Chaos 2011

To say that this year has been chaos would be a gross under estimation of the truth of it all.

I haven't been on line for quite some time and haven't had a moment to lament, rant or rave about anything, possibly a good thing!

But after everything that has happened I still feel marginally optimistic.

I am not running at optimal, far from it, I am operating on empty and barely managing.

I have about 3 - 4 hours of interrupted sleep a night and my performance on a personal and professional level is directly affected but that!

Wish I had better time management or more hours in the day but since neither of those are a reality, I will cut this post short and continue with my Marking of tests and posters....

Hope the Chaos ends soon and super fabulous teacher kicks in ASAP!

A New year, A New beginning

The one thing I love about the year coming to an end is the chance to reflect on the year that has passed and the excitement that the new year brings with it. There are always good intentions in the new year and it always interests me to see if any of them lasted to the end of the year.

As this year comes to an end, I feel extreme excitement with all the New things I have to look forward to. I have a new vocation, I have a new home, a new job and am looking forward to a whole new life.

How many people are blessed enough to say they too are NEW ;-)

I hope with hard work things will continue along this path of blessing after blessing.

I am grateful and thankful for all I have.

Eyes on the Prize

Only a few weeks left of this course and then ... and then the journey really begins.

This year was the prelude to my new journey, the part where you prepare to embark and that time will soon be here... January 2011... this is the month where I will now become responsible for the effect I have on many kids futures. I will be teaching Physical Science to prospective Doctors, Engineers, Chemists, Research students who will cure many diseases with their ground breaking techniques and products. Quite scary, I just want to be an inspiring teacher who encourages rather than breaks or crushes.

Although this time is imminent, I wont be doing any teaching if I don't pass the exams which are just around the corner ! So the in next two weeks I will be sticking my head in the books and trying to conquer this thorn in my side commonly referred to as exams.

Teachers day

Teachers who inspire know that teaching is like cultivating a garden and those who would have nothing to do with thorns must never attempt to gather flowers. happy teachers day to all teachers out there may you realise what a blessing you are to so many little souls

A teacher is somewhere tonight preparing lessons to teach your children while you are watching TV. In the minute it takes you to read this, teachers all over the country are not only improving lives, but they are also sacrificing their own time for your child's literacy, prosperity, and future.

Perception and Reflection

Perception is a fickle thing swayed by mood, circumstance and state of mind.

My initial reflection on my Math lit class was one of interest and hope but as the weeks wore on my reflections became poisoned by exhaustion, by their efforts to exert their ownership of the classroom and by public bias. What I mean by this is that a lot of the girls names were on the academic detention list everyday and their efforts to do homework or participate lessened as the weeks grew longer.

With my growing frustration my reflections grew more negative and the enthusiasm I had to start became a perpetual loathing. The effort I put in far out weighed the reciprocated effort so with their decreasing interest my efforts and enthusiasm waned resulting in a stale mate.

I think the long days of me getting to school at 7 and leaving sometimes at 5:30 then working until 2am in the morning and waking at 5am to begin another day of the same might have had a lot to do with it.

Anyway, today being my last teaching day, I was presented with a present and a card from the girls in which they expressed their heartfelt thanks and appreciation and appologies for giving me such a hard time.

So now looking back at the entire experience it does not match up with my perception and daily reflection of dispair and growing negativity but instead I have once again a feeling of acomplishment, of hope and of fond memories of a class which, on paper, seems impossible.

First Disaster

Today is one of those days that, altho it has just begun, you need it to end like yesterday.

The passing of a family friend last night, the resultant lack of prep and sleep are not a good combination to teach the first two lessons of the day.

This was evident in my crash and burn teaching this morning.

First lesson Math lit, we started Unit 11 - simple ratio, proportion, measurements, areas volumes - did all the exercises before hand - but didnt think to work through the "Working example" so instead of going through the working example and then the girls getting on with the exercises we got stuck on the working example and although I knew how to do it I just couldnt verbalise it in a way that they could understand. It all ended horribly with me saying we would move on and clarify the situation tomorrow.

Then second lesson Math grade 9: A simple revision of chapter 9 : Ratio, rate and proportion - or so I thought.

I tried to let them explain what they would do so I could see if they were doing it the right way or where they were getting stuck or going wrong but that just made things worse and the ones who didnt have a clue confused the ones who did and me and the teacher had to step in and put it so simply and clearly that I felt like an ignorant idiot.

Anyway, that is my teaching done for the day and I wish I could go and climb into a hole somewhere.

Lesson for the day....

JUST WHEN U THINK U KNOW.... U ACTUALLY DONT....

oh yes... and ..... sleep and sufficient prep are essential for a smooth run

First Week

So Far so good

It is interesting to have time to take it all in unlike my first prac.
It is also interesting how organised it all is with workbooks and textbooks.

The Girls did homework over the holidays and so most of this week has been marking of that work but today I did get to witness a demonstration for Natural science on the subject of Indicators in relation to acids and bases.

Still a bit frustrating not having access to the workbook for Natural or Life Science but I am hoping by the end of the week that would have changed.

Other than that, I got my own email address and access codes for the internet etc so I am pretty Chuffed. I also went to one of the Focus groups today which was discussing improvement ideas for classrooms, toilets and computers and it seems that everything is of a high standard with most of the concerns being General maintenance and who to contact with regards to it.

I am also taking one of the Extended lessons on.... wait for it.... CARD MAKING .... the teacher who usually does it is involved with Vogue this term so she asked if I could take it instead.

Out of all the extension lessons like extra maths, extra science, extra biology etc... I ended up with Card making ... Hilarious - but am loving the creative outlet ;-)

My timetable is pretty full but that is mostly due to my efforts to soak up as much information, experience and observation that I can.

Take a look at this week ...

The white blocks are my free periods - 7 frees in one week or 7/35 lessons are free

This will change to less as I get busier and need more frees, I wont be able to observe as much as I would like.

Anyway, halfway through my first week and still smiling....