I love teaching

I had a great day today, teaching at my kids' school. I had year 6's and they were happy and enthusiastic and well behaved.

Amongst other things, I taught them about advertising. We analysed a magazine ad together and talked about how the advertisers need to make us feel we need something that, up until this point, we've done okay without.

Then I chose three fairly useless objects: an empty Pepsi can, a 5 year old classroom clock, and a 12 year old (486) computer. The kids got into groups of 2 or 3 and had 10 minutes to come up with a way to promote these objects as something that we need. They had great ideas. The Pepsi can was a Micheal Jackson relic - he had drunk from it. For another group, it was an environmentally friendly pencil tin. The classroom clock is a discontinued line destined to become a collectors item. It also makes you feel warm - reminding you of happy times in the school classroom after you've moved on. And best of all, the computer. Three girls performed a skit showing a frantic family. A busy mum is trying to search the internet, cook dinner and set the table all at the same time. Her modern computer opens up web pages so fast that she can't do the other things she needs to do. The hectic pace of life is too much. Mum needs to slow down. She needs a 486. Ahhh. Life is now much more relaxed! A whole meal can be prepared while waiting for a page to load!

I get to teach them again tomorrow. Why wouldn't you be a teacher?*

*THAT school called me the other day. Wanted to know why they haven't seen me for so long. The words 'better offers' came to mind! I get paid an extra $100 a day if I go there... (they tend not to put teachers on contracts) but I still don't want to go! I love teaching and, like all teachers, prefer to work at schools where I get to teach.