Who am I? Well.. that depends on who you ask. If you ask any of my peers at Uni, they will tell you that I am a student. If you ask my lecturers, they will insist that I am a pre-service teacher. If you ask my SBTE (School Based Teacher Educator) she will tell you that I am a student teacher. If you ask the ladies I work with at VECDP, they will tell you that I am a teacher aide. If you read the snazzy Buddina State Primary School name badge that I was given today, it will tell you that I am a learning manager. That's right, I am Carly Laird - Learning Manager. I'm sorry.. but what exactly is a learning manager supposed to be?? I always thought that it was somewhat amusing that JCU pushes the term 'pre-service teacher'. Apparently 'student teacher' has negative connotations that may crush the precious self esteem of teachers in training. However learning manager just seems a bit much. I'm not really sure whose learning I'm supposed to be managing. Probably my own, seeing as I'm still a student myself. That hardly seems worthy of a name badge title though. Oh well.. it's nice to feel a part of the staff, even if it is a little bit pretentious.
Today I had my first day of prac! I have a wonderful SBTE who seems to maintain a nice balance between being helpful and directed as well as chilled out and flexible, which works really well for me. As a whole my kids are pretty well-behaved, which is just lovely! Obviously there are a few boys in particular who can be a little rowdy, although by the end of the day they were fighting to sit at my feet and asking to hold my hand, so I'm not overly worried. Unfortunately this blog will be quite short because I have a fair bit of planning to do before tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who has sent me messages and emails while I've been away. It's so nice to feel cared for and missed even when I'm only away for a week! Peace out :)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Prac Blogging!
It really has been quite some time since I have posted here! This was brought to my attention by the not-so-subtle pesterings of a few dear friends (I'm talking to you here Cam, Joel, Tim and Amanda). I have also noticed that both Joel and Phoebe have found the time to update their blogs. Therefore I am without excuse. Although in my defence, I feel that Uni is slowly killing the joy of blogging for me. I have never in my life had to write as many long and waffling reflections as I have this semester. Don't get me wrong, I definitely see the value in reflecting, however it can become a little tedious. But anyway, that's not particularly important, and it's certainly not the focus of this post.
I am writing to you from Buddina Beach on the Sunshine Coast. The weather is quite cool, although I am told that the only reason I feel cool is because I am a soft Townsville girl. Probably true. I am staying here with my family and I'm realising just how much I miss seeing them. I'm also realising how much I miss the sound of the ocean. It always makes me feel sleepy and relaxed. For those who may be wondering, no I am not just taking a holiday. I am actually here for a one week placement at Buddina State Primary school. I will try to keep this blog updated on all things prac, however don't be surprised if I haven't updated by the end of the week. I think that this prac will be quite full on, although I am feeling a little excited. I drove past my school today and I am looking forward to meeting my class of grade ones!
Today I spent a fair bit of time in the Brisbane airport, and I realised that I quite like airports. A minister once told me that he often goes to airports and just spends time watching people (he's not as creepy as he may sound) because he felt that this was a good way for him to keep in touch with his compassion for people. I can't say that I've ever done this, but I can understand his point. Airports can be emotional places. John Mayer sums it up well in his song "Wheel"...
"And airports
See it all the time
Where someone's last goodbye
Blends in with someone's sigh
Cause someone's coming home
In hand a single rose"
Goodbyes can be really hard. I am terrible at goodbyes, I really do struggle. It's nice to know that I am not the only one though. Airports are an interesting place to observe how different people handle goodbyes. Some try to make them short and brief and as emotionless as possible. Some cling to the person they are saying goodbye to and desperately try to memorise their eyes, their smell and their touch. Some cry unashamedly. Some awkwardly pat each other on the shoulder and stumble through rehearsed phrases such as "have a good one".
It's always fun to watch how children react in airports. They can be so insatiably excitable! "Look! The Jetstar is coming!!" It's so amusing when little ones run ahead of their bedraggled parents yelling "Quick we'll miss the plane quick quick qqquuuiiiccckkk!". I love the way that excitement in children is almost always accompanied by an overflow of questions; "Are we flying in the silver plane? Why aren't we flying in the red plane? Why is our plane silver? What are clouds made of? Why can we fly through clouds? Are clouds wet? What happens if the plane crashes? Will it be on fire? Why do planes crash? Do planes float?".
For some reason I also find the voice-overs in airports highly amusing. Today in the Brisbane airport there was a wide variety of accents; Irish, British, Aussie, some form of Asian, etc. I sometimes wonder if it is the same guy just putting on different accents for kicks. As I was waiting in the Brisbane airport today, a Qantus voice-over was reading out the surnames of the people who were late for their flight. There were about a dozen names to read out, and unfortunately for the voice-over lady, they were all foreign. There was a long and drawn out pause after each name, followed by stuttering and frustrated sighs. As if that wasn't bad enough, she then had to read the names a second time. The most enjoyable part about this little performance was that each name sounded completely different to the names given in the first reading. It was hilarious!
Flying is also fun, although I'm sure that the novelty would wear off quite quickly if I had to fly every weekend. Flight attendants can be quite amusing. I think that most of us have been on flights where there have been particularly charismatic and friendly flight attendants. They really do make the flight a much nicer experience. Unfortunately most of us would also have experienced flights where the cabin crew were less than friendly. I couldn't get any of the flight attendants to smile today. Very disappointing. Although one of them had a ridiculous hairstyle that essentially looked like someone had stuck a yellow donut to the back of her head, so I'm not sure that I would be smiling either. Prior to landing today, the captain advised the guests that the cabin lighting would be dimmed for our 'comfort'. Although within five seconds of this sentence leaving his mouth, the wailing twangy noise that goes by the name of Kasey Chambers filled the aircraft. If the staff had any concern for our comfort at all, they wouldn't have subjected us to Kasey. Other than that, it was a very pleasant flight.
Yes, I do realise that my first installment of prac blogging doesn't really have anything to do with prac, but that is ok. Tomorrow I will visit my school and meet the office staff, and I will meet my class on Tuesday. I am really hoping to not get sick. So far I have managed to get sick within a few days of beginning every prac that I have ever done to date. It's time to break the pattern!! I hope that you are all well... thanks for all of the comments, they are always really lovely to read! :)
I am writing to you from Buddina Beach on the Sunshine Coast. The weather is quite cool, although I am told that the only reason I feel cool is because I am a soft Townsville girl. Probably true. I am staying here with my family and I'm realising just how much I miss seeing them. I'm also realising how much I miss the sound of the ocean. It always makes me feel sleepy and relaxed. For those who may be wondering, no I am not just taking a holiday. I am actually here for a one week placement at Buddina State Primary school. I will try to keep this blog updated on all things prac, however don't be surprised if I haven't updated by the end of the week. I think that this prac will be quite full on, although I am feeling a little excited. I drove past my school today and I am looking forward to meeting my class of grade ones!
Today I spent a fair bit of time in the Brisbane airport, and I realised that I quite like airports. A minister once told me that he often goes to airports and just spends time watching people (he's not as creepy as he may sound) because he felt that this was a good way for him to keep in touch with his compassion for people. I can't say that I've ever done this, but I can understand his point. Airports can be emotional places. John Mayer sums it up well in his song "Wheel"...
"And airports
See it all the time
Where someone's last goodbye
Blends in with someone's sigh
Cause someone's coming home
In hand a single rose"
Goodbyes can be really hard. I am terrible at goodbyes, I really do struggle. It's nice to know that I am not the only one though. Airports are an interesting place to observe how different people handle goodbyes. Some try to make them short and brief and as emotionless as possible. Some cling to the person they are saying goodbye to and desperately try to memorise their eyes, their smell and their touch. Some cry unashamedly. Some awkwardly pat each other on the shoulder and stumble through rehearsed phrases such as "have a good one".
It's always fun to watch how children react in airports. They can be so insatiably excitable! "Look! The Jetstar is coming!!" It's so amusing when little ones run ahead of their bedraggled parents yelling "Quick we'll miss the plane quick quick qqquuuiiiccckkk!". I love the way that excitement in children is almost always accompanied by an overflow of questions; "Are we flying in the silver plane? Why aren't we flying in the red plane? Why is our plane silver? What are clouds made of? Why can we fly through clouds? Are clouds wet? What happens if the plane crashes? Will it be on fire? Why do planes crash? Do planes float?".
For some reason I also find the voice-overs in airports highly amusing. Today in the Brisbane airport there was a wide variety of accents; Irish, British, Aussie, some form of Asian, etc. I sometimes wonder if it is the same guy just putting on different accents for kicks. As I was waiting in the Brisbane airport today, a Qantus voice-over was reading out the surnames of the people who were late for their flight. There were about a dozen names to read out, and unfortunately for the voice-over lady, they were all foreign. There was a long and drawn out pause after each name, followed by stuttering and frustrated sighs. As if that wasn't bad enough, she then had to read the names a second time. The most enjoyable part about this little performance was that each name sounded completely different to the names given in the first reading. It was hilarious!
Flying is also fun, although I'm sure that the novelty would wear off quite quickly if I had to fly every weekend. Flight attendants can be quite amusing. I think that most of us have been on flights where there have been particularly charismatic and friendly flight attendants. They really do make the flight a much nicer experience. Unfortunately most of us would also have experienced flights where the cabin crew were less than friendly. I couldn't get any of the flight attendants to smile today. Very disappointing. Although one of them had a ridiculous hairstyle that essentially looked like someone had stuck a yellow donut to the back of her head, so I'm not sure that I would be smiling either. Prior to landing today, the captain advised the guests that the cabin lighting would be dimmed for our 'comfort'. Although within five seconds of this sentence leaving his mouth, the wailing twangy noise that goes by the name of Kasey Chambers filled the aircraft. If the staff had any concern for our comfort at all, they wouldn't have subjected us to Kasey. Other than that, it was a very pleasant flight.
Yes, I do realise that my first installment of prac blogging doesn't really have anything to do with prac, but that is ok. Tomorrow I will visit my school and meet the office staff, and I will meet my class on Tuesday. I am really hoping to not get sick. So far I have managed to get sick within a few days of beginning every prac that I have ever done to date. It's time to break the pattern!! I hope that you are all well... thanks for all of the comments, they are always really lovely to read! :)
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