Another teacher blog

I apologise for all the 'life as a teacher' posts that are going to be popping up, but it's all new and to a degree exciting. It's also probably the only thing I really do at the moment too!

We are now in week 2 of the school term, but it feels like week 7 or 8! Assessment is already beginning to creep up on us and planning is never ending! 

I have always had two little teaching philosophies:

1. I will be creative with my teaching

2. I will form good relationships with all my students, even the most difficult ones. 

The last two weeks I have come to a bit of a reality check. Whilst these things are definitely an important part of teaching, sometimes it's just not possible. I have come home nearly every day this week and fallen asleep by 8pm. I know part of this is getting used to full time work, but some days you are just so emotionally and physically drained from dealing with students. I have two classes and teach each of them for science and history. They are VERY different classes. One is incredibly lively, inquisitive and generally quite a fun class. The other are rude, disrespectful and for the most part, have no desire to learn. Both classes on particular occasions have left me sitting at my desk needing to just take a few breaths before I go to the next class. 

This week, working closely with a couple of incredibly supportive people in my staffroom has made me realise I don't (and can't) always have to be that creative and fun teacher that gets on with everyone. There will be days when I clash with even my best students. Some days, my students don't deserve my creativity and need to earn my respect. It has also been pointed out to me that it's my first year of teaching, and if I 'try too hard' to keep this up, I'll burn out! I have learnt more in the past 6 weeks of teaching than I did in 4 years of uni. Nothing can prepare you 100% for teaching except being in a classroom on your own, with expectations that you teach those students!

Whilst I still endeavour to make my classes creative and build solid relationships with students, I don't put myself down when that doesn't quite work out. As once quoted 'If plan A doesn't work out, there's always another 25 letters in the alphabet'! 

My 'Space'

Thanks to our recent move, I now have my own craft room! As much as I love sport, I have a ridiculously creative side. I have spent many a late night scrapbooking or making cards with Mum. Usually we sprawl everything all over the dining room table until Dad has had enough! Oh the luxury of a craft room all to myself though! 

Aside from the space, and the ease of grabbing something from a shelf right next to me, the thing I've loved most about my craft room is decorating it creatively. 

The other perk is the organisation! I feel like it's so much easier to work after organising everything! Now I can just sit down and make a quick card rather than having to set everything up.

So this is my working zone, the space that I feel is my most creative. My favourite decoration is actually my lava lamp, gets the creative juices flowing!

Honeymoon Adventures

Following my recent post on our wedding, comes a post on our honeymoon. Being close to Christmas we didn't want to have to fight busy locations and airports so opted to go for a quiet rainforest cabin in Montville - Tanglewood Gardens. Whilst Montville itself is quite small, it has more than enough cute cafes, restaurants and little stores. 

Our little cabin was the 'honeymoon' cabin, situated under the chapel. All the cabins are extremely private, surrounded by trees and a good distance apart. 

The cabin was perfect for us. The bed was absolutely huge, waking up in the morning we struggled to find each other! The cabin consisted of a little kitchenette, a spa bath/shower, an extra large TV conveniently situated in front of the bed, and a small couch. Probably our favourite part of our little setup was the spa bath. We had happy hour every day in the spa, thoroughly enjoyable! The other great benefit of this cabin was the air con which we left on permanently. It made a spa in the middle of summer a lot more pleasant!

With our happy hour we did crack a very nice, and well aged wine!

There were a few communal tables around the venue but we had our own little one just metres from our door. Whilst it was a lovely view, we spent very little time eating there due to mozzies!

The complex also had a pool. The view may have been nice but the water was freezing so we preferred to stick to our spa! 

We had perfect weather whilst there and some very nice views in the area.

There isn't a great deal to do in Montville (which was kind of the idea for us), but the main street is lined with parks and little shops. 

There was the most amazing games shop! After walking through the shop and reminiscing many enjoyable gaming experiences we decided purchasing some was definitely necessary for our new home! We spent way too much money at this store.

The other cool thing about that shop was all the colours!

After I dragged my husband through a little boutique style store, we came out to find this seat! I'm fairly certain he would've rather sit there whilst I browsed the shop. 

We didn't often cook at our cabin, but found a great cafe with an incredible view. A big perk for me was that they made lactose free coffees! The breakfasts there were also delicious and very reasonably priced.

The weather, despite being hot, was stunning! We made good use of this and headed down to the Sunshine Coast for a bit of a beach afternoon. 

This was one of our views on the way back from the beach - bliss!

I am a firm believer of all things Christmas, and being Christmas time I needed my dose! As such, we went in search of (and to my delight found) some very cute decorations and lights. The main street had some gorgeous stars, and it just so happened there were people singing carols at a church nearby. The full Christmas experience!

Jossy is not much of carols fan, but in my family it's tradition to watch Carols by Candlelight on Christmas Eve, so we watched the carols from our cozy bed. We had both bought books at one of the little shops in town so Jossy was able to escape the carols to some degree!

Christmas morning we cooked up a massive brekky of bacon, eggs, pancakes and fruit. Of course we had taken our coffee machine so had the whole package! We even celebrated with our stylish bon bon hats!

Other than our little adventures, we spent a lot of time just reading or chatting. It turns out planning a wedding is very busy and tiring, and by the honeymoon you just want to relax and sleep! We did of course time find to take some selfies, and bask in the fact that we were now married.

And I will leave you with that!

A teacher through and through

Recently, a good friend of mine has been struggling with knowing what she wants to do with her life. This morning after reading her blog, I thought I would share my own story. 

Ever since I can remember, I've wanted to be a teacher. That was what I always played with my sister growing up, that was my first job (part time) and continues to be my full time job. Growing up, I was the girl who never had any doubts about her career path. I had it all planned: finish school, go straight into a teaching degree, finish my degree and get a job in a good school. But even the most certain of people have doubts. Whether they choose to acknowledge them or not is a different story. 

Throughout high school I never questioned being a teacher. By 14 I was a music teacher, both privately and at the music school I ended up managing throughout my uni degree. Though looking back, I didn't ever allow myself to doubt my decisions in high school. I insisted on being a PE teacher, and thought I'd just tack English onto the side because I had to have a second teaching area. It's quite ironic that I currently teach only English and absolutely love it! As I progressed through my degree I distinctly remember weeks where I wondered what the hell I was doing. Did I really want to be a teacher? Was I really patient enough to put up with teenagers? Was I teaching the right subjects? Then there were pracs where I felt so out of my depth that I thought there was no way I was meant to be a teacher. Even now, as a qualified and working teacher, I have weeks where I feel like I'm not the right person to be a teacher. Lucky for me, I have a very supportive husband, best friend, and family, who all remind me I'm being ridiculous. Whilst that's amazing, sometimes you just need to realise things for yourself. I needed to know it for myself. Each time I doubted what I was doing something amazing happened within my teaching. Recently, I had a year 9 student give their first ever speech! They had always been too afraid, but this time, they felt like they could not only give the speech in front of me, but the entire class! It's those moments that remind me why I want to teach, and how much I love it. 

Anyone can get through a teaching degree, but not everyone is made to be a teacher. Like a lot of other jobs, you see and hear about a number of awful life situations. You see teenagers doing things they shouldn't even know exist. You're daily dealing with problems, teaching them how to respect themselves (as well as others) and helping them survive a world that is not easy. It takes a lot of passion, to care about so many people that much! At times it's overwhelming because you don't feel like you can help students enough. It is a job that you have to take home, and it's not just the marking or planning. But for me, this is what makes it perfect, because the flip side of it is seeing students achieve, seeing them with confidence, listening to their funny stories. I love that I get to come home and tell my husband about all the funny, crappy, weird and amazing things my students do. I love that my days are trying to help people, not students, just people who need help whether they realise it or not. I love that I get to spend my days figuring out how these people tick.

Although my friend realised teaching wasn't for her, don't think that's the right choice for everyone just because of a little doubt. She didn't just decide over night, it wasn't a decision made lightly. Every teacher will tell you they doubt their career choice at some point or another. Sometimes you just need time to think about it properly, or take some time away from it. For me, I will always be a teacher deep down. Choosing to pursue that is what I have to decide, but I know that when I need to make that decision, I will know.

Photographer

After reading through my wedding blog (which I should have proofread at the time), I realised I mentioned our photographer, but for anyone reading who wants to know where our photos came from, I forgot to mention her company! So here is a little post for that. If you need portrait, wedding, cake smash or really any kind of photography, hit up Ashleigh Sheridan Photography! To give you a little insight as to what she's like, here is a picture from our wedding photobooth. Jossy actually went to high school with Ashleigh, and ironically two other bridal party members randomly knew her too. We had such a great time with her, and couldn't help getting a quick photobooth snap. Ashleigh's the one in the front row, without a bridal party outfit haha! She's quirky, enthusiastic, and full of crazy photo ideas! She'll make your event just that much more entertaining if you invite her along, and her photography is brilliant. Couldn't have asked for a better photographer!

Sunset

Sunset has always been my favourite time of day. Something about being able to pause at the end of the day and take a few breaths is comforting. The best part about sunset is that it is different every day, and oh so stunning! Lucky for us, Bundy has some amazing skies!

These guys

You're probably going to see a number of posts about these guys, because quite frankly, they're awesome! As I've mentioned before, Sam and Nathan are our closest friends. This year we got to spend New Years Eve with them, and what a night it was! We were moving to Bundy a couple of days after so this was our last chance to really spend time together. 

Our original plan had been to go camping however due to weather, we decided to stay in. At the start of the night I wondered if we'd run out of things to talk about. Before long I realised that was a ridiculous thought, it would be impossible to run out of things to say with these guys! We talked, laughed, had a bit of 'sentimental crap', danced and had an all around fun time.

Being away from everyone this year has been hard, but it's so good to know that some friendships never change. Although we don't see each other, we constantly message, call, and make the most of the weekends we get to see each other. 

"Our paths may change as life goes on but the bond between friends remains ever strong."