No sooner is one month here and it is gone again! April is fast approaching and with it, Earth Day, on April 22nd - yes, less than a month away.

So with that news looming I decided to take a look at what resources I had...I have a couple of books I'll review over the next few weeks that focus on concepts that Earth Day promotes, but for today let's look at a fun activity instead.

Harmony Day is fast approaching us in Australia. If it isn't already on your school calendar then now is the time to add it. Harmony Day 2016 will be next Monday, 21st March!

Haven't done much before? Let's look at what Harmony Day is all about and then some ideas and resources to get your classroom Harmony-ready by next week.

What's it all about?
Harmony Day is a day to reflect on the diversity of people and cultures that make up Australia's population. According to the official government website it is a day that "everyone belongs".

What exactly makes a friend...a friend?
And what do you do if your friends aren't really friends?

When I was in school it was my parents' responsibility to ensure I had food to eat in my lunchbox. In my early years at school that meant some Jatz biscuits and maybe a few small cubes of block cheese for recess, and a pretty sandwich for lunch (aka 100s and 1000s sandwich). My mum though felt the pressure of all the "you shouldn't give your child" information when I was in about grade 3 and decided that my pretty sandwiches had to go and be replaced with Vegemite or peanut butter ones. For several weeks I came home with an empty lunchbox but I was hungry by the end of the day because I hated both Vegemite and peanut butter and had given the sandwiches away. After admitting to my mum I wasn't eating them she decided I could have my pretty sandwiches back...and I was happy!

As for canteen food...my brothers and I were allowed one lunch order every fortnight (on pay day). We always got the hotdog. Occasionally we would have 20c to spend on something else...but that wasn't very often.

Writing about yourself is usually easy...once you know how. For some it comes naturally and they can write about themselves until...well, forever. For others though, writing about yourself is a daunting task of...What do I write? Where do I start? But my life is so boring!!!

Yes, heard all the above...and that's not just me!

Part of the current Australian curriculum is the need for students to be able to construct a personal timeline. When I first read that I thought it would be easy...until I had students saying and asking the questions above.

I have worked education for a long time. First as a school support officer (SSO) in libraries before moving in the classroom to support students with learning or behaviour difficulties and finally becoming a teacher.

In all that time there was one area of assisting students that I found very difficult: communicating with them when they didn't speak English.

Each time I was assigned to work with an English as a Second Language (ESL) student I would sigh. Not because I didn't like working with them but because I knew that the student would have moments they would be as frustrated as I was with the language barrier.