The Eve of Mega-Strike 2019

In a few hours, I begin my strike.

Striking because:

*Teacher workload is real and so is teacher burnout.
* My students deserve better and so do I.
* I know that there are nights I literally cannot go to sleep because I'm thinking about EVERYTHING I need to do, ALL the issues I need to try conquer on behalf of my students the following day and mentally ticking off all the things I have done and still yet to do.
* Even though I have recently paid off my student loan, I am still not a good enough risk to the bank - I still can't buy a house on my own (even with my travel debt, kiwisaver deposit and MU, MMA responsibilities).
* I struggle to get the multitude of marking done. I spend hours and hours in the school library, in my classroom, in other spaces trying my hardest to get the marking done. It's just never enough.
* I need more time. More time to finish my marking. More time to create resources. More time to send info to parents. More time to engage with parents and students holistically. More time to develop better processes to ensure my workload doesn't get the best of me.
* I am overstressed, overloaded and underpaid. There is NEVER enough time to do the job. But I continue. Because I love my job. I love my students. I love this community.

Our students deserve better. Our teachers deserve better.

Come on Chris. I still believe in you. I know you have some money sitting aside somewhere. I know you have some awesome ideas in your mind of minimising our workload. We've got this. Let's do this. Please. Before there are none of us left.

#teachersareendangered #ppta #bringoutthebest #BelieveInUs ❤️

Chimamanda Adiche's Ted Talk: 'The Danger of a Single Story'

Awesome korero. Check it out ❤️

https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

The importance of avoiding listening to and only hearing One Story. There are many stories within people and of which we need to know before we make judgements. People need to feel comfortable sharing their own stories and share their perspectives.

If there was one story you've had shared about yourself, what else would you like people to know?

Me - a student asked yesterday if I went/go to MacDonald's a lot when I was growing up / now. That got my back up - because 1) I did grow up going to Maccas. I have a whole box of Maccas toys that I've lovingly kept for over 25 years. 2) I'm always going to revert back to that little kid who got mocked for her weight and am just now more decisive about how I respond to the question.

Another story I'd like people to know - is how hard I work to eat healthy food and how much I enjoy cooking and how much I enjoy gardening and how much I enjoy walking and running. These other stories are who I've always been. But sometimes my story has been hidden by my insecurity of my weight and also my hurt from growing up fat. All of the realities and the imagined realities that reinforced my thinking that I wasn't good enough. Other stories - how I have used my weight to keep people away from me. So that I wouldn't get hurt again in the future. Because it hurts to have your heart (and body) broken again and again.

Share stories. Be proud of all the experiences that have created you and acknowledge both the dark and the light in creating who you are now and who you will become ❤️

Y9 &10 Tihi Timetable Change

Yesterday I was told about an upcoming timetable change that would mean I have the Y9&10 Tihi kids on Monday Block 2 as usual and Y9&10 on Friday Block 4 as usual, however I would now have the Y9s during Wednesday Block 1 and a colleague would have the Y10s on Friday Block 3.

At first this timetable change confused me and I was unsure how this would affect 1) the dynamics of the class and 2) the programme of learning.

At the crux of it though - this means I can properly focus on the Y9s Wednesday mornings and get them prepped in a few ways.

* Building their reading capacity
* Practicing their writing
* Building their confidence without the Y10s to help them
* Developing more skills in English overall

This will also help me figure out who's Y9 and Y10 😂

Plus having that time with the Y9s will give me more time to get to know them individually and build them up.

Next thing to work out is how Fridays will work as my colleague will be taking the 10s Block 3 before they reunite as Y9&10 on Friday. I need to have a sit down with my colleague to figure this out asap. Because I now don't have a double block to teach them it makes it tricky (but also better too in some ways) to get full assessments completed - like the recent 'Sad Joke on a Marae' illustrative narration posters.