To be perfectly honest Friday night and Saturday morning were tough days for me. Going to work for three day (without kids just professional development activities) was very overwhelming. The school system in Australia is years ahead of where we are in Canada. Having said that it isn't anything new to me, it's just set up in a way that's very new to me. I was frustrated by many things although it certainly didn't include the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff at North Footscray Primary. Everyone has been great, but even with that it's had me feeling very overwhelmed. I didn't get much time to set up my classroom and so I don't feel settled. There are many things that must be done in the first few weeks of school (assessment and data collection for literacy and numeracy concepts) and it will take a lot of time. For someone who has never administered these assessments it will be a slow process. I will be given some release time to get it done but most will be done during my teaching hours.
Anyhow, no specific details but it can be said that I was very sad on Friday night and Saturday morning. Some time has passed since then (it's Sunday afternoon here now) and thankfully I'm feeling better. I know that this teaching year will be a challenge for me to begin with but I do believe that I have the tools to be a great teacher - even in this new system. That's the attitude I'm going to go in with on my first day of school with the children tomorrow. Even though my room isn't ready for them, I have very limited resources (although everyone is willing to share what they have to make it easier for me), and I must get started on the assessment right away it will be okay.
On the bright side my sister Debbie is coming to visit me in July (the dead of winter here) and we've booked a two week vacation that will include Cains, Brisbane, Gold Coast (Surfer's Paradise) , and Airlie Beach (Whitsunday Islands). We may squeeze in the Gold Coast Marathon or Half Marathon on July 5. Debbie will then be flying back with me to Melbourne to do some touring on her own. It should be a good holiday and hopefully it we'll get some warmer weather on the vacation. Melbourne will be COLD for certain.
I'm still working out the final details for my trip to New Zealand in April but hopefully that will all be booked later today. In addition my dad is coming at the end of my New Zealand trip so we'll have some time together in Melbourne. I'm then flying to Sydney at the end of his Australian adventure and spending a weekend with him there.
Oh, and I have two weekend trips already planned in Victoria too. I'm heading to South Gippsland with the exchange people in February, and to Ballarat with the exchange people in March. So needless to say there is a lot going on for me here in Australia. I did hope to run four marathons while I'm here but I think I'll be lucky if I get one or two. I'm not running much these days and with all the time traveling I don't know how much time I'll have to get any training in. So it may be half marathons instead or perhaps even no marathons. We'll see. Travel is the priority for me this year. I paid an arm and a leg to get to Melbourne so I'm going to take FULL advantage of it.
3 comments:
So glad you're coming to see me in NZ! It will be good to see a familiar face...can't wait!
I agree with your last thought. Enjoy being in Australia and don't worry about the marathons. The way I see it, there are marathons to be run all over the world every year, but how often do you get to live in a new country? Enjoy yourself and take advantage of all the interesting (and perhaps odd) opportunities that come your way.
Karen, I hope your first few days have gone well. You are an awesome teacher and I am sure you are going to embrace your professional development in a posiitve way. That being said, we have been going through a lot of changes in ontario and following some australian models, if you need a freindly ear, I am here for you! Just skpye me and I will be there.
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