Adventures of the Lifting Librarian

Conrad Challenge 2018/2019

In October of 2018, 3 students in year 9 at Mount Alvernia College approached me to ask if I’d be their Coach for the Conrad Challenge, 2018/2019. I had no real idea what was involved but I said yes anyway. Since then we have embarked on a very steep learning curve, and I am so…

The Survival Game – Singer

I picked up The Survival Game by Nicky Singer because the cover and title reminded me of The Hunger Games. As I started reading I realised very quickly that even though this is a dystopian novel about survival, it is very different from The Hunger Games. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, in fact, it’s the…

Actually, I’m a high school teacher

Person: “So, what do you to?”Me: “I’m a teacher.”Person: “Which year level?”Me: “Actually, I’m a high school teacher” … Cue comment AND facial expression that clearly shows either sympathy for my predicament, or distress for what I must have to put up with. What really gets to me, is that people seem to have this…

2019’s Resolutions

There’s a bit of a stigma around the concept of New Year Resolutions. For example, if your resolution is to get fit then you’re likely to cop some flack about being one of those “revolutioners” that flood the gyms from the 2nd of January to about the 2nd of February and then never show up…

Feedback can be scary

I recently experienced something in my learning that made me empathise with my students… Absolute confusion around something I was supposed to be learning about, followed by a sense of failure, melancholy, and general woe. How?! Well, I got my first assignment back from uni. Don’t worry, I passed, but just. Some of you might…

Looking back at 2018

So, as we come to the end of another year I am continuing the tradition I started last year (with 2017: What a year!) and looking back at what’s happened and what I’ve achieved. Once again, the following would not have been possible without the support of my husband, family, gym family, friends, and colleagues…

Back to uni

On Monday 12th November I started my 2nd Masters degree. I’ve enrolled in the Master of Education (Educational Research) at Charles Sturt University (CSU) and I’m looking forward to significantly improving my research skills. The reason for doing this degree is so that, should I still want to, I will be able to apply to…

STEM-A-Con Wrap-up

On Friday 26 October I hosted a sleepover in the iCentre and called it STEM-A-Con. The event was modelled off the Geek-A-Thon event I hosted last year, but with a slight difference. Students were invited if they had shown an interested in STEM classes and activities throughout the year. The girls arrived straight after school and…

Augmented Reality in year 9 geography

Every year that I’ve taught year 9 geography, the Interconnections unit has always been assessed with a multimodal presentation, which more often than not, has lead to PowerPoint presentations. This year, I’m changing it up and using Augmented Reality! How?! You might ask… well, we’re using posters as the “triggers” and then using HP Reveal…

The 2018 Flying Kiwi Cup

On Sunday 16th September, 2018, Michael Adams from Flying Kiwi Fitness hosted the first ever Special Olympics Powerlifting Competition, and we (VALHALLA Strength – South Brisbane) were asked to be involved. Please excuse my excitement but… IT WAS THE BEST DAY EVER! Michael, or Mick as we know him, is a good friend of ours and…