INTRODUCING Ms ELLISON                                          

 (Guest post by Ms Ellison)

My name is Ms Ellison and I’m a student teacher from Edith Cowan University. I’m super excited to be spending the next six weeks working with the amazing Mr Petch and the lovely students of Room 22! Prior to studying teaching, I completed my undergraduate degree in Science at the University of Western Australia majoring in Conservation Biology and Botany. I love animals and spent a number of years volunteering in a wildlife shelter caring for sick and injured wildlife. I chose to pursue a career in teaching after discovering a love for working with children as a volunteer tutor. My first week working in this class has been amazing, and the students are already blowing my mind with their magnificent vocabulary range and enthusiasm for learning. I hope to share my passion for environmental conservation with the class, and provide students with a fun and exciting six weeks of learning. I’ve already met a few parents/carers and I look forward to meeting more, so please feel free to drop in before or after school to say hello. 

GREEN THUMBS AND GOAL SETTING 

(Guest post by Ms Ellison)

This week, each student set to work writing their academic and social goals for the term. Setting goals at the beginning of each term gives students a clear long-term focus and helps them to recognise the short-term improvements that will allow them to achieve their goals. This term we had some excellent goals set, including this academic goal from Samuel “My academic goal is to achieve 80% or more on every test I do this term. I understand that I will need to practise the skills we learn in class and complete my motivational work every week to achieve this”. It’s great to see students pushing themselves to accomplish great things through perseverance.

Our ever enthusiastic green thumbs started preparing the garden beds for a new Spring/Summer crop on Wednesday. This involved pulling out weeds and preparing the soil for the new tomato and lettuce seedlings that were planted on Thursday. After the smashing success of the first market stall in Term 3 we hope to again provide a bumper crop at the next stall, scheduled to happen before the assembly in week 9. Make sure you get in early to buy some incredibly fresh and tasty produce such as kale, basil, silverbeet, thyme, rosemary, tomatoes and lettuce – all grown with love by the students of Room 22. This spectacular garden wouldn’t exist without the care provided by students who generously give up their time during lunch and recess to work in the garden, so a big THANK YOU to all those who pitch in and help.