And the whole thing begins again...

Well, I am no longer a first year teacher. I actually lost that tag mid way through last year but held onto it because, well, it was a safety blanket 'Hey, it's only my first year!'. Some days, I assume like other new teachers, I felt like I had been teaching for years, things just magically worked and it all felt good. But then, there were those other days when banging my head on any hard surface seemed like the necessary action required. As I progressed, those days became much fewer, but every so often one would creep up out of nowhere and all my anxieties would come out. But you know what? Maybe it's not a bad thing to feel anxious, maybe having those feelings of 'Am I doing this right?' are needed in order to not become complacent... who knows. Those horrible, horrible days though have made me stronger and I am thankful for them (I'm sure there will be many, many more!)

I must say, I can't wait to go back to school tomorrow. I am looking forward to this year. I look back on 08 and I realise that wow, I learnt so much and actually didn't do too bad of a job. But whilst I can acknowledge the good work I did, I can also see where I stumbled, where I need to lift my game and what I need to do to become a more effective teacher. This year comes with many challenges, a 3/4/5 class for starters. I've also taken on a more active role with other activities. I can't wait to see how the year unfolds, but I am sure that when 2010 comes around, I'll be able to look back on '09, see my progress and hopefully identify what I need to do to lift my game.

Until next time,
Miss K

In a school daze...

So here I am, the last Friday of the holidays, frantically trying to get my shit together for Monday morning. I already spent the better part of 4 hours at school today organising my room, marking books, putting up new displays and generally trying to get back into the rhythm.

Looking around my room today started to make me a little sad. I have really grown to love the kids in my room and it is sad to think that in a mere 10 weeks they won't be mine anymore, not to mention 16 of them will have left the school probably never to be seen again. It made me start to wonder today if they were ready, if they would handle high school and its challenges. I can say that without a doubt most of them are. I have started to notice little things that make me think you need a new challenge but there are 2 kids who I worry about. How will they adjust to a completely different situation? How can they handle the expectations of HS when sometimes primary seems too much? I have spoken to fellow teachers who have told me that it is normal to have kids like that and they'll be fine but I can't help but worry...

Last term I had a mini-meltdown where I was ready to give up on it all. I had overworked myself, worried too much about the little things and let the fun go out of my life and my teaching. After I melted, I stepped back and readjusted my thinking and ended up finishing the term exactly the way I wanted, having fun. Looking towards term 4, I can't wait to enjoy every day. Not only do my kids deserve to have fun whilst learning, but I deserve it too. I know it is going to be a hectic term that flies by before I even realise, but I have made myself a vow that even when I am up to my neck in reports, yearbooks, powerpoints, accreditation, that I will take the time to smile, breathe in, breathe out and be thankful that I get to spend my days doing what I love.

Have I done something right?

So today my class did a reading assessment. Now, we have only done 2 formal reading assessments this year, but of course I have been observing and noting strengths and weaknesses throughout that entire time. Anyway, I have pretty much killed myself talking about locating keywords in a question and looking for them in a text, reading the topic sentence to help speed up locating the answer and answering using full sentences. Today, it was all worth it. I marked their work tonight and I am just so proud of them all! Our first reading assessment, while it was hard, was pretty poorly scored in my class. Our range was I think 18%-72% and about 8 kids did not pass. Today's test however, 100% was my highest score, 2 students got below 50% (one 48% the other 36%) and the majority of my kids scored around the 80% mark! woohoo!

I guess they have learned something after all :)

A long time between blogs!

Well, it has been nearly 20 weeks since my last blog - phew, a lot has happened!
I survived writing my first set of half yearly reports, I went on a 3 day camp to Canberra and the Snow, we had our National Testing and then just for good measure, our basic skills testing as well! Not to mention multiple professional learning opportunities, going on another camp with a whole different stage of kids, making 25 Japan bandanas for our Mini-Olympics, saying yes -we can make paper mache masks (what was I thinking?!) oh and I guess, some reading, writing and arithmetic snuck in there as well!

This year has certainly been busy and I have learnt so much. There are many things I will do differently at the beginning of the next school year to make my life a little easier but I guess that is all part of the learning curve. I am nothing like the teacher I was this time last year, hell, I am nothing like the teacher I was at the beginning of this school year! Maybe even last week! But that's okay, I am finding out who I am and that is just fine by me...

Miss, do I HAVE to talk about myself?

After reading lots of teaching blogs I have become inspired to share my experiences with the e-world. I guess I should give a brief overview of who I am and what I'm all about.

Well, I am Miss K, a soon to be 24 year old first year teacher in South West Sydney, Australia. At present I teach a Stage 3 class (Year 5 and 6 for those not familiar) so kids ranging from 10 to 12. I graduated in July of 2007 (that's the middle of our school year) and was lucky enough to pick up work for the remainder of last year on a 4/5 class which was an awesome experience. However, I guess my first 'real' teaching experience has come this year, my very own class, my own classroom and my own ideas.

At present, I am nearing the end of our first school break for the year, and I must say I am really pleased with my first 10 weeks. I have a fantastic class of 30 students who brighten my day, make me want to scream, make me want to pull my hair out, make me laugh and most importantly at the end of the day make me feel thankful that teaching is my profession. Sure, there are kids in my class that are tougher than others, that require more work on my part but I wouldn't have it any other way, their successes mean the world to me.

School goes back on Monday, and I for one am looking forward to hearing the kids stories, marvelling at their new haircuts, inspecting scars from their bike accidents (I'm sure there will be at least one!) and most of all - getting back to teaching. It's funny, when people have asked me if I'm enjoying my break, I just don't know how to answer. Sure, having some time to myself is good, but I miss it, I miss my classroom, I miss the chatter - Is this normal?! I just don't know.

Well, must run... this reading program won't write itself!