O What A Beautiful Morning...!

This morning, my worst anxiety dream ever became a reality.

I rolled over thinking what a lovely bright day it was outside, thought I was awfully well rested for a Monday morning and then it dawned on me I wasn’t waking up to my alarm… and the rest, as they say, is history!

The correct time was 8.35am. I am supposed to be at work at the absolute latest by 8.30am when I am to open the door to my 29 little darlings and begin the day.

Oh, my goodness!...

That was all I could manage for about 2mins after jumping out of bed of course. I was going round in circles in my room, no knowing what to do – do I ring work, do I get dressed, do I… do I… do I…!

But wait! There’s more. I was supposed to be at the panel beaters at 7.30 that morning to get a courtesy car and drop mine off (another story – another day!). When I finally allowed myself to breathe, I grabbed the phone to ring in to work, get the DP to cover my class and let them know how long I would be (I live a good 20min drive from work!) and that’s where the story really begins.

The school secretary told me that the DP was unavailable as the Fire Alarm had just gone off and the whole school were out on the field while it was being checked out … Room 14 were not only currently without a teacher for the day, they were now going out to their first fire drill without their teacher who is supposed to have the roll and be counting heads. The message had to be taken out that I had slept in and would not be attending!!

But wait! There’s still more. As I leave my job at the end of the week, another teacher has been employed. The Principal had said he wasn’t sure if she would be in Monday or Tuesday (after all she had just moved up from Dunedin on the weekend) but – you guessed it! – she made it in bright and early this morning! Now I had 29 Year 7 students and one fresh, new teacher filled with enthusiasm and questions galore waiting on my presence… no pressure!!

By 9am a good handful of staff new that I had slept in and I managed to creep in around 9.30 (praise the Lord for no traffic on the roads and a courtesy car with a little bit of ‘pep’!!). Needless to say, I kept a bit of a low profile today…!


Well, I’m all for tasting a bit of my own medicine! I had just told one of my boys on Friday that it’s great to be able to laugh at ourselves (as he was doing after an embarrassing moment in front of the whole class) – a good thing to be able to do and encouraged him to make sure he never lost that attribute!

My perspective:

“What do we live for but to make sport for our neighbours and laugh at them in our turn!”

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

… I think I put on a pretty good show and laugh I shall… soon enough!

The Unsung Heroes

Wow! Talk about hit the ground running! I’ve only just managed to come up for air this weekend after 2 weeks of work. Typical! You forget how consuming teaching is until you start back.

My first morning was a shambles and would have been even worse if I didn’t have some experience to fall back on! It took me twice as long to get ready to leave the house as I had intended (no surprises there to most!... and yes I did need to allow time for the hair-dryer AND the straightners!) which made me late to school, late to the photocopying queue (one of the many hazards in teaching … leaves road-rage for dead!!) and the timetable for the day that was supposed to be on the whiteboard for my students was non-existent!!

My next hurdle was the nightmare of going first (thanks boss!!) to call names out in the hall in front of around 200 parents and their babes. To put this in perspective let me give you a few of the names I had to tackle – a mixture of first and last names. Put a few of them together and you’ll get the idea!

LEUII
PAOGOFIE
WOUD – looks easy but you’d be surprised what comes out under pressure!
FINAUGA
AKOSITA
ANEFUSI
MUFEED
WASEEM
CHIRAG
MAUSIA

Under pressure, they all sounded… interesting!

Next up, I forgot as well (just to add a little more pressure to my morning) that I had the babies of the school instead of the seniors and the room became a fishbowl with parents making sure their ‘Johnny’ had followed the teacher from the hall to the classroom ok (or hadn’t fallen over unable to get up due to the sheer size of their mini-house sized backpack!). Oh, let me add that they stayed for a ‘little while’ too. Plan B was hatched and came into action pretty quick. We started straight away with some ‘work’ and before you knew it, the last one had gone before the instructions had finished! Then I relaxed, regrouped, got them all back in front of me and started the day all over again with a nice chat!

I managed to talk away a good portion of the block (again, I see shocked faces!) and (seeing as I missed getting to the photocopier before the bell!) managed to catch myself up in the break and carry on with a little more decorum. My catch phrase was still: “Now don’t rush!” (that’s teacher speak for: “don’t work so fast that I have to prepare more filler work to last the first week of school where you have no pens, no paper and all I can do is test and get to know you!” )

Heading into week three (a teacher can tell you the week of the term at the drop of a hat but never the date!), I’m now in full swing! My Pacific Island girls still have me just slightly confused – four have long hair, two have short hair and they sit together in pairs! Akosita prefers Sita and looks just like Vienna, Julia prefers Jul, Anefusi prefers Ane and Elizabeth and Christina still have me confused as they both have long hair, wear it differently every day and they sit together!

There are still those moments when you think there is no hope – the child that has a reading age of 8 at 11years of age, the child who can’t spell ‘forget’ in Form 1 (we got from the ‘f’ to the ‘o’ and then it was random letters of the alphabet…), the child that has yet to learn how to internalise his thoughts (!!!), the child who comes up after 10mins of work and pointing at the front of a booklet where it says ‘Name:___________ ‘ asks if they write their name on the line (oh my goodness – how did they survive Primary School!!), the child who pummels me every minute with a question and the child that can do no wrong (works like a Trojan completing everything first and to the best possible standard).

I never go through a day without laughing… whether it be from hearing someone else’s neatly side-stepped ‘faux pas’ or their discovery of yet another quirky child (teachers are a mean bunch!!) or a good old laugh at my own expense!

I never go through a day without learning something new… Finauga can throw a tennis ball at a target a mile off and hit it, PJ is like a walking dictionary, children hang off my every word with a trust that is unbelievable and I can build their self-esteem or cut to the quick – often faster than I tend to realise.

I never go through a day where I don’t feel the weight of my ‘job’ on my shoulders… shaping the minds of the future is no easy task!

For those who don’t know teachers, we are a rare breed! We’re the quirkiest of the lot! We often have a multitude of skills yet we cannot be all things to all people – despite the demands placed on us. We bounce off each other regularly, off-load most afternoons purely to remain sane, pull our hair out at social injustices at least once a week, share or ‘borrow’ (!!) ideas regularly all for the benefit of ‘our children’.

Unsung heroes? Not to some but I’ve seen my fair share and I know some are, especially where I work at the moment, purely because their day is never over, their work is never done and everything is always for their kids!


PS… the staffroom really is as scary as children think it is!

KJ

From Plebs to Celebs! - Parachute '05

Plebs to Celebs – Parachute ‘05

Wow! What a weekend. For those that are new to the ways of the South, Parachute is the biggest Christian music festival in the Southern Hemisphere. It was dusty, dirty, incredibly humid and so much fun all at the same time.

My job this year was quite different yet it was me to a ‘T’! Instead of having a band of my own to take care of as part of the hospitality crowd, I helped to organise bits and pieces for the liaisons – trouble shooting through itinerary clashes, finding those who were lost and ‘schmoozing’ (my word for the weekend!!) with the best of them!

A couple of years ago when I first got the job and ended up at the back of mainstage, I was so in awe I probably made a complete and utter fool of myself – tripping over TV celebrities and trying to spot who was who in the bigger bands… I have to laugh looking back!... if you don’t understand why, just imagine me lost for words (yes! – that happens!) and tripping over myself with nerves!!

At the end of the day though, I’ve discovered something I’m sure you all knew – these people are just people! Talented no doubt – but just people all the same. As exciting a ride as it has all been, it’s been eye-opening to take the glam away (not hard to do when everyone is ‘glistening’ from 9am-9pm!) and just enjoy the experience.

I have made such great friends and enjoyed so many different conversations with amazing people – I’m just so stoked God let me be in the right place at the right time a few years back.

I’ve laughed till I’ve cried this weekend which is the best fun of all! From Nicola’s ‘running man’ dance moves (a-wicka-wicka-wicka!) to Michelle (my boss to whom I am both in awe of and indebted to!) and our ‘hypoxic’ moments, from Portaloo ‘poos’ (nasty spillage that was!) to photos with Ali G look-alikes – it was all there! I can’t think back on the weekend without smiling.

So the run down (for all those who want to know the trivia) from what I observed over the weekend:
Ben Lummis is super nice backstage and easy to look after.
Brooke Fraser is exactly what you see out on stage – a great example.
Audio Adrenaline had a great stage show…
Grits were AMAZING! Those boys can shake a booty with the best of them! Split rhythms, well timed show moves and enough hype to get even the smallest of crowds jumping.
Third Day were great – friendly, enjoyed chatting with anyone and that voice of Mac’s – I swear you would hear it 3 conversations away and do a double take thinking that he was right next to you!
Princess Zulu lives with HIV and has an amazing story to tell – you can’t help but be impacted by her.
Shawn McDonald is actually an amazing photographer who goes around with his camera pack on his back like a snail! He is what I heard described as a ‘brave performer’ – all alone on mainstage with his acoustic guitar – yet he captures crowds just like the big bands do.
Day of Fire would have to be the best of the best. Although not my pick of music they are the epitomy of what a good Christian band should be. They are bubbly, friendly, introduce themselves wherever they go, sign till the fans are gone, say ‘How are you?’ and mean it and would pray with anyone (ask Earl & Celia their liaisons who called it quits at 2.30am 2 and a half hours after the end of their signing schedule!!) They just oozed God and we ALL noticed it.

To see so many Christians come together, to see so many dedicate and rededicate their lives to Christ is awesome. Thank you Mark for an awesome opportunity for Christians around the world to come together and work, play, sing, laugh and most importantly spend time drawing closer to God and seeking His will for our lives – even those that were working from dawn till dusk!

To the liaison extraordinaires – you are the unsung heroes of the world of ‘make-it-happen!!’ and you did just that all the while with such grace and style. I enjoyed your company and so look forward to next year with you. To Michelle – all I can say is… love your work!

If you missed the weekend, book it in for next year. Whether you slum it or skip off site, whether you shower or stink (!!), whether you prefer rock or rave, from plebs to celebs, they’re all at Parachute and, as cliché as it sounds, there really is something for everyone! And if you do make it next year, give me a call and come visit the pridelands of the ‘make-it-happen’s!

CDYth