Rain again in East Gippsland! I woke this morning to an overcast day thinking that the rain would hold off, but I was wrong, it poured all afternoon! I rode the bike into school this morning and went through my morning routine (thankfully it held off until the afternoon).
I stopped to see Rhonda in the kitchen first thing to order my lunch for the day; I ordered a bacon and pumpkin focaccia (this has become my favorite and I will never consider anything else when it is on the menu). I think a few schools in the U.S. could use a lunch lady like her. She has a few recipes that she has for the students that are absolutely fantastic. Other than the hamburger that I order once in a while, all of the things that I have at lunch are healthy and full of vegetables, even the pasta carbonarra has vegetables in it! And did I mention, everything is made from scratch- could you imagine if the lunches in the US were all made from scratch? I think students would be quite content with homemade meals at school instead of the processed junk that I see quite often in schools back home. Rhonda is the best and will be missed when I go home!
After a quick chat in the kitchen while ordering my lunch, I headed to the teacher’s lounge to start work. I had the first period to plan. The time was used to finalize the zoo assignment for Friday. After a few tweaks here and there, I was content with the final product! I have “Animal Inside” tomorrow and will introduce the assignment to the students then. I will use class to scaffold the assignment since they will be off on their own for most of the time at the zoo and may not get a chance to ask me questions while they are there. I think the students will find the assignment manageable and worth their time.
It looks like, after some discussion, I will be staying in Melbourne after the students are done at the zoo. An option was given to me to stay in Melbourne for the night rather than just coming home on the night train with the group and having to travel back to the city the next day. I was happy to accept the offer since I am welcome to stay at David’s house in Box Hill. He and a couple of his mates are going to be getting together that night to celebrate his twenty-first birthday.
On Saturday, the plan is to go into the city to attend the Moomba Festival, which is Australia’s largest free community festival, and has been running for over 50 years. There are supposedly a whole bunch of activities for all ages in an area along the Yarra River. There will be a few bands playing at the event; live music is always great, especially in an unfamiliar place. I’m curious to find out what sort of music is played at a festival with a name like Moomba.
I will also be spending Saturday night with David and will then be meeting his family in the city for lunch on Sunday afternoon. The plan is then to go with Domenic and Sheryl to Phillip Island, around 150 km southeast of Melbourne, in the evening to watch the Penguin Parade. Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor), yes this is the common name, can be seen daily returning to their colonies at dusk. I am extremely excited for this part of the weekend; seems like the perfect experience for a science teacher! There is also an open range on the island where kangaroos and wallabies hop around freely; I hope to see a few of them too! The plans are open for that night. We will either be finding a place to stay in the area for the night, and wake up in the morning to head home, or will just make the 3-4 hour trip home Sunday night. Thankfully we have some flexibility with the long weekend! Monday is Victoria’s Labour Day so school will not be in session. Also, students will not be at school on Tuesday due to some professional development workshops that will be going on.
There is also a large celebration in Bairnsdale this weekend with the secondary college turning 100 this year! I was so happy to find that I would be at the school when they would be celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the college! There are festivities going on all weekend, so hopefully I can catch the tail end of them when I get back.
It already looks like I will have quite a bit to write about when I get back this weekend! I will not be bringing my laptop with me since I have to carry all my stuff for the weekend to the zoo, so I will just have to keep note of everything until I get back when I can type it all up.
I stopped to see Rhonda in the kitchen first thing to order my lunch for the day; I ordered a bacon and pumpkin focaccia (this has become my favorite and I will never consider anything else when it is on the menu). I think a few schools in the U.S. could use a lunch lady like her. She has a few recipes that she has for the students that are absolutely fantastic. Other than the hamburger that I order once in a while, all of the things that I have at lunch are healthy and full of vegetables, even the pasta carbonarra has vegetables in it! And did I mention, everything is made from scratch- could you imagine if the lunches in the US were all made from scratch? I think students would be quite content with homemade meals at school instead of the processed junk that I see quite often in schools back home. Rhonda is the best and will be missed when I go home!
After a quick chat in the kitchen while ordering my lunch, I headed to the teacher’s lounge to start work. I had the first period to plan. The time was used to finalize the zoo assignment for Friday. After a few tweaks here and there, I was content with the final product! I have “Animal Inside” tomorrow and will introduce the assignment to the students then. I will use class to scaffold the assignment since they will be off on their own for most of the time at the zoo and may not get a chance to ask me questions while they are there. I think the students will find the assignment manageable and worth their time.
It looks like, after some discussion, I will be staying in Melbourne after the students are done at the zoo. An option was given to me to stay in Melbourne for the night rather than just coming home on the night train with the group and having to travel back to the city the next day. I was happy to accept the offer since I am welcome to stay at David’s house in Box Hill. He and a couple of his mates are going to be getting together that night to celebrate his twenty-first birthday.
On Saturday, the plan is to go into the city to attend the Moomba Festival, which is Australia’s largest free community festival, and has been running for over 50 years. There are supposedly a whole bunch of activities for all ages in an area along the Yarra River. There will be a few bands playing at the event; live music is always great, especially in an unfamiliar place. I’m curious to find out what sort of music is played at a festival with a name like Moomba.
I will also be spending Saturday night with David and will then be meeting his family in the city for lunch on Sunday afternoon. The plan is then to go with Domenic and Sheryl to Phillip Island, around 150 km southeast of Melbourne, in the evening to watch the Penguin Parade. Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor), yes this is the common name, can be seen daily returning to their colonies at dusk. I am extremely excited for this part of the weekend; seems like the perfect experience for a science teacher! There is also an open range on the island where kangaroos and wallabies hop around freely; I hope to see a few of them too! The plans are open for that night. We will either be finding a place to stay in the area for the night, and wake up in the morning to head home, or will just make the 3-4 hour trip home Sunday night. Thankfully we have some flexibility with the long weekend! Monday is Victoria’s Labour Day so school will not be in session. Also, students will not be at school on Tuesday due to some professional development workshops that will be going on.
There is also a large celebration in Bairnsdale this weekend with the secondary college turning 100 this year! I was so happy to find that I would be at the school when they would be celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the college! There are festivities going on all weekend, so hopefully I can catch the tail end of them when I get back.
It already looks like I will have quite a bit to write about when I get back this weekend! I will not be bringing my laptop with me since I have to carry all my stuff for the weekend to the zoo, so I will just have to keep note of everything until I get back when I can type it all up.
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