Compostable Kate

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...

Yes, I have a debt with Centrelink. I had problems trying to report my earnings when I was completing my forms online; I was reporting monthly, but could only enter 2 weeks' wages each time. When I went into the Centrelink office to sort this out, with the staff person laboriously checking off my payslips against my records, I was told that everything was fine, and I'd even have $20 paid into my account the following day. What I got, along with my $20, was a letter telling me I owed them $1200, because I was overpaid for the weeks that I wasn't able to report my income. It turns out that the person I saw did know this, as it would have been immediately flagged on my record once she had input all my info, and could have told me about it at the time, but she chose not to. They are supposed to tell us about these things straight away, but often don', in order to avoid difficult situations. I thought it was pretty cowardly, especially as I was being really straightfoward...