Today I had a job already lined up at Kawungan and my morning was in Luise’s grade one class. That made it so easy for me as they already knew me and I knew them and I knew the routine which Luise has. I started out by reading them a book - I love to read to children and they love to be read to. I find that some teachers don’t read as much to the kids as others - I used to have all kinds of reading happening in my classroom. After that, we had centres (they call them ‘rotations’). Luise is very fortunate to have parents come in and help out with these. Two parents came in (one dad and one mum) and each one took a literacy centre, two groups were working independently and I took the reading group. I was quite surprised at how well some of these children can read and they’re only in grade one. Even the lowest group didn’t do too badly in my opinion. The only thing now is that this school is expecting the grade one kids to be working at a grade level higher than the grade one kids were last year. So, for instance, the grade ones are now expected to do grade two work. We did some floor work (alphabetical order and counting by 2s, 5s, 10s, etc.) and then it was time for ‘little lunch’.
After that, I only had half an hour with them before it was time to go and be with the Prep (kindergarten) class I was assigned to. That was an experience! At first, it was going really well - they had to work on centres for the first hour. I worked with one group, the teaching assistant worked with another group and a volunteer worked with a third group. There were other centres which the children went to independently. At the centre I was working at, I had to teach them how to print the letter ‘r’ - easy enough. However, while I was doing that, some of the kids decided to go outside and I didn’t notice that. Fortunately for me, some other kids came and told me and I rounded them up. I hadn’t even thought of keeping an eye on the door - I just figured that they knew what to do and didn’t even think that they might try and go out of the door. I will know that for next time. After centres, they had a 15 minute nap - they lay down on their towels on the carpet and listened to some jazz music which I put on. Two of the little girls fell fast asleep - I felt bad having to wake them up - but, it was ‘big lunch’ time and they needed to eat. I wonder sometimes why they have all day kindergarten - the teaching assistant reckoned that they were done by 2pm and we didn’t get much out of them after that. Fortunately today, after ‘big lunch’, they had reading buddies and then P.E. (as they call ‘gym’ here).
Dad was at the Family History Centre today. There were three other workers there and two patrons. Dad spent some time indexing today, but most of his time was spent doing other things: fixing cabinets, fixing computers, and showing a patron how to search for information. Dad said today that it took something like four years to get half a billion records indexed, but since the church had put a push on it beginning late last year, another half a billion have been indexed in just the past three months; approximately 14 billion to go. :-)
Here is an email which Dad received about his doing the indexing:
Dear Michael,
Congratulations on completing your 100th batch with FamilySearch Indexing!
You have reached a significant and rare milestone: the completion of your 100th batch with FamilySearch indexing. The completion of your 100th batch places you into an exclusive group of top indexing volunteers. We want to thank you for your ongoing efforts and recognize this significant achievement.
Your efforts, combined with the efforts of other volunteers, have now made more than one billion records available online at FamilySearch.org, where they are accessed by people around the world who are searching for their ancestors. Each week dozens of these people send us messages of appreciation for your efforts.
We join these people in expressing our sincere appreciation for your efforts in reaching 100 completed indexing batches and recognize the significant contribution you are making to FamilySearch indexing.
Keep Up the Good Work!
You are providing valuable and meaningful service to people around the world who are seeking information about their ancestors. The continued success of this project depends on you and others like you who graciously give of their time and efforts. We celebrate your success and encourage you to continue in this important endeavor to make records more accessible online.
Thank You,
FamilySearch Indexing
I thought that was a cool email to receive acknowledging all the work and hours dad has done/put in. :-)
After school, Dad and I changed into our running shoes and drove down to the beach. I am glad that I took my runners with me this morning, as if I had come home first to get them, I might not have gone out for a walk since I felt weary after working with those young ‘uns all day. We walked half an hour along the beach (it was low tide so the water was very far out) and then we walked back for half an hour along the boardwalk. It was a lovely walk - the sun was warm and it’s so nice walking along the beach. There were a number of others walking along the beach, especially those with dogs. We are planning on doing this three times a week - it’s almost like cheating to call this exercise. :-)
When we were done our walk, we stopped to get take-out. Now I can just hear you all saying ‘what, after you have exercised, you had take-out!’. :-) Well, we happened to park across the road from a fish and chip place which we had heard was the best in Hervey Bay. We had forgotten to take out the meat we needed for dinner and so there was nothing waiting for us at home and Dad really did want to try the fish there, so we got some fish and chips - well, Dad got fish (crumbed barramundi - Barramundi has gained a reputation as one of Australia's finest eating fish, usually with a price to match! There is no denying that Barramundi are excellent table fish and specimens captured from estuarine waters are delicious, with firm, white, fine-grained meat) and I got a chiko roll (the Chiko roll is an Australian savoury snack, consisting of beef, celery, cabbage, barley, carrot, onion, green beans, and spices in a tube of egg, flour and dough which is then deep-fried. The Chiko Roll debuted at the Wagga Wagga Agriculture Show in 1951). We ate our dinner out on our outdoor table and it was lovely to sit outside in the fresh air with the sun shining warmly on us. The food was delicious as well. :-) We stayed out there until 6:30pm - we had to put the lights on at about 6pm, but then the lights attracted too many bugs and so we decided to come inside. We are really going to enjoy using this outdoor set. :-)
Today I was supplying for the grade 5s and grade 4s. I was in a grade 5 classroom which I was in a week or so ago, so I thought it would be easier cuz the kids knew me and I knew them. Michelle has a lovely class, except for a few which makes it not fun - it’s amazing how a few kids can change a lovely time into a challenging and weary time. Two of the boys threw things when my back was turned, but the kids dobbed them in (told me that they did it) and so I reported this to Michelle later on (she told me that they had done the same thing with her in the classroom). She called the D.P. (deputy (vice) principal) and she came, and boy, did she tear a strip off those boys! Two other students (one boy and one girl) were rude and disrespectful to me - they kept talking even when I asked them to stop and did other annoying things on purpose. Michelle decided that they would miss their recess time, which I was very happy about - and I was even happier when I didn’t have to stay in with them - Michelle sent them to the office. The rest of my time with that class went much smoother. I went to a grade four class in the afternoon and they were easier, although not the little lovelies that the teacher said they were, but that’s the way it is when you are a supply teacher - the kids try to take advantage and you don’t have the same effect over them as you do as the classroom teacher. I managed to get through the day, though - and it sure told me that I am right about only wanting to supply Prep (kindergarten) to Year 3. :-)
While I was at school, Dad was VERY busy. He started the day off mowing the lawn, which was fun since there were small showers all day today. He also vacuumed the house and cleaned the bathrooms. After school, the day just flew by: shopping (food and clothes), making dinner, dropping by the chapel for a quick visit with the Bishop (Dad), eating dinner, working on Primary stuff, reading scriptures, doing weight exercises…….we were going to ride our bikes today, but by the time we were finished with our shopping, it was too late to go riding. When we were at the grocery store, I happened to notice a big sale going on at a clothing store called ‘Millers’ which I love - they have clothing that I really like and they were having a 50% off sale today! I was able to find three skirts (all the same, but in different colours), two tops and two capris which I liked. Man, what a lucky week I am having with buying clothes! :-)
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