Day 99 of 365: Aaaand Done!

I had only 5 groups to mark in one Science lesson today, unfortunately it still left Matt waiting for me in the car longer when he came to pick me up. In today's Year 2 post, we talked about forces in motion and students had to draw a couple pictures and write sentences about the force the person in the picture was using. Many students illustrated things like 'He pushed the trolley' and 'She turned on the tap.' They all worked really hard so that when they finished they could play a board game, similar to Snakes & Ladders, but also dealing with the lesson vocabulary.

It was only a half-day post, and aside from being a little excitable because of the snow and colder weather (and missing their outdoor playtime -- poor things), the class was quite lovely. I was amazed at how well-behaved the school was overall during assembly in the afternoon. One little girl asked if I would be returning tomorrow and said that another teacher had commented that I was "lovely." How sweet!

After dismissal, I returned to the classroom to finish marking their books. When I reached the office to sign out, I was told my second day, originally scheduled for tomorrow, had been canceled due to an overbooking with the agency. Sure enough I called to check in and was assured it was nothing to do with me, but a simple oversight with the school booking more teachers than they needed. At least I wasn't finding this out after battling rush-hour traffic in the morning.

Now I'm just crossing my fingers that I hear some good news on more work this week or a potential long-term post at this school.

Day 98 of 365: Give-A-Frog-A-Name!

Meet my Ty Pillow Pal tree frog, Ribbit. He was given to me by a co-worker when I worked for Highlights for Children magazine. Word got around that I liked frogs and it seemed to be the ONLY gift I received from people for a good three years.

Note to Readers: Don't ever become known as "the girl who likes *insert animal name/object here*" because people tend to run with that. Unless it's money...hmm, "the girl who likes money..." That could be a good thing. But salt & pepper shakers didn't appeal to me any more, simply because they were in the molds of frogs on lily pads.

Anyway, tomorrow I will be in a Year 2 class for half a day and then back to the same school again on Thursday for part of the day in Year 2 for PPA (teacher-planning) cover and the other part in Year 1. It's part of a "trial" period for a potential long-term post. With Years 1/2 being similar to Kindergarten-1st grade (US), I need something to capture attention and maybe to use as incentive for the little darlings. So, I have decided to bring Ribbit with me. After all, he was a big hit in my own First Grade classroom last year. My students knew only the ones who were working diligently would have him on their desks -- it was a real privilege.

I'm not really a big fan of his given name, however. Ribbit doesn't suit him much with his bright colours, therefore I thought I would throw this opportunity out there to anyone reading. Normally, I would have the students name him, but since I don't know how many classes I will be in over the course of the two days, nor do I know for how long...so I figured it to be more efficient to introduce him myself.

If anyone has any suggestions, please post them as a comment on this blog post. I won't be heading to Birmingham until around 11am, so I should have some time in the morning to check on here to see what people have said. Then, the tree frog, formerly known as Ribbit, will hopefully make his debut and I shall report back on his progress.

**UPDATE: The frog did not make his appearance as originally planned due to time constraints, but I am still welcoming suggestions for a name.

Day 58 of 365: Definitely an Improvement

A new school today...and this time a Year 5 class. It went better than this past Tuesday overall. The morning was a bit rough since I was asked to work the playground duty, which left me no time to review the work that was assigned. But I definitely give the original classroom teacher big kudos for giving me work to complete with the kids. Already a bonus over the previous placement.

The students were much more well-mannered than the group on Tuesday as well, although that didn't completely eliminate all possibilities of conflict. Still, no one ended up with broken limbs or property by the end of the day.



I took this second pic while waiting for Matt to pick me up. He ended up stuck in traffic for 2.5 hours on the way there and then it was another 1.5 to get back home. These are the uniforms the students wore. Much more attractive than what I was forced to wear at their age -- in my opinion at least.

Timeplan called me before I left the school to offer me another Year 2 position at a school tomorrow. Let's see if the third time is a charm.