Back to School

Boy am I tired.

I spent today at Jen's new school, helping her set up her new classroom. She's taken a six-month contract to teach 5/6 French Immersion - and the first day of school is tomorrow! Now, we didn't know that this was going to happen when we'd set up our WA travel plans - so we just got back from our trip on Friday, and this past Monday was a public holiday because of Australia Day. This meant that today was the ONLY day she had to put her room together, meet with her grade partners, and all that fun stuff. I know that any teachers reading this will likely be shuddering... imagine walking into a brand new school, with a completely different curriculum and rules and everything, and having only one day to get everything organized before the kiddies come. Yikes.

The reality was that Jen had to spend most of the day in meetings, which meant I was left alone in her room to tidy up. It was more than a little strange, trying to organize a classroom for someone else. The teacher who had the room before Jen was, unsurprisingly, a packrat (why do only the messy teachers decide to retire/leave the school?), and there was a ton of old stuff that needed to be tossed. The chairs we had were primary chairs, and the desks were junior desks. So all the chairs had to be swapped out. I cleaned out and dusted every shelf in the place (the room was filthy), organized the books and put up a few posters. I think that what was strangest about the whole experience was that it's JANUARY. We've been seeing "back-to-school" commercials on TV for the last couple of weeks and it's been just so unreal. Huh. But the reality is the kids come tomorrow and Jen will be hitting the ground running. Oh, and trampolining starts again tomorrow night. Needless to say, Jen's gonna be one tired puppy by the end of the week.

As tiring and grubby as my day was, I'm quite sure that Jen's was worse. Each time she came back into the classroom, she had a little more of that "deer in the headlights" look. She's not the only teacher new to the school, but she does appear to be the only new teacher with any teaching experience. I can still empathize with her - I know how overwhelming starting new is. I mean, come on. First she came back from the morning meeting with, of all things, a mandala to colour in (part of a big staff cooperative activity) - and it's due Friday. Then she came back with arms piled high with rules, regulations, procedures, etc. After a meeting with her grade partners she informed me that she was now going to be teaching T-ball (every teacher in the school teaches/coaches a sport; there is no gym class - instead, there is "sport" once a week for everyone at the same time) and is the French rep for the 5/6 teachers. Oh, and she has a "new teacher checklist" that has to be completed by the end of the first term and handed in to the VP. On top of all this, there's no set curriculum in Australia The individual schools decide what they're going to teach to each grade, there are no exemplars to work from, no state-approved rubrics, nothing. Good grief. I know she'll be just fine.

Jen's school is pretty cool. Like most of the schools here, it's built around a series of courtyards. This particular school is very old (established in the late 1800's) and so the original buildings of the complex are really beautiful. The library has vaulted ceilings with all these nifty details! True to form, however, Jen's classroom is not located in the old part of the school. She's in a portable. However I'd like to point out that if we had portables like this in Canada, most teachers wouldn't ever teach in a true building again! Her classroom is attached to her teaching partner's classroom through two adjoining conference rooms. One is filled with 8 NEW computers (and 4 printers, including a colour laser printer!); the other is the grade 5/6 literacy room and conference room. At the end of the portable block is a set of bathrooms, so the kids (and the staff!) don't have to trek all the way in to the main school for that issue. She's got a set of sinks installed in the outside wall of the portable. Oh, and all the hooks for the kids' coats etc. are also located outside, under the eaves of the portable. Her classroom has two walls of huge beautiful windows and, best of all, an energy-efficient air conditioner!

The rest of the school has other neat bits too. Most Australian schools, including this one, don't have gymnasiums. In fact, it's quite common for schools here to not even have an assembly hall - all the assemblies happen outside! This school is located in an older part of the city where land is at a premium, so there is unfortunately no grass for the kids to play on. Instead, all of the paved courtyard at the centre of the building complex is paved, and painted with the lines for various games. It's a very efficient setup, with different parts of the yard demarcated for different grades, so it's easy to tell if the kids are in the right place. And best of all, there's a WICKED COOL creative playground - shielded from the sun by a huge canvas sheet. Tucked around behind one of the buildings is a Secret Garden, which is only for the Preps (Kindergartners) and Year Ones. This is a series of funky-shaped sandboxes, big trees, and greenery - again, all shaded from the sun. It's a neat place. I must admit I'm envious of Jen for having the opportunity to work there. Unfortunately, I won't be around long enough or consistently enough to be able to be a helpful volunteer - I have enough to do in the next few weeks with getting us ready for our next big trek to the Great Barrier Reef at the end of February. Ah well! At least I got to see it today!

We accidentally caught the wrong tram on the way back home tonight, and took a rather scenic route through a part of Melbourne that neither of us had seen before. I sent Jen to our room to take a nap while I cooked dinner, and then we both vegged out and watched an hour of Simpsons before even considering doing any computer work. So needless to say it's now getting rather late, and there's no way I'm gonna do any more blogging tonight. So the next installment of our WA adventures will have to wait until tomorrow.