Recently CITEL, the program I am exchanging to Australia to, has asked that exchange teachers post pictures, blog posts, etc to their Facebook page so that other teachers can get an idea of what some of the exchange experiences are like. This post is a bit of an overview of our experiences so far - we are in month 8 of our exchange.
Location: Our home town is a small coastal town tucked in the fjords in Alaska . Our town has about 3500 people living in it. It has no traffic lights and no fast food chain stores. My family of four exchanged with an Australian family of four (with kids that have similar ages) to the Central Coast in New South Wales. We are living an hour north of Sydney in a beautiful forested and hilly, yet very much urban type of environment. We are 20 minutes from beautiful beaches, and 20 minutes from the bush just west of us. The famous wine area, the Hunter Valley, is about an hour and a half northwest. School: My home school has about 120 students in the school and class sizes range up to 26 students per class. We have about 7 teachers at our school. The school that I am exchanging to has about 1000 students, with 77 teachers. Class sizes are up to 30 students. The school here in Australia enrolls many students that come from low socio economic backgrounds, but there are also a wide range of students from all walks of life. The Aboriginal population of the school isn't especially high. I believe there are about 88 students that identify as Indigenous. Here is a list of things that future exchange teachers might be interested in. Keep in mind that all exchanges are different depending on the school you exchange to.
What I teach: In Alaska I teach two subjects, 8th grade US history and 7th grade world history. In Australia I teach Year 7 and 8 Humanities and Year 9 and Year 10 History/Geography (HSIE, pronounced "his - ee".) I've had to learn some new content for the courses I'm teaching. Specific things I've had to teach about that are new for me is Polynesian history, Shakespeare, Australian history, and coastal management.
Final thoughts This has been, honestly, the most challenging experience I've had in my professional life. Some days are fantastic. Some days are ones I never want to revisit. (But we have those in our own classrooms back home from time to time don't we?) If you are feeling stagnant, bored, and ready for a challenge, then this might be right for you. I wouldn't exchange what I'm learning here for anything. All of us are learning so much. What I think is interesting is that it wasn't what we thought we'd learn. Here are some quotes that I have reflected on during my time on exchange so far.
And as someone who has spent many years living overseas, I know that going home after exchange is the beginning of a whole different adventure. This quote, is something I will keep in mind. Of course I'll mention it, but living overseas changes people in a way that others can't always understand.
3 Comments
Candy
8/15/2017 23:36:48
Oh Myla, what a wonderful insight into your exchange. So proud that you have endured it so far. It sounds so different. So where is your nedxt adventure going to be?
Reply
Myla Liljemark
8/25/2017 02:47:56
Thanks so much Candy. It definitely is different but I'm starting to get the hang of it. Not sure where the next adventure will be. I'm always dreaming though!
Reply
Carolyn Sandeen-Hall
10/10/2017 12:40:22
Wonderful, Myla! The experience is definitely life changing.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorThe Liljemark's enjoy exploring the world. This blog chronicles our adventures. Archives
December 2017
Categories |