Happy Thanksgiving!

I've been wanting to write for the past few days but haven't seemed to be able to find the time. I won't get time to post tomorrow as I'm going upstate to spend Thanksgiving with some friends so here we go...
Monday night in one of my classes some student's gave a presentation on teaching - is it a 24/7 job?? They took the angle of professionalism. Hmmm I could already tell I was going to have a few opinions on this. One of the main points was that teachers in some states are being told that they cannot be friends with their student's on facebook.... well isn't that common sense?! Who wants their student's (and possibly their parents!) digging around in their personal lives?! I certainly don't. As teacher's we have to maintain some sort of boundaries.
The group also looked at individual cases of teacher's who had been suspended or fired because of incriminating pictures. Said teacher's were fired/suspended due to the presence of alcohol in the pictures... well aren't teachers allowed to have a personal life too?! I saw the pictures and the teacher's involved did not look in any way intoxicated, just like they were out for a meal with friends. Why is this such a bad thing?? Are teacher's not supposed to touch alcohol for the rest of their lives?! Surely that what teacher's decide to do in their personal lives is their choice (obviously within reason, if they were doing something illegal then that's another matter)??!! Ooooooh it rubs my back up! The worst thing is that other teacher's who were known to have gone out with the teacher who got fired were not even given a warning! What is going on in this world of ours today?! Why is this okay?!?!
Finally the group talked about parents expectations. Teacher's should be teaching children how to behave, how to have respect, how to treat other people etc etc. Well, er, shouldn't this start at home?! The best way to see it is this: the parent's are the child's first teacher and the teacher is the second. I do believe teacher's SHOULD be reinforcing the above things but they have to start in the home. Parents have to be accountable too. Teacher's only have a limited number of hours they spend with their student's; we also have to take into account that there are normally around 20-30 student's in each classroom. Now I just want to make it clear that I'm not writing about this to get anyones back up... they're my own opinions and everyone is entitled to their own :) I know I sometimes have strong opinions, but I believe that everyone is entitled to their own life and we all have a choice as to how we live it. So anyway, enough! Happy Thanksgiving everyone, enjoy!!!

Thanksgiving n that

Well it's been a few days since I last posted so thought I better get on with it!
I've been suffering for over a week now with teeth and gum problems.... looks like I'm going to have to see a dentist and I don't have insurance, eeek! I found a holistic dentist that I like, my first appointments next week...
Before I forget, I decided to bake cookies last Sunday! They came out pretty good although I think I slightly overcooked them.... oooops! They weren't bad for a first attempt though. They were wholewheat ones and to make them healthier I subbed the butter for avocado (a little tip I read in a magazine).

Last night I made a traditional English "tea" (dinner) with veg, mashed potatoes and yorkshire puddings. Everyone liked it even the kids (YEY!) which was surprising. Although the boy I work with wasn't too happy about the number of peas he had to eat (around 10, haha) and spent 5 minutes trying to bargain with me regarding the amount.
So a couple of things I have been thinking about over the past few days.... in one of my classes on Thursday night one of the girls mentioned that the school she worked in had just adopted the "HighScope" curriculum. She explained that it gives children more freedom to make their own choices in the classroom (I just looked it up on google and it's a huge proponent of hands on activities for children) and so far it has been very successful. Her main point was that she doesn't understand why we aren't teaching this way in all schools. Good question. I love this type of teaching; I believe that children in traditional education sometimes are so stifled, it's miraculous that they learn anything. Maybe it's because of their amazing teachers! Children are not lesser than adults and we shouldn't treat them this way. They have so much that they can teach us, they are yet to be bogged down with adult life (most of them), they are unbelievably creative and they're imaginations are limitless. These are the types of things we should be nurturing in education, without placing limits. Teachers are there to advise and assist, not dictate and lecture. As you can tell I am very passionate about this and I could talk about it all night. Seriously. Some people might see me as an idealist and be quick to dismiss my views ("wait until you've spent time in a classroom!" they say) but if I aren't inspired to be the BEST teacher I can be and I DON'T expect the very best from my students, how can I expect them to be inspired about learning...?
The other thing I have been thinking about today is gratefulness. Thanksgiving is coming up on Thursday (an all American holiday which I am excited to experience fully for the first time; I'm spending it with a wonderful family I know) and I have been thinking about what I am grateful for. I already try to list a few things every night that I am grateful for before falling sleep. Normally it's things that have happened to me recently, like the awesome family that I live with, or things that have happened during the day. I think that Thanksgiving is about looking at the bigger picture - one way to do it is to look at the aspects of our lives that we are thankful for; those that make us who we are. These might not always be pleasant experiences. For example, my brother and I did not have a great childhood. However, without this experience we would not be the people that we are today. Another way to look at it - it could have been a LOT worse. We could have been brought up in a third world country with no home, food or clean water.
Other things I am grateful for -
my wonderful, supportive, crazy friends: there are not enough words. Seriously. I would have to write a whole new post haha!
My Mum for her patience, her reserved judgement and being stronger than she knows.
My family: my Grandma and Grandad for always being there when I was growing up, I wouldn't have made it without them; my brother for always standing up to me and teaching me hard life lessons without even knowing it.
All the opportunities I have been given over the past few years, which have culminated in me being able to live and study in America.
And finally... Camp Huntington for saving my life.
I feel like I just wrote an acknowledgement page for a book or something HAHA. And yes I did shed a few tears as I wrote this... ENOUGH for today...

Bleurgh

Today I am not really feeling myself. Yesterday, I didn't go to yoga and I am definitely feeling it let me tell you! I also spent the day stressed out because I have not been prioritising my school work (not a strength of mine). I need to arrange three different observations of school environments for 2 assignments that are due in within 2 weeks. I also have two other assignments for another class due in the same week. I spoke to my professor about how stressed I was about it and he just smiled at me and said “I'm confident that you can do it and I look forward to seeing you get through the next few weeks". Hmmm needless to say I wasn't too impressed. I have been thinking about it today and I had a realisation (a begrudging realisation haha): it is I who am accountable for MY studying and I need to stop complaining and get on with it! I managed to book two other observations today and the other one should be sorted in the next few days. I feel better already. I have plenty of time to do the assignments, it's just that I like to procrastinate and faff about. I need to be more organised and accept responsibility. After all, nobody else is going to do it for me.

Some of you that know me might know that I am a great believer in positive thinking and that we are all in control of our own realities. So easily we look to blame others when we should start by looking to ourselves; not an easy thing to do, who wants to admit their wrong?? So that is one of the things that I have started to work on, as can be seen in the example above. Anyway, this is not my main point. I realised that for most of the day yesterday and today I have been feeling very negative and unhappy. I had a few problems sorting out one of the observations, it involved a lot of email exchanges (not nasty ones) but it eventually got sorted. Maybe if I had been in a better frame of mind it wouldn't have been such a struggle. Something to think about.

The other thing I have been thinking about today is truth. I am currently reading a book that talks about how we need to be more honest and open with each other; fear stops us. I definitely try to be as truthful as possible, in the nicest way possible. Which isn't to say that sometimes I don't lose it and blurt something out when I shouldn't; sometimes I just see red (another thing I'm working on). I think I've improved in the past year alone (I hope!). It's hard when you know someone is going to get upset; sometimes I refrain from saying aloud what I'm thinking in my head. I know I find it hard if someone tells me something I don't particularly want to hear, but in the end I respect that person for telling the truth; it can take a lot of courage to be totally honest with someone. I like to try and reflect on what the person said - do I think they have a point? It's not always easy for me to accept that the other person is right - but if I do I definitely want to stop the same thing from happening again in the future. It's about learning to ACT rather than REACT. This is why I have such a great friendship with my best friend. She calls me out on my crap and I call her out on hers. We don't get bitchy about it. Most importantly, we don't hold grudges. Once it's done, it's done. Love you Linds!!

(Some of) the story so far...

I thought I better get this started (Jillian, I know your dying to read this, hopefully it will be entertaining, haha) so here goes....
Maybe I should start with some background info... I am currently in a Master's program training to be a teacher, it's dual cert so I will be qualified to teach P-3 and special ed. I absolutely LOVE it!
Back in 2006 I started working at a summer camp in upstate NY. At the time I was taking some time out of my undergrad degree (Physiotherapy) due to illness and wanted to do something worthwhile. I applied to Camp America and was placed at a special needs camp. Needless to say I was very nervous! Although the first summer was hard, I learnt a lot and I fell in love with the campers. Camp has turned into a bit of an addiction and I have now been going for 6 SUMMERS. Wow. I have met so many wonderful and inspiring people there, it really is a magical place. Now I know it sounds cheesy but this place has really changed my life. It made me realise that Physio really wasn't for me; I knew by 2008 that I wanted to work with special needs children, I just wasn't sure in what capacity. After finally getting some experience in a school in England I realised I wanted to be a teacher (after many years of stating that teaching really wasn't for me!).
So after working for a few years in England and saving like mad I arrived in the USA, ready to complete my Masters. And here I am! I currently live with a wonderful family who I met at camp; they have two fabulous children who I adore. Everyday I am grateful for being where I am and I LOVE MY LIFE!!!