Pssst....

Over here- at the new blog!

Student-Free Day PD

This might just be your very last chance for Supply and Demand PD... so put Monday 17th October in your diary. We're back at Raven Street Reserve, I'm between computers right now so more details are to come soon...

RAIN HAIL OR SHINE

Yes the PD is still on... email me if you want to RSVP late so I can make sure we cater for you... amberssupplyanddemand@gmail.com

Sharing

I spent entirely too long on the phone with a friend tonight (apologies to her son for taking up so much of her time!) talking about a single classroom game. Silent Ball. I use it, well as a ballgame. She uses it for spelling, times tables/number facts, phonics... really it's the Magic Pudding of games- it never, ever ends. . .

I'm hoping that's what our PD on Sunday is- the sharing of resources that grow rather than shrink from being shared. If you would like to come on Sunday we still have places available- come along and share or enjoy the show. Email me at amberssupplyanddemand@gmail.com if you have any questions or would like to RSVP for the event. And I promise that everyone there will be a lot less grumpy than the Magic Pudding man!

DIY PD

When:       Sunday 28th August 2011, 
                        11am to 4pm

Where:      Raven Street Reserve, 815 Rode Road, McDowall

(heaps of on-site parking available at a lovely air-conditioned data-projected room!)

Program:    Networking, Q&A, your favorite lessons presented, quick lesson planning (the famous 3 step planning process), quick lesson ideas, PE and game ideas.

Cost:                 $55 including lunch, refreshments, afternoon tea,

take-home (emailed to you) resources & PD certificate

RSVP:         ASAP!!!
email amberssupplyanddemand@gmail.com for “bring a friend” discounts & payment details

**Photo notes** 
I love this photo. I think of it when I need to be reminded that sometimes everyone just needs to muck in and get on with the job***

Put Your Thinking Hats on for the 28th...

Put your thinking hats on and get ready to share your Supply Teaching Secrets with your colleagues on the 28th of August... more news to come...

New Workshop Dates

Well we are half-way through the year- but how many of us have half our PD requirements done? I've got two exciting PD opportunities coming up next month- my "Surviving and Thriving As a Supply Teacher" on Sunday 21 August and the band-new "DIY PD" on Sunday 28 August. Start-times are still to be finalised, but put these dates in your diary. Both will be $55 for 5 hours of PD.

*** I'm resisting posting a million "cat in the hat" photos here... but please put your thinking hats on and think about what you could present at the DIY PD day***

Undivided Attention...

Amazing... one of his lesser-known poems- but it does take your breath away...

Pink Gumboots... adapting to your environment without losing your identity

If I've had the pleasure of meeting you- you will know if humanly possible I'll be wearing pink shoes. They make me smile. They make the kids smile. Really- what more could you want? Well, with the recent rain I've discovered you could want gumboots. For those cold days where the rain just keeps going, gumboots are a very useful adaptation to the school environment. And today I was able to find... yes... you guessed it... pink gumboots. It made my day. It made the checkout lady smile. And it made me think... how much of "me" do I get to keep when I teach?

I think that's really a challenge for us Supply Teachers- balancing between adapting to our ever-changing environment and staying true to ourselves. As much as we adopt the behavior management plans of the different schools we teach in, we all have our own personal philosophy about discipline. Every day do our best to work within a different set of school values, different moral frameworks and different learning environments- but we really do need to make sure we don't lose ourselves. It's not really about pink shoes at all- it's about the right express our own identity. Without getting too deep I'd hope that as teaching professionals we are able to work in a way that aligns with our personal teaching philosophy. I think I'm lucky enough to have found schools that allow me to do that... and I hope you do too.

PS- I think my gumboots will also remind me to make the best of whatever comes my way... because now even on a rainy day I can have a reason to smile. And yes... that is a part of my personal teaching philosophy!

Three Choices...

Today I gave my class (year 6) three choices... they could be awesome, terrific or wonderful. There were no other choices. Each child got a certificate with tick-boxes for each choice- to take home or show their teacher. Some kids told me that a certificate like that was a guaranteed dessert, or control of the TV remote at home that night. Others kept theirs at school to show off to their teacher tomorrow. I've put a copy of the certificate in the downloads section... but it's easy enough to make your own.

But it got me thinking about the choices we give ourselves as Supply Teachers. Do we assume that a challenging school is going to be, well too challenging- thus removing the "great day" option from our own list of possibilities for the day? How many bad days have we had simply because we don't give ourselves the chance to have a good day? Like today, tomorrow I've got a lovely class at a lovely school- and I'm simply not going to give myself the option of having anything other than an "awesome, terrific or wonderful" day- it worked for the kids today so I don't see why it can't work for me too!

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.

Wednesday Night Dinner - With All The Trimmings

At our PD Planning Session we decided we want it all- from teeny-tiny badges to massive smartboards... I'm going to try to cover it all at our next workshop (date yet to be confirmed). Currently I have had requests to make sure we cover:

• literacy games
• numeracy games
• PE games that don't need much space or equipment
• calming games (to focus children after breaks)
• quick resources
• activities for early finishers
• tips for dealing with Special Ed kids
• epipen info
• smartboard resources (and learning place access)

If you have any requests for areas for us to cover, or if you have an area of expertise that you feel would be of benefit for us to learn about... please, please email me. Our next workshop will certainly have all the trimmings!

Real DIY PD

Following a very successful (and delicious) planning session we have the theme for the next workshop...

We really are going to make our own PD. Our next workshop is a "bring your favorite lesson" occasion, where everyone attending gets a 20-minute(ish) slot to present (a summary of) their favorite fall-back lesson or lessons. This is the time to learn a dozen or so fail-proof lessons... and make them your own. We're talking those lessons that use few or no resources that can be adapted across a number of year levels and can cover a range of KLAs.

We'll take some time to examine and build on each lesson, play the games, and create variations and improvements. I'll be asking for an overview of what everyone would like to present before the workshop... and I'll distribute a copy of this overview at the workshop to make everyone's note-taking life just that little bit easier.

We really hope to see you there,

the more of us, the more lessons to share.

And yes, I do love Dr Seuss.

Details to come- but I just couldn't resist posting early!

Wednesday Nibbles...

Don't forget to RSVP for the High Tea this Sunday...

It's that time of the week again, and after our workshop on the weekend there are a few things to post.

Firstly - the magical whiteboard erasers that aren't actually whiteboard erasers... I've yet to try them myself- but next time I'm at the supermarket I will be picking up a pack of them.

Secondly, the instructions for the Pirate Game. While they don't make for great reading- they are fun to act out and play. I have played this with everyone from preps to year 7 children and they all seem to love it...

PS- To those lucky people who were at the workshop last weekend... check your inbox late tonight for new copies of your certificates with 5.5 hours of PD on them... your discussions were so valuable I was hesitant to cut them short... meaning we ran over and can record 5.5 hours of PD for the workshop

Drum-roll please... I give you... The Pirate Game (which I didn't think of myself but play almost daily)

With the younger grades I often begin with a story… the actions are in the table below.

We are on a pirate ship. When the pirate captain comes along I’ll say “Captain’s coming” and we will all salute. Show me your best salute…

Thank-you

To everyone who came to the PD today. Wednesday will be a great blog post with lots and lots of helpful information from a very enthusiastic group... and I look forward to seeing them at the high tea.

A Feast for All- More Wednesday Goodies!

There are a couple of actual feasts on the table, and also a virtual one for your enjoyment.

Feast No 1
There's the possibility of actually getting a much-sought-after free lunch on Sunday... I'll be handing out crisp $5 notes to anyone who "brings a friend" to the Surviving and Thriving Workshop this Sunday. We have numbers to just scrape by and cover costs- but the more the merrier. Especially if you are the one getting a free lunch!


Feast No 2
This is one that will go straight to the hips... a High Tea with cakes, scones, sandwiches and really great coffee (I'm not a tea drinker- but I'm sure the tea is nice too). We are having a two hour planning session about our next PD option that we can document as two hours of PD. Come along to catch-up, chat and ensure that we get the kind of PD that we want and need in the future.

Feast No 3
This is a lovely virtual smorgasbord of contract activities available at the wonderful Kurwongba State School Website. Great for inspiration, and always fun. Can it get much better?

HELP!

Tell Your Friends!

Currently I don't have enough people attending the Workshop on the 20th of March (that's next Sunday) to cover costs. Everyone seemed to get a lot from the last workshop so if you were thinking of going, or have a friend who you think might like to attend now's the time to let me know. The people that I do have attending are very enthusiastic, and I'd hate to have to postpone on them. As always, email me at amberssupplyanddemand@gmail.com or contact me via the blog for details.