Sunday, May 20, 2012

What a week - I am tired just thinking about it.  Monday I got a call to go into Kawungan to teach a grade one class.  I hadn't had this class before, so I checked with the other grade one teachers to see what the kids were like.  I was warned about a few of them - most of them are great.  Of the three I was told about, one was away, one was fine (just chatty) and the third did a little bit of work - so, all in all, a good day.  HOWEVER, when Dad and I were taking our walk that evening, Pam called - she is the kindergarten teacher who I go in to help every Thursday.  She was quite sick and wanted to know if I could go in on Tuesday and supply teach in her class.  I ended up being in her class for the rest of the week.

Pam has a different style of teaching from me - she is much more relaxed - and so the kids had a bit of a shock this week with having very high expectations, especially with listening to me when I was talking.  She has a handful of challenging children and they were not impressed that I expected the same of them as I did everyone else.  One of the girls was so rude (with me and with another teacher) that I took her to the principal and she even spoke back to her.  I can't believe how rude some children are here - and how they think it's acceptable to be rude and talk back to teachers - it's so unreal to me and out of my scope of experience.  A few teachers told me at the end of the week that they couldn't believe how well behaved the class was compared to what they normally were like - I was pleased that I had been able to guide them to be more respectful.

I was really lucky to have a prac student (student teacher), Stephanie, in the class for the week.  She was only supposed to teach one third of the time, but I could tell right away that she was quite good, so I not only had her teach math, but asked her to do a few more things (like take attendance, read books to the students, etc.).  I told her that I thought that the  best way to learn was to do, so that I would like her to do more and if it was too much, to  just asked me to step in and I would.  I did have her observe me a few times so that she was able to see me use a few of my classroom management strategies (the hardest part of teaching is classroom management).  Stephanie was really pleased to be able to do so much - I don't think she will be doing the same amount next week, though - Pam called her and asked her to do only a one half hour lesson on Monday. 

Tuesday night, Dad and I went to the chapel: Dad met with the members of the bishopric (minus the Bishop) and I had an activity for the Valiant girls (aged 8 and 11).  Usually my first counsellor does it, but she is away on holidays and I didn't want the girls to miss out for the month.  The theme of the night was 'Keeping  the Sabbath Day Holy'.  We talked about why we keep the Sabbath day holy and what kinds of things are appropriate to do on a Sunday.  We then made 'Sabbath Day Boxes' out of cardstock (I printed colour copies off the net) and gave the girls a list of 109 things they could do on Sundays.  They made the boxes, put the list inside and then we had a little snack.  The girls seemed to enjoy the activity - we will do one about prayer next week.

Dad went to Meals on Wheels this week, but he was an extra person this time - there is one couple who comes and does it once a month - this was their week.  So, Dad had some unexpected time off - it was a good thing actually as he wasn't feeling too well that day.  He went to SES that evening, but didn't stay long as his tummy was acting up again.  It lasted for a couple of days.  He went to the Family History Centre on Friday - thankfully, they didn't have any patrons - Dad helped one of our ward members with some family history stuff and then a new computer came and Dad worked on that for the rest of the day.

I was so tired on Friday night that I didn't feel like cooking so Dad and I went to Subway and got a delicious sub to share and went to McDonald's for a chocolate milkshake - both were yummy!  We then did nothing that night and spent the next morning relaxing - well, Dad did while I got to chat with you girls and saw only one of my grandchildren (little squishy :-)  I went to a Relief Society meeting on Saturday afternoon - it was about being an effective teacher and then afterwards we had some goodies (I wasn't hungry as I had eaten just before I went).  But, I like the opportunity to mix and mingle with the sisters so that's why I went.  That night, it was more relaxing time - me trying to de-stress and Dad trying to feel better.

I sure hope this coming week will be less tiring! :-)  Oh yeah, another thing - Dad has been applying for lots of jobs lately - aviation positions - not in Hervey Bay.  I'll let you know how things go as we hear from each company he has applied to.