Back to school ... back to madness.

I have been back to school now for 3 days (2 with kids). It has been, dare I say it, fun! I was extremely apprehensive about the return after the year I had last year. But I have realised that I can still teach and teach well. My class are settling well and the child who was a big problem last year has responded well and so I can only hope that continues.

My favourite moment so far has been when one child said to me:

"Miss... I actually like this class It's really good."

I could see the look of happiness and excitement on his face and I knew the classroom environment was perfect at that moment.

Classroom organisation ... most important aspect of back to school [Source]

My headteacher visited the classrooms on the first day and after speaking to the children about their work ethics for the year told them:

"You are very lucky to have Missy, if you've spoke to other children who've had her you'll know how much they enjoyed her class. You have to look after Missy too, she's very special."

This was so lovely to hear and made me feel happy. I felt like I was supported and valued by my head teacher. It was an inspiring thought.

Why thank you! [Source]

As good as the week is going, it's not to say I am not feeling tired. I can feel my body wearing down and the tiredness when waking in the morning. I am getting up on time and dressing nicely to feel better but I can already feel the slipping. I am doing all the right things though, I have meal plans and I am making lunches the day before. I am also having very early nights - for me anyway - and resting my body as much as possible. Delegating tasks? Well, we'll take it one step at a time I think.



What gets you through a long week?

To-do lists just got serious...

My life has taken quite a frantic pace as of late. I am having more responsibilities at work and this brings new challenges. The problem is that I am having to slowly adapt my lifestyle to support my health now. I worked myself into the ground through various personal issues and family loss. I am now beginning to emerge again and hopefully make it through without an burn out.

To help me I am utilising to do lists. I have tried them before and failed. I begin to make lists and get so overwhelmed by everything I have to do I stop looking at it. But, through discussion with my therapist we have decided it would be a good step to try and develop. Breaking my 'necessary' jobs into manageable parts. 

True story...[Source]

I have to do lists on my fridge for daily jobs to complete before I go to bed. Then I can wake up in the morning without anxiety over what I haven't done and decided to 'leave until the morning'. Whenever I leave things to the morning I can guarantee I will wish I'd done it the night before. Now that stress and anxiety over little things has gone.

Work however is a different matter. I have work coming out of my ears it feels so trying to narrow down what is necessary and unnecessary is proving more difficult. I have turned to my to do list template to try and help me focus and choose ACHIEVABLE goals for how many I will complete from list.

It is going to take some time but I am serious about this - I know I need to try and get my work/life balance in order and I think this could help me. I currently have 2 'To do lists'. One for my daily school jobs and another for all the sports obs which are specific to my coordinator's role in the school. 

My current sports to do list ... work in progress.

I am trying to cut everything down to only what is needed. I actually stopped myself from doing something today as I deemed it was 'uneccesary' - I praised myself as this is not something I do well. I am hoping this is the start of my getting my life more balanced. I can only but try!

What tips to you have for organising daily jobs?

Weekend off...

I had a rare treat this weekend, I did not have any school work to do. Yes I had work to do but I decided Friday that I would not bring any back with me. I can't recall a weekend free of work - one of the downsides of being a teacher.

Oh so true...  [Source]

With my whole weekend ahead of me I had options for once. As I am moving into my new home very soon, I thought I had best get shopping and actually buying items for it. To say I have been a bit lax with the whole furniture thing is an understatement. So I headed off to my favourite place - Ikea.

But, Ikea on a Saturday? I have lessons to learn. Not only was the car park congested (more gates had to be open to help) but the store itself was just crazy. For once I actually did not enjoy my time there. How was I supposed to pretend living rooms and bedrooms were mine when an army of people kept walking in? So I gave up before I had a breakdown in the wardrobe area - I am too young for that. 

Seriously.. Get out of my bedroom(s)

I then left and headed over to shops to look at home ware items. Unfortunately I didn't have much luck there. I became rather overwhelmed by all the pots, pans, kettles, toasters, place mats, cutlery and so on. For fear of another meltdown due to overwhelming amount of home ware I decided to do what I do best and that was head to clothing store.

Now this is what I am good at - shopping! I managed to pick up quite the bargain too. I found a lovely blazer in H&M which is a bit of a drastic step away from my usual look. A blazer I know is not too different and I am married to mine in the warmer months here in the UK, however, this blazer was bright pink. I paired it with a Topshop dress and it looked pretty good if I do say so myself.

Sleeves rolled up above wrists, unbuttoned over a LBD - Hello Saturday night! [Source]

It was also a big night on Saturday. It was my first night out since New Year's Eve. I figured it was time to try getting out after all the illnesses have struck me and I had a great time. I drank and danced the night away with one of my best friends Miss Hair. She is a great laugh and knows exactly how to cheer me up. The music was great which helped the night along.

My Sunday was a quieter affair with another trip to Ikea (still busy but a little less manic) and eventually ordering my wardrobe. I then had the option of picking my items or paying £20 for Ikea to do so. Me being me I decided that £20 was an insane price to pay for my wardrobe boxes to be picked so me and my Mam went off on our merry way. By the time I had reached the checkout I was aching slightly but there was no way it was £20 worth of ache. I may be little but I'm tough - take that Ikea!

Let's hope when I come to build it, it still looks like this... [Source]

How was your weekend? What was your fvourite part?

Blog Hop Time

Teachers get long holidays...

Today, as a teacher on Easter break, according to many I would have had a  long lie in, went to do some shopping, had a long lunch with a friend and generally be all round lazy. As many people presume, teachers watch kids play, occasionally teach them how to read a word, watch them play outside, and then get lovely long holidays where we do nothing. Right? Wrong!!

Oh how I wish the above was true. It would be a lot less stressful if it were. I am sure the fellow teachers will agree that they now just smile and nod politely when they get... "But you get those long holidays!" Yes we do and for that I am extremely grateful and I do have days where I will do nothing but others are generally spent doing at least some work.

Today I went into school, yes...there were no kids but I was there (along with 6 others) working away. In some ways it may seem pretty sad but in fact, I managed to get quite a bit done. Being sports coordinator I have lots of responsibilities which kinda take a back seat at the end of term..not today!!! I had a display which was unfinished...not now! I had papers to be sorted and chucked out... done!! Marking to be done...err I wasn't THAT motivated.I will be back tomorrow morning (last time of the break I am sure) to finish that task!

I'm aiming to get a list of work sorted (and hopefully get ahead of myself for next term...keep your fingers crossed that my concentration lasts long enough) then I can have the fun which people assume us teachers have.

I hope you other teachers manage to get SOME kind of a break this Easter!Re-charge...it's the final stretch when we return!

I just wanted to share a couple of my pretty displays (With such small boards there is only so much I can do unfortunately...but they look nice anyway!)

Fairytale fun!

Fantastic Fox reports...

4 days and counting...

I am in my final week of school before the two week Easter break and boy do I need it?! I finished reports today and I'm now moving onto assessments. It seems at the moment that something which should take half an hour seems to take 3 times as long and I'm now feeling extremely worn... it's not helping that today I was up at 6.30am working as couldn't keep working at 1 this morning. I actually totaled up my hours work last week and came up with the ridiculous amount of :  68 hours!!!!! 

This is including working through my lunch break, working up until bed and then I accompanied some older kids to a swimming gala on the Friday night and didn't get home till after 9pm!!

I know you're wondering what my secret is to keeping going...I don't know though! When I look at it from an outside view I just have no idea how I or any of my teacher friends manage it?! I wonder if teachers are superheros develop this ability to not need sleep or food the last couple of weeks of term in order to get through assessment weeks (as well as the ability to ignore loud noise). Now I have 4 days left, I can feel my body slowing down wanting to sleep. However, I don't listen to such nonsense and keep on going.

As treat today I was a bit naughty and went to McDonalds drive through after work. I know it's not good for you but sometimes it's all you need. However, the weather then seemed to mirror my feelings: it was bright sunshine but a heavy rain shower at the same time. It's like not even the weather can feel properly happy! However, it did provide me with the following photo which I just love!

It's a rainbow!!!! :-)

So pretty...

I am well aware that this post is a little all over the place...blame the sleep deprivation! I can't keep thoughts on one track on a good day let alone when I'm feeling shattered.

Hope you have all had a good start to the week!

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 :-)

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!!

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...

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!

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!

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?

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!!!

My life...

I was frantically ticking and stamping while marking at school today and thought about how much time I spend in my classroom. It's funny because as stressful as my job is, my classroom feels so peaceful. When I'm in school and feel stressed, I can just go to my room and potter around and it calms me. I think I actually love it! I thought I would share my world with you. 

My Classroom

View as you enter...notice all the tables- and that's not even all of them!

Front of class- you'll have to excuse my messy desk!! It serves as a dumping ground as the day progresses!

More displays and brightness (plus the ever moving whiteboard haha!)!

 

 

It's all so bright and I can't help but smile when I look at all the work :-) I think it kinda reflects my personality all the displays and they way they are all arranged. I even have a pink class notice board!!

It's the little things...

Sometimes, it's the little things which matter. I've been rushing around so much the last month and still haven't managed to catch my tail.However, one of my kids made me smile today... she came in and gave me a little present.

Cute or what?!

There is nothing nicer than a homemade gift from kids. It really shows that they respect and like you as they have taken time out of their own night to make something for you. For some this may just look like a little laminated card but to me it made me smile and gave me that extra boost when I feel like giving up. I am so lucky that in my job you can be having the worst day ever then a child says something funny or is thoughtful and makes you just smile :-)

That Thursday feeling...

I know you're all sitting thinking... ah that popular saying, 'That Thursday feeling...'. I joke, you're probably wondering what on earth I'm on about. This however, seems to be something which is happening every week. Since going back to work after Christmas, my weeks just seem to go so slow!! Whenever it hits Thursday, it feels like Friday. Why? Why? Why? 

I started getting a bad tension headache about 11 today and it just continued ALL day! All I wanted to do was leave school and head out for a massage!! Unfortunately I think leaving my kids alone in the classroom all day is kinda frowned upon?! So I just put up with it and spent my lunch break rubbing my shoulders and trying to feel better. When the kids left, I sat and marked 120 books!!!!! It was tick, tick, stamp, tick and comment. I felt like I had developed RSI after them all. I then decided I was going to go home... As I was walking out I got hit by the Thursday feeling again!! I had this overwhelming feeling of tiredness and thought it was Friday. Not a happy bunny at all when a split second later I realised "Aw man it's Thursday!"

So with that I trundled home, gorged on chocolate and was very British with my cup of tea. How do I feel now? Tired, worn out, headachey and tight in my neck. I just want to be stretched out completely! It's not helping that I have my injured knee stopping me from doing any exercise so no yoga, dancing or running. That means I feel like this tight knot of stressful energy now. 

Now I just have to work hard, through the tiredness and hope that I can meet my weekly Project: Do Me goal of finishing work before 9 to relax. 

Hope everyone is getting on well with their Project: Do Me list. Follow link below to find out what it is all about.

One day left till the weekend guys...keep going :-)

When I grow up..

Today I was working with one of the groups in my class and a disagreement broke out. I went over to see what was the matter and was confronted with two very angry boys and one, who looked rather worried and upset, said:

“Miss.... D said that Superboys aren’t real but I reall am going to be one when I grow up!!”

With great power comes great responsibilty....

The other child then proceeded to complain that he couldn’t because superheroes aren’t real. Talk about getting your dreams crushed!! Poor kid! It took me back to when I was younger when all I ever wanted to be was an ice skater. I don’t know why because it’s not like I skated a lot. I then remember a phase when I wanted to be a tennis player but realised that, at 5’3”, I was far too short and since I could barely see over the net that it wasn’t going to happen. The same for air stewardess and model. Seriously...height is a pain when choosing a career haha!! 

Then Miss Twin chatted about being a teacher and I thought, “Hmmm, why don’t I do that too?” So I did and I absolutely love it. It’s such a special job educating children and supporting them to understand the world. In their eyes it’s all black or white and there are no grey areas. Take the ‘super hero’ talk. Yes there are no Spiderman, Superman etc but there are firemen, policemen, soldiers etc who all risk their lives and are heroes for putting their life at risk. 

That naivity is so cute and now I wouldn’t want to change my job for the world. I feel very fortunate to be able to make some people’s lives that little bit brighter. Oh and Miss Twin... she went into property haha!!

What did you want to be when you were growing up? Are you that now?

*photo from stock.xchg

Your favourite shape...

Back to work today and it sure was a shock to the system! Don’t get me wrong- I do love my school holidays however sometimes they are more harm than good. You get into a routine and then BAM it’s the holidays and you get the luxury of lie ins and mid week drinking (No I’m not an alcoholic...yet!). As lovely as this is when you go back to work it’s a right come down. I promised I’d start having early nights and early mornings to get back into the routine and then as always more interesting things got in the way and I couldn’t sleep last night. Well. I paid for it today- exhausted now and made even worse by the constant amount of work. I think it’s time I should try working to live not living to work. On that note... I will end my ramblings early as shattered and will no doubt find nothing else interesting to go on about. I will leave you with a quote from one of my class today:

“My favourite shape is a circle...because...because...err... it’s the shape of a head.” 

Hmmm...very head like lol!!

 Bless him- how sweet. It got me thinking though...What is my favourite shape? It’s the first time a kid has ever asked it. Threw me a little hahah! That’s not hard to do when you work with kids. 

My favourite shape is what my class call ‘a love heart’ because it represents an important part of life...love! Also, of course it keeps us alive which is pretty special too!

Love

Do you have one?