Smiles...

Tonight I had the pleasure of Miss Faux Fur's company. As she has been away it was the first time we've had to properly chat and see each other in a while. We talked about a lot of things... things which confuse us, things which upset us, things that are a little crazy and things that just weren't meant to happen to us or people we know. How can this post be smiles if we've just talked about things which we're finding rough? Well, we managed to laugh at ourselves, the situations and just generally find happiness in things we really shouldn't. If you can try and find happiness and make your friends happy then things, for a brief moment, don't look so bad. After all, that's what friends are for.

How very grown up of us ...

You know you're a teacher when...

Even though teaching is my career, I feel it has slowly started to creep into my private life to the point of near whole control. Every now and again I reach this point and realise that actually it's not the be all and end all. Changes are starting to be made. It did make me think about what it means to be a teacher- as much as I try and push it out of my personal life I know there will always be a bond between the two. This inspired a list from me:

You know you're a teacher when..

1.You give 'the look' to a kid misbehaving in public and resist the urge to tell them you're disappointed with their behaviour.

2.You get excited by stationary and nice coloured files.

3.You need a pen and can only find red ones.

4.You have a variety of highlighters, felt tips, pens, pencils in your handbag.

5.Your hand bag contains lots of things you will never need in 'real life'. (In mine you will find plastic money and ELC money notes haha)

8. Asked to spell anything yo automatically responded phonetically.

9. You expect everyone in a group to look at you and listen when you talk. 

10.You will correct writing of those around you without thinking (Sorry Miss Faux Fur- I know you have been on the receiving end of this haha).

11.You can't go to a local supermarket without hearing, "Hi Miss!!"

12.You can eat your dinner, mark books and make a phone call ...all at once.

13.You say "Oh goodness/gosh/sugar..." when something bad happens. 

14.You have a list of names you will never call your own children because they are 'naughty names'.

15.You know at least 5 different ways to complete calculations without using a calculator.

16.You get excited about stickers as much as the kids.

17.You like to laminate everything.

18.You are able to ignore noise and pretend like there is nothing there.

19.You often think, "Ooo I wonder if the kids would like this," when out shopping. 

20. You can find a use for nearly anything.

I am sure there are a lot more and if you're a teacher and reading this, I would love to hear what you would add.

To finish this post I would like to share the work from one of my 8 year olds last week. It was a chracter profile for his own alternative traditional tale (the Gingerbread Girl ate the fox if you must know). Brilliant!

I wouldn't mind her in my gang :-)

Take a break...

Today has been a long day and I left school on a bit of a low. I was observed today which went well and my kids did me proud. I took a risk and decided to do a lesson based on Drama which is not your usual go to topic when being watched but I feel I have enough control on the kids to do it and they were fine. I know there were a few parts which if I were to do again I would tweak but overall fine. You may be wondering why I felt so down? Well it seemed to be a day where I felt a bit wore down by lots of little things which inevitably mounted to a massive feeling of stress.

This lesson made me feel extremely nervous beforehand. I teach everyday and have been observed on many occasions but today just seems to have got to me more than usual. My school at the moment is feeling slightly negative and I think the stresses of everyday routine their is starting to get to me. As much as I love my job I feel like it is starting to make me miserable. The whole aura in the school just feels very off.

I brought work home tonight and by the time I'd been home for 5 minutes and had a catch up with Miss Faux Fur I decided I needed to have a night off. When you feel yourself on a bit of a downward spiral, it is really hard to take a moment and say... I need a break but I did tonight. I've ate my tea at a normal hour, had a nap and I am planning an earlier night than usual. Hopefully this can help pull me back from feeling so miserable and stressed. Teaching- I love it but sometimes it just knows how to kick me when I'm down!

I am going to leave you with a little snippet from one of my little ones today;

"Miss, I feel taller when I stand up on my feet."

Child genius or what?!

Feature me...

I was happy as can be to see lots of comments today and that was all down to:

Yes...For The Love of Blogs featured me today :-) ----Note the nose in the smiley face ;-)

I was extremely excited to see my little button pop up on my blog reading list. I have to say I was a bit confused at first but then I actually read the post properly and it clicked. I was even more happy when I followed the link to:

It is my post, all about me, talking all about my blog which I love!! Thank you For The Love of Blogs for making my day!! I now get to display this:

Happy Monday all and thank you for your great comments!!

Blog post with a difference...

 

There goes the fear...

I know 2 posts in one day is excessive but I just remembered this band which I have seen so many times live and forgot the amazingness of their music. Just want to share, they're called Doves:

There Goes The Fear

A cover but a great one!

The Cedar Room

Black and White Town

MRI Scan- oh no....

I got date etc for my MRI scan today to try and figure out the problem with my knee. It's now been nearly 4 months and it's getting frustrating now. I wasn't too bothered about the whole scan thing...until today. I read the leaflet explaining it and it did not match up to the idea in my head. I assumed a little scanner would be on my leg and be in the place 5 minutes. Nope.

Here are some highlights from the information:

"You may like to bring something to read = You're appointment WILL be late."

From this paragraph I have concluded that:

- My scan will NOT be on time. 

- I should maybe take a dressing gown. 

- I should also bring a CD. 

I might as well take an overnight bag what with my light reading, gown, cd etc.

Other parts which stood out (and not in an amusing way- except the metal question) were:

"Please do not wear make-up."

I am going to say I'm ok to defy that as they are not scanning my face!?I'm going straight from school in the afternoon so will obviously not be make-up less. Hmm maybe cleansing wipes will have to go in MRI scan bag too just in case.

"You will be asked if you have any metal objects on you or in you."

Don't you love this routine question? I've been asked it on a regular occurrence the past month with all my appointments.

"You will hear various loud tapping noises while the scanner is collecting information- do not worry, this is the machine operating normally."

Arghhh!! I don't like that. CD it is then!

"A scan will take 30 minutes."

Factor into the wait I will inevitably have when I get there this is gonna take ages. I am so impatient and fussy. I'm really gonna struggle to lie for 30 mins with clanking noises and not want to get up.

As you can tell I am highly looking forward dreading this little jaunt!! I don't like things I don't know about. I am sure to update you all on my progress!

You look too young...

If only I had a £1 for every time I heard this!! Whenever I say I am a teacher, people look me up and down and reply, "Really? You look far too young..." I am obviously grateful for looking young but sometimes I feel like it lets me down a bit. Whether it be parents who look at me and think I am not able to do my job or people who I meet in business who initially judge me as being young and inexperienced. 

After 4 years of being in the job I am finally finding my professional feet and being able to work through problems confidently. Yes, I have enjoyed teaching and know what to do but I am now starting to feel able to carry the extra responsibilities which I have been given.

Would I age by 10 years though to be taken seriously? No way!!! At the end of the day, I do my job and very soon people realise that I am not young, silly, inexperienced or rubbish at my job. On the plus side I can still get a sneaky student discount every now and again haha!! As soon as people stop thinking I'm 19 and not 25, then I will stop!!

Do you want the truth or something beautiful?

Well...any thoughts? It's something we deal with day in day out. We ask questions to which we expect answers. Sometimes we like those answers, sometimes we don't and other times we just don't care. I was listening to a brilliant artist today called Paloma Faith and this song is one of my favourites:

It made me think hard about whether I do want the truth? I'll hold my hand up and say that there have been many a times I have asked questions and not got the answer I wanted. Sometimes I just think, "Oh well..." and others I realised I think, "Aw man...why did they have to tell the truth."

As many of you out there will agree with, sometimes 'something beautiful' is exactly what you need to hear. My life recently has been a bit all over the place and I sometimes think I would rather 1. Not know certain things or 2. Have had things spun into something which didn't upset me.

In school I tell kids not to lie and to always tell the truth but surely there are times when you are allowed, if not encouraged to lie:

-Does my bum look big in this?

-Have I put on weight?

-Do you like my new haircut?

-I love this dress...what do you think?

I could go on and on but you get the idea. Above are just a few questions where peoples feelings may affect answers. I know that some people will say you should never lie. However, I think if you're sensible and you're able to spin 'something beautiful' which doesn't put the person at a disadvantage or withhold important information but instead will make someone happy/smile then I say maybe a little dressing up of answers to questions is needed once in a while.

At my lowest point, when asking questions which may have came with tough answers, people have talked it up a little and that resulted in me feeling better about myself and the situation itself. For this I am grateful, my friends saw that I was at a low point and instead of living by 'tell the truth' they managed the situation and were able to make me feel better. After all that is what we want - to feel good and happy. If you can do that without problem then do it. If people are like me they will be thankful for it!

I mean lets not forget about one of the biggest 'beautiful' answers to a question: " Yes, Santa lives in the North Pole and will get your letter!! Keep an eye out as I am sure he'll write back!"

Before I go, just need to say a 'Bon Voyage' to Miss Faux Fur who is off for a mini break in Paris. Have fun!

How about you: Ever beautified something which you feel helped someone?

The wrong job...

This is definitely a question I have asked myself the past few months. Should I have choose teaching as a career? I know the answer will always be yes- sometimes it takes a while to get there but deep down I feel very privileged to have such an important role in so many peoples lives. I remember my teachers even now and they still inspire me.

However, it seems to be one thing after another at my place with so little thanks. Only today we had another message mid lesson asking for documents, books, planning etc in a day. When I trained I was so excited to venture into the world of teaching. It seemed like the perfect way to help shape the lives and help children. So many that I see have great home lives however just as many have not such a great time. They need support and guidance and as teachers we can give them that.

As the time goes by I feel the education system is putting so much more focus on assessment , planning etc etc that we have less time to focus on supporting the children and helping them develop as people. Today I could just feel my stress level rising and rising. By the end of the afternoon I just felt exhausted and was pleased to have some quiet when the kids went.

Since I'm on a course all day tomorrow I will not be in school which will be great. As much as I will miss the kids I feel some time away from that environment, networking with other education staff will be just what we need. 

Thought I'd share my work which I have brought home tonight...58 books to mark and planning file to keep updated. *Yawn*

Tick, tick, tick...

Lazy Sunday Post...

Ahh Sunday...the slow day! It's also comment love day on For The Love of Blogs. My favourite bog hop day!!

First of all, I thought I should say 'Hey' to Miss Faux Fur!!! I let my real life BFF (Yes I know I sound like I'm in the early noughties but I'm just cool like that) into my secret of blogging. She was very excited and I may even allow her to guest blog for me?! You will all be very lucky if I do as she's pretty awesome!

As it's Sunday, its time for a lazy post:

My nails- My treat on Friday to cheer myself up! It took so long but was definitely worth it.

I think they say 'STAY AWAY...come closer' don't you think?

Song- I have rediscovered my love for this band this week:

Another fear- The green iced cake which my friend made. It looks like a spider and I ashamedly couldn't even touch the thing:

Arrrrrgggggghhhhhh SPIDER CAKE!!!

There's my lazy post of pictures and music. After all, how can the epicness of a post about BSB be bettered? It can't!

Publish Post

Happy Sunday!

My fever...

After a bit of a bad day yesterday (it sucks finding out news which you people think you wont find out) I had a day away from blogging as it would have been a rather glum post. Any cheering up would be appreciated by the way?! During the week, on of my favourite bloggers, Hockey Wife, posted something about Bieber Fever after taking her little one to see the film and encouraged us to think of our own 'Fever' from childhood. I was inspired to write a post on mine;

1999...12 years old...the beginning of my induction into boy band fever. Having grown up with 4 brothers, I was well versed in the music of Nirvana. I was even able to sing along to many of their tracks. But when it hit 1999, everything changed!

Yes, the millennium was on its way, there was a bug which was going to destroy all computers but it was The Backstreet Boys (and their Millenium album) which changed my life. Now I know they had been around for some time but, as I said, I was Nirvana and rock. I remember, going to my local supermarket and buy their album (my first ever) and never looking back.

 

What followed was the transformation of my childhood into a teenager. I suddenly had a favourite boyband member, a song which I would imagine was being sung to me and an album which would be on repeat. I began to buy their ‘back catalogue’ and became obsessed in a way in which only teenage girls can about boy bands. I had my favourite- Nick if you must know.

I think he needs to be on my ‘list’...

 Why? Well, his hair was amazing, his voice was outstanding and he was just a typical young American kid. I just adored him. Me and my friend would spend our time practising our autographs signatures with his surname and imagining our life Florida- not both of us obviously. That was another bone of contention- who would get him?! Obviously that would be me of course! A favourite of mine was my video (yep- VHS people!) which was a compilation of all their TV shows they did at that time.

 

I had pictures from magazines plastering the wall of my computer room. That room will now be forever known as ‘The Shrine’. What I haven’t told you yet is that I have a twin. She was a Westlife fanatic- she loved Shane and plastered her side of the wall in Westlife memorabilia. So you can just imagine the amazingness of that room?! I often dabbled in Westlife but would always come back to the good stuff- The Backstreet Boys.

After a rummage I found my ‘BSB Folder’. Just a few of the delights inside!

My biggest regret is that I didn’t get to see them live back in the day. However, only last year did myself, Miss Twin, Miss GG and Miss Faux Fur relive our youth when we FINALLY got to see them perform. I am not ashamed to say that I regressed in years to a screaming, bouncy 16 year old girl who cheered and sang like there was no tomorrow.

My phone shot of the BSB- not clear but it totally means the world!

That’s my fever and guess what? It’s still here, slightly dormant but every now and again when my iTunes randomly throws up a BSB track I enjoy a good sing along and I am transported back to a time of worrying if I had enough money for the next single which would be released and which poster to remove for my new one. 

What was yours?  

Check out Hockey Wife if you want to see her follow up post: 

 

Work, work, work...

All I do is work lately. Planning, assessment, marking and making resources. When I am not working I do try and have a life but sometimes I am just so tired and went to spend all day in bed (I don't obviously as I would be judged to be lazy- bad times).

I am therefore having a short blog tonight, as you guessed it- I have a lot of work!!We have been asked to day to have lots of things ready for tomorrow and the person I work with (teaches the other class) is out to the theatre which was planned for ages. Therefore it comes down to me. To keep my mood up, I have turned to music. I'd like to share a song which I love and gets me singing along :-) I just love when iTunes is on random, it throws up some songs which I forgot about: this one included!

A new fear...

I am the type of person to have lots of silly fears:
 

- crumpets

- green crisps

- shrimps

They are just a few. However, I unwittingly discovered another today whilst browsing images for my class lesson on fruit felt collage. I absentmindedly typed 'fruit art' into google images and what came up scared me. It made me feel slightly sick and I couldn't really look at it. Here are some of the images I was confronted with (I hate these being on my blog but I feel I need to share the crazy world of 'fruit art'). 

Argh!!!!!!!!!!

This frightens me...

Both of the above make me feel slightly nauseous and freak me out. However, the one which trumps them is:

Oh the horror!!

I mean... do we really need people made from fruit? Am I the only one who this terrifies?!

What about you? Any weird and unexplainable things which scare you?

An apple a day...

First of all thank you to all my new followers! I have passed the 50 mark!! Glad you enjoy the blog!

I have came home today with A LOT of work to do and it feels like I have even more 'work' on my shoulders. For that reason I will be making this a short but sweet post. Then I am off to do some work and order pizza (yes- I'm in one of those moods! Take away pizza night!).

I want to share an image with you all. It was a gift from one of my kids today. She came up to me and said, "Miss...I know you don't normally get given things like this but I thought it would be nice for you..."

Then she handed me this:

How very Twilight....

I don't know about you but I thought the days of giving teachers an apple had long gone. I was pleasantly surprised at how sweet this was. It made my day.

Hope you all had a good start to the week!

Sunday...

Another Sunday is here... this year is just flying by!!! I thought I would let you all get to know me a bit better today! Last week I had random items in my bag etc but today I will share random things about me...

* I can waste hours just browsing the Internet when I should be doing work.

* I love The Notebook and would love a notebook kind of love!

* I sometimes like to just have a night all by myself with my favourite chocolate, drink and a good film. Me anti-social? Nooooo!!! Well, sometime...

* I am obsessed with fashion; shoes, bags, dresses, tops, jeans...yes please!

* I use the sentence, "I'm fine..." far too much when I'm not.

* I'm petite and like being enveloped in a hug. I feel protected and safe (even though I claim I'm fine and ok haha!)!

* I use waaayyy too many ! in my writing. I don't know why, I just do!

*I hate waiting for people who are late but have no concept of time myself.

* I love going on a holiday where I can be so lazy and just lie in the sun all day and feel warm and cosy.

Miami Beach sunrise.... I love that place!

There's a lot more to know but just thought I'd share some random facts since it's Sunday and my brain isn't in gear to do a whole written post! 

Have a great Sunday!

Head over to For The Love of Blogs for some comment fun!

Change of plan...

Well, I made it to the end of another week without taking a day off for my knee! I fell rather proud of myself- just so you all know ;-)

Today is Fab Friends day on For The Love of Blogs and I straight away thought to how my Friday night is going to be spent. It will be with friends but for very different reasons. I'm seeing an old school friend- Miss Purple, for a catch up tonight. After that I have slightly changed my plans a bit. I had planned to come home and just you know, crash out. Don't judge me! I know it's a Friday night, Party night...whatever you want to call it but all I want to do is watch chatshow tv with chocolate and sleep. I'm 25 now...I'm getting old!?!

However, I like to help people and make them happy. Possibly why I went into teaching maybe? Anyway, since arriving back from my travels Miss Faux Fur has been going through some pretty bad times. I am trying so hard to help her and talk to her. The thing is though and I feel awful for saying this, but it's just so difficult as it brings a lot of memories back to me which I thought I'd managed to forget about pretend they aren't there. Every time we've talked I am so happy that I've made her smile and hopefully see things clearer but on the other hand I just have this great sense of blah. 

I really feel like a truly awful friend... She's going through so much and all I can think of is me?! I know she has no idea and I almost don't want her to as I'm the only one she can talk to and if she thinks it's upsetting me she will just stew away in her own thoughts. Today she text asking if I was free as she needed a chat and obviously, as you know, I changed my plans to go and see her and help her. I suppose I should be honest with her in as much as she is with me. I think that she would be upset to think I'd kept this to myself. 

I thought I'd share a quote for the day:

"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." -- Bernard Meltzer.

Anyway - If you're here via the blog hop I want to share some of my favourite Blog friends for you to check out. See...I'm very helpful :-)

My Lucha Libre Life- So funny and all about his 'secret life' in Mexico! Enjoy!

Travel Babbles- Life, randomness and currently VLOG world for Lent! Good luck!

A Day in the life of a Hockey Wife- Ups, downs, packing and everything else that comes with the hockey world! 

 Tales of a Hockey Wife- Not just hockey based. She is fantastic and talks about life like it is (through the medium of hockey masked pictures :-) )!

A day in the life of a German Girl- Great writer, funny and definitly a great blogger friend! We're pretty much on the same page about everything!

Hope you enjoy them as much as me!

Tee off...

Birdie! Eagle! Fore!!! 

Yep...Get me- I know some golf stuff haha!! All I knew about golf was from the Wii and that hockey players enjoy it- I didn't know if he was any good but he liked it haha! After work I attended an after school teachers course to deliver golf to the kids. We looked at how to make it fun, develop skills and change difficultness. The teachers there all had to take part and it was exactly what the kids would do. I know why kids love PE lessons so much!! They get to talk to friends, play sports and also do something new.

Peace and quiet?

It has given me quite a taste for the sport though. I don't like watching it but the idea of playing it seems fun. It takes so much concentration but in a good way! Maybe once I get my knee sorted it could be something I would look into.Always looking for new things. I can't imagine it would be too bad for my knee either!

Any other golf fans?

Fairytales...

"Don't worry...I'll save you from the wicked witch my dear Princess..."

"No, it's ok, I'll sort it out. I can kill the evil witch by myself..."

Yea, so not exactly catchy is it? But that is how modern day life plays out. I'm studying fairy tales with my class at the moment (yes - my ideas always come from school but I'm there like every day so let me off please :-) )and we have been looking at all the features of fairy tales and the characters in them. Obviously the girls all love the Princess and the boys love the Prince - purely because he gets to fight with a sword. You can visibly see the little girls' eyes light up when they explain how the Prince rescues the Princess. I even found myself thinking rather fondly about watching Sleeping Beauty and seeing Princess Aurora being rescued.

In real life though, there is generally never a damsel in distress, being rescued by a dashing Prince. I know it's incomparable as there are also no fire breathing or talking animals but you get the idea. While I thought about how there are never many damsel in distress moments in real life it also occurred to me that many woman these days wouldn't even let that be an option. These days, woman are a lot more independent and like to do things for themselves. Years ago when fairy tales were written, woman were still pretty much seen as the lesser sex who were only able to cook, clean and have kids. These days things have changed (in most cases).

Maybe these woman who hope for the moment they are 'rescued' from something bad in their life need to let themselves be a little more vulnerable. Maybe instead of thinking, "It's fine. I can do it," they may actually accept help and support. Then maybe that Prince Charming they are after will come to them.

Now before you go thinking that I'm advocating woman returning to relying on men and not doing anything for themselves- I'm not. I'm just saying maybe woman (and men too) should be slightly more willing to let down that mask of 'I'm fine' and sometimes just say, 'Yea, a little rescuing would be good.' It's not going to make you look lesser, it just lessens the burden!

So next time your being chased by a fire breathing dragon and your fairy godmother is nowhere to be seen and your friendly mouse is telling you that things are bad....accept the help from the Prince. You never know, it may turn into a fairytale...or he could be a jerk haha!! You never know- maybe that's why there weren't many fairytale sequels ;)

Did you have a favourite?

Image sources

A long day...

What a day!! I left for work at 8am.

After, numerous cups of green tea, a couple of painkillers, 3 ice packs, 5 lessons taught, 60 books marked and 12 hours later I made it home.

Today was the day which all teachers dread (except the 1st day back after every holiday and report deadline day)... it was Parent's Evening. Ahh parents evening, so many ups and downs.

If you have a 'good' kid you find parents either:

a- Sit looking a little embarrassed (in a good way) and proud of how well their child is doing.

b- Sit and plead ignorance at how good their child is and make you wax lyrical about how fabulous their child is.

If you have a 'bad' kid you find parents:

a- Are completely unaware of the behaviour issues and blame some other child.

b- Really don't care that much.

c- Begin to say how hard it is too at home.

d- Back you up 100% on anything to do with rewards/sanctions etc.

It's a lottery and so far in my teaching career I have won. I have had both 'good' and 'bad' kids but luckily have always got along well with the parents. I think that makes all the difference as that link is so essential. If the child is mis-behaving, having that home teacher contact is a great incentive for the child as they know information doesn't stop at the school gate. The current class I have at the moment were extremely boisterous and feisty when I got them but I have since managed to calm them right down and some of the more rough kids are becoming respectful and understanding of right and wrong. This obviously makes parents evening easier.

However, talking from 3.30 till about 7.20 without a break to a carousel of parents, after a full days teaching is draining. Lots of sleep today and then back to the grind tomorrow!

I am going to leave you all with my treat for such a long day:

Cadbury Creme Egg...so, so nice!!!

Stylish...

I have had such a long day today and my knee is definitely not showing any signs of improvement! I could barely walk on it and had to teach my after school hockey class sitting down! Luckily the kids are very well behaved and know exactly how to set the hall up now. I know... I'm a lucky teacher!! I then made last minute plans to see my friend for tea and gossip. I was feeling much better and then I read my comments to find I'd been given the Most Stylish Blogger award from a very good blogging friend Rebecca whose own blog is pretty fab!

Thank you!!!

Now with great awards comes great awards, come great responsibilities!!Therefore I will now follow the rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person that awarded this to you.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Award 4 recently discovered great bloggers.

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.

 
7 Random things about me:

- I only drink Vodka or Bacardi Razz...unless I'm drunk...then I have been known to drink beer and whiskey shots!

- People think they know me and can read me but they have no idea. Only my closest friend knows the real me.

- I talk a lot as I find silences uncomfortable.

- I am a beauty junkie!

- I ALWAYS have to have breakfast even if I'm running very late (unless I am hungover then it's just a cup of tea).

- I can't handle being cold if I'm sitting in the house/a room. I begin to get hypothermia symptoms- tiredness, paleness, making no sense etc.

- I love to travel but I'm always a little scared when I first arrive somewhere new.

There are many more but I shall save them for another time. You can't give everything away all at once!

Anyway, here are my 4 nominations for stylish blogger (As Rebecca has done- I too have cut the number to 4 and cheated a little.. don't tell):

KY - Travel Babbles (I love this blog: Very inspirational!)

A day in the Life of a Hockey Wife (My first blog friend :-): Again, such a real blog, it's brilliant!)

99 Lives- A fellow teacher so obviously great!

Tales of a Hockey Wife - Definitely one of the most entertaining blogs I read!