America...are we speaking the same language?

Like most Australians, we feel we are part of the global community when we talk to others online. We often need to explain our slang terms (...and we have a lot!) and we’re often perplexed by Americanisms we see online but are too scared to ask ‘What are you talking about?’. So this post goes out to my American friends, in the hopes of educating you on our differences and letting you know that we have #noidea what you're talking about a lot of the time! [Edit] These are my opinions and are not representative of every Australian in the country. They are purely my observations based on where I live (Qld, Australia) and my conversations with Americans online. I'm aware there are some differences in some words throughout both our countries. The point of this article is to highlight some of our interesting differences in word meanings. 

FOOD

‘Cream and sugar’

When I visited America in the 1990s I was asked this and thought cream was a slang word for milk (full cream or half cream). Turns out you really pour cream into your coffee!

‘Cotton candy’ we call it fairy floss in Australia and we don’t tend to say ‘candy’ but ‘lollies’ when we refer to sweets (although I feel that we are starting to shift towards the term candy slowly over the years, we're not there yet).

Lots of your brand name sweets we have never heard of such as: Jolly Ranchers, Milk Duds, Candy Corns (I had to ask an American what on earth these things were I kept seeing in teaching products from America at Halloween), Twinkies, S’mores, Butterfinger, Junior Mints and Fluff. We have no real idea what these are.

We do, however, get M&Ms, Reeces (hard to find), Skittles and Pop Tarts. Plus all the American fast food outlets we have such as Subway, McDonalds, Wendys (although it only really sells ice-cream) and Burger King (we call it Hungry Jacks). Thank you America!

Peanut butter and jelly. No. Just no. We call jelly 'jam' and jelly 'jelly'. Whereas Americans call jam 'jelly' and jelly 'jello'. Go figure. [Edit] Here in Australia we call jelly (no fruit in it) jelly and we also call jelly (with fruit pieces) jelly with fruit. We never say jello. 

SCHOOL

As I’m a teachers, I have to cover this. I’ve discussed some of the basic schooling differences in a previous post here, however there are some other differences I’ve discovered through my chats with American teachers.

Math vs Maths. Center vs Centre, Color vs Colour, behavior vs behaviour.. the list goes on. Check out my download on spelling variations if you or your students are interested. I find I use a lot of American products in the classroom so have these charts on a wall to educate students.

Seasons. You REALLY seem to celebrate every event in your classrooms Americans! Valentine’s Day, Ground Hog Day, Thanksgiving (which we don’t really understand) and every holiday in between. In Aussie classrooms we have so much content to cover we just don’t have the time. Yep we sound very boring. I know aussie teachers would love to incorporate seasonal activities into our classrooms but we are often not allowed to venture into ‘non curriculum based’ activities due to time constraints. We do Christmas, Easter and Australia Day but a lot of the other celebrations we have to pass by in the classroom sadly. By the way, where do you find the time American teachers? oh and don't forget, our seasons are reversed. Christmas on the beach anybody?

We don’t have 'recess' we have 'break' time and we don’t have 'hall passes' because we often don’t have halls! Here in Queensland, we have classrooms that open into the playground directly. We don't have 'cafeterias' we have 'tuckshops' where students can get their food (tucker) from but it's more like a window in a wall than a sit down eatery. Students mostly bring their lunch in boxes every day. 

Bell ringers? Say what? Nope we haven’t heard of those either. From my chats with American teachers ‘bell ringers’ are what we would perhaps call 'warm ups' or 'morning work', but again... we are time poor so often don’t have such luxuries #thanksacara!

We have school budgets and each year level has a set amount to spend on extras. We have furniture all provided and rarely need to kit out an entire classroom as you seem to have to do in America! Why is this? You're one of the richest countries in the world! Aussie teachers still spend a lot of their own money on extras but we can claim some of it back at tax time. 

Uniforms. We use them in ALL school, private or public. Children never get to wear what they want to school here (much to my own children's annoyance). 

EVERYDAY NAMES FOR THINGS

There are so many differences it can be rather funny. Here are the American terms with their aussie counterparts:

Car trunk = boot
Car hood = bonnet
Rooted = broken/rubbish (not be be confused with 'root' which does mean the end of a plant but also has a ruder meaning in Australia!)
Bathers = togs
Barbie = doll/BBQ
Bathroom = toilet (we say 'where is your toilet?' rather than the US 'where is your bathroom?')
Cootie Catchers = Fortune Tellers (cooties are snot or germs and we don't want to catch those!)
Tea = cup of tea or you can have tea (dinner) in the evening
Flip flops = thongs (not the underwear!)
Slacks = pants (Brits say pants to mean undies though - how confusing for us all!)
Underwear = undies
Sidewalk = footpath
Football (American) = footy (Rugby League or Aussie Rules)
Diaper = nappy

May 7th vs 7th May (number comes first, then month, then year.. think about it.. it makes more sense right?)
Imperial (pounds and ounces) vs Metric (kilos)
Kilometers vs kilometres also had to throw that in there!
Fahrenheit vs Celsius

OTHER DIFFERENCES

• We drive on the other side of the road.
• We have two buttons in our toilets to flush and not nearly as much water as you do in American toilets (water conservation is big here).
• We rarely use a dryer for clothes (we just hang them outside).
• Most of us never see snow.
• We eat smaller food portions typically and a lot less sugar (giving candy out in the classroom is a definite no no!). 
• We use an electric kettle to boil water for tea (something I assumed the whole world did actually!).
• Smoking is banned inside everywhere in Australia.
• We do also have excellent gun laws here as well and it’s a long thorough process to obtain a gun. Most people have never seen a gun let alone had one in their house. One of the many reasons we don’t have major shootings in this country.
• We don't usually pay to see a doctor as we have public health care. You can go private and pay extra to see private doctors but most people use the public health system. We only pay for private health insurance if we want extra benefits but most things are covered on Medicare. 

SIMILARITIES

• We all love the outdoors
• We both have a love of families
• We like a good laugh!

We're not all that different in the end.

Aussies are all over the internet though, so spare a thought for us before you launch into an online discussion about your taxes, how cold it is or how wonderful it is that it's the end of the school year (we run Jan - Dec in our school year).

I’m fascinated by our differences but you know America... even though we think you’re a little odd we love ya all the same!

If you can think of any others... let me know in the comments below.

5 ways to keep and hold your students’ attention

Gaining and holding your students’ attention is easier said than done! Learning how to keep students engaged is a skill that experienced teachers have nailed. Here are my tried and tested methods for keeping your students interested in your teaching.

1. Adjust your pitch

Changing the pitch of your voice can work at getting the attention of children of all ages. Where I’ve seen this applied best though, was a Prep (Foundation) classroom. The teacher I observed did an amazing job of grabbing the attention of 5 year olds and then, even harder, keeping their attention! This is how she did it.

Change of activity. Children move to the floor and are unsettled wondering what they will be doing next. Teacher goes to sit on the wooden stool and pretends to fall off! *loud voice* “oh my goodness!” *children giggle* (attention obtained). Teacher *normal voice* “We are going to learn about shapes.” *children shift in their spots and start to become unfocused ... teacher tunes in instantly and lowers her voice to a whisper* “... and I’m going to tell you what my favourite shape is...” *children lean in to hear* (attention obtained again) *teacher raises her voice again excitedly* “...I wonder if you can guess which shape is my favourite?” *students raise their hand*.

The above example might sound over-the-top but only if you’ve never taught 5 year olds! They lose focus so easily. This is why Prep teachers look so tired all the time!

Middle and upper grades can also have this method applied but not as often.

2. Vary your tone

Tone is so important. I think a lot of teachers forget their tone of voice impacts how children feel about the lesson or activity they are about to do. If you're excited - they will be too! If you hate teaching this subject, guess what...they’ll hate it as well. Watch your tone carefully and adjust it often to keep their attention. Monotone voices make you fall asleep and an overly excited tone can become tiring. You should be moving up and down with your tone to keep students engaged. Start a lesson with an excited tone “I’m so excited to show you...!” but move to a deeper flatter tone when stressing important information “the three things you really need to know are...”. Get the tone right and you set the stage for the mood of the lesson.

3. Be enthusiastic

There is nothing more off-putting than a teacher that starts an art lesson with “I don’t know that much about art but...”. This makes the lesson sound pointless and boring before it’s even begun! Get excited. Be enthusiastic about what you're about to teach and use real-world connections as often as possible so students can see the point of learning it. Act as you would want your students to act in this lesson. If you hate the subject, fake it till you make it. Find something to love about every subject and they will too!

4. Be the most colourful thing in the room

This is an old teacher saying but it still holds true. Dress in bright colours to grab their attention but don’t over do it with accessories. It’s very distracting when a teacher wears lots of jewellery that clicks and jiggles as she teaches. Often it’s good to wear a darker bottom and a bright top so your students’ eyes are drawn towards your face. You don’t want them looking down for whatever reason.

5. Move around the room

The best way to stay on top of behaviour management is to use proximity as your secret weapon! Moving your body around the room also changes the level of your voice for students and lets them know ‘I’m watching you so tune in!’. If you're glued to the front of the room all day, you’ll lose their attention fast! If you’re using a laptop to smart board/whiteboard then you might consider mirroring to an iPad. This way you can still move the display, talk and be in all areas of the room.

The most important aspect of all of these points is to TUNE IN to your class. The minute you feel their attention wandering, you’ll need to mix things up. Good teachers tune in and adjust their teaching to suit their students. Not the other way around!

For more behaviour management ideas visit my Pinterest board here. 

Try these five easy steps and you will hold your students' attention for longer, creating more engaging classroom experiences.

5 Steps to worrying less

As teachers we tend to worry about everything from 'is that child going to be okay when they get home?' to 'why can't this student master this skill?'. We are born worriers. This, however, is what makes us great teachers. Worrying means you care. Care too much though and you can make yourself ill with stress. 

Signs you're worried about work:

• being unable to sleep at night and being overtired in the morning
• falling ill while on school holidays
• moodiness (anger or sadness) for no apparent reason
• fear of failure (that inner voice that says 'I can't teach')

Everybody worries and it would be foolish to tell yourself to stop but here are some tried and trusted ways you can keep control of those worrisome thoughts.

1. Is this real or imaginary worry

Get your thoughts into perspective. I once saw a chart on a classroom wall for students that was called the catastrophe scale. At the top it had death or illness, in the middle it had falling or hurting yourself and near the bottom it had somebody saying mean words. It was a great chart and if I could grab a copy someday I'd love to place it in my classroom. For now I've made a freebie of a similar activity you can do with your students to get worries into perspective. For teachers, however, it's easy to be self-critical. Stop. Ask yourself 'is this real or am I imagining this problem?'. You can't predict the future, so stop trying. 

2. Be aware of your thoughts

Don't let your thoughts slide into negativity. Try to be aware of when your heart rate is going up, your breathing is harder or your chest feels tight. If you feel like this, take action and try to address those worries. 

3. Do something about it

After assessing your worry to see if it's real or imaginary, then check your thought process, next try to share this worry with a friend. Sometimes it takes an outside party to get your thinking into perspective. Try to remind yourself of the things you do well and try to build your inner confidence.

4. Take care of yourself

Meditate, take a hot bath or a shower, read a book or play a game. Do whatever it takes to get that worry into perspective and to do this you need distance from the problem.

5. Think clearly

Try to remove emotion from the problem, when you do this you give the situation clarity. Once you have clarity, then write an action plan for yourself. How will you fix the problem or how will you deal with it if this problem arises. Having an action plan will help you get your thinking straight about how you're going to cope with the issue and takes the pressure off your immediate worry.

What’s the best seating arrangement for your class?

You get your new classroom key. You walk excitedly to your new room and unlock the door. Inside you see a stack of chairs and tables in the corner. So where to begin?

First things first.

You need to get your tables in an arrangement that will facilitate learning by allowing your students to see you and the board.

TEACHER DESK

The placement of your teacher desk is important and is the first place to start. You need to be able to see the whole classroom and have access storage.

Some things to consider are:

Line of sight. Are you going to have a good view of the room while sitting at the desk?

Are you going to teach from the desk? If you have a laptop that can only be plugged in at the desk, then you may have to use this a your base but may want to invest in an iPad you can mirror your devise to so you’re free to roam the room.

Where will you store your papers that need marking and teaching materials?

Once your teacher desk is set up you can then get a clear idea of how to set up the student’s desks .

STUDENT DESKS

Things to consider:

How do you prefer students to work?

- In groups.

- in pairs.

- independently

- combination of all three

Your decision making will depend on how well behaved your students are, which you won’t know until you get to know them. You may wish to start off in groups and then move to independent learning later. Don’t be afraid to mix it up each month but try not o change the arrangement too often as this can cause students stress.

Here are my favourite arrangements for the best teaching activities.

HORSESHOE

As the name suggests, you arrange desks in a u shape pattern facing the board.

Good for: independent work or pair work and everybody can see the board

Bad for: group work and those kids who love to talk to their neighbour

GROUP TABLES (6 to a group)

Small groups with no more than 6 students. Remember the number of students is important because you may want to switch it up to do pair work. Anything bigger and you’ll find they get too noisy. Anything smaller and they tend to split into pairs and don’t have a team feel.

Good for: group works, team building, pair work within groups and behaviour management and post scoring.

Bad for: chatting and overly competitiveness between groups (be strategic with who you place in each group and move those talkers around to stop the group being penalised too much). Also some students may not see the board as easily as others.

ROWS

Old fashioned yes but sometimes necessary for a class with behaviour problems. All students face the front and everybody can see the board.

Good for: teachers - you can see everybody all the time and can nip those behaviour problems in the bud right away. Also good for keeping those struggling students near the front so you can help them out easily. Pair work is easy in this set up if you keep the numbers in each row even.

Bad for: group work (you can turn rows into groups for activities away from desks but collaboration is near impossible in this arrangement). Students at the back may end up your high achievers who need less one-to-one support but they may also stress about being so far back they can’t see the board enough.

COMBINATION SET UP

This is a mix of the all of the previously mentioned set-ups and sometimes is the best arrangement when you need to cater for different abilities. Placing higher students near the back, students that need that one-to-one near the front. Groups and pair work possibilities or just the configuration of you classroom furniture will force you to select a combination plan. 

You can find these plans plus many more ideas in the Classroom Seating Chart pack where you can also find some printables to create your own seating plan.