I worked the full day with the grade five class and I had a student teacher with me so I made him teach for most the day...until he flipped out at the children over minor chatting ekk. They were not the best class but I've had worse. A few of them remembered me from last year, not that it helped.
And the student teacher was so weird and serious and not chatty but I found out he is doing a grad-dip in Ed. so only studies for one year and does one ten week prac and that's it, then he's a teacher! And to do his one and only prac in a private school (and he lost his temper at something not so big), I wish him well teaching in state schools!
In the end I never applied for the librarian job but did apply for the inclusion job and had an interview but don't think it went that well. Two ladies interviewed me and one of them I worked with on a prac in a child care centre back in uni, I remembered her. There was about 7 pages of full on questions and took them a few mins just to get through asking/reading out the questions and I barely understood them. They kept asking me about childcare legislations etc. And what experiences I have had with QR and ELF (What the!?!) they explained what they were but I haven't been in a childcare centre since 2005 at uni. And they asked me a question about children "of a minority" so I started answering "...minority groups..." they stopped me and said they don't like to be called that (THEY JUST SAID IT). The very first question I had was to tell them about where/what I would like to see myself working in the future so I said I was passionate about children and the early years was where I really love being. They were concerned then because the job would be working with teacher/carers/parents not children (didn't read that way in the ad or on their website). And they wanted to know how I felt about driving up to 8 hours a day to visit places in all the area and sleeping over ect. Said I would find out in about 2 weeks but it'll probally just be a rejection call which after hearing about the actual job is okay but I'd rather they not bother calling lol
I also now only have 2 assignments and 33 days until I finish my Masters degree :)
Miss Snix.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
First Full Day of 2010
This is the second week of term 2 of the year and I have finally been booked to work my first full day of the year. I got a phone call about 8pm tonight from a private school principal asking me to work tomorrow, I agreed to it only to then find out it was with a grade 5 class. I taught the grade 4 kids at the school last year and really did not enjoy it one bit but since work has been non-existent this year I agreed to it. As soon as I hung up the phone though I have had this nervous, anxious feeling about it and my first thought was to call him make and say I'd change my mind. But as my mother and friend (who he called before me and she turned him down - says it all lol) keep telling me to just think about the pay, but private schools in Australia pay supply teachers greatly less than state schools do and I have had a lot of problem with this school not paying me in the past (had to spend a lot of time sorting it out so I did get paid). So I am just hoping the day goes really quickly, the kids have a lot of classes (music, library, pe etc.) away from me and most importantly they behave well for me!
On another note this week I have found two, non-teaching, jobs to apply for. The first is a three month contract working as a librarian in the public library. Personally I doubt I'll get the job but can't hurt to put in for it. The second is full time 'Inclusion Support Facilitator' with organisation called Noah's Ark, they are wanting an Early Childhood trained teacher to work with special needs children. I graduated as an Early Childhood teacher in 2006 and am 2 months away from graduating from a Master of Special Education. So this job is more up my ally.
So please wish me well for tomorrow (I need all the luck I can get) and with the job applications :)
Miss Snix.
On another note this week I have found two, non-teaching, jobs to apply for. The first is a three month contract working as a librarian in the public library. Personally I doubt I'll get the job but can't hurt to put in for it. The second is full time 'Inclusion Support Facilitator' with organisation called Noah's Ark, they are wanting an Early Childhood trained teacher to work with special needs children. I graduated as an Early Childhood teacher in 2006 and am 2 months away from graduating from a Master of Special Education. So this job is more up my ally.
So please wish me well for tomorrow (I need all the luck I can get) and with the job applications :)
Miss Snix.
Easter
Happy Easter! We are officially on Easter holidays here for ten days (until the 12th of April).
Not a whole lot has happened since I wrote my last blog. I worked about two weeks ago for three hours again. This time in a state school that I had previously taught at a few times on contract. The school requested me through the relief agency which was nice. I was in a grade 4/5 multiage class. A lot of the children remembered me from previous years which made things a little bit easier and I remembered a few of the more challenging characters so knew how to handle them straight off but overall they were a lovely class. We started off the day with some literacy, and all were so well behaved but then the teacher had planned for me to take them outside to play a game. This is where their lovely behaviour disappeared…they started yelling and acting very silly, requiring a few reminders about their behaviour. Thankfully after the game was their morning tea, and I got to do duty in the 6/7 area and again most the kids in this age group know me so had no troubles. I finished my duty 15mins before the bell to return to class rang and just as I finished and went inside it started raining so that was good timing! After the break I had them for another hour and they did some story writing about something that has happened to them in the past. Most did this with no trouble, others however tried being silly with it. One boy kept doing things eg. picked his ruler up and put it down again and wrote about it and every other movement he made because it was then past tense. Another tried to get a reaction out of me by saying the only thing in his past he could remember was his father trying to kill him (he was telling me with a cheeky smile on his face) so I told him to write that. I kept getting little silly questions and said that I wasn’t the one reading them, their teacher was and if they think he would be pleased than write it. The time with the class actually went by fairly quickly and overall was fairly pleasant, I’ve had a lot worse! Lol
I have just joined a very active teacher forum online where most of the people are from America and it’s very interesting reading their posts. They talk about job fairs and interview seasons which we just don’t have here in Australia! I have only ever had one interview in my four years teaching and that was for a private school last year. I have been getting a bit jealous reading about all the available jobs there are over there and the different opportunities that are available. One day my time will come though…one day…I can hope at least! Although with term one already over and I’ve only had six hours of supply it’s not looking good :(
On a positive…I only have 69 more days and I will have finished my Master of Education (Special Education)! Again I am hoping desperately that this will help with my chances of finding a job but I’ve learnt not to hold my breath.
Miss Snix.
Not a whole lot has happened since I wrote my last blog. I worked about two weeks ago for three hours again. This time in a state school that I had previously taught at a few times on contract. The school requested me through the relief agency which was nice. I was in a grade 4/5 multiage class. A lot of the children remembered me from previous years which made things a little bit easier and I remembered a few of the more challenging characters so knew how to handle them straight off but overall they were a lovely class. We started off the day with some literacy, and all were so well behaved but then the teacher had planned for me to take them outside to play a game. This is where their lovely behaviour disappeared…they started yelling and acting very silly, requiring a few reminders about their behaviour. Thankfully after the game was their morning tea, and I got to do duty in the 6/7 area and again most the kids in this age group know me so had no troubles. I finished my duty 15mins before the bell to return to class rang and just as I finished and went inside it started raining so that was good timing! After the break I had them for another hour and they did some story writing about something that has happened to them in the past. Most did this with no trouble, others however tried being silly with it. One boy kept doing things eg. picked his ruler up and put it down again and wrote about it and every other movement he made because it was then past tense. Another tried to get a reaction out of me by saying the only thing in his past he could remember was his father trying to kill him (he was telling me with a cheeky smile on his face) so I told him to write that. I kept getting little silly questions and said that I wasn’t the one reading them, their teacher was and if they think he would be pleased than write it. The time with the class actually went by fairly quickly and overall was fairly pleasant, I’ve had a lot worse! Lol
I have just joined a very active teacher forum online where most of the people are from America and it’s very interesting reading their posts. They talk about job fairs and interview seasons which we just don’t have here in Australia! I have only ever had one interview in my four years teaching and that was for a private school last year. I have been getting a bit jealous reading about all the available jobs there are over there and the different opportunities that are available. One day my time will come though…one day…I can hope at least! Although with term one already over and I’ve only had six hours of supply it’s not looking good :(
On a positive…I only have 69 more days and I will have finished my Master of Education (Special Education)! Again I am hoping desperately that this will help with my chances of finding a job but I’ve learnt not to hold my breath.
Miss Snix.
First Day of 2010
Had my first teaching day last Wednesday, was only for three hours while the teacher went to training but a job is still a job. I got to have the prep class. This is the age group I love teaching the most so was happy with that. I also had a teacher aide with me for the first hour and a half which was helpful. Most of the children were very well behaved except for a couple who thought they’d push their luck and not do as I asked. But it is also the start of the year and they are just getting used to being in a school environment, some may not have been to childcare before I don’t know, so it is understandable they weren’t as settled as they will be latter in the year when they are used to school. And I guess I am the first relief teacher they had for the year so all new for them. Anyway, it was nice. Haven’t had any work since but neither have my other relief teacher friends (actually they haven’t had any work, so I am a little lucky there) but I assume (hope!) it will start to pick up soon.
Miss Snix.
Miss Snix.
Job Hunting
Tomorrow is my first day back doing supply work for the year. Am only booked to work three hours though. And not sure what year level other than it’s in the junior school. Hope it stays that way and they don’t change their minds and give me an upper grade. Looking forward to making some (very little though) money again, too many bills over the holidays with no income has not been fun. Although not really looking forward to going back to work as a relief teacher. This is my forth year and in all honesty I am starting to hate it. I have contacted the district offices and sent my resumes to every school in the area but have had no luck. I want to have my own class and be considered a ‘real’ teacher not just a glorified babysitter who spends most my day dealing with unruly attitudes and not getting to actually do much real teaching because I am not the ‘normal’ teacher. Unfortunately these two articles sum up my position perfectly: http://www.theteachersareblowingtheirwhistles.com/thecontractwork.htm and http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,26638206-3102,00.html
On a positive note though I only have two more classes to complete and my Master degree will be all finished! On the 11th of July I will be submitting my last ever assignment…not that I’m counting down lol But even with someone studying their Master degree you would think that is someone schools would want to hire. Clearly not. I can only hope that once I finish the Masters it’ll give be a better chance at getting a full time job. Sadly I doubt it will.
Miss Snix.
On a positive note though I only have two more classes to complete and my Master degree will be all finished! On the 11th of July I will be submitting my last ever assignment…not that I’m counting down lol But even with someone studying their Master degree you would think that is someone schools would want to hire. Clearly not. I can only hope that once I finish the Masters it’ll give be a better chance at getting a full time job. Sadly I doubt it will.
Miss Snix.
Update from Last Post
After sending emails to both my union rep and the head of the teaching department in my area I finally got an email back in regards to the letter I was sent, however I was not given any explanation as to why I got the letter or why I was being deactivated. So I sent an email straight back using the email given to me asking once again for an explanation but as yet have no reply. I find the whole thing very odd. I have friends who graduated at the same time as me who do supply work while still looking for permanent work (the exact same situation as me!) but have not been sent this letter! So why me???
New Update! (day after previous bit was typed)
Got a phone call this morning from a man at the office who called to double check that my 'issue' had been sorted out. Well no it hadn't since no explanation was given as to why this was all happening! He explained to me that every teacher gets sent this letter every year in November. But firstly, I have never been sent the letter and secondly as you can all clearly see on the last post the letter was only sent in January! He response everytime I disputed his explanations was "ohh that's odd" I even told him about my friend who is in the same situation not getting the letter "ohh that's odd" AHHH After going around and around in circles with him I realised it was no good. I am 'activated' until December this year at least and he claims I should get another letter sent to me at the end of the year like I have always had...even though I never have before! The whole matter is just way too stressful and quite frankly way too stupid. Hopefully for now at least the matter is resolved. I hope!
Miss Snix.
Letter from Teaching Department
I got the following letter in the mail last week from the state teaching department. And was very confused by it. I have been teaching since 2007 and the whole time have been looking for work. I graduated with the highest possible rating a teacher could get but the department keeps telling me I need to wait on their list for a job to come up and now I get this letter! I have my teacher registration paid and up-to-date, I regularly send out my resume and I call the different reginal officers all over the state making sure my name continues to be out there so they know I want a job so I do not understand this letter one bit! As soon as I got this letter I wrote a letter requesting to be reactivated (never even knew I could be deactivated!) and giving all the information the letter asks for, I also added that I would like to be contacted when the reactivation takes place but so far I have not heard anything! Really do not want to have to make an appointment to go see them, last time I contacted them the reginal manager was very rude to me but with school starting in two weeks time I may just have to. This just really makes me mad!
Studying and (rarely) Working!
Yet again it has been a long time since I blogged. I didn’t mean to leave it this long, I felt like blogging before, but have been either too busy or too tired to actually write anything. Anyway I worked the contract I talked about in my last post.
They were a lovely class of grade two. There were a couple of little challenging children but nothing compared to some of the children I have come across in the past. Looking back on it now it was one of the better contracts I have taught, even when returning from playground duty one day I found the classroom door locked with two of my children locked inside running around. Not that they learnt from the consequence they were given as they repeated this the very next week. But even the little challenging ones were absolutely lovely to chat with on a one to one basis. The contract was only meant to be for the last two weeks of term three but the teacher I was replacing was unable to return directly after the holidays so I was offered to continue the contract for the two and a half weeks after the holidays. I was unable to take the class for the first week back as I was busy finishing off uni assignments, they all like to be due at the same time! But I took the class again after that. The teacher I was replacing didn’t leave any set planning only boxes of photocopy work and text books that I was meant to teach however and whenever I like and coming back after another teacher (three different teacher had them the week I couldn’t be there) so I had no clue what they had and hadn’t been taught. So when I managed to work all through the box I thought I had done fairly well. Only to have the teacher I am replacing come in towards the end and ask me to collect a range of booklets from the children for her to mark and use as part of their final reports she wanted to write before she returned. After collecting all the booklets there was apparently one set I hadn’t collected because they weren’t there. I can’t collect something that wasn’t there! She didn’t seem overly happy that the work in the booklet had not been taught, but again it was never left for me and if it was so important you would think she would make a point of pointing it out or leaving some form of planning for it for me to teach rather than a box of resources for me to use as I please.
I was also left to run a ‘play day’ where children had to get a bunch of sporting equipment out, set it up and then play different games in front of their parents that had come for the day to watch. I wasn’t really left any instructions on what I was meant to do, rather the class had to tell me. While in theory they all had their ‘jobs’ to do in reality this didn’t really pan out and left one very stressed out Miss Snix trying to do it all while keeping things on track, while stopping unhappy children having tantrums, while also trying to save face in front of parents. Ahh fun times, not.
While I was there, there was also a ball games day for the whole school which each grade had to play two different ball games. Myself along with the other regular grade two class teacher the week before had to teach the games to the kids and run through it several time which was fine. But on the day the other teacher was away and the relief teacher didn’t know what to do so when it came time for the grade twos to play their games I had to run around like a headless chook trying to set it up, organise children and save face this time in front of the whole school. Again fun times hahaha
I wasn’t able to finish off the last half week of the contract because I became very ill but all in all I really enjoyed my time with them. That was back in October and unfortunately was the last time I worked this year. I took a couple of weeks off to finish off uni assignments. Was studying four master level classes at once which was very stressful but thankfully passed all classes with flying colours and am now half was through my Masters!
And now it is holiday time and while most teachers are enjoying their break, I am enrolled in two more uni classes. I wanted to enrol in four classes so I could finish my Masters at the end of this semester but wasn’t able to do that. I am not enjoying studying during the Christmas holidays, normally I love Christmas but this year have been so busy and stressed out with assignments I have barely had time to enjoy it at all. But hopefully will be able to finish my first two assignments within the next couple of days so I can at least have one week before Christmas to enjoy it! Also I have a friend I have not seen in three years coming to staying with me for about three weeks so I want to be free to spend time and have fun with!
The bad thing about not working that much in the past year (had a letter from the union about fees and for the first time I had to tick the box that said “worked less than 50 days this year” so my fees are reduced) is the lack of money that comes with it. While I get payments from the government because I am studying again it really is not much, especially when each fortnight straight after I get paid more than half the money goes out to make payments on my car (that I bought when I was working full time and thought I would continue to be doing!) not to mention other bills that keep popping up in the end I am paying out more money each fortnight than I have coming in. Which has lead me to look for work in other fields away from education. But so far I have had no luck, I never thought it would be so hard to get any paying job! I have a bachelors degree, a post-grad certificate and am half way through my masters and yet can not find a job. It just sucks.
Anyway, until I remember to blog again hahaha Have a Happy Holidays everyone!
Miss Snix.
They were a lovely class of grade two. There were a couple of little challenging children but nothing compared to some of the children I have come across in the past. Looking back on it now it was one of the better contracts I have taught, even when returning from playground duty one day I found the classroom door locked with two of my children locked inside running around. Not that they learnt from the consequence they were given as they repeated this the very next week. But even the little challenging ones were absolutely lovely to chat with on a one to one basis. The contract was only meant to be for the last two weeks of term three but the teacher I was replacing was unable to return directly after the holidays so I was offered to continue the contract for the two and a half weeks after the holidays. I was unable to take the class for the first week back as I was busy finishing off uni assignments, they all like to be due at the same time! But I took the class again after that. The teacher I was replacing didn’t leave any set planning only boxes of photocopy work and text books that I was meant to teach however and whenever I like and coming back after another teacher (three different teacher had them the week I couldn’t be there) so I had no clue what they had and hadn’t been taught. So when I managed to work all through the box I thought I had done fairly well. Only to have the teacher I am replacing come in towards the end and ask me to collect a range of booklets from the children for her to mark and use as part of their final reports she wanted to write before she returned. After collecting all the booklets there was apparently one set I hadn’t collected because they weren’t there. I can’t collect something that wasn’t there! She didn’t seem overly happy that the work in the booklet had not been taught, but again it was never left for me and if it was so important you would think she would make a point of pointing it out or leaving some form of planning for it for me to teach rather than a box of resources for me to use as I please.
I was also left to run a ‘play day’ where children had to get a bunch of sporting equipment out, set it up and then play different games in front of their parents that had come for the day to watch. I wasn’t really left any instructions on what I was meant to do, rather the class had to tell me. While in theory they all had their ‘jobs’ to do in reality this didn’t really pan out and left one very stressed out Miss Snix trying to do it all while keeping things on track, while stopping unhappy children having tantrums, while also trying to save face in front of parents. Ahh fun times, not.
While I was there, there was also a ball games day for the whole school which each grade had to play two different ball games. Myself along with the other regular grade two class teacher the week before had to teach the games to the kids and run through it several time which was fine. But on the day the other teacher was away and the relief teacher didn’t know what to do so when it came time for the grade twos to play their games I had to run around like a headless chook trying to set it up, organise children and save face this time in front of the whole school. Again fun times hahaha
I wasn’t able to finish off the last half week of the contract because I became very ill but all in all I really enjoyed my time with them. That was back in October and unfortunately was the last time I worked this year. I took a couple of weeks off to finish off uni assignments. Was studying four master level classes at once which was very stressful but thankfully passed all classes with flying colours and am now half was through my Masters!
And now it is holiday time and while most teachers are enjoying their break, I am enrolled in two more uni classes. I wanted to enrol in four classes so I could finish my Masters at the end of this semester but wasn’t able to do that. I am not enjoying studying during the Christmas holidays, normally I love Christmas but this year have been so busy and stressed out with assignments I have barely had time to enjoy it at all. But hopefully will be able to finish my first two assignments within the next couple of days so I can at least have one week before Christmas to enjoy it! Also I have a friend I have not seen in three years coming to staying with me for about three weeks so I want to be free to spend time and have fun with!
The bad thing about not working that much in the past year (had a letter from the union about fees and for the first time I had to tick the box that said “worked less than 50 days this year” so my fees are reduced) is the lack of money that comes with it. While I get payments from the government because I am studying again it really is not much, especially when each fortnight straight after I get paid more than half the money goes out to make payments on my car (that I bought when I was working full time and thought I would continue to be doing!) not to mention other bills that keep popping up in the end I am paying out more money each fortnight than I have coming in. Which has lead me to look for work in other fields away from education. But so far I have had no luck, I never thought it would be so hard to get any paying job! I have a bachelors degree, a post-grad certificate and am half way through my masters and yet can not find a job. It just sucks.
Anyway, until I remember to blog again hahaha Have a Happy Holidays everyone!
Miss Snix.
Update Time!
Wow it’s been a long time since I last wrote a blog entry! Didn’t mean to leave such a big gap between blogs but anyway, will see if I can remember everything that has happened since my last post.
To start with I didn’t get any work during the teachers strike. Most schools didn’t hire relief teachers because they had very little children show up and the ones that did (from what I’ve heard) had their parents called to collect them otherwise they were supervised by teacher aides. There was also meant to be another state wide strike happening but that was stopped because apparently the union didn’t officially give the education department enough time to respond, there still may be another strike though. Teachers in this state are the lowest paid in the country so it’s understandable they want to be treated fairly but I can’t help but think they are lucky to at least have jobs to go to each day! I haven’t worked since April!!!
Cartoon appeared in local paper 19 May 2009, when teachers striked.
I had my first paid job two weeks ago in a grade one class that I have taught before and taught most the children last year when they were in prep. It’s a lovely class and I really enjoyed the day. Nothing too dramatic happened, had one little boy who was new to the school try to test me but he didn’t get far! He did however manage to annoy the music and a specialist teacher.
Have been very sick lately, for over a month now! It started out with a cough coming and going and then my body felt like it just shut down. Went to the doctor and got some antibiotics for the cough but two days later I couldn’t move because I was too dizzy, so back to the doctors I went. He sent me for a blood test and a chest and lung x-rays and I will get the results back tomorrow . . . and am just so sick of being sick! Have tried everything to get rid of it and nothing has worked!
Also I have officially finished and graduated from my business degree :-) Yay! Don’t know what I’m going to do with it but it’s there if I ever need it. Going back to uni three years after originally finishing made me realise how much I hate it and I vowed to never return again!!! But. . . I have since signed up and am now studying for my Masters of Education, majoring in Special Education! haha I figure I already have a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) majoring in Primary Education so now I will have more areas covered :-) And hopefully have a better shot at landing a full time job! Since I’m not working much I figured I may as well study full time (am doing it externally) so I have four classes at the moment and then will do four over the Christmas break I will have it all finished by February 2010 :-) Well that’s the plan anyway!!!
Ohh! And a little update of trying to get in contact with the new lady at the education department in my local area. . . finally she called me! Early one morning when my booking agency normally calls and she was very rude about the whole thing telling me there is nothing she can do (never mind the fact that it’s her actual job!?) in helping me and that my name is on a list (well duhh I already knew that! Not that this special little list has helped me!!!). I was actually very disappointed in myself after getting off the phone because I didn’t feel I argued my point better to her because my mind was on the fact that I could be losing work while talking to her.
Until next time (hopefully sooner than later),
Miss Snix!
To start with I didn’t get any work during the teachers strike. Most schools didn’t hire relief teachers because they had very little children show up and the ones that did (from what I’ve heard) had their parents called to collect them otherwise they were supervised by teacher aides. There was also meant to be another state wide strike happening but that was stopped because apparently the union didn’t officially give the education department enough time to respond, there still may be another strike though. Teachers in this state are the lowest paid in the country so it’s understandable they want to be treated fairly but I can’t help but think they are lucky to at least have jobs to go to each day! I haven’t worked since April!!!
Cartoon appeared in local paper 19 May 2009, when teachers striked.I had my first paid job two weeks ago in a grade one class that I have taught before and taught most the children last year when they were in prep. It’s a lovely class and I really enjoyed the day. Nothing too dramatic happened, had one little boy who was new to the school try to test me but he didn’t get far! He did however manage to annoy the music and a specialist teacher.
Have been very sick lately, for over a month now! It started out with a cough coming and going and then my body felt like it just shut down. Went to the doctor and got some antibiotics for the cough but two days later I couldn’t move because I was too dizzy, so back to the doctors I went. He sent me for a blood test and a chest and lung x-rays and I will get the results back tomorrow . . . and am just so sick of being sick! Have tried everything to get rid of it and nothing has worked!
Also I have officially finished and graduated from my business degree :-) Yay! Don’t know what I’m going to do with it but it’s there if I ever need it. Going back to uni three years after originally finishing made me realise how much I hate it and I vowed to never return again!!! But. . . I have since signed up and am now studying for my Masters of Education, majoring in Special Education! haha I figure I already have a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) majoring in Primary Education so now I will have more areas covered :-) And hopefully have a better shot at landing a full time job! Since I’m not working much I figured I may as well study full time (am doing it externally) so I have four classes at the moment and then will do four over the Christmas break I will have it all finished by February 2010 :-) Well that’s the plan anyway!!!
Ohh! And a little update of trying to get in contact with the new lady at the education department in my local area. . . finally she called me! Early one morning when my booking agency normally calls and she was very rude about the whole thing telling me there is nothing she can do (never mind the fact that it’s her actual job!?) in helping me and that my name is on a list (well duhh I already knew that! Not that this special little list has helped me!!!). I was actually very disappointed in myself after getting off the phone because I didn’t feel I argued my point better to her because my mind was on the fact that I could be losing work while talking to her.
Until next time (hopefully sooner than later),
Miss Snix!
Rare Work and Strike!
Have been a bit slack with updating my blog lately, mainly because nothing has really been happening. I didn’t work last week but the week before that I did two days in the same grade three class. They were a fairly nice class, had a few little challengers but nothing too bad. I had a different mother each morning in the room to help which was nice. My first day I walked into the room and found a very neat teachers desk with absolutely no planning on it! I asked the other grade three teacher who came in and looked around with me, we asked another teacher who didn’t know anything about it and then rang the office who couldn’t help. Eventually (just as the bell rang) the teacher who I was replacing partner came in and gave me the two days plans. Was happy to have it but by this time the bell had gone and all the children are sitting there looking at me while I am quickly trying to read and decode the planning and figure out what needs to be done and where things are. The second day I thought I might have a little free time because the children had PE, Music and Dance lessons and since I have taught at the school and had children go to other lessons and been allowed to have the free time I assumed that was going to be the case, it wasn’t! First I was sent to the library to cover books, something I have never done before and took me half an hour just to do three but I kind of enjoyed the peace. Then I was sent to another grade three class (that I have taught before, were so much better behaved this time!) to watch them read and then I read a book to them. And then after that was sent (felt like I was the parcel in a game of ‘pass the teacher’) to another grade three class where I watched them do a find-a-word, I started doing it myself but those 7/8 year olds are quick at them and beat me to finishing! So then I did good old show and tell with them and the bell rang and so ended my time there.
Just heard on the news today that next Tuesday state teachers are striking because they want better pay! Try being a supply teacher who if she is lucky gets two days work a fortnight and then complain about lack of pay!!! I don’t even get the choice to strike and have my voice heard – I strike I don’t get paid; they strike and still get paid! I am a union member, I am a fully qualified teacher but it feels like I don’t have any rights because the education department won’t/hasn’t given me permanency or a full time job! I am merely an ‘on call casual’ to them, hardly seems fair! But anyway since they are striking I am going to guess that I will get work that day to cover for them. Will be interesting to see what (if anything) happens from it all.
Miss Snix.
Just heard on the news today that next Tuesday state teachers are striking because they want better pay! Try being a supply teacher who if she is lucky gets two days work a fortnight and then complain about lack of pay!!! I don’t even get the choice to strike and have my voice heard – I strike I don’t get paid; they strike and still get paid! I am a union member, I am a fully qualified teacher but it feels like I don’t have any rights because the education department won’t/hasn’t given me permanency or a full time job! I am merely an ‘on call casual’ to them, hardly seems fair! But anyway since they are striking I am going to guess that I will get work that day to cover for them. Will be interesting to see what (if anything) happens from it all.
Miss Snix.
Union and Dream Classroom!
Well we are now into Term 2 of the school year and one week down and no work yet, not overly worried as it has given me time to work on my uni assignments. But hope it does pick up soon, I seem to have more bills than payslips which is never good. Also the union guy that responded to my email I wrote last term has sent me a form to fill out to look for permanent work. Didn't know I had to keep filling forms out to look for it, I naturally assumed I would still be on the list of teachers looking for it until I was offered somewhere. . .guess I was wrong. And it's a little odd that I have to fill the form out with the union and not the department of education. The union is not compulsory, so how do people get on that aren't with it!? I still haen't heard from the department so I am happy at least I am with the union to look out for me!
Been looking at online blogs of other teachers, love seeing what others are doing in their classrooms and gives me great ideas for when (or should I say if!) I ever get my own. Anyway, I came across this one which looks like a dream classroom:
http://blogs.scholastic.com/3_5/2008/08/tour-angelas-4t.html
Until next time,
Miss Snix.
Been looking at online blogs of other teachers, love seeing what others are doing in their classrooms and gives me great ideas for when (or should I say if!) I ever get my own. Anyway, I came across this one which looks like a dream classroom:
http://blogs.scholastic.com/3_5/2008/08/tour-angelas-4t.html
Until next time,
Miss Snix.
Half a Day Never Felt So Long!
Today I had a grade four class for half the day. The first hour was okay, they rotated around maths games and I just had to supervise, they were all fairly well behaved and I didn’t really have to do much. Then at lunch I got to do duty (don’t I always!? lol) with the grade 6 and 7’s.
After lunch I took the class to watch the younger grades run their cross country. All they had to do was sit and cheer while the little children ran past, that’s it! Of course they rolled around, mucked around were just played up! I couldn’t take them back to the room either because we were surrounded by parents and other classes and were stuck on the wrong side of the running track. One of my girls even ran off into some bushes to ‘help the little ones run’, she never asked me and when I sent responsible girls to get her (several times) she told them she wasn’t coming back and didn’t care. I had to send a note to the office to get help and as we were finally going back to the room the deputy principal came down to look for her. Meanwhile back at the room I put a dvd on for the last 20mins and they sat there quietly watching it. . . why couldn’t we have just done that all afternoon!? The runaway also quietly snuck back into the classroom and the deputy came looking for her.
I only worked for three hours today but it was the longest three hours I have had in a long time! Thankfully there are only two more days until the holidays!
I also wrote an email tonight about my frustrations over still being a supply teacher after 3 years while I am seeing new graduates get permanent positions and full time contracts and how hard it is to survive on the lack of pay due to lack of work. I sent it to the head of my districts union and the state district officer, I doubt it’ll do much but I felt I needed to get my frustrations out. I know I am not the only one feeling this way, there are so many other teachers in my position. Anyway, will wait and see if I get a response. Miss Snix.
Split days!
Last week I worked with four classes in two days at one school. Sounds fun doesn’t it! I could have worked an extra day but when they pre-booked me I turned down the year 6 and 7 classes. It was a little weird actually, the agency that books my work has been told I only work to grade 3 so why they were offering me grade 4, 6 and 7 are beyond me! I did accept to take the year 4 class though because it will only be half a day tomorrow and I figured it’s still early in the year they would still be young.
The first day I started with grade one, many of whom I had taught last year. Faces I remembered, names I didn’t! They weren’t too bad I guess, a little chatty but they did their work not that the teacher I was replacing left much so I had to drag things out a bit to fit the time. Half way through my day I went to the grade threes. The majority of them were well behaved too, except for a few that thought they would try and act silly and get out of work, that didn’t work too well. I had one girl that wouldn’t do any work, wondered around the room taking other peoples things and bugging me to go to the toilet. I eventually let her go (she just wanted to get out of work!) so while she was gone I called the office, packed her stuff up and handed it to a well behaved student who stood by the door. So when she walked in one door I instantly sent her out the other, and she didn’t have time to throw a tantrum! This class were also very chatty and noisy!
Two days later I was back at the school and started with grade two. They had parade first up which was nice; I just had to walk them there, sit down and watch the parade for about half an hour. After this we went back to the room to do work, and they were yet another chatty class! Aghh am I attracting them this year!? haha I also had a couple of grade three children in the room who weren’t allowed to go on their excursion – they were so annoying! They wouldn’t do their work and kept annoying the grade two students. I also had one annoying grade two child though who kept calling out the answers during their spelling and math tests. I spoke with their teacher during lunch and she thought it was funny that they are a chatty class hmm I personally don’t find it funny but then again I like it when children actually listen to me, but each to their own! Half way through my day I was so glad to be leaving and I got to go to the preps! I love the preps!!! I had a month contract last year teaching prep at the school and had done relief work in all the other prep classes so I know all the teachers and aids. But the one I replaced was new and treated me like I knew nothing about preps which was annoying! Anyway it was the first time I had taught preps at this school this year and they are a lovely bunch! I had fun building box dinosaurs with them and then taking them outside to play. We even mixed with the prep class next door to watch a video and they were just as nice!
As I said before tomorrow I am working half a day with year four, I think (hope I’m wrong though!) they will be chatty like the other primary classes I had last week (how can they be so lovely in prep and then change once they move up!?) This is also the last week of term one (I have had a very slow start to the year!) and hen we have a week of holidays for Easter. Looking forward to the holidays! Am going on another mini-roadtrip!
Take care all,
Miss Snix!
Stressful and Wonderful in the Same Week!
Last week I worked two days at the same school. ANd the two classes could not have been more different to each other!
I worked Wednesday in a grade one class, next door to the prep/one class I just had a contract with. They were so different to the p/1 class! They were very chatty the whole time and lost focus easily! I had one child (thankfully I was warned about prior) who refused to do any work and at one point I thought had ran off, well he did but he just went to the drink taps without asking but came back - this set off the panic in me which I had to keep covered since it was a few mins before the bell went and the parents were all outside waiting. . .and watching. Was a very long day!
I got home that night and had a very sore throat, haven't had to raise my voice in so long! Thankfully I had Thursday off to recover.
Friday I was back at the school teaching a prep class. They were so lovely!!! We mixed with the other prep class and we did rotations so I got to meet them all and they were all so nice and lovely! I am going to love teaching them in the future this year. We actually had to quickly change our plans for rotations because my group was meant to be outside and as soon as we get out there it starts raining! Normally when it rains children's behaviour turns bad but they were so well behaved and we just went inside and read a story. Inside activity time is also normally a stressful time as the children are all over the place doing whatever they feel like but they all played quietly and there were no dramas. To end the day the teacher I replaced left a video for them to watch, so we joined the other prep class and ended the pleasent day. If only all days could be so wonderful!!!
Miss Snix.
I worked Wednesday in a grade one class, next door to the prep/one class I just had a contract with. They were so different to the p/1 class! They were very chatty the whole time and lost focus easily! I had one child (thankfully I was warned about prior) who refused to do any work and at one point I thought had ran off, well he did but he just went to the drink taps without asking but came back - this set off the panic in me which I had to keep covered since it was a few mins before the bell went and the parents were all outside waiting. . .and watching. Was a very long day!
I got home that night and had a very sore throat, haven't had to raise my voice in so long! Thankfully I had Thursday off to recover.
Friday I was back at the school teaching a prep class. They were so lovely!!! We mixed with the other prep class and we did rotations so I got to meet them all and they were all so nice and lovely! I am going to love teaching them in the future this year. We actually had to quickly change our plans for rotations because my group was meant to be outside and as soon as we get out there it starts raining! Normally when it rains children's behaviour turns bad but they were so well behaved and we just went inside and read a story. Inside activity time is also normally a stressful time as the children are all over the place doing whatever they feel like but they all played quietly and there were no dramas. To end the day the teacher I replaced left a video for them to watch, so we joined the other prep class and ended the pleasent day. If only all days could be so wonderful!!!
Miss Snix.
Busy Week of Nothingness
So this week I have been busy but not with work. I actually haven't worked since my last post. So far this year I have had one contract for 6 days and one relief day, and there is only three weeks left until the holidays! This year hasn't got off to a good start work wise :( I can only hope it picks up for the rest of the year!
This week I actually took Monday and Tuesday off because we had a cyclone flying around in the sea that went past us, so was not too keen to go out in that type of weather. The cyclone never actually hit us but we got strong winds and very heavy rain. Unfortunately I did have to go out in it on Monday, but that was unavoidable. Anyway my friend actually worked both these days, it was the first time she had worked in a state school all year! Today I was available and more than ready to work but of course no one wanted me! My friend didn't get booked either - aghh slowest year to start regular bookings I've ever had!
I was also going to be available for work tomorrow until my dentist, well not my dentist because he is on holidays, called and gave me an earlier appointment than the one I had. I had trouble last week when my mouth got very painful and I had a lump appear (never a good sign) so I called my dentist and had to book with a different one but being in so much pain and not being able to see him for almost a month I called my doctor. . . who is also on holiday! Aghh just when you need them; they're not there!!! Thankfully I got a good replacement doctor (I have had some shocker of replacement doctors!) who told me it was infected and gave my some pills. The pills have worked a charm! I called back at the dentist and was put on the emergency list, which meant if someone cancels then I get their spot. So someone must have cancelled and now I get to go tomorrow. I'm not really in any pain at the moment but I guess it's better to get it checked and make sure it didn't spread or do any damage. So because of this I am not going to be able to work tomorrow, but I am very thankful I just got paid! Dental visits are never cheap :(
The reason I went out Monday and today was because I am currently getting government payments for being unemployed (apart from my 1 contract and 1 relief day I haven't worked since the start of December) but since I am starting study I had to change my type of payment over. I thought it would be simple, all my information is on their computer and all they have to do is click and change it but NO! Paperwork! I have to fill out endless paperwork and after three long waiting, boring visits to them I think I have finally sorted it out! It is such a pain! The payment I am on now is twice as much as the one I am trying to get on (they said it will take up to a month before it changes over!), you think they would be happy to pay me less!!! Not that I plan to be on it a long time. I relief day pay is more than what they will be paying me a fortnight on my student payments! So as soon as I get some good constant work coming in I won't even need it!
I am trying to be good with money thins year! I would love to save and go on a really nice holiday somewhere. At the start of the year my friend wanted to go on a cruise with me, probably still does but like me isn't making too much at the moment. My Mum is going on holiday soon with my sister and her three kids and are going to all different amusement parks. . . yeah I'm jealous!!! I get to stay at home with my pets and pray for work to get money to one day fulfill my dream holiday. . .or at least enough to pay for my next dental visit!!!
Until my next ramble,
Miss Snix.
This week I actually took Monday and Tuesday off because we had a cyclone flying around in the sea that went past us, so was not too keen to go out in that type of weather. The cyclone never actually hit us but we got strong winds and very heavy rain. Unfortunately I did have to go out in it on Monday, but that was unavoidable. Anyway my friend actually worked both these days, it was the first time she had worked in a state school all year! Today I was available and more than ready to work but of course no one wanted me! My friend didn't get booked either - aghh slowest year to start regular bookings I've ever had!
I was also going to be available for work tomorrow until my dentist, well not my dentist because he is on holidays, called and gave me an earlier appointment than the one I had. I had trouble last week when my mouth got very painful and I had a lump appear (never a good sign) so I called my dentist and had to book with a different one but being in so much pain and not being able to see him for almost a month I called my doctor. . . who is also on holiday! Aghh just when you need them; they're not there!!! Thankfully I got a good replacement doctor (I have had some shocker of replacement doctors!) who told me it was infected and gave my some pills. The pills have worked a charm! I called back at the dentist and was put on the emergency list, which meant if someone cancels then I get their spot. So someone must have cancelled and now I get to go tomorrow. I'm not really in any pain at the moment but I guess it's better to get it checked and make sure it didn't spread or do any damage. So because of this I am not going to be able to work tomorrow, but I am very thankful I just got paid! Dental visits are never cheap :(
The reason I went out Monday and today was because I am currently getting government payments for being unemployed (apart from my 1 contract and 1 relief day I haven't worked since the start of December) but since I am starting study I had to change my type of payment over. I thought it would be simple, all my information is on their computer and all they have to do is click and change it but NO! Paperwork! I have to fill out endless paperwork and after three long waiting, boring visits to them I think I have finally sorted it out! It is such a pain! The payment I am on now is twice as much as the one I am trying to get on (they said it will take up to a month before it changes over!), you think they would be happy to pay me less!!! Not that I plan to be on it a long time. I relief day pay is more than what they will be paying me a fortnight on my student payments! So as soon as I get some good constant work coming in I won't even need it!
I am trying to be good with money thins year! I would love to save and go on a really nice holiday somewhere. At the start of the year my friend wanted to go on a cruise with me, probably still does but like me isn't making too much at the moment. My Mum is going on holiday soon with my sister and her three kids and are going to all different amusement parks. . . yeah I'm jealous!!! I get to stay at home with my pets and pray for work to get money to one day fulfill my dream holiday. . .or at least enough to pay for my next dental visit!!!
Until my next ramble,
Miss Snix.
Back at Work!
First time this year I got a phone call asking if I was available for work! Phone scared the living daylights out of me – agh back to 6am phone calls waking me up! It was for a prep/one class at a school I have had a lot of relief and contract work before. Plus I had seen all the grade one photos in the paper and recognized most of them from prep last year. Anyway once I got there the school asked if I could work the whole week, I agreed thinking it would be good money until they said I would have to go on contract! I hate contract money! You only get paid half of what relief payments are even though I am doing the same work.
And on top of that I got a letter from my insurance company saying I had to pay a large sum of money ($100 more than I was actually making this week!) for a car ‘accident’ I had back in November. Not sure if I have wrote about this or not but at another school a mother was taking off infront of me around a bend and I went to go after her, she slammed her brakes on and so did I but I didn’t stop quick enough and slightly bumped her car. There was no damage because we both looked at the cars. I took mine to be checked out and all it needed was a wheel alignment, no paint even came off! But her husband starting ringing me saying I had to personally pay them, he wasn’t even there! The insurance company ‘took care of it’. I called the insurance company asking why it took almost four months for me to get a bill and they said it was because they didn’t get the car checked until December and then didn’t get it fixed until January but it had a bit of damage (but not enough to stop driving it or fix it straight away!?) I demanded to have a copy of the report sent to me and am waiting for that before I make the payment but since the insurance company has already paid them I have to pay no matter what.
Anyway back to teaching! I thought it would be a nice way to get me back into the swing of teaching and I like having continuity in teaching especially when it is with a nice class and I get to know the children. The first day wasn’t too bad, they were a little bit chatty and took a while to follow instructions but yesterday and today they have settled down so much. I think they realize I am there all week so they need to behave which is so nice! They are a lovely class though. The preps (there are only a few of them) go off to play with the other prep classes during first and second session so I really only get to see them for an hour in the afternoon.
The teacher I am replacing had to take leave suddenly because a family member fell sick and she had to look after them. She left a timetable for Monday which was helpful but nothing for the rest of the week. I went to the office and all they had was a general one for the week. Literacy first session, maths second session and theme work in the afternoon – doesn’t say what to actually do for any of it though! But it hasn’t been too bad; I have been able to work out what they have been doing and made my own work for them that seem similar to where they were headed.
I also discovered a girl I went to high school with and who only graduated last year from uni has landed herself a full time job there. Lucky her. Also the teacher that took my job from me (she only got the job because she was friends with the lady I was replacing and I was meant to get the full time job before she came along) told me her son is in my class and wanted me to watch him because he doesn’t play with anyone at lunch. What does she expect me to do, stand out there every lunch watching him!? I am here for (as far as I know) one week- she works there, she can do it!
Well I am half way through my week and except for the lack of pay I am having a really nice time, couldn’t ask for a better way to start my teaching year.
Ohh! And I got my uni information this week, now all I need to do is pick and enroll in my classes. Not as excited about going back to uni now I have started working. I feel so tired at the end of the day so am not sure how I will go with writing assignments again and I have to try and remember how to reference and all that ‘uni stuff’ again. Hmmm not sure what I have got myself in for.
Miss Snix.
And on top of that I got a letter from my insurance company saying I had to pay a large sum of money ($100 more than I was actually making this week!) for a car ‘accident’ I had back in November. Not sure if I have wrote about this or not but at another school a mother was taking off infront of me around a bend and I went to go after her, she slammed her brakes on and so did I but I didn’t stop quick enough and slightly bumped her car. There was no damage because we both looked at the cars. I took mine to be checked out and all it needed was a wheel alignment, no paint even came off! But her husband starting ringing me saying I had to personally pay them, he wasn’t even there! The insurance company ‘took care of it’. I called the insurance company asking why it took almost four months for me to get a bill and they said it was because they didn’t get the car checked until December and then didn’t get it fixed until January but it had a bit of damage (but not enough to stop driving it or fix it straight away!?) I demanded to have a copy of the report sent to me and am waiting for that before I make the payment but since the insurance company has already paid them I have to pay no matter what.
Anyway back to teaching! I thought it would be a nice way to get me back into the swing of teaching and I like having continuity in teaching especially when it is with a nice class and I get to know the children. The first day wasn’t too bad, they were a little bit chatty and took a while to follow instructions but yesterday and today they have settled down so much. I think they realize I am there all week so they need to behave which is so nice! They are a lovely class though. The preps (there are only a few of them) go off to play with the other prep classes during first and second session so I really only get to see them for an hour in the afternoon.
The teacher I am replacing had to take leave suddenly because a family member fell sick and she had to look after them. She left a timetable for Monday which was helpful but nothing for the rest of the week. I went to the office and all they had was a general one for the week. Literacy first session, maths second session and theme work in the afternoon – doesn’t say what to actually do for any of it though! But it hasn’t been too bad; I have been able to work out what they have been doing and made my own work for them that seem similar to where they were headed.
I also discovered a girl I went to high school with and who only graduated last year from uni has landed herself a full time job there. Lucky her. Also the teacher that took my job from me (she only got the job because she was friends with the lady I was replacing and I was meant to get the full time job before she came along) told me her son is in my class and wanted me to watch him because he doesn’t play with anyone at lunch. What does she expect me to do, stand out there every lunch watching him!? I am here for (as far as I know) one week- she works there, she can do it!
Well I am half way through my week and except for the lack of pay I am having a really nice time, couldn’t ask for a better way to start my teaching year.
Ohh! And I got my uni information this week, now all I need to do is pick and enroll in my classes. Not as excited about going back to uni now I have started working. I feel so tired at the end of the day so am not sure how I will go with writing assignments again and I have to try and remember how to reference and all that ‘uni stuff’ again. Hmmm not sure what I have got myself in for.
Miss Snix.
Bullies!
Well I got an email today saying that I was accepted into the uni course - yay! But aghh back to study lol I will be getting a letter in the mail next week to officially tell me I have been accepted. Now I need to pick out 4 wonderful (better than picking boring ones!) classes to study!
Something that has been upsetting me for a while now is one of my nephews who is 11 years old and in grade 7 has been getting bullied at school. He is a really nice, friendly, normally happy-go -lucky boy but has been so upset by it all he has become very withdrawn and quiet. It seems 2 girls in his class have been picking on him for his weight (he is not over weight; just a bit bigger but he is also fairly tall) and since the principal was made aware of it didn't really do much to stop the situation but seems to have turned a blind eye to it, it has grown with other children following these girls lead thinking they are cool. My nephew was so upset and worried about it yesterday morning he was in absolute tears at the thought of going to school, so my sister (his Mum) allowed him not to go. I spent parts of yesterday and today with him, and it is like speaking to a different child; his confidence is just shattered to the point my sister is thinking of taking him to a councilor to talk about it (he tends to bottle things up until he gets that angry he just lets it out). I am just so upset that it has got this far and he is feeling this way and I also feel very angry that his teacher and principal know this is happening and have not made it stop.
School is meant to be a place children are able to go to and feel completely safe both physically and emotionally. Unfortunately there seems to be more and more bullying going on in schools these days and teachers/principals are kidding themselves if they think it is not happening in their school; I don't know what they think they are achieving by not putting a stop to it. In my nephew’s case it is happening in primary school, I can only imagine how bad things are in the high school years. I think children should be taught (which they are as far as I can see) that bullying is not accepted and that if they bully there will be consequences (which as far as I can see either there aren’t or they are light and the bullies just continue their behavior) so it does not gradually lead to getting out of hand.
Miss Snix.
Something that has been upsetting me for a while now is one of my nephews who is 11 years old and in grade 7 has been getting bullied at school. He is a really nice, friendly, normally happy-go -lucky boy but has been so upset by it all he has become very withdrawn and quiet. It seems 2 girls in his class have been picking on him for his weight (he is not over weight; just a bit bigger but he is also fairly tall) and since the principal was made aware of it didn't really do much to stop the situation but seems to have turned a blind eye to it, it has grown with other children following these girls lead thinking they are cool. My nephew was so upset and worried about it yesterday morning he was in absolute tears at the thought of going to school, so my sister (his Mum) allowed him not to go. I spent parts of yesterday and today with him, and it is like speaking to a different child; his confidence is just shattered to the point my sister is thinking of taking him to a councilor to talk about it (he tends to bottle things up until he gets that angry he just lets it out). I am just so upset that it has got this far and he is feeling this way and I also feel very angry that his teacher and principal know this is happening and have not made it stop.
School is meant to be a place children are able to go to and feel completely safe both physically and emotionally. Unfortunately there seems to be more and more bullying going on in schools these days and teachers/principals are kidding themselves if they think it is not happening in their school; I don't know what they think they are achieving by not putting a stop to it. In my nephew’s case it is happening in primary school, I can only imagine how bad things are in the high school years. I think children should be taught (which they are as far as I can see) that bullying is not accepted and that if they bully there will be consequences (which as far as I can see either there aren’t or they are light and the bullies just continue their behavior) so it does not gradually lead to getting out of hand.
Miss Snix.
New Year - New Beginnings?
Well the holidays are over and the new school year has started; it actually started about three weeks ago but as of yet I haven't had any work. It feels like a lot has changed since my blogging last year, and a lot has also stayed the same (still trying to figure out if that is good or bad!).
Holiday
Holidays were great! I had a friend come stay with me for about 3 weeks and was here for Christmas and my birthday. The lead up to Christmas is always a fun time, I love seeing all the Christmas decorations come out everywhere and going and seeing others houses all decorated with lights at night. I bought a brand new tree too, so that was fun putting it together and decorating it. The day was nice ad fun with family, and not too hot which was really nice! My birthday wasn't as fun, rather boring really but I did have a lot of luck playing the pokies after a dinner out which was a nice change!
Working
Before school went back I updated the resume and sent it off to all the schools in the area (with all the range of relief/contract work I've done it actually is looking very good; I'm impressed anyway lol). I also resigned up with the relief agency all the schools go through, but so far haven't heard from them.
I don’t know why but I got all excited about ‘day 8’ thinking after all the hard work I put in last year I would finally get an offer. Day 8 is the day all the schools count how many children they have and if they have too many in a class then the schools have to employ extra teachers and make new classes. I didn’t get a call.
I have had a few phone calls offering work but for one reason or another they just have not worked out. First I got a phone call just before the school year started offering me a job on the other side of my state teaching SEU, sounded good except they wanted me there in 2 days (it's flooding up there and no way to get in or out of the area - and it's only 2 days!) so I turned that offer down.
Next I got a call from a principal of a school I do not have listed with the agency as one of my choices because quite frankly the school is disgusting! I worked there last year and had grade 3 children swear their head of at me, call me every name under the sun and bash each other in front of me (bashing heads into cement!) and then the principal not really caring (he had no control!!!) not to mention other horrible experiences I have had at the school. . . anyway he called me offering me 3 weeks work doing relief while teachers are at training; they way he was talking sounded like a young class so I agreed thinking they might not be as bad until he said it was the grade 4 classes. . . who were the swearing holligan grade 3s from last year. . .crap!!! So I am going to call them back in a little while and pretend I have other work and unavailable those dates. I am NOT putting myself through that hell again (and it would only be on contract pay; not worth it!)
The other call I got was actually tonight from a principal of a private school. I have only worked in their kindergarten and that was not enjoyable. Anyway he wanted me to take a grade 6 class but I told him I am only working with the little grades this year. I feel rude turning it down, but I feel more confident with the littlies and have done that many upper grades I just feel like I want to have a good year. Anyway, doubt I will be hearing from him again!
Changing Careers. . . maybe
After last year I felt very drained from teaching. I love being with kids and in the classroom but not knowing where or what or who I'll be with the next day gets a bit stressful, especially when you get a class that has very little respect for a relief teacher (than again most 'regular' teachers don't seem to show much respect for relief teachers either!). This is my third year out teaching and I know that is not a long time but there has been that many new graduates since I graduated that come from uni and seem to land a full time job straight away, I don't get why they have and I seemed to have slipped through. . . I got high marks at uni, I got an S1 rating as an excellent teacher in the eyes of the education department (you can't get any higher!) and I have worked very hard to prove that I enjoy and am good at what I do but it just doesn't seem to matter and I do get very jealous of others getting their own class while I am still merely a 'relief teacher'.
Anyway. . .I thought instead of continuing to be miserable with things I would try and gain some new skills and try something different. So after looking through TAFE and uni websites for different courses I finally found a business course that sounds interesting. It is an external course so I can keep working (when I get work! lol) during the day and study at night or weekends plus it is only 1 semester full time so the whole thing is only 4 classes that I can choose from all the master business classes. Was all excited about it until I got a phone call today saying to get in I need to have at least 2 years work experience which in a way I do but my contract work does not add up to 2 years so I had to resubmit my resume with exactly how many days I have worked at each school over the past two years. . .so after counting them all I sent my resume back off and am hoping I get in! I don’t plan on quitting teaching! But I figure it will be good to learn something new and different to education plus the classes that I want to take are management and organization ones which I think will also help in my teaching anyway. But with the way things have been going if I do feel the need to change careers (I’ve been working with children for 9 years and love it but wouldn’t mind trying something different) at least I will have some knowledge and countable qualifications.
It feels so good to write a blog (or in my case novel! lol) again and get it all out, hopefully over the span of this year my blogs are more positive (lol I pray for non-swearing, non-bashing, respectful classes! lol), last years got a little depressing at times but thinking back about them now at least I can say I have been having an adventure!
Miss Snix.
Holiday
Holidays were great! I had a friend come stay with me for about 3 weeks and was here for Christmas and my birthday. The lead up to Christmas is always a fun time, I love seeing all the Christmas decorations come out everywhere and going and seeing others houses all decorated with lights at night. I bought a brand new tree too, so that was fun putting it together and decorating it. The day was nice ad fun with family, and not too hot which was really nice! My birthday wasn't as fun, rather boring really but I did have a lot of luck playing the pokies after a dinner out which was a nice change!
Working
Before school went back I updated the resume and sent it off to all the schools in the area (with all the range of relief/contract work I've done it actually is looking very good; I'm impressed anyway lol). I also resigned up with the relief agency all the schools go through, but so far haven't heard from them.
I don’t know why but I got all excited about ‘day 8’ thinking after all the hard work I put in last year I would finally get an offer. Day 8 is the day all the schools count how many children they have and if they have too many in a class then the schools have to employ extra teachers and make new classes. I didn’t get a call.
I have had a few phone calls offering work but for one reason or another they just have not worked out. First I got a phone call just before the school year started offering me a job on the other side of my state teaching SEU, sounded good except they wanted me there in 2 days (it's flooding up there and no way to get in or out of the area - and it's only 2 days!) so I turned that offer down.
Next I got a call from a principal of a school I do not have listed with the agency as one of my choices because quite frankly the school is disgusting! I worked there last year and had grade 3 children swear their head of at me, call me every name under the sun and bash each other in front of me (bashing heads into cement!) and then the principal not really caring (he had no control!!!) not to mention other horrible experiences I have had at the school. . . anyway he called me offering me 3 weeks work doing relief while teachers are at training; they way he was talking sounded like a young class so I agreed thinking they might not be as bad until he said it was the grade 4 classes. . . who were the swearing holligan grade 3s from last year. . .crap!!! So I am going to call them back in a little while and pretend I have other work and unavailable those dates. I am NOT putting myself through that hell again (and it would only be on contract pay; not worth it!)
The other call I got was actually tonight from a principal of a private school. I have only worked in their kindergarten and that was not enjoyable. Anyway he wanted me to take a grade 6 class but I told him I am only working with the little grades this year. I feel rude turning it down, but I feel more confident with the littlies and have done that many upper grades I just feel like I want to have a good year. Anyway, doubt I will be hearing from him again!
Changing Careers. . . maybe
After last year I felt very drained from teaching. I love being with kids and in the classroom but not knowing where or what or who I'll be with the next day gets a bit stressful, especially when you get a class that has very little respect for a relief teacher (than again most 'regular' teachers don't seem to show much respect for relief teachers either!). This is my third year out teaching and I know that is not a long time but there has been that many new graduates since I graduated that come from uni and seem to land a full time job straight away, I don't get why they have and I seemed to have slipped through. . . I got high marks at uni, I got an S1 rating as an excellent teacher in the eyes of the education department (you can't get any higher!) and I have worked very hard to prove that I enjoy and am good at what I do but it just doesn't seem to matter and I do get very jealous of others getting their own class while I am still merely a 'relief teacher'.
Anyway. . .I thought instead of continuing to be miserable with things I would try and gain some new skills and try something different. So after looking through TAFE and uni websites for different courses I finally found a business course that sounds interesting. It is an external course so I can keep working (when I get work! lol) during the day and study at night or weekends plus it is only 1 semester full time so the whole thing is only 4 classes that I can choose from all the master business classes. Was all excited about it until I got a phone call today saying to get in I need to have at least 2 years work experience which in a way I do but my contract work does not add up to 2 years so I had to resubmit my resume with exactly how many days I have worked at each school over the past two years. . .so after counting them all I sent my resume back off and am hoping I get in! I don’t plan on quitting teaching! But I figure it will be good to learn something new and different to education plus the classes that I want to take are management and organization ones which I think will also help in my teaching anyway. But with the way things have been going if I do feel the need to change careers (I’ve been working with children for 9 years and love it but wouldn’t mind trying something different) at least I will have some knowledge and countable qualifications.
It feels so good to write a blog (or in my case novel! lol) again and get it all out, hopefully over the span of this year my blogs are more positive (lol I pray for non-swearing, non-bashing, respectful classes! lol), last years got a little depressing at times but thinking back about them now at least I can say I have been having an adventure!
Miss Snix.
There's A Chook In My Classroom!
I'm baccckk. . . hahaha I taught the grade two class today. Wasn't the same one I had on Monday, it was the class next to them. They were slightly (ever so slightly!) better than the others.
The day started off well; all seated quietly at their desks going through their work. I had an aide decide that the trainee aide she had following her would be less bored if she was in my class than watching her reading with kids. The kids were so well behaved during literacy. . . and then maths happened. A few decided they didn't want to do anything, others decided they would rather sit and talk and not listen and one lovely little fella decided to play with pieces of wire (don't know where he got it from) while also throwing pencils at others. Seriously! What goes on in their minds sometimes?!? So the ones that finished early I gave a colouring in sheet to but they finished that while the slackers hadn't got far with maths (some didn't even start). So I let the early finishers play a group game, of course seeing them having fun finally made the lazy ones finish their work. We then went out for a game before morning tea.
Morning tea I got to do my favorite thing: duty!!! Aghh I had the grade 2-5 eating area again which is meant to have two teachers doing it but of course noone else shows up so I got to look after them all by myself. AND! The school made today 'treat day' (the other yr2 teacher had no idea what the hell it was lol) which meant everyone that had tuckshop (which are only allowed to sell healthy foods) also had a free slice of chocolate cake (for morning tea) or icecream (big lunch) in their bag! What was the point of it is beyond me. All it did was hype them up! That plus all the candy canes children were handing out and eating (we had to tell them to put them away first thing in the morning) made them go off their rocker.
After morning tea we did a class crossword, which sounds easy except the children kept talking over me and not hearing anything and then calling out because they didn't hear anything (close your mouth and listen! How hard is that!?) Then they had to do a writing task, I told them they had to do a good job by themselves because their grade 3 teachers would be looking at it for next year. After moving some people who still couldn't close their mouths, they were finally quiet again for almost an hour. By lunch time almost all had finished except for three who hadn't even started! So I made them stay in and write it (even while their icecream was melting next to them . . . ) it's amazing how quickly they suddenly wrote! hahaha
Big lunch I actually had the whole time off to eat, was so nice! Highlight of my day hahaha After that both grade two classes came together to do show and tell (most classes I've taught it takes about 15mins to do) but they went crazy together and would not sit still, keep their hands to themselves or shut up! It took us well over half an hour to do! We then had a mother show up with a baby chicken for her son to show (haha like they weren't worked up before!) and the children's behavior got even worse! After that we were meant to split up again to do some art (was looking forward to separating them so it would be a bit quieter!) but the RE teacher shows up and takes them all for RE, which was a nightmare trying to get them to sit and listen to her (they were so rude!) She showed a cool popup book about the birth of Jesus and also explained why we have candy canes at Christmas. I thought it was really interesting because I had never really thought about it before. Then we had 5mins left before the bell so I got them to clean up the room (pig sty!) which may have involved voice raising haha (if there's a big chunk of paper under your desk - PICK IT UP!)
Then the bell went and I instantly felt relaxed haha And that was my day. . .
Miss Snix.
The day started off well; all seated quietly at their desks going through their work. I had an aide decide that the trainee aide she had following her would be less bored if she was in my class than watching her reading with kids. The kids were so well behaved during literacy. . . and then maths happened. A few decided they didn't want to do anything, others decided they would rather sit and talk and not listen and one lovely little fella decided to play with pieces of wire (don't know where he got it from) while also throwing pencils at others. Seriously! What goes on in their minds sometimes?!? So the ones that finished early I gave a colouring in sheet to but they finished that while the slackers hadn't got far with maths (some didn't even start). So I let the early finishers play a group game, of course seeing them having fun finally made the lazy ones finish their work. We then went out for a game before morning tea.
Morning tea I got to do my favorite thing: duty!!! Aghh I had the grade 2-5 eating area again which is meant to have two teachers doing it but of course noone else shows up so I got to look after them all by myself. AND! The school made today 'treat day' (the other yr2 teacher had no idea what the hell it was lol) which meant everyone that had tuckshop (which are only allowed to sell healthy foods) also had a free slice of chocolate cake (for morning tea) or icecream (big lunch) in their bag! What was the point of it is beyond me. All it did was hype them up! That plus all the candy canes children were handing out and eating (we had to tell them to put them away first thing in the morning) made them go off their rocker.
After morning tea we did a class crossword, which sounds easy except the children kept talking over me and not hearing anything and then calling out because they didn't hear anything (close your mouth and listen! How hard is that!?) Then they had to do a writing task, I told them they had to do a good job by themselves because their grade 3 teachers would be looking at it for next year. After moving some people who still couldn't close their mouths, they were finally quiet again for almost an hour. By lunch time almost all had finished except for three who hadn't even started! So I made them stay in and write it (even while their icecream was melting next to them . . . ) it's amazing how quickly they suddenly wrote! hahaha
Big lunch I actually had the whole time off to eat, was so nice! Highlight of my day hahaha After that both grade two classes came together to do show and tell (most classes I've taught it takes about 15mins to do) but they went crazy together and would not sit still, keep their hands to themselves or shut up! It took us well over half an hour to do! We then had a mother show up with a baby chicken for her son to show (haha like they weren't worked up before!) and the children's behavior got even worse! After that we were meant to split up again to do some art (was looking forward to separating them so it would be a bit quieter!) but the RE teacher shows up and takes them all for RE, which was a nightmare trying to get them to sit and listen to her (they were so rude!) She showed a cool popup book about the birth of Jesus and also explained why we have candy canes at Christmas. I thought it was really interesting because I had never really thought about it before. Then we had 5mins left before the bell so I got them to clean up the room (pig sty!) which may have involved voice raising haha (if there's a big chunk of paper under your desk - PICK IT UP!)
Then the bell went and I instantly felt relaxed haha And that was my day. . .
Miss Snix.
Mad Mad Monday!!!
I wasn't going to write a blog today but after the day I've had. . . . I need to get it out! lol My day started a little past 6am when I got a phone call booking me for the day working at the school I was at on Friday (the same one I had the yr4/5 contract and where I work a lot ~ I really need nicknames for schools so I don't get confused about which ones I am talking about on here lol) Anywho it was for a grade 2 class, I have never had a straight gr2 class there before but am prebooked to work with them Thursday, so the kids don't really know me aghh lol
The class works with the other gr2 class next door so the morning was okay with the other teacher doing all the morning/carpet stuff. Although I found it a little rude the children talking over and mucking around while she was talking, but who was I to step in when the regular teacher found this behavior acceptable. When we split up and went to our own classrooms my lot of children just behaved ridiculously! Which resulted in me moving children, giving warnings and the occasional bribery of positive rewards not that it had much affect. How teachers can put up with such horrible behavior in their rooms everyday is beyond me!
Anyway the fun continued at morning tea when just before heading off to do my duty that I was aware of my teaching partner informs me I have to do two duties today (yay), normally a teacher only has one a day but the one I was replacing request to have two for Mondays (who does that to themselves!?) The first duty was during eating time, I was watching all the yr2-5 children alongside the deputy (who last time I saw him left the class he was teaching to come talk to me while I was teaching, drinking his coffee - he's an idiot and full of himself lol The other staff members call him the Principals handbag) So Mr 'I have no brains but sucked up to get a deputy job' (lol I am in a great mood aren't I!?) decided half way through the duty to walk off talking to another teacher and left me with all the year 2 to year 5 children! Do you know how many damn children that is!!! The next duty wasn't as bad, it was just watching the prep and yr1 children play, although the teacher before me was cranky because I was 'late' (I was actually a couple of mins early!)
Back in the classroom the children's behavior was still shocking, during the middle session I had to move three kids to my teaching partners room. One ended up getting a behavior slip that gets sent home because she was that bad. She thought it was funny and wanted to show off the slip to her friends (she is 7 and thinks being in trouble is cool!).
I pretty much just counted down the time for the session to be over. In the afternoon they were actually very settled and sat nice and quietly doing their Santa coloring in, it was so nice!!! Until I heard a barking at the door 10mins before the bell. A mother showed up unannounced with a giant dog! Aghh so I got the children to sit in a circle on the floor and had the child (who was almost smaller than the dog!) in the middle trying to talk about it. The children went berserk! It was ridiculous!!! The dog ran around jumping on kids (some got scratched). Finally the mother woke up and took the dog away leaving us two mins until the bell and a pig sty of a room. The children were so worked up now instead of cleaning up they played up and we had to finish putting chairs up after the bell had went.
Aghh I was so glad to get out of there in the afternoon lol They asked if I could work there tomorrow but I have my dentist appointment (which I seriously thing will be more fun!) and besides I am booked there for Thursday so I need to recharge myself for then!
Walking in this morning I also saw all the gr4/5s waiting at the gate ready to go on camp, I thought to myself if I was still there teacher I would be going with them. At the time I was thinking I am glad I didn’t have too although by the end of the day it didn’t seem like such a bad idea! It’s funny thinking if I had kept my job teaching them things would be so different, I wouldn’t have had any of the experiences I have had since; both bad (like being attacked my a weird parent and dealing with horrible behavior) and good (like teaching the amazing prep class I had a contract with and meeting and getting to know some wonderful people). I guess everything happens for a reason.
I need a rest lol,
Miss Snix.
The class works with the other gr2 class next door so the morning was okay with the other teacher doing all the morning/carpet stuff. Although I found it a little rude the children talking over and mucking around while she was talking, but who was I to step in when the regular teacher found this behavior acceptable. When we split up and went to our own classrooms my lot of children just behaved ridiculously! Which resulted in me moving children, giving warnings and the occasional bribery of positive rewards not that it had much affect. How teachers can put up with such horrible behavior in their rooms everyday is beyond me!
Anyway the fun continued at morning tea when just before heading off to do my duty that I was aware of my teaching partner informs me I have to do two duties today (yay), normally a teacher only has one a day but the one I was replacing request to have two for Mondays (who does that to themselves!?) The first duty was during eating time, I was watching all the yr2-5 children alongside the deputy (who last time I saw him left the class he was teaching to come talk to me while I was teaching, drinking his coffee - he's an idiot and full of himself lol The other staff members call him the Principals handbag) So Mr 'I have no brains but sucked up to get a deputy job' (lol I am in a great mood aren't I!?) decided half way through the duty to walk off talking to another teacher and left me with all the year 2 to year 5 children! Do you know how many damn children that is!!! The next duty wasn't as bad, it was just watching the prep and yr1 children play, although the teacher before me was cranky because I was 'late' (I was actually a couple of mins early!)
Back in the classroom the children's behavior was still shocking, during the middle session I had to move three kids to my teaching partners room. One ended up getting a behavior slip that gets sent home because she was that bad. She thought it was funny and wanted to show off the slip to her friends (she is 7 and thinks being in trouble is cool!).
I pretty much just counted down the time for the session to be over. In the afternoon they were actually very settled and sat nice and quietly doing their Santa coloring in, it was so nice!!! Until I heard a barking at the door 10mins before the bell. A mother showed up unannounced with a giant dog! Aghh so I got the children to sit in a circle on the floor and had the child (who was almost smaller than the dog!) in the middle trying to talk about it. The children went berserk! It was ridiculous!!! The dog ran around jumping on kids (some got scratched). Finally the mother woke up and took the dog away leaving us two mins until the bell and a pig sty of a room. The children were so worked up now instead of cleaning up they played up and we had to finish putting chairs up after the bell had went.
Aghh I was so glad to get out of there in the afternoon lol They asked if I could work there tomorrow but I have my dentist appointment (which I seriously thing will be more fun!) and besides I am booked there for Thursday so I need to recharge myself for then!
Walking in this morning I also saw all the gr4/5s waiting at the gate ready to go on camp, I thought to myself if I was still there teacher I would be going with them. At the time I was thinking I am glad I didn’t have too although by the end of the day it didn’t seem like such a bad idea! It’s funny thinking if I had kept my job teaching them things would be so different, I wouldn’t have had any of the experiences I have had since; both bad (like being attacked my a weird parent and dealing with horrible behavior) and good (like teaching the amazing prep class I had a contract with and meeting and getting to know some wonderful people). I guess everything happens for a reason.
I need a rest lol,
Miss Snix.
