Wrapping it Up in Ribbons and Bows

2016 Aussie Adventure is Coming to a Spectacular Conclusion!

Attending the Cricket with Malcolm

David (Science Teacher), Malcolm (Principal), and Mitch at The Cricket!

Last Sunday we were privileged to attend our first Cricket Match ever!  Here is a commentary by Mitch of our experience at the Cricket!

We've had to learn a whole new vocabulary since we arrived but given time and context it's not been too bad.  That is until cricket.  I knew it existed and I knew people played it but that was about all I knew.  I was about to get an immersion course.

We went to the SCG and grabbed a bite to eat at a local pub before the match (new word) began.  Eating was the very last thing I understood.  We then went to the stadium to see the one day test (another new word) between Australia and New Zealand.  It is a big deal but I was immediately taken by the fact that the stadium was half empty. I asked about this and was told that people don't actually go to see the cricket (yeah, it has to be referred to as "the" cricket).  They watch it on TV instead.  It's too hot to watch it live and you can see it ever so much better on TV.  Who knew?

Anyway, I was properly "hatted" and slathered with sunscreen as the teams took the field.  National anthems were played and there was a ring of familiarity.  Then they began to play and all familiarity was lost.

To make a long (very, very long) game short, the cricket is like a baseball game where the top of the first inning goes on for 4 hours.  It is then interrupted for a tea party and then the bottom of the first inning goes on  for another 4 hours.  Somehow or another one team wins and the fans understand that their team either won or lost.  I didn't.

Scoring is done often and in great numbers.  On the day we were there, the captain of the Aussie team scored first a century (fancy new word) and  then ultimately 168 runs. And he is just one guy. You can score a lot of runs when you are the batsman and have 4 hours to do it.

There is occasional fielding, but apparently the teams are impoverished and cannot afford gloves.  Or balls.  The game begins with one ball and the same ball is used throughout the match.  It gets hit out of the field and it gets returned.  The gradual destruction of the ball factors into the play.  Especially in the bowling. ( No lanes, gutters or rented shoes are involved).  Bowlers cannot bend their elbows as they deliver the ball so they sort of throw the ball like girls ordmills or female windmills.

Also, there are stumps and wickets and overs.  It was an interesting afternoon.  It would have been an interesting night also if we hadn't left, early.  We had time to leave the stadium, go home, shower (oh boy was that needed), change, go to a dinner party, come home, turn on the TV and watch the end of the match. Aussies won - Oi, oi, oi. (more fancy words).  

I'm thinking I'm now probably an expert on the cricket and I'll be glad to explain more when we get home - in one week.

My Students Singing Holiday Lights!

Back to Karla, now!

On Monday (5 December) my students performed for the K-2 Awards Assembly.  They were excited to use torches (flashlights) as choreography.  Here is a link to a video of my students performing "Holiday Lights" for your seasonal pleasure!

click here:   Holiday Lights - 5 December 2016

Robotics Lessons in Year Two - Children are our Future!

This past term my students have been studying robotics.  They have been introduced to the field and all the areas of our lives where robotics plays a role.  They have been trained on simple programming techniques and then provided with "Bee Bots."

Here is some information on the Bee Bot Robotics program:

Bee-Bot is a unique and versatile classroom resource which will delight and engage children in a wide variety of cross curricular learning activities. Bee-Bot is the ideal support for helping you teach early computing and programming. With a simple child-friendly layout it’s a perfect starting point for teaching control, sequencing, directional language and algorithms. Bee-Bot brings innovation and excitement, not only to ICT, but to many different subject areas.

Bee-Bot is a great resource to support the development of computing skills:

Introduction to sequencing and control

Develops positional and directional language

Program sequences and repetitions

Understand algorithms

Design, write and debug programs

Detect and correct errors in programs

Supports development of fine motor skills

Bot-Bot can be used across the curriculum for engaging learning.

Here is a link to a video of my students testing out their programming skills to see if they could get the BeeBot to travel around their pencil boxes without hitting it or running into another BeeBot:

click here:  Year Two Robotics - Beaumont Road

Friendship Links Celebration

My students with our Friendship Link chain just prior to heading outside for the Celebration!

On Friday (9th) we held the Friendship Links Celebration Ceremony where each class took their friendship link chain outside, and we connected all of the chains into one chain.  I was pleased to announce the final number of Friendship Links for the year was 11,522.  Wow - that is a lot of positive comments floating around the school for the past 11 months!  The North Shore Times was back out at the school, and an article and some photos should be forthcoming next week!

I was happy to be a part of such a fun and positive initiative at the school this year.

Farewell to Year Six Students

Friday Evening (9th) Mitch and I attended the Farewell Dinner for the Year Six students.  It was held in the school hall which had been magically transformed into a snowy winter wonderland!  We felt like we were in Breckenridge, Colorado!  It was such a lovely dinner for the students.  Malcolm asked me to speak, so I talked to the students about the same sorts of things that I say to my own sixth grade students as they continue on from elementary school to middle school.  

"You have been given a strong foundation here at Beaumont Road by your teachers, your parents, and by each other.  You are ready for this next step in your lives!  Support each other because you will always be a part of the BRPS family.  Go out and make Beaumont Road and yourself proud as you continue down the path of becoming an amazing and successful citizen of your community, your nation, and our world!"

A Wish to Travel to Colorado

Finally, I would like to tell you about Danielle - one of my students.  Danielle's last day for Year Two was this past Friday.  She is traveling with her parents to see family in China over the Christmas holidays.  Her mother asked me if she could take a photo of Danielle and me prior to her departure.  

She then told me that the only thing that Danielle has asked for for Christmas is to someday get to travel to Colorado to see Mrs. Hankins and to go to her school for a day!  

Wow - I hope that Danielle's wish comes true in the future, and that Mortensen Elementary School in Littleton, CO, USA can welcome Danielle from Killara, NSW, Australia as an honorary Bulldog!  

It is this sort of thing that keeps me doing this job that I love!

Friends - just one more blog until we are home!  Happy Holidays!