for Z

is for Zita.

This one was really a no-brainer, but rather than rehash a previous post I am going to send you back to a previous post where I have discussed my name and where it came from. You can read it by clicking here

Here's a few other random facts about my name:

According to http://www.sheknows.com my name has the following meaning

Greek Meaning:
In Greek the meaning of the name Zita is: Reaper.

American Meaning:
In American the meaning of the name Zita is: Reaper.

English Meaning:
In English the meaning of the name Zita is: St. Zita was a 13th century patron saint of domestic servants.

Spanish Meaning:
 In Spanish the meaning of the name Zita is: Little hope.

Have you ever googled yourself or your name to see what comes up...? I just searched 'Zita' and clicked images and this was the first one that came up...

 

I can assure you, that is not  me! hahaha...

When you do a regular google search for 'Zita' this is what you get...

Saint Zita (c. 1212 – 27 April 1272; also known as Sitha or Citha) is an Italian saint, the patron saint of maids and domestic servants. She is often appealed to in order to help find lost keys.

 

A Saint! Now that is certainly more like me!! 

Linking my final A to Z Challenge Post up with Ms Mystery Case!

for Y

is for Year 5

Year 5 is the only year level that I have not taught in my career, for no real reason other than it just hasn't happened. 

Even though a lot of my teaching career was spent teaching composite classes I still managed to miss year 5. For a number of years in a row I was teaching a composite class and there was a time when I never thought I was going to be 'straight' again! 

Teaching 2 lots of curriculum can at times be extremely challenging. In every class that you have there is a certain spread of ability levels that must be catered for. In a composite class, this spread becomes even wider. 

I have always preferred teaching in the lower to middle years, around year 3 and 4 as they know enough, but they don't know everything and are often still really happy at school and wanting to please the teacher! 

Having said that though, the year I taught Year 7 will go down as one of my favourites! (shhh don't tell the other classes!).. guiding those students through their final year of primary school and watching them grow into young adults and send them off to High School was great. It helped that they were also a pretty awesome bunch and we had loads of fun along the way.

Another fave was my Year 2/3 class. This class was the final class I taught before leaving the classroom to become a Behaviour Support Teacher. It was composite and a tough composite, in terms of the curriculum and assessment that happened in those year levels, but again there were many moments of joy amongst it all.

At the end of last year I wrote a post on just how hard teaching can be sometimes, if interested you can read that little rant here..

And just like that post I am linking this post with Essentially Jess for IBOT.

for X

is for Xtreme!

Now I am a teacher and so yes I realise that extreme actually starts with an E not an X but for the purpose of this blog stick with me (couldn't come up with anything else!)

I am linking this one with Kirsty at My Home Truths for her Monday linky I Must Confess as this week's confession is what makes you weak at the knees....

Now this Xtreme post made me weak at the knees probably for all the wrong reasons. I was travelling back in 2011 and was in Interlaken in Switzerland. I had decided that on this trip I would tick something off my bucket list and do something a little bit crazy and out of character. I decided I would parasail off the Swiss Alps! arghhhh...

It was by far the most Xtreme thing that I had done and I won't deny that I was shit-scared! It was a long drive up the mountain with the tour guides, many of which spoke very broken English... "What the f#ck am I doing?" ran through my head many many times. There was times when I was certain I was going to pull the pin but Dave (my guide) was not going to let that happen. I think more than just my knees were weak as Dave pushed made me run off the side of the mountain as we lurched into the sky... I will admit that the views were breath-taking, providing I looked out, not down, and it really was an experience to remember, but not one I will replicate any time soon!

Before we 'set' off..

Some mid-air shots

Feet firmly back on the ground.

Dave reckons the smile at the end was the biggest one I gave him the whole trip and tried to convince me to go sky-diving the next day..umm...no thanks!!

What's the most Xtreme thing you've done?

Got a confession? Head over to My Home Truths and link up?

Got another post you want to share? Head to One Mother Hen for Open Slather!

for W

is for Wobbly Bits.

This teacher reflection is from when I taught in Mt Isa. To this day this class is still one of my all time favourites. It was a Year 7 class and it was wonderful to work with them in their last year of Primary School. 

It was later in the day, the afternoon session I believe, and I was pointing, obviously rather enthusiastically, to the work on the board and explaining to students that they needed to get it all finished by the end of the session, when a student promptly announced to the whole class... "Miss, when you shake your arm like that all that skin under your arm wobbles!".... (cannot recall if any work was actually completed after that!

Yep.... thanks, way to make your teacher feel great!!! 

He would be 23 now....lets hope he's learnt how to talk (or not talk) to women!!

for V

is for Vicky.

My besty... 

There feels something so high school about being in my thirties and saying "she's my best friend"..especially when I am so blessed to have so many wonderfully close friends who mean the world to me.

Vicky and I met when I transferred to St George and we began working together. Teaching, and transferring as much as I tend to do, means that you meet so many people in so many different towns who you become friends with because of the situation you are in and often when you move on some of these friendships dwindle. I am grateful that my friendship with Vicky has stood the test of time and when I saw this picture on Facebook I shared it with her straight away.

 So given that it's been more than 7 years since we met I guess she's stuck with me!

Whenever I have some exciting news to share, need some brutal, no BS advice, need a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen Vicky is always the first person that comes to mind. She's not afraid to tell me to pull my head in or wake up to myself if I need it and I am often amazed at how she just seems to know what I need to hear and when I need to hear it.

I was super super chuffed when she asked me to be her son's Godmother and value the time we get to spend together which, since I now live 4 hours away, is not as regular as I would like it to be.

And it just so happens that I am spending this ANZAC Day long weekend with her and her family!

Linking up this Friday with With Some Grace of course!

for U

is for University.

Twice I have put myself through the pain and torture joy of studying. When I was at High School I wasn't really sure of what I wanted to do but going to University was a given. I am not sure I knew if I had any other option and what that option may have been.

Looking through the University Guide I wasn't sure what to really apply for and I remember doing one of those personality tests where it gives you an idea of what types of careers suit your personality type. I think I always knew I wanted to help people and in Year 10 I did work experience in a hospital thinking a Nurse might be a good career...After the week at the hospital that quickly changed! Not the career for me.

So I started to flick through and thought teaching was another obvious choice, helping people and working with kids! I applied for several teaching degrees and some degrees in Social Work. I was offered a place at University of Southern QLD in Toowoomba to study a Bachelor of Education (Primary)... a 4 year degree. My uni days were not really that eventful. At first I lived on campus but really didn't enjoy it, after 5 years of Boarding School it kind of felt like I was right back there again, so after 6 months I moved off campus and rented a house. Not long into my second year at Uni I met a guy and we started dating and it wasn't long before we moved in together and were together until a couple of months after I finished my first degree, so I didn't really have the whole 'party' uni experience that a lot of people talk about. He was a student so apart from attending lectures and tutes I didn't really get involved in 'uni life'.

I then left Toowoomba when I got the position in Normanton, and then spent the next 6 years or so teaching around Queensland before realising I needed something more, I needed a break from the classroom and at the time I thought stupidly that going back to Uni was going to be the best way to achieve that. So I enrolled in a Masters of Education degree with a major in Guidance and Counselling, it was 8 units that I completed while I worked full-time over a period of 2 and a half years. It was tough going at times but I am not known for my amazing study abilities and think I probably only just scrapped through.

I am thankful though that I had the opportunity to go to University as I know not everyone is that fortunate. I am thankful that my parents encouraged and supported me along the way.

Dad, Mum and I before the ceremony for my Masters Degree

Got the paperwork to prove it!

Linking up with A Parenting Life for Thankful Thursday... What are you thankful for?

for T

is for Townsville.

If you read my N is for Normanton post you would know that that was my first teaching post. I started there in Semester 2 on a contract. I replaced a teacher who had moved to another school to be the Acting Deputy. It wasn't long after I arrived that I was told I would be taking the Year 6 class on camp to Townsville for a week... arghhhh!!!

There I was, barely into my teaching career, barely into my 20s and having to take this group of kids who I barely knew 790km from home!! What. The. Fudge...

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't packing it. The previous teacher had started the process but it was essentially up to me to put the itinerary together, organise everything and somehow remain sane. Wanting to make sure I made a good impression and hope that they did not regret giving me the contract I did not make my apprehension known and luckily I did have support in the organising and the Principal attended the camp as well (side note: kids LOVE school camps but they are secretly a teachers worse nightmare!)

Some of the students had never left Normanton and for most, if they had it was only to Mt Isa, so going all the way to Townsville was a massive experience for a lit of them. I can still remember the excitement in their voices and squeals as we drove into Townsville as they say shops and places in 'real life' that they had only ever seen on the TV. I remember one girl yelling..."Miss...look der Miss" trying to work out what she was pointing at I really had no idea and said "what?? what can you see?"... "Look der Miss, der.." and then she promptly sand the "Bob Jane T-Mart" ad... It was these little moments that made me smile so much for I was the one that was there for this first time experience for so many of them.

Normaton is not far from the beautiful gulf town of Karumba which has some of the best sunset views of the ocean you will ever see. It is such a big tease of a place though as the beach there is gorgeous but of course due to crocodiles you cannot swim in the ocean. So the students were so wary of swimming in Townsville and on the day we went over to Magnetic Island and I had to do some serious coaxing for some of them to get into the water. Some of them got a little overwhelmed and started grabbing hold of me in the water as well for 'safety', but really, they almost drowned me! The lady doing the safety talk to the students on the ferry on our way over to Magnetic Island really needed to chose her words more wisely when she asked the students "when you jump off the ferry which side will you jump off?"...well that sent a shockwave through the group as they looked at me with gasps of, 'why do we have to jump off the boat? what about the crocs?'...I had to convince them that the lady was talking about, if there was an emergency.

We had 2 trips to the Hospital while we were there, the first was when a student was running around the caravan park where we were staying and wasn't paying attention where he was going and 'coathanged' himself on one of the clothesline, falling over and hitting his head. The second was an incident involving 2 girls while we were ice-skating. Again, skating around, not really paying attention and ran into each other, ones head collided with the others chin, there was blood, there was a trip to the hospital... fun times had by all!!

The Rock Pool at Townsville that the kids needed to be convinced was safe to swim!

A day trip to Paluma Rainforest with a swim along the way.

Canoeing over on Magnetic Island

The trip was action packed with activities, visits to the Museums, the Zoo, meeting The Cowboys and The Crocs (Basketball team), and many first-time experiences for many of them. Hopefully it's one that they remember as well.

Linking with Ms Mystery Case for Words on Wednesday (because being Wordless do this A to Z challenge is not really possible!!)