is an administrator in a large Charter School (K-6) in Chula Vista near the Mexican border here in San Diego. The majority of their students are in the ESL category but in the first few years of the charter, the greater challenge was to weed out teachers at the top of the pay scale who were only marking time until retirement. The primary motivation to be in the classroom being that they were still drawing breath, and the longer they stayed, the greater their retirement compensaton. One of their most successful innovations has been to implement a home visitation program where teachers are required to visit every student assigned to his or her class before school starts each year. Teachers almost always are able to establish a rapport with families, get a sense of their circumstances and individually connect with students. They also established a "Leadership Council" of teachers on staff, voted in by their peers, who provide input, propose new programs and manage teacher related issues in tandem with the Principal. Conversations overheard between teachers on the playground now are excited ones about students and their development rather than gossip and personal lives. I realize political and cultural constraints in Sri Lanka are vastly different but I see a similar thread in past suggestions from others in this blog. Find ways to give teachers more status and involvement. Painting blackboards - brilliant!. There must be many more projects at the school that could be taken on by teachers and students. Looking forward to next time - keep it up. You are the best. Adam - I love reading your blog and am always so moved by your commitment. I hear your frustration that it’s not shared by some of your fellow teachers. My husband is an administrator in a large Charter School (K-6) in Chula Vista near the Mexican border here in San Diego. The majority of their students are in the ESL category but in the first few years of the charter, the greater challenge was to weed out teachers at the top of the pay scale who were only marking time until retirement. The primary motivation to be in the classroom being that they were still drawing breath, and the longer they stayed, the greater their retirement compensaton.

One of their most successful innovations has been to implement a home visitation program where teachers are required to visit every student assigned to his or her class before school starts each year. Teachers almost always are able to establish a rapport with families, get a sense of their circumstances and individually connect with students. They also established a “Leadership Council” of teachers on staff, voted in by their peers, who provide input, propose new programs and manage teacher related issues in tandem with the Principal. Conversations overheard between teachers on the playground now are excited ones about students and their development rather than gossip and personal lives.

I realize political and cultural constraints in Sri Lanka are vastly different but I see a similar thread in past suggestions from others in this blog. Find ways to give teachers more status and involvement. Painting blackboards - brilliant!. There must be many more projects at the school that could be taken on by teachers and students.

Looking forward to next time - keep it up. You are the best.

]]> By: Wendy http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-557 Wendy Tue, 13 Feb 2007 18:17:13 +0000 http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-557 Adam, I am an old name for you! Amy S. sent this to Rob and I. I have to say I loved reading about your experiences again... last time when you got the cochlear! your experience is amazing and you are making a great difference... I couldn't be more proud to know you! More pictures too- they are great! Wendy (Hagele) Stapf Adam, I am an old name for you! Amy S. sent this to Rob and I. I have to say I loved reading about your experiences again… last time when you got the cochlear!
your experience is amazing and you are making a great difference… I couldn’t be more proud to know you!
More pictures too- they are great!
Wendy (Hagele) Stapf

]]> By: amanda http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-556 amanda Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:20:51 +0000 http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-556 i appreciated your effort to really step back and look at the big picture.. there's gotta be more to it though. there are other countries with incredibly high employment, guaranteed by the government, and when not -- guaranteed unemployment compensation; examples: cuba & certain parts of europe; where education is pretty damn impressive (and often better than the US). perhaps it is the circumstances in the other countries; maybe a higher "dole" allows for more flexibility; or maybe there is something culturally instilled like the sense that your work IS important to the community, to the country. just throwing out some thoughts, one cant answer these questions without thoroughly researching a couple of different countries & then doing a comparative analysis.. though.. that said, the number of people in the cabinet?! wow! and its a little depressing to see how valued marriage is & that women would work to just to get married... your account of the situation of emplyment for women is new to me.. what i have learned is that sri lanka actually has a relatively high number of women that emigrate to other countries to work as domestic workers in an effort to help take care of their ow families in sri lanka. sri lanka was one of the 1st countries to start exporting women to the middle east in response to the demand for domestic workers. perhaps the women who go through med school are of a different economic class? and those who do not get to go through school, do not get educated at all? I'll send you an ILO report if you're interested.. and my god, blog about the wedding! i appreciated your effort to really step back and look at the big picture.. there’s gotta be more to it though. there are other countries with incredibly high employment, guaranteed by the government, and when not — guaranteed unemployment compensation; examples: cuba & certain parts of europe; where education is pretty damn impressive (and often better than the US). perhaps it is the circumstances in the other countries; maybe a higher “dole” allows for more flexibility; or maybe there is something culturally instilled like the sense that your work IS important to the community, to the country. just throwing out some thoughts, one cant answer these questions without thoroughly researching a couple of different countries & then doing a comparative analysis.. though..

that said, the number of people in the cabinet?! wow! and its a little depressing to see how valued marriage is & that women would work to just to get married… your account of the situation of emplyment for women is new to me.. what i have learned is that sri lanka actually has a relatively high number of women that emigrate to other countries to work as domestic workers in an effort to help take care of their ow families in sri lanka. sri lanka was one of the 1st countries to start exporting women to the middle east in response to the demand for domestic workers. perhaps the women who go through med school are of a different economic class? and those who do not get to go through school, do not get educated at all? I’ll send you an ILO report if you’re interested..

and my god, blog about the wedding!

]]> By: fiona http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-540 fiona Sun, 11 Feb 2007 22:07:35 +0000 http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-540 i came across your blog when researching for my undergrad disertation and have just spent the last couple of hours reading all your entries. i can totally relate to everything you have written (esp. your love for the birnjal curry and thr local yougurt). i spent my gap year working in an orphange near to anradapura in 2003 and have been back to sri lanka 3 times since to do more volunteer work in a home for disabled children in kalutara. i love it out there so much and cant wait to get back . im heading back out at the end of march for a month to start on my diserataion research. will you still be around then? i would love to meet up with you if you are and hear more about your views on the education of deaf children in sri lanka as that is going to be the focus of my disertation. hope to hear from you soon and keep up the good work fiona fcaldow@hotmail.com i came across your blog when researching for my undergrad disertation and have just spent the last couple of hours reading all your entries. i can totally relate to everything you have written (esp. your love for the birnjal curry and thr local yougurt). i spent my gap year working in an orphange near to anradapura in 2003 and have been back to sri lanka 3 times since to do more volunteer work in a home for disabled children in kalutara. i love it out there so much and cant wait to get back . im heading back out at the end of march for a month to start on my diserataion research.
will you still be around then? i would love to meet up with you if you are and hear more about your views on the education of deaf children in sri lanka as that is going to be the focus of my disertation.

hope to hear from you soon and keep up the good work

fiona
fcaldow@hotmail.com

]]> By: sasha ponappa http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-537 sasha ponappa Sun, 11 Feb 2007 16:37:30 +0000 http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-537 hey adam.. you should also realize because sri lanka is SOOOO small in population and geography size, and really runned down by the government- they actually have a higher literacy rate than most 3rd world countries, and even beats India at that- despite the fact that India is taking off in her own high-tech way. hey adam..
you should also realize because sri lanka is SOOOO small in population and geography size, and really runned down by the government- they actually have a higher literacy rate than most 3rd world countries, and even beats India at that- despite the fact that India is taking off in her own high-tech way.

]]> By: AdamzSis http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-536 AdamzSis Sun, 11 Feb 2007 16:14:18 +0000 http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-536 Yeah! I felt like I was visiting Sri Lanka AGAIN. Big hi to everyone there for me, especially Samantha! Adam, was Iresha the one I met when I visited Rohana? And yes, do a blog about the wedding. What was it like? Yeah! I felt like I was visiting Sri Lanka AGAIN. Big hi to everyone there for me, especially Samantha! Adam, was Iresha the one I met when I visited Rohana?

And yes, do a blog about the wedding. What was it like?

]]> By: Debbie http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-534 Debbie Sun, 11 Feb 2007 15:48:18 +0000 http://www.foundinceylon.com/2007/02/11/the-big-picture/#comment-534 Hi Adam, What a learning experience! Reading about the system reminds me of my early days of teaching in the inner city of Chicago where teachers, once tenured, got away with anything and doing nothing, very frustrating! Love your pictures, although I must say that your writing describes things in ways that produce pictures in my head. Look forward to the next one. Debbie How was the wedding? Hi Adam,
What a learning experience! Reading about the system reminds me of my early days of teaching in the inner city of Chicago where teachers, once tenured, got away with anything and doing nothing, very frustrating! Love your pictures, although I must say that your writing describes things in ways that produce pictures in my head. Look forward to the next one.
Debbie
How was the wedding?

]]>