Half Term round up

The Battle between relaxation and guilt

Well I managed to go out on a drive through the beautiful Berkshire countryside on Monday to make the most of a lovely day - the leaves in Windsor great park were stunning.

But other than that - well I did try to switch off.  Really I did.  And I enjoyed reading Labyrinth as part of the relaxation (and also discovering in the process of finding that link that there is a book about the goblins from the film Labyrinth!) However, I also rediscovered that actually I find books about education much more relaxing than novels as I end up completely caught up in a novel as if I've gone through the whole experience myself!

So now it's Saturday and I'm working.  And I will be working tomorrow. Might it have been better to work through last weekend so that I could just rest now?  Possibly.  However I really needed to stop last weekend.  And the advantage of leaving the work until now is that I only have two days to do it. If I had started last Saturday then I could have continued working through the rest of the week.

But I managed to not feel guilty as I rested - so that was definitely one of the main aims of the week managed.  And I do feel more motivated and ready to enjoy the half term leading up to Christmas.

After all, that's the main reason why I know that I need holidays - to recharge in order to start again with the energy levels that are essential to making a difference in school.

Time to stop

Welcome to Half Term!

Looking at the posts of other UK teachers on Twitter and Facebook, clearly this half term holiday is well overdue for many of us.  And it's time to stop.  Well earned time to stop.

So I'm stopping.  Sort of.  I've not brought any work home with me, so that it isn't sitting in my office making me feel guilty when I try to relax. But I have no wish to stop entirely; already I have been tinkering with new ideas on our learning platform and leaving messages for individual pupils to congratulate them on specific achievements over the past couple of months.  I have also enjoyed the few hours I've already been able to catch up with my PLN on Twitter.

However, the ease of CPD in the Twittersphere is going to require some self discipline.  I know that I do need some time to completely switch off from my role as I know that's essential for me to be at my best when I start again.  So I'm going to try a couple of days: perhaps tomorrow and Tuesday.  No Twitter, no Learning Platform, no opening any of the ridiculous number of books on teaching, learning, attachment disorders and other work related writings I've purchased from Amazon so far this term.

Worryingly I'm not sure what I'll do instead...  But there's always the gym, or the past three months of ironing!

Wish me luck!

Flying through an open door

The battle at the edge of the comfort zone

Three years ago, our Headteacher started the new school year by sharing a story with the staff about a fly and a window.  The premise of the story was a fly that kept crashing into a window many times when attempting to escape from a room.  Never does the fly turn around and fly out of the open door. 

I work in a fantastic school with the most committed colleagues, and we do well for our children, but if we want to do even better we need to find new ways of doing things, rather than just repeating the same ones and expecting different results.  This was the message she wanted everyone to take away.

That story has always stayed with me.  I like to do things differently, I have a low boredom threshold and crave new experiences to feel fulfilled; but I have several colleagues (and friends) that find change stressful - they don't get the same kick out of it as I do.  And sometimes, I get too hooked up in the changes and don't have time to fully reflect on their impact on my children.

I've read many blog posts and tweets over the past few weeks along the lines of 'try something new each week' and also about looking for completely different ways of doing things (such as having less chairs than children - sorry, can't remember whose that was!).  I like the fact that some of these new ideas people are hoping to try out don't have an ICT focus.

So I'm jumping on the bandwagon.  This term I will be trying out one new idea that's out of my comfort zone.  Something that I wouldn't naturally think of doing.  I think next week that one thing may well be teaching Y3 for the first time - I'm feeling pretty out of my comfort zone already!

But as well as trying out an idea, I'm going to really think about WHY I'm trying the idea; how I hope it will improve children's learning - and maybe pin that up on the classroom wall for me and the children to see.  I only have two days a week with the children, so maybe I'll decide to run things over a couple of weeks.  Perhaps my job share will want to join me - I'll soon find out how she feels about change!

And then of course I'll make sure I reflect on it - so I'm hoping many of my posts over the next months will show how I'm progressing.

Thanks to everyone who's inspired me - long may it continue!