Back to work...

It's back to work time again and I hope that everyone has had a great break. If you are working this week, you may want to work through some old NAPLAN tests with your kids... you can find old tests here. I also fixed my link from last week (my bad)... here it is again. And on that note I'm taking my tired little "I can't believe I'm back at work already" self off to bed for an early night!

Links

Yes it's holidays- and yes, we are lucky not to spend our holidays planning and preparing for next term as classroom teachers do. But sometimes a moment of preparation can be very helpful- and with that in mind I give you this little something to get your teeth into before we go back to school.

As with most of the things I share here- this is neither my discovery (thanks Kim) nor my invention (Jenny Ether is a genius). Need to guide a class through writing a poem? It's here- along with all the scaffolding you could ever need for twelve other text types. There are examples, templates and hints- all available at the click of a mouse. And for those of us without internet access at school- you can download the templates into microsoft word and save them for later use.

Thanks again Kim for your great link- and if anyone else has some helpful links to share please let me know so I can publish them here for us all to use. Remember- it's not just internet links that are useful to us, I find that it's the links between people that really count.

**note- link now fixed- make sure you take a look at http://www.writingfun.com/ - it really is a great site.

Holidays!

Yes, it's holidays. No, we don't get paid. Well we can't have it all- but we can make the most of what we do have. Really- it's what we do as Supply Teachers- make the most of what we have and be sure to smile while doing so!

Take a moment to join the Union Shopper to take advantage of a range of discounts to make your hard-earned money go a little further this holiday. This holiday break I'm working on some exciting PD opportunities for us all... more news to come soon.

Wednesday Indulgence

Take a moment to remember just how lucky we are as Supply Teachers. Why? Well we literally have a moment to take. Look in any classroom and you'll find a regular class teacher hard at work. It's that time of year again, where regular class teachers are all wrapped up in parent-teacher interviews, marking, moderating and all of that hard work that we manage to avoid. Leaving before 3.30 is an indulgence. Not getting to school until 8.15 is even more of an indulgence. Taking a moment... well that's just unheard of at the end of term. And having the time to play with something like this.... well that's just something that no classroom teacher has the time to indulge in right now. So make the most of it and time the time to puzzle a supply day away. Get an early finisher to put the weekly spelling words into a crossword and print a copy. Grab a roll and do a find-a-word with names. Enjoy.