And the whistle? Alternative uses for that do not immediately spring to mind. Any suggestions?
Pension
Final details of my pension arrived on the doormat today. If I'm careful, I should be able to get by without having to do any more supply teaching. Yay!!! So my collection of 'big books' can be donated, all the reams of planning, resources, guidance etc (how many forests have been decimated for all that?) can be recycled and I can reclaim some space on my bookshelves. Felt pens, coloured pencils etc can all be disposed of - no, wait a minute - I can put those to good use - ideal for art therapy.
And the whistle? Alternative uses for that do not immediately spring to mind. Any suggestions?
And the whistle? Alternative uses for that do not immediately spring to mind. Any suggestions?
Monday!
Monday morning - dull, cloudy and...just for a change...raining! I foresee future generations of homo sapiens growing flippers and gills.
However, I am off to do some voluntary counselling for five hours today and, in spite of the weather, I am going to walk. It's all part of the new 'look after me' plan. Now that I am not devoting all those hours to teaching-related activities, I have time to exercise more, so I am planning to walk more, get the bike out when the weather gets better and start swimming again. (No, not on the bike, YP!) The last time I did that on anything like a regular basis was when my children were growing up.
At the back of my mind is the knowledge that teachers are often not candidates for a long retirement. I have known of too many fellow teachers who have retired, only to peg it some months or even weeks later.
Anyway, just in case I might have wondered, even momentarily, about the wisdom of retiring from teaching, a text message from my Teaching Assistant at last term's school, would have reassured me. "OFSTED coming Thursday."
The great escape starts here!
However, I am off to do some voluntary counselling for five hours today and, in spite of the weather, I am going to walk. It's all part of the new 'look after me' plan. Now that I am not devoting all those hours to teaching-related activities, I have time to exercise more, so I am planning to walk more, get the bike out when the weather gets better and start swimming again. (No, not on the bike, YP!) The last time I did that on anything like a regular basis was when my children were growing up.
At the back of my mind is the knowledge that teachers are often not candidates for a long retirement. I have known of too many fellow teachers who have retired, only to peg it some months or even weeks later.
Anyway, just in case I might have wondered, even momentarily, about the wisdom of retiring from teaching, a text message from my Teaching Assistant at last term's school, would have reassured me. "OFSTED coming Thursday."
The great escape starts here!
Getting away from it all
One reason for my silence over the past few weeks is that Keith and I decided to 'get away from it all' and take ourselves off to France for 10 days over Christmas and New Year. So we booked a little 'gite' in Normandy and off we went. We left on Sunday 23rd, when I was well into a bad cold and feeling rather like death warmed up. Keith, however was fine - until Christmas Eve, when he picked up my germs, ran with them and turned them into man-flu.
Still, we managed to get out and about for most of the holiday, although photos are not very numerous as we were confronted by thick fog every single day for at least part of the day. Sometimes it was in our area and we were able to drive out of it into glorious sunshine, other days we drove into it but probably our best days were our visits to Mont St Michel and a lovely little beach on Brittany's south coast.
Would we do it again? Probably not but it was a change and a chance to chill out for a while and that can't be bad.
Stroke awareness
This came to my inbox today from TK so I decided to put it here. Everyone reading this will know of someone whose quality of life has been severely curtailed as a result of a stroke, so please take the time to read through this information. Who knows, some day it may enable you to help a stroke victim by getting them the medical attention they need in time.
My good friend sent this and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree.
If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks. Seriously.. Please read:
STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) .....she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die.... they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this...
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke... totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough. RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Thank God for the sense to remember the "3" steps, STR . Read and Learn! Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke . Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S * Ask the individual to SMILE.
T * Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. It is sunny out today)
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS. If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 999/911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other , that is also an indication of a stroke.
My good friend sent this and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree.
If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks. Seriously.. Please read:
STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) .....she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die.... they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this...
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke... totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough. RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Thank God for the sense to remember the "3" steps, STR . Read and Learn! Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke . Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S * Ask the individual to SMILE.
T * Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. It is sunny out today)
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS. If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 999/911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other , that is also an indication of a stroke.
New start
Is it really a month since I last posted? After my last post end of term/Christmas/New Year kicked in and life became even more hectic. But more of that in future posts. Today I am off to do 5 hours of counselling (voluntary). It's raining and blowing a gale here but, hey, I don't have to worry about wet playtimes any more... not till I need to go back to supply teaching for some money, anyway.
Advent calendars and Nativity plays
Today was our first practice in church of our impending Nativity play. Doing it in the school hall is too easy. It's far more challenging to erect the stage in the hall to practice for two weeks, then to dismantle it and take it down the road to the church, walk the children down there each day to practice further, dismantle it again for the week-end's services before setting it up again next Monday morning for our first performance in the afternoon.
However, I digress. My job is the music, which entails manipulating a console which makes Dr Who's Tardis look like childsplay, so I spent most of my time getting to grips with that. "See, you're enjoying it!" says the 33 year old PPA teacher. "Imagine - learning something new at your age," he continued before hopping around in howls of agony as I stamped on his foot. (No, not really - not in front of the children.)
In addition, I was darting out to the front to ensure that the children sang the right verses in the right order, rather than following their natural inclination to repeat the first verse each time.
Where it did get slightly challenging, however, was when the Reception teacher suddenly announced in my ear that one of her children had had an 'accident' and she would have to take him back to school to change him, so would I mind assembling the shepherds and then the wise men in the right order ready to make their entrance? - with my second pair of hands, of course.
By this time, having lost the will to live, I just nodded silently and hoped that enough of them would remember of their own accord.
Oh what fun we had!
Back at school, the children were just getting ready to go home when one of the boys noticed that some little so and so had attacked our Advent calendars (two as it's a large class), ripped open several of the flaps and made off with the chocolates.
A job for Sherlock Holmes tomorrow...
However, I digress. My job is the music, which entails manipulating a console which makes Dr Who's Tardis look like childsplay, so I spent most of my time getting to grips with that. "See, you're enjoying it!" says the 33 year old PPA teacher. "Imagine - learning something new at your age," he continued before hopping around in howls of agony as I stamped on his foot. (No, not really - not in front of the children.)
In addition, I was darting out to the front to ensure that the children sang the right verses in the right order, rather than following their natural inclination to repeat the first verse each time.
Where it did get slightly challenging, however, was when the Reception teacher suddenly announced in my ear that one of her children had had an 'accident' and she would have to take him back to school to change him, so would I mind assembling the shepherds and then the wise men in the right order ready to make their entrance? - with my second pair of hands, of course.
By this time, having lost the will to live, I just nodded silently and hoped that enough of them would remember of their own accord.
Oh what fun we had!
Back at school, the children were just getting ready to go home when one of the boys noticed that some little so and so had attacked our Advent calendars (two as it's a large class), ripped open several of the flaps and made off with the chocolates.
A job for Sherlock Holmes tomorrow...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Plaster board and dust
So, we're still no further forward on the British Gas smart meter front and I've given up making non-existent appointments with them...
-
So, we're still no further forward on the British Gas smart meter front and I've given up making non-existent appointments with them... -
This is the beach at Burbo Bank, Crosby, home of Antony Gormley's cast iron statues, collectively known as 'Another Place'. We... -
Well, we came to an amicable arrangement, quite unplanned as it happened, because Keith got to navigate the car through people's back y...