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 6th 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 6th 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment