2018

It's early to be up, especially for a 'holiday' morning - except this appears to be what 'normal' looks like even in the holidays for our family.

I'm up a bit earlier - bad dream unsettled me and I wasn't chancing going back there if I fell into a light sleep again.  That means it is 6.23 and I've had one and a third coffee mugs already.  In my defense, they are mocha's.  I'll switched to Tleaft after this ...

3/5 (all my boys) are up and playing Minecraft or something similar on the ipad.  The girls will probably wake around 7ish and since we've cancelled Sky (ok, put on hold) for the summer 502 will go on at 7.30 and they can watch Sesame Street before some breakfast.

Summer is some sort of holding pattern it feels - I'm squirreling away on school work in the early mornings, days are spent knitting/sewing/FEEDING THE CHILDREN ALL THE TIME/cleaning/swimming/lagooning/doing dishes .... you get the idea.  DH has been working pretty much full time, except from Christmas - New Years - an as much as I love my tribe to bits, holidays time can get a bit long in the tooth. 

So ... in terms of school - this will be the the start of my fourth year at my school. I keep pondering a #oneword2018 but nothing has really stood out for me yet.  Consolidate and pace keep popping up into my head both in terms of family and work. - I will get back to you on that one.

The Y10s I started with are now Y13s and I'm really excited for that class.  The girls have keen interests and the course is designed around what they want to study; based on discussions with them at the end of last year.  None of them (currently) plan to study or major in English at Uni, but they are keen to look deeper into how we tell our stories and the feminist voices of the past. 

My Christmas Book (thanks to our local store for choosing one for me as a surprise whilst I choose the kids ones) was The Bone Sparrow - which nicely ties in with the Y12 theme for the year of 'Identity and Place'  They will start with a study on literature surrounding the Boat People in Nauru  and the voices that we hear through media and other texts.  We will study Warsan Shire and Apriana Taylor poetry - along with possibly either the film or novel Kite Runner. 

The Y11s were keen to do something around the world wars, so rather than sticking to a time and doing Wilfred Owen over and over, we'll look at several poems about conflicts from the past and they can choose the ones they want to really dig deep into.  We've also go the NZ drama scripts Land Girls/Glory Boys and The Book Thief to explore. 

My integrated studies class (Eng/Social Studies) will have the theme of 'Turangawaewae' - My space and place .... this is the one I'm having the most fun planning the first four weeks - and then I'll work with the students as to where we head.  We will look at Rekohu (Chatham) Islands for a start and also how story is passed down and the stories of the same places but from different peoples and perspectives.   One novel I have for a class study this year is Refuge by Jackie French - which does this to an extent. 

So that is a tiny snippet/ideas about my classes.  My professional journey will continue with COL work - and I'm excited to sink my teeth into that more this year.  Other than that ... really looking forward to #NZBFC630 starting up again to join my cup of coffee!!

That COL word ...

The term has started again, with the buzzing energy that is the build-up to NCEA exams for seniors and the count-down to Outdoor Ed week for the middles.  My own tamariki in the Junior school are ticking off calendar days till their overnight camps; whilst I make a list and check it more than twice to ensure I’m not forgetting anything.

So far this week coming has Milo & Stories on Wednesday night (we’ll walk up to the library in our PJs) and dress as a book character Friday.  That means sewing up at least three costumes during my duty-free lunchtimes.  DD1 wants to be Moana, DS3 wants to go as cat-boy and DD2 wants to be a flying lion.  The other two haven’t decided yet; for me, I’m leaning towards Hermione or Professor McGonnagal - although Thing One or Thing Two might be easier. 

But I digress … whilst Term 3 was busy finishing I was appointed to an ‘in-school’ (but more sideways) role for our Kahui Ako – the Southern Area Schools COL.  I’m really excited to start getting into working together with the other English and Humanities teachers to support all staff as we work towards the bigger goals set by the schools.  We had an amazing Jumbo Day late in term 3 and what a buzz to have all the staff from all five schools meeting in one place.  Just phenomenal!     

I have seen our across school teacher work with an amazing energy and passion as the COL has gotten off the ground since Term One.  I have so appreciated her enthusiasm and vision as she works for the staff and students within the COL.  This enthusiasm and also the willingness to go outside her comfort zone was part of my inspiration to apply for this position as it came up.  Working together collaboratively for the good of our students can only be a positive thing.  With the advent of technology that joins rather than divides and the willingness of teachers to put themselves into a learner role if necessary – we can work towards furthering the amazing opportunities Area Schools already offer their tamariki. 

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini ke.

My strength does not come from me alone but also from others.