Old School Memories..

I went back to my old school this week to do some relief teaching, how odd that was! 2 days with a year 2/3 class in my old year 2 classroom! And how ironic it was in this classroom that I had my heart set on being a teacher 22 years ago!

An older school with its original buildings now being 143 years old, I love the stairwells, brick buildings and gorgeous huge trees that landscape the grounds. I hadnt been back in many years so it was nice to go for a wander and see how I remembered things compared to my memory. Isn't it funny that everything seems so much bigger when your a kid? For example the Library used to seem quite large, but yesterday with the class of kids in it, it seemed quite small - I used to feel like I could get lost in that library. Toilets and drinking taps are another thing that seems to shrink as we get older; as little people sometimes we had to stand on our tippy toes to reach.

Walking down the familiar hallways felt the same and seeing my old friends names up on the school captain/house captain board was a blast from the past. Other areas that bought back memories were the tuckshop, the big tree on the oval (notorious year 7 kissing spot!) and the area where us as year sevens were allowed to 'hang out'.

Things that have changed are obviously new playgrounds, room changes such as the staff room now being in the old special education unit and smart boards instead of blackboards. The school population seems so much smaller than I remember but the general ambience of the school is still the same.. I also went to my Husbands old primary school the other day and he also asked questions about the layout of his school.. its funny how our primary school's can make such an impression on us!

Tip Toeing Back Into the Working World..

**As explained in my blog last week I have not been a part of the working world for a little over five years. When I commenced my degree 10 years ago I had planned on being a full time teacher, however, at this point in my life with a different set of circumstances I am going to embark on casual or relief teaching. I still feel like this will give me the best of both worlds; the ability to work and earn some extra money teamed with the freedom and knowledge of being here for the kids**

**Last night I sat down with the arduous task of updating my resume and creating a one page summary to hand in at prospective schools. I used to find these tasks relatively easy, almost like second nature, however, last night after a 5 year absence I found the task quite difficult and foreign. After 3 hours, however, I had created both a resume and one page summary that I was proud of, complete with a pretty red title!**

**This morning I found myself preparing for the working world - getting dressed up, putting on makeup and racing around like a mad woman preparing the kids for school. By the time I reached my interview at 9am I was exhausted and spared a thought for all of those amazing women who do this every day!! I walked away from the interview confident that I had made a good impression and happy that I had taken the first step back into the working world**

~*Daily Note to Self*~ Dont leave tasks til the last minute (or the night before!) Get organised and make a list, cross off that list and reward yourself for making progress.

Honorouble mention of the day: I would like to thank my Son and Stepchildren this morning for supporting me and being proud that I was going for a job interview. I thought it was so cute when they all wished me 'Good Luck' and it made me more confident that I was doing a good thing for us all.

Career Calling..

My teacher registration number showed up today.. a licence if you will to 'drive' the minds of a classroom full of children. I had a series of mixed emotions upon opening the envelope, particularly butterflies in my stomache! I think it was a mix of excitement and fear.. Excitement because after 10 years of pottering around with a degree (that has probably cost me more to attain than I will ever earn..) I have finally achieved the end result! And fear because I haven't worked in a little over 5 years so the prospect of returning to the work force and all it entails is a little petrifying!! Not to mention horror flashbacks of how relief teachers were treated back in my day! So yes now comes the fun part trying to find resources and ideas to keep the children educated, amused, enthralled and enticed for 6 hours.. and then ill hand them back to their classroom teacher ;-)

~* Daily Note to Self: Smile tomorrow when the Delivery Men deliver your dining table, even though they are delivering it 2 weeks late, no sense in getting mad, wont make it get here any faster!*~