Cockatoo Island

I have been teaching lessons more and more.

Last week I taught a spelling lesson. I had the students use their spelling words to make word finds! I didn't think that they could successfully make them with diagonal and backwards words but they proved me wrong! The students made their word finds hard! Once they were done I had them trade with each other to find the hidden words. They seemed to have a great time doing this instead of having to write sentences using their words.

I also taught a math lesson the same day on area! I was a bit nervous to teach Maths as the class is made up of 6 other classes. The students are sometimes rowdy and don't listen. I found different shapes in the room and taught them what square centimeters were and how to use them to measure area. After a thorough introduction I had them rotating around the room to different stations to measure area. My Maths lesson went SO much smoother than I had original thought it would. They listened and asked great questions.

As with all my lesson plans Carlie, my mentor teacher, writes down suggestions for next time and things that I did really well. Her suggestions are always extremely helpful and usually followed by, "Oh yeah, that would work!" She is a great mentor teacher and I really enjoy working in her classroom with her.

My class is also learning about different celebrations from around the world. Last week they learned about indigenous celebrations and made Dreamtime stories using pictures. They turned out great!

Last Thursday I left school early to go to The great Organ Symphony concert at the Sydney Opera House! The Organ only gets played about twice a year and I was so lucky to get an incredibly cheap ticket, great seat and time off of work! The first half wasn't great for me. I don't enjoy listening to stringed instruments so much, but I did enjoy listening to the Bassoons and ... the Contrabassoon! I was very jealous of the lady playing it. After intermission came time for them to play the Organ. What an absolutely amazing sound! (To listen to it go to www.picasaweb.google.com/MeggoInAustralia and click on Sydney Organ Symphony and then the black picture.) I was able to take sound of the Organ playing without getting in trouble. The portion of the piece that most recognize was used in Babe the movie.

On Friday I was in charge of the spelling test again. One of the words was 'skull' and I quickly learned that Americans do not pronounce it correctly. A little girl in my class raised her hand and said, "Miss Kendle, it's not skUll, it's skAll!" I thanked her and apologized for not having an Australian accent. The word came up again for another set of students and was told again I pronounced it wrong. I finally told them that regardless of how I say it, they should know how to spell it. Needless to say, that ended the argument that I was saying it wrong.

On Sunday I woke up early and headed to Cockatoo Island for the day. It is the largest island here and it used to be where they held convicts. Through the years it has been used for many other purposes, but has only recently been open to public tours. I took a ferry out there and decided to wander the island. You can actually camp there over night! They have the tents set up for you already. What a view of the Harbor you have and of the Bridge.
As always, more pictures are on my picasa website, but here are a few:

The entrance to Cockatoo Island!



The campground you can stay at, right on the water



The Mess Hall - it was way small!



One of the many beautiful views from Cockatoo Island



A privately owned house on the island. You can rent it for special occassions.


There is an upper part to the island and a lower part

Overall my trip to Cockatoo Island was great. The sun was out and it was really hot! I also learned about killer seagulls living on the island. Not one inch of that island was clear of a seagull, crow or bird poop. I somehow managed to stay clear of flying bird poop for the 4 hours I was on the island.

This week in school I am in charge of spelling, art, Maths (division) and Health as well as the spelling test on Friday. It should be a good week of teaching!

Next Wednesday my friend Melissa, also known as my boss, will be here visiting with her mom for two weeks. During that time we are going up North to Cairns for 5 days to see The Great Barrier Reef, Rainforest and an island. I am excited to get back to the reef and to hold a Koala bear! We will also be spending their remaining time here in Sydney at many of the local tourist attractions and hopefully climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge one of those days!

Cheers!