Wednesday.

Today was a lovely and crazy day.

Crazy... because it was out of routine, and if you know kids a change in routine is all it takes for there to be bedlam! It was almost impossible to keep them on task and quiet in the bits of the day we actually did work. Luckily there wasn't much work to be done between Sport, Assembly, a visit from the Little Athletics people and our super exciting excursion to see Watoto!

Watoto was amazing!
I've seen them twice before, but for most of my kids it was their first time. I think talking about Uganda and the lives these orphans have come from, before we went, added to the experience. My kids felt hnoured to be a part of the concert and were absolutely gobsmacked by their dancing skills! Boy those kids can move! (Seriously, out of the 233 photos I took at the 2 hour concert  at least 70% are blurry... the ones that aren't were because it was between songs, or are photos of my kids).

I love the heart I can see developing in my class, a heart that is bigger than themselves, that realises there are people living without the things they take for granted, you know, water, food, family and shelter (let's not even mention DSi's laptops, Play Station 3s and flatscreen TVs). Of course they are normal Aussie kids who easily move from a discussion about poverty to talking about their their favourite theme park rides on the Gold Coast... But I love that they are starting to see the bigger picture of a world that needs help.
 
The other part of my day that was fun was after school, when I got to paint Baby Belly #4 - Cute Ann-Marie's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's so weird that next time I see her she will be a mummy! eeeeek! So exciting!

Biggest downside of the day - my hair looks cute today! Which means it won't look as cute tomorrow... which happens to be school photo day! Who would've thought the teachers care more about school photos than the kids. hehe.

The end.

Less than 4 months to go.

So. This time in 4 months I will be in... oh the time difference is too confusing, but I think San Francisco.

While the actual Canada bit of my Canada adventure has slipped to not quite the back of my mind (... it is easier to not think about it while I wait to hear back from the nanny agency. Gah! I hate the waiting game), everything else is in full swing...

The adventure in LA with my sister for a week is all booked! We even looked at youtube clips of all the rides we want to go on at Disneyland. Can't wait! In the 7 days we are going to San Fran, Yosemite, Solvang, Stanford, Hollywood, Santa Monica & Disneyland! Woohoo! (I think I may just have to ignore the jetlag...there will be no time for such things)

On the home side... there are about a BILLION things you need to organise if you own a house, a car and a cat and are planning on living overseas for a year. I've written a '4 months to go' plan & have started with clearing out my cute spare-room (this month I also need to 'update ipod','get job', 'pay rates' 'email john' 'write rental plan' and 'get skinnier'...easy). So far I've filled 4 boxes. Boy I have a lot of stuff. I'm hoping my flat-mate & her friends will rent my house *furnished* so I don't have to completely move out.

It is a weird feeling going from a life where I have everything, to having 22kg of 'stuff' & being paid minimum wages. Not that it's anything close to poverty. I mean I will still have everything I need and abundantly more, AND amazing opportunities to see a gorgeous part of the world and meet new people! It's just weird. that's all.

Weird. But I can't wait!

remember how teachers are human?

This morning I was almost in tears on my way to school. It was one of those mornings where all I could think about were my failings as a teacher. The times I didn't give a kid the time or attention or encouragement they needed. The times I have said the wrong thing, or not shown love and patience.The times I should've shown grace, but didn't. Gah! Teaching would be so much easier if I wasn't human.

Yesterday in the middle of teaching Year 3 Maths, one of my Year 4s printed a whole page of rainbow colour. It was beautiful... but we don't have an endless supply of colour. My kids know they aren't allowed to print without asking. My kids know that coloured pages are for 'saving and showing' not printing. And I had just talked to 2 boys about changing their backgrounds to white before printing...whilst also trying to teach the compensation strategy for subtraction to my 14 Year Threesies (which was actually a hilarious lesson featuring a kangaroo named "Puppy"... one of my girls was even laughing so hard that her stomach hurt & she had tears rolling down her face...ah crazy kids). So anyway when I looked over and saw a whole page of rainbow colour being printed I had one of my un-grace-filled moments. I even used the "are you buying the next round of ink?" line & not even with my kind voice. hmm.

So an hour later her dad called to inform me that I had caused his child no end of distress and he wanted to have a face-to-face meeting with me because this was the 2nd time in 2 weeks that I hadn't taken her sensitivity into consideration (the other time was a general class reprimand about homework slackness). By the time I got home last night I was feeling really yucky. Even though yesterday was a super fun day (seriously! you should see the fun art project we did yesterday!), all I could think about were the millions of times I have failed as a teacher.

When I got to school this morning, that same dad was waiting outside the staffroom. I almost stopped breathing. Luckily (for me anyway) he was there to yell at his other daughter's teacher, but it was still un-nerving, especially hearing the way he spoke to my colleague. I went to playground duty still filled with doubt about my own competence.

But...
Within minutes I was surrounded by my girls (including the one I had 'devastated' yesterday). If you ever need a self-esteem boost, hang out with my girls! One of them came running over with a little box that she had sprayed with perfume, "Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiss F! I've got your birthday present! Sorry it's a bit late!" Actually it was perfect timing. I opened it up and it had a cute little pen and a "No. 1 Teacher" key-ring. I am aware that there are more than one of these made in the world. But this morning it was just what I needed... a reminder that those kids I love so much actually appreciate me, that I am actually good at my job (I don't mean that in a conceited way) and that even when I stuff up, kids are the world's best forgivers.