Wednesday, February 6, 2008 - When it rains, it pours...
 Went yesterday evening to watch those two kids play their first game of Under 14 basketball. When one of them saw me there, instead of a nice g'day and a friendly hand shake or a wave, he decided to throw the ball against my arm a few times while I wasn't watching. Cheeky little bugger. That little bit of friendly, well-intentioned disrespect over and done with, we had a bit of time to just sit and chat and catch up after the summer holiday and see how things have been.
I asked him why, when we met at the cricket a week earlier, he hadn't told me his good news. He looked at me with a vague expression so I prodded again. Your good news! Oh, he said, realisation dawning in his eyes, yeah, I got the Star of the Week award at my new school first week back!
Fantastic. But what about your new little brother and sister, eh? Oh yeah, the twins arrived in January. Obviously enough time had passed for the novelty to wear off!
They had a win and played pretty well for a new age group. It was good to sit down and just watch the kids have fun without having to worry about being the teacher. I really believe both the kids and yourself get a whole lot more out of interactions like this, as you get to see their real personalities outside of school, and they get to know you in much the same manner.
They've got a bye next week though, so I get a week off!
Gave the grade a big old spelling test today. Seventy words in total. We did it in two bits, forty then thirty after a break, all done before recess. The kids soldiered through it really well so they earned the reward of a lolly from the jar at the end. I seriously hope the government doesn't try to remove lollies from class rooms because of childhood obesity like was rumoured a year or two back. I don't think doing a big spelling test for the glorious reward of a wet carrot stick will have to same sort of appeal, eh?
Anyway, from the results of their efforts I managed to get a good overall picture of the kids' spelling abilities. They're all generally eight or nine years old, and the range of spelling ages this test gave me indicated the kids stretch from a spelling age of about 7 to nearly 13. A good range, and the few down towards the bottom aren't all that far below where they're expected to be. A good base to work with, and also enough cluey spellers in the grade that Mr V can send the kids to ask their mates how to spell words now instead of being continually interrupted while he's trying to listen to little Johnny stumble over his reading like a one legged donkey on a hillside.
Meanwhile, it fair belted it down at school today. The heavens opened up and decided to dump the equivalent of Port Phillip Bay over the school pretty well from go to whoa all day. By the final bell, half of the basketball court was under water and the kids were watching the gutter out the front surging past and beginning to have serious concerns of out portable being floated away. Sending them off to the loo caused a few wet moments too. Especially when one thought it would be good to stand in the rain a little while on the way back. It looked like he'd fallen in, so I gave him the quiet, stern talking to when he got back. He was quite quiet and repentant too. He had the strength to look me in the eyes all the way too, so I know he's got something there.
Meanwhile... to add to a bit of intrigue... one of the kids I watched last night got called up to the office over the loudspeaker for the whole school to hear. I think I'll have to drag him aside sometime tomorrow and have a bit of a word and find out what's going on. I've told him before he's got me on his side to the very end because he's shown me he's more than worth my effort, but I think a bit of an ear bash on a few home truths might be in order.
We'll have to see how it goes tomorrow.
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Wednesday, February 6, 2008 - rain |
| Posted by Anonymous |
It rained here all day today as well, but thankfully there was no dirty great puddle in my house. And the electricity stayed on - this time. I was without it for about an hour a few days ago when it stormed. That one got my younger brother's place rather messed up. He lost several trees from the old orchard beside the house, a fence, part of the roof on one of the barns, and one of the columns from the front porch of his house. Thankfully, no one was injured.
There were tornadoes (sometimes called cyclones) in several states here tonight - some deaths and a lot of property damage about 70 miles from here. Again, thankfully, missing my town and the one where my son is in college.
Counting my blessings here.
~Cindy |
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Saturday, February 9, 2008 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by Mr V |
Nah, we don't get disaster weather of that magnitude down here. We've had a few sudden floods the last year, but that's only been new carpets and and detours to get to work. Except for the dopes who decided it would be nice to live on the town's floodplain, of course. Otherwise we generally just watch for bushfires around summer and get the odd storm knocking trees down on the road.
Up north is where you go for the cyclones. |
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About Me
This is an offspring of the School Spirit Webcomic site. Where that site features the comic strip itself, this site focuses more on the real life minor adventures of teaching in semi-rural Victoria.
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