G'day all!
Everything here has been so great, as usual. I am just having the best time. Back to school week has not been so horrible. I have been teaching heaps and loving it! My cooperating teacher has been so helpful and really lets me take full control of the classroom.
On Monday, Janelle from Uni, had asked me if I would be interested in going to Qut Friday morning to talk to the aussie students who are interested in going abroad to Minnesota in December. I was honored she had asked me and replied immediately that I would love to do it! So this morning at 8:15, Janelle picked me up from the Coogan's and we headed to Qut. I loved sitting in the meeting with the students and professors telling them all about my experience here and reflecting back to the pre-departure days I had before the trip. They had tons of questions about Minnesota and where they could travel while in the states. I feel that I was able to prepare them a bit more just like how I would have wanted to be prepared if I were to do the trip all over again. Also, talking to them about the differences within the schools and culture was fun to see their reaction and them trying to wrap their mind around things like SNOW. HAHA
As I said, I have been teaching a lot this week. Today, I prepared a math relay using negative and positive number word problems. The whole game were better than I even expected and my teacher was VERY impressed. I felt pretty good about it. I feel that I have been able to take a lesson and really run with it here, and that feels just great! I also gave my first spelling test. The students are so good at working with my accent it is so nice. I can imagine how difficult it could be to do a spelling test from someone who says words completely different than you!
Yesterday when I was teaching a lesson on negative and positive integers I was talking about the depth of a pool for an example. That the stairs higher than the water line are positive, the water line is 0 and below are negative. I kept using "feet" for measurements, an innocent mistake forgetting that they do not measure in feet. So I tried to be flexible and use meters, or metres, but that was too deep for a pool so one of the problem students raised his hand and said, "Ms. Anderson, it is ok, we can just use feet." Haha so precious. They are so good to me.
There is one girl in my year six class who is completely intrigued with Minnesota. She asked me what city I live in and said she tried looking it up on google earth!!! LOL. She always asks me to spell things that relate to me or MN so I can only imagine what she is up to... stay tuned!
This afternoon the students had sport. Sport is every Friday, well supposed to be if it is not wet from the rain. The students all "try-out" for school sports such as cricket, basketball, rugby, or softball. They are placed on teams and meet at a central location to play other schools. Mrs. Knight coaches year seven softball so I have been training with those girls the last two days during afternoon tea and then went along to their game today. The girls are so sweet, I love their age, they were so interested in where I come from and told me their entire family history. They will also tell you that you are pretty over and over again so I could get used to that. :) Anyway, I do not know much about softball but I was able to give the girls some tips and at least act like I know what I am talking about..so fun! Oh, did I mention we take the school buses to the games...their school buses are COACH BUSES.. oh just no big deal...being dropped off on a coach bus. Gag me... haha.
After school Brad and Lynda were both working so the boys and I walked home together. It was a great time to spend with them. Corey wanted to take a "short cut" and basically brought us through any field between the school and Pig's Hollow you can imagine.. and it took 15 minutes longer to get home than my way... but that's what I get for letting a boy lead us.... ;) We weren't in any hurry- it was fun! Once we got home the boys changed from their uniforms and put their bags away while I made afternoon tea, and hot milo for the boys. Milo is like nesquick but....better?! I made it "fancy" for them by putting hot water and milk in it like coffee.. they loved it! We sat outside and enjoyed our tea and then I asked if they wanted to go swimming...after saying how cool I was for letting them swim they hopped in and I sat by the pool... what a way to end a busy week!
I hope all is well at home in the states! I am thinking of my family gathering in Orlando for my cousin Cory, and his fiance, Camille's big day on Saturday!! Wishing I could be there with everyone..! Safe travels and congrats to Cory and Camille.. I love you both!
love always
Mel xoxo
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