Light at the End of the Tunnel

After speaking with Leanne yesterday about my growing concerns, she told me to talk to Sim, the head teacher, and write up reports on Sentral. Sim came into class to talk to my Year 7's. She basically reiterated the rules and laid down the law for me. The rest of class they worked silently on worksheets. I explained to them that I don't like today and that we can start fresh if they behave as well as they did today. Tarryn and I also went down to talk to the teacher supervising our problem child, and he explained that we should not even engage in an argument with her, just give her one warning and then send her down to him. I feel bad for her to some degree. It's obvious that this school environment is not good for her or conducive to her learning. She really needs one on one or alternative education. But it was good to know that I don't have to put up with her behavior, just send her out. So today I felt a little more in control and a little more supported. I think next week is just going to be a new chapter with Leanne and we'll see how that goes.

After school we had a department meeting. Christine showed us a really cool new resource that kind of replaces Kahoot, which is great for schools who don't have one to one or students who don't have iPhones. It's called Plickers and essentially you create a quiz and hand out individual, laminated QR codes to each student. When you show a question with the multiple choice answers, you hold up your QR code in a certain way. The teacher then uses their phone to scan the classroom and it automatically collects the answers. It is REALLY awesome! We then had a wellness check in which we talked about one student who is particularly struggling and what has and hasn't worked for him or her. I think this is an amazing way to approach students who are falling behind, by creating a community devoted to lifting them up.

After school, I went with Helen to her friend, Sandy's, house to buy these beautiful handwoven baskets. They are made in Myanmar and she sells them as part of a Fair Trade organization. I absolutely loved them.

I then started hunting for volunteer opportunities since I am running a little behind. Helen referred me to volunteering for schoolies. Apparently, after graduation, thousands of "schoolies"go on massive road trips or vacations and just get completely wasted and party the entire week. Byron Bay is a huge destination for schoolies. Since there are so many young, intoxicated people, there is actually a task force of volunteers who drive schoolies home, provide first aid, cook free breakfasts, walk or support them, while they are out of control. I think this is a very unique opportunity to get involved in the community and think it might be a little fun.