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History Do We Put an "Acceptable Filter on It or Tell it Like it REALLY Happened?" Should We Tell the Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth? The Real Truth Behind Australian and American Early Convict Histories My friend Tracy - Proud of her Convict Ancestry Hello Elementary Friends, In previous blogs I have shared that I am fascinated with the history of Australia.  I have read about the early settlement in the late 1700's and how the country has grown to be the modern, enterprising, industrious, and thriving continent that it is today.  During our time here, Mitch and I have been interested to learn that approximately one out of every five Australian citizens has a member of their ancestry who was associated with the convict transport program of Britain to Australia from 1788 until the 1860's.  Tracy Morgan is a Year Four teacher at my school, Beaumont Road.  One day over lunch she started telling me about her family history, and I was intrigued by her story. ...

My Students Came Back to School Ready to Learn! ...and I am glad! Hello Elementary Friends, I hope all of you in the USA are continuing to enjoy your summer!  I hope you are getting around to all of those summer "must-do's" including swimming, hiking, going to concerts, picnics, reading, traveling, or just sleeping in.  Enjoy each day so that when a cold snowy day in December or January rolls around, you can remember that you didn't waste a minute of your summer! Mortensen Friends - I hope that you are looking forward to a new year coming in a few weeks!  I have communicated with Linda this week.  We will start up our weekly phone phone conversations this Friday - actually it is Friday for you, and Saturday morning for me!  Mitch and I are still in the middle of winter here, but we try not to waste opportunities for learning, growing, socializing, and getting the most out of our experience here.   I wanted to start off this blog with a bit of information o...

The Great Barrier Reef is Amazing Even Though It Is In Trouble! Crocodiles and Cassowaries - Don't Let Us Down! Hello Elementary Friends, Ever since we arrived in Australia on December 29th we have routinely asked people who live here for advice on things to do and places to go while we are here.  We ask, "If you could recommend one place that we should see or go to before we go home in December, where would it be?"  Without fail, everyone says, "Far North Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef, Daintree National Park, Cairns, and Port Douglas!"  All of those places are within an hour's drive from Cairns, QLD so that is where we spent a week of our Winter School Holiday.  The recommendations turned out to be sound - it is truly an amazing part of our world!   On Friday (8 July), we drove from our condo in Port Douglas north and west a bit to Daintree National Park where we went on not one, but two, river cruises in search of CROCODILES!  And, we found them! ...