A 'holidaying' week of work ...

Penguins at Manly harbour

It's lovely to have C. here, even if I have to work while he is holidaying.  But, it means that my week feels more like a holiday than a work week because of the fun stuff we're doing.  Last night, we had dinner at Garfish, a delicious seafood restaurant on the Manly harbour side.  And because it's a 'holiday' week, we had ice cream on the waterfront afterwards, whilst watching the penguins emerge from under the steps to make their way to the water for a feed.  The 'holiday' continues for the week, with trips to the movies, theatre and zoo planned.

A day at the beach ...

Shelly Beach

C.  arrived on Sunday and it is so great to have him here.  We spent yesterday at the beach, beginning with an early morning dip at Manly beach, which did wonders for the champagne induced hangover. In the afternoon, we headed to Shelly Beach for a spot of sunbaking, reading and swimming.  C. had plans to spend most of the week at the beach while I'm working but those plans had to be altered this morning when the shark alarm sounded and everyone had to be herded out of the water.  Oh well, I wouldn't want him to have too much while I'm working!

Why are polar bears white?

Teaching is just so joyful sometimes.  Especially when students come out with an innocent and funny little story.  This morning, six year old R. and I started a science unit called 'Animal Adaptations'.  We began with a pre-test where I asked her to explain why animals have certain features.  The first question was 'Why are polar bears white?'  R. went on to give me a very serious and detailed description of how the frost goes inside the mummy's tummy to the baby and turns all the hair white.  It made my day.

Solving the problems of the future ...

Whilst I was in Melbourne recently, I became aware of a school program called 'Future Problem Solving', which interested me for several reasons.  Firstly, the program seems to have been designed mainly for gifted students and since my upcoming Masters study unit is about curriculum programming for gifted students, I was keen to find out more.  And secondly, the real life problem solving is something I thought might appeal to B, my 10 year old student. 

Students are given a series of possible world problems of the future and then taught how to research the problem, work through a problem solving process and come up  with a range of problems and solutions associated with the main problem.  Pretty neat, hey?

So, tomorrow I'm heading off to the outer suburbs of Sydney to hear more about the program and whether or not it will fit in with the 'Anna Davidson Home-School Curriculum' ... plus, the opportunity to chat to other teachers will help to solve a few of the 'isolation' problems of my own!

Bargain day at Manly cinemas ...

It's a well known fact that Tuesdays are bargain day at the cinema (but Mondays at my favourite cinemas, Palace and the Nova) and with the price of movies these days, it's worth waiting until Tuesday to go to the movies.  Or so I  thought.  Yesterday afternoon, I headed to the Manly cinema to see 'Wild Target', a very funny British comedy.  It was my first and probably last time to the Manly cinemas.  I've never sat in such uncomfortable cinema seats.  Isn't going to the movies about sitting in big, comfy seats with drink holders?  Not at Manly.  The seats were so, so old and many were held together with duct tape and some even had their backs missing.  And no drink holders.  Where was I supposed to put my cup of tea?  But, when you're only paying $10 for the movie, you can't have everything, hey?!

The first visitors ...

Out for dinner with Dad

This weekend, I had my first visitors to my new place in Manly.  Dad, Carla and the dogs (Charlie and Archie) drove up from Canberra to visit on Saturday afternoon.  We enjoyed a lovely Thai dinner before they headed back to their accommodation, leaving Charlie with me for a sleepover.  I really miss having dogs, so it was wonderful to have Charlie for a visit - he slept on my bed and we went for several (very) slow walks in the morning.  On Sunday, Dad and Carla came back to Manly for lunch before collecting Charlie and heading back home.  Anyone who would like a visit to Sydney are more than welcome to come and stay (feel free to crash on the couch if you're up for it!)

Charlie and his squeaky toy

Green School ...

Yesterday, I stumbled across this TED talk about 'Green School' in Bali.  The talk by the founder, John Hardy, showed just what is possible when someone has a vision and has the passion and dedication to follow it through.  Take the time (13 minutes and 36 seconds to be exact) to watch and listen to this talk as it shows some beautiful images of the 'Green School' and its students.  After watching the talk, I was inspired to find out more about the school, so I visited the Green School website, which is equally as inspiring.  Always on the look out for new and exciting places where I could live/work, I clicked on the 'Teach at Green School' link, where teachers are invited to write a compelling story describing why the school should consider them for a position.  I wonder how many schools use this kind of method to employ staff.  Not many, I guess.  But then again, this is a very unique school indeed.