Back to work!

I doubt there are many, if any, people actually reading this, let alone wondering where I have been for the last few weeks. But here is my excuse:

Firstly, it was the Easter holidays – I didn’t think my Easter holiday, which, whist exciting for me, would be at all exciting for anyone else to read about. I did, however go away with my gorgeous Godson, whose sole purpose on this earth is to be gorgeous (and prepare me for Motherhood – he hasn’t put me off yet!) I was then unwell – really unwell – and didn’t make it into work for 2 weeks, let alone manage to sit in front of the computer screen!

But now I am back, somebody new……..

When I got back to work the children were delighted to see me. There really is nothing better than the unconditional love of someone else. My husband, *WBD, cannot wait to get a dog. He regularly talks about their unconditional love. They love you even when you have shouted at them 2 minutes earlier. They are excited to see you, even if you only popped out to the shop for 2 minutes! This reminds me of my class.

Yes, they were delighted to see me upon my return. However, no more delighted than when I cross the playground to the staffroom and they charge at me, arms wide open, broad smiles plastered across their faces. They seem to have forgotten that I was the one who ushered them out into the playground 2 minutes earlier!

I am fully aware that next academic year they will have moved on and will love their new teacher *unconditionally, but until that time, I still have 6 weeks of their smiles, laughter and affection.

*works behind a desk

*I know that I have used ‘unconditional’ three times, but there is no other word that describes this type of affection. So I’m leaving all three in!

Medieval feasts – who knew they could be so much fun?

Firstly, I must thank one of my colleagues for finding a fantastic power point presentation on the internet, which meant that I didn’t have to drive down to the local resource centre (as I have done for the past 2 year) to borrow the only book in this county on Medieval feasts – which is not very detailed and rather tatty. Secondly, I must thank a teacher somewhere in Britain for taking to time to make this fantastic power point, and then for putting it on the internet for the rest of us to benefit from.

I love this current trend of sharing lesson plans, worksheets, presentations and general teaching resources on the internet. There are some fantastic websites (‘TES’ and ‘Primary resources’ to name my favourite two) which teachers can upload onto and are so easy to access. There really is no point in 50 Year 2 teachers around the country planning 50 identical lessons on ‘Castles’ or ‘Katie Morag’ or ‘Space’! By sharing via the internet I find that I have more time in the classroom to be with the children. Usually in Friday afternoon Golden time, I can be found tapping away at my computer desperately making flipcharts for Monday’s lessons. Today, however, I quickly googled a presentation on ‘Candlemas’ and then spent half an hour making crowns out of boarder roll and decorating them with sequins! Heaven!

Anyway, back to medieval feasts….My class and I thoroughly enjoyed looking through the presentation, discussing the various courses and foods that were enjoyed. I made myself giggle (and my TA, ST and the IT man fixing the class computers!) when I told the class that in the medieval times they “loved meat“ and that their “favourite part was the head”! We then got to discussing the layout of a castle and happened upon a plan view which showed a huge, long gallery. I impressed myself by knowing that this is where they danced after the banquet! *Stanley was very intrigued by the idea of Lords and Ladies dancing up and down the room and sensibly put his hand up to ask what kind of dancing it was. “Like a tango?” he suggested. I tried my best to explain the types of moves they would have been throwing back in the medieval times, but luckily I was saved when my quick thinking TA pulled up a clip from BBC Pride and Prejudice – a dance scene – onto the IWB. (I know P&P is about 8 centuries too late – but I thought it was a pretty good example of the style of dancing!). So there were Lizzie Bennet and the delicious Colin Firth toing and froing very politely, swapping places occasionally and certainly not breaking a sweat, when **Matilda asks me “Did they always look so grumpy when they danced in the medieval times?”. I decided not to even try to explain that Lizzie and Mr. Darcy had just had a heated conversation about the conniving Mr Wickham, so I just answered “Yes”. 

*I shall refer to the children in my class as characters from my favourite children’s books. This one being ‘Flat Stanley’.

**Matilda – need I say more!

Kick start!

How many people can say that they love their job? I’m a primary school teacher and I can. My husband, *WBD, gets the Sunday blues – it’s usually around late afternoon when it dawns on him that he has work again in the morning. We have been married 2 years now (together for 3 before that) and he realised quite soon into our meeting that there was no point bemoaning the fact to me, as I always replied something along the lines of “Oh good, I wonder what my children have been up to? I can’t wait to find out.” And I really can’t.

I’ve always had a desire to share stories of my wonderful job with the world (will probably only get read by my Mum – but that saves a phone call!) and I have just had the kick start I needed. 2 weeks ago a student teacher joined me in my Year 2 class. This is her first ever foray into a school. Ever. My friend, a teacher/new mum, warned me to “be nice” (I think she was re-collecting her first placement) and I am. I have warned her about which mug to use in the staff room (old wives tale – no-one gives a monkeys!), attempting to teach with a hangover (near to impossible!), and most importantly, how to deal with boyfriends/husbands/friends/family who think teaching is a synch and constantly moan about our holidays. My favourite line I use is “What’s stopping you becoming a teacher, then?”

Whilst imparting my invaluable advice I found myself thinking back to my first placement (a primary school in deepest, darkest Harlow) and started reminiscing. Poor girl! But why stop there? I have years of marvellous memories, which are being daily topped up by my delicious class of 6 and 7 year olds. So my plan is thus: to write a short piece each week about my job, my class and my life.

Here is one to whet your appetite and one of my favourites: A small child, busy playing in the woodwork shop role play approached me and started prodding me with the plastic screwdriver. “I’m screwing you, Miss!”

*works behind a desk