2014 Begins

Tomorrow is the 1st day of the official teaching year at school. I have had a week at school already, filled with meetings upon meetings. I'm excited and prepared for this year of teaching Year 11 & 12's, and helping the next group of students on their learning journey. It felt like I closed a chapter last year with the group of students that finished, and this feels like a brand new adventure that lies ahead.

On a personal note, there is so much on this year, and I cannot wait to get into it all;

• Becoming an Australian citizen
• 3rd year on District Modern History Panel
• 2nd year in charge of the Humanities Department
• Starting my Masters in History in February -  looking forward to this
• Year 11 camp on Fraser Island
• Attending EDUTECH conference with Sir Ken Robinson as Keynote speaker in June
• Presenting at the 2014 CSA Christian Schools Conference in July 2014. My Workshop Title is: Blended Learning using Evernote as a Learning Management System to engage students and raise the bar academically. Going to be a big challenge and learning experience.

This is just over the next 6 months in between teaching everyday lessons, living life with with my beautiful wife and active 3 yr old girl. Exciting times ahead, busy times, but opportunities to continue growing and developing to be a better teacher for my students.

Looking forward to sharing some new experiences with everyone in 2014.

Holiday bliss

The great benefit of being a teacher in Australia is enjoying a 6 week summer holiday over December and getting to share it with my family. We had a great break, spent mostly at home relaxing, enjoying our 3yr old growing up, having birthday parties, swimming and lots of family time. It is my favourite time of the year, and I'm really thankful for the opportunity teaching allows us to have extended breaks with family. Our one big trip this holiday was a trip to Tasmania for a week, which was quite an experience for our little girl on a plane for the first time and we also saw another part of this magnificent country.

The end of 2013 chapter

It has been more than 2 months since my last Blog post, and I have struggled to get writing again. My last post was at the start of November, right before the final weeks with my senior students. My last blog post on Relationships being the key - click here, became quite apparent over these last two weeks with my graduating students. The two weeks that followed that last post involved saying goodbye to my senior classes and a group of students that I had formed a close bond with. It was a wonderful and emotional last few weeks with them. I held a Barbeque at my house with my senior students, lots of fun, mostly enjoyed by my 3yr old being entertained by them.

During the last weeks many of them were also honoured at the annual Awards ceremony, recognising their academic achievements and contributions made to the school and community. I always enjoy seeing them on the night being recognised and honoured.

I was also very humbled to speak about a number of them at their senior Valedictory on their last day. The final day at school involves their final school assembly, a special Valedictory service and then that night their final year culminated in their Formal (Prom), where everyone was dressed up and had terrific evening.

This brought to an end of this chapter of their school lives and journey with me. Now onto the future and their next chapter. And now I look towards my next year of teaching and the next group of students to take on their learning journey.