Can You Tell I Haven't Blogged Recently?

I'll just say that we're home in the states now, and I want to share so much about our last days together, the children and I, but I tear up each time I type about it! So, I will return to the blog in a week or so, I promise!

They are all very happy tears, that is for sure. I want to remember each of the last celebrations, so give me a few days to find the light switches again, remember to drive on the right, and find my work badge in the next box I unpack. Until I can sit peacefully and recount the wonderful last days, I'll leave the blog quiet.

Hope that's okay with you! More soon!

Count Down

I have 13 days left with my students. Really only 8 classroom days. Which is really only 5 and 1/2 when you put in all the performances, goodbyes, assemblies, etc. It's the wonderful time when you feel like family with your kids. They are so happy to come and go from the classroom, help you clean out a cupboard, return library books, admire their workbooks, cherish one more game of Heads Up Thumbs Up.

Well, that's all or the tears will start.

Job Perks

Besides the occasional baked birthday treat, one of the perks of teaching elementary school is getting to join in on the activities the children are doing.

The best one recently for me was dancing along with kinders to Michael Jackson's "Blame it on the Boogie."

Don't blame it on the sunshine. (wave hands overhead in a rainbow motion)
Don't blame it on the moonlight. (make a moon with both hands to the side)
Don't blame it on the good times. (dance disco)
Blame it on the boogie. (wiggle all over like a kindie!)

Suddenly stress from report card writing and state testing results seems trivial!

More silly sayings:

Another kinder student asked me, "Do you sleep at night in America and come to school in the day?"

Still another was heard on the playground saying with an angry voice, "If you do that again, I'll knock your bloody teeth out!!" Well, then.

But on a comical note, I had one child come to me telling that his older brother swore at him just then on the playground. The brother came rushing up to me to tell that the little brother was the one swearing. So, I began talking to the brothers about how one shouldn't swear or use bad words, that the older one really was a role model, and that if he swears, then of course his little brother will start swearing, blah, blah, blah. The older brother is watching and listening to me all the while.

Then, in the middle of my verbal barrage to him, his eyes light up, he gets a big smile on his face and interrupts me saying, "You sound just like you're from a movie!" So much for the effectiveness of my sterling disciplinary strategy!

Kids Say . . .

Overheard today in my classroom during their Scripture lesson (yes, Scripture, taught by the ladies from the church across the street):

"The Bible was written by a bloke named James."

"Nah, the Bible was written by heaps of blokes!"

Last Term Curriculum and The Rainforest!

With one term left, ten weeks, I'm thinking how to end the year with enough to keep kids busy and yet not so much that we're rushed and not able to complete projects by the end. Same dilemma as at home, just different time of the calendar!

Christmas is celebrated openly in the schools here. No other religions are highlighted, according to the people I've spoken to. No Hannukah, no Kwanzaa, etc. It's Christmas all the way. Wow. Like our old days when we crafted our way all through December. I'm not used to that, but I'm hearing teachers spend quite a bit of time and create some pretty amazing Christmas presents. I better get thinking!

We finished our study of the rainforest and took our field trip ("excursion") to the local rainforest nearby. What a great, great day! It's a 1 1/2 hr drive, and we rode in the deluxe school buses here that are like our Greyhound coaches. Of course we had to stop in the little town at the start of the forest for coffees. My co-teacher phoned ahead to her friends who own the coffee house. The big bus pulled up, we jumped out and quickly retrieved our mochas! We were ready to hit the waterfalls and brush turkeys ahead!

I've visited this rainforest now five times (we bring each of our American visitors here), but seeing it with children was a different experience. I loved seeing the wonder in their eyes. Most had never been before. We were concerned with leeches. Yes, leeches. We learned how to rub them off should they drop down on us. We wore hats and long sleeves with our pants tucked into our socks for protection.

There were a number of forms to fill out before leaving school for legal protection. We filled out a risk factor form for things like bus-travel risk, snake-bite risk, and hot coffee-spill risk. No, just kidding about that part! But the others were serious! We carried a school first aid kit and a school cell phone with all numbers pre-programmed.

I've seen my colleagues make beautiful displays of large photos of their children, so I tried the same. I've since printed the photographs on 8 1/2 by 11 paper and laminated them. They are glossy prints now of the buttress roots, the strangler figs, the skink, the fungi, the huge huge ferns, and the happy children. They're terrific!

I Love My Kids!

We had such a great week back from holidays. I was amazingly interesting to them once again (which we know won't last long!). They were thrilled to see a new spelling list, happy to record rain forest layers in their science booklet, and happy to pour through books again during our Daily 5.

The boys' pecking order has been established, so they can relax. Families are sending in nutritious lunches once again. Hair was cut, lice was eliminated for now, new shoes were purchased for growing feet, and they are genuinely happy to work and play together again. Whew!

Our older kids had had a very tumultuous time last term. Macksville goes from K - 6. Which means sixth graders who, in the states are the young ones of the middle school, are the oldest in the school. That means the hormones are in, the dynamics are changing, the music and pop culture has a new meaning, and they are "over" elementary school. I'm noticing a big difference from what I see in the 5th graders at home that are "over" elementary school. That is plenty, as we know. This is exponential, as you can imagine. US 6th graders are given the larger school, the P.E. classes, the lockers, the different teachers and different classes, and the new horizons, so to speak. Here the 6th graders are still in one room with one teacher all year. Yes, they are the leaders. Yes, they are the role models. But they are rebelling like they never have. Is it the new millenium? Is it families? Is it us? Well, what part can we change to help?

So, this term's answer is a detention room, basically. A room with cubicles, no stimulation, no interaction or breaks with other students, and full supervision. Parents give permission, and the time period is whatever it takes to be ready to go back to the classroom. There are up to 8. Right now it's boys, but Friday saw it's first girl addition. Some staff are horrified that we would go to this length. It's punitive, it's isolating, it's cruel. Others are understanding that now other students can have a chance to learn, be heard, and flourish, finally. We'll see.

Meanwhile in my room, the kids and I are humming along! This is why I love second graders and why I love doing what I do.

I overheard something funny this week, though, that I have to share. I hope I don't offend a reader, but please understand this is Australia, and the social norms of the U.S. are less strict. A Kindie student had not written or drawn anything on her page. The teacher said, "Look at your paper! You haven't done anything. The other children have filled their pages!" The little girl said matter-of-factly, "Then I bettah git off moy ahse!"