Year 9 Food reviews meant trying different snacks! I modelled the process in front of the students as they did it (trying to stop them from eating the snacks was not on my teaching Bingo card that day!) and it went off with a bang. They all enjoyed it and some of the reviews were pretty good and others were "Mars Bars are trash. I won't eat them."
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It was a great end of day fun treat during Week 10 but they were incredibly disappointed to know that I wasn't going to put off the assignment until next term.

I would almost consider this a step up from the graphic novel, considering it is definitely text-heavy more than the graphic novel is but it is still easily accessible for kids. I'm not using this one for English this year but it's still a great help for me to wrap my head around the intricacies of Dracula. Now, to read the third (and final!) version!

When I got the call up for Jury Service, I knew it was going to be a juggling act but one I was happy to do. I could have asked for an excusal or a deferral but I chose to complete my Service at the start of the year - even thoufht it was at the start of a new school year. I had my study and moving to take into account. I do consider myself very lucky to work with some incredible educators who helped me out with planning units well into advance and leaders who were willing to catch me up on missed meetings.

Having said that, it was rough. By the time I had a week left, I was counting down the days I had left and praying I didn’t get called in. While I wasn’t attached to any cases and I found the process incredibly interesting, it was draining in ways I didn’t expect.

I began to hate the unknown of whether I would be called in (you’re basically on call for an entire month) and dreaded the 4pm text message the working day before. I haven’t been able to form solid relationships with some of my kids because I have been in and out for the whole month (don't get me started on their names either!). I knew that forming relationships with students would be tricky given the circumstances and I'm very blessed to have classes where they're not holding grudges and willing to work with me to memorise names and are willing to remind me of who is who.

I felt so incredibly rushed at the beginning of the term because I have high standards for my content, assessments, and how I design my classroom and while I was on Jury Service, I did not want this to slip.
I like to think I did fairly well with keeping these high standards but now, at the end of my Service, I am tired. Not just the long, busy tired but the bone-dead, exhausted tired. I’m craving routine, knowing that all I need to do is go to work, not go into the city and not even be called up to serve on a Jury.

Jury Service is valuable, I can see the value in it but I wonder if (given the teacher crisis) it is worth still having teachers as part of the Jury pool or if adjustments need to be made to make anyone employed as a teacher (inc. TRT’s) as part of the excluded professions.

With the term starting, prep has begun for my semester 1 classes. I'm really looking forward to all of them as I lit a bomb under the Year 9 History curriculum and re-did it over the break. As a team, we've re-done the majority of the Year 9 English curriculum, and I'm excited to get back to Year 10 English. Year 10 History is a subject I'm enjoying immensely, so I'm excited to be back in it.

With my (much loved) Year 12s graduating last year, it's a new cohort for Home Group, and I'm rather glad I'm staying in the senior years.
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I can't wait to see what this semester has to offer!