casey's+reflection+page

=//__**Community links**__//=

Day 1 - Monday, 1 August 2011
They first day of Community Links was very nerve racking. I was very nervous and at some times felt a bit awkward. I didn’t really know what I was supposed to do or if I did I was scared I would stuff it up. During the day my class had some writing time, reading time, and some maths. That day we also went to the gym for a little bit of P.E. This class was fun as I was helping the kids learn some gymnastics. During this class I had met another teacher, the third that day. By the end of that day I had started to build new relationships with both the teachers and the students. On this day I was thinking that it was really boring and that it was going to be a VERY long two weeks, at that stage I really was not looking forward to going back. Also, on this day I thought that prep / 1 teachers had it very easy and that they didn’t really do very much, but this was only because preps / 1’s are very different to high school students. This is because they are not as misbehaved and do not do as much work as they don’t know how to.

Week 1 - Friday, 5 August 2011
By the end of the first week I was very happy to be at Bellbridge Primary School for Community Links. I was enjoying it a lot, and now that I had been there for 4 days I had fallen in love with my prep / 1 class and teaching them. I was now thinking that I never want to leave. I want to stay here as long as I could, and even though I don’t want to be a teacher when I get older but I thought this was awesome. I have very much enjoyed this time and am wishing I could stay longer. I have realised that prep / 1 teachers do not have it easy, but that it is not the same sort of teaching as high school teachers do. During these 4 days my class has been to the gym, the library and the art room. We have also done work on the Little Miss and Mr. Men books, done some reading and worked with containers and how much pasta can fit in them, further known as capacity.

Week 2 - Friday, 12 August 2011
Over the past two weeks I have had so much fun. I have been able to experience what it is like to be a teacher. As much as I love MacKillop, I never wanted to leave my class, Prep / 1 A. This last day has been very upsetting, just knowing that I would most likely never see my kids again. To show how grateful I was for them letting me into their class and listening to me when I told them something I made them a poster and to show how thankful they were to me for teaching them they made me a card which they all signed. I tried so hard to stop myself from crying at the end of the day when it was time to leave but I just couldn’t help myself. One of the girls in my class, Keana, started crying too. I gave her a big hug to make her feel better and then everyone else joined in too; it was one big group hug. Neither the teachers I worked with, my class nor I wanted me to leave. Once I had left the class room and signed out from the front office I went to see Deb, she was the person in charge of Community Links and she is the Principle. I asked Deb about Vanessa and I coming back to Bellbridge and working in our classes on any days that we had off, I had hoped she would say yes but she said she would have to check. I had the best time I could have possibly had while on Community Links with teaching, learning, making new friends and being followed around the whole school during snack and lunch made it even more fun. I wish that the next class that goes will have as much fun as I have had and that the classes they are in are just as accepting. J =**//__Year 9 Outdoor Education & St Mary's Campus Experience 2011__//**=

1. How were you feeling prior to this experience ?
I was feeling very excited to go on camp, I just couldn't wait.

2. What were some of the things you were nervous about ? What were some of the things you were excited about ?
There wasn't realy anything I was nervous about because I was excited about absolutly everything.

3. What do you think St Mary's is trying to achieve by taking you on this experience ?
By taking us on this experience I think St Mary's is trying to get us to be a bit more independant and to work out how out going we are.

4. Do you think this experience achieved these things ? Why / why not
Yes, because by going by my experience I thought I became very independant and I also worked out that no matter how scared I was I was willing to try anything and everything when and if I had the chance.

5. What was your favourite activity ? Why ?
My favorite activity would have to be the canoeing because I have always loved canoeing, I loved the different games we played ( like the one where we had to run on the ends of the canoes ) and even though my canoe ( with Vanessa and Andy ) tipped we had a lot of fun and that just made it even better.

6. What was your least favourite activity ? Why ?
I would have to say that my least favourite activity was initiatives because i did not really enjoy this as much as i enjoyed all the others.

7. Do you think this experience will help your time at St Mary's ? Why / why not ?
Yes, this experience has made me very confedent and brave.

8. Discuss one thing you learnt about yourself whilst on this experience.
One this experience I learnt that I am very confedent and that I am really not scared of ver many things.

9. Discuss one thing you learnt about someone else whilst on this experience.
I learnt that even tho Andy was so worried about falling into the water that when we did he actualy enjoyed it and that Andy will try anything no matter what he will try anything no matter how much he is scared or worried.

10. How do you think you behaved on this experience ?
I think I beheaved very well.

11. What do you think could be improved for next years Lady Northcote experience ?
I think that next years Lady Northcote experienace could go longer and that there could be a couple more activities to do.

=__**﻿Melbourne Experiance**__=
 * Group :** Chloe, Kristen , Janelle and Myself

**﻿Goup B ( Yellow )**
I loved melbourne Experiance. I would rate it a 9 out of 10 as even though it was fun to shop, look around the city and do it all by oursleves, it was to crammed. I didn't think that we had enough time to do everything and that we should get more then 2 days to do it. My favourite tour was ' Walk in the Park ' because i absolutly love nature and parks. My least favourite tour was ' Water front ' as this is somewhere where I go alot and is something that i don't find that interesting. My favourite thing over all was seeing all the little babby ducklings at the pond on ' Walk in the Park '. My least favourite thing was eatting the ice cream frome the ice cream shop near the river because it made me feel very sick. =//__**Reflections**__//= Each student will build their own page for the puposes of Reflection. This is because when two students are using the same page at the same time the page will not save properly.

Each week for 10 weeks you will need to make a relection about your experiences. Each reflection is expected to at least 200 words in length.

The topic or questions you are asked to reflect on at listed below. Copy these questions to your individual reflection page.

**What is the best piece of advice you have ever received**
The best piece of advice I have ever received would have to be from my mum, about 3 – 4 months ago, when she was talking to me about a couple of my friends and how they were acting towards me, she said 'if they cannot handle you at your worst, they do not deserve you at your best'. When she said this she meant that if they were to hate me and be angry at me when I am angry or upset then they really do not deserve me when I am happy and loving. What my mum said to me on this day really meant a lot to me because I have a lot of problems with most of my friends and this really opened my eyes and make me think that I really should not forgive my friends for being mean and teasing me all the time.

**What would happen if you threw a piece of trash on the ground? What if everyone did?**
If I were the only one to throw a piece of paper on the ground in the same spot everyday it would not really be that bad because it would not do that much damage to the environment and the world around me. For me personally this is something I will never do as I am very close with nature and care for it and the animals around me. If everyone around me was to throw a piece of rubbish on the ground in the same spot everyday that place would become very polluted on one day. After two days it would be pretty bad and even though I would not have done any of it, or at least only a little bit of it, I would feel terribly guilty and would do anything and everything I could to clean it all up, make sure that the environment and the animals are okay and I would also make sure that the people who are polluting the area or anywhere know what they are doing, the problems they are causing and that they stop. I would also make sure that they also pick up any rubbish they see and to make sure that if they see anyone doing this they tell them to stop.

**What do you think makes a good friend?**
If I saw a friend cheating I would confront the friend because I think it is wrong to cheat, especially if it is a test. If I was to do this I would say that this is wrong and that you, and the person you are copying from (if there is one), will get in a lot of trouble if you get caught. I think courage means that you are able to stand up for yourself, you are able to stand up for others and you are not scared of anything. I think courage means to confront that someone or something that you are scared of and to overcome it. I think courage means to not be scared and even if you are to try not to be scared and continue anyway. I think being honest, caring, trustworthy and respectful makes a good friend. I also think that to be a good friend you need to be nice, never lie and you need to always be there for your friends when they need, if they get in a fight they need you on their side and if they have any problems they need you to be able to go out of your way to help.

**What is your most indispensable possession and why?**
I do not have one indispensable possession because I am really in love with a lot of my possessions. The most important to me would have to be my best friends’ necklace, my watch, my family, my four cats and my friends. I chose these things because these are things I need or see all day every day and are things that I really could not live without. I chose my best friend necklace because this is something that means a lot to me as my best friend for 10 years has the other half. I also choose my watch because I was given this for Christmas from my Nan and my aunty and is something I truly love. I put my family because I really would not be able to live without them no matter how annoying or angry I can get at them. I also put on my 4 cats because I have them all together for over a year now and I really dread think of my future without any of them. Finally, I put my friends, because no matter what my friends will be there for me forever, no matter what.

**What do you think about people polluting the environment?**
I personally do not like people polluting the environment as it is bad for a lot of different reasons, but there are four main reasons that I think are main problems. One because it is very bad for the animals and most animals die from things like plastic bags, fishing lines and other things like beer holders because animals eat them or get them stuck around their necks or stomachs. The second main reason I do not like people polluting the environment is that it is killing Mother Nature (or earth) and is causing things like global warming, the melting of ice burgs and the destruction of our atmosphere. Another reason it is bad is that we killing our planet because we are killing the future of our future generations. The last and final reason that I do not like people polluting the planets is that we can all do something to help stop it but yet no one does. We could all help, even if it’s just little and something simple like walking to the shop instead of driving or picking up any paper you see or even just making that short walk to the bin. None of this is that hard and I hate that no one does any of this.

**How do you feel when you do something that is very good?**
When I do something wrong I feel very bad and feel that I really need to fix things, with the person (if there is one) and / or with the situation (I or another has begun). When I do something wrong (depending on the severity of my actions) I begin to hate myself, I begin to hate what I have done and, (most of the time), regret it. When I do something that is very good I normally feel very happy and very happy with myself. When I do something that is very good I feel good because I am able to make others and myself happy. I feel good because I am able help others and make sure others are happy.

**I wish there was a law that said... This would be a good law because...**
I wish there was a law to say that ‘any one or more people doing **__ANY__** to any animals should be majorly fined or sent to jail depending on the extent of their actions. This would be a good law because I am really truly against animal cruelty and think that any people who cause harm by doing things like dog farms, cat farms and lighting them on fire. I think all of this and more is very wrong and I don’t understand how people can have the heart to do something like this. I would also like this law to be a real law because I believe that animals should be treated the same as humans because even though they are not as smart as us and cannot talk I do believe that they do have very strong feelings and that they do not deserve any less care and compassion that we do. I do believe that this should be a very strong law and I wish I would happen.

**When you are angry, how do you look? When are you happiest? When have you felt lonely? When do you feel proud?**
When I am angry I do not look my best at all. When I am angry I yell at people who annoy me or the people who have made me angry. It really depends why I am angry and who has made me angry as to how angry I get and what I do. I am happiest when I am with my friends at a place I love, like the movies or the pool. When I am with my friends I am just able to let go of everything, forget everything, and just relax. I am able to be myself and not have any thoughts or cares on what everyone thinks or does. I can just be me. I feel lonely when my friends leave me out. When my friends organise things in front of me and don’t invite me or invite me because they feel bad not because they want me to go. I feel left out and lonely most of the time because I am always left out and or singled out. I feel proud of myself when I help others, when I do something for society, for animals or for anyone. I feel proud i=of myself when I care for someone other then myself.

**Which quality do you dislike most about yourself - laziness, selfishness, childishness - and why?**
The quality i hate most about myself is my childness and my ablitlty to be constantly picked on. I chose the quality childness because sometimes i just wish i could change, be diferent and be like everyone else, i just wish everyone would like me and that i could be popular for once. I also said that i don't like the ability to be picked on because most people do pick on me and this is something i have wanted to be able to change my whole life.

**Why do you think prejudice exists in the world?**
I think prejudice exists in the world because people just say things and do things to hide their own problems and insecurity. I think prejudice exists in the world because people think that they are perfect and that everyone should be like them in absolutely every way and that if they are not they say or do things that make the others it is aimed at feel bad about themselves, bed about the way they look and bad about the way they act. People also do this because they think that when they say or do things to other people to make them feel bad to make themselves look good because they think that by making someone else look bad it makes them look good or popular. Even though they do not realise what it is like to be on the other side, to be the one always picked on, all day every day. The people who do this have no idea, until that one person, who is quiet and scared, cracks, until someone does it to them, until they know what it is like, to be picked on and put down, constantly.