It was great to talk with you guys this morning - I'm just sorry we couldn't see anyone - our internet connection is sometimes sporadic, but it's so expensive to go to any faster speed, so we have to make do with this one. It sounds like your Thanksgiving was lovely - I'm looking forward to having some turkey when we get back to Canada.
Yesterday was a really good day at school - I was worried about Travis after last Friday - when I got to school, I saw Travis and had a chat with him about his behaviour on that day and he assured me that it would not happen again - and it hasn't for the past two days. I also spoke with a kindergarten teacher and a grade one teacher and got some work from them which I can photocopy out for Travis. For the past two days, I have worked on some math and language tasks with him at his level. I even gave him a different spelling list for this week - the first list of words probably at a beginning grade one level - and he got four out of five which made him feel good - hopefully, being able to do work at his own level will allow him to feel some success.
Chantelle, my student teacher, is finding that she is really tired and we were talking about why that is today - she decided that it's because, since she was last teaching in the class a couple of months ago, Ryley and Travis have moved into our class and both have so many issues that they have upset the applecart, so to speak. It's amazing how a couple of kids can really change the dynamics in a classroom. We had a big discussion today at recess as to why there are so many issues with these kids at this school. We had a really interesting conversation coming up with a variety of reasons, mostly to do with economics and lack of respect for education/teachers.
We had the missionaries over for dinner tonight - had shepherd's pie for dinner (a new recipe and our favourite so far for this meal) and played a game of cribbage (which Elder Wong and I let Dad and Elder Lock win - again :-)
Oh yeah - yesterday on the way to school, we were driving along and all of a sudden a kangaroo and its joey hopped across the road right in front of us. It surprised us, but it was so cool to see - especially seeing the joey cuz it's rare to see one that is so young. Dad said on the way back home, he had one kangaroo hop in front of him up the road and then when he got closer to where that kangaroo had crossed the road, two more crossed in front of him, and one of them was almost on top of the hood. Today, when he was picking up the missionaries to come to our place for dinner, he pointed out a number of kangaroos which were in the field of the private school near our house - they are often grazing on the grass there around 5pm. Just as Dad was slowing down to let the missionaries see the kangaroos, he noticed a mother and it's joey on the other side of the road. I love this country. :-)
October 10, 2010
The Sabbath day - a lovely restful day - definitely my favourite day of the week! :-)
Today was General Conference Sunday and we spent 4 1/2 hours at church. The way they do it here is that we watch the first session from 9am - 11am and then eat snacks/lunch for half an hour and then watch the second session from 11:30am to 1:30pm. Here are a few snippets which spoke to me as we listened:
Henry B. Eyring
- we need to be content with the things the Lord has given unto us
- you have a lack of faith if you do not trust God
Boyd K. Packer
- the Lord votes on one side, Satan votes on the other - it's your vote that counts
Mary N. Cook
- do not do anything you would not want your children to do
- be an example of faith: read the scriptures, pray - especially to your children
- the scriptures safely guide us on the path to eternal life
Dallin H. Oaks
- there are 2 lines of communication with God: personal (prayer) and priesthood (prophetic leadership)
- the Holy Ghost is the means of communication from God to us
- we all need a personal testimony of truth
President Thomas S. Monson
- it's important to express gratitude
- remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive
- don't grieve for what you don't have, rejoice for what you have
- cultivate in your hearts an attitude of gratitude
David A. Bednar
- the church is true because it is the Lord's church
- the Holy Ghost will teach you what to do and where to go
- follow the Spirit of the Lord and you will go right
Larry R. Lawrence
- parents are responsible for the physical and spiritual protection of their children
- parenting is not a popularity contest
- always be prayerful when it comes to protecting your precious children
- follow these 5 righteous patterns: family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, family dinners, one on one interviews with your children
Mervyn B. Arnold
- give love, time, testimony of the gospel, set example to work hard, be honest, pay your tithing, go on a mission, get married in the Temple, endure to the end
- we are free to choose, but not free to choose the consequences of our actions
- commandments are not given to restrict us, but to bless us and protect us
M. Russell Ballard
- he spoke of being 'in bondage' to addictions and that through fervent prayer you can find a way out of bondage
- express faith in Heavenly Father by asking Him for help in overcoming any addiction
- Philip 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
President Thomas S. Monson
- obeying the commandments brings safety and peace
- in your homes should be love, kindness, courtesy and the Spirit of the Lord
Dad and I were very uplifted by the messages which we heard during the past two days from the various speakers in Conference. We look forward to receiving the November Ensign and being able to read the messages which were given yesterday and today.
Today was General Conference Sunday and we spent 4 1/2 hours at church. The way they do it here is that we watch the first session from 9am - 11am and then eat snacks/lunch for half an hour and then watch the second session from 11:30am to 1:30pm. Here are a few snippets which spoke to me as we listened:
Henry B. Eyring
- we need to be content with the things the Lord has given unto us
- you have a lack of faith if you do not trust God
Boyd K. Packer
- the Lord votes on one side, Satan votes on the other - it's your vote that counts
Mary N. Cook
- do not do anything you would not want your children to do
- be an example of faith: read the scriptures, pray - especially to your children
- the scriptures safely guide us on the path to eternal life
Dallin H. Oaks
- there are 2 lines of communication with God: personal (prayer) and priesthood (prophetic leadership)
- the Holy Ghost is the means of communication from God to us
- we all need a personal testimony of truth
President Thomas S. Monson
- it's important to express gratitude
- remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive
- don't grieve for what you don't have, rejoice for what you have
- cultivate in your hearts an attitude of gratitude
David A. Bednar
- the church is true because it is the Lord's church
- the Holy Ghost will teach you what to do and where to go
- follow the Spirit of the Lord and you will go right
Larry R. Lawrence
- parents are responsible for the physical and spiritual protection of their children
- parenting is not a popularity contest
- always be prayerful when it comes to protecting your precious children
- follow these 5 righteous patterns: family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, family dinners, one on one interviews with your children
Mervyn B. Arnold
- give love, time, testimony of the gospel, set example to work hard, be honest, pay your tithing, go on a mission, get married in the Temple, endure to the end
- we are free to choose, but not free to choose the consequences of our actions
- commandments are not given to restrict us, but to bless us and protect us
M. Russell Ballard
- he spoke of being 'in bondage' to addictions and that through fervent prayer you can find a way out of bondage
- express faith in Heavenly Father by asking Him for help in overcoming any addiction
- Philip 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
President Thomas S. Monson
- obeying the commandments brings safety and peace
- in your homes should be love, kindness, courtesy and the Spirit of the Lord
Dad and I were very uplifted by the messages which we heard during the past two days from the various speakers in Conference. We look forward to receiving the November Ensign and being able to read the messages which were given yesterday and today.
October 9, 2010
I was very tired when I woke up today - I couldn't get to sleep until 2am last night. Let me have some venting time if you don't mind. Grrr. Yesterday was not a good day at school and I even thought for a minute that I would like to go back to Canada and teach my little lovelies at R.J. Lee. They were such great students (in general) - respectful towards me - and the parents respected me as well. It's so different here with some of these kids - let me fill you in on what happened yesterday to make me think I should look into teaching at the Anglican College (private school about three minutes from our house).
Travis is a new student to our class - he started a couple of weeks before I began my contract teaching job. He is very immature - acts more like a three year old - and he is intellectually low - more like a kindergarten aged child. He seeks attention - he loves to help, but does it mostly at inappropriate times. He has always been compliant up 'til yesterday. He just lost it - there are a number of thoughts why, but I think the most likely is that he was having a tantrum and the way he showed it was to go completely against what I was asking him to do: he was playing with something while I was talking with the class at the carpet. When I took it off him and asked him to stop, he picked it up again. When I asked him to go to his desk, he refused. When I took him by the hand and led him back to his desk and told him to stay, he got up right away and followed me back to the carpet. When I went toward him again, he just ran away. By this time, I had had it and just left him and thought I would deal with him after the class was sent back to their desk. To make a long story a little shorter, when I went to take him to the vice princpal's office, he ran away from me and I wasn't going to chase him. I went to the VP and told her what had happened and she said that she would find him and keep him in her office for the rest of the day.
I was up 'til 2am with all this going around and around in my head. I have never in all my teaching years had any student be defiant and now I had two in three weeks. It's very draining and I do not like it at all. I have been thinking about it since yesterday - and I can feel my blood pressure rising as I am typing this - and I have come to some conclusions as to why this would be happening in my classroom when it's never happened before when I was teaching at R.J. Lee. The children at R.J. Lee came from families who were either in the middle socio-economic class or whose parents lived in a house with more than one family in a really nice area of town. The students' parents were very respectful of teachers and passed that onto the kids. The parents were very hardworking people and had a very good work ethic. Because the parents worked so hard, the grandparents often took care of the children before and after sdhool and often the grandparents let them do whatever they wanted, but when it came time to listening to the teacher, it was expected that they would show that respect. Now, I am generalizing of course, but for the most part, that's the way it was. Now to the parents of this school - again, I am generalizing, but it will give you some idea of what I am dealing with. A number of the parents of the students in this school are 'on the dole' meaning they are on unemployment and since you can stay on it for life here in Australia, they pretty much do. The respect is not there from the kids (for the teachers) and the parents let their children do what they want (or don't have consequences for inappropriate behaviour) - I even had one parent ask me to tell their child to go to bed when they are asked! Also, it seems to me, that a number of the families have issues of some kind. When I see what kind of lives many of these kids have, it makes me want to remind you girls of the wonderful life you had growing up (as Dad and I did) and hope that you appreciate the way we raised you to show respect, take responsibility for your actions and to have a great work ethic.
I am not sure what I am going to do about the Travis situation. I don't want to go back to the VP until I have thought out some possible solutions to this problem. I am going to speak with Travis on Monday and let him know the consequences of his actions. Also, if he has another day like Friday, I will be calling in his mom to let her know what's going on. Anyway, I am not happy about going into teaching this class - there are other issues with kids in the class, but it seems like I am going well in helping them to learn to focus, listen well and to work well. I am not doubting my teaching ability - 14 years of good results helps me to believe that I am a good teacher. But, I am unhappy about being unhappy going to school - I have always been passionate about teaching, so it bothers me that I am feeling so down about going into this class. I know that if they had been my students from the beginning, that things would be different and I know that I only have two weeks to go with this class, but I would still like to enjoy it - it's amazing how two students can really mix things up. Oh well, two more weeks, swimming lessons most days and a student teacher to help out - I can look forward to those things anyway. And enough venting, I think.
Today started out lovely with a Skype 'visit' with Terri-Ann and my boys. :-) We didn't get to talk with the boys for too long - our connection wasn't too good and the boys really needed to go to bed as they had been out all day and hadn't had a nap. So, we had a little chat with them which is always fun. Then, it was off to bed for them and so Terri-Ann and I had a really nice chat (as we do every week) and got caught up (although the poor girl had to listen to me vent about those 'feral' students ('feral is an Aussie term which seems to mean something like mean brats). It's great having such great technology that we can see each other and talk at the same time across thousands of miles. I look forward to this standing date each week.
The rest of the morning and the first part of the afternoon was taken up by going to the chapel to watch last Saturday's broadcast of General Conference. There weren't many people there today which is pretty typical - there will be a full house of people there tomorrow. We enjoyed listening to the speakers today and I took some notes - I will share a few of them here:
Rosemary M. Wixom
- The world will teach our children if we do not
Claudio R. M. Costa
- Heavenly Father communicates with us through our Prophet
- the Prophet will never lead us astray (I love that one!)
- the Prophet tells us what we NEED to know, not always what we want to know
David M. McConkie
- 'The How of Learning' - what matters most is the attitude and spirit by which the teacher teaches
D. Todd Christofferson
- Life offers you two precious gifts: time and the freedom of choice of what to do with your time
Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf
- Learn to see yourself as God sees you (a daughter/son of His)
Gerrit G. Gong
- Your testimony, when nourished, will keep you safe
Richard G. Scott
- 4 Principles which bring peace and happiness: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, obedience, service
We are looking forward to hearing more wonderful messages tomorrow.
We brought the missionaries back home with us after Conference to have dinner with us. It's always nice to have them over and to feed them. Dad barbecued hamburgers and we had wedges and corn on the cob - yummy. We played a game of cribbage - Elder Wong and I let Elder Lock and Dad win. :-) After Dad drove them home and came back, we watched a show called 'Air Crash Investigations' and then three British detective shows. A lovely day all up! :-)
Travis is a new student to our class - he started a couple of weeks before I began my contract teaching job. He is very immature - acts more like a three year old - and he is intellectually low - more like a kindergarten aged child. He seeks attention - he loves to help, but does it mostly at inappropriate times. He has always been compliant up 'til yesterday. He just lost it - there are a number of thoughts why, but I think the most likely is that he was having a tantrum and the way he showed it was to go completely against what I was asking him to do: he was playing with something while I was talking with the class at the carpet. When I took it off him and asked him to stop, he picked it up again. When I asked him to go to his desk, he refused. When I took him by the hand and led him back to his desk and told him to stay, he got up right away and followed me back to the carpet. When I went toward him again, he just ran away. By this time, I had had it and just left him and thought I would deal with him after the class was sent back to their desk. To make a long story a little shorter, when I went to take him to the vice princpal's office, he ran away from me and I wasn't going to chase him. I went to the VP and told her what had happened and she said that she would find him and keep him in her office for the rest of the day.
I was up 'til 2am with all this going around and around in my head. I have never in all my teaching years had any student be defiant and now I had two in three weeks. It's very draining and I do not like it at all. I have been thinking about it since yesterday - and I can feel my blood pressure rising as I am typing this - and I have come to some conclusions as to why this would be happening in my classroom when it's never happened before when I was teaching at R.J. Lee. The children at R.J. Lee came from families who were either in the middle socio-economic class or whose parents lived in a house with more than one family in a really nice area of town. The students' parents were very respectful of teachers and passed that onto the kids. The parents were very hardworking people and had a very good work ethic. Because the parents worked so hard, the grandparents often took care of the children before and after sdhool and often the grandparents let them do whatever they wanted, but when it came time to listening to the teacher, it was expected that they would show that respect. Now, I am generalizing of course, but for the most part, that's the way it was. Now to the parents of this school - again, I am generalizing, but it will give you some idea of what I am dealing with. A number of the parents of the students in this school are 'on the dole' meaning they are on unemployment and since you can stay on it for life here in Australia, they pretty much do. The respect is not there from the kids (for the teachers) and the parents let their children do what they want (or don't have consequences for inappropriate behaviour) - I even had one parent ask me to tell their child to go to bed when they are asked! Also, it seems to me, that a number of the families have issues of some kind. When I see what kind of lives many of these kids have, it makes me want to remind you girls of the wonderful life you had growing up (as Dad and I did) and hope that you appreciate the way we raised you to show respect, take responsibility for your actions and to have a great work ethic.
I am not sure what I am going to do about the Travis situation. I don't want to go back to the VP until I have thought out some possible solutions to this problem. I am going to speak with Travis on Monday and let him know the consequences of his actions. Also, if he has another day like Friday, I will be calling in his mom to let her know what's going on. Anyway, I am not happy about going into teaching this class - there are other issues with kids in the class, but it seems like I am going well in helping them to learn to focus, listen well and to work well. I am not doubting my teaching ability - 14 years of good results helps me to believe that I am a good teacher. But, I am unhappy about being unhappy going to school - I have always been passionate about teaching, so it bothers me that I am feeling so down about going into this class. I know that if they had been my students from the beginning, that things would be different and I know that I only have two weeks to go with this class, but I would still like to enjoy it - it's amazing how two students can really mix things up. Oh well, two more weeks, swimming lessons most days and a student teacher to help out - I can look forward to those things anyway. And enough venting, I think.
Today started out lovely with a Skype 'visit' with Terri-Ann and my boys. :-) We didn't get to talk with the boys for too long - our connection wasn't too good and the boys really needed to go to bed as they had been out all day and hadn't had a nap. So, we had a little chat with them which is always fun. Then, it was off to bed for them and so Terri-Ann and I had a really nice chat (as we do every week) and got caught up (although the poor girl had to listen to me vent about those 'feral' students ('feral is an Aussie term which seems to mean something like mean brats). It's great having such great technology that we can see each other and talk at the same time across thousands of miles. I look forward to this standing date each week.
The rest of the morning and the first part of the afternoon was taken up by going to the chapel to watch last Saturday's broadcast of General Conference. There weren't many people there today which is pretty typical - there will be a full house of people there tomorrow. We enjoyed listening to the speakers today and I took some notes - I will share a few of them here:
Rosemary M. Wixom
- The world will teach our children if we do not
Claudio R. M. Costa
- Heavenly Father communicates with us through our Prophet
- the Prophet will never lead us astray (I love that one!)
- the Prophet tells us what we NEED to know, not always what we want to know
David M. McConkie
- 'The How of Learning' - what matters most is the attitude and spirit by which the teacher teaches
D. Todd Christofferson
- Life offers you two precious gifts: time and the freedom of choice of what to do with your time
Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf
- Learn to see yourself as God sees you (a daughter/son of His)
Gerrit G. Gong
- Your testimony, when nourished, will keep you safe
Richard G. Scott
- 4 Principles which bring peace and happiness: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, obedience, service
We are looking forward to hearing more wonderful messages tomorrow.
We brought the missionaries back home with us after Conference to have dinner with us. It's always nice to have them over and to feed them. Dad barbecued hamburgers and we had wedges and corn on the cob - yummy. We played a game of cribbage - Elder Wong and I let Elder Lock and Dad win. :-) After Dad drove them home and came back, we watched a show called 'Air Crash Investigations' and then three British detective shows. A lovely day all up! :-)
Octobe 7, 2010
Happy Birthday to Dad. :-) We were able to go out this afternoon to celebrate (right after school) before Dad had to go to SES. We chose to go to a local Irish restaurant/pub (Hoolihans) for a very early dinner (4:15pm) - we haven't been there before, but they will give you a free dinner (main meal) if it's your birthday, so we figured it was a good time to try a new restaurant. We started with Garlic and Mozzarella bread. Then, I had the Donegal's Irish Stew (Tender Braised Lamb with Onions, Carrots, Celery & Potatoes served over Mash with Soda Bread) and Dad had the Dublin Coddle (Thick Beef ‘n’ Sage Sausages served on Mash with Onion Gravy & Vegetables). The mozza bread was really delicious and both dinners tasted fabulous! The prices were pretty good, too, compared with other restaurants we have been to, but the food is way better than what we have tasted at other places (although we haven't been to too many others). We will definitely recommend this place to others.
Dad has gone off to SES now and I have been being very lazy tonight, just watching tv and answering emails and writing this blog. It's been a full-on day today at school and so I have enjoyed totally relaxing and doing nothing this evening. Yesterday, I was so positive with regards to my angry little student, Ryley - today was a challenging day. He was being very obstinate today - twice Chantelle asked me to come and deal with him. Just when I thought things were looking up, he said he was going to run away from school. I finally went to get the principal to talk with him as I was all out of ideas. The principal was able to get him to come back to class and make better choices. I talked with the principal to see what he did and said and he did and said the same things which I had done and said and yet he had a better result - I think it might have had to do witth the principal being male. Ryley had a great second session, but then stuffed up again during the third session. We'll have to see what tomorrow brings, but I am not too crazy about expending so much energy on one student - I do have 20 other students to worry about - he might have to miss more recesses before he figures things out.
I was really pleased to be able to go to the Curriculum Development meeting today. We talked mostly about the NAPLAN test (grade three test), the results, the questions which the students did not do well on, and how to take the results and work with them to help the students become more successful at the test. I think teaching to the test is not good teaching, but I wouldn't say anything in front of the V.P. :-) We also talked about other things we could do in the classroom to help the students be more successful in areas which they are struggling - the grade threes particularly don't do well in spelling and so the school has decided that the spelling program in the school is going to be downgraded - as in, the grade three program will now be done in grade two, the grade two one will now be done in grade one, etc. I can't see the sense of expecting so much from these kids, but that's the way that the education system seems to be going in this country.
Dad has gone off to SES now and I have been being very lazy tonight, just watching tv and answering emails and writing this blog. It's been a full-on day today at school and so I have enjoyed totally relaxing and doing nothing this evening. Yesterday, I was so positive with regards to my angry little student, Ryley - today was a challenging day. He was being very obstinate today - twice Chantelle asked me to come and deal with him. Just when I thought things were looking up, he said he was going to run away from school. I finally went to get the principal to talk with him as I was all out of ideas. The principal was able to get him to come back to class and make better choices. I talked with the principal to see what he did and said and he did and said the same things which I had done and said and yet he had a better result - I think it might have had to do witth the principal being male. Ryley had a great second session, but then stuffed up again during the third session. We'll have to see what tomorrow brings, but I am not too crazy about expending so much energy on one student - I do have 20 other students to worry about - he might have to miss more recesses before he figures things out.
I was really pleased to be able to go to the Curriculum Development meeting today. We talked mostly about the NAPLAN test (grade three test), the results, the questions which the students did not do well on, and how to take the results and work with them to help the students become more successful at the test. I think teaching to the test is not good teaching, but I wouldn't say anything in front of the V.P. :-) We also talked about other things we could do in the classroom to help the students be more successful in areas which they are struggling - the grade threes particularly don't do well in spelling and so the school has decided that the spelling program in the school is going to be downgraded - as in, the grade three program will now be done in grade two, the grade two one will now be done in grade one, etc. I can't see the sense of expecting so much from these kids, but that's the way that the education system seems to be going in this country.
October 6, 2010
Wow, I can't believe how fast the time has gone this week! But, school has been pretty good so far, so I have been very happy about that. :-) I was worried about whether the students would have reverted back to their chatting mode after my working so hard with them for the two weeks before holidays. But, they have pleasantly surprised me - although, I still have to occasionally remind them to listen. It's been great having Chantelle, our student teacher, in the classroom. She and I are sharing the teaching of the class which also means sharing the planning and preparation of materials for the lessons. That part has been great cuz it's meant that I have been able to spend less time at school and less time prepping stuff at home. I actually got to read the newspaper Monday and today after school - what a treat! :-)
It's been great working with Chantelle - it reminds me of working with my friend, Priya, who was once my student teacher and then became a colleague (I went to my principal and told her that Priya was amazing and that she just HAD to hire her - fortunately, the principal listened to me). Chantelle and I work really well together - after school, we reflect on the day and talk about behaviour issues and how best to sort through them. We talk about a variety of solutions to things which come up during the day - Chantelle has the planning bit, preparation bit and teaching bit down pretty well - the part she struggles with (and we all do at some point) is the classroom management bit. It's the hardest part about teaching for me. I am still learning and I bet that most teachers do as the students change each year. I had to take Ryley out today as he was not making good choices and I didn't want Chantelle to have to deal with him as well as the other 19 students which were here today. Ryley is OCD, ADHD and has anger issues. He and I have slowly formed a rapport with each other and I am learning to 'pick my battles' with him. He will talk with me now about things which have set him off and I am learning how best to help him to do what he needs to do. Although it's been a bit challenging dealing with him, it's also been rewarding in that I feel that I am reaching him.
Today, I spoke with Leanne, the vice principal, about getting some professional development at the school. The grade two teachers are doing some curriculum development tomorrow afternoon. I was originally set to cover Tracey's class (another grade two teacher) tomorrow, but she has the week off (her father passed away) and there's a supply teacher in the class for the week. So, I asked Leanne if I could come to the curriculum development tomorrow (unless she wanted me in the classroom with Chantelle). She said I was welcome to come to the curriculum develpment meeting and I was so pleased when she said that. I really want to learn as much as I can about how education works here in Queensland. When I told Chantelle and asked her if it was okay with her, she said that it was fine as she wanted to find out if the kids would be the same when I wasn't in the room. So, I think it will be a good experience for both of us.
Dad has spent most of the past three days working on downloading the General Conference broadcast (which happened in Salt Lake City last weekend), converting the files to a DVD format and then burning them onto DVDs. It's taking ages for this to get done - he's working on it to be ready for this Saturday as we are viewing the conference at that time. We will be going on Saturday from 11am to 1pm and then 1:30pm to 3:30pm to watch last Saturday's sessions of conference and then on Sunday we will watch last Sunday's sessions of conference from 9am - 11am and 11:30am to 1:30pm.
I went visiting teaching yesterday with my companion, Robyn. I love visiting teaching - I always have. I love getting to know the sisters better and in an informal setting. I love talking with them, too, which is something we don't really get to do too much of on Sundays. We like to go on Tuesday nights cuz that is when Rob, Rosalea's husband, is out at the chapel for Young Men's/Young Women's and we can sit and have a good chat with Rosalea without Rob around. :-) We always have a long visit with Rosalea - and last night was no exception -we were there from 6:30pm to 8:30pm - Rosalea, Robyn and I are all good at talking :-) but Rosalea also seems to need to talk a lot about her life with us - like she doesn't have anyone she feels comfortable doing that with and she also knows that anything she tells us won't go any further.
Tonight, Geoff (Robyn's husband) had arranged for he and his home teaching companion, Luke, to come to visit with Dad and me - when 6pm came, in walked Geoff and ..............Robyn. Imagine my surprise when I saw her come through the door - Luke had a family situation he had to attend to and so Geoff had asked Robyn to come with him to visit with us. We were really pleased to have a chance to visit with the two of them - they are becoming good friends of ours. They are leaving on Saturday to go to Ireland until the middle of November - we will be crossing paths on the way to Sydney as they are arriving back in Hervey Bay, so we won't be seeing them until we get back in mid-January.
I bought a book when we were back in Canada called 'Isaiah for Airheads' by John Bytheway. It's based on the chapters of Isaiah Nephi quoted in the Book of Mormon. We are reading Isaiah in the Bible and it's hard to understand it sometimes. This book is FABULOUS in helping us to understand what has been written in the book of Isaiah. John breaks it down so that we are learning about what each verse (or couple of verses) mean. We have read two chapters so far and it's been so much more enlightening having this resource. He makes it so much easier to understand, so we are really glad that we have bought this book. I will talk more about what he tells us in a future blog.
It's been great working with Chantelle - it reminds me of working with my friend, Priya, who was once my student teacher and then became a colleague (I went to my principal and told her that Priya was amazing and that she just HAD to hire her - fortunately, the principal listened to me). Chantelle and I work really well together - after school, we reflect on the day and talk about behaviour issues and how best to sort through them. We talk about a variety of solutions to things which come up during the day - Chantelle has the planning bit, preparation bit and teaching bit down pretty well - the part she struggles with (and we all do at some point) is the classroom management bit. It's the hardest part about teaching for me. I am still learning and I bet that most teachers do as the students change each year. I had to take Ryley out today as he was not making good choices and I didn't want Chantelle to have to deal with him as well as the other 19 students which were here today. Ryley is OCD, ADHD and has anger issues. He and I have slowly formed a rapport with each other and I am learning to 'pick my battles' with him. He will talk with me now about things which have set him off and I am learning how best to help him to do what he needs to do. Although it's been a bit challenging dealing with him, it's also been rewarding in that I feel that I am reaching him.
Today, I spoke with Leanne, the vice principal, about getting some professional development at the school. The grade two teachers are doing some curriculum development tomorrow afternoon. I was originally set to cover Tracey's class (another grade two teacher) tomorrow, but she has the week off (her father passed away) and there's a supply teacher in the class for the week. So, I asked Leanne if I could come to the curriculum development tomorrow (unless she wanted me in the classroom with Chantelle). She said I was welcome to come to the curriculum develpment meeting and I was so pleased when she said that. I really want to learn as much as I can about how education works here in Queensland. When I told Chantelle and asked her if it was okay with her, she said that it was fine as she wanted to find out if the kids would be the same when I wasn't in the room. So, I think it will be a good experience for both of us.
Dad has spent most of the past three days working on downloading the General Conference broadcast (which happened in Salt Lake City last weekend), converting the files to a DVD format and then burning them onto DVDs. It's taking ages for this to get done - he's working on it to be ready for this Saturday as we are viewing the conference at that time. We will be going on Saturday from 11am to 1pm and then 1:30pm to 3:30pm to watch last Saturday's sessions of conference and then on Sunday we will watch last Sunday's sessions of conference from 9am - 11am and 11:30am to 1:30pm.
I went visiting teaching yesterday with my companion, Robyn. I love visiting teaching - I always have. I love getting to know the sisters better and in an informal setting. I love talking with them, too, which is something we don't really get to do too much of on Sundays. We like to go on Tuesday nights cuz that is when Rob, Rosalea's husband, is out at the chapel for Young Men's/Young Women's and we can sit and have a good chat with Rosalea without Rob around. :-) We always have a long visit with Rosalea - and last night was no exception -we were there from 6:30pm to 8:30pm - Rosalea, Robyn and I are all good at talking :-) but Rosalea also seems to need to talk a lot about her life with us - like she doesn't have anyone she feels comfortable doing that with and she also knows that anything she tells us won't go any further.
Tonight, Geoff (Robyn's husband) had arranged for he and his home teaching companion, Luke, to come to visit with Dad and me - when 6pm came, in walked Geoff and ..............Robyn. Imagine my surprise when I saw her come through the door - Luke had a family situation he had to attend to and so Geoff had asked Robyn to come with him to visit with us. We were really pleased to have a chance to visit with the two of them - they are becoming good friends of ours. They are leaving on Saturday to go to Ireland until the middle of November - we will be crossing paths on the way to Sydney as they are arriving back in Hervey Bay, so we won't be seeing them until we get back in mid-January.
I bought a book when we were back in Canada called 'Isaiah for Airheads' by John Bytheway. It's based on the chapters of Isaiah Nephi quoted in the Book of Mormon. We are reading Isaiah in the Bible and it's hard to understand it sometimes. This book is FABULOUS in helping us to understand what has been written in the book of Isaiah. John breaks it down so that we are learning about what each verse (or couple of verses) mean. We have read two chapters so far and it's been so much more enlightening having this resource. He makes it so much easier to understand, so we are really glad that we have bought this book. I will talk more about what he tells us in a future blog.
October 2, 2010
It's been a busy, but lovely day today. Dad and I headed out at 10:30am this morning on a drive up to a place called Woodgate Beach with a stop at Burrum Coast National Park. The park was actually the reason we went up there. I wanted to go for a drive somewhere and this park has a number of walking tracks in it. We got there around noon and the info we had found on the net said that the walk around the Banksia track would take 2 hours - it took us 1 1/2 hours.
It was a really beautiful walk, too - we walked along a dirt track through the trees. The sky was blue (with a few clouds) and the sun was shining down. Just after we started on our walk, we saw a couple of kookaburraas in the trees - we took some pics of one cute bird which is at the end of the blog. There were supposed to be some wildflowers in bloom along the track, but we only came along one (near the end of the track). We also saw some different plants along the way (pics at the end). The one thing we didn't see was a snake, so I was grateful for that. :-) It was great to get out in the fresh air and to get some exercise at the same time. Dad and I really enjoyed being out in nature and chatting as we walked along. It was so peaceful out there - I have always felt that way being in nature. We had such a wonderful time out there, that we want to do some more walks like that - and soon.
After the walk, we drove into Woodgate Beach to look around - it was one of the places that I had checked out housing in when we were looking to settle in this area of the country. It's a lovely little town - very small - mostly seems to be holiday housing - the closest city is about half an hour away. As we were driving into the town, we saw three kangaroos right on the side of the road eating grass. It was so cool - I still can't get over it when I see them right in front of me. :-) I asked Dad to pull to the side of the road so that I could watch them and get some photos (at the end of the blog) - we sat there for a few minutes just enjoying watching them. We had to drive on as we needed to be leaving Woodgate just after 2:30pm. After stopping to get some lunch which we ate by the beach (pics at the end), we started driving back along the road beside the beach and saw the same kangaroos in the front yard of a house eating grass. There were kids playing a ball game just around the corner and the kangaroos were just eating away like it was nothing for them to be in someone's yard. What a treat for us! :-)
When we got home from our trip, we started cooking lasagna right away as we were having guests for dinner. We weren't sure if Rob and Rosalea were coming, but we knew that Robyn and Geoff were coming for sure and we figured that having lasagna would mean there would be enough for six if Rob and Rosalea came. W have had lasagna the way they make it in Australia and we don't like it (they put in a white sauce with the cheese) and so we made it the 'Canadian' way - and it was a hit. We really enjoyed our evening with our four friends (yes, Rob and Rosalea showed up) - after eating (at our lovely new table) we sat around and just chatted for about an hour and a half. Rob and Rosalea had to leave early as Rosalea hasn't been feeling well lately, but Robyn and Geoff stayed on for a bit. I asked them if they played games (euchre, cribbage, etc.) and they said that they did - I told them about doing that with Nikki and Ron for years and told them that it would be great if they could come over again for dinner and play games with us. It's great to have made friends here that we can feel so comfortable with.
We are watching another movie right now - 'Dreamgirls' - 7.5 on our scale (8.0 for me and 7.0 for Dad). Yesterday we watched two more movies - 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' was a 6.75 (a 6.5 from me and a 7.0 from Dad), but the best movie we have seen thus far is one called 'Changeling' - what an amazing story (and it's a true story, too). I would highly recommend it to everyone (although it IS about a mother whose son goes missing so Terri-Ann and Krystal, you might not want to watch it as it might be too emotional - but it's also about other things that were happening at that time in America (the late 1920s). It's a very powerful movie!
It was a really beautiful walk, too - we walked along a dirt track through the trees. The sky was blue (with a few clouds) and the sun was shining down. Just after we started on our walk, we saw a couple of kookaburraas in the trees - we took some pics of one cute bird which is at the end of the blog. There were supposed to be some wildflowers in bloom along the track, but we only came along one (near the end of the track). We also saw some different plants along the way (pics at the end). The one thing we didn't see was a snake, so I was grateful for that. :-) It was great to get out in the fresh air and to get some exercise at the same time. Dad and I really enjoyed being out in nature and chatting as we walked along. It was so peaceful out there - I have always felt that way being in nature. We had such a wonderful time out there, that we want to do some more walks like that - and soon.
After the walk, we drove into Woodgate Beach to look around - it was one of the places that I had checked out housing in when we were looking to settle in this area of the country. It's a lovely little town - very small - mostly seems to be holiday housing - the closest city is about half an hour away. As we were driving into the town, we saw three kangaroos right on the side of the road eating grass. It was so cool - I still can't get over it when I see them right in front of me. :-) I asked Dad to pull to the side of the road so that I could watch them and get some photos (at the end of the blog) - we sat there for a few minutes just enjoying watching them. We had to drive on as we needed to be leaving Woodgate just after 2:30pm. After stopping to get some lunch which we ate by the beach (pics at the end), we started driving back along the road beside the beach and saw the same kangaroos in the front yard of a house eating grass. There were kids playing a ball game just around the corner and the kangaroos were just eating away like it was nothing for them to be in someone's yard. What a treat for us! :-)
When we got home from our trip, we started cooking lasagna right away as we were having guests for dinner. We weren't sure if Rob and Rosalea were coming, but we knew that Robyn and Geoff were coming for sure and we figured that having lasagna would mean there would be enough for six if Rob and Rosalea came. W have had lasagna the way they make it in Australia and we don't like it (they put in a white sauce with the cheese) and so we made it the 'Canadian' way - and it was a hit. We really enjoyed our evening with our four friends (yes, Rob and Rosalea showed up) - after eating (at our lovely new table) we sat around and just chatted for about an hour and a half. Rob and Rosalea had to leave early as Rosalea hasn't been feeling well lately, but Robyn and Geoff stayed on for a bit. I asked them if they played games (euchre, cribbage, etc.) and they said that they did - I told them about doing that with Nikki and Ron for years and told them that it would be great if they could come over again for dinner and play games with us. It's great to have made friends here that we can feel so comfortable with.
We are watching another movie right now - 'Dreamgirls' - 7.5 on our scale (8.0 for me and 7.0 for Dad). Yesterday we watched two more movies - 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' was a 6.75 (a 6.5 from me and a 7.0 from Dad), but the best movie we have seen thus far is one called 'Changeling' - what an amazing story (and it's a true story, too). I would highly recommend it to everyone (although it IS about a mother whose son goes missing so Terri-Ann and Krystal, you might not want to watch it as it might be too emotional - but it's also about other things that were happening at that time in America (the late 1920s). It's a very powerful movie!
Kangaroo in the field outside our kitchen window
On the way to Burrum Coast National Park
Mom in front of sign for the walking track
Kookaburra in a tree on the walking track
Dad beside a plant on the walking track
Boardwalk which joins the car park to the walking track
Kangaroo on the side of the road
Kangaroo eating grass near the ocean
Kangaroos eating grass in someone's front yard
Close-up of kangaroo eating grass in someone's front yard
Ocean view from our picnic bench where we ate lunch
September 30, 2010
It's hard to believe that it's been a year since we headed out on our cruise across the ocean. Dad and I were just talking about that yesterday - what a trip in a lifetime it was! :-) We will take other cruises, but I doubt that any of them will match our 30 day cruise to Australia.
I am supposed to be on holidays and yet we still find ourselves busy some days. Tuesday was cleaning day (I cleaned while Dad went to an employment appointment) and then it was grocery shopping for food for dinner (the missionaries and Ashley were coming over) - we did manage to get a walk in which was nice. Wednesday was Meals on Wheels, laundry, stops at the library, Blockbuster's, Target (to buy a table runner and placemats) and IGA for more food. Phew. Thank goodness we got to relax last night (more movies) and all day today, it's been movies and relaxing.
On Tuesday, I did tell Dad that I needed to get out because we had been inside for so long since the weather had been so crummy. It wasn't that nice a looking day on Tuesday, but we decided to go for a walk anyway - after all, if it did rain, we would just get wet - and we weren't that far from home. We decided to walk around the neighbourhood and check out all the houses. One of the things I love about this area is that the houses are all different. Rather than one company buying all the land in this area, it appears that people purchased the land and then various builders built the houses. It was really nice to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and get some exercise.
I have put a couple of photos at the end of this blog - they are of our new dining room table. One is showing off the table and the other one shows our new table runner and place mats. We went into the store planning on buying one set of placemats we had seen before (they were having a 25% off sale at Target), but we ended up finding ones we liked better. The runner is made from bamboo and the placemats are sort of native looking. We have a tablecloth on the table right now, but it doesn't show off the table - with the runner and the placemats, we can see the beautiful table and it will also be protected.
Our friends, Robyn and Geoff, came over yesterday to visit us - Geoff is one of our home teachers and his companion could not come with him, so Robyn joined him to visit with us. Although the sky was grey, it wasn't raining, so Dad and I were eating lunch outside when they came. We visited with them outside - it was so nice to be outside in the fresh air - although it was cloudy, it was quite warm - about 27C yesterday. It was nice to visit with them - they stayed for about an hour and a half - we are becoming good friends with them. We also invited them to come over for dinner on Saturday night (Geoff even asked me if 'dinner' meant the evening meal - a lot of people call lunch 'dinner' and dinner 'tea' over here :-)
We have been having a really lazy day today - I didn't even get up until 9am this morning. I laid in bed and finished my book (Char recommended this book called 'Trust No One' and wouldn't you know it, I figured out the killer - I hate when I do that. :-) Dad and I then watched two more movies: 'Cold Mountain' (we gave it a 7.75 - I gave it an 8.5, but Dad said it was a 7.0 cuz he thought it was a bit long and a bit slow) and we also watched 'Bandslam' - 6.75 (I gave it a 6.5, but Dad said it was a 7.0 - a cute movie, but more for teenagers). We have five more movies to watch, but we will have to wait until tomorrow to watch anymore as Dad is off to SES shortly.
Only three more days off and then I'm back to work (for three weeks, anyway) so there is more relaxing to be done in the next few days. :-) Tomorrow, we will be at the FHC until 3pm and then on Saturday, we will head over to the church garage sale in the morning (for the youth to raise money for Youth Conference) and then we are going for a drive - not sure where to yet - I just mentioned to Dad that it would be a nice way to finish up the holidays and he agreed, so we shall have to do a little research into what is close to here that we haven't seen yet - we might head south since we've been north to Bundaberg. We'll keep you posted.
I am supposed to be on holidays and yet we still find ourselves busy some days. Tuesday was cleaning day (I cleaned while Dad went to an employment appointment) and then it was grocery shopping for food for dinner (the missionaries and Ashley were coming over) - we did manage to get a walk in which was nice. Wednesday was Meals on Wheels, laundry, stops at the library, Blockbuster's, Target (to buy a table runner and placemats) and IGA for more food. Phew. Thank goodness we got to relax last night (more movies) and all day today, it's been movies and relaxing.
On Tuesday, I did tell Dad that I needed to get out because we had been inside for so long since the weather had been so crummy. It wasn't that nice a looking day on Tuesday, but we decided to go for a walk anyway - after all, if it did rain, we would just get wet - and we weren't that far from home. We decided to walk around the neighbourhood and check out all the houses. One of the things I love about this area is that the houses are all different. Rather than one company buying all the land in this area, it appears that people purchased the land and then various builders built the houses. It was really nice to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and get some exercise.
I have put a couple of photos at the end of this blog - they are of our new dining room table. One is showing off the table and the other one shows our new table runner and place mats. We went into the store planning on buying one set of placemats we had seen before (they were having a 25% off sale at Target), but we ended up finding ones we liked better. The runner is made from bamboo and the placemats are sort of native looking. We have a tablecloth on the table right now, but it doesn't show off the table - with the runner and the placemats, we can see the beautiful table and it will also be protected.
Our friends, Robyn and Geoff, came over yesterday to visit us - Geoff is one of our home teachers and his companion could not come with him, so Robyn joined him to visit with us. Although the sky was grey, it wasn't raining, so Dad and I were eating lunch outside when they came. We visited with them outside - it was so nice to be outside in the fresh air - although it was cloudy, it was quite warm - about 27C yesterday. It was nice to visit with them - they stayed for about an hour and a half - we are becoming good friends with them. We also invited them to come over for dinner on Saturday night (Geoff even asked me if 'dinner' meant the evening meal - a lot of people call lunch 'dinner' and dinner 'tea' over here :-)
We have been having a really lazy day today - I didn't even get up until 9am this morning. I laid in bed and finished my book (Char recommended this book called 'Trust No One' and wouldn't you know it, I figured out the killer - I hate when I do that. :-) Dad and I then watched two more movies: 'Cold Mountain' (we gave it a 7.75 - I gave it an 8.5, but Dad said it was a 7.0 cuz he thought it was a bit long and a bit slow) and we also watched 'Bandslam' - 6.75 (I gave it a 6.5, but Dad said it was a 7.0 - a cute movie, but more for teenagers). We have five more movies to watch, but we will have to wait until tomorrow to watch anymore as Dad is off to SES shortly.
Only three more days off and then I'm back to work (for three weeks, anyway) so there is more relaxing to be done in the next few days. :-) Tomorrow, we will be at the FHC until 3pm and then on Saturday, we will head over to the church garage sale in the morning (for the youth to raise money for Youth Conference) and then we are going for a drive - not sure where to yet - I just mentioned to Dad that it would be a nice way to finish up the holidays and he agreed, so we shall have to do a little research into what is close to here that we haven't seen yet - we might head south since we've been north to Bundaberg. We'll keep you posted.
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