Back to School Tomorrow

I'm finding it hard to believe the eight weeks of "Summer Break" are over, and I'm wishing I had another week or two. Life's like that.

Tomorrow morning I'll welcome my new 4th grade class at East-West International School. It's a full class, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them. Some I already know a little bit, and others I don't. Either way, I've got name tags ready for them all so I can quickly put the correct names to the faces (hopefully). Their books are all sorted and labelled, bookmarks are ready for home and in-class reading. Book boxes for "The Daily 5" are ready to go. My CAFE board is also ready to go. Lessons are planned for tomorrow, including a fun craft activity to finish the day.

So did I achieve everything on my summer "To Do" list? Not really, but I'm not stressing over it. One of the things I did finish was a Book Club for a book called "Awakened".

The biggest thing I've taken away from reading this book and the daily reflections is a reminder to think about how I'm talking to myself, making sure that talk is positive, and to avoid negativity as far as possible. An example is how I approached my schedule for the year. There was something in it that I wasn't real sure about, and which I actually knew wouldn't work because of classroom allocations. Instead of getting upset about it, I thought about it for a while and came up with a solution that would work for everyone. I got my early morning 20 minutes with my students back, my students still get recess and their music lessons, we get 50 minute language arts lessons that day, and my Khmer assistant gets two 30 minute lessons with the whole class later in the week instead of one 40 minute lesson. I'm hoping I can keep a positive mindset as the week continues and that this year will be even better than all those that have gone before.

Some of the things I did achieve include:

• taking photos for the math manipulatives catalogue,
• getting set up for The Daily 5 and CAFE,
• getting those workbooks checked and copied,
• catching up with a friend and her daughter in Bangkok,
• seeing a movie,
• doing some swimming and helping keep the pool clean,
• losing some weight (I've still got a way to go, but I'm heading in the right direction),
• some piano practice (not as much as I'd like but some is better than none),
• getting started on my studies,
• reading some novels,

Well, I've still got a few things I want to do before I go to bed, so I'm signing off for now. My cold has almost gone, with just a residual cough, so I'm hoping to get back into the pool very soon.

Looking forward to a great first day of school tomorrow! :)

Checking in

About a month ago I wrote about all the things I still had left to do before school finished and some of the things I hope to do over the holidays. You can read that here. Since the first four weeks of "summer break" are almost over I thought it would be a good time to write an update on how I'm going with that list.

I'm happy to report that the first eight items on the list happened without any problems. The students enjoyed the Science Fair, and we all enjoyed the trip to Kids City (where we spent time on the playground, the Science Floor, and Clip and Climb). Most stationery requests came in on time, and I got all the teacher resources back. The review of stationery requests took a while, but my students happily watched a movie while I did that. I got the Math Summary Sheets done in time, but the Reading and Writing Continuums took me another week, along with finishing cleaning and tidying up the classroom. They're done now and in a safe place ready to hand over to the appropriate person.

So, what about the holiday "To Do List". Well, I'm slowly making progress with the things on that list. I've finally finished the Stationery Supplies (as far as I can). Here's the evidence of what I've spent a heap of time preparing for and doing.

The big picture (although you can't quite see everything).

Books, books, and more books.

Khmer teacher supplies

Classroom teacher supplies and more books!

Here's a few numbers to help you understand what a huge job this has been:

3417 exercise books in 7 different sizes/styles
1149 folders
285 highlighters (in five different colours)
192 erasers
92 boxes of writing pencils
95 packets of coloured pencils

All of which had to be shared among 50 teachers and teaching assistants.

Other things I have managed to do so far include reading a few books, catching up with friends, watching a movie or two, and setting up my plan book for next year. So here are the things I still have left to do. I'm sure a few of them might not get done, but that's OK too.

• Dental check-up
• Create pictorial Math Manipulatives Catalogue
• Check student workbooks for next year & request some extra photocopies.
• Buy fabric and make chair bags for my classroom
• Lots of piano practice
• Start studying towards my Graduate Certificate in Education (Inclusive Education) which I hope will eventually lead to my Masters of Education
• Prep my classroom for next year including setting up for The Daily 5
• Review Science & Social Studies Units and think about how I can improve on them for next year
• Write Unit plans for Language Arts Units
• Read some more books
• Catch up with friends - Two appointments made for this next week!
• Watch a movie or two - I've seen 22 Jump Street and I'm off to see The Fault in Our Stars tomorrow.

I'm also participating in an on-line book club during July, which is a book I've started reading several times and not finished. I'm really enjoying the readings and the reflection/writing part of it is good.

Finally I've been helping out with keeping the school pool maintained over the break. That's been great because I usually swim first and then sweep the bottom of the pool. The swim and sweeping usually take about an hour, sometimes a little more, but it's refreshing and rewarding.

So, I'm pretty happy with what I've achieved so far, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the break. I looked at my calendar today and there's just 3 weeks before new teachers start! I'm sure I'm going to wonder where the break went if I'm not careful! Looking forward to Bangkok too.

Six days to go

Life at this end of the school year is hectic. I'll be honest and say I'm ready for the "summer" break, but it also won't be all just sitting around and relaxing. So what have I been up to, and what will I be doing in the next 8 days.

Things that are finished:

• Writing Report cards
• End of year concert

Things that still have to happen:

• Saturday 7th June - end of year staff lunch
• Tuesday 10th June - take class to see the Grade 6 Science Fair
• Wednesday 11th June - end of year field trip to Kids City
• Wednesday 11th June - stationery requests for next year due to me
• Wednesday 11th June - teacher resources from leaving teachers due to me
• Wednesday 11th June - teacher resource check-lists from returning teachers due to me
• Wednesday 11th June - remember to send home report cards
• Friday 13th June - review stationery requests and consult with principal over any unusual requests
• Friday 13th June - Reading and Writing Continuums and Math Summary sheets to be completed for every student, along with a writing sample and running records.
• Friday 13th June - last day of school

Once school is out, then I've got another "To Do" list including things like:

• Dental check-up
• Stationery Supply Purchasing
• Create pictorial Math Manipulatives Catalogue
• Check student workbooks for next year
• Check teacher resources from leaving teachers and organise any replacement items that are needed
• Buy fabric and make chair bags for my classroom
• Lots of piano practice
• Read lots of books
• Start studying towards my Graduate Certificate in Education (Inclusive Education) which I hope will eventually lead to my Masters of Education
• Prep my classroom for next year including setting up for The Daily 5
• Review Science & Social Studies Units and think about how I can improve on them for next year
• Write Unit plans for Language Arts Units
• Read some more books
• Catch up with friends
• Watch a movie or two
• Set up my plan book for the first half of next year
• Take a trip to Bangkok for some Rest and Relaxation
• and I'm sure I'll think of other things to do.

So that's what my life looks like for the next couple of months. I wonder how much I will actually achieve. Now you know why I need a long summer break. Believe me it won't all be "holidays"!

One week to go!

It's hard to believe there is just one more week of "summer" holidays. Yes, this time next week I'll be getting ready for our Orientation week. At the end of this coming week I will have had eight weeks of "holidays". So how did I fill those eight weeks?

The first few days were spent getting my classroom ready for the break, and chasing up some outstanding photocopying for the next school year. Then I packed my bags and headed to Singapore for 5 nights, and Bangkok for 6 nights. I had a lovely time in Singapore and I need to write some individual posts about my time there (and share some of the photos), but in brief it included catching up with friends from Youth Choir days, visiting the Gardens by the Bay, the "Mummy" display at the Art Science Museum, Singapore Zoo, Singapore Night Safari, Jurong Bird Park, and the Singapore Botanic Gardens (including the National Orchid Garden). Singapore was a feast of cleanliness and greenery, although a little expensive. I will return. Bangkok was mostly time to just relax and enjoy the shops. I did make time for a medical checkup while there, but really just enjoyed lots of walking in air-conditioned shopping centres.

Once I returned to Phnom Penh I started doing half days at school, working on unit plans and preparation for the coming year. It was good to do these things without the pressure of needing to teach them immediately, and also to do some sorting, cleaning and tidying. There were a few days when I had a whole day off, and when I enjoyed being in the classroom the whole day. I also made time to catch up with friends, and do stuff I don't have time for during the school year.

I've got one more week of working at my own pace and then it will be "Orientation" week, filled with meetings, tracking down resources, planning with my colleagues and getting ready for the children to arrive. I'm feeling rested and ready for the year to begin, even if I haven't done all I wanted to do over the "summer". It's been a productive time, but also a relaxed time, and I'm happy with the choices I've made about how to spend this "summer". The next big holiday to look forward to is Christmas/New Year down under! :)

The countdown begins ...

This time in 5 weeks I will have just one more sleep in my Cambodian bed before I begin the journey "home". Wow, this second half of the school year has flown by. We've had lots of fun though.

First there was Ancient Egypt, followed by Biomes, and now we're busy with Inventors and Inventions. We've also done heaps of mathematics, writing narratives and reports, lots of reading, plenty of homework and a few other things as well.

Currently in progress are written reports on an "invention", with a Biography Poster on an "inventor" to come next week. I hope we'll also manage to read another book in each Language Arts group. Lots of mathematics topics still to be covered, with some fun topics in there to finish the year off, and to top it off I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of "inventions" my students come up with.

I've also started thinking about "next year", requesting books, and thinking about an overview for the year. Also thinking about where I'm going to put all my students and their belongings next year as it looks like I'll have a bigger class than I did this year. Not big, but bigger.

Meanwhile, my tickets have been bought, and I've started some "going home shopping", as well as tucked a few things in suitcases already. I've registered and paid for a Teacher of Swimming and Water Safety course, and my First Aid course through the QAS.

I hope to get a newsletter and schedule happening in the next few days, but for now I still have some arranging to do and report card comments to write!

Out of your depth?

Ever felt out of your depth in some of the tasks that you need to complete? Then maybe you can relate to some of my feelings about teaching swimming twice a week to my students at school.

Yes, I can swim. Yes, I can teach. So why do I feel out of my depth combining the two? I think the real reason is that there is a world of difference between being able to swim and being able to teach someone else how to swim. I've been attempting to do it for over 5 years now, but I always knew that I really didn't know what I was doing. Yes, I've read books on the subject, and even done a mini-workshop on it a couple of years ago, but that's not the same as really learning how to teach swimming.

This semester I've had the chance to work with a trained swim teacher (actually he's our PE teacher and for various reasons we've been able to have him help with 4th grade swimming), and I've realised just how little I know about teaching kids to swim. For that reason, part of my "summer" break will be spent completing an AustSwim Teacher of Swimming and Water Safety course. I've wanted to do it for some time, but the cost and finding a course that was on when I was able to do it have stood in the way. When I'm only in Australia for 4-6 weeks, fitting in professional development isn't easy. This time I decided learning how to teach swimming was a priority and so I'll be spending two days at Chandler learning how to teach swimming and water safety. A gift from my home church helped cover the costs. I may not be able to complete all the supervised practice that I need to for certification (at least not while I'm in Australia), but I should be able to do the rest of the course. I'm seriously hoping that when I return to Cambodia in August I'll be much better able to teach swimming and water safety skills to the 4th grade students.

Now let's hope it's not tooooo cold at the end of July when I'm doing the course. Remember, this is mid-winter in Australia even if it is my "summer break".