Where Does the Time Go?

 How on Earth has it been 8 years since I last posted? 

Actually, I know the answer to that. 

The first and most obvious answer is that parenthood has been the priority, and as a single parent with one pair of hands, there isn't always a lot of spare time. My daughter is older now, and as a (sometimes helpful) teen, she adds a pair of hands to some tasks. The actual parenting is never easier though! 

Of course there was also the ever-expanding workload in teaching. This eventually ground me down, and in July 2023 I left the profession. I miss the kids and my colleagues. I miss the actual teaching and the 'light bulb moments'. I don't miss the paperwork and inspections, or the weekends marking, or the feeling of dread every Sunday evening and at the end of a holiday. I haven't looked back.

When I left teaching, I also moved North - back to the town I grew up in. I love it here and it's the best move I could have made. However, the move also had its own stresses over the last year or so, and sorting the house out has been a priority over writing blog posts.

I now manage a youth charity and live in the town where I grew up. I live close to my parents, and I am loving being able to see them often. I'm also on the committee of our local volunteer-run theatre. The pace of life is different. It's taken me nearly 2 years to recover from the strains of teaching, but I feel like I'm finally getting my life back.

In the last year there have also been serious health challenges in the family. Thankfully, we are now through the worst, and things are getting better all round. 

Those were the personal reasons, but then we had the small matter of Covid to add to the mix. 2020 hit us all like a train, and I personally feel that life will never fully go back to the old normal again. I find it harder to go out and make plans. I still feel that I need to make more effort to get out, experience things and make memories.

Covid had us shut away for so long that it broke down all the good habits and routines that I had. It's taking huge amounts of effort to re-establish those habits and routines. Perhaps I'll get there sometime.

A lot has happened in those 8 years—lots I could have blogged about, but I lived it instead. Hopefully, now that I have refound my page, I'll blog a little more often, but then I've said that before!

Disney World, Florida 2016

Mum is Watching

Got to love this video (thanks Anthony Evans, for sharing). Yes, it's a bit of fun, but actually it is a very real warning about watching what you put online. Since I am teaching my kids e-safety at the moment (and the whole school is also learning about it) I thought this was rather timely. So, learn your SMART rules kids (and your way round Facebook privacy settings), you never know when mum is watching ;o)

Facebook, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids

TeachMeet NEL09 Part 2

2DIY from 2Simple. Simple enough for year 1 to use. Children creating their own games and taking great pride in seeing them published on a school website. Great piece of software.

2Simple also looking at the potential of augmented reality. This really is cutting edge.

Now the raffle - I never win anything, but the cause is great. £550 raised for the Cuban school.

Tom Barrett: "Mr Barrett, I have got glue on my laptop"

Technology used right along with traditional classroom tools. "Giving children a permanent technology choice in the classroom makes a huge difference."

Using GoogleEarth - "...most engaging tool out there." Using Vocaroo with GoogleEarth to plan a journey in a story. Setting location marks and adding notes to tell a story in snippets.

Using IM applications in class. Most popular online tool with children.

Sharing bookmarks with kids using delicious.com. (Something Cleveland Junior and Becontree Primary are already doing).

Twitter used in class - only 95% thought he was bonkers. 5% less than last year.

Edith - Year 9 student. Does X=Y?

Talking about technology tribes and Digital Natives. Am I Native or a Bridge? Am I young enough to be Native? :o)

"Young people are helping their parents catch up (with technology)"

Are we challenging students (Natives) enough? Recent OFSTED report says no.

Ollie Bray (www.olliebray.com): Maps, Mashups and Milkfloats.

Games based learning and using Wordle.net

Using free online tools to engage children.

www.geogreeting.com

GoogleEarth - showing the world spinning. Children start to have geographical conversations.

Task in a bucket (location lotto!) - pull a location out of a bucket and fly there on GoogleEarth from your school location.

www.bighugelabs.com (be careful how you type that!)

Thanks to the organisers for a fantastic evening (Lords!), and thanks also to all the sponsors.

TeachMeet NEL09 Part 1

Oh dear, I’m at TeachMeet NEL 09 at CEME with my Mac and every intention to blog live. CEME obviously doesn’t like Macs. I can see the Network but I can’t connect no matter how hard I try. So I am reverting to Word and cut and paste!

Next problem: Which room do I choose? I want to see quite a lot of these speakers but they are all in different rooms!

Rats!

Ok I’m in the main hall. Not sure if this is the right choice for me. Can I float?

Tom Whitehead: Fruit faces - use technology to be inclusive.

Oh, that's better! Finally connected to the Internet and breakout rooms moving into main hall.

Leon Cych: Speaking about BBC Learning Open Lab. He is developing a resource showing teachers using different web 2.0 resources.
Also interesting to know that Leon is passionate about Second Life as a learning environment.

Andrew Trimble: Using digital audio to enhance literacy. Pupils recording their play script dialogue. Demonstration of how to transfer their files on to computer ready for podcasting.

Jerome Monahan: Active approaches to everything.
Where hast thou been sister?
Killing swine.

Wonderful sight - a room full of teachers doing actions to text from Macbeth!
Aha! Leads to video conferencing - Global Leap.

Debbie Forster: Computer Clubs for Girls. www.cc4g.net Aimed at getting girls interested in IT. Starts from primary school. Now introducing boys! Pack going out to secondary schools www.bigambition.co.uk

Money raised by raffle goes towards rebuilding Celia Sanchez Manduley School in Cuba which was destroyed by hurricane Ike in 2008.

Break now. I need some food and a beer!

Creative Arts Week - Update

At long last I have finally finished editing my video overview of the Creative Arts Week that I was part of organising this year. Nothing very flash - just a short(ish) taster of the week, and looking back it still makes me smile. I have included two videos below - the first is the week's overview and the second is the complete Longsword performance.

Christmas Fun

My kids at school have been taking part in a Christmas sing off this week. They chose to sing the Carol of the Bells. I love the song but as you can probably imaging it is now firmly wedged in my head. This morning I decided to play with GarageBand on my Mac and see what I could come up with. This is the end result and yes I know it is a little out of tune in places and a bit rough around the edges but I quite like the result and it provides a little festive fun to my blog! And yes, all the voices are me!

Wordle.net

What a lovely website. Any suggestions on how I can use this in lessons?

A Door Opens

After seven years at Cleveland I have taken the plunge and last week I accepted a new job. It means working in a new school, a new borough and a new role. It is scary and exciting all in one go but I am more than ready for the move and it feels right. I'm still going to be teaching and in class full time but my new role is ICT co-ordinator and I have plenty of ideas to get ICT integrated across the curriculum, including the use of blogging in the classroom!

In truth, I can't wait to get started - there is lots to do and big challenges ahead but I am very ready for them. I feel very guilty about leaving my current class part way through the year but it had to be done unfortunately. So, half a term to go and I'll be gutted when it actually comes to leaving but for now...... :o)

An interesting find

It is amazing what you can find in a school playground. This incredible creature was found by a couple of the kids in my class. They spent their entire lunchtime gently cradling it in their hands and showing every teacher they could find. Their facination was as wonderful as the insect itself; and very understandable. This is the closest I have ever been to a dragonfly and it really was breathtaking. It is a shame that it had died but it seems to have died naturally and it provided a fantastic experience for dozens of kids and adults alike.

Bad Penny turns up!

Back in 2003 I helped several of mum's 6th form students to produce a short video as part of the 48 hour film challenge (now the 24 Hour Film Challenge), run by Johnnie Oddball. Our randomly picked title was Bad Penny and our genre action/ adventure. The film had to be no longer than 5 minutes. It was a great weekend; fun but tiring, with an all night edit and a mad dash to Edinburgh to deliver the final edit, which we did with only 5 minutes to deadline!

Until yesterday we thought that we had lost all copies of the video since the only DVD we had would not play. But, after a freak discovery and a little tinkering we have rediscovered a low res copy. Not perfect and there seems to be a glitch in one of the scenes, but better that than no copy at all!

I am delighted that we have salvaged it. I still think it holds up. Be patient when you watch it; it starts about 15 seconds in.

I Did That!

So far I haven't really mentioned the school's creative arts week here. I played a large part in organising it this year because it was my brain child, born of a night of insomnia, and because it involved my area of (ahem...) 'expertise'. However, while starting to learn how to use Final Cut Studio today, I started to edit the video that I shot during the week. It brought home to me just how successful the week was and I thought that I should mention it here. In fact the article above says a lot really and once I finish the edit it should complete the story. But here for once I am going to blow my own trumpet and take the credit for a brilliant week - I made that happen!

A Little Relief

The snake ate yesterday. He was a bit tentative at first but the mouse soon disappeared. I'm still not convinced that this means everything is OK, but it is at least a good sign. Perhaps it really was coincidence that he was off food the last two times I tried to feed him. Anyway, I feel a little better now and I have made a decision; I am going to bring Galahad home in the summer holidays.

He has done very well during his time in school. Lots of children have learnt a huge amount from looking after him. Now I think that it is only fair that he lives his last days in peace and quiet, away from prying eyes, grasping hands and noisy classrooms. It is time I retired him and if he is at home I can keep a more careful eye on him.

I feel quite sad - after six years, Snake Club is over.

Classroom Blogs

Wow! What a day! Since catching the blogging bug I have been wondering how I might use a blog effectively in my teaching. So I set up a new blog and a new Google account using a safe email address and password, and then I headed into new territory.

It has been a revelation. I have had a brilliant day and my class loved it too. We hit 3 subject areas with one activity and stretched it over the day giving us plenty of time to actually finish something we started (for a change).

Our class blog could run and run, and the best thing about it is that the children are asking what else they can do with it. What started as a place to share one project is now being viewed by myself and the children as a place to share this term's work.

Looking at the comments widget I know that many of them have already viewed the blog at home. Brilliant! Now when a parent asks "what did you do at school today?" they can see for themselves.