Diary of a Picket Captain #4

Monday: Spring arrives this afternoon, though you would not know it by the temperature, but it is sunny! The College was very quiet. A coke truck refused to cross our picket line – yeah! We had lots of food – spicy chilli, regular chilli and soup.
Tuesday: Again it is cold but sunny; the sun feels so good on your face. It is just too bad we have to wear all these clothes or we could have an air bath! For the first time, I saw some Deans at Davis. Maybe, they are meeting to decide who is going to teach which course! CC, using a pedometer, recorded 10 000 steps on the picket line. With an approximate 2 ft. step, he walked 20 000 ft. which translates into 3.79 miles or 6.1 km . No wonder we are tired at the end of our shift! We have now added mulled hot apple cider to our choice of drinks – it is very healthy for us (prevents colds) and tastes good.
Wednesday: It is cloudy and cool with snow on the ground greeting us this morning – where is spring? I regret that, as picket captain, I accepted refreshments from our President. Some faculty were so incensed, with this last-minute gesture from the President, that they threw out his so-called offering of food.
Thursday: It is cloudy but warmer. More students seem to be entering the college – maybe they realise that the strike may be over soon. JJ and JT, from support staff, arrived in style with flags flying, support signs on the truck and union music blaring. They brought pizza and pop. It was at the end of our shift so everyone was tired and hungry and they devoured the food! Thank you to the Union support staff.
Friday: It is warmer! Today we are having a get-together at 10:30 for all 3 shifts.

Some thoughts:

I do not understand why we have so many administrators in the College to manage our faculty. After experiencing the picket line with fellow teachers, I do not think the faculty needs the guidance that the College would have us believe with all their middle managers. If there is a job to be done, someone just jumps in without any prompting and it is done. Faculty are great self-starters and self-regulators.

I have decided that I have honed my skill of watching people’s eyes/faces during my time on the picket line. In the classroom, as a teacher, you try to get clues from the students’ faces as to their understanding or lack of understanding of the topic being discussed. Mind you with 48 some students in a class, you run out of time if you try to use this skill to any great extent. On the picket line, this skill is used to decide if this driver, of this big heavy car or truck, is going to stop or if they will try to run over you! It is very important to use for your own safety on the line, whereas in the classroom, it is a necessary skill as the students’ success may depend on your ability to interpret their reception to the material they are learning in the class.