Weekends Mean Work

It's the weekend, so the mental list of tasks which must be completed has begun to build in my head. It is very rare to have a weekend without the to do list these days and I long for the times when I can simply ask C 'what shall we do this weekend?' But it hardly ever happens.

So far the to do list for this weekend consists of:

• Mark two sets of books - English (extended piece of writing, so in depth marking of 27 books) and Science (and intensive week's work in all 30 books). I reckon this is a solid five hours work, or longer since it will almost certain only happen once C is asleep, I am tired and not terribly efficient.
• Remove and replace the marking symbols sheet in the front of my English books
• Laundry
• Change the three blown light bulbs around the house. I've been putting this off for a few weeks now because of painful shoulders, but the house is starting to get dark.
• Book a groom for Wicket. He can't see properly!
• Grocery shopping. This is actually getting a bit urgent!
• File household paperwork and tidy the dining table so we can actually dine at it
• Take C's 4th birthday photo
• Empty the bins (yes, I know this is a small task but it all adds up)

This is all before I add in time for cooking and clearing away meals and other general bits of housework (thank goodness for my brilliant cleaner!).

Obviously the most glaring omission in the list is spending quality time with C, which is the most important item on the to do list. It means that a lot of the rest of the to dos are shoved into the post 7:30pm slot, when C is in bed and hopefully asleep. It means a lot of pressure to get the jobs done in limited time, and it usually means some of that time comes from sleep time.

When I write it all out like this I can understand why I start most weekends feeling like they have already gone!

Friday night, on the way home I am always full of great intentions of knocking several items off the list. In reality, with a small child in the mix, it never quite happens. Perhaps I should just post this, do the bedtime routine and then pop on a wash load.

Blogging, But Not Here...

I realised recently that although I have been blogging and tweeting away, my own personal blog has been left looking rather neglected. It is not that I have had nothing to say, only that I have been saying it in other places!

For the last term we have been trialling a set of 6 iPads in the school. Our year two children have loved them and have created some excellent work with them. The results of our project can be found on the Redbridge Games Network blog.

In the middle of this trial we had a single day subject inspection by Ofsted. The subject they happened to inspect was ICT; the subject I lead. It was a fairly hectic run up to the inspection but we were all very confident of our good status in ICT and I am pleased to say that the inspector agreed. You can read a copy of the report here.

I have also been strongly involved in the fight to keep Redbridge Drama Centre from closing due to council cuts. The council plan to reduce their funding of the centre to zero over the next two financial years (a cut was already made this year) but the next cut may well prove fatal, and we are working hard to make the blinkered council acknowledge this. At the moment they seem to believe that the centre will stay open regardless of core funding from them, being cut. Sadly, this is not the case. The campaign has kept me busy blogging for The Friends of Redbridge Drama Centre and you can see our site here.

Finally, my work on the design of covers for Trifolium Books has continued and we are currently on the verge of publishing a third book. This is also the third author added to our little family. I am thoroughly enjoying the design work and it gives me a good outlet to get creative. I have created a new, fresher looking work website for myself and I will keep posting to my portfolio there.

So you can see that although my blog has not been busy, I have. I've said it before, but I will try to keep this one a little more up to date from now on.

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

Junk, Dust and Floppy Discs

I finally got round to clearing out the ICT cupboards in school. I say cupboards, but really I mean cupboards, filing cabinets, spaces under tables, offices and drawers. There was old ICT kit and software everywhere and I had no idea what we had.

It took a day. I went through everything and created a literal (well almost) mountain of junk for the bins. I found an old, but pristine Valiant Floor Turtle, complete with an old, huge floppy disc for BBC computer! The floppy went but I kept the turtle as an interesting antiquity!

In the process of the clear out, both ICT suites had a good spring clean, although I ended up grey with dust.

So now I know exactly what we have, and where it is, and the number of cupboards filled with kit has halved. It was incredibly cathartic and left me with a feeling of true contentment and the knowledge that I could build on what we had without duplicating resources. Brilliant. Now I need to get the server in.

New Camera

Panasonic DMCTZ5 Digital Camera - Black (9.1MP, 10x Optical Zoom)

No mucking about. I can't cope without a camera, and since this one has been tried and tested in the family, with great feedback, I decided to go for it.

I have just bought 6 of these:

Panasonic DMCFS3 Digital Camera - Black (8.1MP, 3x Optical Zoom)

for school. I am hoping that they will be simple to use (reviews suggest they will) and produce a really good photo. I don't see why kids in school should settle for grainy, poorly focused photos. If you are going to do photo work - do it properly!

Busy Start

It has been the most interesting and busy of beginnings. Dropping into a year 6 class, the term before their SATs, was never going to be easy. But despite being 'tested', having 2-3 lots of marking every day and being in a new school, in a new borough and working with systems I'm not used to, I'm having a ball!

There is a lot to get my head around just teaching in year 6 for the first time, but there is also stacks to do with the ICT.

I arrived at the school with an ICT action plan in my hand, and just 4 weeks in I can start ticking things off. My first discovery was that the ICT policy is 9 years old - ancient for any school policy, never mind in a subject area in which your equipment is out of date in 18 months! So I am in the process of writing a new one (although it might have to wait until the half term).

So far I have:

• written an action plan
  
• begun developing a strong ICT team with Robert, our fabulous IT technician
• bought photo editing software and 6 digital cameras for pupil use
• invested in a data logger which is already being used by year 5
• unearthed a 6 year subscription to EducationCity.com. 2 years gone and no one knew about it! It's being used now!
• started blogging with year 6
• introduced a cross curricular ICT and art topic for year 6
• worked with Robert to research a server for the school - watch this space.
• started to re-write the ICT policy
  

I feel quite proud of what we have achieved so far but there is still a lot to be done and it is going to need to be carefully prioritised. Next on the agenda is a big cupboard sort and resources purge. But that is for 2 days in the holiday. Will keep you posted!

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!

Endings and Beginnings

I have a new bedroom. After five weeks of hard work it is finally finished, and it is beautiful! I love it. I've gone from what felt like a cramped and cluttered hole to waking up in luxury and it just doesn't feel like my room! It leaves only one room in my little flat that hasn't been redecorated since I moved in and it is now shouting at me to be done. I guess I need to start saving.

The new bedroom has prompted all sorts of fresh starts for me. I have got back on track with WeightWatchers and I am starting to see losses again. I am clearing out cupboards and have been ruthless about throwing out a large part of my video and cassette collection (I bet the bin men love me!). I have had a new cupboard built in the front room which is big enough to hold the snake's vivarium. It is enormous so has swallowed a lot of my (now sorted) clutter. And of course the snake is home. It is lovely that he is back here finally and it seems only fair that his last days are free from the noise of a classroom. Having said that he seems robust and healthy just now and his no food fad seems to have passed. He certainly had no problem getting outside of his welcome home mouse!

All of this has left me feeling optimistic and ready to tackle the pile (literally) of organising that I still have to face in school. I am in a new classroom and I now is definitely the right time for a fresh start.

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.