This is NOT a children’s book. I haven’t read an adult book for some time – I really enjoyed it. The theme was quite intense. The description of ice hockey fanaticism was exceptional. The book was a gift from one of the parents at the school – thanks Sue.

This is a Newbery Winner and I love these books.

Short, gentle, so well written. I loved it. Suitable for Years 5 – 7 probably. Maybe even Year 8. Recommended. The writing is so tight,with everything connecting carefully into place.

Having read his first book, I have been wanting to read this for some time. Would it be as good as his first? I don’t think so, but I still enjoyed it. The book is over 600 pages in length, but many of the pages are illustrations, so it is an easy and quick read; I read it in a day. The book is about a little deaf boy finding his place in the world. I’d recommend the book for Year 5 upwards. It has a Lexile rating of 830 so an advanced Year 4 child could read and understand it.

When I started reading this book I thought, “Another book about kids going camping! Oh dear.” But after just a few pages I was hooked by the writing. The book reads like someone is sitting beside you and telling you a tale. It is like listening to a story of your childhood, told by someone you trust. All the messages in the book are wholesome, healthy, and refreshing.  I didn’t feel this book was written, adhering to a strict plot structure, although perhaps it is.  I just enjoyed it. I am going to school tomorrow and recommending it to a Year 4 girl who is a keen reader.  I know she will love it.

This book is recommended for children in Years 4, 5 and 6.

(Copy copyright: This isn’t a Western Australian Children’s book.)

This book is not for kids.  I’d suggest it is quite a scary book for Young Adults. I enjoyed it. This is the first horror book I have read and I enjoyed seeing different techniques used to create the ghost story.

I am not sure about some of the plot points but overall, the story worked a treat.

(By Western Australian Author – Dave Caddy)

Well, after a week of skiing in New Zealand I am back at the desk and furiously writing between my business commitments.

Tax, superannuation, and insurance claims need sorting.

Bookweek details need to be sorted.

A trip must be taken to the library to get some more books.

I must spend a few days working on first chapters, and writing synopses for two books I wish to get published.

I have just finished reading Nona and Me by Clare Atkins.  I am glad it is an Honour Book from the CBCA because it deserves to be.  Young Adult Girl readership. I loved reading this book for the Aboriginal culture contained within the story. Also, lots of internal conflict.

This book is published in Victoria by Black Inc.

Recent Reads

Well, I have read quite a few books recently… that is the joy of not being a teacher for a year.

I read an adult novel by Tony Birch called Blood.  I have written a Young Adult book that bears  resemblance to Blood, except Blood is for Adults, and my book is written for Young Adults. Blood is wonderful and realistic and definitely an ADULT book. Very gritty.

I have just finished ‘Maybe a Fox’ by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee. It is an emotional read. It is an easy and short read. Beautifully designed book.  It dealt with the issue of grief in an interesting way. I enjoyed the book. I’d probably recommend the book for Year 6 upwards. (Mainly for girls) The setting is Vermont, America.

I am reading Nona and Me by Clare Atkins.  I am half way through.  It is well written with loads of internal conflict. Very clever. It is definitely a Young Adult book and suited for girls. I would recommend it highly for this audience.

A year to write.

A year of presenting to children.

A year to edit.

A year to be an author.

This is another excellent site for the classroom.

You find the perfect Youtube clip to show the class, and do so.

Then, you show them the clip again through edpuzzle,  in which you have asked questions.

So, the children enjoy a Youtube clip, and then they focus on the content.

They usually talk and enjoy the Youtube for the first showing, and then there is silence for the second.

As a brain break, Kahoot is excellent.

It is a simple, energizing, loud and motivational quiz system.

I alternate between content and fun quizzes.(The kids don’t realise that sometimes I am getting them to review work, or that I target children’s interests to ensure the ‘weakest’ kids become experts too.)

To use Kahoot, you sign up for no cost. You use public quizzes or make your own.

In the class I have 7 groups of 4 kids and one group of 5 children.  In the middle of the day, while the children are working, I place Kahoot on the smartboard/appletv. Suddenly, the children are out of their seats and each group has an ipad.  They wait for the login code and then work furiously to answer the quiz. They shout and argue and LOVE it.

Note: My winners get raffle tickets. I occasionally change the groups around. I always preview the Kahoot first(Often the night before.) to ensure the content is appropriate. In the middle of the Kahoots, I call out that the ipad must be passed along. The first Kahoots I did took 15-20 minutes but now, they are a quick and valuable classroom tool.

What is Multiplicative Thinking?

Basically, it is all about competence with multiplication. The Victorian Government seems to be promoting the idea.

Here are some problems I have put onto cards to be used in a “Quiz Quiz Trade” situation.

19 x 6 = (Hint: do 20 x 6 = 120)

101 x 5 = (Hint: Do 100 x 5 first, then add another 5)

79 x 9 = (Hint: Do 8x 9 =, then make that 80 x 9 =, then take off 9)

14 x 5 = (Hint: Do 7 x 5 =, then double your answer)

13 x 8 = (Hint: Do 10 x 8, then add 3 x 8)

101 x 6 = (Hint: Do 100 x 6, then add 6)

17 x 4 = (Hint: Do10 x 4, then add 7×4)

19 x 3 = (Hint: Do 20 x 3, then take away 1×3)

21 x 3 = (Hint: Do 20 x 3, then add 1 x 3 )

22 x 6 = (Hint: Do11 x 6 and then double it. Or do 20 x 6 and then add 2 x 6)

19 x 5 = (Hint: Do 20 x 5 and then take away 1 x 5)

19 x 6 = (Hint: Do 20 x 6 and then take away 1 x 6)

19 x 7 = (Hint: Do 20 x 7 and then take away 1 x 7)

101 x 6 = (Hint: Do 100 x 6 and then add 1 x 6)

79 x 4 = (Hint: Do 8 x 4, then add a 0 to make it 80 x 4. Now take away 4.)

79 x 5 = (Hint: Do 8 x 5, then add a 0 to make it 80 x 5. Now take away 5.)

18 x 9 = (Hint: Do 9 x 9 =, and then double your answer)

18 x 6 = (Hint: Make it half of 18 to do the sum, then double your answer.)

79 x 2 = (Hint: Do 8 x 2, then add a 0 to make it 80 x 2. Now take away 2.)

14 x 4 = (Hint: Do 7 x 4, then double your answer.)

1. (10 minutes)

Brainstorm all the things that YOU know about.

If you know about football write it down. Your dog. Write it down. The gap under your bed – write it down. The chickens out the back. Write it down. Skateboarding – write it down.

2. (2 minutes)

NOW CHOOSE one that you are going to write about.   It can be anything BUT it must be something you know a lot about. Skip a few lines and write it on a line by itself.

(8 minutes)

3. Now extend your brainstorm. We do this by writing things that can go wrong in the situation you have chosen. E.g. My dog gets stuck under the house. The chickens escape. I am skateboarding and can’t stop. I have not been chosen to play in the grand final.

(8 minutes)

4. Now write underneath it 3 reasons why you HAVE TO SOLVE THIS (The magic number is 3)

E.g. They are dad’s special prize winning chickens. I think the chickens lay golden eggs. The chickens are my only friends in the world.

E.g. My grandfather is travelling here to see me play. I have been boasting to everyone that I am playing. I want to show off to a girl who is coming along to watch the game.

(8 minutes)

5. Now write 3 ways this problem gets worse.

E.g. the chickens are flying. I have to work so I can’t go looking for them. I find feathers on the ground and the neighbours’ dogs are missing as well.

E.g. The coach hates me. My white footy outfit has turned pink in the wash. The school bully who hates my guts is on the other team.

(8 minutes)

6. Now the fun part – work out a finish to the story.

You now have the outline for a magnificent story. Go, go, go! Write and love it. (45 minutes)

411. The teacher notices that my pencil is the length of my little finger and places a new pencil on my desk.

412. We have our swimming carnival and my teacher, despite a 25m lead, ends up coming equal with me. She told me that she wasted time putting on her swimming cap because she didn’t want to mess up her hair. And we laughed and laughed.

413. We are sitting on the floor in the hall, and I notice the kid beside me has wet her pants. Another kid yells, ‘Look! She has wet her pants.’ And the teacher says, ‘Everybody stand up. We are going back to class. The roof has leaked and someone has sat right in the puddle. Can that girl stop crying. Anybody could accidentally sit in a puddle. Now, can you go to the office now please. And Mrs Smith, can I see you for a moment!’  (My teacher is clever and thoughtful.)

414. I see the teacher helping a small child pop a hole into the top of their juice container (for a straw) and it squirts out in a little stream. The teacher jumps back, not wanting to spill any juice on their clothes.

415. I am on the roster to feed the fish. I love it when I arrive in the morning and get the fish food and move to the aquarium. I am suddenly the most popular person in the class because others stream towards me to watch me feed the fish. When I feed them, even the fish swim to the surface to be closer to me.

(Copy copyright: I love school when even the fish like to be near me.)

406. We are in the upper grades of primary school and are given ‘The Talk’.

407.In a music lesson, in a small group, we make up a song and then sing it to the class.

408. My friend returns from an extended holiday and I know that recess and lunch breaks will no longer be lonely.

409. I have to sit a test, but someone has already written all the answers in the booklet.

410. When I am about to be punished for not having my homework at school, but then I find it at the bottom of my school bag. Phew! I had forgotten I had completed it.

401. A bird flies into the classroom and we all have to leave the room. I love the ‘leaving the room’ but am sad about the bird flying into the glass window, and into our work that hangs from the ceiling, and making kids scream.

402. In mathematics, we draw pictures – patterns using compasses, templates, tessellations, transformations, symmetry, …

403. The teacher starts the day with a fitness session.

404. We raise awareness for International Down Syndrome Day by wearing coloured socks. I didn’t have any coloured socks, but the teacher has bought in bright coloured material, so we all cut out socks and pin them to our shirts.

405. We get a test back, and have lots of time to work through our mistakes and fix them up.

(Copy copyright:  I love that our teacher always calls out the names of the children who get 100% in a test, and I know that one day my name will be called out. I only do the first 5 sums of each maths test, but I can still get 100%.)

396. My friend accidentally wipes her ice-cream on my face so I retaliate by shoving my ice-cream on her face. Four arms, two ice-creams, two faces, plenty of shouting and wrestling! Laughter and ice-cream! Life is good, and I love school.

397. A teacher walks over a mat, and the heel of her shoe sticks in it, so she stumbles but keeps walking – wearing only one shoe.

398.In Science, I make an amazing model of a lighthouse, and the teacher tells me to take a friend and go and show it to the art teacher.

399. The teacher tells us that there is no homework for the week.

400.We play a game and the girls are against the boys. Both teams are pretty serious, with most children arguing and getting passionate about the results. And somehow the game is a draw. (Mmm! Did the teacher orchestrate this? I love school.)

(Copy copyright:    I love school when we have an extra catchup sport lesson.)

391. We sing songs on the bus on the way to/from a field trip(excursion).

392. The Principal is away and the teacher misbehaves. (He wears jeans and a t-shirt and gives us extra sport time.)

393. The teacher tells me to go to the office to deliver a message, but really he is letting me talk to the social worker without anyone in the class knowing. I love talking with her.

394. The teacher is nodding off at her desk, and we laugh about it.

395.We make volcanoes out of papier machè, vinegar, bicarbonate soda, and red food colouring. Then we film our volcanoes erupting. It is so cool.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when the teacher misbehaves.)

386. The teacher gives us some quiet words of advice and we all listen quietly.

387.We draw pictures of faces on our fingers and make them talk to each other.

388. I think I have had a boring day, but at lunchtime the teacher calls me back and tells me how well I have worked.

389. I tell the teacher about something special I have made at home, and I ask if I can bring it in and show it to the class, and s/he says yes.

390. We make a forest, boat, maze, Christmas scene, or something else inside the classroom. (And it is huge.)

(Copy copyright:  I love school when our classroom becomes another world.)

381. I haven’t ordered my sausage sizzle, so the teacher gives me hers.

382. Some children are chosen to play at the half time break of a national basketball women’s competition game, and I am one of them.

383. Our class waits at the bottom of the steps for the special needs girl to catch up with us.

384. We watch a movie in class and are allowed to lie on the floor.

385. The teacher lets us take off our shoes.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when the teacher opens the windows to let some fresh air in; after we have taken our shoes off.)

376. Our writing topic is ‘autumn’ and for our cover page we place paper over a leaf and do a rubbing of it.

377. My work is used to teach the rest of the class about formatting. The teacher uses my writing to show how to fix up spelling errors, insert synonyms, use columns, and move pictures around. Afterwards, because my work is perfect, I have time to play educational games while the other children format their work.

378. The teacher asks if anyone has not finished a test and I am the only one to raise my hand, yet the teacher still gives me extra time to complete the test.

379. We play games with balloons.

380. I go to the sport bin, expecting all of the equipment to be gone, but there is some left in there, and I find the ball I want.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when we play games.)

371.  I am sitting outside, reading to my book to an educational assistant, and a teacher doesn’t notice us sitting there, and I see him chasing a pigeon for fun.

372.  We have written a story, and the teacher tells us that we are having a book launch, which includes popcorn, speeches and reading the stories.

373.  A teacher talks to us as a pirate on International Speak-like-a-pirate day.

374. I glance over a test before we are allowed to start writing… and I can do it.

375. I fart in class and everyone laughs and begins blaming everyone else… but I don’t get blamed.

366.  I get to school and find that I am the first kid here. The school gate is open so a teacher must be here somewhere. The school is so peaceful. It is like a beautiful spring day before a storm arrives. I see the school in a different way, and I like what I see.

367.  I see that the teacher has odd socks on.

368.  I am monitoring the growth of a plant, and it is one of the ones that has grown most.

369.  A girl from the class is on holidays, traveling around the country, and the teacher gives us time to write in her travel blog.

370. We play ‘thumb wars’.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when my mind is opened.)

361. The teacher lets me use one of the ‘spare hats’. (I wish Mum had treated me for Head Lice yesterday.)

362. We do an archaeological dig in a sand area. (We wear hats and sunglasses and even have backpacks with snacks.) Then, we record where we find pieces on a grid(recording the depth), and draw them, and even glue the pieces of a broken item back together again. (And find out it is a plate.)

363. At the end of the day we draw out raffle tickets and the winners only get lollies if they shoot a basket OR get a certain score with magnetic darts.

364. We are marking work, but I don’t have a red pen. Instead of shouting, the teacher places one of her pens on my desk.

365. An example we have to correct for grammar,( that the teacher has typed), has my name in it.  My friends are laughing at the example.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when it is easy to find a year’s worth of wonderful things to love.)

356. It is Melbourne Cup Race Day and the teacher runs a sweep in the class. Then, we each get a horse and the teacher lets us watch the race.

357. I have been crying, and the teacher gives me the option of telling her about it.

358. It starts to rain and before going under a shelter, I stick my tongue out and catch raindrops on it. I also love seeing the teacher do this.

359. When the teacher tries to teach us something in a sneaky way, and I recognise it and say, ‘I know what you are doing here.’ And the teacher laughs.

360. After hearing that I’ve had an argument with my best friend, the teacher talks to us, and then gives us time out of the class to sort out the issue.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when my horse is last in the Melbourne Cup, and the teacher still gives me a prize.)

351.  I have a reading to do at the assembly, but I always read too fast, so the teacher spends 4 sessions with me, reading along with me, and making sure I read at the right speed. And afterwards, everybody tells me I read beautifully.

352. The class has cupcakes to celebrate an event. But I am allergic to them, so the teacher has organised an iced lolly for me.

353. Wear new school shoes and do not get blisters.

354. We have to hold hands with a partner and learn how to dance.Please don’t tell anyone how much I love this.  Every time I have to hold hands with a new partner I get extra nervous, but then I relax quickly.

355. I sneeze and the teacher says, ‘bless you.’

(Copy copyright:  I love school when I expect agony from my new shoes which does not eventuate.)

346.  I see a teacher backing away in fear from a little kid with a ringworm.’No, I don’t want a hug today.  No, just go over there.  No, go and get a bandage from the school nurse NOW.’

347.  We have a maths test and the teacher walks around the class, helping others and me( even though it is an assessment) because otherwise I’d just be sitting there, feeling bad about myself for the whole test.

348. I am picked to run an errand. (It is a long errand so I can get myself a drink, use the toilets and even enjoy the sun.)

349. My design for the graduation shirt is chosen.

350. The teacher calls out my name to answer a question, and I know the answer.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when 32 children wear my graduation design on their shirts all year long.)

341. I am running across the play area, and I suddenly realise the teacher is racing me. It doesn’t matter if I win, or lose, or if the teacher lets me win. It is all about being raced by a teacher. I love school.

342. I really want to say ‘news’ and the teacher lets me.

343. When the teacher recognises we have too much homework from another teacher, and pushes his homework deadline back.

344. The teacher does a surprise homework check, and I have actually done my homework. Yeah!

345. The teacher calls out spelling words and I ask a question with a spelling word in it. And the teacher responds with a spelling word in his sentence, and then I do the same thing. And the whole class is listening to our conversation and laughing. A girl asks if we can do the same thing next week and the teacher has said yes. We’ll practice conversations, using our spelling words.

(Copy copyright.  I love school when we get a day or two off homework.)

336. It is the last fortnight of school and the teacher organises KKs. This is when someone in the class writes me a little note each day, or gives me a lolly. On the last day of school we exchange gifts of no more than $5. It is all about caring for each other.

337. The teacher has a stuffed toy cat which sits on his desk. It even moves and purrs. Each day the teacher gives the cat to a good worker who can name the cat for the day. And, no one except the chosen child can hold or stroke the cat.

338. The class sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to me. (I didn’t mean to lie, but I just sort of happened to say it was my birthday, even though it isn’t.)

339. Instead of doing a paper brainstorm, the teacher lets us use different word clouds on the computer. We are even encouraged to try word clouds other than Wordle. And we evaluate the different ones.

340. When we collect flowers and press them, and then write poetry about our mum around them.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when odd things happen.)

331. The speakers are turned up loud, so when the teacher is working on her computer a sudden beep blasts at us.

332.The teacher tells us about her friend, who told her children, that the music from the ice-cream van meant they had run out of ice-cream. And we laugh and laugh.

333. You walk into class at the beginning of the term, and it has been changed around.

334. The teacher is concerned that some of us are isolated during the holidays so asks us to write a list of our hobbies, and then to wander around the class and find other people who like doing the same thing. Then, we’d know who to phone up and invite over. Afterwards the teacher asks if we learnt anything from the activity. I say, ‘ I am surprised that so many children would like to come to my house and throw stones at ant nests.’ He laughs and puts his head down in a pose of ‘giving up’.

335.I wave to the teacher and he waves back at me.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when the teacher is human.)

326. The activity with your buddy class is to dress up your buddy in newspaper and then walk them down a catwalk, like in a fashion parade. The teacher narrates the event and there is even music on in the background. Everybody loves this.  Even the boys swing their hips and have a good time.

327. I daydream in class.  Usually I daydream about being the hero in one of the books I am reading.

328. There is a prize-box every Friday.The teacher makes it like a lucky dip.  You only get exactly 5 seconds to grab something out.  If you haven’t taken something within 5 seconds you miss out.  If you accidentally grab more than one item you miss out. It is an exciting time.

329. I play chess against someone in ‘free time’ and win. (I also had to explain the rules to them. Perhaps I forgot to explain some of the rules.)

330. I arrive at school, or in the classroom, and there is music playing.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when we win prizes.)

321.  I kick rubbish under someone else’s desk and the teacher tells them to pick it up.

322. We get to wear our dress-up clothes to school for the assembly item. I bring along my outfit and ‘accidentally’ forget to bring my school uniform.  Now I can spend the whole day dressed as snow-white.

323. The teacher lets me show the class all the computer work I have been doing.  I am a wizard at the computer so I really enjoy this.  The teacher says that I am a wizard and if anyone needs help then I am the  ‘go-to’ guy.

324. We are marking work, but my red pen has no ink in it. My teacher is short tempered, so I place the blue inner refill into the red pen case, so from all appearances it looks like I am marking with a red pen.  I hope the teacher doesn’t wander around and check – gulp!

325. The teacher has special scissors that makes fancy patterns on the edges of your paper. When I do some work for display, I cut around the edges and then glue it onto black paper, and it looks ‘cool’.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when I am the ‘go-to’ guy for sport or computers or stationery or …)

316. I win a class game. (e.g. Egg, Chicken, Dinosaur)

317. I lean back on my chair and the teacher doesn’t notice.

318. I wear a special hearing aid, and the teacher forgets about it, and is chattering away in the staffroom. And I hear every word she says.

319. I throw rubbish into the bin and it goes in.

320. We use paper chatter-boxes to determine who we are going to marry.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when EVERYBODY is nervous about something.)

311. The teacher is talking, and you spend your time moving bubbles around under the contact covering of your book.

312. You tap your coin on the metal handrail at the canteen while queuing.

313. I am the tallest in the class, and the teacher has organised a taller desk for me.

314. I am playing Four-Square and I have finally worked my way up to King position, and the bell goes, which means I will be King at the start of the next game, the next day.

315. You see a teacher join in with the little kids playing hopscotch. Teachers somehow just can’t help themselves. I once went to the toilet in the middle of a lesson and I saw a teacher by herself, hopping on the hopscotch drawing.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when I am noticed amongst the other 31 children.)

306. The computer doesn’t work because of flash player, or java, or internet connection, so we get to talk and relax, while the teacher tries to sort out the problem.

307. Lying on our bunks on camp, telling ghost stories.

308. I am told to put a marble into the class rewards jar.

309. You feel so very close to all your friends on the last day of school.

310. Even though they have been banned by the teachers, you manage to trade sport cards and/or Pokemon cards.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when we are given DOJO points.)

301. The teacher is drawing up a roster and says that it is in alphabetical order (My surname starts with z), but adds, ‘Reverse alphabetical order.’

302. I can laugh about my home situation with the class and I know they won’t say anything bad.

303. You go to school in ‘free dress’ worrying if it is the right day, and you see someone else out of uniform.

304. We stay inside on a rainy day and watch movies. (And the teacher has brought along some popcorn.)

305.The teacher is standing on the ground floor and throws the keys up to another teacher on the first floor. But he throws them too hard and the keys go up, up, up, and land on the roof. And then we can’t go into class for another ten minutes at least.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when surprising things happen.)

296. I bring cough lollies to school for my sore throat, but forget the note from mum, but the teacher still lets me suck them in class.

297. It is our assembly item day and I have the perfect costume.

298. We do paired reading. We just sit outside and read alternate pages with our friends. What a life!

299. We dress up as our favourite character in book week celebrations.

300. The teacher tells us tall tales about her husband, and we are conspiratorial, but we know how much she loves him.

291. We are actually given time to create an avatar in a computer lesson.

292. The teacher laughs so much he has tears in his eyes.

293. We play board games on the last day of term.

294. I sharpen one of the pencils that has many colours mixed together in it, and the multi-coloured shavings drop into my hand.

295. We finish all the set work and the teacher lets us go to play early.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when teachers are happy.)

286. I get to ring the old handbell because the modern bell hasn’t rung for some reason. I swing it around my head and shake it until the teacher tells me to stop.

287. I am chosen to help the Principal with a job.

288. My mum says, ‘You have a nice teacher.’

289. The teacher has the digital projector turned off, but the smartboard is still turned on, so when you touch it, the mouse moves on the teacher’s computer screen.

290. I am talking to my friends, and the teacher asks someone else to hand out papers.

281. I am on the floor listening to the teacher read a story, and I start to plait the hair of the girl sitting in front of me. And the girl behind me, plaits my hair. And another girl joins the line. ‘It is fine,’ says the teacher, ‘just as long as you are listening to the story too.’ Suddenly there is a mad rush and most of the girls are plaiting hair. The teacher smiles, and keeps reading.

282. We learn about spoonerisms, and everybody makes one with their first name and surname. The teacher even has a funny spoonerism for his name.

283. We change the words of a song and sing our new song in class.

284. The teacher knows that some of us do dance lessons, so sends us out of the class to work out the dance steps for the WHOLE class for a song. I love that we have been trusted to do this and that we can show our skills. We even get to miss out on some class work.

285. After reading a class book we watch the movie.

276.  We get extra sport time. (‘Capture the Flag’ has to be the best game out.) We play faction against faction. We play boys against girls. We play suburb against suburb.

277. The teacher places good work stickers on different children’s work, but when he sees my work s/he places the sticker on my nose.

278. Another teacher comes into the class asking for someone strong to help carry a heavy box, and I am picked.

279. The teacher is late to class and the headmaster comes in and tells us all to hide under our desks.

280. The class gets free time.

(Copy Copyright:  I love school when I am given individual positive attention in a class of 32 children.)

271. The class is too noisy, there are arguments, someone is in tears…and the teacher says, ‘We’ll get back to our work later, but first we are going to relax. Everyone find a place on the floor, and I’ll read you a relaxation script.’

272. There are figs growing in the neighbours’ property, coming through the school fence, and the Principal lets me reach between the wire and grab one for myself… and one for him too.

273. The teacher tells us to sit on the mat. Even though we are too old for that … we still love it.  A couple of kids like to sit at their chairs but the rest of us LOVE the floor.

274. Sometimes we listen to music when we are working.

275. We keep caterpillars in cocoons and watch them turn into butterflies.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when we attach movie personalities to bugs and kids.)

266. I sneeze in class and 30 other children say, ‘Bless you! Bless you. Bless you…’ When the teacher eventually gets us all working silently again, he says, ‘By the way, ‘Bless you.’’

267. We make water powered rockets. (I put too much compressed air into mine and it disappears over the roof… and no one can find it.)

268. I am completing work with a partner.

269. Instead of us choosing whom to work with in small groups, the teacher allocates groups.   And the groups change often.

270. We make a book Showbag with word sleuths, letters, comics, masks, Venn diagrams, character webs, and puppets inside. And we get to swap our Showbags with others.

(Copy copyright: I love school when the teacher says, ‘I can’t understand where your rocket has gone. It has just disappeared. I just can’t understand it.’)

261. The class gets free time and someone asks me to play with them.

262. The teacher plays sport with us while on duty. (‘Only for a short time,’ he says, because he is on duty, but I think it is because he is unfit and we beat him at the game.)

263. The teacher places my artwork upside-down on the wall. And I say, ‘You have hung my artwork upside down.’ And the teacher tries to cover up her mistake.

264. I teach the teacher something. This often happens in lessons with computers.

265. I am told that I am in the inter-school team. It doesn’t matter if it is for running, high-jump, long-jump, team games, or even jousting. It is all about going out for the day and being part of the team.  I feel so proud. I also see the envy on some of the other children’s faces. It will be an exciting day.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when I do something that others in the class don’t.)

256. The teacher tells the class that when we go home we should ask our parents to check our heads for nits. (He doesn’t tell anyone that my mum handed him a note this morning, and that I know for sure that my head has no nits in it TODAY.)

257. The homework for the week is to watch television and analyse the advertisements.

258.The teacher gives us work that is so, so hard, then allocates groups and I am with a hard working genius.

259. You have a part to read in front of the school, and you can’t read well, but the teacher begs you to give it a go. Then he listens to you read again and again and again, and he has confidence in you. He even makes a promise with you that if you read, he’ll reward the whole class. When you do eventually read he tells you what a brilliant job you did and he rewards the class. (Even though you know you made mistakes. But now, they don’t really seem to matter.)

260.The person beside you is away for the term, so you get to have an extra desk to dump your books on.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when I try hard and succeed.)

251.  A day after being wrongfully told off, the teacher apologises to me.

252. The Italian teacher organises for the Gelato van to visit. We learn the Italian phrase for ‘Can I have a single cone please?’ and also the flavour we want! And then we thank the man and wish him a good day. (All in Italian)

253. My mum/dad gets chosen to help on a field trip(excursion).

254. We are allowed to make the rubric for marking out work. (We make everything positive and easy to achieve.)

255. I see the Principal give a wink to a little kid and I see the little kid trying to wink back… but it ends up as a blink.

(Copy copyright:  I love school when I see little kids trying to act grown up.)

246. I hear a chapter of a story, and am asked how one of the characters is feeling at that point. I love it because I can get more inside the book. I get to feel how the characters feel.

247. When the teacher lets us keep our shoes off.

248. After parent night I find a note inside my desk from my mum/dad. The first year my parents did this, all they wrote was, ‘Have a good day!’ But the second time they did this they wrote all sorts of things and hid them throughout my desk. I had to take out all my books and I found ten little notes. ‘Have a good day!’ ‘Have you found all ten notes yet?’ ‘Are your friends around your desk now, trying to help you?’ ‘We will embarrass you now and say that you are our little munchkin.’ …

249. It hails. The teachers yell at us to stay undercover, but we ignore them. We run and collect handfuls and throw it at our friends. Our fingers are red and blue and wet. We are frozen… and love school.

250. A ‘special’ pen-grip is organised for me.

(Copy copyright:  I always love school when we don’t have to wear shoes.)