He's caught the library bug!!!

As I've mentioned before, one of my students does not enjoy reading.  It has been an uphill battle to get him to read anything, so you can only imagine my excitement when today he asked if we could go to the library to find material for his latest reading contract (a very simple 'bingo' grid of different text types).  When we arrived, I could barely keep up with him as he delved into picture story books, novels, magazines and non-fiction books, with the treat of choosing some DVDs and CDs at the end of our session.  After some reading at the library, we headed home at the later than usual time of 3.30pm.  I told him that school was over for the day and was met with a 'No!!  I want to keep reading!' response!  Which explains why I'm still at work now - we've just finished an extra hour and a half of reading, discussing and writing.  One of the 'must do's of the contract is a simple colour coded rating.  When first presented with the rating scale, the response was 'Everything is going to be yellow (awful)'.  We have just finished the rating for the two texts we read today ..... the verdict?  Red for brilliant.  Definitely a highlight day.

Book and movie .... movie only .... book only .... What do you do?

There are divided opinions on stories that have both a book and movie version.  For some, it's exciting to discover that a great book is going to be featured on the big screen.  For others, they prefer to take the lazy option and just wait for the film version.  And for many, the book/movie combination is a big literary no-no.  For the most part, I fall into the last category.  If I've read a great book, I have no desire to see the movie because the movie generally spoils the images in my head.  I'm not so rigid about going the other way though .... if it's a great movie and the book has good reviews, I'll probably give in and read it.  On the weekend, I watched a fantastic movie and surprised myself by racing out to get the book from the library the next morning.  The movie is Freedom Writers, a movie I'd never heard of (well, I was in China, when I bought it, so maybe it was at the cinemas) but was immediately mesmorised by it.  It tells the story of a first year teacher in a rough gang school in America and how she broke down the racial barriers between students by exploring the big ideas of tolerance and change.  I found myself crying in the movie and even now, several days after I saw it, thinking about the story and the messages in the movie.  The book is equally as riveting .... I found myself reading it as I brushed my teeth this morning.  The story of the Freedom Writers is truly inspiring, from a teaching perspective and that of a student.  You can check out more on their website, http://www.freedomwritersfoundation.org.  So, which are you?  Book/movie, movie only or movie and then book?

French Film Festival ....

What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon is there than to explore Sydney by foot and end up at the French Film Festival?  After a morning of study, I caught the ferry into the city for an afternoon of exploration and culture.  I began at Circular Quay with no plan in mind, other than to end up at the Palace Cinema in Paddington.  Map in hand, I first wandered through the beautiful Botanical Gardens and Hyde Park before arriving on Oxford Street, without realising that although the Mardi Gras parade was last weekend, the actual party was this weekend.  Wow!  3pm on Sunday afternoon and it was party time!  However, I highly suspect that these people were continuing on from a party the night before.  Finally, I ended up at the cinema where I got so excited about the festival that I bought 5 tickets for different films over the next week.  First film was 'Change of Plans', a romantic comedy about a bunch of 40 somethings who gather for a dinner party.  On the surface, all is well, but dig a little deeper and there are all sorts of issues going on.  The thing I love about French movies is the quirkiness of them - just when you think you've got it all figured out as another predictable romantic comedy, something totally surprising and unpredictable happens.  Not to mention the great cinematography, the street scenes of Paris and the stunning countryside.  Hopefully, I'll be speaking fluent French by the end of next week! 

Manly - Spit walk ....

Looking back at Manly Wharf

One advantage that Sydney holds over Melbourne is the easy access to nature.  You really don't need to travel far to get  a feeling like you have escaped the city.  A well known and highly recommended walk is the 9 kilometre hike from Manly to The Spit (towards the city).  The walk takes you through bushland,   across tiny beaches and past multi million dollar homes on the waterfront.  I decided to do the walk yesterday afternoon to kick start my weekend.  I began at the Manly Wharf and made my way to The Spit, where I cooled off with a dip in harbour before jumping on a bus back to Manly.

Greenery

Looking out towards the Heads

Wildflowers

Looking towards North Head

Small beaches dotted along the way

First glimpses of the city (and the Harbour Bridge ... just!)

Bushland

Sydney people love their boats

Another little beach

And another!

Clear water

I wonder how much these homes would be?

Finishing the walk with a swim

A month to go ....

In just one month from today, I'll be on a plane to Canada!  Here is a taste of the scenery nearby to where I'll be living.  Photos are courtesy of Jolan - thank you!

Becoming a student again ....

This is about how big I felt at the NSW State Library

Yesterday, I put on my student hat and entered the NSW State Library.  It wasn't a planned visit, I had a medical examination (for my Canadian visa) in the city, which was scheduled to go for 2 hours but ended after only 30 minutes (because I was super healthy or because they decided I wasn't healthy enough to enter the country?!  I'm not sure).  So, I had a few hours to kill before my dinner date with an old school friend.  As I wandered, I stumbled across the library and thought I'd check out their education resources. It took me right back to my Deakin uni days of searching for articles on databases etc.  After a quick crash course in it all, I was on my way.  Two hours later, I left with a pile of articles to read .... now I just need the motivation to actually read them! 

The internet update ....

On Valentines Day, there was an article in the Sunday papers calling for women to lower their expectations when finding a man.  I decided to take a little of their advice on board and not be so picky in who I choose to go on dates with.  After all, the chances of finding a single man who is tall, athletic handsome man who has a PhD, loves travel and does stand up comedy in his spare time are fairly slim.  So, I started responding to internet 'kisses' from men I wouldn't normally think twice about.  Last night I had a date with a man who was younger than me and who listed himself as being 177 centimetres tall, far shorter than I would normally go for.  Now, I'm about 172 centimetres tall, so the difference isn't too great.  On the ferry ride to the city, I talked myself into it "5 centimetres is not that much, you can do it Anna!"  You can imagine my disappointment when I arrived to meet him and discovered that he had lied about his height ..... he was clearly a lot shorter than me.  I nearly kept walking but he seemed nice enough and we went for a drink.  He then took me to a lovely restaurant that was hardly ideal for a first date .... it had one big communal table on which we sat in the middle and it was incredibly noisy, hardly the right place to get to know someone.  The company was good enough but I just couldn't get past the height factor and the fact that nights ending at 7am were a regular part of his week, something that is not for me.  To top it off, at the end of the night, we both missed our ferries home so shared a cab, with me footing the $50 bill at the end of it.  No one can tell me I didn't try but from now on, I think I'll keep hunting for my original ideal, well someone who is taller than me at least.