Just a few things. Just to say I blogged.

It has been exactly 1 term to the day, tomorrow, since my last blog post. Which is why I can't help myself but to write tonight (I'm no poet). 
I need to beat that timeline!! 
I was told by at least 3 people, when I started my blog, that during the school year I would not be able to keep it going. 
Well dammit here we are. I'm blogging. And it's Term 2 Week 4. NYAH.

Anyway, just before beginning to write this (in bed, trying to sleep, with my brain going 100 kilometres an hour) I came to realise a few things. 

1. I need to dile it back a notch or I'm probably going to burn out. Which sucks because I have SO much in my to-do pile as of right now.

2. A day of teaching can go from amazing, to horrid, back to "okay I can do this", right back to "holy shit is it 3 o'clock yet?!

Which brings me to number...

3. There is nothing I can do to control this. I need to let it go (if you sang that part get out of my blog, please). 

4.  Taking breaks for myself is OKAY. I need to take care of myself if I want to actually be able to be there for my class 100%.

So much has happened/ been happening currently my brain can't really keep up with it all (I went to a dental appointment yesterday...and it wasn't meant to be yesterday...Teacher overload brain-1, Kirsten-0). So again I can't keep up with it let alone be able to publish it coherently on this blog!
Here goes nothing though.

I successfully survived term 1! Hooray!
I had my wisdom teeth removed during the school holidays (I'm going to ring my own bell, damn I'm sooooo dedicated!)
Here is where I went wrong. I thought I would be well enough to return to work/school (same thing) within the 6 days of having my surgery.

Yeah, no.

I had a TRT (relief teacher) in on the first day back for term 2.
Rookie mistake.

These past few weeks have been shellshockingly (I made a word?) different to term 1. 

"Who are these crazy children?" ...

Slowly gaining back my teacher super powers. 
I also gained a new student (up to 23 now!). 
I am also going to lose a student next week (back to 22, still with me?).

On a more serious note...

One of my students houses was devastatingly burned down just over halfway through term 1. When I heard the news my heart broke but I was so glad him and his family were all okay! 
The trooper came back to school within a day with no school bag, no school clothes. He truly lost everything he had except for the clothes on his back.
Some truly amazing people pulled together to help him and through donations from the Lions Club and the community his family was able to find their feet again and try and get back to a normal life. (Lisa if you're reading this you are honestly an amazing lady!).

One last thing.
I have some students in my class who are in real need of all the extra support they can get when it comes to literacy.
Today I was testing one of them with reading his sight words. Last term he was able to read 7 of the list of 514...
This term he has read over 100 and I am still testing him! 
I couldn't be prouder of him.

So I'll wrap it up now, too many bloody gifs in this thing I apologize. 

By the way! It's mid-year report writing time, I have 22 students reports to write up and grades to give! Yuck.
Wish me luck.

Until next time and lets be honest who knows when that will be!

                                                                                          Kirsten :)

Post-teaching first post (this title definitely makes sense)

Wow, here I am actually finding time to write a blog again! 
So it's officially the end of week 4, term 1. I have been teaching for 4 weeks...
19 school days (1 pupil free day). 



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Aaaaaand I just sat and paused at my keyboard for a really long time just then because my brain feels like it's going to explode with things I want to write, things I have learned about myself, my class, teaching, learning etc. etc. etc.

Wow, ok let's just begin with the fact that my heart is full with a different kind of love. The unique kind of love a teacher has for a whole classroom full of students. 20 wonderful, amazing, talented, beautiful and curious kids.

That is not to say I haven't had days where I had to hyper ventilate and went home and sobbed a little already. There's been days full of doubt. Days full of thoughts where it was like "holy shit I run this room, just me, by myself, I call the shots" (with help from my little community of learners). So far already I've encountered situations where a girl was telling us a story about her relative in jail. Another where 2 children were discussing another students dead mum over lunch. Students who come to school with no breakfast and some with no lunch. And another where one of my kids was stealing food from other children's bags because they never get little treat snacks put in their lunch box. These situations are bloody tricky. And when I take a step back and realise:

"Wow some of these kids have actually been through more hardships than me. I am 21 and they are 6-7 years old".

It hurts. 
But,
I can go into that classroom everyday with a huge smile on my face knowing I get to spend the next 6 hours filling their days with laughs, learning, happiness and wonder. Already so many of them, actually all of them, have surprised me in one way or another. Whether it be their reading, spelling, maths or even their caring and inquisitive natures. It's a major lesson on the steep learning curve that is having your own class; assume nothing.

Overall I have just got to say I couldn't feel more at one with the choice I made, just over 4 years ago, to become an early childhood teacher. In my 4 short and blindingly fast weeks I have already hit the steep learning curve that is teaching. This is not easy. This is NOT the kind of job just anyone can do. I have the upmost respect for anyone who has been a teacher, is striving to become a teacher and is currently still teaching. I also have respect for myself for not just doing the job that I am doing but also loving what I do. It feels good and I feel like if I just keep going I will make a difference in maybe not all of their lives but at least some :)

Before I go lie down and give myself a break (well deserved a-thank you) I want to share with you a little classroom project that seems to be really working. We built a "community of learners" wall that has pictures of all the students in my class with their names underneath and something they are particularly good at and can help other class members with. So instead of always coming to me "Miss Osborne can you do this" they can check the wall and ask a class mate. This develops their sense of classroom community and team work skills :)

I began with this sheet to get them started:

Thank you anonymous student of mine, I don't know who Mis Ozdon is but she sounds great!

After we completed these with each others help I collated them and we had a discussion about our answers. From this discussion we chose certain tasks and things that we were good at that would be our role to help other class members with! 
And here we have the final product:

Yes I know, it's very tricky they all look so similar, I mix up names sometimes.
Ha. Sorry about that one.
Anyways, the kids use this "community of learners" wall WAY more than I first anticipated and it's lovely not only to give me a little bit more free time but seeing them help each other out is amazing. My little community of learners :)

I also buy them watermelon too because they're so awesome.
 
Thanks for reading and following my early career journey. Talk soon. Maybe. Probably not. I'm too busy loving my job. Love ya see ya bye!

                                                                                      Kirsten :)
 

Welcome to Room 18, Year One class with Miss Osborne!

The title says it all...welcome to my class! As I write this I have just finished my first ever week 0 as a teacher. Week 0 entailed a HUGE effort of preparing my classroom for the first day of school (next Tuesday, eep!) and now 

I'M DONE!

I would love to share a few photos with you on my progress over the week and final photos of my classroom, keep scrolling and reading!

I began with, what I like to call, an empty square. 

 

It looks really empty but I had a whole lot of stuff piled up on the side ;)

So on Monday of week 0 I came into my room to start the big move! (I was invited to come in on Monday to start prep even though teachers aren't actually meant to start until Thursday of week 0, yes, yes I know over-preparer).

The first thing I moved was my desk only because it was the only thing I was certain I had a spot for! By the nice sunny window :)

About 2-3 hours later everything had a place and looked a bit like this...

The large furniture all had a home! Now it was time for the finer details and decorations! Come at me laminater!

By about Wednesday afternoon my room started looking like this...

Outside my door: Welcome sign above door, "Where is room 18?" sign, Room 18 letterbox and a beautiful quote about being a classroom community. 
 

Inside the door! Starting to take shape. Don't mind the massive boxes full of stationery on the tables. The stationery order came and it was truly like Christmas all over again!

And the view from behind my desk!

Now Thursday and Friday of week 0 are mostly made up of training and development so not a lot of time was delegated to doing the final fix ups on the room so....I conned my lovely, amazing mum to come help me this afternoon!

                              Love ya mum!

And now for the final pictures of my 100% complete room after we added the final posters and details AND after my mum scrubbed the desks for me...again woman you're the best! 

Here we go... (there is a lot of pictures, I'm excited okay!)

Do you think I like blue? Maybe?

Tricky word wall and chill out zone/ reading area.
 

Class computers.
 

Front of the room for floor time and interactive whiteboard learning. With a step platform for those little year one's to reach it!

Whiteboard at front of room. Also 3 tubs are for home folders, literacy folders (homework is reading daily) and communication books.
 

The daily routine with times. Some magnets and our class roles and responsibilities list. 

My very sad looking classroom library. More to come!

Class calendar.
 

Book of the week!
 

Class birthday cupcakes with candles! 
(THANKS ROXIE!!!)

Front view of my desk.
 

Looking from behind my desk towards the door.
 

Looking down the side of the room towards the conferencing desk where SSO's can work one on one with students or students can do pair reading etc. Many uses!

Useful stationery such as scissors, glue sticks, rulers, pencils, coloured pencils, textas and sticky tape. Boxes for construction underneath.

Looking from door. Thanks mum for the gleaming table tops!
 

Looking from the conferencing area out towards chill out area.
 

My whole work area. Not that I will be here much mostly around the room teaching!

And there we go! Welcome to Room 18, Year one with... me!

I hope you liked it feel free to leave a comment etc. I'd love to hear them.

Let's finish this blog post with how it started...

Wish me luck with my first week of full time teaching!

Bye for now,           

Kirsten :)

The big question?

We’ve heard it all too often. 

“What made you become a teacher?”

Even if you’re not a teacher, or studying to be one, you’ve probably heard it! What made you become _________?  We hear this from people we know, family members, TAFE or Uni lecturers, and it can even be a big question in job interviews. DUN DUN DUNNNN. I said it. 

Personally I feel like I have been extremely lucky when it comes to jobs. Literally every job I've gotten was either by meet and greet resume drop in "oh hello nice to meet you, so you've got the job next Monday if you want it" or through a day trial (my first job as a waitress, I will never miss that profession. All the retail workers in the house put yo hands up in the air and share your united hate of the customer, yeeeeaahhhhh). And now I've landed my first teaching job through honest hard work (while on placement/relief teaching) and true dumb luck.

I've only ever had ONE interview in my life and that was for a university grant to complete my studies in the Northern suburbs (which landed me the school that landed me the job, see I told you dumb luck). I walked in absolutely crapping my dacks but my facial expressions, body language and honest answers to their questions told the interview panel the complete the opposite. Hey it must've worked I got the grant. 
My advice: fake it til you make it! 

Well ladies and gentleman I digress. I think I’ve come up with a pretty cool casual way to answer THE question. Lets hear it again.

"What made you become a teacher?"

And no it’s not “because I wanted to choose to be something that was nice and easy and comes with a big fat salary”...HEAVY SARCASM. That was necessary. So here’s a made up transcript from a possible job interview with say...a principal.

“So what made you become a teacher?”

“Well, in all your years in the profession are you still learning?” 

(I like to be annoying and answer a question with a question, pretty slick huh? But don’t worry we don’t stop there! Let’s assume they answer something like this...)

“Yes, everyday”

“That is why I became a teacher, because I am a lifelong learner. If I can teach my students that they are lifelong learners too then I have done my job. Students should know that the be all and end all isn’t at their end of year report cards or the % they got for an exam or standardized test. If I can help them realise that when they learn they learn for life they will have the opportunity to become open minded and enthusiastic learners equipped with the skills they need to be successful.”

BOOM. Did you like it? I thought it sounded pretty good but I’m probably biased because it came from my own brain. Let me know! Give me some feedback. You’re more than welcome to use these ideas at anytime someone asks you why you decided to become a teacher.

I wish I had some cool back story as to why I became a teacher but I don't really. All I know is I love kids, I want to help as many kids as possible and by some miracle give them the opportunity to, maybe not change THE world but to have the strength to change their own world for the better.

This is my last post before I go into school tomorrow to start setting up my classroom and organizing my teaching plans! Wish me luck and look for the next blog post which will be all about my first ever WEEK ZERO.

Kirsten :)

 

Challenges and overcoming them.

Would you believe me if I told you that the draft of this original post decided to delete itself so I had to type it up all over again from memory? Typical technology or a bloody amazingly annoying coincidence considering the post is titled "Challenges and overcoming them"?

And breathe...
Anyway...
Short and sweet sentence to open this post right up.
There will be people (and situations; see above) you come across in your life that challenge you.

Here are a few personal examples of mine I will share with you in the hope that you will be able to relate and not feel alone especially if you are in a situation similar to these right now...

At my first ever job, as a waitress. The head chef, on a good day, would scream at you and put you down. Lets get a few things straight, this was my first ever experience in the workplace and I was 16 years old. People make mistakes, especially newbies! Especially, especially 16 year old newbies!! To every mistake I made while learning I received this response...

"Are you kidding me? Are you stupid?"

I'm sorry is that a trick question? 
Did I quit. No. Did I let this man bully me out of my first ever job? Hell no.
Yeah sometimes I went home crying or even cried while bringing peoples food to them (mmm extra salty) but I didn't let him win. 
I started giving sarcastic remarks back to his ridicule and didn't let it effect me anymore.
From this experience I've become a much stronger and more resilient person. 

The next experience of a challenging person in my life was a tutor for a course at uni. On the day of a big presentation he emailed my group and myself saying something along the lines of this...

"If you go ahead with what you have today you will receive a fail grade."

Excusez moi? You what?
We showed him our final product just less than a week prior to the presentation day and he decided to email us ON THE MORNING OF the presentation to say this! Not to mention when we showed him we specifically asked if it was all good to which he didn't have a single negative thing to say about it.
Anyways, with only hours to go we decided to go ahead with what we had.
And we passed.
After he told us "I wanted to challenge you".
Well buddy, you did that!
From this experience I've become more emotionally intelligent because even though at the time I wanted to SCREAM (I'm sure Emma and Annastasia did too!) I kept my cool and we aced it.

One final experience is one of the earliest I can remember. One day on a McDonald's playground a young boy was calling my little brother horrible names. So what did this 6 (7/8?) year old do? Punched the boy in the face and sent him crying to his mumma.
Okay, perhaps not the best example of how to overcome challenging people but I'm sure I taught that boy a lesson. You're welcome. 

The point of this post comes down to this. To these people who have challenged me, tried to put me down or have stabbed me in the back whilst twisting the knife, smiling and saying "I've got your back" I say...
Thank you.
Thank you for giving me these lessons that have allowed me to become a stronger more resilient person and to know what I know now about how real people can sometimes be and not to be naive to this. 

Bet you didn't think I would say that huh?

Brush it off. Deal with it. In my experience these type of people are insecure in themselves and very unsure of their own place. They are ususally very unhappy people.

If you are the type of person to give in to these people and to say "it's too hard, I give up", I'm sorry to tell you that if this is your mindset you will fail. They will win.
Don't worry that used to be me too! Until I started realizing that...

"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.”

― Henry Ford

Whatever it is. I believe in you. 

Now all you need to do is believe in yourself.

Kirsten :)

Meeting Room 18, my classroom!

Exciting post yay! 
Today the deputy principal (DP) invited me to school to touch base about next terms plans as a kind of induction process.

This first part of the post is from me pre-induction. It's 9.20am this beautiful Monday morning and in about 10 minutes I'm off to my school to find out everything I need ready to go before Term 1. I'm guessing/hoping it will be a sort of "newbies guide to getting teacher organised". I'm very lucky to already know a lot about the school as I did my final teaching prac there.

Right now I would say I am feeling...

Excited (The kind of jumpy, jittering excitement where I just want to be in my car already on the way there but I know if I leave now I'll be 15-20 minutes early sitting outside the locked school door.)

Prepared (I am ready to go with all my paperwork filled out, notebook and pen in hand and my 2015 Innovative Teachers Companion Diary.)

Unprepared (I am not ready for this. Deep breathing in...1....2....3.)

Nauseous (Why oh why butter chicken, why?)

Okay, I'm ready (I just had my green tea with an extra scoop of cement, it's not like this is a job interview, I've already got the job! I'll be off now. Wish me luck!) 

.......

It's now 1.50pm and I've just had some lunch (left over butter chicken, please be nice to me) and I have lots to tell! 

I got to school and sat in the staff room with my peppermint tea waiting for the DP to be ready for me. Once ready we chatted for a while and she gave me some advice about Term 1 next year. First up I'll be setting up my classroom in "week zero". Woah buddy, week zero, hello. That's new. So cool, I get to go in the week before Term starts and set up everything. My classroom is Room 18! This classroom is in the same corridor as two of the greatest preservice teacher mentors I've ever met, including my own mentor!

So after having a chat with the DP I walked to Room 18. First impression thoughts...

"Holy crap there's no furniture!" 









There were student chairs and tables all stacked to one side and 4 student computers on desks against the wall. Behind the door is a built in cupboard and the Smartboard.  

My next thoughts were...

"Ummm where do I put my stuff? Handbag? Teacher notebooks? Where do I sit?"

There was no teachers desk!

 



I went next door and found the teacher who, while on prac, was another mentor for another preservice teacher (I hope you read my blog Tash!). I said my hello's and asked her "um, should room 18 have more stuff in it?".
She came with me to have a look and decided we should go check with the DP. We did that. The DP said my room was supposed to have all the furniture from Room 19, the room which connects with mine. 
So lucky for me, the other prac mentor helped me move tray cupboards, filing cabinets, shelves, a whiteboard on wheels and a teachers desk. 
Bam, my empty rooms looking more like a classroom!

The small filing cabinet was extremely heavy to move so we opened it up and.....

 

TEACHER GOLD MINE...

BUTT LOADS OF STATIONERY AND BOOKS. YOU NAME IT BUDDY I GOT IT.

So that's cool.

The carpets are getting cleaned at the school this week so I can't start set-up as of yet. I don't need to go back until week zero next year before Term 1 commences.

Now to go buy a laminator and start my classroom preparations at home!

Thanks for reading!

Watch this space for more posts about preparations and setting up my classroom. If you're reading this post on your phone subscribe by entering your email address into the box below where it says Subscribe to Edumacate Me.

        Kirsten :)

You don't need to be an Incredible to be incredible

Short post ahead! In my experience of teaching as a preservice teacher only months ago, my mentor told me explicitly about an important skill to have when you are a teacher.

"You must be flexible."

Yes, I can totally do the splits (NOT). You don't need to bend yourself into the shape of a pretzel like Elastigirl (The Incredibles). 

What I mean is you must be open to changing your plans when things change suddenly. Sudden changes happen more often than not I have found (especially in a cat. 2 school). If you aren't flexible in your teaching it's not going to work in the best interest of not only your students but also your sanity. It's already happened so much in my short time as a relief teacher!

An example of things changing for me recently was my class next year going from a split level year ½ class to a straight year 1 class. Yes, it was only 3 days after finding out about my job offer in a ½ class that I found this out it was now a straight 1 class so no biggy, right? If you’re not flexible for the small stuff (practice makes perfect) then you won’t be able to stretch yourself to be flexible for when the big changes happen. P.s I did already have a folder with lots of teaching ideas marked “Year ½” that I had to change to "Year 1" (I know SO much effort). Also, I like to be organized (thank you Pinterest, you God). 

I already feel as though this valuable lesson in teacher flexibility has not only  helped me through my final year prac but also in preparation for real world teaching next year. I want to thank my amazing PER 4 mentor (I will call her AJ) for this helpful piece of advice. I am bucket loads of lucky to be working with her only down the hall from me next year.

Don't forget to subscribe to Edumacate Me by clicking Join this site on the right hand side of the screen or entering your email address under subscribe to Edumacate Me. Thank you for all the support I have received about this blog so far!

                                                                  Kirsten :)