CARDS AND TRAVELLING AND TRAVELLING AND CARDS

For some reason, my entire time in Australia has been very nostalgic. There are many times that good memories pop up in my head and I am able to reflect on that time in my life and how I felt. It's funny that travelling and living abroad had brought these memories and feelings all back to me. I would say that living in Australia has changed me in many ways, but one thing that has always remained constant is my love of a good card game. 

The other day I had another nostalgic moment where I was thinking of a time when I was surrounding a picnic table with some friends and family in a campsite back at home. The fire was crackling in the dark and we each held a hand of cards which we could only see by nonchalantly shifting our hands into the stream of the propane light. This memory flooded my brain with other memories where I would be holding a hand of cards and it brought a feeling of warmth to me. As I reflected on these experiences, I came to realize how important playing cards are to me in my lived experiences and who I am as a person. 

Like I mentioned, travelling and living abroad has changed me in many ways. Not to be egotistical, but I feel like it has benefited me by making me a better person - more awesome, if you will. I have become more social, confident, adaptable, adventurous and perhaps even a little smarter. The more I travel, the more universal my thoughts, ideas and conversations become. Like playing cards, travelling has a large influence on my everyday learning and who I have become not only as a person but also as a teacher. It just so happens that travelling and playing cards have almost always gone hand in hand.

Through my travels around Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, I have come to realize that travelling, and in particular - staying in hostels, is the best way to meet new people each and every day. These people come from all around the world, all with stories just as unique as mine to share. There is something so profound about sitting at a table surrounded by people who came from each edge of the Earth with a willingness to share their stories and listen to others. I'm sure that a hand of cards is one of the best ways to be able to connect and get to know new friends. 

More often than not while we were travelling, we would find ourselves sitting around a table each with a hand of cards that had been dealt to us. In everyone's hand - a different combination of cards. I like to think of the cards as metaphor of our lives; possibly representing our pasts, our presents, or our futures. Whether they represent one thing or another, the truth is, those very cards are what brought everyone sitting around the table together. The cards engaged everyone in conversation and sparked the enthusiasm of some to lay their cards on the table for everyone else to see. 

Whether my metaphoric interpretation of playing cards engages you or not - the fact is that I realized that playing cards - a standard pile of 52 plastic-coated, distinguishably marked pieces of paper - have come to mean a whole lot more to me that I ever expected and have been a part of my own learning experiences since the very beginning. Now that I have looked back on many different memories, I have come to the realization that for the most part, playing cards have been the foundation for much of my learning. It’s not one specific place that has taught me some of the most valuable lessons in life; rather, it is the numerous hands of cards that I have held in different spaces that has guided my learning. These lessons have shaped my learning, molded me as a teacher, constructed me into a lifelong learner, and guided me as a curriculum-maker.

This friendship all started with a game of cards!

Besides the obvious, such as learning how to count and to add numbers, playing cards have taught me some bigger life lessons. Allow me  to put this into perspective.

Sense of Belonging

I said it earlier and I’ll say it again: playing cards brings people together. Looking back, I don’t think there was ever a family gathering where the good old casino quality deck of cards wasn’t brought out for a game of some sort. A simple game of cards can bring people together and as I have recently experienced, a game can bring people from all over the world together. The cards give you a sense of belonging or a reason why you are suddenly surrounded by the people around you. Whether I played cards on the red marble covered table at my grandparents, on a plane meal tray flying over Africa, on a rickety picnic table somewhere in Australia or gathered around a coffee table in a cozy cabin nestled by a creek in New Zealand; a deck of cards has always given me a sense of belonging and a reason to believe that I am where I am for a purpose.

Don’t Expect an Easy Way Out

If you’ve ever played cards with me, perhaps you have witnessed me with a hand full of jokers – for some reason they always wind up in my hand (I swear I don’t cheat), sometimes allowing me to easily win a round – or two. BUT, you aren’t always dealt the jokers or the wild cards, so there isn’t always going to be an easy way out. My Grandpa taught me this lesson best. Even though I was his granddaughter and he loved me, there was no way he would ever let me win. I never realized at the time (and maybe he didn’t either) but my grandpa was teaching me a whole lot about life in a single card game. There were times, I wanted to give up and not play cards against him because the probability of me winning a hand was never in my favour! He played to win and he was merciless when there were cards on the table. However, he taught me that it is alright to lose as long as I continue to give it my best the next time to try and win. Even when things are hard, don’t throw in your cards and give up. Just try again.

Pass Your Knowledge onto Others

If you’re a frequent card player, or frequently find yourself around card players, you’ll notice that each person knows different rules to some games, such as Rummy, where there are many versions to be played. You’ll hear, “We play it this way,” or “I’ve never heard of those rules before!” I enjoy the diversity each player is able to bring to the table. It allows for us to pass along our knowledge of the game while being able to absorb others knowledge of the same game. It’s fun to sometimes combine rules of different games to make a new game, as long as all the players agree on the rules! There are also times when some people may not know a particular game and you have to opportunity to teach them the rules and how to play the game. It’s all about collaboration and passing on what you know to others.

Always Be Present or You’ll Miss Something

In my early days of playing cards, I’m sure my family can testify to me never really being present in a game. I was off making sounds that annoyed them, I wasn’t thinking of how to play my cards before it got to my turn and I would have to be reminded that, in fact, it is my turn and so on. I would miss the fact that someone laid a wild card for me as they simply had too many or I would unknowingly have my opponents take advantage of me because I was not present in the game. I would miss something that was right in front of my eyes. Over time, I ditched the sound making and the wandering eyes and mind and learned how to focus on a game and to strategize, planning out my next move. In the long run, this has taught me about life. To live in the present. To not dwell on the past and to not worry about what may or may not happen in the future. Just to simply be present, where you are in each moment of the day. To look where your feet are planted, love every minute of it and don't miss out on the little things. 

You Can Still Win With a Bad Hand

The funny thing about playing cards is that you can be dealt really, really bad hands. You might not have anything you can work with or you might have nothing at all to play. This can go one of two ways. No matter what strategy you have in place or how strong your strategy might be - sometimes the cards just don't go your way. This happens in life too. You could have the best laid plan in the world, but things don't always turn out the way you imagined. And just like in a game of cards, you find out it's going to all be all right in the end. The same situation can go the other way as well. Maybe you're dealt a poor hand but there still a chance, even just a small chance, that if you play your cards right, you can come out winning - even against all odds. And really, is there a better feeling than being able to win with a bad hand?

DON'T WANNA LEAVE BUT I GOT A JOB!

It's crazy to think that this is my last week left of my year long stay in Australia. It has gone by so fast and to be honest, I am slightly nervous to move back to Canada. My life and experiences have been so incredible here that, at the moment, I don't want to begin picturing how everything will change when I move back. I am really going to miss my life in Melbourne. I love this city!

These last two month has been amazing for work! I have only had four days where I went without working. It has been very busy but I am grateful to have the opportunity to experience different classrooms and connect with so many people. 

Yesterday I was at a school that I have been to quite regularly. I've always enjoyed going to this school as the staff is absolutely amazing! I found it strange how a bulletin didn't make it to me before the first break so I went into the staffroom to check out if I had a yard duty. As I was checking the bulletin, the vice principal spotted me looking and added , "Nope, no duties for you today Kaitlyn!" This came as quite a surprise because as a CRT, you almost always have at least one yard duty a day, if not two. This is because we are paid to do a yard duty, so the school will swap us places with a teacher who would normally be on duty. I don't mind at all because I know the regular teachers would have heaps of things they could accomplish in their break whereas I don't have much to do.

I grabbed a seat in the staffroom, made a coffee and was ready to settle in for the next 40 minutes. There were mini muffins set out on a plate in front of each seat at the table. I began talking to the vice principal about my plans for next year as a kindergarten teacher and how I have so much enjoyed teaching in Australia, especially at this school. Once more of the staff had settled into their seats, the vice principal got up and began to explain why they were having a morning tea with mini muffins. One of the teachers got a full time job so they were celebrating, then he mention the two high school boys (who I was working with in PE) who had been volunteering their time in the sport program and that it was their last day at the school. All three of them were presented with big shortbread smiley face cookies. Then he continued as he brought out a massive jam and custard filled Lamington, "And, I have this typical Aussie dessert for our Canadian friend who has been a great addition to our school on occasion and is returning home shortly." I was completely shocked! I had no idea and I nearly cried out of the genuine gesture and for realizing my time here is down to the last few days. He said so many other kind, meaningful words to me but I forget most of them as I was completely surprised by all this happening. He explained to the rest of the staff where I come from and what the weather was doing there and then had me explain what I would be doing when I get back home. 

Which brings me to my latest news... I GOT A TEACHING JOB FOR THE FALL! Yessss, I woke up one morning at the beginning of the month to a job offer! I was absolutely thrilled because I had been feverishly applying to jobs all over Canada since March! This was another big surprise to me because I did not even interview for the position - I was just offered it. I accepted the offer because it was in Saskatchewan and because it is temporary (I will be covering a maternity leave!) I think it will be the perfect opportunity for when I get home and I will have the chance to move onto another adventure come January when my temporary contract is up! 

Meanwhile, I am so sad that my time here is coming to an end. I keep doing regular things that I have done for the last year and think, "This is the LAST time I will be doing this." It's going to be so hard to leave this place. I already miss it and I haven't even left yet. This Sunday Jenna and I did our last South Melbourne Market trip - something we have done nearly every Sunday for the last year. Today, I went to the Queen Victoria market and just took it all in being it would be last time there. The weather has been rainy and cold, I'm thinking it's mocking my feelings about leaving. 

Before I return home, I will be doing some final Australian travelling. On the first of July, I head off to the Red Centre, the heart of Australia...the OUTBACK and I am going solo! I am so so excited about this because I will get to explore Uluru, Ayers Rock, Kings Canyon and more! I will meet up with Alannah in Sydney where we will continue to do a sailing adventure through the Whitsundays Islands, head up to Magnetic Island, Mission Beach and Cairns! I'm glad I get to end my time off in the warm and tropical areas of Australia.

COOPERATIVE COLLABORATION

Just as I thought I wasn't going to get a call to work this morning, my phone rang and I was happy to accept my assignment for the day. My assignment was to teach Phys. Ed. - something I haven't done since before Christmas, so I was rather excited. 

I was lucky enough to have the first session of the day to have time to plan (and have a cup or two of coffee) and figure out what I should teach for the day. There was no plan left for me and no one seemed to know what the students have been doing in Phys. Ed. Although not having a plan of any kind would normally slightly stress me out, I was excited to have control of what I got to teach. 

It was a 'wet day' today meaning it was very rainy. Generally, schools have all of their Phys. Ed. lessons outside on the ovals or on the courts, but on days like today, we are left with the hall - a small space that is only used for after school care and the odd wet day. After seeing the space, I realized that getting 30 students in grades 5 and 6 could get quite crowded and rowdy. 

The hall is quite a small space.

Instead of planning to do a bunch of games, I thought it would be exciting to focus my lessons on the idea of cooperation and collaboration. As I planned, I thought of games and activities to do (with minimal running due to space constrictions) that would promote working together as a group for the same outcome. The students enjoyed the activities we did and they liked it even more when I added in a little challenge component by recording the time it took to complete the challenge or splitting the students into teams and racing. 

After having a discussion about what cooperation and collaboration is and what it looks like, I began my activities. The first challenge I called Wall Ball. I had the students lay with their backs on the floor and putting their feet up against the wall. Their task was to pass the ball from the first person to the last using only their feet. Not only did I notice that the students were helping each other out (with their feet) while the ball was passed from person to person but also they began motivating each other and positively cheering their classmates on. 

The second challenge was my favourite - The Hula Hoop challenge. To start, the biggest challenge was getting all the students to hold hands. I've never had this problem before since I generally teach preps and the younger grades, so I didn't anticipate this situation with the 3/4 and 5/6 classes. We had a spontaneous, quick lesson on holding hands and once again - the idea of team work. Unfortunately, I had a few students choose to sit out because their fear of holding the hand of an opposite gender was just too much. Basically, the students needed to all hold hands and pass a hula hoop all the way around the circle by going through the hoop and staying connected. It was a lot of fun and the challenge heated up when I split the students into teams of boys and girls. 

I had another game planned out to play, but as it turns out, we were short on hula hoops for this activity. I was so excited to play it so I will have to save it for another day at another school. It's called Caterpillar Riot - the name itself it so exciting! 

With the remaining time, I decided to do a silent vote for which game we should play. I let the students choose the games and we went from there. I despise dogdeball entirely - as a student and as a teacher, but every single student voted for it. There was no way I could skew the results to play a different game so we ended off the day with a game of dodgeball.

YOU CAN BE BATMAN IF YOU WANT TO BE

As a CRT, yard duty (supervision) can be rather stressful at times. I actually don’t mind yard duty at all, in fact, I will even offer to take a yard duty from teachers who look like they just might need an extra break. There are many things that I enjoy about doing yard duty such as being outside and having the opportunity to observe students in their natural habitat of play and exploration. However, we all know that there is a tendency for many things to go wrong at recess. Being a CRT does not help in these situations. It’s not that I can’t solve problems, break up fights or reason with tempered students, it’s that I don’t KNOW any of the students very well, including their names, especially at  schools I don’t go to often. I'm never sure which students I should be keeping a watchful eye on or the ones who tend to over exaggerate conflicts with friends.

With that being said, today was what I consider to be a good yard duty day. While the playground was still bustling with busy students at play, boys getting more footy balls stuck in the tree tops while trying to get one ball down and major girl drama under the play structure, I had what I would consider to be a really great moment with a student.

“Excuse me, miss” I hear as one student comes running up to me. I get to be decked out in a lovely florescent orange vest, which makes me an easy spot for anyone within a few kilometres. At this particular school, we also carry around a first aid kit and a clipboard with a paper to record any serious situations on the playground. No matter who you are, you will always be followed by a posy of preppies (kindergartens) who beg to carry all these things around for you. It’s insanely cute.

“My friend has been punched and I think he’s hurt!” I get him to lead me to his friend. On the way over, I ask, “So do you know what happened?”

“Yeah, I punched him.”

I stopped and looked at him saying, “Dude, why would you punch your friend?” and I thought, this has to be to most incredibly unique situation where someone punches their friend only to feel really bad about it and go to retrieve help.

When I arrived at the scene of the crime, there was a boy laying on his back with tears rolling down his cheeks. A group of students hovered over him speculating him like a foreign subject. As soon as I approached, all the witnesses wanted to share their take on the story at once. There were names being thrown around, fingers being pointed and nearly a dozen voices explaining everything in discord.

“Jude took my batman mask and I can’t find it.” This was part of the story that I had heard before I stopped everyone, “Woah, woah, woah. Let’s break this down.” I pointed to the student who came to retrieve my help, “So, you’re Jude?” “No, Miss. Jude is a boy who doesn’t go to our school anymore.”

Alright, let me get this straight. This entire brawl got started by a student who doesn't even attend this school?! What is going on? While I'm still not sure I understand exactly what happened on the playground this afternoon, here are the facts I do know.

One student wants to be batman. He lent someone his batman mask..in grade 3 (we're dealing with grade 6 boys)..to a student who no longer attends this school. However, said student lent it to someone else who still does go to this school. He just wants to find his batman mask. If Ben Affleck can be the new Batman, he can just as well be Batman if he moves to America. In his search, his friend told him he could, in fact, not ever become Batman. In frustration of having a friend not believe in his dream, he punched him. Complicated, right? RIGHT.

Even though I have only ever seen one Batman flick, I can relate to this student. He understandably became upset because someone didn't believe in him and let me tell you, that kind of stuff hurts. It doesn't matter who you are, if you have the ability to tell someone their dream is stupid, you probably have no heart.

After getting all the students involved sorted out, making sure everyone was feeling at par again, I asked the student if he wanted to take a walk and hang out with me. He agreed.  I had him explain to me what his dreams were, what he wanted to do and how he would achieve this dream. He had it all figured out. At the end of our talk, I turned to face him. “Now, if you have a dream, I don’t want you to think that anyone can stop you from achieving it. Just stay positive, do what makes you happy and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do what you set your mind to..but let’s not use violence if someone does tell you that.”

It has nothing to do with becoming the next Batman or not. Who knows, the odds could be in his favour. But I wanted him to know that if he has a dream and if he believes in himself - that is all he needs. And it felt good being, perhaps, one of the few people to believe in his dreams and let him know that anything is possible. If even for a moment I gave him the courage to go after everything he has dreamed about, it made my little heart smile. I am always the happiest when I can make other people happy and I know after our talk, he was feeling pretty happy too.

We high fived it out before I headed up to the staff room for lunch and he went off running in the opposite direction, chasing his dreams. 

WALKS, PODCASTS, BALCONIES

I mentioned in my last post about how the Term 2 work started off quite slow. I'm so excited to see that work has picked up for me! Last week was a good three days, and while it's still Thursday, I just received a call letting me know this week will be a solid five! YAY!

The best thing about the work I have had this week is that it has been at a school nearby. This means that I get to avoid the most dreaded thing in Melbourne: Public Transport. The school I have been going to is about a twenty-five minute walk, meaning I only need to leave my apartment at eight o'clock. Doing so gives me a whole extra half hour in the morning! The walk is also quite nice as it winds through a beautiful garden complete with fountains and big gorgeous trees. Rain or shine, it's always a nice walk...I even pass by Gotch Lane... Not having to pay for public transport leaves it to be an all profit day for me...WIN WIN!

The one day I did not go to said school, left me with just another reason why I despise public transport. I had had a great morning and I was ready to go when I got the call at seven o'clock on Tuesday morning. I walked to Melbourne Central early and caught the early train that would take me to my connecting train at Southern Cross Station. I stood on the platform at Southern Cross waiting for my train. It wasn't coming. Still not coming. Finally, it arrived five minutes late. I had a connecting bus to catch after the train ride and knew I would miss the one I wanted to take so I searched for an alternative. Sure enough I found one that would take me to the school from the final train station. However, the train came to a complete stop on the tracks just as I had found my alternative route. I thought, perhaps, the train was waiting for another to pass, but the train didn't budge. Ten minutes went by before the train started slowly chugging along. I was now fifteen minutes late all together and if there was another bus, I would be able to arrive at school just in time. Luckily, Jenna was at the same school that day and had taken a different train route so she was able to let the office know my situation. At the train station, I hoped onto a bus with a number I recognized but wasn't sure the route would take me where I needed to go. I guess I was lucky that it turned out to be the right bus. I arrived at the school, just as the buses were unloading the students. I didn't even get time to prep my classroom for the day or even read over the day plan. It's great that all the staff understands how brutal the public transport game really is. 

Tomorrow, I am not at the nearby school, but I am going to walk. I am at a school I have never been to before which is in a close by suburb. It will be about an hour walk, but I am looking forward to it. Although the Melbourne weather has completely cooled off (down to 3*C on this mornings walk), the cool crisp air is always refreshing in the morning. 

My favourite thing to do during all my walking is listen to podcasts. The only downfall of doing so is that I enjoy listening to podcasts that are rather funny. I realized that I must look like a crazy person walking through the park laughing out loud to myself once I noticed the strange looks starting to come in. Sometimes I do that thing where I try not to laugh, but there is a smile coming through anyway and then it ends up looking like some strange smirk on my face that I am trying to conceal. Either way, I don't mind what people think of me while I'm walking because I do enjoy the podcasts. One that I have been into lately has been The Danny Duncan Show which is hosted by one of my favourite YouTubers, Danny Duncan (also drummer of We The Kings). Him and his friends get together and play games where they guess celebrities net worth or random facts while they wager ridiculous bets. Another podcast that I have been all about recently is Ear Biscuits by Rhett and Link. Basically, the two of them share stories and interview YouTubers - their candid conversations always have me laughing. It may be clear that I enjoy my YouTubers, but I'll save that for another post. As you can see, TedTalksEducation and When the Kids Go To Sleep complete my top four favourite podcasts to listen to on the go! 

 Lastly, I wanted to say that I have been enjoying having a balcony. I've never lived in a city before nor have I overly enjoyed the 'big city life' BUT, I'll admit it's pretty awesome to have a balcony with a reasonably good view of the city. At six thirty in the morning, sometimes the sky surprises me with pink colours and it's always a mixture of great colours in the evening lately as well. Although, I am sad how it is completely dark out by six in the evening now! 

PS: Do you like my new blog header? I love how simple and clean it looks, not to mention I used my two new ABSOLUTELY favourite fonts! :)

THE FEEL GOOD TEACHER POST

Even though I have loved travelling for what was pretty well two full months, I was ready to get back to teaching again. I missed it. Since it was the beginning of the second term when we returned from New Zealand, the calls were few and far in between. I had worked one day out of a possible six for the first week and a half. I was beginning to wonder if my agency had forgotten about me since I had been away. Finally, I got a call on Wednesday which lead me back to one of my favourite schools to teach! Luckily for me (and not so lucky for the very ill teacher), I got to continue teaching there for the remainder of the week. It's funny how, as CRT's, we are always hoping for someone to get sick. Not that we truly want them to be sick, we just appreciate the work that comes along with it. In the staffroom today, a teacher was talking about how she thought she was coming down with a cold of some sort. I leaned over and said "If you ever need to take a day, I'd be happy to take your class!"

For the last three days, I've been teaching a group of 3/4's. I love this school in particular, but there is one class, with one student, that everyone is afraid of taking. Since I hadn't been back to the school since Term 4 last year, I wasn't sure which class was the 'scary class' as all the students would have moved up a grade and swapped classrooms. On the train to school Wednesday morning, I found myself mentally preparing for the odd chance that this particular class would be my assignment. As I signed in at the office and chit-chatted with the ladies, one of the secretaries handed me my schedule for the day saying "You've got 3/4D" with a look that could only mean one thing: 3/4D was the class I wanted to avoid. 

As I made my way down the corridor to the classroom, I passed by the other 3/4 teachers. "Now Kaitlyn, listen," the first one said. "If James* does anything at all today, you bring him straight to my class." Alright, good to know that I've got back up going into this. "Kaitlyn, how you going? Have you got 3/4D today?" the second teacher asked. She continued apologetically, "You'll be okay but let me know if you need anything." She then patted me on the back and looked at me, with her eyebrows raised, as if she had just left me heartbroken.

It's not that this student is a terrible child, he is just extremely loud and usually takes pride in disturbing the entire class. I flash backed to last term when I was teaching in year two. He was cartwheeling through the classroom in the middle of the reading lesson, stomping on others' reading books only to cuss at them when they kindly asked him to stop. These things were only the mild. 

I entered the classroom and began preparing for the day with a positive mind set. What could I do to avoid possible problems with James*? How will I get him to pay attention in my lesson? I knew that if he wasn't paying attention during the sessions, it would be hard for the rest of the class to learn. He was going to be my focus so that I could deliver quality lessons throughout the day. 

The morning bell rang and students began making their way into the classroom, noticing that I am, in fact, not their regular teacher. The girls were around my waist immediately showing me their darling loom bracelets and all trying to tell me everything all at once. The boys gathered around some car book at the back of the room and collectively asked only one question,"Are you our teacher today?" Yep. "Cool." Then, in walks James* and the moment he realizes I am the teacher for the day, his eyes light up. "WHOOOOHOOOO! Mr. A isn't here today! We can do whatever we want! Guys how awesome is this!" and then he looks at me and I go, "WHOOOOOHOOOOO! Miss. Kaitlyn is here today and we are going to have the most awesome day and learn so much!" I'll admit, it was a risk to copy his behaviour, but it worked. He came up to me, pointed his finger and said "Yeah, I remember you from last time Kaitlyn." "Alright, go put your bag away and come join us on the floor." And he did. There wasn't a dispute, there were no interruptions, he just sat calmly on the floor - ready to learn. Awesome!

We started our morning Maths lesson talking about symmetry. "CEMETERY!! Why are we learning about where dead people get buried!" After explaining what symmetry is (and the difference between the two words) I asked James*, "Now, can you think of anything in a cemetery that could be symmetrical?" "A GRAVESTONE!" and I drew an oblong semi-circle with a flat bottom on the board. He loved it! He started finding other things in the room that had a line of symmetry. He was participating in the lesson and actually motivating the other students to help him find more symmetrical items! 

Recess time came and a grabbed myself a cup of coffee in the staffroom. One of the other 3/4 teacher's walked in and asked how James* had been. "I was expecting him to be in my room by 9:02!" she stated. "Oh no, he's been great and he is participating really well in class!" I exclaimed. I watched as both 3/4 teachers' jaws dropped and in replied in unison, "Wow!" I went on to explain how the morning had been great and how there were no disruptions or disputes of any kind and each teacher in the staffroom was shocked. To be quite honest, I was just as shocked myself but I couldn't help feeling proud of myself for doing something 'right.' 

Following recess, a teacher who was on yard duty came to the classroom door. "Can I speak with James*?" she asked. My mind immediately wondered if recess had been a turning point for him. Had he misbehaved on the playground? Get into another fight? She looked at me in disbelief as she whispered, "I actually have to tell James* how great this recess was and commend him on his behaviour." I smiled.

The rest of the day went off without a hitch. As the class ate lunch, he asked me to share a story about a time when I was his age. I told the class about the time I had caught a garter snake and kept it as a pet and named it Joe. I shared about how I later caught what I thought would be his 'best friend,' a juicy frog named Blake. I had the class guess about how their friendship together in my small fish bowl worked out. James* guessed it, Joe swallowed Blake whole! He was so intrigued with my story and began asking me more questions. 

Thursday was just the same! A great day with lots of learning and a James* with a positive behaviour! I noticed another student purposely doing things that would irritate James* to 'set him off.' Even the other students weren't used to this behaviour. Thankfully, I recognized the attempts of the other student trying to throw him off and diverted the situations before they amounted to anything! James* was absent on Friday but part of me wished he had been there because he was doing so well the previous days. 

I was asked to write a certificate for the Pupil of the Week. Each classroom teacher chooses one student and on Monday morning at the assembly, the students will receive their certificate in front of the entire school. Without a doubt, I wrote James'* name on that certificate stating that he had been making good choices with a positive behaviour. I wish I could be there on Monday to see his reaction to getting a Pupil of the Week certificate because he deserves it! 

It could be that James* was just having a good week, but I can't help but feel that I was doing something right. The key is always being positive, even when going into tough situations. I believe that positivity breeds positivity and creativity and that the outcome can be nothing but awesome! It feels really great to have experiences like this and I have to say, I am no longer afraid of 3/4D. I walked out of school today with a smile on my face, hoping that I will get another chance to teach 3/4D this term!


*James is a pseudonym to conceal identity.

KIA ORA NEW ZEALAND!

My recent adventure to New Zealand was far better than anything I could have imagined! I think it's safe to say that I can now declare New Zealand my favourite place that I have ever been to, just don't tell Australia that! 

Our trip was unique because we got to travel, for the most part, with the same group of people for three weeks. We did nearly everything together and became fast friends. Now that we are back in Melbourne and all the others have continued on their own journeys, I have been reminded of a time just shy of a week ago, when a group of us were sitting around a table. Some of us were telling stories of our previous travels while others were chatting about their lives in their home countries. I remember thinking how great it is that all our unique stories brought us all together from places around the world. I felt so grateful that we had opportunity to come together and that for a few weeks, our stories were able to collide with each others. 

We travelled both the North and South Islands doing things that would test our courage! We dug our own hot springs, we abseiled thirty-five meters into a cave and explored the inner cave and it's glowworms for hours, we rafted over the largest rafted waterfall and took in the amazing Maori culture at the Tamaki Village. When it comes to the Maori culture, I can't think of anything more rich and rare. I absolutely loved it! We were silly enough to go mountain biking the day before our eight hour hike through the Tongaririo Alpine Crossings. That was a new definition for sore legs! We jumped out of a plane and luged down the side of a mountain and we hiked, climbed and walked and took in the amazing scenery of everything in between. 

New Zealand was filled with so many wonderful and crazy adventures. I threw together a video of our highlights and although it's nine minutes long, I just couldn't stand cutting any more footage out. (I  already cut it down from an hour and fifteen minutes!) By the way, this video caused me a lot of grief because just as I was putting the finishing touches on it, my computer decided that it didn't want to work any more. Long story short, this is actually the fourth video of it's kind. Nevertheless, it includes some highlights of the trip!