Last day

Four months ago, I posted about my first day at FHSC. Yesterday was my last day there.

To be cliche, it was both a great relief and a little bit sad. There were hard days, and difficult classes, but I enjoyed working in my passion area so much that it was all worthwhile. Although I still think I'm far from being a natural, I think my time there has given me the world of experience and boosted my "teacherness" so much. Here's hoping!

Do you miss me?

Holidays!

Finally. For once, due to the nature of 'time in lieu' I have almost two weeks off. Don't get too excited filling up my social calendar though, because I reckon I need to spend at least a week straight in bed. To say I am exhausted would be an understatement. How I look forward to next year, where I once again promise myself that I will fix my priorities and put an end to this ridiculous break-neck pace of living!

After the holidays we go straight on prac for three weeks. That means I don't see my Flora Hill guys for 5 whole weeks, and strangely, I will miss them (well, my Year 7's at least). There's such great classroom dynamics, and just the whole level of language which is so different to that of primary school. To think I only have them for four more weeks...

First detention

I've never had a detention, so I don't know what it's like to get one. They're not much fun to get, and they're not much fun to give out either. Some people love having this power. I don't.

Between two worlds

It appears I exist in a place between two worlds... that of the 'old people' and that of the 'teenagers.'

A common problem faced by highschool teachers is the issue of mobile phones in class. A sneaky tactic in recent years is the "silent" or "mosquito" ringtone - a tone at a frequency too high for 'adults' to hear. The sound is like a high-pitched squeal, similar to what you hear when you turn on a TV before the sound comes on. Due to the natural shift of the human hearing range over time to lower frequencies, these sounds are likely to disappear from your range by your early to mid-twenties. You can of course speed up this 'degeneration' by lots of iPod use and exposure to loud sounds, or slow it by taking good care of your hearing - but it will happen.

Being the ripe old age of 21, most of these high frequencies are still within my hearing range. I busted a kid when his 36 year old form group teacher couldn't catch him. On a similar note, I busted a kid for playing games and could actually name the game correctly. This place between two worlds is a handy place indeed.

It's interesting to try and find out what frequency you can hear.

IMPORTANT: DON'T PUT YOUR EAR CLOSE TO THE SPEAKER OR TURN THE VOLUME UP REALLY LOUD. EVEN IF YOU CAN'T HEAR IT, A SOUND IS STILL PLAYING, AND IT CAN CAUSE DAMAGE TO YOUR EARS JUST LIKE ANY OTHER SOUND PLAYED LOUD AND CLOSE!
(I didn't know that before :$)

First day

Exciting news - I got my first job! Actually, I'm calling it placement, because I'm hoping to get credit points for it, and I was trying to arrange a LOTE practicum at the time it landed on me. I'm teaching two German classes (7's and 8's) at Flora Hill Secondary College as of today - my first day. It all began on the day of my last exam, Friday 22nd June. The official call came the following Monday, with the interview that wasn't really an interview the very next day. Before I knew it, I was spending my three precious weeks of holidays madly planning units of work.

And today was my first day. It went well - considering it was the first class, first day back after the holidays. Hopefully I'll get better at it quickly and the kids will settle down too. I enjoyed it, however the inconsiderate nature of the university looks likely to threaten the whole position at the moment...