I feel like such an American. The whole time I have been here I have been learning small differences between the Aussie culture and the American culture. Some are obvious like the fact that they drive on the other side of the road (and the car, the drivers seat is on our passenger side) and learning that its safest to look right-left-right (instead of left-right-left) before crossing. But today I realized something I should have picked up on a while ago. This whole time I have gone down the stairs on the right side, walked on the sidewalk on the right side, stayed to the right at the mall, through the hallways on the right. Its just something we always did, I remember being told in elementary school that we are meant to stay to the right. Well, not in Australia. Even though I was constantly finding that I was walking directly at people and either they would go around me or I would go around them, I didn't catch on to this. Finally, after class as a herd of students were coming up the steps and I was going down the thought came to mind and Bev (my cooperating teacher) confirmed it, THEY STICK TO THE LEFT! So the rest of the day I tried conscientiously sticking to the left side. It is a tough habit to break!
Now that I have shared my silly American story, I will share a silly Aussie story:
During lunch today, one of the teachers was tell us about how her cousin had purposed while on a holiday in Canada by sticking the ring in a snow man. South Australia doesn't really get snow, so many of the people here haven't ever seen it. Apparently this proposal snowman sucked cause the Australian figured you made a snowman like you make a sand castle. Those of you who have ever made a proper snowman knows that this is not the case. So I am trying to picture what all these people would do when they run into a heap of snow - they would take their sand buckets pack the snow in them and turn then upside down or they would gather and pack it all up with their hands. One teacher mentioned that you 'apparently start with a small snowball and roll it on the ground.' I just couldn't help myself but to laugh until I had tears. This was a very entertaining conversation for me! (don't worry, I told them this would end up in my blog). I explained that as you roll your small snowball that it picks up more and more snow getting bigger and bigger. and that snow men typically were make from three large snowballs made in this fashion, well a large, medium and small snowball. I had asked them if they had ever heard of the term "snowball effect" and said that this is what that term is referring to. They said they had never really thought about it that way but now that they did, they understood it. They also said that they have seen in cartoons (like The Simpsons) when someone would fall down a snowy hill and roll they would become a giant snowball but never figured that it really did work that way. HAHAHAHA! I love it here! We all like to laugh at each other.
Well, for this week the school has been pretty quiet. The year 10s and 11s have been gone the entire week at camp and then the year 8s went to a retreat Thursday and Friday. It has been kind of nice in that there aren't any lines in the dining room and that the staff room has been quiet, also with the year 8s gone I have gotten a few extra open lesson times to work on things and catch up with Cedarville friends online.
My CU friends are 8.5 hours later than here, but also a day behind, so if you can imagine their schedules are close to reverse of mine. I miss them a lot! Living off campus, while it was nice and quiet, had me sort of distanced from my friends on campus because meals have always been a good time of fellowship. I guess I realized today how much I really really do miss them! They are going on Spring Break this next week. A group of them are going to California and some are going to Florida, haha heading to the sunny weather (I still get the CU emails about delays and grounding University vehicles and it just makes me glad to be here).
My friend Krista, with some of my guidance, decided to go on the Mexico Spring Break MIS trip. I miss Mexico. I wish that I had either gone in Freshman or Sophomore year or made some way for me to go this year. It was definitely an experience of a lifetime. The Missionary Kids (MKs) were the targets of out ministries. I think that this ministry is so unique and special to them since they aren't usually the targets of ministry, they are often a part of their parents ministry and have to deal with being in the background a lot. The kids came from 3 main Christian schools and then some home schooled kids came as well. Camp was full of activities, crafts, getting to be a pirate for the week, skits, Bible studies, chapels, great conversations, and just tearing down the walls these kids had around them. It was the last full day of camp that my fellow team member's life had changed. Dan was practicing back flips for a skit and something went wrong. He ended up breaking his neck, which caused him to become paralyzed. Since then he has been through so many ups and downs, procedures, tests and adjusting to a new lifestyle. Dan was in the same year at CU as I am in, and for our class gift this year, we are raising money to help fund renovating a room on campus in the men's dorm for handicapped students. This last summer this was done in one of the women's dorms for a student coming in with Cerebral palsy. Dan is working on getting to go back to Cedarville and finish up his Law degree. Feel free to visit his blog for more of his story of the past year: http://checkinondan.blogspot.com/. Please be in prayer for the MIS team going to Mexico, for safe travels and for a strong ministry. Many of the kids will remember Dan and remember last year. His accident was a huge eye opener to these kids to realize that they needed the Lord in their lives. Please be praying for their hearts and for their walls they have built up to come tumbling down.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
1 Month?!
Wow I just realized that I have been here for a month already! The time has flown by! As much as I am missing home, I really don't want the next month and a half to go by too fast! I am absolutely loving Australia and my experience with Annesley. Not to mention that I am totally missing the Ohio winter weather (yep I still get the emails about delays and winter weather advisories).
PS. The staff kitchen is now full of water from the dishwasher ;-) its quite the scene!
PS. The staff kitchen is now full of water from the dishwasher ;-) its quite the scene!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Mock Trials, Teaching and Movies
Hello Everyone! Right now I am observing a mock trial meeting. The girls on the mock trial team are meeting with a lawyer going over their case for the first round of trials. Its very interesting! I had done mock trials in school with the Salem Witch Trials and the Julius and Ethel Roseburg case, but this is kind of different. The case they are working on is about a traffic accident with a commodore and a hay truck.
Things over the past week have been going well. Everything is well on its way. Everyday I am getting to use different teaching skills and running into new scenarios in the classroom. I think the major things I am currently dealing with are students being unprepared and working with the MYP assessment program, which is very different than assessments that I am familiar with. If you have any suggestions for how to deal with student unpreparedness, definitely send them my way! I know its not a new issue or that I am the only teacher in the world dealing with it, but I just want to learn and try different techniques while I can.
This past weekend I was able to get out a little bit. I went into the city to do some shopping and get some things for class, and really, just to have some time outside Annesley to myself. I really need to get some pictures of the city and get them posted. It is a fun place to go :-) On Saturday I was able to go out with the boarders. Each Wednesday the boarders have to submit their weekend plans and then from there the boarding staff work out who will take the girls out. I like to go out on these just to get to know some of the boarders that aren't my students. Also, usually one of the junior staff girls are on the escort with them. So Saturday I went to two movies, one with the year 10s and one with the year 11s. I saw Jumper, which I thought was pretty good for the most part, I didnt know what it would be about, but its one of those supernatural powers movies and how those sort of powers would affect people in the world. Getting to the theater was kind of crazy. Amber and I really had no idea how to get from Annesley to the cinema and got very vague directions. The tram doesn't go directly there so we had to walk a little bit from the tram and then jump on the bus. We did make it, even though we had to walk a bit, since we got off the bus a couple stops early since we didn't really know where we were going. The second movie I went to was Fool's Gold with Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. It was entertaining enough, but overall not that great of a movie.
Things over the past week have been going well. Everything is well on its way. Everyday I am getting to use different teaching skills and running into new scenarios in the classroom. I think the major things I am currently dealing with are students being unprepared and working with the MYP assessment program, which is very different than assessments that I am familiar with. If you have any suggestions for how to deal with student unpreparedness, definitely send them my way! I know its not a new issue or that I am the only teacher in the world dealing with it, but I just want to learn and try different techniques while I can.
This past weekend I was able to get out a little bit. I went into the city to do some shopping and get some things for class, and really, just to have some time outside Annesley to myself. I really need to get some pictures of the city and get them posted. It is a fun place to go :-) On Saturday I was able to go out with the boarders. Each Wednesday the boarders have to submit their weekend plans and then from there the boarding staff work out who will take the girls out. I like to go out on these just to get to know some of the boarders that aren't my students. Also, usually one of the junior staff girls are on the escort with them. So Saturday I went to two movies, one with the year 10s and one with the year 11s. I saw Jumper, which I thought was pretty good for the most part, I didnt know what it would be about, but its one of those supernatural powers movies and how those sort of powers would affect people in the world. Getting to the theater was kind of crazy. Amber and I really had no idea how to get from Annesley to the cinema and got very vague directions. The tram doesn't go directly there so we had to walk a little bit from the tram and then jump on the bus. We did make it, even though we had to walk a bit, since we got off the bus a couple stops early since we didn't really know where we were going. The second movie I went to was Fool's Gold with Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. It was entertaining enough, but overall not that great of a movie.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
A Busy Week!
A busy week followed my busy weekend.
Teaching
This week was my first week teaching. It has been a lot of fun! As I have mentioned before, I hadn't been able to incorporate a lot of technology into any of my field experiences yet because of the lack of technology in the classrooms I have been in. Now that I have it available I am trying to take advantage and get used to using it since I have enough experience without it. My lessons this past week have been in maths focusing on geometry - points, space, lines, angles, that sort of thing. Many of the students aren't familiar with geometry at all so I have to introduce it in a very basic way, but they are doing a good job! We use Geometer's Sketchpad to practice the concepts and that gives some them some quick and easy hands on examples. This coming week I will add humanities to my lessons (geography and history). In my year 7 class we are learning about the exploration of Australia. Back before the world knew for sure about Australia they used to have an idea of "Terra Australis Incognita" (unknown land of the south). Since they had much of the Northern hemisphere mapped out they figured that there had to be a large landmass in the south to balance out the earths land. It turned out that they discovered that there were two more continents - Australia and Antarctica. In year 8 we will be looking at Medieval times. I will spend most of my time teaching about the Battle of Hastings and the Bayeux Tapestry which gives one side of the story. I have spent that last few days looking into this time in history, its very interesting! I have so much to learn!
Valentine's Day
Happy Belated Valentines Day to everyone! I hope that you all had a good one! I got surprised with flowers in the teacher work room during recess time. Ben sent me a beautiful bouquet of daisies. The flowers came with a card, but the guy who wrote out the card must have signed his own name because it said "Love Lewis"! Hahahaha! The message was definitely Ben, just not the name! It was pretty funny :-)
National Sorry Day
(info from Wikipedia)
On 13 February, it was National Sorry Day. The official day had been held each year on 26 May since 1998. It had never been declared a public holiday. Some background to Sorry Day: "National Sorry Day was instituted, to acknowledge the wrong that had been done to indigenous families and so that the healing process could begin. Sorry Day is also in remembrance of mistreatment of the Aboriginal people and not only to the children involved in the Stolen Generation. " The "Stolen Generation is the term used to describe the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by Australian government agencies and church missions, under various state act of parliament, denying the rights of parents and children by making Aboriginal children wards of the state, for a hundred year between approx. 1869 and 1969. It was asserted that these children of mixed descent were sometimes not accepted by their communities and were therefore at high risk of harm, especially where the father was absent. The policy typically involved the removal of children into internment camps, orphanages and other institutions.
The Australian Parliament has accepted that this was human rights abuse and on February 13, 2008, the federal government of Australia issued a formal apology to the Stolen Generations.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd put a motion to the Parliament of Australia.
Teaching
This week was my first week teaching. It has been a lot of fun! As I have mentioned before, I hadn't been able to incorporate a lot of technology into any of my field experiences yet because of the lack of technology in the classrooms I have been in. Now that I have it available I am trying to take advantage and get used to using it since I have enough experience without it. My lessons this past week have been in maths focusing on geometry - points, space, lines, angles, that sort of thing. Many of the students aren't familiar with geometry at all so I have to introduce it in a very basic way, but they are doing a good job! We use Geometer's Sketchpad to practice the concepts and that gives some them some quick and easy hands on examples. This coming week I will add humanities to my lessons (geography and history). In my year 7 class we are learning about the exploration of Australia. Back before the world knew for sure about Australia they used to have an idea of "Terra Australis Incognita" (unknown land of the south). Since they had much of the Northern hemisphere mapped out they figured that there had to be a large landmass in the south to balance out the earths land. It turned out that they discovered that there were two more continents - Australia and Antarctica. In year 8 we will be looking at Medieval times. I will spend most of my time teaching about the Battle of Hastings and the Bayeux Tapestry which gives one side of the story. I have spent that last few days looking into this time in history, its very interesting! I have so much to learn!
Valentine's Day
Happy Belated Valentines Day to everyone! I hope that you all had a good one! I got surprised with flowers in the teacher work room during recess time. Ben sent me a beautiful bouquet of daisies. The flowers came with a card, but the guy who wrote out the card must have signed his own name because it said "Love Lewis"! Hahahaha! The message was definitely Ben, just not the name! It was pretty funny :-)
National Sorry Day
(info from Wikipedia)
On 13 February, it was National Sorry Day. The official day had been held each year on 26 May since 1998. It had never been declared a public holiday. Some background to Sorry Day: "National Sorry Day was instituted, to acknowledge the wrong that had been done to indigenous families and so that the healing process could begin. Sorry Day is also in remembrance of mistreatment of the Aboriginal people and not only to the children involved in the Stolen Generation. " The "Stolen Generation is the term used to describe the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by Australian government agencies and church missions, under various state act of parliament, denying the rights of parents and children by making Aboriginal children wards of the state, for a hundred year between approx. 1869 and 1969. It was asserted that these children of mixed descent were sometimes not accepted by their communities and were therefore at high risk of harm, especially where the father was absent. The policy typically involved the removal of children into internment camps, orphanages and other institutions.
The Australian Parliament has accepted that this was human rights abuse and on February 13, 2008, the federal government of Australia issued a formal apology to the Stolen Generations.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd put a motion to the Parliament of Australia.
"I move:
That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations—this blemished chapter in our nation’s history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.
We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.
To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.
And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.
We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.
For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.
We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.
A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.
A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.
A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.
A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.
A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia."
This reminds me a lot about the history of the U.S. It reminds me that governments make mistakes, people make mistakes. Some of these mistakes are hard to fix and can never be undone. It takes time to heal. The hurt and bitterness of those who were targeted is completely justified. Just makes me think...That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations—this blemished chapter in our nation’s history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.
We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.
To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.
And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.
We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.
For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.
We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.
A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.
A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.
A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.
A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.
A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia."
Monday, February 11, 2008
A Busy Weekend!
Things have been going well. This past weekend was the boarders big weekend. On Friday night they had a social and invited other schools so there was around 500 students here. I had a bad headache that night so I stayed away from the social.On Saturday I went to the movies with Jess to supervise 19 of the boarders. We saw 27 Dresses. I thought it was really cute! And because we went in a big group the tickets were discounted which was good because movie tickets are usually $15 dollars here but with the group rate they were $9. Later on Saturday we went to the beach with all of the boarders. It was a great day. We had pizza and I got to see how Cricket is played (kind of).
Me & Hannah (Jr. Boarding staff)@ the beach
The seagulls were incredibly obnoxious while we were eating. Think "Finding Nemo"
I got to be one of the judges for the sand castle contest.
They were so clever!
On Sunday we went to Greenhills Adventure Park in Victor Harbor. It was a good time, there was mini golf, peddle boats (and tricycles!), and water slides. Needless to say it was also a beautiful day and even though I put heaps of sunscreen on twice while there I got burnt and now my skin feels like it is on fire. I guess I could blame it on not being in the summer sun for a couple months. I am enjoying getting to know the boarders a little better. They really are sweet girls but have their typical adolescent drama.
I start teaching this week! I am excited :-) We will be learning about points, line segments, rays and angles in year 7 Maths and the year 8s are learning about Medieval times in SOSE. Still trying to work out what classes I will be teaching once I get to full time.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
School is Up and Going
Hello Again friends and family!
I apologize for the lapse in posting something new. Now that I am living in the boarding house I am unable to connect to the school's network and internet connection. I brought my laptop to computer services but since i have Media Center Edition on my laptop I guess they are having some problems getting it set up. Having worked at Computer Services at the beginning of the school year I totally know what the two techs are going through, their office is full of student laptops. Each Middle and Senior school student is given a laptop (I think as a part of tuition?). As I have said before, I am really excited to be able to have technology as a part of lessons. I haven't really had an opportunity to integrate teachnology into my teaching in any other field experience.
School started on Tuesday for the students. This week I am only observing and doing assistant work. I have learned a lot so far. I think that it is very valuable to be around at the very beginning of the school year and learn how to start a year off. Mrs. Moyle is a very gifted teacher and I am blessed to have her as my cooperating teacher. She has such a control and organization over her classroom whilst the students show her so much respect. This also leads me to a prayer request. I NEED another cooperating teacher in order to fulfill my requirements. Mrs. Moyle teaches SOSE (Society and Environment, Social Studies), Maths, and English. I need to pick up at least another Math and SOSE class in order to teach full time during my middle weeks when I am supposed to be up to full time. I have a couple weeks of cushion time for all this to work out. My supervisor is very busy now since its the beginning of the school eyar so hopefully things will settle down soon.
SOOOOOO....Now on to some exciting news! I rode the tram all by myself into the city and made it back to the school in one piece, a little late for dinner, but alive! I think its kind of a rite of passage, even the kids take the tram by themselves. I am excited to be able to get around on my own. Jaimi and Jess have shown me how to get places on the tram so I knew what to do and where to get off.
Here are a few pictures that I haven't posted, they are from the day Jess and I went down to the beach. It was a semi-cloudy day but still warm.
(It's not Starbucks ;-) )Saturday, February 2, 2008
I Can't Wait!
Hello friends!
Today marked my first full week here and I have done soooo much this past week. It feels like I have been here much longer than 7 days, but that just means that I have only 76 days left here. I know that they are going to fly by so fast!
Last night I met a couple more of the Jr. Mistresses (what Jess and Jaimi are). They do a lot of work in the boarding houses. They take turns staying the night and working in the office. I guess they have a pretty sweet deal. They have to put in so many hours during the semester (about 18/hrs per week) and the school gives them a place to live, pays their household bills, and provides food for them. They are all about my age and most of them go to Uni - I wish I had that opportunity while I have been at school!
Today I went to the market with Jess and her sister Sarah. I guess I would compare it to the Pike Place Market in Seattle. There were people playing instruments, painting faces and making balloon animals for kids. It was pretty crowded today. Some people do all of their grocery shopping here! It was almost chaos! But it was fun :-)
Later I finally moved into my room. Over the past week I have been told I will be in like 4 different rooms! I guess I would be most happy in the room I ended up in. The first room they were going to put me in didn't have air conditioning and pretty small. The second room was right by the boarders kitchen, the stairway and the common room and I guess the girls blow dry their hair right outside the room in front of the big mirror in the hallway. The third room was huge! I mean it used to be their chapel but they split it up with a lot of partial walls and has about 4 rooming areas some couches and a tv. Not that I would complain about that but some of the girls use that as a common room and its HUGE! Like it would be scary to sleep in. The room I ended up in is big, has three beds and three closets. I like it. I will have to post some pictures. I still have my bedding here at the house, I didn't really want to sleep in the empty boarding house. Yeah kind of creepy.
Things are going really well. School officially starts for the students Tuesday. On Monday we have a few more teacher sessions. I will most likely be paired with another teacher so that when I am teaching full time I can get enough classes in. My cooperating teacher teaches Maths, SOSE (Social Studies), and English so I will have to figure something out for the times that she is teaching English. I really can't wait to get started with the students!
Thanks for visiting my blog, leave me a comment so I know that you are reading, you don't need an account. I miss being back at CU this last and final semester, but this has been an experience of a lifetime!
Today marked my first full week here and I have done soooo much this past week. It feels like I have been here much longer than 7 days, but that just means that I have only 76 days left here. I know that they are going to fly by so fast!
Last night I met a couple more of the Jr. Mistresses (what Jess and Jaimi are). They do a lot of work in the boarding houses. They take turns staying the night and working in the office. I guess they have a pretty sweet deal. They have to put in so many hours during the semester (about 18/hrs per week) and the school gives them a place to live, pays their household bills, and provides food for them. They are all about my age and most of them go to Uni - I wish I had that opportunity while I have been at school!
Today I went to the market with Jess and her sister Sarah. I guess I would compare it to the Pike Place Market in Seattle. There were people playing instruments, painting faces and making balloon animals for kids. It was pretty crowded today. Some people do all of their grocery shopping here! It was almost chaos! But it was fun :-)
Later I finally moved into my room. Over the past week I have been told I will be in like 4 different rooms! I guess I would be most happy in the room I ended up in. The first room they were going to put me in didn't have air conditioning and pretty small. The second room was right by the boarders kitchen, the stairway and the common room and I guess the girls blow dry their hair right outside the room in front of the big mirror in the hallway. The third room was huge! I mean it used to be their chapel but they split it up with a lot of partial walls and has about 4 rooming areas some couches and a tv. Not that I would complain about that but some of the girls use that as a common room and its HUGE! Like it would be scary to sleep in. The room I ended up in is big, has three beds and three closets. I like it. I will have to post some pictures. I still have my bedding here at the house, I didn't really want to sleep in the empty boarding house. Yeah kind of creepy.
Things are going really well. School officially starts for the students Tuesday. On Monday we have a few more teacher sessions. I will most likely be paired with another teacher so that when I am teaching full time I can get enough classes in. My cooperating teacher teaches Maths, SOSE (Social Studies), and English so I will have to figure something out for the times that she is teaching English. I really can't wait to get started with the students!
Thanks for visiting my blog, leave me a comment so I know that you are reading, you don't need an account. I miss being back at CU this last and final semester, but this has been an experience of a lifetime!
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