School and the Zoo!

This past week I have been having a great time working at the school. I am learning more about each student and learning all of their names. I've learned who the trouble makers are and the tattle-tales. They all have something unique about them.

The students have been working on learning how to do bar graphs and how to collect the data to make the graphs. From the first day we worked on them until Friday they have all improved. I have also found that these year 1 and 2 students have really good handwriting. As part of the curriculum, students are required to be taught handwriting and it sure pays off. There are only a few that still struggle, but they are the younger students of the class.

The other day I was getting ready to take my class back to the classroom when I heard a kid screaming. I went over to him with another teacher and found that he had fallen down a flight of stairs and his foot was injured. He couldn't walk so I carried him into the office. It looked like he had either broken a bone or severely sprained his ankle. Hopefully he gets better soon!

On Friday the staff invited Dani (another intern) and myself to go to dinner and have drinks with them as part of the end of the term celebration. Dani and I went to the Exchange Hotel near school for an awesome dinner and night. I talked quite a bit with the Principal (Lyn Doppler) and my teacher. They are great about giving me ideas on things to do around here and the best time to do them.

Somewhere between Thursday and Saturday I started getting sick and have since lost my voice. It sounds awful, but I am glad that it is just a lost voice right now and not a cold. Everyone at school is sick and we have had 5 students out sick the entire week.

Saturday morning Kristin and Heather (who are interns as well and live where I do) went to the Taronga Zoo on the other side of the Harbor. What a great day! We saw many different animals I have never seen and went to a few shows as well. The weather was great and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The animals at the zoo have the best view of the city. From all over the zoo you can see the Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House as well as the city sky line. It was amazing and I hope to get back there one more time before I leave.

As I write this it is Sunday here and I am taking the day to rest. I am hoping to be better so that I can go in to work tomorrow!

Enjoy some of the pictures I took at the zoo of some animals! I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! This is how I spent mine...

The Giraffes have the best view in the whole zoo!

The Koalas were adorable! They had a Koala walk-a-bout, which meant you could walk 360 degrees around their enclosure.

This morning the zoo had an elephant birth. The first elephant to be born in captivity in Australia! The zoo in Melbourne is expecting a baby elephant in the next month as well. The elephant wasn't out, but they showed us a picture and he was cute!

This is a red panda. They were SO cute! I spent the longest time watching them. They looked so soft too.



This is a pygmy hippo. So cute, but they have the nastiest teeth. Their teeth are HUGE, a little longer than my hand and very sharp!

I also have a website at www.picasaweb.google.com/MeggoinAustralia where you can look at ALL of my pictures. I can't put them all up on here, it takes too long. Feel free to visit that website and see pictures and videos I have taken while on my trip. I try to update it everytime I have new pictures.