Field Trip to ANSTO

Between the double-whammy combination of having stayed up way too late last night and getting up way too early this morning, I'm pretty tired. But it's been another full day of random adventures! My Mom and Dad left about 7am with Bill to get downtown to the bus station and on their way to Canberra, where they will be exploring for the next few days. I just got a call from Mom to say that they got there all right and are moved in at the hostel and all is well - and then she got cut off on the phone. I think there's a time limit for pay phone calls here but I don't really know how it works, since I've had a mobile pretty much since the beginning of my trip.

I went in to school with Ruth today. Her school has undergone some serious construction work since I was last there in September, and the new admin block looks great! We don't have nearly as much space in our offices at Charlton. Ruth has also moved her classroom to one of the buildings on the opposite side of the school campus from where she was last year. Her current room is actually considerably smaller than the portable she was in before, and it felt more crowded. On the other hand at least this year she has a straight grade 3 instead of a split, so that's something.

In the morning Ruth taught a lesson on the elements of a narrative, using an excerpt from "The Twits" by Roald Dahl. I circulated the room, keeping kids on task, and of course observing, observing, observing. I figured out pretty quick who the extra-energetic kids are in her class this year, and by the end of the lesson I had two of them sitting off to the side with me in an attempt to get them back on task. Some things don't change, no matter where in the world you teach!

In the afternoon, all the grade 3's went on a field trip to ANSTO, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization. This facility uses a small nuclear reactor to create a variety of the radioactive medicines used to treat cancer. It was a neat tour. The whole place was under really tight security, so neither the kids nor the teachers were allowed to bring backpacks or even hats or water bottles along. We had to leave our cell phones and cameras behind, too, of course. I even had to show my passport! We learned about atoms, radioactivity, and how the nuclear reactor works. We watched a video of the scientists working in the reactor (since of course we couldn't actually go IN there), and even got to try out a geiger counter. I have to hand it to the scientists who were leading our tour - explaining radioactivity to grade 3's is a big challenge. I think they did a pretty good job.

The kids were rather restless during the trip, though... it was really hard for them to sit still and so I spent a lot of time herding kids and redirecting. By the time we'd made it back to the school at the end of the afternoon, I was pooped! Ruth and I went out for coffee with a couple of other teachers after school was over, and it was all I could do to sit upright and drink my coke without falling asleep. Ruth eventually took pity me and brought me home. With any luck, I'll actually get to sleep at a reasonable hour tonight!