Life lately.

Life at the moment is very busy but I'm absolutely loving it. Thankfully I have really stepped up my time management this year in a bid to be on top of my work load and I'm happy to report that it's working. I'm currently in the process of organising things for when I graduate such as my Queensland College of Teachers Registration application which I sent off last week, the Department of Education and Training forms (which will allow me to teach in a State school) which I'll post tomorrow as well as gathering everything I need to complete my Catholic Education Application forms. We've had so many educators come and speak to us in class about how few jobs there are in this area so by applying to different schools, I'm hoping my chances are slightly better, fingers crossed!

Also, I can't wait to begin my four week professional experience prac block and internship which will all be happening in the next few months. Being on prac is the aspect of my studies which I enjoy the most, for obvious reasons. I love being able to come up with new lessons, new activities and new ways to teach the kids. Bring on prac and internship, I can't wait!

Tree of good deeds.

Today I discovered this amazing positive behaviour resource for the classroom from one of my fellow education peers. She explained how this poster of the "Tree of Good Deeds" was going to be placed on the wall of her classroom and whenever students noticed their peer doing a good deed, they write it on one of the leaves and stick it on the tree. The tree starts out barren and over time, will bear fruit as students do good deeds. I think this is a great way  of students getting positive feedback from their peers, such a great idea!

Fast Finishers Workshop.

I was chatting to my supervising teacher the other day about the different levels of students in the classroom. She was telling me how some students speed through the work with ease and need extension activities whilst others struggle to finish the work. She was telling me that she was going to create a fast finishers worksheet for the students who finished early. This gave me an idea of creating a space for extension activities that students can access during free time or if they require additional work. I was thinking of hanging a pocket shoe organiser or something like below to hold a bunch of activities.

I was thinking instead of having their names on the pockets, one row would be labelled maths, another labelled science, etc etc. In each pocket would be worksheets/ activities/ educational games to do with the topics they're learning that term. This way students who finish early can walk over to the fast-finishers worksheet, pick an extension activity and get to work quietly without disrupting the rest of the class. I can't wait to implement this strategy in my classroom.

About me & this blog.

Hello and welcome to my little corner of the Internet! My name is Berni or Miss. Chisholm and I am a preservice teacher who will be graduating this year [2012] with my Bachelor of Primary Education. I've started this blog as I am constantly getting ideas about resources, activities and lessons to do with my future students and I thought this would be an ideal way to jot my ideas down so that others can benefit from them too. As teachers, we are constantly required to come up with new, exciting and engaging activities to utilise in our classrooms so hopefully I will be able to share what I've learned, whilst getting ideas from a bunch of other people too! Thanks for stopping by!