A Life Changing Brush with Life

Hi guys,

As you very well know, I haven't been on here to blog. I was struggling to deal with the cultural difference in Tasmania even though I went there with high hopes and aspirations. Came back in January and was immediately put to work the next day. How absolutely disorientating! I felt so sorry for the students because I could not for the life of me remember ANY of their names.

But I learned one thing, there is a HUMONGOUS difference teaching dance and teaching geography. A gap so big it could swallow me up. Literally... Think about it. In dance class they're allowed freedom of movement and are allowed to play. In geography class? Ha! You must be kidding.

I mean I developed the program to be as interesting as possible with activities you wouldn't even dream of seeing as part of a geography syllabus. But it's the teaching and the holding of the students attention that is a major struggle.

Today's S.E.E.D.S workshop run by Greg Evans was such a godsend. It was a workshop that I never felt bored of being in and I was energetic and motivated coming out of it. Imagine that! I am feeling a level of confidence that I never thought to see at a high level again after two months of teaching. It gave me hope that trying to make them love learning - after six years of our government schools killing that love - was not an impossible mission anymore.

Think of it, we turn the childrens' behaviour around at ACE. But the workshop taught us a way of doing that while maintaining the connection with the students and how to use positive reinforcement more effectively. The most important thing was that he gave us tools so we won't need to fight for the attention of students anymore! We teachers will grab it whether they like it or not.

I guess the most important thing about the workshop was his story at the end. It made such and impact. In a nutshell, even if we teachers make a difference to even one students it is a HUGE accomplishment because we have made a difference to their lives. That is truly a victory to celebrate.

Pictures to come!