Kangaroos and Kiddos

Last night, Pippa took us girls to Pinnaroo Cemetery to see kangaroos at dusk. Unfortunately, we didn't see many, but enough to make my night. It was such an amazing site to see!


Today was my first day of student teaching. My first impressions were all great ones! I love my cooperating teacher and the entire faculty/staff were all so nice. I am with Mrs. Helen Manuell-Arkless in year 3 (similar to 3rd grade in the states). Helen is orignally from England and will be leaving for a bit in November to hike in Vietnam to save the Moon Bears. Helen showed me all around the school today and helped me feel right at home from the moment I got there. Her class is made up of 23 students, all from different countries. I loved learning about each of their backgrounds - some are from Ireland, England, Scotland, South Africa, France, and few are from Australia. On Monday mornings, Helen and the other year 3 teacher, Shannon, have about two hours free while the children are at music and P.E. This morning we ran to the store and post office during that break (school related reasons, of course) and then came back and figured out all lesson plans for the week. Once the students were back in the classroom, we had a question and answer session for them to get to know me better. I absolutely adored the questions that were asked: "How many hours have you been here?", "How many hours were you in America?", "Do you know Hannah Montana?" (I loved that one - thinking everybody from Tennessee knows that girl), "Do you like Australia or America more?" I even had one girl say she thought I was pretty and then a little boy said he loved my blonde hair. They were just in awe of the way I talked, as well. My favorite thing was that they kept thinking I was from South America -- I told them I was from the SOUTH in America. These questions are why I love kids and teaching! Their little minds are amazing. Overall it was a great first day. I have no doubt in my mind that I'm going to have a great six weeks with this bunch.