eeek.

Classroom decorations are coming down.

Students are really starting to push for summer to be here already.

Classroom placements have been made for next year.

We're wrapping up end of the year activities and having kids move into cleaning everything out.

This is the end of the year...

It's crazy and it's still so odd to me. Even though I've only been here the past 2 months, I've really come to love being in Room 1 with all these younguns and Amanda. Despite how rough and rily it may have been at times, I've absolutely loved all of it.

Our Christmas tree is up and decorated at home - something that was oddly bizarre to do as it was sunny and really warm outside while we were inside decorating and listening to Christmas carols dealing with snow - something they don't get any of down here in Swanson. I've wrapped my presents for people down here already and baked gingerbread cookies for my class and made some peppermint bark for some other people. Christmas is really coming, whether I believe it or not. The end is SO close it's absolutely ridiculously terrifying.

the end is nigh.

Already the first student from my class is gone. Granted, it's a bit early and he headed back to Samoa to visit family, but it's strange already having the number of kids in the class start shrinking. With the end of the year so close already, the feeling of summer is already in the school. Most of our major subjects have already come to a close with the exception of some tiny loose ends for our narratives. It always seems as though time runs away faster than you could ever want it to. We had planned to have the narratives completely finished by the end of week 8 and moving on towards presentations for week 9. We ended up with, however, the students barely finishing their editing of their second drafts this week (already week 9).

We've now moved on to more loose activities with creating gifts for people for Christmas and the like. While we're talking about Christmas, decorating Christmas trees, playing Christmas music, and all else down here in New Zealand already, I'm finding it impossible to get into the Christmas spirit. There's just something about it that's so Northern Hemisphere-ish - palm trees, summer, and Christmas just don't blend well. Rachel and I already have the tree in the house and it just doesn't seem right. If you close your eyes, it smells like Christmas, but once you open them, it all just seems so off.

There's really not all that much going on at the moment. While it may seem crazy at school these past couple days it's mostly all just preparation for the Leavers' assembly that comes up tomorrow for the year eights. I'm still trying to grasp the idea that the year's ending so soon.

I'll post a bit more once all this madness settles down a bit - which may not be for a few days.....

Until then, try to get into the Christmas spirit on our behalf down here because we're having the darndest time.

Cheers!

with a slight touch of madness.

Christmas Concert Michael Jackson Medley performance?

Check.

Slightly embarrassing staff item at the Christmas Concert?

Check.

An awesome night of tinsel-filled, festive excitement?

Absolutely check.

We're done with our Christmas Concert, it's official. After several days of intensive rehearsals, we've mastered the Michael Jackson medley we had put together, along with some wicked dancers from our lovely Rooms 1 and 2. Clearly the best were saved for last tonight. Our amazing Years 7 & 8 took the cake with their outstanding performance, which only gave way to the fabulous teachers of Swanson School and their spunky "Rocking 'Round the Christmas Tree." There was a pretty decent turn-out with parents, teachers, and students alike for the event. And, apparently for the first time in years, the weather decided to hold out and provide us with some lovely summer sun & heat. While it was nice to have some summer weather, it got a bit sweltering under the tinsel I had raided from Rachel's Christmas decoration box back home.

Most of our major units have already come to a close for the year, with the exception of our narratives. While the students are still putting final touches on these, they've moved on to some revisitations of maths and reading. Looking back on problem areas, we've put together some reviews and practice for areas like statistics, ratios, etc. While you would think that these last couple days wouldn't be all that busy, they've been nothing but jam-packed with various tasks, activities.

Most everyone is still going fairly strong, but it's getting somewhat apparent that some are starting to run on only steam now. After starting out the school year at Denmark High School at my other placement, it's really interesting to be seeing the other tail end of the year. While we started out the year in one place, we're finishing it in another. It's really quite interesting to see how moods & energy levels change between the two dynamics.

More to come Thursday evening, but for now it's on to the Leavers' Assembly after the finality of this Christmas Concert.

Cheers!

a winding process.

I think it's finally started to hit just about everyone in the school that the year's going to be ending in just about 2 weeks time. There's this sort of emotion around the entirety of Swanson School that just screams "Summertime!" We finished our Geometry unit today with a look at location using grids and scape maps. It's strange to think that the unit we just started not all that long ago is already wrapping up with AsTTle testing tomorrow.

There's also a huge amount of excitement in the air with Jandal Day and Push Play Day coming up tomorrow. Jandal Day is apparently an annual activity to support Surf Life & Beach Safety. Essentially, any student or person who wears jandals (flip flops) is urged to donate money to the Surf Life organization. It's meant to be just a day for the kids to have a day full of activities and fun to enjoy the beginning of summer and to promote being active. I'm crossing my fingers that it will actually be a reality as multiple people have been talking about how it is meant to rain tomorrow. So we'll be seeing how it all plays out come tomorrow morning.

I'm actually quite impressed with how most students are still staying very much so on target with their work despite how close we are to the end. Every once in a while there will be a little surge in energy or sass. Aside from these moments, it's been pretty smooth, but I'm hoping that I'm not speaking too soon. With so little time remaining, it's bound to get a bit more crazy soon enough...

For now, it's off to doing some sort of sun dance to prevent the rain from coming down tomorrow and a little bit of shut eye to prepare for a potential staff-jandal race.

Cheers!

the madness continues.

And so the absolute madness that is the end of the year rages on.

Thanksgiving was phenomenal. The weekend was a blast down in Rotorua, but now that the end of the year is so nigh, we're plowing straight ahead. All systems are go.

Into the final stretch of the year, the Totara team is launching straight into our chaotic agenda. With the year eights continuing on to college next year, we have our schedule full of Leavers' Assembly (a.k.a. Graduation Ceremony) rehearsals. The younguns have been working their little hearts and lungs out to get R. Kelly's "World's Greatest" and a song from a previous assembly down to the slightest tone. It sounds absolutely phenomenal, but there's still perfection to be achieved where their singing is involved We also have some Christmas Concert rehearsals smattered across the schedule. The team absolutely loves the Michael Jackson medley that we're planning for this. We actually have started to have students volunteer to be dancers for this number. It's pretty shocking and AMAZING to see how many fantastic dancers we have among our group - some could almost give ol' MJ a run for his money were he still among the living.

Being in week 8, we're also bringing our Geometry to a close at the end after an all but brief run. With such a jam-packed schedule it's been difficult to achieve absolutely everything that we had wanted to for our little mathematicians, but they've at least developed a fairly solid understanding of all the 2-D & 3-D shapes along with several additional concepts. Next week we'll be delving into some recaps for previous units that they had struggled with. While we may be in the end of the year, expectations for their achievement levels are still very high. I have to admit that I'm actually quite proud of how focused most of the class is staying with their subjects. Their heads haven't quite gotten all the way into the clouds with the summer holidays so near.

We've also been injecting multiple writing sessions into the days to ensure that they're getting as much time as possible to work on their narratives. There have also been some sessions of games and miscellaneous activities that have managed to sneak their way into our agenda also. While our expectations are running high for the class - it has to be recognized that it is the end of the year and that they have been working their little butts off over the year. They need some breathing time.

And, so, it's off to finish up some loose ends for the evening and get ready for another busy day.

Cheers!

perfectly delish.

And so it's all over and done with.

Shared the wonderful story of Thanksgiving with my class.

Check.

Partook in the traditional Pumpkin Pie with Room 1 students in a bit of a twist.

Check.

Accomplished 3-D shape perspective drawing.

Check.

Bumped students up to the next step in the narrative-writing process.

Check.

Set everything up for tomorrow's Athletics for Years 7 & 8 at the Waitakere Stadium.

Check.

Attempted and succeeded our first solo Thanksgiving meal with Alissa.

Check and Check.

And now, after a full day of teaching, an evening of cooking, and delightful company for feasting I'm completely zonked for any bit of energy I might be able to scrounge up.

It's off to bed for me for now. I know I'm going to need every bit of energy for tomorrow as I'm helping Hayley (the other Totara team teacher member) with taking our wonderful students over to the Waitakere Stadium. I'm hoping my students are doing the same so they're rearing and ready to go to show us what they're made of tomorrow at all the track & field events.

There's also the little tid bit of helping out a little bit tomorrow morning to get everything set up for the Talent Show coming up next Tuesday evening. Alissa and I are in with Robin, one of our deputy principals, and decorating the stage and hall for the major event.

More to come on all the nitty gritty details potentially over this weekend when my brain isn't about to shut down on me after an exhausting day.

Cheers & Happy Thanksgiving to all!

insanity.

The other night I sat on Rachel's floor with my geometry materials spread out all around me, working through everything to figure out a plan for the next few weeks. While looking at what I could do with my students to cover geometric transformations, I thought it'd be a good idea to just look at the overall scheme of the next few weeks just to see how many sessions of what I had to plan for. As I gridded out the piece of paper in front of me and began to pencil things in, a realization hit me harder than a brick. 3 weeks left. 3 weeks until we're on that plane headed across the timeline back towards the wintry northern hemisphere. This is sheer insanity.

Amanda and I discussed all the plans for the next couple weeks in a general sense, and it just seems so strange that the end of the year is so nigh. I'm planning the rest of my geometry unit - working out what each of the groups needs to be sure to get through as we wrap up our final maths bit. For reading, our groups are each still working on individual tasks. My highest group, Tawa, finally has their novel in and are ready and rearing to get into it. While I'm slightly doubtful whether or not we'll be able to get through every single bit I wanted to with them, I have no reservations about if they'll be able to actually finish the book. It just seems so strange after all the time that I've been here that things are finally beginning to tie off all their loose ends. While it feels like we've been here an eternity, it all seems to have gone to by way too soon.

I know I'm speaking as though the school year ends tomorrow, but in school terms (with everything we have going on over the next few weeks) it will feel like tomorrow.

As I was planning the other night, I've come to realize just how excited I am about the narrative assignments the class are working on. After having studied the various bits and pieces of narratives over the better part of this term, they've finally moved on with their groups onto picking up the quill and scribing their own stories. While some have come up with ideas that had to be questioned, and others have encountered numerous difficulties with other ideas, they're all plodding ahead. Once we're done with the actual writing of the full-fledged narratives, it's on to figuring out just how they want to present their tales of wonder. Some already have their hearts set on movies, while others a play or drama. Some have an inkling of doing a puppet show of some sort, or just moving onwards

So much to do in what seems like so little time.

But I guess for now, the key thing is to keep a good focus and just keep on trucking with the school business. Alissa and I have also thrown a good old American Thanksgiving into the mix as well. A bit of my spare time has been allotted for hunting for all sorts of traditional recipes and ingredients to match up with them. It will be more than interesting to see how it all works out, but, one thing's for sure, our New Zealand families are definitely in for an EPIC night.

Until next time, cheers!