This is Who I am....... by Marleisa

Under 8′s Week

marleisa — Fri, 24 May 2013 23:40:03 +0000

Here is my Five for Friday teacher post.

This week was super BUSY!!

We had:

Run offs for the sports carnival
Choir practice for the Eisteddfod this weekend
School Photo’s
We filmed our documentary for History
Typed up our prayer for our Prayer Books we are making
AND had UNDER 8′s DAY

Check out a few of the activities we set up for this special day.

Cloud Dough - This was easy to make, just flour and oil (8:1 ratio)
Coloured Rice - 10 Kgs of coloured rice and a few drops of food colouring made this!
Icing Biscuits – this activity was a hit!!
Pasta Necklaces – Always a popular activity.
Bubble Blowing - this activity was good to burn off the sugar from the iced biscuits!Today I am linking up with FLOG YOUR BLOG FRIDAY

What’s with the weather?

marleisa — Tue, 21 May 2013 09:56:50 +0000

I’m not quite sure what has happened but the weather has turned for the worst where I am.

It is freezing. The flannelette sheets went on the bed this weekend and the reverse cycle air cons were switched over to heat.

Yesterday I bought a winter coat to school to leave in my classroom for playground duty and swapped my wide brim summer hat for a smaller felt (warmer) one. I definitely need to rug up to do playground duty at the moment.

As murphys law would have it, this Thursday is under 8′s day. Three weeks ago I picked what I thought would be a fun and easy activity to run – Goop, Slime and Water Play!! Yep! I am totally looking forward to sticking my hand in freezing cold water and being wet for 2 hours on a windy oval!

Wish me Luck!

Today I am linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT (I Blog on Tuesdays).

Do we have to grade them?

marleisa — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:02:22 +0000

On Friday afternoon a parent asked me what I was doing for the weekend.

I replied that I would be spending the day on Sunday at school preparing for report cards. She replied with: “Really, the Preps will get report cards?…….at this age?” God bless her. I didn’t want to shock her even more with the fact that they would be graded A – E for both academics and effort.

As I prepare for the reporting onslaught that is ahead of me I am finding it really hard as I want to give all my 4,5 and 6 year olds an A grade. Honestly they are ALL doing the best for where they are at on their own learning journey. Yes, there are some kids doing more than others but that is OK because I know each child is doing the best for where they are at.

I shudder with the wording for report cards - very high, limited, partially and support required (I have four years olds in my class – of course they need support!).

I wonder about the impact these words and grades have on both parents and students at this early stage of their schooling.

I always tell parents that as not all children learn to walk at exactly the same age, the same goes for reading. They will all start reading at different ages (and let’s not forget I have Preps who are born 11 months apart – they are NOT the same age anyway!). So it does seem unfair to then grade them as a unified group on what they are doing right now.

My preference would be a portfolio of the students work given to parents and a meeting to discuss what they are doing and where we will be heading to next on their learning journey.

Well, that’s enough wishing for today, I better get back to my A, B, C, D and E’s.

I do sometimes wonder if I were being graded as the teacher what grade would I get?

Five For Friday – Class Visitors

marleisa — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:00:06 +0000

Here is my Five for Friday teacher post.

The five new things in my classroom this week were.

Police Station – Our ‘special’ outdoor activity was a police station. We had lots of bank robberies this week!
Crayon Painting – This was our painting experience this week.
Class Visitors – This week we were so lucky to have two Sisters from Manila visit our classroom. They spent the morning with us on Wednesday – observing our classroom. You can imagine how intrigued the students were by them.
Documentaries – This week we started filming our “All About Me” documentaries using our iPads for our history assessments. We had to do a few takes for some but we are getting there.
Comparing Length – This week in maths we have been looking at length. You know you’re doing it well when students come up to you at lunch time to telll you that they have compared their lunch to see who has the longest sandwich!

Today I am linking up with FLOG YOUR BLOG FRIDAY

Dinner and a Movie

marleisa — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:00:24 +0000

On the weekend my husband and I did the classic dinner and a movie date.

I picked the restaurant and he picked the movie.

We ended up with a bit of a mix.

For dinner we went to the Sushi Train. It was the first time we had been there and we loved it! It is definitely a place we will go back to.

As for the movie – we went to see Ironman 3.

The movie was pretty good – it may have been better if I had actually seen Ironman 1 and 2 (although according to my husband I had).

I am linking up with My Little Drummer Boys and Twinkle in the Eye for Wordless Wednesday.

Five For Friday – Mother’s Day Week

marleisa — Sat, 11 May 2013 02:57:10 +0000

Here is my Five for Friday teacher post.

The five new things in my classroom this week were.

Daily Five – We are in week three of using the Daily Five for our reading. I LOVE it!! So do the kids. They are getting so good at Reading to Self, Reading to Someone and Listening to Reading.
Paper Mache Bangles - We made bangles for our mothers (I forgot to take a photo – but trust me they were gorgeous!)
Water Play - This was our special outdoor activity this week. They loved it and were so intrigued as to how I made the water coloured.
Mothers Day Cards - We used the metres of paper that we made last week when we did fence spray painting to create these gorgeous cards.
Soap Painting - This week our painting experience was soap painting.Today I am linking up with FLOG YOUR BLOG FRIDAY

Been there, Done that

marleisa — Mon, 06 May 2013 20:00:13 +0000

On the weekend I went to Nitro Circus.

I know what you’re all thinking……….it’s not really my cup of tea.

The husband was keen to go so I took a friend (Zita from It’s Time) and sucked it up for a few hours to watch the tricks, flips and turns of men on motorbikes, BMX, scooters, snow boards, roller skates and even a wheelchair.

It was definitely something that I can now say: Been there, Done that.

Today I am linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT (I Blog on Tuesdays).

Five For Friday – Our Classroom

marleisa — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:00:47 +0000

Here is my Five for Friday teacher post.

The five new things in my classroom this week were.

Magic Painting was this weeks painting experience. The students used candles to draw a picture or write a secret message on paper. They then used water colour wash over the top to reveal the picture. They thought it was so cool!
Spray Fence Painting was our ‘new’ outside time activity this week (we try to put something new out each week). It was very popular and I now have metres of painted paper that I need to think of something to do with!
Class Shop – Some students set up a shop during inside time. So we are now learning about money (it wasn’t in my planning for a few more weeks but when the kids are interested, that is the time to do it!)
Ant Mine – We have a class ant mine. We are observing the ants daily……….the cemetery that the ants have made for the dead ants has been a real talking point!
Under the table drawing – The OT suggested that the students draw lying down to help strengthen their shoulder muscles. They thought it was the best thing!Today I am linking up with FLOG YOUR BLOG FRIDAY

Wordless Wednesday – Addiction

marleisa — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:00:45 +0000

Today is Wordless Wednesday!

I have a new addiction (yes, I’m giving pinterest a break).

Candy Crush

I’m only up to level 51 so I have some way to go!

Anyone else addicted?

I am linking up with My Little Drummer Boys and Twinkle in the Eye for Wordless Wednesday.

What’s in a name?

marleisa — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:00:57 +0000

I’ve just had a conversation with someone about my unusual name – for about the millionth time in my lifetime!

My name is MARLEISA (Mar/leisa).

The name is German and it means Mary Magdalene (well so I have been told).

At the time my mum was pregnant with me my Uncle was dating a German girl and it was her name. She suggested to my parents to alter the original spelling (I am unsure as to what the original spelling was) as she had found people in Australia had trouble pronouncing her name.

This did not work!

People still can not pronounce or spell it! My hairdresser of 4 years honestly thinks my name is Melissa. Now when she calls me that I just smile back to her (we are past the point of correction).

Although there is an aura of coolness over having a name that is not all that common. People always comment about it and ask about its origin (well if it’s not my name they ask about it will be my red hair – it seems I have lots of questionable qualities)

So here is my pro/con list on having an unusual name.

PRO – so so easy to get an uncomplicated email address (marleisa@hotmail). No underscore or year of birth needed for me. This is also applicable for twitter/instagram/facebook/blog etc.

CON – I’ve never ever been able to find anything with my name on it (when I was a kid I would of given anything to have a pen with my name on it!)

PRO – I am unique - I can’t be mixed up with the other Marleisas around the place.

CON – People never know how to say it. I think people look at the first and last letter and predict the middle. I often get Melissa or Melinda. I ordered a hot chocolate at a café one day (a place where you give your name and they call it out when it’s ready). The lady was calling out “Melinda, Melinda”. I was standing there waiting until a friend nudged me and said I think that’s you!

PRO – It’s a good conversation starter. People always want to know the story behind the name.

CON – It is always spelt incorrectly. People seem to like to double the L and S or forget the E (Marlleisa/Marleissa/Marlisa).

So what do you think………is having an unusual name worth it?

Today I am linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT (I Blog on Tuesdays).