The list of questions a group of 5th and 6th graders asked me......

I spent two days in the classroom this week at a primary school in Tasmania. The kids had SOO many questions they were asked to write them down on paper and I could spend some time answering them one at at time. These were most of the questions asked:

1) What do you do on the 4th of July?
2) Do you think we have a weird accent?
3) Do our schools and your schools look the same? How many schools are in Kansas? How many kids are in each class?
4) What is the top novel in America? - They asked if we liked "Goosebumps" , "Diary of a Wimpy Kid", "Twilight", and "Harry Potter" ?
5) Do you like it better in Tasmania than America? Are you glad you got to come visit us?
6) Is Justin Bieber big in America?
7) Have you ever been to Arizona? Los Angeles? Michigan?
8) Do you have dams in America?
9) Do you live in America?
10) Are there gardens in America?
11) What is your favorite restaurant in America? What is the most popular fast food place?
12) Have you ever been sprayed by a skunk?
13) Have you ever met Justin Bieber?
14) Do you get a tan in America?
15) Do you learn another language while in school in America?
16) Have you had any tornadoes like the Wizard of Oz lately?
17) Is it true that people go buy really cheap rustbuckets and when they break down they leave them on the side of the road and go buy another rustbucket and so on? (I laughed the hardest on this one)
18) Is there a lot of violence in Kansas? I saw on TV once that there was a security guard at a school. Is that true?
19) What is the weather like in America? Is Kansas a desert? Do you have cactus in America?
20) Did you know that in America the average slices of pizza eaten in a second is 350 slices?
21) With your ranches in Kansas do all of your cows get hand milked or do you have electronic suckers?
22) Do you have gator farms in Kansas with gators in them?
23) I heard that Sloppy Joes is a shop in America...is that true? Have you been there?
24) What is your estimate of people that play soccer in America?
25) What kind of brands are popular in America?
26) Do you have the circus in America and do you have unicycles?
27) Have you heard of Justin Beiber? (AGAIN)
28) Are there any brumbys in America? (Brumbys are wild mustangs)
29) Do you and your family have a lot of fast food?
30) Is there a lot of violence in America?
31) Do you have any celebrities where you live?
32) Are there beavers in America?

- Other than asking a million times if I knew Justin Bieber .....I also learned this through conversation:
 1) -couldn't believe we didn't have beaches -- they didn't understand the concept of lakes.
2) -wanted to visit Chucky Cheese
 3)  -totally freaked out by the idea of skunks
4)) Most of the information the kids had on Kansas or America came from the movies -- they wanted to know if Kansas was just like the western movies?
5) -couldn't believe we had security guards and cameras at our schools?
6) -fascinated that our toilets were always half full -- their toilets just have a little water sitting at the bottom

As far as the observation went....this class had 54 or so kids in it....all 5th and 6th graders to two teachers. Sometimes they split up but usually they were co-teaching. Immediately I asked about their policy with testing ...they test 3rd and 5th for literacy and math...but the testing is not like us as I am sure that was assumed. Most schools here have uniforms and the kids could not believe that we did not have them. Their discipline system is similar to like that in America and their techniques in the classroom as well to keep structure and such. Bullying charts are commonly posted on the walls and also alerts to teach kids how to use the internet and media effectively and safely. The guidelines are given through the ACMA (Australian Communication & Media Authority).  A typical school year (because their seasons are switched) go from February to December, around Christmas, and their day lasts from 9 - 2:50. Schools do not serve hot breakfast and hot lunch typically -- the kids just bring a lunch from home and eat outside...they have an hour to eat and play outside. Some things that I picked up that I really liked was the idea of PMI-- to think of something Positive / Minus / Interesting of something that the child experiences. They also use the "I think, I know, I wonder" method.

The school I visit is also starting a program that the kids from 3rd to 6th grade cook in a high tech kitchen.  They are taught by a gourmet chef and cook mainly with the things they have grown on their own or in their garden that was also issued through the grant. It is hard to put into words how neat the program was and how incredibly excited the kids are to be a part of it.

Teachers are supposedly needed here but it is not easy to get hired on "Full-time." Teachers start off on a short contract as in America and go from there. They are paid about 70-80 grand though but the cost of living is higher here as well --- I am not going to lie when I heard that number I was in awe and then I remembered how much more expensive things are here.......... I hope that this is not the only experience I get with the kiddos while I am here. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Just before I left I even took a group of kids out to teach them basketball for fifteen minutes.....it was tough breakin it down to the very basics....a few of the kids did not know the concept of offense / defense / dribbling / etc. Def a different sports world here. :) They wanted to teach me cricket but I ran out of time...................Til next time.