A Spring Clean in the Spring Holidays

Here in beautiful, south-east Queensland, it is school spring holidays . Yeah! Not only do I have my own lads home on holidays to enjoy, but it is time to refresh and recharge the batteries before facing the last busy term of the school year.

I also enjoy the process of a good old-fashioned spring clean:
......spring clean my ideas,
......spring clean my strategies,
......spring clean my class files and storage systems.

In starting with my zany pencil case and all the odds and ends stored here, I thought I would share a few of my life's essential contained in this case. Apart from all the usual items you would find in a pencil case, I couldn't be without my red, blue, green and yellow hard plastic pop-sticks. They are a fantastic tool for quickly sorting children into groups as well as allowing small groups to take turns fairly and monitoring points given in a game situation. I am always thinking of new uses for these handy little inclusions.


A few small, shiny, coloured crystals fall form the corner of the case. Note to self: I must add more of these! When a class is working well and don't want to distract from the learning environment but I do want to affirm a student's behaviour, I simply place a crystal on their work. As relief staff, I may not know every one's name and this is another way around that issue if the class is new. At the conclusion of the lesson, I gather the people with the crystal awards and suitably reward them for their work. The crystals are given back to me. At other times I may give the responsibility to one child to be a "secret spy" if the class is to move off to assembly or perhaps the library. The secret spy is given three crystals and has the responsibility to award them to three worthy class members. If the spy chooses wisely, they too ,have a crystal on their desk as a reward. Again the crystals are returned at the end of the day. Another strategy, is using the crystal to acknowledge people who wish to contribute ideas to a group discussion or hands on activity but have to wait their turns. I know who is next by the crystals!

Lastly, I have used crystals to heal a broken heart! When held in a hand or deep in a
uniform pocket, they can give the owner the power to overcome their troubles and allow happiness to return! It is not just little girls who like coloured bling! Hee,hee! ( The only warning I have is that if using these in younger classes, a child doesn't put the crystal into their mouth!)

Magnetic pegs, my calculator, my double dice, my digital timer that needs replacing from overwork, my favourite Koosh ball and a gorgeous purple gel pen all tumble form the case only to returned clean and ready for term 4.... the final term full of all the Christmas busy-ness How I make good use of these items and more are all in "Relief Insight" Handbook for Teachers.

For now I must get ready for our family adventure to the Gold Coast and the beautiful Gold Coast Hinterlands. With three sons and a husband who loves to explore in our 4WD, life is always an adventure rather than a holiday. I know we are going top be living, laughing and learning these holidays! Wish us luck!

Live, laugh and learn!
Blessings for your teaching journey....
Carmel

Whistle through the Day

I often stress how I don't go anywhere without my koosh ball. It is such a versatile little tool.

Today it struck me that another essential item in my teaching toolbox is definitely a whistle on a lanyard! I automatically put it around my neck for any outside duty or activity. If the school has given me a key for the classroom this key also goes on the lanyard for safe keeping.

My voice is one aspect of my health I have to be very conscious of. I have managed to damage my vocal cords over the years and as a consequence, I am extremely proactive in vocal protection techniques. Without over using the whistle, it is tool I would not be without in the open space of the playground.

Happy whistling!

Live, laugh, learn.....
Carmel

Feedback for the August Workshop

I am really pleased that this work can be of such practical benefit to both teachers and the students that we impact everyday. I thank Kylie for taking the time to email her feedback form. Most are completed on the day and are extremely positive. I wanted to share Kylie's words of wisdom as she implemented strategies and gave feedback on the success. Kylie also travelled a considerable distance to come to the workshop and I am so pleased it was worth all her effort.

Once again, many thanks Kylie.....





Dear Carmel,
Here is the feedback form for you. Sorry about the delay:

Content:
Excellent practical, useful information.
I was teaching the following week and used many of your techniques as possible. It was great! The best week I had because the children responded really well. They loved doing the “hot seat” for revising information on recent subjects taught. I got great feedback from the children and parents, (thank you for your inspiration).

Presentation and venue:
It was good to see how these activities actually worked in practice and having the group do them really helped me recall a lot more. Also it was good to see the material you brought along. I had those magic stones in the garden all the time without realizing how useful they are. The library at Chermside was easy to get to and the group seemed not too big and not too small.

Further suggestions:
Do another one so we can get together and swap ideas, thoughts, ask questions, and meet others sharing the same teaching experiences and the strategies we use best (and worse)
Have more of those fun brain breaks!

Thanks again Carmel. It was lovely to meet you again and I look forward to the next opportunity.
Cheers

Kylie May
PS Please let me know when you are running another workshop.




We all are on a journey..... my pleasure to have been part of Kylie's!

Live, laugh and love in moments!
Carmel