Day 5- Final Day of PD :)

Well last night, I made the terrible mistake of starting my GNC vitamin packs. I have yet to try them and failed to realize that two of the pills give you energy. So after taking them at about 8 PM last night, I was wide eyed and bushy tailed! I stayed up until about 12 AM which made 5:45 come far too early. At the moment, the weather is very much like home- HUMID! And I thought I escaped the muggy weather for dry heat, well I thought wrong. Currently there is a "cyclone", or tornado as we like to call them, near midland and is causing this weather throughout the west coast. It was extremely hot this morning when I woke up and the heat didn't let up throughout the day.

Janette dropped me off at school again and showed me my bus route. There still are things they say that catch me off guard, for example the word "thongs." Where I live is right near a horse race course and on our way to school every day we pass it. She mentioned that if I wanted to go we could one weekend. She said all of the girls get dressed to the nines, but she and Steve like to keep it casual in thongs and hats. It took me a second to realize that she was referring to flip flops, not underwear! I think my face says it all when I misinterpret things...

Once I got into school, we began the last of our professional development seminars- YAY!!! The professional development workshops are very similar to those in the US, and they seem to have the same types of issues in school too. Communication is a huge issue among teachers as well as lack of jobs for teachers and administrators. Teaching jobs are very difficult to come by here in Australia. In years past, typically about 300 people retire each year from the education system. In 2011- only 4. However, by 2015 they are expecting a shortage of teachers in Australia as the recession soon passes (hopefully). We discussed the code of ethics, reporting misconduct, social media, and that sort of yata yata. One thing I did find interesting was that each teacher has a performance manager. For those of you who know me well, the first thing that came to mind when hearing performance review was an episode of The Office where Michael must review everyone's job performance for the past year- definitely one of my all time favorites. Well similar to Michael, the performance manager evaluates the teacher's performance through observations, interviews, etc. 4 times per year (once per term). If the teacher does not meet the appropriate standards, remediation is then put into place to get them up to par. How wonderful would this be in our education system back home?!? Maybe we could get some people out who aren't fit for the profession and get those in who truly care. We also discussed the evacuation plans in case of specific emergencies. What was so shocking to me is that students had not run through any of the practice procedures in nearly two years. TWO YEARS! Belmont is such a quite city, they rarely experience any type of harm so safety isn't as big of an issue to them.

I am beginning to catch on more and more to the lingo here in Australia. One thing my host "mum" says to me every morning is "Have a good sleep?" The first thing that always comes to mind is a video out now on YouTube where girls say that constantly, it's quite funny so I get a little laugh to myself. Also, everyone says "reckon." I feel like I am back in Alabama! Or at least talking to Will :)

After school let out, I was able to experience my first sun downer. It was extremely relaxed! Basically the teachers just sit around the table and have a beer, wine, and some snacks and chat about their days. I tried my first Australian amber ale called James Squire, it was absolutely delish! Unfortunately I couldn't stay too long because of homework, so it was off to catch the bus. I successfully made it home without getting lost, I was so proud of myself! The bus didn't take too long, what was bad however was the muggy walk home from the bus stop! I was drenched by the time I got in. I wanted to go for a run but I decided I would take a break from the not so pleasant weather.

Tomorrow the students finally come back and I get to really begin my internship. I am so excited to meet them all and hear them say "G'day Miss Carlton!" Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well!