Whirl.wind.

Today was a good day-but yesterday I was so anxious. We have not had much direction and I am not a good question asker. I feel that they should be giving us some expectations but we were given none. I will have to ask more questions. I feel like I did ask more today and felt better today. The center I am in has two rooms and Beth are each in a room and we switch sides after Tuesday so we can get a variety of experiences. So far I do like the Weds-Fri room better than the Mon-Tues room. They children are older and the lesson planning is more clear. Another thing that is hard in these preschools is that there is a schedule but no timing. The teachers switch activities when they feel it is time. I think this is better for the children. At this age they don't need to be on a time table and the teacher gauges how long activities will last based on how much the children are getting out of them. If they are all antsy the teacher will switch activities. If children are complaining of being tired the teacher will have nap time sooner. It is great that the center is so child-directed, but it is hard to follow along sometimes when there is no timing. It is a lesson in sitting back and going with the flow for me!

The philosophy of the school going along with this is that all the lesson subjects are from the students. If a child finds a caterpillar on the playground and has a question about it-the teacher will make a lesson on that because that child had an interest. It is a really great approach and I think this is necessary to be mixed in in my own teaching!! It is truly a child-centered approach. And why else are we teaching but for the child!? This also has the children more interested and actively engaged in their own learning.

Today after school our host mum said she would pick us up late because she had a meeting (she is a high school teacher). We decided to meet up with her at a coffee shop downtown so we could have a look at the shops and such. We waited at the coffee shop for a half an hour and then decided to walk to a house where some other stout students were staying nearby to see if we could call our host mum. On the way we passed the cop shop so we stopped there and asked to use their phone. It was an interesting experience. We got a hold of our host mum and she picked us up at the cop shop. We decided we may need a phone as this is the second time she has been late and we have not known. (she was late on our first day to pick us up from preschool) Picture above of Beth at the Police station, along with a view of the downtown Ballina area.

This weekend all the students from Stout are going to a neighboring town called Byron Bay. It is supposed to be a good place to stay for clubbing and shopping. It is not too far and should be great fun!!

Aussi-isms:

Lollies=candies

jumper= sweater/sweatshirt

They have never heard of graham crackers or smores!

biscuits= crackers

One teacher said they shorten anything they can because they are lazy:

Afternoon=Arvo

Biscuits are bickies