The week before school started I got a call to see if I was interested in teaching science for Term 1. The school I was relief teaching at had a science teacher bail at the last minute & they needed someone to fill in until they could get a permanent replacement at the beginning of Term 2 (desperate times call for desperate measures!). Although relief teaching had its benefits, I didn’t love it. I much prefer to connect with both staff and students on a more permanent basis and Mike and I figured we could all manage the busier schedule and workload, so I said yes.
They considered loading me up with Junior science classes (Years 9 & 10), but in the end they decided not to disrupt a whole bunch of schedules & left me with a full timetable, Years 9 & 10 Science, Year 11 & 12 Biology + an IB Biology class (International Baccalaureate). I got my timetable on Thursday and started Friday...can you say, “Behind the eight ball” to start?!
To be fair, there are teachers that are setting the work for me, but I still have to teach it and am responsible for the running of the classes, marking etc. I felt like a first year teacher again...for the first 3 weeks I couldn’t print, didn’t have access to the attendance system and didn’t have a computer that connected to the data projector...so needless to say I scrambled on a daily basis to make things happen.
I'm also realizing what it's like to teach in a non-semestered schedule for an extended period. There are many things to juggle.
Tomorrow is the end of week 6 and so far, outside of the IB class, I have successfully been able to BS my way (legit!) through my classes. I gave up on the IB class before I even got started...it moves WAY to quickly and has WAY too much depth for my background knowledge. So, the IB Bio teacher has to come in for the teaching portion of that class & then I sit there while the students talk amongst themselves about the work. We like to say that we are building some “independent learners”. Here is a molecule the IB class built one day...I am sure most of you will recognize what it is immediately?!
(In case anyone doesn’t know, it’s a polypeptide molecule, obviously 😜:)
Needless to say, it has been enjoyable stretching my brain, I have enjoyed working with some great people in the science department and the kids have been generally quite well-behaved and engaged in their learning...having said all of that...I am counting down the days until the end of the term (only 5 weeks to go!).
I have to admit, I was feeling quite proud of myself earlier this week when I marked the Internal Assessment for the first topic: The Rocky Shore Ecosystem in New Zealand (Oh yeah, I have learned a ton about that along the way too...I can name snail species, their adaptations, their food chain and the abiotic factors that affect them like nobody’s business 😂😂)...AND...when I marked the assessments and sat down with the other teachers to ‘moderate’ them (make sure we were all on the same page with our standards), I had pretty much nailed the levels for my students...feeling pretty good about that!! AND, my students did quite well on their assessment (Yay me:)
Next unit: Genetics: Variation and Change...YIKES!!! 😳 (I should probably be studying Punnet Squares instead of writing this post!).
Here is a picture I took of myself just before my first Year 9 lab...I think I am looking like the real deal:)
As for Mike and the kids, Mike is cruising through his term...as he does! He is currently at Auckland Champs with his boys volleyball team (getting their butts kicked according to the text I just received from him:)
In his spare time, he runs 16km trail races and makes pavlova...because he is awesome!!
Returning home after his 16km trail race.
Mike’s awesome pavlova.
Jonah has settled into his year 8 class and received a Principal’s award in the first few weeks for being enthusiastic contributor in class. #proudparents
He is currently away on a 5 day camping trip with all of the year 8s from his school. They have posted a few pictures on Facebook, so I know he is still alive and seemingly having fun. They get to do some pretty cool camp activities, including surfing, kayaking, caving and swimming...sounds like a pretty good week to me!
A picture of Jonah at camp that I found on his school Facebook page.
Siena is also loving her Year 5 class and received a class award last week for always doing her best and always contributing positively in class. #proudparent
Siena receiving her award at the Friday morning assembly.
They are both in parkour classes on Monday nights, tennis lessons on Tuesdays and Jonah sails every Sunday morning. He has progressed very quickly through the ranks and has moved on to the Learn to Race course.
We continue to do new and fun things on the weekends...a couple of weeks ago we went to a Black Caps cricket match on Friday night, paragliding on Saturday (that was my birthday present!) and sat in the audience for the TV show Family Feud on Sunday. Good times!
Cricket at Eden Park.
Paragliding at Pakiri.
Family Feud studio audience.
Last weekend was Siena’s School Fun Fair. It was...........fun:)
Hanging out with some of her friends.
In just a few weeks time we will pack our things and wrap up the New Zealand portion of our adventure. We leave NZ on April 30 and head to Australia for ~ 6 weeks. Breaking up that 6 weeks, we have a little 2 week side trip to Cambodia planned. We leave Australia mid-June, stop in Fiji for 2 weeks on our way home and land back on Canadian soil at the beginning of July. So, while it is going to be very hard to leave the incredible life and the amazing friends we have made in NZ, there are lots of adventures to look forward to in the coming months. And then, of course, we get to arrive home to see all of the wonderful friends and family we have missed during our time away.
I’ve got to sign off for now...Mendel’s peas are calling:)
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