If I only had a brain

Well, my last few days at Beechmont State School have been rather eventful. Last Friday we had our big 'Plant Out' day... where we took our class out for the whole day to plant trees and stuff. It was really fantastic. Before all the kids got their hand's dirty, we organised for a community "green thumb" to come and talk to the students about weeds; how to identify them and what harm they can do in a place like Beechmont. After that and a bit of lunch, we armed ourselves with shovels, picks and other potentially dangerous equipment and went about our planting spree...

I found out quickly that not all the kids were completely familiar with the tree-planting process....

"No, Harrison, you need to keep the roots on the plant when you plant it"

"Ah, Eve, you actually need to take the plant out of the pot..."

"Um, Tess, you can stop digging now. It's ok, the Beaconsfield miners are safe.... no, Tess, I mean it! Stop digging!"

In the end, we got there though.... about 100 plants planted in less than two hours. It was fantastic to see the kids get out of the classroom and do something worthwhile. It will be a great feeling for them when they come back here in 5 or 10 years time and be able to say "I planted that tree".

After our tree planting adventures, the rest of the day was spent painting and doing some science investigations at the park we were at. We had brought along watercolour paints... so the kids went off and let their 'naturalistic' sides take over. It is such a beautiful spot here at Beechmont... it is not very difficult to find a nice landscape to paint. Sometimes I don't think these kids know how lucky they are! The popular spot was a view overlooking Numinbah Valley - it was a perfect day and looked amazing... and if you looked more to the east, you could just see some of the apartment buildings at the Gold Coast!

As if that wasn't exciting enough, Beechmont had a "Book Parade" on Tuesday morning. The idea was that everyone (children... AND teachers) were to come dressed up as their favourite book character. I had a hard time choosing mine, as most of my favourite book characters would not be easy to 'dress up' as. So, in the end, I decided to go as the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz... for the only reason in that I already had the costume at home! It was great fun... some of the kids' costumes were great... they had gone to so much effort! I was one of three teachers who had to judge the winners as well... and only one student from each grade. It was quite difficult, but I don't think there were any tears, which was a relief!


It has been raining up here lots the past few days... and of course (as it is Beechmont) it has been really cold. I thought winter was pretty much over...?? Anyhoo, the rain is awesome.... it was strange being woken up by rain on the roof the other night!

Ciao!

Six kids?

Um... ok. It has come to my attention that perhaps my little self-introduction to the right has confused some people.

Time for some clarification.... post haste!

No, I'm not married. No I don't have six kids. Nor do I work in a button factory (I know... shock, horror, gasp!).

This little intro is actually the beginning to a kid's song that I like called "Button Factory". The idea is that you get all the children in a group and you all "say" this song together. Here's a bit how it goes....

Hi, my name's Joe,

I've got a wife and six kids and I work at the Button Factory.

One day, the boss says to me "Joe, are you busy?"

I say "No".

He says "Joe, push this button with your ____ _____"

So I did!

Where you see _____ ______ is where you insert some action words.... like Left Finger, Right Toe, Nose, Mouth, Chest, Big Fat Arse etc. etc. and the kids need to pretend they're pushing a button repeatedly with that part of their body! The children keep doing this, while the song continues...

Hi, my name's Joe,

I've got a wife and six kids and I work at the Button Factory.

One day, the boss says to me "Joe, are you busy?"

I say "No".

He says "Joe, push this button with your ____ _____"

So I did!

The kids now add this extra "button pushing" movement to their first. This continues for 4-5 times.... until the kids are pushing buttons will all parts of their bodies and look completely retarded...! And then, the last verse goes...

Hi, my name's Joe,

I've got a wife and six kids and I work at the Button Factory.

One day, the boss says to me "Joe, are you busy?"

I say "YES!!!".

I hope that's cleared it up for some people...!

Orgasm of the tastebuds

My step dad's brother and his mate is staying with us at the moment. His mate is retired, from Canberra.... and is a wine expert!!

Ok, picture this...

It's a semi-cold night, but we're all lazing around a roaring fire, while drinking from a bottle of 'iced wine' from Canada. For those who are unaware, iced wine is wine where the grapes are juiced frozen. The result is a type of sweet, desert wine, but the taste is simply amazing (in this case, these grapes were actually grown near Niagara Falls). We've just finished dinner - chicken caesar salad - and we're drinking the wine with some juicy, ripe, but semi-frozen peaches (we put them in the freezer for a bit). Biting into the cold peaches is yummy enough... but with the sweet, Canadian wine... in front of a warm fire... on a lazy Thursday night... pure bliss!!!!

I thoroughly recommend it :)

Now excuse me while I go have a cigarette and a cold shower....

Cheers!

The view from my classroom

Rolling green hills.... brilliant blue sky.... and yes, some of those little dots are cows!

My first day...

"If I shot a bullet straight ahead and if it didn't hit anything, would it eventually go all the way around the world and shoot me in the back?"
- a question from a Year 7 student on my first day... during a lesson on latitude and longitude.

Yes, I am here and I survived my first day teaching Year 7s at Beechmont State School. It all went very smoothly, actually... nothing (apart from the above quote) out of the ordinary to report.

The class actually seems very "normal"... a little too normal, in fact. All twenty kids (yes, only twenty!!) are quite attentive and mostly just get on and do the work they need to do. It's actually unlike any previous class I've had... but in a good way :)

Tomorrow I'm going to do a lesson on "weeds" (no, Ben, not THAT sort of weed) as part of a study on plants and the environment we're doing. Once I set the task, I'm planning to give the kids a fair bit of rope and let them go off and find answers to the questions themselves (try and practise some of this "constructivism" bullshit they preach at uni!).

We are having a "Plant Out" at a nearby park on Friday. Both our class and the 5/6 class will venture out for the whole day to plant plants.... and stuff. It sounds like a lot of fun. Nothing like the great outdoors! I'll post some photos so you can see how we went.

Meanwhile, the moving on the weekend was absolute hell. I think we under-estimated how much we had to do on the last day, and hence, we were packing and cleaning until after 7pm on Saturday. As a result, I had bruises, scratches, and some serious emotional scarring. It was the most fun we could've had with our clothes on :-| But we got there in the end.... bye, bye 44 Vale Street forever!

On another note, seems I won't be a member of the EQ Alumni for much longer, with November 13th a tentative date in which I will return to the fray to do some ICT Community updates! Hurrah!!! Doughnuts all round!

Ciao!

10 things I hate...

I'm sitting on the cold, hard floor in my room as I write this blog, as I have no desk, no bed, and no comfy chair. I'm surrounded by junk and have spent the entire day moving, cleaning, sorting and repairing. I'm in a crap mood and need an outlet. Hence, here's ten things I hate, in no particular order....

1. People who say "literately" to add emphasis to a story... but when it makes no sense to take it literately (for example.... "Oh my God, I feel as if my head is going to explode... literally"). Fucking idiots.
2. Today Tonight.
3. Escalators where the hand-rails move faster than you're travelling on the stairs. Bah!
4. Small talk (especially about food, the weather, or what shop I got a particular item from and how much it was...). I'm into big picture stuff, thanks.
5. Moving house!!!
6. University, and how little you get for the amount of HECS you pay...
7. New Idea and Women's Weekly.... especially when they lead with stories about how many kilos Kirstie Alley has put on. Does it look like I give a fuck??
8. Thinking about what I'm going to do next year.
9. My computer... I want an LCD monitor, dammit.
10. Regretting that I should have said things when I had the chance.

.... and breathe :)

Ben Folds in Melbourne

As tickets for Ben Folds were sold out in Brisbane, Rachel and I decided to.... well.... get tickets for the performance in Melbourne in September! It was a welcome inconvienience, as we've now decided to have a mini-holiday and stay a few nights, do some serious shopping and see the sights. It is the week after my first 4-week prac block finishes too, which will be a good break and something to look forward to!! Hooray!

He's performing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra too.... which will be completely awesome. I've got goosebumps right now just thinking about it....!!! Hmmm... so can't wait :)

Moving.

I hate moving. It sucks. We've been renting the same place for 2 years, 8 months, and we've well and truely 'settled in'. This is obvious when you see the amount of random, stupid "stuff" we have. However, the time has come for us to go our different ways... our lease expires on Saturday.

Suffice to say, it's Wednesday night and there is shit everywhere. My housemates moved the majority of their stuff today, so the stuff left is mostly mine. I'm hoping to do my big move tomorrow, but I'm not liking my chances of getting it all done in a day. I expect it to be a thin slice of hell. Wish me luck.

However, on the up-side, I still have my fridge... and it's still stocked with beer... I'm sure it will come in handy at some point tomorrow :)

Now, I don't consider myself a "horder" in any way, shape or form. However, in packing all my stuff in boxes I've been particularly ruthless when it comes to throwing things out. Anything that I haven't used in the last 6 months.... GONE! This was evident as I was halfway through packing my first box 'o crap. I looked at all the stuff I was planning to keep (think old computer mice, CD cases, Uni Readings from 1st year) and then I realised.... this is all junk! Hence, I tipped the whole box in the wheelie bin and started again... it's been most therapeutic :)

Speaking of beer (and stupidity) I went to open a Hahn Premium before... which had a pull-off cap (as opposed to a twist top). As I couldn't find the bottle opener, I attempted to pop the top on the kitchen counter by placing it on the corner of the bench and hitting it. However, I hit it with the side of my hand.... and I think I damaged it... 'cause it's now all red, swelling up, and oozing blood. I look like I have some strange growth on the side of my hand. Yay for smarts!!!! Yay for beer!!!!!!

Cheers, everyone.

Yes!! I'm alive!!

Ok, scally-wags. After my blog was on the verge of flat-lining I've decided to pump some life into it, get my shit together and start blogging again. As you can see, "Moven-theme" is no more.... and it seems that black is the "new black".

I suppose it is also fitting that I'm starting my final prac and internship in 6 days time. I'll be sure to keep everyone up to date on how it goes. Whilst not as remote as Moven, Beechmont State School isn't exactly what you'd call 'inner-city'. I have a feeling there will be many adventures to be had over the next 4 weeks....!

Biggest news for tonight is that I've finished my last university assignment!!! Woohoooo!!!! It was quite a 'nice' assignment to finish on, actually. It was for an ICT in education subject, and the task was to (you web geeks will love this).... build a webpage! Suffice to say mine turned out pretty cool and I'm looking forward to handing it in.