I couldn't write in the blog yesterday. If I did, my title would have been "I got this! Wait, no I don't... but I will."
I taught two classes yesterday. My first one was amazing. I'm teaching a dear sweet Year 7 class called Newton. There are some really awesome kids in there. The lesson went as planned, and I was really encouraged by the whole thing. Then, during the period after lunch I had my Year 8 class. Jeez. I felt like I was in the Stand and Deliver movie. It was the complete opposite of my Year 7 class. The kids just wouldn't stop talking. Even when I had their attention, it only lasted for a couple seconds and then I would lose it. To paint a picture of the whole scene though, you have to realize that it was 100 degrees F, no air conditioning, two ceiling fans going, and it was the last class of the day right after lunch 1:30-2:30, so sitting right in the hottest part of the day. Mix that with 29 hot, sweaty, exhausted, not-listening 8th graders, and a rookie-to-Australia-schools teacher, and you have a hot mess! I made it through the class, and got back to my TAL faculty room and started picking brains. I knew I could do this - teach these kids. I've been teaching long enough. I just had to figure out how. All I can say is that I love my faculty. I talked privately to two of them (you know, don't want to cause a scene), and one even stayed late to give me tools for this new teaching 'tool box' that I'm building. So... I decided one of the biggest issues was that all the kids were sitting by their friends. Then.... they need a seating chart. But... there's one problem. I meet my Year 8 class in 11, I'll spell it out for you E-L-E-V-E-N different classrooms. Before I left school I visited all the classrooms. And you probably have guessed another problem. They are all arranged differently. Some are tables. Some are desks moved together to create three big groups, some are paired up desks, and some are in lines. How do you make seating charts for that? And honestly, I still haven't figured it out. To finish up on yesterday, I walked home, dripping in the heat, and got to work with my lesson plans - I wanted to make sure I was on top of them to better my odds of success. I got them done in time for dinner, a glass of wine, and to put the kids to bed. I just kept repeating to myself that I could do it... They are just 13 year olds. I can do this. Tom and the kids had a good day too. Tom just tried to stay cool. He's not adjusting to the heat quite as well as the kids and me. He also researched where to buy quality skateboards. Olin received some Aussie money from my mom for Christmas and he has been earning some money from chores and has decided that he wants a skateboard. So after school yesterday Tom took the kids to the skate shop and Olin made his big purchase! So today I walked to work in the mist. I was so anxious that I woke up early, left the house early, and was the first to sign at school. (We sign in every morning.) I was scared. I kept hearing the school's cow and sheep out in the garden area and repeatedly thought how much easier it would be to just work with livestock! My first period was my Year 8. And... They were amazing. I had so much fun with them. I made them get in a seating chart according to alphabetical order and I did my lesson and it went beautifully. They even admitted that they were just testing and having fun with me yesterday. 3rd period was next. It was a class I was really nervous about because it is the Year 10 Coastal Management class I was feeling a little out of my element. I haven't taught 10 graders in 11 years! And... It was amazing. I actually had more fun with them than the 8th graders. I had one girl that I almost wanted to laugh at (I didn't though), with her attempts at delinquency. The first thing she did in class was put her phone to hear ear and make a call. I told the class my rules on phones and she kept at it. I specifically told her to put her phone away, so she did and less than one minute she had it out again! So I moved her, let her know that if I saw it again it was mine until the end of the day and she knocked off her phone game. Year 8 was 4th period, and I moved to a class with 3 large groupings of desks.... Not able to reproduce what I had 1st period, I definitely had more problems, but not as many as the day before. One final thing that I want to mention. In addition to having classes in really random orders and having multiple classrooms (I think between all my classes I use all the A, B, and C classrooms- there are about 12 of them for each block), the schedule times change too. I was actually late to my 5th period class today because I had no idea that Wednesday's time schedules are different. Instead of starting the day at 8:30, it starts at 8:15 which then throws everything else off. I asked one of my co-workers after school today if there were any more hic-ups like that in the schedule and he said that on Thursday, the schedule changes even more. The break times are longer, and 4th period is after lunch. Friday's schedule, as far as I know, goes back to the Monday and Tuesday schedule. What I've learned is that you have to be on your toes. The kids keep you on your toes, the schedule keeps you on your toes, and the room assignments keep you on your toes. Good thing I'm walking so much. My toes are going to be ready! Walk-to-Work Tally: 30 miles
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Day 2: 100°F (38°C)
Ok. I have to admit. I laughed out loud my first time seeing a stream of students in their uniforms. All I could think of was that I was walking through a Harry Potter movie and these kids were going to pull out their wands and yell "Expelliarmus!" I got control of myself pretty quickly, and by the end of the day, I had started to not notice their uniforms so much. Today was the official start of school for both the kids and me. I didn't have any students scheduled today so participated in Roll Call at the beginning of the day and spent the rest of the day tracking down a laptop that I can use and getting my school user name and password so that I can log onto it. I also connected with some staff in the HSIE faculty and found two other teachers that are going to be teaching the coastal management classes as well. We're going to collaborate and help each other out with lessons. It was a hot, hot day. It topped out at about 38C which is about 100F. Our faculty rooms seem to be a bit cooler than the classrooms and outside temp, though not all of them have AC. I'm not sure why that is... The classrooms themselves don't have AC, so tomorrow - my first day with students - will be hot. It is supposed to get even warmer out tomorrow. The kids' first day went well. Tom spent half the day in their school office trying to figure out their registration. Alta is in a Year 2 class with about 22 students. Olin is in a 3/4 split with 31 students. That isn't ideal, but what do you do? Their school is broken up into 5 different houses. They are in the house for all students with last names that start with LMN and O. The house has a name, but the Prefect that was showing the new kids and parents around was hard to understand so Tom couldn't understand what it was. (I wonder if they have wands at their school :) I'm going to keep this post short as I'm beat and need to do some school work. Walk to Work Mileage Tally: 18 miles (28 km) I'm becoming a bit supporter of just plain old fashioned 'walking.' Heres a fun read if anyone wants to follow it. A Hobbit's Guide to Walking. I'm not sure how it worked out this way, but our entire day today was about soccer. Gosford City Football Club (GCFC) had their team registration today and we wanted to enquire about signing up the kids so we headed down to the Gosford RSL Club to talk for their open registration.
I'm not exactly sure what an RSL Club is, but I think we should have done our homework because we drew a bit of attention to ourselves when we first walked in. There were lots of people there and it was hard to figure out where to go, so we just decided to have a look around. Suddenly about 3 people working there started yelling to us to stop and to take our hats off. Then they told Tom he couldn't come in because he was wearing a tank top. We went over to the front desk and told a busy lady there that we didn't mean any offense, only that we were here to register our kids for the soccer league. She looked at me and said, "Do you have a red shirt?" Huh? Uh. Why would I need a red shirt? So I told her again it was just to sign up the kids and she told me that Tom couldn't come in because they have a dress code and that the soccer registration was back in the corner. So I followed her directions while Tom went to wait outside. We had some reservations about signing up the kids because we knew we couldn't commit to all the games. After talking to two of the coaches (one who also talked to the Club President about whether it was fine that we missed some games) they accepted us! On the 12 and 19th of February they are going to be assessed on their skills and placed on teams. The teams will be co-ed. Olin's assessment will be very thorough, while Alta's will be really basic. The season starts in April and runs through August. We are really excited about the opportunity for our kids to play. I played for some German clubs growing up and found that it is a great way to experience a country in a non-touristy way. This evening we went to Central Coast Stadium and watch the Central Coast Mariners play Perth Glory. The Mariners were having a deal on tickets. For every paid adult, a child under 12 gets in free! So our kids were free and we aren't about to pass up a deal like that! This was the kids' first professional soccer game. There were about 7,000 in attendance. Two things I noticed that I thought I'd mention for my soccer playing friends is that they watered the field before the game. Just before the game started all the sprinklers came on. Interesting. I'm not sure why they did it, but I imagine it is to soften the field a bit since it isn't as fun to play on a rock-hard dry field. The other is that at the kick-off both at the beginning of the game and at halftime the ball didn't make a complete rotation over the center line. The player just kicked it straight back to their team. I'm not sure if there is a FIFA rules change that I missed or if Aussies just do it different. Talk about being flooded with input. What a full day! Yesterday I had my first day of work. I walk to and from school everyday, a walk of about 3 miles one way. It is a nice time to peacefully soak up Australia - the flocks of sulphur crested cockatoos screeching at me as I walk along Henry Parry Ave, and the pinging bell bird making the path through the woods magical are my favorite parts.
The school is broken up into blocks of permanent brick buildings with 'demountables' along one edge. Demountables are portable annexes where classes are held. I think the name sounds like something out of a Transformers movie! The blocks are given letter names like A, B, and C and teachers teach classes within those blocks. An important difference to our system in Seward is that each teacher isn't assigned a room all for themselves. Each classroom is basically empty of everything except desks, chairs, and a projector and the teacher goes to the room assigned for the class they teach during that hour only. (Most of my classroom assignments are in Block C.) The teacher's desk and belongings are housed in a department room. My desk is in the Teaching and Learning (TAL) department which is upstairs in a building that staff affectionately refer to as 'The Barn' because of its shape. I share the staff room with about 10 other teachers and we make up the middle school team. (though they don't call it that). Assignment of teaching duties is also structured different. Instead of one teacher responsible for teaching one subject, the subject is split between many. So I'm not the only teacher teaching Year 7 and 8 Humanities. There are about 4 other teachers that also have Year 7 and 8 Humanities class and will be teaching them at the same time. From what I've been told there is a lot of communication between these teachers about what they are doing in their classes day-to-day, and week-to-week. That communication happens in the TAL room. Additionally, each teacher is not creating-from-scratch their curriculum material. Each department has a Dept. Head that organizes the creation of curriculum including scope and sequence and final assessments (which they call 'tasks'.) The Dept Head shares that curriculum through Google Drive and then all the teachers access it, tweak it to their style, and use it in their classrooms. All students, regardless of the teacher, takes the same final assessment every Term (Quarter) and every Semester. This ensures that all the teachers that are teaching that same class are approaching it from the same angle and that all students have the same learning outcomes. So yesterday we started the day similar to the way we do it in Seward, with a large staff meeting. The difference is that it was not district-wide. I haven't seen any indication so far that there is any attempt to align schools within the district. To be honest... I'm not even sure they have districts. The only communication I've had with anyone through the school has been with immediate school administrative personnel or with the state of New South Wales. The first staff meeting took place in the gym where the principal spoke about issues similar to our start-of-the year meetings: new staff, awards the school has received, dress code, caution with private/professional lives on social media, etc. I found they they use a lot of acronyms (just like stateside education) and that the issues surrounding students are generally pretty similar to our schools. Something I thought was pretty neat, was the Acknowledgement of Country (paying respect to tribal custodians of the land and to elders past and present) that I wrote about in a different blog post was actually on a permanent sign on the wall in the gym right next to the stage. Information about my class load and schedule: They organize their schedule into fortnights (two week) rotations. Not one day is similar to another. I see some classes twice a day, and other teachers have said they might see a class four times a day, but then not again for the rest of the week. After the two weeks (Week A and week B) you repeat the schedule. The students themselves have been broken up into groups (kind of like our Clan Wars and Elves Unleashed at Seward Middle School.) Year 7 students (7th grade) are broken up into groups and the groups are named with scientist's name. Year 8 students (8th grade) are given Australian Basketball players names. Year 9 and 10 are given the names of Australian Beaches. (By the way, Year 9-12 social studies courses have teachers that are in a different department. They are in the HSIE department, and I can't remember what that stands for.) I teach: Year 7 Humanities
Concerning breaks, I've had some questions about what people here call "Tea." It was finally explained to me. Here it is folks, if it has ever confused you.
There is so much more that I can write about, but I'm going to stop for now. The pictures that I have added below have each week separate so that you can read them easier, and then the final one is of fortnight schedule. I've used a highlighter to identify each class so that it is clear when they meet throughout that fortnight.
After a lazy start to a day we decided that we would avoid the Australia Day crowds by going on a hike. We found a little trail called the Hominey Creek Walking Track that we decided to take, so we packed the kids in the car and headed out. I was excited to try this trail because it is a part of the Great North Walk- an extensive hiking trail that stretches between Sydney and Newcastle. I wanted to make sure that I hiked parts of it while I was here and was thrilled that I would be able to today on my last day of summer. (I start work tomorrow.)
So we followed the track and it descended into a lush rainforest environment. It was beautiful. At one point we noticed some strange creatures that looked long and caterpillar/worm-like. At the trail head we had read on a sign that "if we were lucky we could see leeches." Well, turns out these were the leeches! They don't live in the water like leeches in Alaska. They were right there on the trail amongst the leaves! We continued on and then stopped to take a picture of some artsy bark and vines on a tree. Suddenly Olin started screaming and smacking his legs. He'd been bitten by 3 bull ants. Their bites hurt like bee stings. He was pretty upset and wanted to head back to the car but got tough and decided to keep on. As we neared the bottom of the ravine where we could see the creek, Olin suddenly started freaking out again and grabbing at his hand. He was hysterically crying and telling us there was a leech on his finger. We all looked down at our legs and shoes and realized we had them all over. I picked off about 7, Tom picked off over a dozen, and Alta even had one starting to snack on her blood through her sock. We couldn't get out of there fast enough. It was all uphill, but we didn't stop until we reached some big rocks in the dry area of the forest. There we examined our bodies and picked off the remainder of the blood suckers. We all decided that the sign saying we would be "lucky if we saw leeches" was some sort of crazy Aussie humor. How could you NOT see them?
Festival time! Today we took the kids to their school to buy some last minute pieces for their school uniform. We met a lovely lady there named Wendy who explained all the uniform parts and when they can be worn. I'll post pictures of the kids in their uniforms on the first day of school. We then went to the Australia Day Eve celebration at Kibble Park in Gosford. We all walked down to Kibble Park to get there right as it started.
Something I noticed at the Women's March and I also noticed here was at the beginning of both events, and the beginning of each new speaker's speech, they would make a comment acknowledging that we are on tribal land (and will identify the tribe) and will say "and we pay our respect to elders both past and present." At first I thought it was just a Women's March thing, but they did it here too. I think it is so respectful. Back in the day when I was getting my teaching license, we were taught to analyze the quality of textbooks. One characteristic we needed to watch for was whether or not minority peoples were included in the body (main narrative part) of the textbook or were only included in the pictures or side stories. 'Good' textbooks had them in the body. I feel like these acknowledgements of aboriginal presence and stewardship of the land every time there is a public gathering is a way of including them in the 'body' of Australian life. It makes them continually a part of the narrative. I like that. Ok - back to the festival. In the opening remarks they also sang the Australian National Anthem. It was really cool to hear an anthem that we are totally unfamiliar with. It is a beautiful anthem. So there was a puppet show right at the beginning which was good fun. The rest of the evening had phenomenal musicians entertaining us. The organizers of the event put out these really cool big mats for everyone to sit on because it had rained (absolutely poured) the night before (see the pic of the kids in the rainstorm) and the ground was still damp. Like all festivals there was good food as well. Tom took a picture of the paella stand so that my mom (who makes a killer paella) could see the huge pan they used. Also, I found a stand that sold Kaiserschmarrn, which is a German/Austrain pancake-like dessert. It was so nice to talk to the Berliners that were selling the Kaiserschmarrn and then to order in German without too much trouble. The time I spent in Alaska recently going through my Rosetta Stone German program has definitely helped getting my 'tounge' back! Something we noticed that was really interesting is that so much was free. At 4th of July festivals in the US, people sell everything - it is a time to make money. Here all the activites were free! The only money we spent was on the Kaiserschmarrn and some Vietnamese spring rolls. Tom and I plopped ourselves on a mat to listen to music and sent the kids off on their own to explore the festival. They bounced in the bouncy house, they played classic festival games like the potato sack race, and they even got their faces painted. Alta said, "I love my face!" and the first thing Olin said when he got back to us at the mat was "Mom, look. It's the aboriginal flag! I'm glad I got this so that Becki can see it because I bet she doesn't know what the flag looks like." I asked him which tribe it was, and he said it was just the "aboriginal flag" so we have some more research to do as to whether each tribe has their own flag or not. The evening ended with fireworks, which Tom and I realized just might be the first real fireworks our kids have ever seen (and remembered). We don't go to the ones in Seward on the 4th because it isn't super dark (and because Olin is usually passed out by then), and we haven't had a chance to see them in other places. Happy Australia Day Eve! It was hot today.. close to 100F, so we spent the entire day at the beach. We were in the water so much that I have no pictures to post, but I will say that Olin and Alta have finally figured out boogie boarding! Olin especially became totally addicted to it today! I picked my old past time from my college days in California - body sufing!
Because I don't have a whole lot to report, I'll use this post to tell you about some of the things we've noticed about living Australian.
Last night we went prawning! Lesley and Chris invited us to join them and their daughter and son-in-law down at "The Entrance" by the bridge to go prawning. During the day, Tom picked up a couple prawning nets and water proof torches (flashlights) and we met them down by the bridge at The Entrance at about 8:30pm. The kids were excited about it all day. I've never been shrimping in the states, but with prawning here in Oz you wear water shoes and swimmer bottoms (swim suit bottoms) or shorts that you are fine with getting wet. You wade into the water about to the tops of your legs and then shine a light into the water with one hand, and wait until prawns swim by. When they do, you take the net in your other hand and swoop in to try to catch them. We found that they key to catching them is to move slowly and to bring the net up from underneath them. Sometimes they hop right out of the water to get out of the net!
We all had a great time. Tom was the most absorbed in it. He found so many creatures as he was watching for prawns: rays, little poisonous fish, and a squid! The kids were really excited at first, but then as the evening got along and they grew more tired, they began to get anxious about the things in the water that could 'get them.' Alta left the water first and became the 'Keeper of the Bucket" where we kept al our caught prawns. Olin was going strong until he saw a Huntsman spider. I didn't see it and almost touched it and he just kept yelling "Spider, there's a spider!" It upset him, and being late at night that was enough to turn the tide for him. He didn't last much longer in the water, so I took them both back to the car, changed them into their jammies and put them to bed on the beach. I will say that prawning has got to be one of my favorite types of 'fishing.' It is so meditative. You are with people, but you are also very alone in your search for those little swimming creatures under your light. I can't wait to do this again! Other notable things yesterday were that we got to Skype with my good friend Amanda and her husband and three boys. My kids are loving Skyping with their friends. It is making these last few days before school starts so much better for them to have this 'kid contact.' Tom also took the kids to the public library! They got a library card and checked out all kinds of great books about Australia. Olin was really interested in books on Aboriginal cultures and the librarians helped him find some good ones. While the kids and Tom were at the library, I went on a hike. Oh how I love to hike alone! I'd like to hike to the top of the mountain (more like a hill by Alaskan standards) called Mt. Elliot just behind our house. I haven't reached the top yet either because I haven't had enough time, or because it is has been too hot. It was a nice time, though, out in the woods by myself. Tom and I have been watching it for about a week and a half now. Our kids cry a little easier, fight a little more, and it is apparent that something is missing. They don't have their friends and they miss them. Olin is having more of a hard time because he is so socially driven. Alta finds her 'recharge' in solitude: playing in the sand, watching ants, working on crafts or weaving grass. Olin finds his in moving his body and being with his buds. We bought him a $8 scooter at the Salvos (Salvation Army) down the street, and that has helped a lot. Today though, he needed his friends. And then in swooped Jena! She and I have been trying to Skype for about a week now, and today was the day it happened. We connected, said 'hi', talked about some recent things with where we lived, and then handed the computers off to the kids. For about 20 minutes Olin had her son all to himself, and for about 20 minutes, Alta had her daughter all to herself (Well, kind-of. Her daughter had a friend over so they both Skyped) It was EXACTLY what they needed. Thank you Jena! Tomorrow we hope to Skype with the Olin and Alta's other good friends. One day at a time until they can meet some kids at school. They start the 30th. We've also signed Olin up for a weekly parkour class with other boys and will be signing Alta up for gymnastics. Hopefully that will help with their need for 'kid time' as well.
After Skyping, we headed to the Somersby Waterfall. It actually was more of a trickle because it hasn't rained a lot in a while, but the kids had fun playing in the water they could fine. It was interesting watching them maneuver the woods and boulders around the falls compared to some of the other Aussie kids. You could tell our kids knew nature and how to interact with it - Alaskan grown. In the evening, Olin made $5 (Aussie dollars) mowing the front lawn, and Alta watched ants as they waited for their dad to make a fantastic dinner. A good day. Not as packed with big events like yesterday, and that was just fine. The kids got what they needed: friend connection. Yesterday we took our first trip by train to Sydney. It is about an hour and 15 minute train ride to Central Station from Gosford. We ended up taking another train to Circular Quay where the kids and I said goodbye to Tom and we headed off on our separate adventures. The kids and I walked through the Botanical Gardens to the ANZAC Memorial where the Sydney Women's March was being held. It was a well organized non-violent coming together of all kinds of people with the common purpose of unity, equality, and social justice. My kids learned words like sexism, racism, xenophobia, and feminism. All great social studies related words right there in real-life-usage! After some speeches, the crowd of about 5000 walked peacefully through the streets of Sydney. There was only one small anti-protest group that gathered with flags and a bullhorn at the other end of the final protest destination. Apparently after we left there were some small 'scuffles' as the Aussie news put it, but that no one was arrested.
While we were at the march Tom went to the National Maritime Institute. He had wanted to go when we were here 8 years ago, but I had nixed it, as walking through a Maritime Museum with a 1 year old as Tom got absorbed in marine engines didn't seem like it would have all that positive of an outcome! So... Tom finally got to go! Afterwards we met at Darling Harbor for a couple beers and chips on the patio and then off to the Sydney Fish Market. Unfortunately, the fish market was closing as we got there so we didn't get to see most of the cool stuff, but on the bright side we now know where it is, so it will be easy to find the next time we come to Sydney! The train ride home was peaceful. As we were leaving the city, Alta was looking at the window, and noticed all the graffiti. "Mom, what's that writing all over the walls." I told her. "Mom, Why do people do graffiti?" That was harder to answer. Tom and I gave her a few different reasons. "I just don't understand why people do it." "A lot of people don't Alta." Such a thinker our girl is. |
AuthorThe Liljemark's enjoy exploring the world. This blog chronicles our adventures. Archives
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