Have you ever heard the story about busses? How you can wait for ages for one to come along, and then they all come along at the same time? Well, LA14 had our own “busses” moment this week. At our assemblies (which happen every fortnight) the specialist teachers (Art, Science, Music, Phys. Ed.) hand out an award for the best class for that week. Strangely, we hadn’t won anything all year, so you can imagine how totally shocked we were when we made a clean sweep of the whole assembly; yes, we won the lot! We won Vincent’s Sunflowers (Art), the School Record (Music), the Golden Boot (Phys. Ed.) and the Electric Award (Science). Crazy! All this was thoroughly deserved, naturally, and it put a huge smile on the students faces – the best award of all!

Ugh, pass me a couple of matchsticks, I need something to keep my eyes open with. The first week back, the first day back, is a tough ask; it’s like travelling overseas and trying to cope with jet lag from the change in timezones. I could sooo easily get used to long lie-ins, sleepy mornings and lazy days, especially at my “advanced” time of life. But, duty called and I answered.

We’re now into term 4, the last of the year and the ten week run up to the summer break. It’s a big term for all of us, but in particular for the year 6s who will be leaving the school in December to begin their new lives as highschoolers in February. It’s a daunting move, but we have some great kids and I’m sure they’ll do just fine. It’s going to be a crazy term, with so much learning to get through and a whole host of axtras (including graduation practice). However, it’ll all go smoothly, I’m not sure how, but I’m sure it will.

 

We’re still at it! The previous post highlighted the work we’ve been doing in T & E in making our peg game (naughts and crosses) along with designing and making a box. Well, that work is still ongoing and we’re really down to our last week before we break for our end of term holiday. The game itself has been made using saws and a drill, and the pegs are simply small dowells. However, the box to keep everything in can only be made using pop-sticks and glue. This has made the whole design and production process very tricky, even for the fabulously enthusiastic students of LA14. The images below will give some idea as to what we’re doing, and hopefully, fingers crossed, everything will go well with the final countdown already ticking steadily down.

In these modern, tech driven times, the school days are so overcrowded now that we hardly ever get a chance to simply do something just for the experience of it. Too many things we are asked to do as teachers are driven by test results, and too many of these things are difficult to turn into exciting, enjoyable or motivational lessons. We need to remember, not everyone will go to university and neither do we want them to. We need all the skills, all the trades and all the specialists in our society and, as a school, we need all the students to know that too. For the last week or so we’ve been dipping our toes (metaphorically) into the world of wood work by making a “noughts and crosses” game. It’s not overly complicated but for many of the students it’s their first experience of using real tools and materials to create something. Of course, the curriculum lies behind it and the students have to design and build a box for their game. However, the most satisfying part for a teacher is watching the students build something of their own; a new connection to their world, opening new perspectives through a new experience. Sometimes the old ways are the best!

Hot on the heels of the Olymics came an even more important and prestigious competition – our school faction carnival! Last week we were engulfed in colourful clouds of hairspray and tutus as far as the eyes could see. Our faction carnival is always an exiting day, and the students go all out to demonstrate their loyalty to their colours (red, blue, yellow and green). It’s an iconic day for the whole school, although the poor old (old being the main word) teachers suffer for it for the following weeks with aching bones and sore muscles. It’s all worth it, of course, and the best part is seeing the community come together to celebrate something positive and joyful. Unfortunately, our perennial losing faction (green) still didn’t win, but the yellows preserved their dominant streak with another successful campaign.

Social media, it’s both a blessing and a curse. It’s brought so many creative outlets right into our hands, yet it can cause more conflict than it’s worth. Many teachers will tell you that the attention span of students has changed dramatically in the last 10 years, possibly as a result of YouTube and TikTok. However, it’s a fact of life and has become the new normal for the students in our care. Love it or loathe it, social media has also opened up new possibilities for teachers in their search for motivational tools to use in the classroom.

In LA14 we’ve been very creative lately, making something special out of wood (see below). This activity integrated photography, digital file management and above all, care and patience; it was also very “hands on” which suits those students with a more practical nature. The next step will be the one that matters most. The students now have to plan a video presentation of the process they used to create their special gift. This will require digital technology, sequencing and oral language and should end up with something akin to a TikTok video (watch this space). It’s essential we, as techers, try to develop connections to the real world, and in this case the real world of social media, the world the students inhabit. As they say, “If you can’t beat them…”

“When are we ever going to use this stuff?” Yeah, if you’re a teacher a question like this will definitely be one you’ve heard before. Well, LA14 have been putting their classroom learning to use and learning skills they can use throughout life. We’ve been learning a lot about area calculations on paper and took an opportunity to get out of the class. Due to a minor earthquake at school (not really) we needed to replace some of the paving and grass. The students had to measure the areas, some of them very complex, and calculate the price (from real commercial websites) of the replacements. The students needed to measure accurately, use their calculation knowledge, give reasons for their choice of pavers and grass and explain the process involved. Their work was presented creatively in a hand-written project (a strange beast in our digital world) and the students seemed excited and motivated by the project. Here are some photos of the students measuring for their project.

We all need to take care of ourselves! I can’t think of any issue on a personal level more important than our own mental well-being. For too many it’s something that we come to realise mostly when it’s way too late, when our mental health has taken a hit and we are left with the stressful and debilitating consequences. The problem is that we tend to take good mental health for granted, a bit like a well running car; why tinker with it if it’s all fine? However, to keep running smoothly we need to maintain ourselves, especially during the good times, or one day we may just find ourselves in a big mess.

One way of staying mentally healthy is to make sure we give ourselves time for something we enjoy. My stunning little MG F isn’t only my car, it’s my hobby, my interest and a thing that I thoroughly enjoy. I suppose part of it may lie with the fact I used to be a car body repairer, dismantling smashed vehicles and fixing them up like brand new. I’ve still maintained a great interest in cars and I’m always looking to tinker with my MG and improve it (although it does drain my bank account a little). Doing this ensures I make time just for me, to do something I like and that takes my mind off the pressures of everyday life. This new blogging task is to take a photo of your pastime or hobby and post it as a new header with an explanation of what it means to you. How does your hobby make you feel? Does it give you space and time alone? How long have you been doing it? If you don’t have a hobby, how do you find time for yourself to relax?

 

Dragging a class, kicking and screaming, through a full novel study can be as much fun as teaching a duck to herd cats. It can be a very tricky balancing act to find a novel that is not only interesting to both boys and girls, but also contains the necessary topics and depth of literary content to be of educational value. Well, in my humble opinion, I found just the perfect novel for the job – Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. The novel tells the story of a year 6 student who faces difficulties and challenges, particularly at school. However, her journey becomes an inspiration to readers and, just as important to me, the literary content provides so much material to help move the students forward with their reading and comprehension skills. It’s too difficult to list all the work we’re about to do with this novel, but if you’re a parent please discuss this post with your child. Below is an image of one of our fabulous girls who brought in something from home that’s mentioned in our novel. If you know what it is, or if you had one (parents?), drop a comment.

As a teacher, we’ve really got to get imaginative with the content we provide to the students. I’ve been using the TV show My Place in the classroom for a few years now, but mostly with my year 6 students. This year, with me having a mixed year 5/6 class, it becomes a touch trickier, but I’m still using this excellent, valuable resource. While it’s an essential teaching resource for my year 6 students and their studies of 20th Century history, I’m also showing the same episodes to my year 5 students. However, the year 5s aren’t using it for History, they (along with the year 6s) are using it as a visual novel study, looking at topics such as characterisation, symbolism, director’s intentions, and so much more. The series has also stimulated ideas for Health, Maths and technology. It’s such a great Australian resource that I just may do it all over again next year.