My Early Adventures

Wow, where to begin because so much has happened since I last updated. Sorry about that! After my first week of teaching, I went to a staff party at one of the teacher's homes. The teacher's children are around my age so I was able to meet them and make friends with a few Aussies my age as well as a Kiwi. I have been going to church with them which is great! Stephanie, another COST student came with me to this party so I enjoyed my time with her as well. They took us down to the city after the party to look around and we learned that thongs, or flip flops, are not allowed in nice restaurants and bars because that is what the rif-raf wear the hard way. Since Stephanie had on her thongs, we had to pick another place to go. It was quite an adventure! The next day, Stephanie and I went back to the marina for lunch and then spent the afternoon on the beach. On sunday, I went to the beach with Heather, my host mom. It was a popular beach so I had a great time watching the locals. Although, I have to say there were too many old men in speedos for my taste!!

On tuesday, we had Australia Day! I went to a barbecue with Casey and his friends that afternoon. We had lamb on the barbie and it was delicious! His friends were so nice and welcoming that it made for a great holiday!

The rest of the week was filled with teaching, going for walks after school, and delicious dinners. My time in the classroom has been great because I have such a great class of students. They make each day exciting and fun. I taught my first lesson here and it was on static electricity. I was a little nervous about it, since the students had never heard of an atom before, and was so proud of them by the end because they could label the parts of the atom and describe it's role in static electricity. These students are so smart!

After school, I have been going for walks to shops in the area to get a feel for the area. At dinner time, we all come together for a delicious and very healthy meal! I have never eaten so healthily in my life and I love it! I have been able to broaden my scope of what foods I like and I feel full and satisfied when I am done eating. Hopefully I will be able to bring back this habit of healthy eating to the states! (although I will still love my cheeseburgers and coke as well!)

This weekend was fabulous! It began with a three hour adventure trying to get to the outdoor movie theater by public transportation, but I enjoyed the movie, Sherlock Holmes, when I got there so it was all worth it. The next day, I went to Kings Park with three other COST girls, Anna, Stephanie and Susan. We had a great time exploring the park, looking over the city, and examining Aboriginal art. We went to a barbecue afterwards with the COST coordinator and we met the two other COST students, Ping and Kristen. Today, the six of us went to Freemantle, or Freo as the locals call it, and went shopping and took in the sites. I can tell that this is a great group of girls and I am excited for our future adventures and I will keep you posted on them!

This is the biggest tree I have ever seen in my life! We saw it at King's Park.

This is the view from King's Park. You can see how the city is situated on the river! The view was beautiful.

Anna and I in Freo with our fish shaped waffle that was filled with caramel. It was delicious!

Thank you for reading!

My First Days of Teaching

After spending a few relaxing days by the pool in temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, my first day of school finally arrived yesterday, and luckily the temperature dropped about 20 degrees! I felt like a child at Christmas the night before because I was so anxious to see what the school would be like. I had been told by teachers and a former intern that I would really like it, but that was an understatement. The school is very large in size but it only has about 150 students aging from years 1-12! It is a close knit community because there are so few people. Everyone, both students and teachers, is from different countries from around the world! While everyone speaks English, or is learning English, each student has their own unique accent. My classroom of 14 fifth graders is incredible! I knew it was an international school, but I never dreamed it would be so diverse. I absolutely love it! The each student has such a unique story and understands that others do to, so they get along so well.

The fifth graders are so smart! Even if English was not their first language, they work hard and produce work that is as good as everyone elses!

The set up of each day is great! First block is Math, then recess one (which is 20 minutes long), English, lunch, French/PE/Art (it rotates each day), Recess 2 (about 10-15 minutes long), then Inquiry (which is a combination of Science and Social Studies). During the breaks and lunch, the teachers rotate being on duty supervising, and the rest of the time they sit in the teacher's room and drink coffee and tea and enjoy their break.

The classroom is very laid back which is what I expected. They do not have state standards to follow, but they make up their own so that they know the students will be learning everything they need to know. The lessons are constructivist based, but the implementation is more laid back than I have ever seen. I would never think that this type of classroom could exist, but the students are so well behaved and always on task that it makes me question my current ideas on classroom management. I asked the teacher about this, and he says that has not once had a behavior issue with these students all year long! That is so impressive!

During my first day of teaching, I discovered that the students are using American Math books because they were measuring a map of the state of Alabama, and they had to measure from a city just north of Birmingham to Auburn! I got very excited and proceeded to tell the class that is where I am from!! War Eagle!

I am so excited to see how this year develops! I think I will be learning just as much as the students will. I will try to keep this updated as much as possible!

Finally Situated

This post was created on January 16, 2010 but was then moved to this site

After approximately 30 hours of travel, I arrived here in Perth on thursday morning at 2:30 in the afternoon. I was greeted by both the COST coordinator’s wife Hazel at the airport as well as the dry, hot summer air. On the fifteen minute drive to her house, I saw the Australian brush, white sandy beaches, and turquoise blue ocean water that was filled with surfers. When the coordinator, John, arrived home after his afternoon workshops, he and his wife took me to Hillary’s Marina where I saw the locals hanging out at restaurants, laying on the beach, playing in the water, and children hard at play. I knew that I belonged in this atmosphere.

Unfortunately, when it was time to go to my host home, we found out that she no longer wanted to host a student. As upsetting as that was, I enjoyed a comfortable stay at John and Hazel’s house and went to bed early. The next day, John found me a new host home, where I am currently residing. I am glad that the first place did not work out because this is a great fit for me. Heather is the mother of a 24 year old son Casey and 20 year old daughter Stephanie. They also have two dogs, Tammy and Maverick.

Today, I went back to Hillary’s Marina and joined in on the fun on the beach. I did not last long sun bathing, because it reached 100 degrees here today, so I went in the water and then cooled down with a nice smoothie. I am still trying to adjust to the new time. It is harder than I thought it would be to adjust. I also cannot wait for the other COST students to arrive so that we can explore the city together. I am ready to make some new friends and get to see more of this great city I am living in.

I am looking forward to wednesday because that is my first day at the school. I cannot wait to be teaching in this new environment. It is going to be so different than what I am used to which will be a challenge, but such a great learning experience. I hope the kids like my accent!