Christmas without snow or Santa?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... Which I don't really love quite yet. I love Christmas time and putting up the decorations, but my birthday is a late November one, so when decorations start appearing even in October I am not impressed.

This is my first Christmas after getting married, so I am giving in early and beginning to plan excitedly. Decorations are being hand-made to save the dollars, but there are so many options I figured I'd remind myself of my personal boundaries - no snow or Santa or anything snow-related or Santa-related. That's right. No snow globes, icicles, reindeer, or elves. The only exception is a fireplace 'theme' where I am planning on hanging the stockings.

And I'm thinking I will be treating my in-class activities the same. Sorry kids!

Why?

Well, let's start with the snow. If you are in certain parts of the world, snow is a perfectly natural, unavoidable part of the season. It isn't in Australia and here in QLD it will be hot. Snow is simply not natural here at this time of year. It is not a part of our Christmas experience. It simply makes more sense to be relevant for our season - ice cold drinks instead of hot chocolate, fans instead of blankets, and the only snowman decoration that makes any kind of sense here is the half-melted ones.

Moving onto Santa. For many, he is the magical part of Christmas for children. For me, he can be a bit of a disappointing fairy tale. There will be students whose families will not be able to pull off a magical Santa fulfilling all their dreams and ticking items from their wishlist. There will be students whose families do not encourage Santa beliefs, such as my own. There will be students with such high expectations of Santa that they will cry if their ipad is the wrong colour (or their car). There will be students who don't celebrate Christmas at all. As a Christian, I have no interest in lying to my children about Santa's existence and placing doubt on my other beliefs. I also place a different emphasis on Christmas and don't want to emphasis the gifts. Christmas can have greater meaning and joy than celebrating Santa's visit and receiving gifts.

So what is my alternative?

The 'true meaning of Christmas' is the simplest answer. In a Christian school, it is easy to emphasis the Christian symbolism and remembrance. In a public school, there are still other Christmas truths to emphasize and these can even be done with those who don't celebrate Christmas.

Broader Christmas themes can include:

• Giving: not receiving and maybe not even gifts. Think of giving to the poor, donating time to a cause, acts of random kindness, etc.
• Love and community: similarly to above, this could also include writing letters, spending time with community members, and working on relationships.
• Joy, peace and blessings: just having fun and celebrating life in general. Incorporate games, talk about having joy and peace even in hard times, go on a treasure hunt for things that make us feel blessed or at peace, learn how to calm down, journal blessings.
• Salvation: not just the amazing gift from Jesus, but also safety during the holidays. Let's not forget it can also be a dangerous season with drownings, road accidents, and fires.
• Pleasant surprises: don't you love it when loved ones visit unexpectedly, an ordinary day turns into some random fun, or you enter a room to find it transformed since you left? There's no reason this can't happen at school without it being about Christmas, though it can easily be linked in. Can you imagine how much your students would love it? It could even become an advent calendar themed event with one little pleasant surprise a day or a week. We had one teacher at my primary school who used to prank another class - why not even work on a pleasant surprise for another class or teacher?

These can be linked into class learning such as:

• Who is poor? How do they live?
• How can we help others?
• How can we control our feelings?
• How do different cultures celebrate?
• Family history.
• Who do I love and why? How can I show them?
• How can I stay safe?

If you are now wondering about the beloved decorations and class displays, you could consider going with a somewhat traditional Christmas still or a more subtle Christmas theme. You can exclude Santa and snow and still be left with stars, angels, candy canes, trees, pictures portraying peace or joy, a 'present' which is lifted up to reveal a 'giving' scene which isn't your usual present, family portraits, baby portraits, safety posters. Specific examples of how these crafts would work will be following in a separate post soon.

Gift ideas are quite a bit easier, even without snow or santa. These will be presented in a separate post soon.

How do you feel about booting out snow for a local reality and replacing a Santa emphasis with a 'meaning of Christmas' emphasis? Will this make the season unnecessarily challenging for you?

The Dream Class for a Relief Teacher

I have moved interstate and resumed the role of housewife as I wait on my registration to be
approved. Now that things have calmed down, I can resume the blogging. As my reflections are somewhat limited without teaching time, the next sequel of posts will be based on reflections on my teaching inspired by my reading.

Today's post is focused on lesson one in 'Create Your Dream Classroom' by Linda Kardamis. She finishes her first chapter asking the reader to describe their dream classroom and list what would be the same or different in comparison to their present classroom. While not having read any further, I would imagine that this is to be used as a 'goal' to reflect upon in future lessons.

At this stage, I plan on remaining as a casual teacher for a while. As such, my dream class is often changing. While I love organised, minimalist classrooms where I can pick up the planning and enable the children to continue with their present learning paths, this isn't within my control. As such, I will focus on classroom environment, culture and lessons, which I can more easily influence, especially when returning to classes repeatedly.

While in a class, I would like to see the children engaged in their learning and develop a hunger for more learning. The children are curious and self-motivated due to the intrinsic desire to their interest in their learning. When lessons conclude, the children tell me that it was fun and they want to know more. Children persevere through challenges, because they perceive the learning goal as worthwhile and are invested in the learning. Children are prepared to take learning risks, because they know that they are safe to do so within the environment and culture of the classroom.

The culture within a classroom is one of respect. Children support each other in both their strengths and weaknesses, recognising that everyone has them. Children who are experts within a subject area take on a teaching role, rather than a proud mocking one. I am respected as a teacher and the children feel respected by me. We are able to communicate openly with each other and problem solve due to the trust that is developed between us. Behaviour issues are recognised as a weakness, just as children who struggle with maths. Both myself and students support the 'misbehaving' student, discussing the cause of problems and enabling them to behave appropriately.

Lessons are interactive and inquiry-based whenever possible. Students use the library and ICT to research, experiment with manipulatives, re-enact, and create. Their learning is demonstrated in a variety of ways.

Assessment is varied, authentic and naturally integrated into the lesson. Children don't label assessments as tests or stressful, because it is a natural outworking of their discoveries. Assessments may take the form of a presentation, creation of a text, a piece of art, teacher notes following a conversation, interviews, movie files, or yet another form as appropriate to the lesson and outcomes. These assessments will be recorded in a clear manner in order to be presented to their regular teacher. Rather than simply piling assessments, they will be clipped together in order to retain the order and present the material in the neatest way possible for the teacher.

Marking will also take multiple forms. In cases where students are either independently marking or assisting, they will be reminded of the focus (i.e. spelling, sentence structure or ideas). Whenever possible, students will reflect upon their own work and note what they like about the work and how they could further strengthen such work in the future. Peer assessments may also play a role and guidelines will be in place to ensure feedback is constructive and respectful. In the case of worksheets (as sometimes left by teachers to complete), we will mark these together as a class whenever possible and discuss the most difficult problems together.

While I could continue to dream, I am afraid I would end up with a very detailed book. As such, I will leave it for now on these major points to reflect upon and implement. At this stage, I see that I have made a good start in many of these areas and improvement will be focused on providing more variety and becoming familiar with my new students once settling into the new schools in QLD. However, my plans are still quite lacking in real student-guided inquiry lessons due to the difficult time restraints of a one-day placement. As such, it will be a major goal to expand upon these and find ways to work around the time restraints.

This has all got me quite excited and motivated, so excuse me while I go expand my lesson repertoire.

What are your dreams for your classroom? What can you change or improve to help you achieve these dreams?

Threatening Thursday - Power struggles, threats, or communicating care?

A quick recount for reflection...

     "And last table, come and line up at the door, thank you."

     Then I notice that one student still sitting in his or her chair.

     "Why aren't you lining up?"

     "I don't want to go."

I'm not sure how many times I have had this situation since starting teaching. When I first experienced this, it quickly became a power struggle and the student would usually give in once I threatened a serious enough punishment. Recently I have discovered what seems to just about be a magic phrase.

     "I think it would still be best if you came with us. If you stay in here, I will not be able to see you and make sure that you are safe."

Following this statement, I have found that most of the time the child will join the class. I am unsure at this point if it is a result of a student's fear, a need to be cared for, or a combination, but the idea that I am looking out for their safety is important to them and requires no explanation.

There was case this did not occur immediately, the circumstances were unusual. The child had struggled for two days to follow my instructions, struggling with the changes that come with a relief teacher. In this circumstance, we were right next to the classroom, where I could see the classroom door and hear the student, so I left them with the door open and a responsible student helping them do some work. Next thing I know, both the students joined the class. Why? They didn't feel safe in the class alone, even with us so close.

This phrase has significantly lowered, if not erased, my need to threaten, growl, or enter a power struggle over this issue. It makes me curious what other 'magic phrases' exist that can motivate students to behave appropriately, while also portraying our care for our students rather than our power over them.

Have you discovered any such phrases that work for you?

Stressful Saturday: Keeping calm as a casual teacher

At times it can be oh so tempting to
hug those 'darlings' just a little too tight.

The holidays are meant to be a time for refreshing, relaxing and preparing for the next term, right? Well, we are back from holidays now, but I felt like my holidays were anything but those things. We hurried around with friends, travelling while we could, and returned home with time to spare to prepare. Only, I found that every time I began to think about work, the butterflies in my stomach would start.

Reflecting on my work, I felt like I was doing well, learning fast and aware of what I needed to develop. However, when I thought about facing another class, having another day of demands placed on me and the inevitable behaviour management required, I just wanted to cry.

Naturally, I hopped online to search for stress relief strategies. I know my teaching practice is developing well enough, so I figured I just needed some help in keeping my inner peace while growing. However, everything I found was general stuff I have heard before, or specifically designed for full-time teachers. For me to make the best of my time and find some peace, advice on displays and coordinating with parents didn't help a whole lot. In fact, it was almost all irrelevant. So, I approached a fabulous relief teaching community on facebook for advice, prayed, and developed my personalised stress management plan.

Step one - identifying causes of stress:

• As an early childhood teacher, students are not as independent as older grades, requiring constant supervision and help. It is not rare for at least five students to be asking for me (to go to the toilet, spell something, find out what to do, have help getting started) as well as at least one student who needs my attention due to their behaviour. Such intensity keeps me on my toes, but exhausts me both physically and emotionally, in the immediate and later on.
• By the end of two days, my body is exhausted. I dread those full weeks which leave me unable to enjoy my weekend due to pain and/or sickness. At time, two days on my feet is enough to make it painful to walk from the bed to the bathroom the next morning.
• Arriving home, it is difficult to leave work at work, even with no further planning or marking to do. As a perfectionist, I can't help but dwell on what I did, what the students did, how the day could have gone smoother, etc. This sometimes results in better solutions for the future, improving my practice, but some days it simply robs me of my peace and makes it impossible to relax.
• As well as being a teacher, I am a wife and a writer. This means, when I get home, I need to think about food, shopping, cleaning, blogging, researching, and pumping out the minimum pages required to complete my novel. Then of course there is this thing I have heard of called a social life, as well as exercise and taking care of oneself. It is a lot to balance, especially when half of it is still new.
• Work is uncertain, so my income is uncertain. Thankfully I have a husband who earns a regular wage. However, we are still setting up and both of us desperately crave a keyboard since I had to sell my old one. So while we could scrape by without my earnings, it is still incredibly helpful and I can't help but feel the pressure to earn a decent income. This is hard to guarantee when schools often don't call until the morning they would like you to work.

Step two - identify specific actions which can relieve each cause of stress:

• Continue to reflect on, research, and improve behaviour management plan and find ways to reduce constant demands for my attention.
• For spelling, I tell students that I will not help, they can take their best guess using strategies we discuss, ask a friend, or look for the word in their environment. If they still get it wrong, I don't mind because it means they are making an effort, taking risks, and learning.
• For the toilet, before allowing students into class, I check they have gone if they need to, and then have a name system, where they write their name on the board when they leave and rub it out when they are back, so I know where they are. If a student's name is already on the board, other students must wait until they come back. 
• For students who can read, I may write up activities they can do when finished. Otherwise, if a small group finishes at roughly the same time, I put one or two students in charge of an activity.
• For some jobs, even young students can be placed in charge. I had a revelation during the holidays that it is perfectly okay, to take a step back and allow a student or two to even run the class! This means I can help students one-on-one or mark writing up the back while a student leads a game of spelling bingo, or something else the class is familiar with. This is particularly useful in those odd left-over minutes when the class has actually managed to finish and pack up a bit early and has time for a game. Even better, this job can be given to a 'bossy' or 'naughty' student to give them a responsibility, allow you to keep an eye on them and the activity at the same time and maybe the other students will see that student in a new light. As an extra bonus, if the whole class is engaged, allowing me to mark, I can have a few more minutes to finish my food during lunch time!
• Some misbehaviour does not need addressing immediately. This was a tip from my fabulous facebook community. Sometimes, if the problem is inattention during mat time, it can be as simple as saying, "Student X, please think about your behaviour." If the behaviour continues, or begins to distract other students, it can be addressed by saying, "Student X is not making the right decision. So we will focus on our learning and I will talk to them later." Talk to them later? That's actually possible! Some behaviour is not dangerous and only compromises one student's learning, so the class can continue in their learning, and when they have moved onto an independent activity, then I can address the issue with the student quietly.
• This term, I have begun a new routine coming home that seems to have helped a lot. Lately, I don't play the radio or any music in the car, and simply reflect on the day, cry if need be, or problem solve. Then, as soon as I come in the door, I let my hair down, take out my earrings, remove my shoes, change into comfy clothes, gather some food and collapse on the couch to do something that will relax and distract me. No work clothes, no work papers, no work thinking. The day is done. If I need extra time to reflect, it will often happen later when I am calm and refreshed.
• My final causes of stress have all been managed with one last, extreme discussion. I actually cried talking to my husband about it, expected resistance and was blessed with amazing support. I am no longer working five days a week. I am available five days a week, but I shall turn down work if I have had two hectic days in a row or am feeling knocked out. We have actually agreed that three to four days of work is perfectly okay sometimes. There will be a time when this is not all so new and overwhelming, the book is finished, my muscles and immune system have built up and my husbands work has also calmed down so he can help around the house a little more. When that time comes, I will be more able to work a full week and will be able to build up to a contract or permanent full-time position. Until then, we shall get by fine and I shall take care of myself and my other commitments. I have to remind myself that being unable to work full time does not make me weak, incompetent or less qualified than 'everyone else'. This simply means I have a full life that requires some balance. As for the money concerns, we will be okay. We are incredibly blessed that my husband has reliable work that will support us, so anything I get is simply a comfort or safety net. With this attitude, I can turn down a single day's work, without apology, also knowing by now that I have some relationship with these schools and they will continue to book me.

Step three - Find a few general stress relief strategies for those moments that can't be avoided:

• Grab a treat, whether it's a chocolate, a massage, or one day of refusing to do housework. Rewards, bribery and distraction are a great way of recovering after a particularly rough day or week.
• Take a breath. There may be times when a mistake is made and the class is a rowdy one, so chaos reigns. If it's just off-task noise and not dangerous behaviour, take a step back, turn around, and breathe before returning to the situation.
• Remember why you do this, and if you couldn't care about the potential you are trying to unlock or the love you have for kids, count the dollars you are earning, remember what it will pay for, then even tell the kids. It's good for them to realise sometimes that you care, you are trying to help, but if they don't care, you still get paid and they lose out on what you are offering.
• Play some music or do some exercise. Doing this as a class at times can help the students too. Release those negative hormones, work up some positive hormones, lose yourself in the moment and relax.
• Redefine the stresses as challenges or goals and determine to make the experience a positive learning experience rather than something that happened separately to you.

Here are a few websites with some extra advice on stress management:

• Dealing with Stress - Stress Management Society
• 10 Ways to Reduce a Teacher's Classroom Stress - Worksheet Library
• 101 Ways to Cope with Teaching Stress - Smart Teaching

What do you do to reduce stress during difficult times?

Tag Tuesday - Some resources from other sites I have used lately

Yesterday I sat at home, dabbing a running nose, nursing a headache, loving the sound of the rain and watching a little too much of Bones. However, having just bought a laminator, on Sunday night, I couldn't totally let the day pass by without some resource gathering. In order to extend my resources for early finishers, I've turned to pinterest and other bloggers to find resources I could easily print off, laminate and use time and time again. So here's a quick list before I run off to find the tissue box again.

Numeracy:
Oh no seven! (just add dice for an addition game, google dice games and you'll come up with plenty more)
Mystery letter (I copied their monster/number grid, but included my own sums, allowing me to add a little variety and change the letter/number that was hidden in the grid)
I have, who has (made up my own basic template as it is easier to do than to find one I like which looks easy to read. Of course, a blank template is not limited to numeracy and can be done as an early finisher activity for a small group or a whole class activity)
Why so few numeracy sheets? I tend to find the class already has maths games the children love or number charts and dice I use for games without sheets, so the demand for such activities is very low. I also have my 31 math challenges freebie for a back-up when needed.

Literacy:
Scattegories (a simple version for students which could be used to introduce nouns, just add a timer or have students yell 'stop' when the first person fills their page)
Nursery Rhyme Reading Mazes (this one costs $7, but I like the idea enough to DIY one which fits with a theme, text, or level that I find myself in often)
Spelling Battleship (designed in such a way that it can be used with any word list, so long as it fits, so win for differentiation!)
DIY comic strip (students can create pictures and text in the provided bubbles for a fun story-telling method)
Complete the comic strip (theme and pictures already provided, students are challenged to create a dialogue between the two characters on their first day of school)
Hangman (Okay, no link here to a resource, I basically just typed up the letters and made a quick template myself)

That's it for now, but what more does a girl need? What resources do you bring out time and time again for early finishers?

Satisfied Saturday - General reflections after a week of relief

I am glad to announce that I am feeling my routine returning! Returning to teaching after a break can take some adjustments and a bit of reminding, but judging by this week's results, I think I am back to my regular practice. Let me just enjoy this for a moment...

Okay, now that I've enjoyed that, it's time for some reflection! Here is a general run down of thoughts from this week:

• I have found that since refusing to help students spell, the writing sessions have been going much smoother. When I explain my approach to the students, some like it, others shrug their shoulders, and I haven't had any complain. You can see my approach to this, along with a few other quick problem solving strategies in my last post.
• Teaching in schools with different student groups can highlight strengths and weaknesses. While I have been working on my awareness of what is going on around the classroom while working with specific students, I have had two students run out of my class this week! In such situations, awareness should be immediate as possible. Since then, I have planned to buy some bells for a door hanger, allowing me to know when students run or wander out, or even in, without my knowledge. On Thursday, I also implemented another point system: class exit points. We started the day with 30 points. Any time someone leaves the room, unless I have sent them for a job, the class loses a point. If they didn't ask permission, they lose multiple points. At the end of the day, we still had about 20 points! While this class did not have any reputable 'runners,' I do believe that it reduced the amount of students asking to go to the toilet unnecessarily. In fact, it's one of the few times I would have one student asking to go without someone else also asking. Of course, when talking about this, we did discuss that it is better to lose a point than it is to wet yourself, so if you really need to go, you'd better go!
• When spelling words have not been left or are not clear, I have found that it is best to change up the schedule a bit and do spelling activities after writing. This way, I can mark students writing on the spot and they can use their misspelled words as their spelling words for the day. Due to my approach to spelling during the writing session, I have only had one student not make mistakes, but looking back through his book we were able to find words. Spelling roll-a-word has become my staple activity now. The students love it and it is the perfect 'reward' for taking risks with their spelling.
• When no work or specific routine has been left for me, I now have my own routine down to an art. The morning session is literacy focused (and while my writing was strong, I have had to do some research on reading activities and groups, so follow me on Bloglovin' if you want to keep updated!). The middle session is maths focused. In the final session, we work on completing work and have free time, if they have earned it (at the beginning of the day, they are told that in order to have free time, they need to complete their work and not waste my time. Each minute they waste of my time is a minute off their time). The benefits of this timetable is that I have time at the end of the day to catch up on marking, the children fulfill their responsibilities for their rewards and most, if not all, of the work is finished before the end of the day. This leaves the regular teacher with no loose ends when they return.
• In order to encourage meaningful activities for early finishers and those enjoying free play, I have also spent the weekend collecting resources for 'challenge packs.' These will require a few more resources than my previous challenge capsules freebie and will provide include a greater variety of learning activities such as science experiments. If you are interested in these freebies, do make sure you go to the sidebar and follow me, allowing you to keep updated.

That's it for today, but as you can see, there should be more coming soon, so don't be strangers.

Learning is a lifelong journey, even as teachers. What have you learned lately?

Trapped Tuesday - The Trick of Problem Management

Teaching comes with some unique challenges for a new graduate. For me, the most overwhelming is the very idea of caring for at least twenty-five students at a time. In early childhood especially, this could mean:

• 5 children screaming, "How do you spell _____."
• 4 children lining up to show you their work.
• 3 children asking, "What do we do now?"
• 3 children either at the bathroom or wanting to go to the bathroom.
• 2 children working slowly at a difficult task.
• 1 child running around and distracting 4 more students.
• While 1 child quietly disappears into the bag area to see what other children have for lunch.

As a student teacher, there is the advantage of a second teacher, and maybe even a teacher's aide, helping. Then, we are introduced to the real world, where this is all left to us and each of the children is asking for attention, in one form or another. Although I have not been teaching independently for long, I have developed coping strategies of course. I will not help students spell, but encourage them to independently write the sounds they hear and make mistakes (today, we then used those mistakes to play a game, rewarding the risk-taking behaviour). I allow early finishers to work quietly on a familiar activity, such as quiet reading or a class maths game. The child doing nothing but distracting is given a responsibility.

Today, I discovered a problem with quick problem solving: it can undervalue or overlook the problem. I have been reflecting on a few 'difficult' students that I have had over the past couple of weeks and I noticed an interesting pattern. When I identify a problem, I tend to make two choices: either deal directly with the problem or identify the cause of the problem and eliminate it. Intellectually, I have always agreed that the second is the better option, and my behaviour plan reflects this. However, in order to keep the classroom operating smoothly, I had resorted to the quicker method of dealing directly with problems. Sometimes this works, but more often than not, the cause needs to be dealt with to prevent a recurrence. This is why I often find myself moving students after already warning them to stop distracting their neighbours.

Here's a second problem with quick problem solving: in its haste, it rushes over the relationship element of the problem. Students have a need to feel safe and respected, so is it reasonable to assume we can deal with behaviour without demonstrating our care and respect for each student? Developing even a basic relationship also enables us to understand them at some level, giving us insight into their behaviour and motivations.

The perfect illustration of these two points is found in my experience with a boy I taught recently. The day started well enough. He took his seat, responded to the roll call, gave his suggestions for the day as asked. Then I began my first activity and he refused to work with his original partner. I sat with him, talked to him about how he was feeling, and had him cooperate with me. As the day went on, the activities became more demanding, with more students demanding my attention, so I switched to 'quick problem solving mode.' As this boy continued to act up throughout the day, I began the simple "warn, record name, follow through on punishment." He did not respond to this and by the end of the day, he had no respect for me and refused to even talk to me. Lesson learned: while solving problems quickly, don't forget to develop relationships and identify the cause of the problem! Students need to feel respected themselves.

How do you deal with the demands for your attention? Do you find it has improved your problem solving strategies or caused you to question them?

Wisdom Wednesday - Empowering children for life

Why do children need an education?
My answer: to prepare them for life outside of school and after school.

I have found that the more relevant and explicit this link is for children, the more readily they engage, especially if the content is linked to something they care about outside of school.

For example, which would you think your children would get more excited about - learning decimals or working with money or learning how to become rich?

What? Learning how to become rich? Yes, working with money is more motivating for students, but if you amp it up even more, dramatise it a bit and attach a tangible reward, the investment, excitement and motivation in the lesson is amplified as well...

So, what bits of wisdom can you offer your students?
I just completed the planning of a whole day of teaching the children how to be rich. In fact, when I plan for relief around a theme, I tend to plan broadly for a range of activities for a range of subjects, so I could teach multiple grades over multiple days on the same subject. Basically, the idea is to take a topic of interest, amp it up, and teach skills or wisdom in that topic.

For example, on the topic of being rich:
Literacy - Learning to write a business plan, USP, persuasive letter to a client, news release to a reporter, marketing material, or a persuasive text on how your business will succeed (with points to consider provided).
Maths - Working with calculations to decide which is a better business choice, calculating returns on investments, calculating how long it takes for small sums of money to add up to large sums.
Social studies - Responsibilities associated with being rich. Plan as a class to take action on an issue now and execute in coordinated small groups.

Basically, I am working within the curriculum, but adding in relevant themes and wisdom they might otherwise never hear. How many of us learned about USPs while writing persuasive texts in literacy? Yet well written USPs can make the difference between being unknown or successful. While we all learn about calculating monetary sums in class, how many of us were taught how to handle that money and make wise decisions? My husband had to teach himself how to budget, and as a result of this, he is one of the few in his family who handles money wisely. Teaching our students such skills may be woven in naturally to the curriculum and give them an advantage they may not otherwise receive.

As a relief teacher, I am constantly reminded that my time with the children is limited, so I cannot continue such a large theme across a long amount of time usually. This leaves the children without the whole picture. However, I believe that even with one day, a difference can be made, skills can be taught, a passion can be sparked, a journey can begin, and the influence can last much longer. Choosing a huge topic, such as being rich, and starting with small, practical goals can be exciting enough to become a memory that pushes them to greater things. As a child, I hated the news, but I there are single news stories that impacted me, which I will never forget, and that was in a fifteen minute time span, but we have hours with the children. Let's make our lessons memorable, inspiring, practical, and worthwhile!

What real-world wisdom do you have that you believe students should learn about in class?

Telling Tuesday - Feedback for the regular teacher

Today's post will be short and sweet as I share a resource I've created and a few little reflections about it.

Ever since beginning my research on quality casual teaching, I have been reading about the necessity of leaving written feedback for the regular classroom teacher to keep them informed. Last week was my first week of teaching, so I used a few thank you cards I had lying around as they seemed suitable for the occasion. Now I am through the first week, I am rethinking my approach for the long-term. Some have said that it is best to use typed notes if possible, but I have found my ICT resources somewhat limited going into schools. However, I have seen one template that impressed me. A simple printed format that allowed space for neat, hand-written notes. While I am accepting of the desire to make such forms 'pretty' or 'cute', I can't say I really saw the relevance of the cow and barn pictures though. Perhaps I would understand if it had been in a country school or after taking an excursion to a farm, but this was not the case. So, upon reflecting on a few templates, I have set out to create my own. I had to include the 'handy helpers' box, as I love providing opportunities for the 'difficult' students to prove themselves and surprise the teacher.

After some more templates? They aren't quite as easy to find as I thought when searching, though I've come across them before. Here are a few:

• Relief Teaching - Feedback Template - This is a simple layout, similar to my own, but with typed plans already inserted.
• Teacher Brain - Freebies - Scroll down a bit and you will find 'Today in your class, note template.' It has the additions of pictures and a column to indicate whether or not the work was marked.
• Miss L's Whole Brain Teaching - Substitute Teacher Binder Freebie - The prettiest of them all and includes a whole pack of sheets for casual teaching.
• The 2 Teaching Divas - Forms at Your Fingertips - Presenting another range of forms, I find this one is nicely balanced between 'cute' and 'distracting.' Their feedback form is a more general overview, rather than a lesson-by-lesson recall.

What do you feel is essential information to provide in a feedback form? Does cuteness factor matter for you?

Marketing Monday - Job searching the right way and a template

Quick apology for the lack of a post last week. I am officially working now and was called in a few times, so it's been a tad busy around here. So here is the belated post that had been intended for last Monday!

Last weekend, I was researching marketing tips and tricks, preparing for that time when my book is finally complete (and this weekend I began my official author facebook page!). When reading about USPs (unique selling propositions or points), something finally clicked. When we are job searching, we should be branding and marketing ourselves just like a company or product, so some of these basic marketing principals should be applied! Sure enough, I googled USPs and found that job seekers were encouraged to use them. So how have I applied this new knowledge?

Firstly, let me explain the idea of a USP. Basically, it describes what is unique and worthwhile about a product, brand or person. It answers the question: why should I pick you rather than one of the other candidates? During my Uni course, we had discussed interviews and the process for applying for jobs. We had talked about dressing professionally, giving a good first impression, presenting a strong resume and answering questions as well as we could. However, we all received this training, so what sets one of us apart from the others if we all applied this? A USP helps us stand out among our peers in order to gain the attention and hopefully the position! And this does not involve brightly coloured paper!

As I began to reflect on this, I wondered what my personal USPs were and how I could present them. All my research seemed to define the 'what' and 'why' of USPs, but didn't make the 'how' too easy for me. If this is crossing your mind, I will be honest with you: being unique and finding what is unique about you is not easy, but it can be done and is worthwhile. Let me share how I worked this out for myself.

I began with my flag page, a passion test which I have discussed in a previous post. I chose to only use my top five motivations. I believe that these introduce me in a unique way, set me apart from my peers, and give insight into what kind of teacher I am. I have seen many resumes begin with a statement of belief, and many of them end up looking the same, but my motivations are unique to me and will not be found on every second resume.

I then listed a few of my unique strengths, experiences, beliefs and even a few quotes that people have said about both myself and my teaching. Basically, it is the details that make each of us unique. We can all say, "I believe that engaging students is important, so I do A, B, and C." However, our A, B, C may be very different. Then again, finding a different way to present this may draw just a little more attention. For example, "it is a habit of my students to request homework." This is strong, personal and slightly more unique evidence.

Similarly, reading through statements of belief, you will find many will look very similar, especially if those writing the resumes have the same training. For example, if I had stayed in Tasmania and worked in early childhood, I would have been submitting my resumes with others who had gone through the same course, and many of us would have been singing the praises of learning through play and a variety of experiences. In order to avoid this, my belief statement is incredibly short and specific. I have limited myself to one statement on why I believe casual teaching is important. As a casual teacher, this is relevant and displays the commitment I have to the job. It also provides some insight into how I approach my short teaching blocks, but it doesn't leave the person at the other end wading through the masses of paper to get there. Their time is important and they won't waste it searching through something that looks the same as everyone else's!

If you have just read through all this and you're still feeling clueless as to what your USP is. Stop. Here is another question which may help: What do people say about you? Often, if people compliment you or your work, it is because it is commendable and not seen in everyone, especially if this comes from a colleague. During my final practical, my colleague teacher commented on things I was tempted to shrug off. She saw this, stopped me, and told me that she was telling me because it was a rare thing to find among even final year students. That means, what she was saying about me was my USP, or at least one of my USPs. Remember what people have said about you in the past, and it is likely that a future employer will find it an attractive trait as well.

As my final reflection on the topic, I wondered how to present this information. By now I had a variety of USPs for different areas. I had already had my interview with the one school that bothers interviewing casuals, so I had missed the opportunity to present it in that form. It didn't seem appropriate to slip into my brief resume (I am told that for relief work, one page is sufficient!). If there is a particularly strong, short USP, it is suitable for a cover letter and should be included to get attention as quickly as possible, but I had too many USPs to put them all on the cover page. Finally, looking through the amazing Relief Teaching Ideas community page on facebook, it clicked. I had never understood the appeal of brochures or what I would include in them, other than the usual resume stuff. However, a brochure is perfect for quickly presenting USPs in an interesting, easy-to-read manner. Slipping it into my job application pack wasn't going to be a problem. Personally, I prefer to keep things professional, rather than colourful and attention-grabbing, even as an early-childhood casual, and designed the brochure to be simple and in line with the style of my resume. If others like to get their creative on and that works for them, awesome. I have also heard of people attaching a photo to the front of their brochure and there have been mixed reactions to this, from the principal who finds it unprofessional, to the one who finds it personal. So I here I have provided a basic format, based on my own brochure, along with guidelines for including specific USPs, but I would love to see how others personalise it to fit their own style and preferences. If we are using this to present USPs, it makes sense that each would look unique!

So without further ado, here is the USP brochure format I used:

External side of brochure

Internal side of brochure

Want to read more about USPs and job searching? Click on the links below:

• Social Hire - What Can Lady Gaga Teach You About Your Career? - This is more of an interest article, but with your new knowledge of USPs, can you guess what hers is?
• BL Copywriting - The Only Way to Answer, "Why Should I Buy from You?" - Read this for some great information and a free download to figure out your own USPs.
• Harrison Barnes - The Kick-Ass Marketing Secret of the Most Successful Job Applicants and Employees - I couldn't help but laugh at this article. It is an amusing an informative read on USPs and their value when job searching.

What is your USP? Was it easy or hard to define? How do you present it to potential employers?

Taunting Tuesday - The bullies, mean peers and rude friends and how to deal with them

Bullies, bullying and bully policies have all become buzz words that draw attention from just about
everyone. However, I can't remember learning too much about this issue during my four year degree. Stumbling out into the wilderness of the playground, I refuse to go uneducated and so I set about finding materials worthy of reading and reflection to increase my learning in this all-important mine-field of an issue.

It started during the holidays with a Huffington Post article on three bullying important terms, bullying, meanness and rudeness. This made me stop and think about how easily confused and misused these terms are. Too often parents or students will throw these three terms around interchangeably, leaving the teacher with a conflict of interests between one parent saying their child was bullied and another parent saying their child is unintentionally rude. Sounds to me like a potential differentiation for newsletters, parent-teacher meetings, assemblies, etc. After all, the first action in my behaviour management plan (after stopping any immediate threat or danger) is to clearly define the issue. 

It seems to me that all three should be prioritised and addressed totally differently, once identified. If I were to state in a vague way my approach to all three, it is basically this:

1. Understand the issue, concerns and underlying causes (talk it out with every party involved if possible).
2. Discuss with the 'victim' how they are affected by the situation and what they feel could correct the situation and/or restore the relationship, trust, feelings of security, etc.
3. Discuss with the 'offender' how the underlying causes can be reduced (as much as possible) by the 'offender' and plan together how the teachers, staff and/or parents could help. If consequences are to be put in place, I would also discuss this with the student, ensuring they understood why they were being punished and why the type of punishment was chosen (E.g. "You are not allowed to visit the kinders any more because they don't feel safe when you do").
4. Explain to the 'offender' what they did wrong and why it is wrong, walking them through giving a real apology.
5. If a recurring issue with multiple 'offenders' or misunderstandings, discuss the issue with the class, school and/or school community.
6. Update necessary stakeholders (principal, colleague teachers, parents, etc). While stating this last, it is likely that these conversations will be taking part throughout the process, depending on how long the process is.

The above is a basic view of my behaviour management plan for dealing with issues which are major, either because they are recurring in nature or cause students to become upset and needing reconciliation. For more minor issues, such as a student forgetting a classroom procedure, warnings tend to be sufficient.

More specifically, here is how I would consider reacting depending on what the case involves:

• Bulling: I do not consider this acceptable and immediate consequences will be put in place as soon as I hear of it. Stakeholders including parents and principal will be involved. The offender will be monitored for a period of time and supported to overcome this behaviour as necessary. During this process, victims will be supported as much as necessary and possible to regain any loss of self-esteem, trust, or security.
• Meanness: As this is not repeated behaviour and the child feels regret, I would not make such a big deal out of this. I may mention it casually to a parent or ask colleagues to be aware of the situation, but beyond a sincere apology and action plan developed with the child, I would probably punish the child (if the situation calls for punishment, I would probably label it 'bullying').
• Rudeness: As this is merely a slip-up as a result of misunderstanding or lack of social skills, I would not usually 'frown upon' the situation, but deal with it as a molehill to prevent a mountain situation being formed. I would equip the 'offender' with any lacking social skills to prevent recurring situations if necessary and possible. Otherwise, we would discuss what the problem was and what the effect was in order to allow the student to understand and apologise appropriately. In this situation, I would also have a discussion with the 'victim' to explain the misunderstanding and the lack of bad intention the 'offender' had.

But let's not forget that prevention is the BEST part of the behaviour management plan. So here's how I hope to prevent recurrences or even first time incidences of these behaviours in my classrooms:

• Social classes - I prefer to do these regularly to support my students in a range of areas, including how to form relationships and treat others with respect in the classroom and beyond. These are great for dealing with recurring rudeness or anticipating common issues and dealing with them early.
• Share stories - This can be integrated with news sharing, literacy, drama, history, visual art and probably more curriculum areas. Sharing a story, or asking students to imagine a situation and resolve it, provides students with opportunities to reflect upon such issues and apply learning to their own lives.
• Take advantage of National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence - I'm sure there would be a ridiculous amount of possibilities for this. The Australian Government has even published a website for teachers, parents and students addressing bullying.

A brief post, but a huge issue which the media loves, so here are some more resources:

• Bullying Statistics - Why Do People Bully? - Here is a few possibilities for the reasons behind bullying which could be considered when attempting to prevent these behaviours.
• Western Education and Library Board - A Framework for Your Written Antibullying Policy - This is a template with examples to help you get started. If releasing such a document to parents, there is no reason you can't attach similar documents for meanness and rudeness as well, to allow them to see the difference.
• Bullying No More - Anti Bullying Poster Idea - I like these posters because they are not really explicitly about bullying, but they make specific points that can be used to address bullying, meanness and rudeness.

Do you have any experiences with students who have been bullied or are bullies? How about parents who misunderstand the differences and varying importance of bullying, meanness and rudeness? What are your approaches or resources for this attention-drawing topic?

Holidays! Bring on term two! (After I enjoy my short break though please)

While I had planned on continuing blogging during my holidays, I think it's time to own up. I plan on gathering my resources and continuing engaging in personalised professional development through other social media, but the blog is taking a little break. Life is still busy and I have projects gathering around my ears. Though readers be warned, I shall be back with a vengeance at the commencement of term two. In the meantime, enjoy your holidays and please feel free to connect with me via Twitter, Google+, or Pinterest. Hoping you also find the time to catch up on work, projects, and relax!

How do you believe holidays should be spent?

Wording Wednesday - Planning a day around reporting skills

How many of your students read the newspaper? My bet is, not too many. I remember often being expected by teachers to be a fan of the news, though I am still not sure why. Is it because it is current, local, informative or what? I will openly confess that I still don't read the news. However, I have always loved those reports on certain shows which are known as 'interest articles.' As a child, I used to fight about bed-time because I had sat through over 45 minutes of news to watch that one report that interested me.

Writing or recording interesting reports to draw in young people is certainly a skill. How many of your students will graduate with it? As I continue to gather and create resources for my relief folder, I plan on sharing them here, hence the second freebie in a row now. Today's little freebie is a rough outline from which to form a plan for a lesson, day or even a couple of days running, all based around article writing. Students can involve a wide range of subjects, engage in topic of interest to them, and create a class news presentation, paper, magazine, blog or YouTube channel (these can be private last I checked). This could be done as individuals, partners, or small groups and could end up being published in some form or link to a social action unit. The options are huge so it can be used across a range of grades and adjusted to fit an appropriate time frame.

So here is at least a day of reporting.

Want some resources to compliment this idea and aid in the more detailed planning? Well I happen to have found some I like:

• This form for peer reviews from Classroom Teacher Resources.
• TPT- A Peer Edit Guide to Write Right - While I would not buy this one for the ages I tend to work with, I love the five questions mentioned in the description and can see these being effective on a peer feedback form for opinion and news writing.
• Online Chart Tool - A free online tool for creating bar charts, line charts, pie charts, scatter plots, bar line graphs and more.
• ABC - Behind the News - An online news website designed with children in mind to introduce them to news reports.

Do you see yourself using such a theme in the classroom? How? Do you have any handy resources to add to the list?

Trial Tuesday - 31 math challenges for students

Time for a freebie! This is a short post today, but when you see the freebie, I hope you'll excuse me. This one has taken a bit of time. Be warned that I do use the term 'challenges' somewhat loosely as
some are repetitive games and others activities which allow you to incorporate your own challenges. However, most do allow for students to think creatively and problem solve if properly introduced. Why exactly I chose 31, I'm not sure now I think about it, as there is 31 days in a month, but not 31 school days. Whatever the case, these challenges would provide challenges for more than 31 days as it is, as some will be a 'once off' challenge to solve, and others are challenges students can practice and improve at over time or teachers can adapt for a variety of skills. There are some which will be familiar and are widely known, others have been linked to specific websites, and others I have obtained from unknown sources or created myself, so if any of the ideas are unclear or need clarification, please comment and let me know! Now without further ado, here is 31 math challenges.

What maths challenges have you done in the past with your students? Could you add a game or challenge to the list which has been missed? There are many out there which work on specific maths skills which couldn't have fit in this list, so comment away.

Freedom Friday - Expression through open-ended Easter arts

Looking back over Easter arts I have done or led in the past, I realise they all have something in common - they don't leave much room for real creativity or expression. Just last year I had students decorate egg templates using chalk and tape resist. This technique was new for the students and looked cute but didn't leave much room for experimenting. The tape was laid, they coloured each block in a solid colour using the wet chalk, and waited for it to dry in order to remove the tape. The result was an entire wall filled with pretty colourful eggs, all of which looked almost identical. How often do we engage students in art and crafts which looks nice on the wall but allows little room for actual designing, creative thinking and a variety of results? Upon searching for open-ended Easter arts and crafts, my results were incredibly limited. In fact, Google could show the results on less than a single page. So I wondered, how hard is this people? Commence the brainstorming!

I have created a list of ideas for open-ended Easter arts which will allow students to create pieces which may have commonalities, but allow for a wider range of responses than we usually see. Do note that for ease, I have made most of them 'create,' but you can consider different mediums such as painting, collage, etc. This was simply because I want to leave this option also open-ended for you (and you could even give students some choice between 2-3 mediums, setting up small groups, allowing for greater variety in results).

• Create a picture of a hidden egg or eggs in whichever scene they like. This allows their scenes to be as varied as their imagination allows, and the eggs can be hidden or even camouflaged as hard as they like. I can imagine they would have fun trying to find all the eggs in other pictures if displayed too. (I can't help but think this would be an awesome collage activity.)
• Create an Easter scene without including eggs, chocolate or bunnies. This could be interpreted two ways, what would Easter be like without those things and how can we communicate Easter in other ways. (For religious schools, this challenge will help students focus on other meanings of Easter beyond the chocolate as well).

Large stone statues, or moai,
of Easter Island.

• Design or map what you imagine it would be like in a place called 'Easter Island'. After completing the activity, introduce children to the fact that Easter Island actually exists. You could follow up with research, a book, or time exploring Easter Island with Google maps. Concluding this learning, they could redesign their map or print off a real map to place next to their original design and compare their imagination and the reality. This could again be used to play a spot the difference and discuss assumptions made because of the name of a place (do they know about Greenland and Iceland?)
• Show one body part and what it looks like on Easter (along with possibly some small scene). Students may need some help to think about this. What do their mouths do? Get covered in chocolate? What do their eyes do? Could they show a reflection in the eyes or glasses of what they might be seeing? What different things do their hands do? Are they likely to be painting eggs, collecting eggs from hiding places, holding a huge collection of eggs, holding the messy hand of a younger child, or praying? Perhaps they could show feet running right past a hidden egg. The options here are again limited only by the imagination.
• Create an abstract design showing how Easter feels using carefully chosen colours and lines. To

  

  Bright colours, 'excited' lines and
  a circle of 'love' is used to express
  Easter feelings very simply here.

  combine this idea with the religious significance, you could ask them to create two designs, with one representing the feelings associated with the crucifixion and the other representing the resurrection. This may result in more similar results than some of the other activities here, but it allows them to carefully consider communication and specific design elements. If you so desire, you could use this design on an egg template, chocolate wrapper, or even Easter card.
• Create a poster advertising your favourite chocolate for Easter or communicating what Easter means to you. Have a look at advertisments before letting them loose in order to encourage creative thinking. They could keep it simple and draw the chocolate with a "The best option for Easter" or design a scene of cleverly hidden chocolates with a child searching eagerly and a line saying "worth searching for" or the reflection of the chocolate shown in big eyes, etc. Communicating what Easter means for them could also yield different results, especially if you encourage them to think beyond simply chocolates. This could be presented as a form of both expressing themselves and communicating to others in order to remind others that it isn't just about the chocolate (sorry for all you chocolate lovers out there, but I have talked about chocolate so much I don't think I can cope with much more).
• Collage a shape using words which could be associated with Easter, how it feels, what it means and words that could be said on Easter morning.
• Show a dream of the perfect Easter. Challenge them to think about the repercussions of receiving a chocolate egg as big as a house. It would probably melt before it was finished and make them quite sick as well as leaving no room in the yard for a little egg hunt. My family used to celebrate Easter with gifts instead of chocolate and this was perfect for me. I still have some of those gifts now and they remind me that Easter for me is not all about the chocolate. In fact, I remember getting one of them while camping with friends and family and the chocolate really didn't matter at all, so perhaps where they are and who they are with could even be the focus.
• Communicate 'new life.' Whether you are religious and thinking of the crucifixion, or not and

  

  Two popular ideas representing
  'new life.'

  thinking of spring (in some lucky parts of the world), eggs, bunnies and baby animals, these words are significant to the symbolism of Easter. Such a focus again allows for a range of responses that may not usually be seen in Easter arts.
• Create a visual representation of a quote. Find an abstract quote about Easter and have them communicate a similar idea visually, without the use of words. For example, "Easter is very important to me, it's a second chance." - Reba McEntire, or "Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there." - Clarence W. Hall, or "It is the hour to rend thy chains, The blossom time of souls." - Katherine Lee Bates. Google will soon give you more results. Encourage the students to think figuratively as well as literally in order to provide more possibilities.
• Design or create the ultimate Easter basket. Encourage them to write a list of requirements before starting. What is important for them? Should it be colourful, shaped like a rabbit, soft, and easy to carry? Is it preferable to be strong, large, close-able, lockable and come with an inbuilt 'chocolate detector' attached to a robotic arm? If they have a robotic arm, is it automatic or controlled and is it a thief? Don't forget you have boys in your class and their creative responses should also be accepted and encouraged.

This concludes my list and brainstorming for now. Can anyone else add to my list? Have you found an open-ended project that Google didn't show me? How do you feel about open-ended vs. closed art projects for special occasions like Easter?

Theorizing Thursday - Considering the possibilities of augmented reality

Virtual reality is a familiar idea to many of us, at least in theory, thanks to the great attention it has received in both television and movies. However, augmented reality is new to me. I ran across it during my 'pd via twitter' last week and it got me excited. Apparently it has been rising in popularity in conversations about technology. Just in case you are also new to the idea, let me introduce the idea to you quickly. Augmented reality is basically a combination of the virtual and real world, where the virtual world can be pasted over the real world and viewed digitally.

In my experimentation with free iPhone apps, I have been able to take upload photo, text, and video for use. I can then take a photo of my environment and paste my item over the top. After saving this, I can then move my phone around the room to view the various items I have pasted. Such creative apps include Aurasma and Glyphics and could be viewed as a form of 'virtual graffiti.' I have also downloaded a few apps which already have set items. These involve finding a compatible item (often labelled) or printing a sheet from the app for use. For example, there are apps which will recognise a set picture book and allow you to view the pictures as an animation and others will scan compatible movie posters and allow you to see an animation of one of the characters.

Moving on to classroom applications gets me really excited! Imagine having:

• art displayed on the walls outside the classroom which the parents can scan to see a video of their child creating the piece and describing their thinking.
• walking into a classroom as a relief teacher and telling the kids you have redecorated the walls with invisible resources for the day.
• class announcements attached to the class sign on the door.
• attaching video assistance for homework assignments.
• sending students on a virtual treasure hunt.
• being able to view virtual historic pictures overlapping real modern scenes.

Furthermore, presenting students with augmented reality allows them to glimpse into a possible reality for them and consider the implications. I would love to have a brainstorming session with a group of students and see what possibilities they could see for this technology. For the time being though, here is the list created from research, along with a melding of my brain and the stolen thoughts from an ICT-minded husband:

• glasses for police which identify wanted persons passing by, police records, and other vital information immediately.
• virtual advertising adding another layer when a shop front, business card or poster is viewed.
• guidance for repair work, such as step-by-step instructions for mechanical repairs.
• interactive books which include zooming abilities, videos, and 3-D models.
• interactive postcards, similar to picture book idea above.
• experimentation with designs before spending money on real resources.
• online profiles attached to individuals and accessible to the public (even if basic info).
• augmented reality tours through tourist attractions, museums, etc.
• GPS systems for variety of travel methods
• identifying plants, providing information about appropriate care and links to more info

We could probably go on, but you get the general idea - there is a lot of possible ideas. By the time some of our students graduate, some of these things could be a normal part of life. We could fight against it, as we have against certain other new technologies, such as the self-checkout when they first invaded supermarkets. Otherwise, get on board and encourage your students to think creatively and prepare for their possible futures.

Passionate to keep up-to-date? Google is your best friend, but saving you the trip, you can get started here:

• iTeach - Aurasma: a quick focus on Aurasma and the classroom.
• Edudemic - How to start using augmented reality in the classroom: provides a handy break down of two popular, free apps for augmented reality.
• Pinterest - Tina Wahlert - Augmented reality in the classroom: a whole pinterest board with links to information and ideas.

How new is this idea for you? How do you feel about moving into an even more ICT-reliant world as times go on? Do you have more inspirational ideas for us or a favourite form of augmented reality?

Wonderful Wednesday - When the paperwork is finally approved

Today I am keeping it to a short update as I will be busy with putting together the last few details needed to prepare me for casual work.

This morning I was sitting and indulging in a few too many episodes of Bones when I noticed the little number on my phone indicating I had three unread emails. Oh the joys to discover I have finally been approved for casual work after three months of paperwork! By now I have become quite friendly with certain staff at one school in particular and my hopes are riding high. As such, my blog posts will be changing up a little as I become more organised. You can be expecting to see insights and reflections on organisation, open-ended resources and plans, a CRT creation list and more coming soon. However, this will wait a little while as I am planning on writing about augmented reality tomorrow which has got me far too excited and inspired.

Please excuse me while I go do another dance in celebration. Finally, work is possible!

Tricky Tuesday - Bringing humour into the classroom

Today, rather than share new ideas for bringing humour into the classroom, I'm going to share some short personal stories of successful pranks and light-hearted fun.

I was awake until past 1am last night and totally forgot about April Fool's until I woke up at 6:10am. Before I was even dating my husband, we had huge prank wars. I smothered butter on his car and put polystyrene balls in his air con. He stole my car, hid it, and locked the doors, forcing me to crawl through the boot. I had a friend take sneaky photos of the two of us for weeks and placed them in a room of his house like a 'stalker wall.' But the first April Fools Day of being married and I had nothing planned. He was in a rush to get off to work, so I couldn't be too cruel. As a result, he ended up with his cornflakes tasting like peppermint and nothing but peppermint. Too easy, but the laughs I got watching him process that first unexpected taste was great. If wanting to pull a prank on the staff there's no reason why you can't just bring morning tea to share and add an unexpected flavour or hide something in it. When our prank war was slowing down, I actually baked him a cupcake with a note inside it. In a cake, there's no reason you can't hollow it out and place a larger object or nothing at all.

I believe that humour is an essential part of life. Sure, not everyone would see the funny side of their car being stolen or completely messed up, but laughter is a medicine. While on the car topic, I'll jump to high school memories. There is always at least one class clown. One boy in particular would show up wearing an odd combination of both sports uniform and normal uniform as sports day was rescheduled and he didn't know which uniform to wear. On another day, he brought a jar of vegemite to school. He then proceeded to rub vegemite under the door handle of the principal's car, as well as a few classroom handles. The outdoor ed teacher was the first to come in our classroom with a black hand. He simply walked in and raised his hand and the class erupted with laughter. He took the joke in the good spirit it was intended. However, when the principal discovered the vegemite on his car, the clown was sentenced to washing every staff car during his lunch hour. This event actually helped inspire my own pranks on my husband's car. Many people have had a good laugh hearing the squeal he emitted upon discovering the vegemite smeared on his hand (it was videoed and placed on facebook along with a humorous threat for revenge).

I still remember my two favourite teachers in primary school due to their sense of humour. My grade 5/6 teacher loved telling embarrassing stories. I remember her 'getting to know us' by asking us for our embarrassing stories. Those brave enough spoke up and I can't remember any of those stories. I don't think I will ever forget hearing my teacher then confess her story though! She was wearing a pair of pants that were a little too tight. Then she dropped something... Bending down to pick it up, she heard that dreadful sound: her pants had ripped in front of the whole class. Her response? She stood up and laughed about it!

My grade 3/4 teacher was a prankster all year long. He was known as 'the ghost' in my little brothers class as he was constantly pranking them and never caught. Once, he snuck into their classroom, which was next door, during the lunch hour, and set an alarm on the computers. Their silent reading time was interrupted that day by the Richmond Tigers footy club song. In our class, his humour was sometimes more subtle. We were studying something in science (he is the only teacher I remember who made science enjoyable for me!) and he asked us a question. He gave two options for answers and asked us to stand depending on what we thought the answer was. The whole class stood by the first option. One lone boy stood for the second. When asked to explain his answer, he replied, "I don't know why, but the other answer seemed too obvious." Our teacher got a kick out of this, and it turned out the joke was on us as the entire class, except that one student, had chosen the wrong answer.

Jumping forward a few years into college, we had a math teacher known as 'the dragon' due to her no-nonsense views. However, she was always late to class. Yesterday, I was reading a prank where the teacher says the students are running the class for the day while she sits back to see what happens. In our case, she was late to class and we just took over the class. One of the louder students stood at the front of the class, told us to open our books and had us begin solving the questions on the board. To her credit, when our teacher walked in, she walked to the back of the class and took an empty seat and played student. However, the student concluded the problem and went to move on before it was finished. Our teacher then raised her hand, being a polite student, to point out that the problem wasn't yet finished. It was after that she took back her whiteboard marker and rightful position. I dream of the day when my students are out to a specialist class and I can walk into a colleague's classroom and take over. "Oh, there's a parent wanting to see you at the office. Your class looks to know what they are doing. I can watch them for you." "Oh, there wasn't any one there to see you? How strange."

So there's my few stories with little ideas for the staff room, the class next door, your own students, and your favourite colleague. April 1st is the perfect excuse, but with laughter being a good medicine, there's no reason you can't do it at unexpected times and become the memorable teacher.

Want some more ideas on how to inject some humour into the classroom? Here you go:

• Sunny Days in Second Grade - April Fool's Day Classroom Fun: Send your class on a search for 'the elusive lirpaloof bird' and get some photos of them all waving carrots in the air.
• New Teachers - How to Use Humour As a Tool in the Classroom: Reasons why we should utilise humour and humour we should be wary of.
• Hub Pages - Teachers Rule: Top Ten Pranks To Pull On Students: Some of these may be best suited for older students or specific circumstances, but there's some gems.

As a final disclaimer, don't forget to pick your targets carefully (to avoid washing every car in the staff parking lot at least) and remember respect. Some students and colleagues wouldn't find these amusing. Others are practically asking for it. Any other epic ideas out there to help us let our hair out every now and then, get a giggle and release some tension?

Mannerism Monday - Understanding students and self through personality tests

Note the days since my last post and you will see I skipped out on blogging last week. It was an epic, busy week and I am back to blogging with exciting ideas this week. Bare with me as I share how these ideas came about, what they mean to me, and how I can see them being applied. Today, I have to start with personality tests as it's got me on a bit of an unexpected journey.

On Tuesday, my parents travelled up and stayed with us for five days. During that time, I sat down with them and watched a marriage seminar on DVD (which I had watched previously with my husband). I knew I had hit a winner when they both sat there laughing instead of sleeping as they would tend to do when the TV is on. The final session was a short one introducing a test known as 'the flag page.' We were all so excited and drawn in by the whole thing that all four of us sat down that night and did our tests. It was simply three steps, during which we selected traits we have, rated them on how we feel about them, and chose five traits that were our favourites. Then we received our results. It turns out that the statement they make about this test is true - it is not so much a personality test as a passion test, to find where your passions lie. We discovered how much time we spent in each of four 'countries,' which described our personalities and the 'language' that makes sense to us. It also told us how soft/hard we are, what types of talents we have, and our top 5 motivations. This was then broken down to explain what our desires are, what motivates us to do what we do, how we connect with people and how we succeed. It is incredible to see how detailed each report was and how accurate! Before the test, we knew enough about the four countries to try and predict the top two for each of us. I am proud to announce that I knew exactly what countries Mum, Dad, and my husband were from. Having heard about them at the seminar that meant I knew which words would motivate and excite them, what their major desires were, and how they liked to approach things. However, then I did my test and that was a bit of a surprise. They say that when you see the results that you get excited just looking at your special set of words. Even looking at my parents, I got a bit excited, and I have enough in common with them that this was not a surprise. Reading through mine, I had predicted my top two countries, but in the wrong order. Then I read my motivations, talents, and the details that came in the report. Let's just say, I was so excited that I got as emotional as some of our younger students do during those times you can't calm them down. It's one of those times you just have to ride out the emotion, stop reading, and wait for your nerves to return. Thankfully, the second reading was a lot smoother. Isn't it ridiculous how we relate to the right combination of words that strike a chord with us. This test did more than simply make me emotional though, it made me understand my husband and our relationship just a bit clearer. I suddenly realised that certain aspects of his personality that annoyed me were not simply things he enjoyed, but they were on his top five motivations! These were the things he needed and provide the drive in his life, and I was fighting against them as if they didn't really matter. Big oops! As a result, I have a greater understanding of his needs and motivations, as well as the language which makes sense and appeals to him. Now we can work together in greater strength than before. This is not simply because we are newly weds either, as my parents also received new revelations with their results.

Because of this story and prior experiences with personality tests, I will be using the flag page as my only example in this post. However, there are alternatives. I have simply found that this is the most accurate, detailed and helpful test I have taken. There would be free alternatives out there, as well as similar tests which could also be useful, such as the five love languages test (for those of you familiar with this, have you ever considered completing it with your students to find what extrinsic motivations may be the best fit?)

Now that you've tolerated my story, let me relate this experience to your students. This would be an incredible way to start the year as a get-to-know-you activity, but could also be used later in the year if you feel the need, and could be completed with the child and even family, or as a simple observation kept to the teacher to inform practice. The flag page even has a version specifically for children. This version is a 'game' in which the students group cards to score points in categories and their final points reveal their results. This game allows up to six official flag pages to be produced, but more can easily entertaining, but a student from control company may prefer hearing that they were successful in achieving the intended outcomes and a student from perfect country may need sensitivity to how they felt about presenting to their peers and how they approached this.
be duplicated or recorded in written form. You could also find a free alternative to test your students or gain a personal understanding of the areas in a quality test, such as the flag page.  For example, by gaining an understanding of the four 'countries' you may realise why certain students don't get along, what students desire, what motivates them to some degree, and what language they understand best. This will allow you to use trigger words for those students when they need encouragement, motivation, or feedback. For example, a student from fun country will love hearing that their presentation was

I have one final thought on personality tests as I continue my job search (final interview before approval should hopefully be soon!). The flag page is marketed as finding 'what is right about you.' If someone had asked me my strengths during an interview, I could have listed things I was interested in and bounced around the question rather awkwardly, as I am rather well-rounded and tend to spend more time focussing on how to strengthen my weaknesses and enjoying other PD without identifying my strengths. Being well-rounded, this test helped me to identify particular strengths and motivations which drive everything else. Now, when I need to explain who I am, I have my personality in black and white and I have no trouble identifying just a few specific strengths. I am great at music and love it, among many other things, but it isn't one of my top five. In fact, my top motivation was 'inspirational' which means that I endeavour to make a positive difference in the lives of others, combining this with other motivations of mine, competence and creativity, and you will find that I always believe things can be better and will find a way to constantly improve and better both myself, my environment and those around me. As these are actually huge motivations in my life, they get me excited. Now, in an interview, I can approach the question quickly, enthusiastically and accurately, giving the interviewer a glimpse into the best part of me. Furthermore, now I know what motivates me, I can find that motivation when it escapes me. Add this professional advantage to the positive effect it is having on my marriage and I would say it is well worth the small fee to complete!

Curious to know more? Quench your curiousity here:

• The Momma knows - The Flag Page: Discover Your Child's Heart: A mother's review of the child's flag page game.
• Mark Gungor - The 4 Countries of People: A section of the seminar we watched, explaining the four countries. Once familiar with these ideas, it isn't hard to identify a person's main country with some accuracy.
• Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage - What Motivates You?: A page with the links to different tests (for children and adults).

How do you feel about personality tests? Do you have any negative feelings or doubts towards them? Are you cautious due to the possibility of grouping or boxing complex individuals? Can you recommend a test you have come across and had a positive experience with?

Please note: I have received no payments or benefits for providing my opinions on the products mentioned in this post. This is merely my own experience which I hope may benefit others.