The first day at the school was amazing. I have had the wonderful opportunity to walk to school in the mornings and I love it. I don't exercise as much as I should... and I'm positive the 20 minute walks to school and back have been keeping me pretty healthy. When I arrived on campus the first day I had to ask where the administrations office was because the school is "outdoors" and all of the classrooms are separated by covered sidewalks. It's not like back home where you walk into the school and the office is to the left or right of the front doors. If we had open "hallways" like this in MN we would be snowed into our classrooms four to five months out of the year.
When I signed in I was led into the teachers lounge and joined the other girls who were teaching at Morayfield East and we waited patiently for our teachers to come and pick us up! I had briefly met my mentor teacher when we met our homestay families on the first day because she is housing one of the students from Pitt State (Kansas). She was ready to go when she picked me up. I was immediately lost when we left the administration building. As we were walking to the classroom we walked under a large covered area. My teacher explained to me that the students line up and sit in rows in this area for first and second break when they are eating. There are no cafeterias filled with tables and chairs for the kids to sit at. The daily schedule over here regarding lunch is also much different. Back home our kiddos have 10 minutes of recess and 20 minutes to eat. In Australia, at least in the school I've been in, the students have a 30 minute break in the morning for little lunch and play and then another break in the afternoon for 45 minutes to finish their lunch and play. All of the students have a break at the same time so it looks like chaos when the bell rings; happy chaos. The students are required to wear a hat if they want to play outside of the covered area. The sun is so extreme here the hat is required to keep them safe. Just like we require snow pants if the students want to play in the snow to keep them warm.
The classroom was very different from what I was used to in the states. Granted, I was also in a third grade classroom and was teaching different standards. The students have their own desks with their names on them (it made it much easier to learn their names). The desks don't open from the top either, they pull out like a drawer. I do not know how some of those students ever find anything in their "tidy boxes"as they like to call them because they are so cluttered! 8 year olds. Hard to keep them organized :)
My teacher did a wonderful job showing me around the classroom and introducing me to the manipulatives and explaining the reading corner to me. She has an excellent system that works for her and it wasn't too difficult to get a hold of either. On the very left of the picture above you can sort of see the interactive whiteboard and the regular whiteboard. What you cannot see is the BLACKBOARD! I did not know they still existed. I thought it was a cute little wall of history. First there was stone writing, and then the blackboard, and then the whiteboard, and then the smartboard... what will be next. I also enjoyed all of the student artwork around the classroom. There is not a specialist that teaches art so it needs to be implemented into the school day by the classroom teacher throughout the terms. (The school I am in runs from January to December and has four terms separated by 1-2 week breaks. Different from the norm in the states where school runs from September to June and has a three month break before the next year.) Since I was little I urged for year round school... and uniforms. I've heard both arguments and I still agree with my decision. Anyway, the reason I bring that up is because the students all have uniforms :) They look so cute. They are shown below as well as having accessories that match the school colors available in the tuckshop (canteen/cafeteria/food area). Girls are also required to wear their hair up or braided if it is below the shoulders. Many good reasons for this, like making it harder to spread lice--always an issue in the younger grades wherever you go.
Meeting the students for the first time was great. I found a book from MN about the North Woods to read to them so they would have a foundational understanding of the area I come from. They really liked the book and asked many questions about things they didn't understand. Many of the questions were about snow--and how you stay warm when it gets so cold. I told them we wear long underwear under all of our clothes and they thought it was hilarious. I jumped in right away helping with reading groups. The kids were great and seemed to really like having another teacher in the room. I did notice right away that there were some behavior issues in the room. What I didn't realize was the emotional drain I would feel from the behaviors. I had a couple students back home that had some challenging behaviors and I think it was to help prepare me for these kiddos.
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