A Busy Time

Since returning to Grahamstown, things have been very busy for me. The substitute job I mentioned last post went off without a hitch, and has lead to further jobs in the last few months: Grade 5 (1 day and then 2 further days, Grade 7 (3 days), and Grade 3 (1 day). These substitute teaching jobs, though they are only for a day or two at a time, have really given me some confidence that I am, in fact, qualified to do this. Sometimes I feel that I'm actually quite good! When I'm in the classroom teaching, it's a great feeling. Though I've been working nearly exclusively at one school, this week I had a substitute job at another school for the first time- business is picking up!

Since substitute teaching doesn't keep me busy on a regular basis, I have also been volunteering twice a week at Queenspark School, a local private school that I had my teaching practice at last year. I had a meeting with their Head of Foundation Phase, where we decided that I would be most useful to them working with Language Enrichment and also helping out with Creative Writing. Doing this has given me lots of time with students one-on-one, in small groups and also the unique experience of working with one or a few students while the class teacher continues the lesson to the whole class. I've also been helping a local optometrist with the eye screenings they have been doing at the schools. Honestly, it's been great fun, and already being familiar with many of the schools makes the process go smoothly.

Though I haven't given up on finding a full-time post, I appreciate the time I have to build up my CV with these varied jobs. Currently I have my eyes on a part-time position that has recently opened up, but time will tell if I manage to grab it. A two PGCE friends are teaching at the school I have been spending the most time at, and a third has just joined as a part-time isiXhosa teacher. Another former classmates is working at Sandlot School, it was a delight to see her in action when I came by to do the eye-screenings there recently. Seeing these talented ladies get positions is encouraging, and gives me something to motivate me to keep on searching.

End Times

So, aside from some marking (creative writing and numeracy), my teaching is finishing for the year.

Mostly, I'm really sad about that. I've had an amazing time at Queenspark, I've learned so much and hopefully have grown as a teacher. I'm going to be writing up some of the things I've been up to during the last month.

Tomorrow is the Junior Sports' Day, which I'll be helping out at and my students will be partipating in. I'm bringing each of them a lollipop, as well as a certficate of some way they have achieved while I was there- that idea was from my host teacher. As a side note, this site is amazing for creating kid-friendly certificates, it was no trouble at all to whip up one for each student. I'll also be bringing her a little gift to say thanks, there is no way I can possibly say how grateful I am but at least it'll be something.

From Monday I'll be back at university, frantically completing assignments and portfolios and research projects. To be honest, I'd rather stay at Queenspark and continue with what I've been doing there- I was honoured to be part of such an amazing team of teachers and staff, if only for such a short while.

Getting Ready for School

You will see a lot of blog entries with this title at this time of the year- Getting Ready for School. As you all know, in the Northern Hemisphere school starts in September. The majority of edu-bloggers are from the US and, as expected, all of the bloggers I follow are discussing classroom layout, parent packs and display ideas.

Here in South Africa, school starts in January. The big summer holiday is December - January, with a smaller (but significant) winter break June - July. This fact also makes a lot of beautiful calendar and planning resources useless to me, they are often decorated and planned seasonally and our seasons are opposite here! Let's see some love for the teachers in the Southern Hemisphere! Gecko at The Red Pen of Doom is a South African teacher, hi Gecko!, but I wonder if there are any more out there? If there are signs of life, maybe we could get a Southern Hemisphere linky-party started.

 The emphasis on starting the school year at the moment is beneficial to my own plans, though- I start my final teaching practice in two weeks! I've met my host teacher and discussed our plan for the first week of term. I'll be at Queenspark School (as usual, not it's real name) for 5 whole weeks. My class, Grade 2 (age 7/8), will be starting third term with me there from the first day. I love this because it helps to cement my authority if I'm there from the 'start'. There are 16 students, with a 50/50 split between those who are home-language English speakers and those who are not. It's my first time in a private school, so I'm excited to see the contrast between Queenspark and Sandlot, which was a well-supported government school.

My host teacher said that she wasn't happy with her current method of classroom discipline, which was grouping rows of desks into teams. This wasn't working for two reasons:

• The students are young and not very assertive, meaning members of Dragonfly Group didn't feel they were brave enough to tell other Dragonflies to be quiet/behave.
• My host teacher often changes the seating plan to accomodate her students' needs.

We discussed this and I mentioned my Clip Chart which had worked so successfully at Sandlot School. The result: I'm going to make another Clip Chart and bring it into my new Grade 2 classroom! I'm excited to have the opportunity to create another Clip Chart so soon, and I hope that my class will like it. I have 1 week before school starts, so with luck I'll have more pictures up here of Clip Chart #2 soon.

As a side note, I finally realised I didn't have the "Follow My Blog" gadget installed- whoops! If you read my blog, please sign up and follow me. There will be cookies! Virtual cookies.