Friday 06-06-08
Prac Block Day Twenty

Hooray Friday is here and what a wonderful Friday it was!

Thursday I was in C2 again, but while they did the best maths work that I have ever seen them do in the first lesson, the rest of the day I found that they just wasted time! Seeing students waste 70 minuet lessons on chatting and nothingness is the most frustrating thing ever!

By the end of the day I was ready for a break, so when the girls turned up for Bollywood dancing, I took off to go look at what the Art students do in their rich tasks. I didn’t get as far as the Art students because I saw the prac teacher from Music sitting outside with a group of students playing and clapping rhythms. I ended up joining their group for the lesson.

It was a lot of fun to be working with younger students on practical, hands on stuff like rhythms. It was also a challenge to say each of the rhythms correctly as the students clapped them. All in all it was a good way to finish the afternoon.

At assembly that morning, the principal announced that there would now be awards for bad language and bullying in the school. He showed the students the trophies he had made up. The “Bad Language Award” for Girls was a truck drivers singlet in a frame. This was, the principal explained, because girls who used foul language sounded like truck drivers.

The Boys “Bad Language Award” was a pink tutu, a set of fairy wings and pair of ballet shoes, again in a frame. This was because boys who used bad language are confused as to what makes them a man.

The “Bullying Award” was a yellow jacket (I think) which was to say that all people who bully are cowards.

The principal continued to explain that if anyone was awarded any of these trophies for any month, they would have their photo taken with it and then that photo would be sent to all contactable members of their family.

Interesting concept.

I’ve noticed that most of the students refer to the principal by a nickname and it’s not a bad thing, but it’s a familiar way of referring to him. Interesting again.

Today started with my prac teacher letting me know that her youngest daughter has chicken pox.

We then had Japanese and I got to go over sentence structures again with the students and expand on the basic work I did last lesson with them. One of the girls (who turned up late) has suddenly decided that (despite doing really well in Japanese) that she doesn't like it any more and wants to go back to her usual class. I can understand that it’s important for students to be able to have choice in their studies, but at the same time, I think it’s important for them to see a commitment they have made through, at least until the end of the term.

As it is, I’ve seen more than one student tell my teacher that they want to leave Japanese since the time that I’ve been there. It’s sad to see them not sticking by their commitments.

Music was next and the teacher had bought in a didgeridoo to show the kids and play. It was pretty fun and all the students really got into it and wanted to have a go. It was excellent to see them all so engaged in the lesson.

I had maths twice more today, and I started collecting the final lot of money games assignments to mark. Around 50 students did Money Games across the four maths classes that I’m in, and I’ve marked about 39 assignments already – it’s almost a record for work handed in! Hooray!

Also today, the teachers form a team to play against a group of boys in soccer at lunch time. It’s funny to see the principal running around in his good pants, shirt and tie with his joggers on. All the students really get into it and there are a lot who come just to watch. Pretty fun really.