Casual Teaching- Week 1

Last Monday morning I dropped off my official approval to teach paperwork and resume to the two schools close to our apartment.  Later that afternoon I got a phone call from the principal where I spent my orientation week a few weeks ago.  This is the school that is a 5 minute walk away from us.  She asked me if I was available to teach “Kindy” the next morning.  I was shocked to get a call so soon but eagerly said I would love to! 

I was nervous and excited and not sure what to expect.  I got up early the next morning and when I arrived at school they had me sign in and the teacher who is charge of all of the casual teachers gave me my schedule for the day.  This sheet of paper has a map of the school on the back side and on the front tells you what class you are teaching, what recess duties you are responsible for, and what other classes you will be teaching during the day.  HUH????  I was a little confused when she told me that during my break time I would need to go to a first grade classroom to teach a lesson and then right after go to a different kindergarten class to teach.  I was fine with not having a long break but thought it was interesting that I would be teaching other classes in the middle of the day.  I showed up to the first grade classroom a few minutes before I was supposed to be there and she gave me a very quick rundown on what I would be teaching for the next hour.  Luckily, I am familiar with teaching fractions to first graders so it wasn’t a big deal but I still thought it was bizarre…and where in the world was she going for the next hour anyway?  Then I headed back to Kindy to teach a “maths” lesson to those students.  Again, a quick reference of what I needed to do and then off she went! 

I made it through the day and left my detailed notes for the teacher of how the day went.  I felt pretty great about my first day but left still confused about a few things.  As a classroom teacher, I always left very detailed lesson plans for my subs.  I know I probably left more direction than was ever necessary but I wanted the day to go smoothly for the sub but also for my students.  My school even required every teacher to have a detailed “Sub Folder” so that any substitute could come in and have everything they needed in one place.  I was wishing I had one of these fancy sub folders to answer many of my questions on their daily process. 

Here were some funny things that happened this first day:

I had a kindergarten class of 28 little cuties.  I got called, “Mrs. Luke” by several of them.  J  Throughout the day several of them would tell me they liked my voice or how I talked.  One student kept telling me my voice sounded American. 

When I went to the 1^st grade classroom I was supposed to do a lesson using the Smart Board.  (I’m a big fan of the Smart Board, by the way!  All of their classrooms have one and the teachers use them all the time.)  I didn’t have time to go through the fraction lesson before the teacher left the room so I didn’t have a chance to see if I had questions for her.  Well, the first slide presented a question!  The example was sharing a certain number of “pykolets” between a certain number of kids to show sharing and fractions with halves and quarters.  The first question on the slide said, “Can anyone tell me what a pykolet is?”  Great!  I need to know the answer to this, too!  ;)  When I said the word, pykolet, I pronounced it, pick-o-let.  A student answered with, “A baby pig.”  I said, “No, that is a piglet.”  He said, “I know, that’s what you said!”  Um…hmmmm….I had 28 wide eyes staring up at me waiting to hear what I would say next…luckily there was a parent volunteer in the room and she whispered to me that the word was acutally, PIE-KO-LET.  Now when I asked the kids they said, “Oh, that’s just a fat pancake!”  Me: “Yes, yes, very good!”  Nice one, Mrs. Lucas!!  Geez! 

In the kindergarten class I covered I had to stay with them until Afternoon Tea began.  I had them wrapping up what we were working on and told them we had about 5 minutes until Afternoon Tea would begin.  (recess and snack time) One of the little girls looked me straight in the eye and said in her most serious face while using her most serious Aussie accent, “No, it’s Ahfta-noon Tea!”  I said, “That’s what I said...Afternoon Tea.”  Student: “NOOOOO!!!  It’s called AHFTA-noon tea!!!!”  Me: “I know and that's what I said.  Remember I might say things a little different from how you say them.”  Another student says, “Yeah, remember, she’s from America.  She speaks another language!”  HA! Ha! LOVE Kindergarten kids! J 

I was relieved to have Wednesday off because I was exhausted.  That evening I got a call to see if I could do 5^th grade the next day.  She told me the teacher was sick and that she would be hearing back from her soon to know if she had left plans or not but she would send me a text to let me know if I would need to have my own plans prepared or not.  HUH????  (again)  I asked her to elaborate.  She said that it would be very uncommon for a teacher to leave plans if they are sick.  It is up to the casual teacher to “be creative” and to have plans prepared for the whole day.  She told me I was welcome to use any resources from their school and that I could ask the other teachers if I had specific questions.  My stress level immediately rose and I kind of freaked out waiting for her to text me to let me know if there were plans left or not.  If this was for a K-3 class, I would be fine because I know much more about these grade levels and have many of my own resources.  I had absolutely nothing for 5^th grade!  Below are the texts between us:

“Hi Lisa it's Kristin. There is no work left for you unfortunately but there is a year 5 meeting that the kids need to go to in the hall first thing in the morning. Other than that it's up to you what you teach. As I said there are resources in the photocopy room to help you out or whatever you have from home you are welcome to bring and photocopy. Let me know if u have any questions. I’ll c u tomorrow.  Thanks.

My response:

Thanks for letting me know. Will there be a schedule for the day so I know what a typical Thursday looks like for the class? I forgot to ask which teacher it is. Thanks for calling me!

Her response:

No worries!  I can't guarantee a usual day plan. Tho I'm sure the kids could fill u in. I’d just plan some maths, writing, maybe read a book and do some related activities, a bit of grammar maybe. Perhaps a fun art type of activity for the afternoon? Let me know if u need a hand tomorrow.”

I was most concerned that I didn’t even know what they were currently working on in any subject, or at least an idea of where to start planning, OR even a schedule to work from.  I stayed up late working on plans.  Thanks to Melissa Freeman for some helpful websites and info that evening, too! 

I showed up extra early the next morning.  I checked in with a few of the other 5^th grade teachers and they weren’t really sure what she was working on currently but they were as helpful as they could be.  I guess I am used to planning with my grade level and we were always working on the same concepts. 

The class was polite and helpful for the most part.  I was pleasantly surprised that I really liked that age level!  J  I know it wasn’t a perfect day but I survived.  We did maths, writing, reading, and many other things, and I felt like it worked out much better than I expected.  I was asked to come back the next day for 4^th grade. 

Friday in 4^th grade went very, very well and I really liked this group of students!  During my “break time” I covered a first grade class again and also a 6^th grade class.  This time I went to those teachers BEFORE school started to find out what I would be teaching.  See, I’m getting the hang of it!

After my first three days I started to understand their casual teaching process much better.  I’m so glad that I “get it” a little better now so I know next week will be much less frustrating and overwhelming.  I was asked to teach next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and they want me to do every Tuesday for the whole Term 3 through the end of September.  

I got brave and decided to ask several questions to the casual teacher supervisor Friday after school so I could clear up all of my nerves.  I asked about where these teachers were going in the middle of the day when they were having me cover for them and teach their classes.  She told me that sometimes teachers don’t get the full break time they are supposed to have so this is a catch up time for that.  She also said it is sometimes a special perk for some deserving teachers.  That made sense.  I also informed her of how the sub system works in the U.S. and why I was so confused with their process and why I had so many questions.  She said she understood and said I was doing just fine…which is why she kept asking me back.  PHEW! 

A frequent casual teacher for this school talked to me on Friday afternoon and gave me a lot of good advice.  She also told me about a big teacher supply store and some useful materials I should buy.  Luke and I went to the store on Saturday.  There was actually an entire section in the store specifically for Casual Teachers so I felt better and better as I looked through the resources and picked out several books to purchase. 

This process so far has made me really miss having a classroom of my own but the silver lining is that it is getting me out of my comfort zone immediately and giving me a lot of good experience in EVERY grade level just as I had hoped.  I love being back in a school and by the end of the week I had students from all grade levels seeing me and saying, “Hi, Mrs. Lucas!”  Ah, success!  J

I’m definitely earning every bit of my paycheck and I realize now why it was such a long process to get to this point and why they only hire qualified and experienced teachers.  Bring on Week 2!

Our Recent Winter Adventures

Leaving Kansas City with 90 degree summer weather and arriving back in Sydney to winter weather of 40’s and 50’s wasn’t easy!  The first several days we were home it was cold, rainy, and windy.  Luckily in the past couple of weeks it has been in the 60’s during the day and beautiful.  The sun sets before 5pm and the nights are very cold though.  Because we don’t have heat in our apartment, we purchased a small space heater.  It’s been working fairly well for us but we are also very happy that we brought back our big, warm wedding quilt that Luke’s mom made for us.  J 

We also arrived back to find out that our landlord has decided to sell our apartment.  They began doing showings the first Saturday we returned.  The showings are every Wednesday and Saturday so we are constantly cleaning and can’t leave our personal belongings around like we like to!  We have been assured that even if it is sold we are secured through the end of our lease.  We are hoping an investor buys it and wants us to continue living here…but doesn’t increase our rent.  We’ll keep you posted.

We have tried to get back into our touristy weekend adventures especially because the weekdays have been so busy for both of us.  One day we took the ferry over to Watson’s Bay.  First we started out the morning with a good brekky at our favorite café, Thelma and Louise’s and then walked around the Rocks Markets.  When we got to Watson’s Bay we had a delicious lunch at Doyle’s and then walked around for a bit.  There is another big coastal walk that we will go back to do another day.  There are many great views over there and we are hoping to have some whale sightings as this is a good time of year. 

One night my friend Erin and I went to a Paint-Your-Own-Ceramics studio.  I picked out a platter and she picked out a fruit bowl to paint.  We had the option to do any design, use all of the paints, and use all of the tools they had available.  We looked at several samples and pictures of items others have made.  I found a picture of the Sydney skyline with the Harbour Bridge, city buildings, and the Opera House so I decided to draw something similar to it on my platter before I started painting.  We had a fun night and I forgot how much I enjoyed doing something like this.  For those of you wondering, my sisters and I were involved in 4H for many, many years and we did ceramics for a long time.  I think I’ve still got it!  ;)  Erin and I were very happy with our final products.  They were fired and ready to be picked up after about 5 days. 

This past weekend Luke and I spent all day Saturday at the Taronga Zoo here in Sydney.  Luke and I realized that neither of us have been to the Kansas City Zoo in way too many years so it was nice to make our first visit to this one.  The views are incredible especially with the animals included!  We plan on going back a few more times while we are here.  Enjoy some of our pictures!  Then on Sunday we went to Bondi Beach.  We went to one of the best places for Take Away fish and chips and then had a picnic while we watched a small surf competition.  There was also a Winter Celebration going on so they had fake Christmas trees all over and even an ice skating rink on the beach.  As you’ll notice in the pictures of the ice skating, people are wearing anything from shorts and t-shirts to sweaters and jeans.  The temperature can feel drastically different depending if you are in the sun or in the shade.  We also liked that they had plastic seals that kids could sit on and be pushed around by their parents while they skated.  Later we walked around the Bondi Vintage Markets.  There are markets all over the Sydney area every weekend and we like walking around to see what different things are for sale.  It will be something we’ll put on your “to do” list when you visit us.  J

Not having a 4^th of July celebration this year was weird for us but we ended up going to dinner with a group of friends and had the closest thing to a “barbie” that we could!  Please feel free to send us any pictures or stories of what you did for the long weekend.  We’d love to hear.  J 

Actually, we’d love to hear from all of you about how your summers are going and what you are doing to keep busy.  We miss you!!!!! 

On the ferry to Watson's Bay

Watson's Bay

Look for the city and the Harbour Bridge in the background

On the ferry on our way back to Sydney

Erin and me before a crazy evening in Manly with the girls...and Luke! :)

Our finished ceramic pieces

Erin's fancy fruit bowl with the city buildings all around

My platter

Ta-Da!!!!

Bondi Beach

Our fish and chips picnic

A winter day at the beach!

Ice skating on the beach.  See what I mean about the clothing options?  You will see all seasons represented!

Christmas trees all around

We found another one!

I think Crown Center should get these seals for their ice rink, too!

Taronga Zoo

Great Views to the city from here!  (Yes, I only moved over here with two sweatshirts...my BJF one and this Baker one which is why they show up in so many pictures!) :)

The Aussies say, "Zeb-ra" (short e instead of long e like us!)

Luke's almost as tall as a baby giraffe...

I am not!

Fun to see the city behind the giraffes

Steve, this turtle is only a little bigger than the one we saw crawling across your yard!

If you go to the Taronga Zoo you have to see the Bird Show!  It was so cool!

Back in the Classroom!

Monday morning I got up extra early although I only had a short 5 minute walk to my school, Neutral Bay Public.  Even though I was nervous about teaching the big kids, I couldn’t wait to be in the classroom and see what the day would entail.  I arrived about an hour early and the secretary helped me find the teacher I was working with.  He was in the teacher’s lounge with several other staff members eating their breakfast.  Because their school day doesn’t begin until 9:10 a.m. everyone is there early and has plenty of time to do whatever they need to each morning, including having a relaxed environment to have breakfast and talk with colleagues all morning.  I loved this!  At 8:30 a.m. they had a staff meeting and I was the first thing on the agenda!  J  I received a very warm and inviting welcome.  All week long different teachers asked me how things were going and gave me hope that I would have plenty of options to teach there. 

When Mr. Tomson and I chatted that morning he informed me that he teaches one of the “year 6” OC class.  Another new acronym to me so I asked what “OC” meant.  He told me that it meant Opportunity Class for Gifted and Talented Students.  Oh goodie, not only am I in a 6^th grade class but they are GIFTED!  Wow!  There are two year 6 OC classes and two year 5 OC classes.  Apparently it is a very competitive program and students test to get into it.  A handful of the kids even come from other areas to be in this program if their school didn’t offer the OC classes.  Each of these classes has at least 30 students!

My supervising teacher has taught at several other schools in Sydney and taught different grade levels.  He was very easy to work with all week and gave me great feedback on ideas for working with this group of kids as well as just teaching in the Australian schools.  I felt very fortunate to have been placed with someone who made things much less overwhelming for me. 

Each morning students would begin arriving around 8:30 or soon after and play in the school yard.  They drop off their backpacks in their classrooms and hang out or play until school begins.  The day started out similar to what I was familiar with except in a different way.  Instead of having students and the principal doing announcements over a PA system or like at Bluejacket Flint on video, all 800 students sat outside on the ground with their class.  The principal or deputy principal would start the day with greeting them and they would all say, “Good Morning, Mrs. Or Mr. ________” Then they would tell them to greet their teachers so they would all say, “Good Morning, Teachers.” (It sounded very cool with their accents- Mrs. Taylor sounded like Mrs. Tayla and Teachers sounded like Teach-uhs!) Loved it!  Any other teacher that needed to make an announcement was greeted in the same way.  Then we all would walk to our classrooms right after. 

The week I was there was a very busy one.  There were assemblies, programs, and activities going on that kept us out of the classroom for quite a bit of the time.  Luckily, I was still able to get a good idea of what a typical week looked like. I was also able to observe and help in a year 4 and year 1 class for about an hour each.  When I walked in the year 1 class, I felt a huge sigh of relief!  It was so good to be with an age that I love and they seemed to sense my comfort level.  Phew!  On Tuesday of that week I got to go on an excursion (field trip) with the four OC classes.  We went to hear a symphony play in the city and then had lunch in Hyde Park.  Walking around the city, crossing busy streets, passing busy working professionals on their lunch hour, and riding a city bus with all of these kids was definitely a new experience! 

I had four formal observations of the lessons I taught that week.  I helped with as much as I could and attempted to learn the majority of the students in my class by name.  The worry that I felt on the first day quickly faded as the days went on.  It was a new challenge for me but such a great experience.  The rewarding feeling I had when the week was over was just what I needed.  The students were great and I realized they really were just like the kids I’ve taught- just bigger, older, and way smarter than what I’m used to!  J  These kids were excellent at playing various instruments, debating, playing chess, and creating artistic anything.  It was really fun to try some new teaching techniques with this age.

Here are some things about the flow of the day of this school and new words I “learnt.” If you are a teacher or work in a school, you will have a much better understanding of the comparisons of what we experience in the US and this!  I hope it makes sense to everyone else, too.  J

Kindergarten through year 2 have an early lunch so they have Afternoon Tea.  Year 3 through Year 6 students have Morning Tea and recess each morning because they have lunch at 12:30.  Each student is responsible for bringing their own snack for “tea” but there is also a canteen (school cafeteria) that offers a few things.  The kids K-2 have recess all at the same time and then so do 3-6.  Teaching friends, I know what you are thinking!  That is a lot of kids and different ages to be out there all at once on the school yard but this system works amazingly! 

As part of their school uniform, students are to wear a hat when they are outside at all times.  If they don’t have their hat they must play or sit in the shaded areas.  Kids play rugby, netball, basketball, handball, trade Pokemon cards, jump rope, talk, eat, walk around, and pretty much do all the same things our kids in the US would do.  When Morning Tea is over, 3 bells ring and the kids head back to their classrooms.  The younger kids wait for their teachers to meet them but they all are back in their classrooms ready to begin working right away.  I noticed that they save so much time with this process because the kids just know the routine and there’s no extra time wasted to line up, get quiet, and wait on the many delays that recess can create.  No blowing the whistle, being frustrated with extra wiggling, noises, and messing around, or kids who don’t line up as fast as we want them to! A-MAZ-ING!!!      

Lunch is for a whole HOUR not 25 minutes!  Again, kids bring their own lunch and spend the first 10 or 15 minutes eating before they go play.  There isn’t a cafeteria where the students go to eat.  They just sit outside of their classrooms which is outside.  If they want to continue eating during their recess, they can.  Again, the bells ring when it is over and the day moves on quickly.  Talk about saving time and being efficient with what you are doing!  If you have lunch recess duty, it is only for the first half or second half and your duty is only a couple of times a week.  Awesome!

The classroom teachers are responsible for teaching the following subjects in the elementary grades; English, Mathematics (called Maths), Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE), and Creative Arts.  Music, Library, Science and Technology and Personal Development, Health, and Physical Education (PDHPE) are taught by other teachers.  Each week they have someone who comes to teach them language such as in Japanese or Italian. They also have someone who teaches them a Scripture lesson from different denominations each time. 

On Fridays for the last 2 hours of the day, they have something called PSSA (Public Schools Sports Association) where the kids play sports against other schools in the area.  We walked 25 minutes away to a park for the kids to play soccer and then a city bus picked us up to go back to school.  During this time other kids are playing at other locations and might be playing netball, soccer, or at a community center doing other sports and activities.  We had a mix of year 5 and 6 boys and girls with us who made the school’s soccer teams.  I’m not sure what the other grade levels do for PE but I’ll report back when I find out!  My supervising teacher was in charge of refereeing the soccer games that day. 

The school day ends at 3:10pm.  Each day before the students in my classroom left they always said, “Good Afternoon, Mrs. Lucas!” J

They have year round school beginning in January and their school day is an hour less than what I am used to.  I really think the morning break and the long lunch and recess they have appeared to keep them motivated and didn’t give them an excuse to get restless throughout the day.  I really liked this set up!

Morning Tea/Afternoon Tea = snack time with recess

Maths = Mathematics

School yard = playground

bubbler = water fountain

canteen = cafeteria

a fair bit = a lot

pigeon hole = mailbox or cubby hole

texta = marker

rubber = eraser

anticlockwise (pronounced ant-ee) = counterclockwise

excursion = field trip

Year ___ = ___^th grade (year 6 is 6^th grade)

saying “Miss” = instead of “Ma’am”  “Thank you, Miss.”  Or “Miss, what about this?” 

Off you go = get to work

“Good Girl” and “Well Done” were frequent praises I heard given

casual teaching = substitute teaching

away = not at school or work (could be sick but they don’t say that) “Tom is away today.”

I had to practice spelling several different words such as color “colour”, honor “honour” and behavior “behaviour”

The use of swear words is acceptable as long as they are not used towards another person.  This made me very uncomfortable but it didn’t seem to be an issue with anyone else! Eek!!!!  Hearing kids say, “What in the ______ is that?”  or “Oh, ______!  I can’t believe I did that!” 

Teachers dress much more formal.  I never saw them wearing khaki pants, capris, jeans, or flip flops! 

Kindergarten is called “Kindy” or “Kindyland”

Kindergarten through Year 2 is called Infants and Year 3-Year 6 is Primary.  Beginning in Year 7 is considered High School so there isn’t a middle school or junior high.

I got to do guided reading with the year 1 and year 4 students I worked with.  YAY! 

They don’t use textbooks.  (I’m not certain if this is common throughout the other grade levels and other schools)

Every classroom had a Smart Board!  They are working on getting I Pads next year for all of year 6. 

What a week!  Just like at home I’m sure that each school and classroom will have its unique differences but I wanted to share as much as I could about what I experienced with you. 

Australian School Experience

After returning from a much needed visit back to the States, I was eager to begin my next adventure back here in Australia.  It was finally time to begin my first experience in the Australian public school system. 

I spent two days in the Pre-employment Program for Overseas Trained Teachers where we discussed everything from testing to discipline.  We even spent half of one day just on child protection and had to get a certificate for our training.  The two days were very informative and very eye opening for me to realize that no matter where you teach in the world, for the most part, kids are the same, learn the same ways, and have the same expectations.  I was in a room of about 25 other teachers who have taught anywhere from 2 years to 25, Kindergarten to college, and in England, the US, New Zealand, South Africa, Brazil, Hong Kong, and several other smaller countries on this side of the world!  It was a really unique opportunity that I’m so glad I was part of. 

The first day I woke up extra early so I could make sure I arrived early.  I walked up to catch a bus into the city, took a 50 minute train ride to Blacktown where I needed to be, and then walked about 15 minutes to get to the right location.  I found the conference room in the building and was happy to see several others who also arrived 30 minutes early!  J  I sat down next to a couple of people and heard an English accent and an American accent.  I asked the guy with the American accent where he was from and he said Kansas City!!!  I almost fell off of my chair!  I mean talk about a small world!  So I discovered that he taught at Lee’s Summit North, he lived in Prairie Village, his 2 kids went to school at Prairie Elementary in the Shawnee Mission School District, and his wife was a sorority sister of my BJF teaching colleague, Diana.  He and his wife moved over in December because of the company she works for.  It was awesome! 

Both days we had unlimited coffee and tea.  We also had Morning Tea- one day with scones, jam, and cream and the next day with cakes, cookies, sweet rolls, and all kinds of sweet treats.  The Aussies love a proper Morning Tea!  J

We were given a large amount of paperwork, booklets, and other informative items to read and become familiar with before we actually begin teaching.  Those of you who are also teachers will appreciate this- we received a 3 page print out of commonly used acronyms in their education system!  I was shocked to see how many were new and how many were similar to what we use in the US but worded in another way.  Let me know if you want to learn some new ones!  ;)  I found out late in the day on that Friday of orientation that I would be doing my school placement (somewhat like a student teaching experience) in a 6^th grade class starting Monday.  I immediately was a nervous wreck and not sure what lessons I would teach since I was expecting a K-3 classroom.  I spent the whole weekend worrying and attempting to come up with some ideas.  Luke was going to be traveling the whole next week which meant I had no Internet access.  Having very limited 6^th grade resources, only Internet on my phone, and not a clue where to begin was overwhelming at first! 

My next blog will give you my full week’s experience in the classroom.  After the two day orientation and the five day classroom placement I still had a formal interview with someone from the New South Wales Department of Education.  The following Tuesday I went back to Blacktown for my interview.  My supervising teacher gave me a very nice assessment and reference to the interviewer.  I was officially hired after my interview!  I think I skipped all the way back to the train station with a very big smile and a huge weight finally lifted off of my shoulders.

I’ll explain the process, as many of you have been asking.  The next step is now I can “casual teach” or be a “temporary” teacher anywhere in our whole state of New South Wales.  I am unable to have a permanent position because I am not a permanent resident of Australia.  Throughout this entire process I discovered that getting a permanent position for ANYONE is quite a lengthy process and the majority of teachers start out with casual or temporary work for several years before they are hired and placed permanently with a school.  Casual is subbing for anywhere from 1 day up to a 4 week block.  Temporary is 4 weeks up to a year and is what I would love to have happen!  I met several teachers at the school last week who have a one year temporary position and will be going on to another school next year.  Basically, it’s like having your own classroom with planning your own lessons, etc. The temporary teachers also get benefits, paid holiday leave (4 weeks of vacation) and all of the other perks of a permanent teacher.  Maternity leave in Australia can be taken for up to 12 months so getting a position for someone on maternity leave would be great! 

July 5-18 are the school holidays between Term 2 and Term 3.  On the 18^th, I will take my resume and my official “Approval to Teach” document to the schools I would like to casual teach for.  Right now I am planning on going to 3 schools in our area.  The principal at the school I was in last week was very supportive and assured me that it is great having my foot in the door already.  She said I will have no problems getting casual work on a steady basis there!  J 

I will let you all know after my first day.  I really appreciate all of the kind notes and words in the past couple of weeks.  This is something I have really been looking forward to and needing to have back in my life!  I am also very excited to have this experience to add to my resume and hope that I become comfortable and appreciate teaching ALL grade levels on a regular basis.  I know I can!

There's No Place Like Home!

Being at home for a whole month and a half was fabulous!  I chose not to give you a detailed blog account of everything we did when we were back because this is our Australian Adventure documentation. I will post some pictures of some of the highlights of our time home though.  It was so nice to catch up and spend time with family and friends.  I still had several more people to see and things to do but it was impossible.  I was already exhausted by the end of the first week of events!  Thank you to my mom and dad for letting me move back in and for putting up with my crazy social calendar! 

Luke had to work a lot which made his two week visit feel much shorter, but we have awesome family and friends who made it possible for him to spend time with many of you.  We really appreciated the dinners, lunches, the places to stay, and the many, many events that we were able to attend.  Thank you for a very special time at HOME! 

My little helpers at the airport when I arrived back to KC

I got a very nice Welcome Home sign!  Luke got one, too when he arrived a month later.  :)

Buffett Concert- Preparty with the Freeman's

Power and Light before the concert

We really missed Luke!

My parent's 40th Anniversary Party

Jennifer, me, Lori, and Melanie

Grandma Rush :)

Gavin and Jennifer

Brayden on his 6th birthday (Mom, Aunt Mildred, and Brayden all share the same birthday but he got his own celebration!)

The boys love their Uncle Luke!

Notice Luke in the background...

Lunch at Fritz's on Trevor's 10th birthday with my awesome nephews!

Trevor

I made my parents wear a hat, too!

Gavin

Brayden

Jen and I went with Trevor to Steamboat Arabia on his school field trip in May

Family outing to the Royal's Game

So glad I got to see you girls a few times!!

Memorial Day BBQ at the Freeman's & the day before Luke's birthday

It was a fun and beautiful Memorial Day!

So happy we got to see our friends and their sweet kiddoes!

Mia and Alli and Margaret with her back to us

Love my T Boz!

 Matt, Alli, Luke, and Justin

Christie, Jen, me, and Trudy

Luke's favorite new shirt (he had a full beard when I picked him up at the airport!)

Great day!

At one of Angie's showers I made her a special veil and she was such a good sport and wore it almost the whole night! :)

Fun Night!

Angie made us special koozies for our Vegas weekend for her bachelorette party

VEGAS BABY!

Willie made a special appearance at Angie's wedding

We were so happy to be part of Angie's wedding.  It was a beautiful weekend!