Wednesday, 9 November 2011

A Day In the Life at Bundalguah Primary

It's only been 5 months since I walked across the stage and was handed my teaching degree and nearly 3 months since I stepped in the classroom all on my own in Melbourne. That day was terrifying but in this short time I have had the opportunity to grow and learn as a teacher. Being a supply teacher was a challenge - as most students did not want to take you seriously but I can now say that having your own class can be difficult as well. Not difficult in the sense that the children are not following rules etc. but difficult because everyday you change the way you organize yourself (lesson plans), find new management strategies, follow curriculum, and just trying to find enough time in the day to fit everything in.

 Words can not express how much I have learned since gaining my position as a teacher at Bundalaguah Primary School. The staff there is amazing and everyday I am learning how to better my teaching strategies. Not all days are easy- as us teachers know- but I always try to look at those days as learning experiences. I might ask myself: Why didn't that lesson work? What could I have done? How could I have made that more engaging? etc. Just as I have done during my teaching placements in university, I still write monthly plans, weekly plans, and from there write daily plans. One thing I have learned to do more often is preparing different learning centers which has the students working together and doing independent exploring, which leaves me time to work one on one with a group. I have also become more comfortable with Smart Board technology and using the computers in a lesson

I arrived half way through term 3 and now that we are into term 4 I have a permanent schedule which looks like(it seems chaotic but I love it! haha):

Monday: At Bundalaguah(generally) as a CRT
Tuesday: P.E Teacher at Araluen Primary until 1:00pm- then grade1/2 class till home
Wednesday: Prep(kindergarten)/1/2 Spelling, Prep Time, Prep ICT/Art till lunch, 2/3/4 Art class until home
Thursday: Prep Spelling, 3/4 class until lunch, 5/6 class till home
Friday: Prep Spelling, 5/6 class rest of the day.

Although I am not with these classes 100% of the time I am still responsible for the lesson planning and I attend all staff meetings, PD sessions and I am still involved in assessment discussions and long term planning. This schedule definetely keeps me on my toes! I love teaching and I know its what I want to do in life! I am going to be so sad leave!

Enjoy some of the pics I have time to snap during one of my days!:
All ready to go!

Working on subtraction with a grade two student

Maths games on the computer

Subtraction again

Prep/1/2 class

Handprint dragons we made

Me, teaching art to the 5/6 class


Charcoal portraits

Cricket day with the 5/6's

The blue tongue lizard that lives in the school garden

Tuesday, 8 November 2011

Racetracks, Cups, and Herds

Sale Cup Day

Racing season has arrived! We are not sure if it's all Australians but we quickly noticed how much Victorians love horses, and more importantly horse racing! Horse racing and going to horse races is just a way of life here. Between betting, getting dressed up, and admiring all the other fashions, horse racing is quite an exhilarating  experience! Amanda and I had to be fashion ready for the big race day so we did a little shopping downtown Sale where we tried on some neat dresses. I ended up buying a gold dress but our favourite part was trying on all the funky fascinators (hats).

On October 23rd Amanda and I headed to the Sale Cup where many(amazing) local horses race. We first stopped at Alices' house whom works with Amanda. We toasted with champagne then arrived at the races at about 1:00pm. There were so many people and the fashions were so different and unique. I met up with some staff members at Bundalaguah and we sat along the fence of the racetrack. One of my students also had a horse in one of the races. Amanda, Alice and I participated inn Fashions on the Field, I made a bet (only $2.50 haha) but it was a really fun day! The weather was beautiful and Mark was able to come for a couple hours in between work.

Derby Day- Melbourne Cup Carnival

A few weeks after the Sale Cup I traveled to Melbourne to attend the famous Melbourne Cup Carnival for Derby Day. The Melbourne Cup Carnival attracts thousands of people- even famous celebrities! The fashion is taken very seriously and debuts some of the best horses in the world! Jenna,Kendra, Rianna and I woke early Saturday morning to beautify ourselves- I assisted with hair as we drank delicious mimosas. Our photographer, Darren snapped pictures of us in the park then we were off to Flemington race Track for the big day. Flemington was jam packed with people- it was like a sea of people, and we eventually made our way to the lawn stand where we found a 5 foot by 5 foot lawn area by the finish line where we laid down our blanket and went back and forth to watch the horses thunder by at the finsh line. The weather was wonderful and us girls had a great day!


All dressed up and ready to go!



So many flowers- beautiful!


finish line!





AI Travels

On Monday October 31st I had the day off so I decided to accompany Mark on one of his AI(Articfical Insemination) runs. As I had mentioned before Mark got a second job as a breeder with Genetics Australia is the select sires dealer- which has an office in Maffra. Mark recieved a route that includes roughly 6 farms. Depending on the day some of the farms may only have 3 cows to be bred and some may have 15-20 cows ready . These farms are located near the Gormandale area which is roughly 40 minutes away. We drove along winding roads, through the hills of trees. We even spotted some kangaroos! One of the farms was also built upon a hill which was cool to see. It was very fun to talk to and meet all the farmers and have a look around their farm. They asked me lots of questions and one of my favourite parts was that each farm had a dog or two and one had a puppy! I really enjoyed travelling with Mark to work and seeing how much he cares about the work that he does. He enjoys his AI job very much and he is doing really well with it!
Mark also breeds the cows on the farm he works on, which is usullay roughly 20 cows. On the fifth Mark has set a new personal record of breeding 101 cows. He was at 95 cows so he went for a beer at the neighbours and the asked the farmer if he needed any cows bred.

The roads Mark drives through on his route

The beautiful scenery from one farm

Gettin the job done

Big bad bull

I enjoyed the dogs



Collecting the goods