State of Origin Day

Gee it's been a while since I posted anything! I've been terribly slack. Well really it is merely an indication of how busy I've been with school. The last few weeks have been interesting. My non-verbal Autistic student started saying "Shut up" and "buck" (his version of f***). He is also now counting to 5 with only gestural prompts, rather than relying on a verbal prompt as well.

I have also discovered another reason why I love teaching the early years - no hormones... I have had to deal with a kissing incident between two intellectually impaired students and am now having to include appropriate and inappropriate touch lessons in my weekly 'girls club' lessons. Plus we all hit panic stations when one of my year 7 students (with a speech language impairment) started writing stories about growing up and having a baby (she is 12). So then I had to have the discussion about the legal age of consent....omg by this stage my head was spinning (by the way, she didn't mean she wanted one now, she just knows that one day she wants a baby).

As if all that wasn't enough, I've dealt with several violent outbursts from two intellectually impaired teenage boys. No wonder I drop onto the couch in exhaustion each night... and thats before I even get to actually teach any curriculum. So that is my excuse for not posting over the last couple of weeks....

Now you might be wondering what all that has to do with State of Origin Day. For those of you who are not Aussies and are not educated in Aussie sporting rictuals, State of Origin is a series of 3 matches played between Queensland and New South Wales in NRL (Rugby League). The series is played every year over a three month period. Last Wednesday was the first match for this year. The idea is that players are selected according to where they played their first A-grade match and that is the state they represent. No other states are included, but players leave their teams temporarily to join the State of Origin teams. This leaves teams missing their best players for several rounds in the NRL competition which makes tipping a challenge (I only got 2 out of 7 games right last week).

So for the first State of Origin match (Wednesday night) the year 7 students had a State of Origin Day at school as a fund raiser for their school camp. Basically you could dress up in your State of Origin colours and donate a dollar to do so. I'm a Queenslander through and through so I stole Autumn's idea and went down to Ace Drapers (another post coming soon about this amazing place) and bought maroon and white tule to make a tutu for the occasion. When I proudly showed my husband my new purchase he asked why didn't I just wear his Queensland jersey...yep I'd forgotten he had one. So I wore them both!!!

Me, Jamie and Mr Tom

Ok so it isn't the most flattering outfit ever, but the kids loved that I got into the spirit of the day. Pictured with me is one of my lovely students and my teacher aide Mr Tom in his Queensland finery!! Go Queensland...and yes Queensland won. If we win the next game it will be the 5th year in a row that Queensland has won the series.

I LOVE STATE OF ORIGIN!!!! It is the best footy of the year!!