Aberaevon

Keith has a new toy - a camcorder. Given that I have to have eyes in the back of my head when he is in charge of the digital camera as he tends to take less than flattering, sneaky photos of me, I was a bit concerned about letting him loose with the camcorder. However, I needn't have worried when we took it out for the first time today. Apart from a brief 'interview' filmed in the car in which I explained that I was eating a cake and that because it was a Weightwatchers cake, it contained no calories (I wish!), there was very little chance for filming anything on our rapid tour round Aberaevon (near Aberystwyth) as it was pouring with rain almost the whole day. So, I suppose you could say every cloud has a silver lining!
On the plus side, we saw a stonechat, which I have never seen before. Also lots of black headed gulls. Keith said they weren't but they were. Trust me -I'm a teacher!

Terrible things, backs!

Since Wednesday, first day of freedom, I have been afflicted with lower back pain; used to be known as lumbago, but that is such an ugly, middle aged sounding word - I prefer, if I have to suffer from it anyway, to suffer from lower back pain - more upmarket somehow! Anyway, having been taking my years-out-of-date slow release Ibuprofin, there is still no improvement. Yesterday I decided walking would do the trick so did about an hour and a quarter and it did seem to loosen up a bit. But still no real improvement, so, anyone out there with ideas for an instant cure (not involving red flannel please!), I'd be glad to hear from you. Come on Doctor Kathy,  (daughter) any ideas???? And if you say it's old age you've had it! :)

A particularly artistic arrangement, curently on loan to the Tate (not!) 

Boxes

I would say that, by and large, Keith is an easygoing sort of fellow - eccentric, definitely, but easygoing, except when it comes to boxes; you know, otherwise known as cuboid storage containers. When it comes to boxes it wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration to say that the man is verging on the fanatical - as in, they absolutely must never, ever be thrown out or otherwise disposed of.
Which tends to result in a superfluity of cuboid storage containers in what is, however you look at it, a fairly small house. In other words, wherever you go around the house, you end up staring a box in the face - except in the bathroom, and I believe he is working on that.
These boxes tend to have been erstwhile receptacles for such fascinating objects as video cards, memory cards, sound cards, CD writers, plus the heavy mob - printers, monitors, DVD players. They are situated in the most unexpected places - beside the dining table, under the stairs, on top of the music centre as well as......wait for this.......in the 'box' room! Yes, this is a house where the box room is just literally that, as well as being the model aeroplane room and the exercise bike room, but that's another story.
When I first met Keith, he had a very interesting colony of boxes which had taken root in his living room and seemed to be really thriving, but I think today's arrangement is unsurpassed in its artistic flair and imaginative juxtaposition (see photo). You never know, he might start a new trend in home decor. Forget Changing Rooms, you saw it here first!!

Withdrawal symptoms

I must be suffering from withdrawal symptoms but I found myself looking at the Times Educational Supplement on the web today and I found
this . Unfortunately incidents like this are not as uncommon as they should be and they epitomise much of what makes the job so difficult and stressful for teachers these days.
Is it a general lack of parenting skills in some of today's parents, or is it just that, in the short term, it's easier to give in to a child? Or is there a general feeling of guilt among them that  lack of time and attention  can be compensated for by being spoilt in other ways? Of course today's society focuses on people's rights while quietly ignoring their responsibilities and this has filtered down to the next generation. The result is that even pupils of primary age are aware that if they get into trouble at school, all they have to do is go home and complain to their parents who will then come rushing into school to inform the teacher that whatever happened couldn't possibly be their Johnny's fault and no, they will not support the school in any punishment or sanction.
Naturally all this takes place in front of the child, who is then reinforced in his belief that anything he does is O.K. If the parent is also violent towards the teacher, what does that say to the child?
Which leaves the teacher with a problem. What sanctions are there for future occasions of disruptive behaviour? Exclusion? The government aren't keen on that and have made it more and more difficult over the past few years. Besides, the excluded child is then free to wreak havoc outside school and frequently does.
But it also leaves all the other pupils with a problem - all those who just want to get on with school life and could do with a bit of the time and attention that the teacher is having to spend on one child.  Every disruptive child in a class means that all the others are missing out and their education is being compromised.  So it's good to see the message sometimes getting through that teachers are not there to be pilloried for the results of parents' shortcomings!
 

Are we really safe???

I read this yesterday with a growing sense of disbelief mingled with a lack of surprise when I had finished it! So these are the people entrusted with our safety! Don't hold your breath folks.
Maybe he was away when they did map-reading skills at school. Maybe one of Keith's PDA's with sat.nav. would have come in useful. :)

Good friends

 
On Monday I said good-bye to Jean. Not a final good-bye because we'll still keep in touch but the end of an era. Jean is no longer an employee in the education world, having taken early retirement a few years ago, but we go back a long way. I first met her when  I went back to teaching full time when my youngest child was eighteen months old and she is now 21 so that will give you some idea. I got a job in a nursery class of a primary school and Jean was the Nursery Nurse there.  I was there for 4 years and then moved on to the school I have just left and a year later, there was a job vacancy which Jean applied for and got. The rest, as they say is history.  Jean retired a few years ago for health reasons but has still come in once a week to help me with art in my class. She is very artistic but, more than that, she has the gift of being able to get even the most unartistic child to produce something good.  I have never known anyone else to be so good at that. She also has a wonderful rapport with children and they always looked forward to the days that she was in school.
We have never socialised much out of school although we were at one time founder members of 'The Prozac Club' which met every now and then for a meal and a moan about the world of school! But we have supported one another through difficult times - her blood pressure problems, my depression and stress and she has been a good support through some of the life-changing times I have experienced over the last three years.
Jean is a much valued friend - the sort that should be cherished because there aren't too many of them around - and if there is one thing I will miss from my previous life in teaching, it's her weekly visits on a Monday afternoon. We will keep in touch but things won't ever  be quite the same again.