Monday 01/08

      Today the Year 9's were in the library filling out information related to their future - picking out classes, listing potential career paths and filling out surveys to inform then on which path may be the best fit for them. This was funny for me because I remember doing the same type of thing back in high school.
      I also had my troublesome Yr 8's today for theory. I used a revamped version of the powerpoint presentation I had used the week early and this version went much smoother. There were still some disciplinary problems with the class however, and I had to at times raise my voice at the class and particular students to get control of the class again. I also gave students lunch detention for continually talking when I was talking and not taking notes. This is still a little new to me and I feel that I have to be firmer with this class so that when I give a warning I follow through with the punishment if they break the rules again. I also think that issuing consequences greater than lunch detention would be beneficial in deterring disruptive behavior, and this is something I plan to talk with my host teacher about. I also think that rewarding students who do follow the rules and stay on task would be beneficial, and I do walk around the classroom thanking students for working diligently or being quite when I'm trying to get the attention of the class. This is something I found to work well, because this way I don't have to yell to compete with those still talking, but rather the students being quiet usually get on the cases of those still talking.
      Marley and Diane from SUNY Cortland and Brockport also stopped in today to say hi and ask some questions. It was nice to see a familiar Cortland face and to catch them up on what I've been doing for the past 4 weeks and to how I've adjusted to teaching in Australia.