The search for homeostasis

Where have I been?

Two weeks into Term 1 of 2019's school term year, I officially "separated from the NSW Department of Education". Despite keeping tabs on the doings of my teacher-librarian colleagues, I haven't felt a burning desire to do any casual teaching or library work. Instead, have renewed my writing efforts on some fiction manuscripts and started making preparations for a future career(?) as a massage therapist. Recent changes in courses and career paths (to formalise which courses' graduates can access health fund rebates for their clients) saw me gravitate towards a Diploma of Remedial Massage rather than a Certificate 4 course. Endeavour College in the Sydney CBD offered my best option and I have just completed my first ten weeks of study. Some days, it hardly feels like studying: ie. give a massage, receive a massage, break for lunch, repeat. Now that's the way to study.

First homework involved removing a ring that has been stuck on my finger for about ten years...

All of which led to a firm resolve to lose some weight. This was a momentous landmark.

A few weeks into the course, the other students and I spent a day volunteering at the City2Surf marathon, massaging doctors and nurses who have their annual post-race gathering on the roof of Bondi Surf Club. (Talk about being "thrown into the deep end".)

We are expected to do at least two practice massages per week to consolidate our skills. When human volunteer crash test dummies aren't available for practice sessions, there are always other stand-ins...

Finding my way around the college LMS (learning management system) has made the last ten weeks relatively easy. Certainly a different way of submitting assignments since my last full-time course in 1990. Now I can take a three-week breather before the next term commences...

Meanwhile, I am back to writing Draft #2 of a Young Adult novel manuscript. No rest for the wicked, even a retired teacher-librarian.

New beginnings

Yesterday morning, I was asked to be Master of Ceremonies at the retirement dinner for our school's outgoing teacher-librarian, which was held last night. It was quite a thrill to be asked, as I am essentially stepping into the guest of honour's shoes next year. I've only known her, and worked with her, since July 2002, and there were people at the function who had known her for much, much longer. It was a chance to show a side of me that my work colleagues rarely see. And from next year, in my new (old) role as teacher-librarian, they'll all have a chance to work with me in collaborative team-teaching situations.

It all went off very well - although, as I told the gathering, most times I MC a function, I'm usually dressed as an Andorian, or some lycra-clad superhero or another and wearing a mask. So, as our teacher-librarian starts a new journey, literally anticipating the commencement of a series of caravan holidays around Australia with her husband, I'm starting yet another part of my journey through my career, which may well be the last major change before my own retirement.

We've had several teachers making farewell speeches. The teacher-librarian last night, a former deputy principal last week (who's been doing casual work for a few years) and several classroom teachers today. they've all talked about the uniqueness of the school, and the many qualities that make working there such a great and rewarding experience. I feel very blessed to have ended up there.

As I was sorting my files today, in preparation for vacating my Year 1/2 classroom to move into the library, I found a wad of hand-scrawled diary entries and "incident reports" concerning a difficult class I'd had several years ago. The numerous, um, "challenging experiences" reminded me of my very first year of permanent teaching, but I guess you have to have years like that, every once in a while, so you know when you've got the next great bunch of students. I was feeling a little low, when one of my current students handed me a Christmas card, written by his mother, which said (in part):

"... I have watched him grow and overcome learning obstacles while he has been under your guidance. You have always been so approachable and have always offered me the information and answers to my worries and questions. Like every parent, my child is my pride and joy and I only want the best for him, so that he can be the best he can be. He got that with you.

"He came home the other week excited. He stated that 'Mr McLean is going to be the librarian [next year] and that means that he is still going to be my teacher on Library Day. I still get to have him!'

"What more could a parent ask for in a teacher?"

Ribbons, ribbons, ribbons!

This weekend was Penrith District Show weekend. Small potatoes when compared to the Sydney Royal Easter Show, but with all the same things scaled back to fit in Penrith's little showground area.



Last year, my class of Year 1 and Year 2 students entered 38 art and craft items and won a total of 19 ribbons. I'd wondered how we could ever improve on that excellent result. It was interesting to study the various categories and compare the entries the 2005 judges had considered winners. For example, we'd managed to scoop the pool in Clay Work with our little dog statues. However, the small, preliminary black/white dog sketches we'd spent several lessons on (building towards our day of clay play), mounted up to be put in the Drawing section, simply couldn't compete against the large, full colour drawings from other schools. Did the addition of glitter make an artwork into a Collage, or was it still a Painting? Several other unique pictures, which I'd been planning to call Paintings (until I read the entry descriptions and realised that they better fitted the category of one-off Printmaking) ended up doing extremely well because no other school happened to enter that section, thus we collected all the Year 1/2 awards on offer in Printmaking.

Well, for this year's event, I helped to encourage the other classes and teachers to contribute their own entries and the school as a whole (K-6) ended up with over 120 display items in art, craft and cooking. A lot of work to catalogue them all, pin cards to all the entries, and ensure that each item was suitably mounted for display and wrapped for transport. (Good ol' bubblewrap!) My own students made sure we entered coloured Drawings this time, lots of Clay Work (we were studying Australian Animals this year), more of our sneaky/clever, one-off Printmaking (good ol' spraybottle of thick, white paint), and some beautifully mounted Paintings and Collages. I reckon the hardest thing about child art is knowing when to tell the child, "Okay, maybe you should stop now..." I'm sure many a great example of naive art has been ruined because of overdoing it.

Imagine my surprise, pleasure and pride to realise that 34 of my class's 36 Penrith District Show 2006 entries had won ribbons - blue Firsts, red Seconds, yellow Thirds, white Highly Commendeds - and, in front of one student's prize-winning clay kangaroo model, a huge, extra blue sash, embossed in gold lettering: Best Exhibit: Art - School Years 1/2. Research pays!



The display of schools' work was excellent this year: variety, quality and the setting out of the display space. My sincere thanks to our school's talented teachers and students, our worthy competitors from other schools, and my utter amazement at the great singlehanded job of the woman running the students' art section at the Penrith Show this year.

But I dread to think of how we top ourselves in 2007.