Compostable Kate

I'm pretty sure that I learned far more on my prac than the students I was teaching. Some of it will stand me in good stead for my next prac, and for when I am a fully-qualified teacher. Some of it was very disappointing and disallusioning. One of the first things I learned was that my supervising teacher no longer wanted to be a teacher, but was sticking with it for a few more years, while her youngest child finishes high school. Another teacher in our staff room was only staying with teaching to boost his superannuation before he retired. Yet another teacher didn't speak to me during my four weeks sitting at the desk next to him, and seemed to dislike all students and the teaching of them. There were frequent discussions in there about students being "not very bright" and "unteachable", including one entire year. No effort was put in to teaching these students, as it was deemed to be a waste of effort. However, imaginative teaching was hampered ...

This is not my own work, but something I received as an email forward.  You think English is easy?? (This took a lot of work to put together - read all the way to the end.... :-) 1) The bandage was wound around the wound. 2) The farm was used to produce produce . 3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse . 4) We must polish the Polish furniture.. 5) He could lead if he would get the lead out. 6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.. 7) Since there is no time like the present , he thought it was time to present the present . 8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum. 9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes. 10) I did not object to the object. 11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid. 12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row . 13) They were too close to the door to close it. 14) The buck does funny things when the does are present. 15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into...

I haven't fallen literally on my arse for at least two weeks (had a bit of an incident in the shower at Hotel KaznSteve , but it didn't even leave a bruise, so it's hardly worth mentioning), but I have well and truly fallen down in a metaphorical sense. Fallen down and scraped both knees, and even though I'm 40 years old, I feel like crying to Mum about it. I came to this uni course full of confidence, straight from a job I felt I was good at, to do something that I was sure I would be great at. I felt that the stars and planets had all aligned to make my high school teaching ambitions come true, on the second time of trying. I was available, and – at QUT at least – qualified. I could get financial assistance from Centrelink (Austudy is more generous than Newstart, so it would marginally easier to survive without working). Friends and family all thought it was a great idea. Then I started. By the time I got over the physical shock of uni life I had fallen...

In one of the orientation sessions last week, we all found out that there is a high probability that we will end up teaching subjects and students that we didn't intend. This is especially likely if you are a science teacher of any description, as you will probably end up teaching Maths, at some level or other. Many teachers end up completely leaving the area that they specialised in at uni. The idea of my becoming a Maths teacher is hysterically funny (my mathematical education came to a grinding halt once it reached quadratic equations. They sent my brain into emergency shutdown, and I never did get the hang of them. Still got O level Maths, though, so nya-nyah), but there's a good chance I could end up in Sociology, or History, or Art, Music, Drama etc., depending on the needs of the schools that are hiring new teachers (don't worry, Harry Potter is applicable in all teaching areas!). In addition, we are now learning the new National curriculum, which will be comin...

Today was Day One proper of my Graduate Diploma in Education, which will qualify me to become a high school teacher, specialising in senior English (supposedly; more of that later). Today, was EXHAUSTING! I have a 3-hour workshop from 8am , two hours off, then another 2 hours of lecture/tutorial. From next week, one of those 2 hours off will be taken up with another lecture, and I think I may even gain another tutorial from 5 - 7pm. So, although I am totally stuffed after today's effort, I got off lightly. There was a timetabling mix-up, which meant that 2 of our tutorials (or "tutes", to use the vernacular) were scheduled at the same time. I thought I had stuffed up my enrolment, so un-enrolled from one of the modules, but then found out this afternoon that I can re-enrol, because they are rescheduling the 2nd tute (thankfully, not to Mondays). However, if that does leave me with an 11-hour day, I might have to stay un-enrolled, and hope I can catch this other modu...