Ok update for y'all

I went back and 2 days extra .. well two double sessions.

I taught softabll to 2 different year 7 classes and had a blast with the kids. My mentor was only able to observe one of the classes... she still wasn't impressed ... excuse me?

then she was away the second session but her colleague observed me and thought I did super good :P

So up ya bum chum I'm movin on!

I'm now going through the process of applying for jobs... it's a little crazy each school wishes for you to respond to their selection criteria... this is just crazy i end up writing little mini-novels for each school I take a passing interest in.

So far I recieved one letter in response telling me they got someone and the position no longer needs a look in.. this isn't too concerning considering it was only one of the best all girl schools in Melboure... and i had a slight feeling they weren't going to be in a hurry to pick up a graduate to teach their PE classes for next year.


However I'm soldiering on typing till my fingers get tired and I can't wait to get some interviews in I'm far better at talking than typing but we'll see when that comes around ... if it ever does.

Woo back to applying for jobs!!!


Cheers

L.J


Quote:

"We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own."
- Ben Sweetland

Every now and then we are given a moment in which we feel completely shut in by everything around us and that we think that there is only one sure way to escape when in reality there are many avenues.

I had such a moment today.

I felt completely boxed in and that the only way I could safely negotiate my way out of the conversation alive and with some hope of becoming a teacher would be to agree with the other person.

The other person was my mentor... who has slowly become the one person I fear dealing with more than anyone else on earth. I would rather have a debate about the right to have nuclear warheads with Kim Jong than deal with my mentor.

It appears that when I get into conversation with her I forget my own welfare and what I want and I end up agreeing with her even when she's saying the most harshest things about me. Clearly there is something wrong with me. It still saddens me that I'm going through all this drama whilst everyone else is just focusing on creating their portfolio and looking and applying for teaching jobs.

She wants me to do another round of teaching because she stuffed up our timetabling in the last round... so therefore didn't see me teach any prac classes. So her comment to me was... "Well I haven't seen you do a prac class since May" I have done prac classes after that but without her in the room. So she has no idea how "competent" I am.

In fact she has told me she won't pass me until I do the extra round.


*goes on a swearing hissy fit rant for about 10 minutes*


I don't need this added stress along with the preparing of a portfolio and all that job application stuff.

At the moment I'm just working very hard at trying to prevent myself from having another bout of depression, because this would be the worst time to have it with everything going on and my future looking so uncertain.

Hopefully my uni delegates will provide me with an avenue that I couldn't see before because I need light at the end of this year.


cheers

L.J

Yeap another post!


.....and only because I feel the need to procrastinate away from all the work that needs to be done in the next month in order to pass successfully.....

So in order to satisfy the requirements of my method areas I need to create and present a unit plan for both VELS and VCE .... sure .. easy stuff... why not?


Only thing is though that I start coming up with all these great ideas... and then those ideas distract me as I try to finetune them and then I remember that I was actually meant to be doing something more important so yes....I am a master procrastinator

It's not something you achieve overnight believe you me I've had to work hard to end up in this state


The good thing now is though I only have one more unit plan to do and it shouldn't take too long to type up .......... riight *rolls eyes to the heavens*


I took this beautiful photo on the way home from work last week and I just love the colours in it. It reminds me that even though something is coming to an end... it doesn't have to end poorly.

The sun may set but it will always rise again.



now I really should get back to doing the "important" things.


cheers

L.J


Bumper Sticker of the day:

"Beat rush hour, leave work at noon"

Yay!



Liz and I are excited!


(though I'm not sure we're excited for the same things... it's always nice to celebrate with others though)



Excited..why? I hear you ask...well because my pre-service rounds are now over!

Wheeeee!!!


My rounds were enjoyable the second time around as I had sorted out all those organisational issues that had plagued and hampered my first block.

The sad thing is though my mentor was never able to get over those first 4 weeks of bumbling mistakes and errors that I made. I tried hard to explain to her that this was my first time doing anything in regards to being involved within the educational world .... but unfortunatley for me she only perceived me as "4th year" so I should know what I'm doing. By the time she understood that I am still learning.... it was too late, the damage was done and I was left with the broken pieces of a relationship built on mis-information and poor communication.

It took a while and a lot of reflection on my part to finally admit that I was scared of her and the potential damage that could be caused with me missing a step within her presence. That damage arrived in the form of an mid and end of year report. My mentor had typed up on her own time which proceeded to shred e to pieces ......... it appears that first impressions evidently do last.

Even though my final 4 weeks were a blast and I had developed fantastic relationships with the students and I wasn't relying on my mentor for anything except for the key to the classroom door, I still could not erase the first 4 weeks....which only begs the question... can one work their guts out and still never be rewarded?

The only thing I found difficult in my placement was the "clickyness" of the PE staff. I think I needed a diamond drill to break into their good graces... and soon as I'm a uni student.. and therefor broke... I couldn't afford that diamond drill. It was hard to work with people who held you at arms length and only communicated through small bursts of generic phrases like.. "sure"... "uh huh... right... no worries"

The weird thing was if I asked for feedback on a class I taught the feedback was constructive and detailed... yet if I asked them how their weekend went ..the response was "fine".
Yet if I walked into the English staffroom where I wasn't "working"with any of the staff they greeted me with friendly conversation and geniunely wished to share thoughts and ideas and more importantly the conversation I was so starved for from the other end of the school.


So do I want to teach? Have I been hooked?

I think I'll vote a YES! for both of them!


My mentor through discussion made the comment that she had seen so many graduates burn out in 6 months and I couldn't help but feel that she meant me in that conversation.

There is a lesson to be learnt here.... never piss L.J off because she can become incredibly stubborn and determined particuarly if you tell her that she can't do something.

so this time next year I'll drop my mentor an email to let her know I'm still going strong and if I wanna burn out it will be after more than 6 months and it will be on my terms not on the terms of others.



Now I have the pleasure of trying to complete all these assignments before their due in...



So there you have it a posting with a little bit of everything... honesty, reflection, ranting and hope.



cheers for now


L.J


Insult of the week:

"Did the aliens forget to remove your anal probe?"

Last Week!


Well Look how busy I have been!


I've only managed one post during my 4 weeks... so far!......... now in my final week I've got up to 2 posts!!

yay!


Ok so I've been a busy Gal, lotsa preparing and stuff going on as well as all the teaching!


I've been utilizing ICT in most of my classrooms which is awesome! The kids love the extra interactivity and OMG I'm running out of videos to show at the end of class when they behave themselves!( There are only soo many video clips on my laptop before I start cracking out the Michael Jackson Video Clips heh heh).


I've been teaching Databasing which has been hard because I'm not trained in Access and I'm having to learn it quicker than they are (which is a challenge believe you me!)

I'm having a blast teaching Puberty... bit weird really as I thought it would take me out of my comfort zone, but the kids are so eager to know stuff that once you start talking the ball gets rolling and there are no nervous pauses.

I have some things I need to work on.... I gotta stop pacing, my mentor is getting dizzy and so are the students. I tried really hard today to stand in the one place... I'll soon find out whether I did or not when I catch up with my mentor for reflection.


So it's official anyone who knows me will agree that I never seem to miss an oppurtunity to embaress myself. Today was no exception! I spent half of class standing at the front discussing reproductive organs and then set the students to task... as I walked past one student she called me over and informed me that my fly was undone.... :-

yeap..... not just undone... but reaaaallllly undone.....


*looks for rock to crawl under*

as usual I just laughed it off... (used to embaressing myself you see so it's no real problem).


So if that has been the low light this time around I will be ecstatic!


Thats all for now on the education front...


Ciao

L.J

Whoo!


One week of teaching experience nearly over!


I'm doing a lot better this time as I have sort of done a little of that thing called... organising... *grips table to avoid fainting dead away*

Last block I was poorly organised (due to unknown factors I can only put down as shock...)


This time around I actually have things organised ahead of time w00t!

.......Though I can't help shaking this feeling that I'm forgetting to do something.. I'll guess I'll find out sooner than later (one hopes)

I probably am forgetting something but as long as I'm still dressed I'm guessing it can't be anything too bad



*bites nails*




I gotta stop doing that too......




Well I'm sure it will come up.... eventually