Goodness me – it has been a long time !!

It sure has been a very long time since I last wrote a post on my blog. Time goes by, life happens, grandchildren get born … did I mention I am now a Granny ?? And the next thing you know, you haven’t contributed to your sleeping blog for a very long time !!

Approaching the month of June is one of my favourite times of the year. It is time to take stock of what we have achieved over the past 9 months of learning and to prepare for the new projects ahead in September. I always have plenty of those !!

Just a few more lessons left before the end of the school year so lots of thinking as to how to optimize what time is left. This year, I am takiing the time, at the end of each assignment, to reflect on how it has gone and how it could be improved for next year. By writing the details for the assignment at this point of the year, my ideas are fresh as to what has worked and what hasn’t. Fixing your final task before you get started on the actual teaching. Do as I say, not as I do ? I think not !! Practice what I preach – that is more like it !!

At this stage of the year, lots of time to think and the new ideas should appear here progressively. Watch this space, as they say !!

One woman went to mow

Know the song ? One man went to mow, went to mow a meadow … OK so it is one woman here and not one man but other than that, spare a moment or two to think about mowing the lawn.

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My dear late dad was a stickler for a straight line on the lawn. It was his life’s work – or that is how it felt to me, as a kid. Now that my boys have flown the nest, mowing the lawn is back down to my husband and me and today, for the first time in over ten years, I turned my hand to mowing the lawn. Well, if my dad is looking down on my efforts, I hope he can spot my attempts at a straight line. Lines are so much better than circular, in my humble opinion. And whilst you are concentrating on that, well, you don’t have much head space for anything else, so it is great for helping to forget about whatever else you had been worrying about up until then !! So, as the sun shines and the rain falls, let it grow, let it grow, let it grow !!

Goodbye Mog

Judith Kerr, author of the wonderful Mog stories and also of “The Tiger who came to tea” and “When Hitler stole pink rabbit” was firmly on my bookcase as a child (and still today !!). She has sadly passed away, aged 95. You can read about her life in this obituary in The Guardian. Check out her books – lovely and warming. And hopefully many of my primary trainees (and perhaps their own pupils) will remember Mog’s Christmas Calamity !!

 

 

 

Snowdrops – sign of things to come

When in England earlier this week, I spotted my first snowdrop of the year in my mum’s garden, in a little corner, almost hidden from sight. Always a good sign. Snowdrops hint at the spring that is to come, even from the depths of winter gloom. None out in my garden as yet, but any day soon, they should start peeking out through the undergrowth to let me know that my garden may be sleeping, but it will wake up again in the months to come.

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Christmas is just around the corner

As a teacher in schools, I love Christmas as it is a time of excitement and warmth. Fond memories of singing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” in school in the UK, many years ago and of teaching the very same song to many classes in France over the years. I wonder if my students remember ??!!

Merry Christmas to anyone who is reading this blog post and very best wishes for health and happiness in 2019.

Home made christmas cake with icing and decorations.