Saturday, 21 June 2008
Too Excited for Words!
This is my first blog post written on my brand new, shiny MacBook Pro. I have officially become a Mac user and I am loving it! I really can't describe how excited I am, but I feel like a kid learning to walk. I feel like this should be easy - after all I am very computer literate, but the Mac really requires a different mind set from that needed for a PC and so it is going to take me some time. Now I just need to work out how to install Final Cut Studio for hours of fun. Watch this space for my first creation!
Sunday, 15 June 2008
The Show's Over
That's it for another year; Market Boy is over after a 4 night run. I am exhausted, but this play has been really good fun to do. In fact one of the most enjoyable I've done for quite a while and I think this is a lot due to the fact that the group have been very cohesive and therefore great to work with.
So the busiest two or three weeks of my year is coming to and end. With the play now finished I can concentrate on getting my reports completed and get the horrible SATs marking out of the way. I'm quite looking forward to getting my life back!
Saturday, 14 June 2008
A Little Relief
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.
Saturday, 7 June 2008
To Do Lists
I am a list maker to the core. I have lists for everything. I have even been known to add things I have already done to new lists, just so that I can cross them off! I find list making incredibly cathartic, in fact I don't think I could function properly without them. So here is my latest list (and I might keep adding to it, but you can also be sure I'll get things crossed off); things I want to do/ see in London.
- See a play (or two) at the Globe
- Join an orchestra - done, see www.rodingplayers.co.uk
- Go to the open air Shakespeare at Regent's Park
- Go on the London Eye - done (twice, but always worth a go, and never without a camera)
- Go on a Jack the Ripper tour
- Visit Spitalfields Market
- Find a good, and not extortionate, Sushi restaurant
Friday, 6 June 2008
Grey Days and Weekends
The Under Toad was strong today. I could feel it in the fine, soaking drizzle that descended on the afternoon. But it was more than that. Today was not a good day to be out of bed!
It is an odd feeling when a day changes direction. This morning was fine, even the weather was reasonable, but by mid-morning the shift had happened. I had another bout of dizziness, and it came on really fast. I was fine going down the stairs but on the way up I felt like I was going to fall over. It was so bad that all I could do when I got to the classroom was sit with my head on my knees. It was the quietest the kids were all day, although the fact that my ears went funny at the same time might have contributed to the quiet! I felt less dizzy as the day went on but it didn't really go completely until the evening.
After school I went to do Snake Club as usual. The minute I picked up the snake he felt wrong; too light and weak in the muscles. We offered him a mouse - a big one, since he refused food last time it was offered and he was likely to be hungry. He refused it. That's 4 weeks now without food.
He was milky, so it might just be that he refused the mouse because he is preparing to slough, but that never used to stop him. Galahad has always been a voracious eater. His refusal of food added with the fact that he felt weak makes me think that this might be the beginning of the end for him. He will be 19 years old in July; a very good age for a corn snake. I have to prepare myself for the possibility that he is dying. I managed to hold my emotion in check and I got though Snake Club, but at 4 o'clock that was it, the Under Toad broke through.
Yes, today was a bad day. I am hoping that the weekend is better.
It is an odd feeling when a day changes direction. This morning was fine, even the weather was reasonable, but by mid-morning the shift had happened. I had another bout of dizziness, and it came on really fast. I was fine going down the stairs but on the way up I felt like I was going to fall over. It was so bad that all I could do when I got to the classroom was sit with my head on my knees. It was the quietest the kids were all day, although the fact that my ears went funny at the same time might have contributed to the quiet! I felt less dizzy as the day went on but it didn't really go completely until the evening.
After school I went to do Snake Club as usual. The minute I picked up the snake he felt wrong; too light and weak in the muscles. We offered him a mouse - a big one, since he refused food last time it was offered and he was likely to be hungry. He refused it. That's 4 weeks now without food.
He was milky, so it might just be that he refused the mouse because he is preparing to slough, but that never used to stop him. Galahad has always been a voracious eater. His refusal of food added with the fact that he felt weak makes me think that this might be the beginning of the end for him. He will be 19 years old in July; a very good age for a corn snake. I have to prepare myself for the possibility that he is dying. I managed to hold my emotion in check and I got though Snake Club, but at 4 o'clock that was it, the Under Toad broke through.
Yes, today was a bad day. I am hoping that the weekend is better.
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Fun with Cupcakes
I made these! Yes, they are probably the simplest of all cakes to make and hardly require any skill, but I still feel rather pathetically proud of my pretty pink creations. They really taste very good too. Now I'm wondering, with more practice and the purchase of some icing tools, could I turn this into a miniature cottage industry? Maybe I'll have a cake and think about that!
Friday, 23 May 2008
A Spot of Road Rage
I clipped some one's wing mirror this morning. She was positioned in the left lane but over the dividing line; I had to pull out over the centre line to get past her. This particular road is very busy in both directions at 8 in the morning, so I couldn't pull out too far or I would have been in the path of on coming traffic. So I ended up just clipping her mirror. Not a huge collision, but wing mirrors always sound worse inside the car. I quickly looked to see if I had caused her any damage but everything was fine. No biggy, it happens, that's one of the reasons that wing mirrors are designed to give.
Don't get me wrong, I don't feel great about clipping her, but in the great scheme of things it really was inconsequential. So I drove on, or at least continued to pull up to the lights.
Meanwhile, the driver started to flap and gesture aggressively at me. I decided that I wouldn't make eye contact (she was flapping hard enough that a I could clearly see her in my peripheral vision). Not that I am a coward you understand, but really, what would be the point. The lady was clearly ready to wind herself up into a frenzy.
I have enough daily stress and aggravation not to have any desire to start my day with a confrontation over nothing. And what could I have said? If she hadn't started gesticulating I would have waved and mouthed an apology, but what more is there to say? There was no damage, no harm done and no need to waste time for either of us.
As the lights changed colour she positioned herself ahead of me and flapped at me again. I still ignored her and at at this point she either realised that I wasn't going to acknowledge her or her common sense kicked in and she calmed down enough to realise that she was making a boil out of a tiny pimple.
We both went on our way without the confrontation (and who knows how far she would have taken it). I was left thinking 'how sad that she had to be so uptight and aggressive over this, to the point where any attempt to acknowledge my slip and apologise could have inflamed an obviously tightly wound individual (perhaps she is a teacher? We are all fairly tightly wound at the moment!).
Are our lives so stressful and miserable that the little things that go wrong can send us hurtling into a hostile and destructive spiral? I will try to remember her moment of road rage the next time someone cuts across me from the left at a roundabout!
Don't get me wrong, I don't feel great about clipping her, but in the great scheme of things it really was inconsequential. So I drove on, or at least continued to pull up to the lights.
Meanwhile, the driver started to flap and gesture aggressively at me. I decided that I wouldn't make eye contact (she was flapping hard enough that a I could clearly see her in my peripheral vision). Not that I am a coward you understand, but really, what would be the point. The lady was clearly ready to wind herself up into a frenzy.
I have enough daily stress and aggravation not to have any desire to start my day with a confrontation over nothing. And what could I have said? If she hadn't started gesticulating I would have waved and mouthed an apology, but what more is there to say? There was no damage, no harm done and no need to waste time for either of us.
As the lights changed colour she positioned herself ahead of me and flapped at me again. I still ignored her and at at this point she either realised that I wasn't going to acknowledge her or her common sense kicked in and she calmed down enough to realise that she was making a boil out of a tiny pimple.
We both went on our way without the confrontation (and who knows how far she would have taken it). I was left thinking 'how sad that she had to be so uptight and aggressive over this, to the point where any attempt to acknowledge my slip and apologise could have inflamed an obviously tightly wound individual (perhaps she is a teacher? We are all fairly tightly wound at the moment!).
Are our lives so stressful and miserable that the little things that go wrong can send us hurtling into a hostile and destructive spiral? I will try to remember her moment of road rage the next time someone cuts across me from the left at a roundabout!
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
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.
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.
Saturday, 3 May 2008
Back to where it started
This is the video that started it all. Yes, I know it's silly and its production values are low, but making this video on a one day course at 21cc reinfected me with the editing bug. Now I want to do more; make silly shorts and collaborate with like minded friends - just for fun. Who knows where it might lead me? (so far, to an expensive longing for a Mac and Final Cut Studio!)
Friday, 2 May 2008
All new to me
I have finally joined the blogging world. Until today I have only thought fleetingly about doing so. My efforts at diary keeping as a kid would suggest that I may only ever be a sporadic blogger but perhaps I am underestimating myself. Time will tell.
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