Tag Archives: 25-34

Cool blog!

Today I am teaching fourth grade, like I do every day. Our school is looking forward to a two-week spring break starting soon. This day was special because we were able to see our 9th graders perform a fantastic play called, “You Can’t Take it With You.” The actors were amazing and the storyline was hysterical.

Our class is studying the 50 states right now. My students are also in the process of publishing picture books. They are wonderful!

Happy Leap Day!

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First Computer Club Blog!

Wow- this is the first Blog my Year 5 and 6 computer club will take part in! We are all very excited! We can’t wait to start blogging more oftern now!

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A day in the life of Southwark (part 2)

Nursery- Were having small group time and a bit of dancing!
What’s going on around Southwark at 2pm today! :D
Nursery- were having small group time and dancing
Reception- Were very busy doing paper mache
Year 1- were finishing free flow and starting to tidy up
Year 2- were working very hard on their history work about what school was like for their Grandparents!
Year 3- were doing all about world war 2.
Year 4- were having a viking raid!
Year 5- were fact finding for their history all about the Tudors
Year 6- were having lots of fun outside doing PE.

Read all about it here with pictures… http://southwarkprimary.net/2012/02/29/a-day-in-the-life-of-southwark-part-2/

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Bus accident

We are doing book work instead of our usual lesson because a good many of our students were involved in the bus accident.

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Holy leaping shower screens, Batman!

What’s on my 29th Feb agenda? Marriage proposal? War and peace? Confessing some sexual orientation? Nothing so mundane!

I’ve had a shower screen fitted! Woo! There should be a spangly light show in my bathroom right now, cupboard size that it is.

My day is otherwise the eternal quest for media work, uploading podcasts from my radio show and watching Batman: The Animated Series at appropriate intervals.

I’ve had a somewhat uneasy relationship with Batman over the years, but of late there’s been something of a renaissance in my love for his Gotham City universe.

29th February doesn’t register on the radar, despite its rarity on our calendars. Blink and it’s gone, and in hindsight we probably think… oh, yeah!

So if you’re expecting some fundamental words today, I’m not sure I’m the one to give them.

All I can hope for this leap year is a leap of faith, and hope that everything turns out right, for myself and for all humans.

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Nomadic Learning and Teaching

Today I write about the good, bad, beautiful and ugly things about being a nomadic (substitute) teacher

1. Developing the ability to think on my feet
2. Opening my mind to new ideas
3. Getting to see my county under many different guises/ethos’s/frameworks
4. The sinking feeling going to bed without work the next day
5. The elation of being booked for a days work…a weeks work…a months work…
6. Frantically making my lunch
7. Trying to locate a new school while eating my breakfast in the car
8. Discovering something new about my teaching abilities
9. Seeing a lesson idea come to life
10. Seeing a lesson idea fall flat on its face
11. Getting a call back from a school – SCORE!
12. The trepidation of trying to call a school via text-a-sub* before someone else
13. Leaving a school knowing that we, as a class, had a great day
14. Leaving the class wondering where it all went wrong
15. Connecting to the world via my teaching
16. Volunteering at home and abroad as a teacher
17. A welcoming staff room
18. Friday evening: driving home, parking and chilling out ready to prepare for another week
19. The mystery – Will I work? Will I not? (positive and negative)
20. The paycheck!
21. Seeing my diary fill up!
22. Enjoying the mid-term/Easter break because I too have been working
23. Having a child in your class tell you that they enjoyed your lesson
24. Having a teacher asking you about a lesson you did with their class
25. Making good friends with staff members even though you now work somewhere else
26. The support and advice I get from other teachers
27. The support and advice I can give to other teachers – esp subs!
28. Lunchtime!
29. Making a contribution to the world, as a learner and teacher

*Text-a-sub is a text service in Ireland which allows schools to advertise subbing positions to sub teachers within a geographical region

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Nomadic Learning and Teaching

Today I write about the good, bad, beautiful and ugly things about being a nomadic (substitute) teacher

1. Developing the ability to think on my feet
2. Opening my mind to new ideas
3. Getting to see my county under many different guises/ethos’s/frameworks
4. The sinking feeling going to bed without work the next day
5. The elation of being booked for a days work…a weeks work…a months work…
6. Frantically making my lunch
7. Trying to locate a new school while eating my breakfast in the car
8. Discovering something new about my teaching abilities
9. Seeing a lesson idea come to life
10. Seeing a lesson idea fall flat on its face
11. Getting a call back from a school – SCORE!
12. The trepidation of trying to call a school via text-a-sub* before someone else
13. Leaving a school knowing that we, as a class, had a great day
14. Leaving the class wondering where it all went wrong
15. Connecting to the world via my teaching
16. Volunteering at home and abroad as a teacher
17. A welcoming staff room
18. Friday evening: driving home, parking and chilling out ready to prepare for another week
19. The mystery – Will I work? Will I not? (positive and negative)
20. The paycheck!
21. Seeing my diary fill up!
22. Enjoying the mid-term/Easter break because I too have been working
23. Having a child in your class tell you that they enjoyed your lesson
24. Having a teacher asking you about a lesson you did with their class
25. Making good friends with staff members even though you now work somewhere else
26. The support and advice I get from other teachers
27. The support and advice I can give to other teachers – esp subs!
28. Lunchtime!
29. Making a contribution to the world, as a learner and teacher

*Text-a-sub is a text service in Ireland which allows schools to advertise subbing positions to sub teachers within a geographical region

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Nomadic Learning and Teaching

Today I write about the good, bad, beautiful and ugly things about being a nomadic (substitute) teacher

1. Developing the ability to think on my feet
2. Opening my mind to new ideas
3. Getting to see my county under many different guises/ethos’s/frameworks
4. The sinking feeling going to bed without work the next day
5. The elation of being booked for a days work…a weeks work…a months work…
6. Frantically making my lunch
7. Trying to locate a new school while eating my breakfast in the car
8. Discovering something new about my teaching abilities
9. Seeing a lesson idea come to life
10. Seeing a lesson idea fall flat on its face
11. Getting a call back from a school – SCORE!
12. The trepidation of trying to call a school via text-a-sub* before someone else
13. Leaving a school knowing that we, as a class, had a great day
14. Leaving the class wondering where it all went wrong
15. Connecting to the world via my teaching
16. Volunteering at home and abroad as a teacher
17. A welcoming staff room
18. Friday evening: driving home, parking and chilling out ready to prepare for another week
19. The mystery – Will I work? Will I not? (positive and negative)
20. The paycheck!
21. Seeing my diary fill up!
22. Enjoying the mid-term/Easter break because I too have been working
23. Having a child in your class tell you that they enjoyed your lesson
24. Having a teacher asking you about a lesson you did with their class
25. Making good friends with staff members even though you now work somewhere else
26. The support and advice I get from other teachers
27. The support and advice I can give to other teachers – esp subs!
28. Lunchtime!
29. Making a contribution to the world, as a learner and teacher

*Text-a-sub is a text service in Ireland which allows schools to advertise subbing positions to sub teachers within a geographical region

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Blogging!

Today our school blog passed 100,000 unique visitors and we’ve got year 1 and 2 blogging to the world. It’s going to be a good day!
I wonder what my children will write about?

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A day in the life of the education Centre at Carrow Road

Today I have run a mock press conference in the Press Room at Carrow Road with a lovely group of year 6 pupils from Howard Junior School in Kings Lynn, followed by some work on work on newspaper writing back at the Study Centre (based in the Jarrold Stand).

I’m then going to go off to Lionwood Junior School to deliver some football books to them for use in their Premier League Reading Stars project.

All in a day’s work delivering education through Norwich City FC!

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Anyone fancy a little Roman food?

Many of you know me via Twitter as the voice of @tesConnect. We have a HUGE bank of resources for teachers and much of my time is spent sifting and sorting these to find just the resources that various followers have requested.

Today I had the most random request to date:

“Do you have any recipes for Ancient Roman food?” tweeted @oliviacox21

I was sure this was a fool’s errand, but I’m proud to say I found the perfect resource, so Olivia’s class will soon be enjoying Libum, Globuli and Nut Tart!

(the resource is by a teacher called Alaine Christian and is here: http://www.tes.co.uk/ResourceDetail.aspx?storyCode=6119937 )

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Holy leaping shower screens, Batman!

What’s on my 29th Feb agenda? Marriage proposal? War and peace? Nothing so mundane!

I’ve had a shower screen fitted! Woo! There should be a spangly light show in my bathroom right now, cupboard size that it is.

My day is otherwise the eternal quest for media work, uploading podcasts from my radio show and watching Batman: The Animated Series at appropriate intervals.

I’ve had a somewhat uneasy relationship with Batman over the years, but of late there’s been something of a renaissance in my love for his Gotham City universe.

29th February doesn’t register on the radar, despite its rarity on our calendars. Blink and it’s gone, and in hindsight we probably think… oh, yeah!

So if you’re expecting some fundamental words today, I’m not sure I’m the one to give them.

All I can hope for this leap year is a leap of faith, and hope that everything turns out right, for myself and for all humans.

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The Blog Boys

Today, just like every Wednesday, I met with some of the boys in my class. Together, these pupils are called ‘The Blog Boys’. I am their teacher. They write on their blog during assembly time and we visit other blogs and comment on them. You can visit their blog too if you’d like. We’d love to hear from you so please feel free to leave us a comment. Our web address is: http://theblogboys.primaryblogger.co.uk

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Filed under Feb 29th Blogs

Nomadic Learning and Teaching

Today I write about the good, bad, beautiful and ugly things about being a nomadic (substitute) teacher

1. Developing the ability to think on my feet
2. Opening my mind to new ideas
3. Getting to see my county under many different guises/ethos’s/frameworks
4. The sinking feeling going to bed without work the next day
5. The elation of being booked for a days work…a weeks work…a months work…
6. Frantically making my lunch
7. Trying to locate a new school while eating my breakfast in the car
8. Discovering something new about my teaching abilities
9. Seeing a lesson idea come to life
10. Seeing a lesson idea fall flat on its face
11. Getting a call back from a school – SCORE!
12. The trepidation of trying to call a school via text-a-sub* before someone else
13. Leaving a school knowing that we, as a class, had a great day
14. Leaving the class wondering where it all went wrong
15. Connecting to the world via my teaching
16. Volunteering at home and abroad as a teacher
17. A welcoming staff room
18. Friday evening: driving home, parking and chilling out ready to prepare for another week
19. The mystery – Will I work? Will I not? (positive and negative)
20. The paycheck!
21. Seeing my diary fill up!
22. Enjoying the mid-term/Easter break because I too have been working
23. Having a child in your class tell you that they enjoyed your lesson
24. Having a teacher asking you about a lesson you did with their class
25. Making good friends with staff members even though you now work somewhere else
26. The support and advice I get from other teachers
27. The support and advice I can give to other teachers – esp subs!
28. Lunchtime!
29. Making a contribution to the world, as a learner and teacher

*Text-a-sub is a text service in Ireland which allows schools to advertise subbing positions to sub teachers within a geographical region

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Celebrating

Today I am celebrating my son’s 9 month birthday. He has marked this day by saying “mama” and “dada.” He also pulled himself up to standing for the 1st time today. I will remember this day forever with pride!!

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Mad Media

At the moment I am sitting in our school video suite (teaching the best year 6 media group). We are looking at internet and TV adverts aimed at children and discussing if they should be allowed. Soon we will have a ‘lively’ debate on this topic. Right I’d better do some teaching I suppose.

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Getting stuff done

I’m in Starbucks doing work. It’s the first time in ages I’ve spent time out of the house doing planning and stuff. It’s a good idea. I get lot done when I’m not adding little blogs to this site. . . ;)

Also, I watched Battlestar Galactica last night for the first time in ages. There’s a Starbuck in that too. . .

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About Me

I’m a history teacher and Rugby League fanatic. I always thought I would like to be a sports star I seem to only have darts left as an option.

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Under the strain

Today in School I have been trying to organise allowing students to blog. Betweeen the novelty of allowing them mobile devices in school to blog and the ensuing trauma of getting them onto the Wifi network, it has been like herding cats!
So today I am teaching in one of the best secondary schools in England. We have bene working hard on GCSE coursework as well as trying to arrange an assembly and a charity event to raise money for the Anthony Nolan Trust.

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Ludic Rooms TEDx talk

Thinking about technology and play and games and interaction and most importantly . . fun! Surrounded by Post-It notes in my office using this extra day to ponder and refine what exactly i want to talk about at my forthcoming appearance at TEDx alongside Dom Breadmore as we present what we do as Ludic Rooms.

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my first post

i am typing in my ecdl class and i am in st. johns college in ireland in cork and i am enjoying it
i love going places on the bus eireann buses

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Teaching, teaching and more teaching!

Writing and delivering lessons using a variety of different communications technologies in our 800 pupil school in the Highlands of Scotland.

A funny thing happened last period. I was running a ‘silent lesson’ using internal IM (a system which we have had installed and working for some time) and, through an issue we have yet to resolve, every pupil,teacher and non-teaching staff member in the school saw exactly what we were doing and discussing!!! Brings a whole new meaning to sharing professional practice!!!

This is an excellent idea by the way, in my experience kids love blogging. Long may it continue!!!

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U,S and A

I went to U,S and A and was learning about the American culture
Grat SUCCESS

HIGH FIVE!!!

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Our 29 things

I’m showing my class this blog so they can add their own 29 things about …

Well you’ll have to wait and see.

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The Future of Computing

To harness the interest and imagination of learners and to ensure that they are able to keep up to date with and fully understand new technology I feel that we need to promote tinkering, dismantling and reconstruction of hardware and of pushing software packages to their limits. Allowing pupils to create their own applications individually or as a collective should be core to the course objectives and they need to see that a future as a digital creator as well as a digital consumer gives them an advantage.

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What I’m doing on leap day

I have been signed off of work with sciatica so I have spent the morning fast asleep in bed as all the tablets are on make me very tired. In a minute I an going to get up and have some lunch before pottering around the house, cleaning the bathroom, cooking dinner when my daughter comes home from school with her friends and then tonight I’m going food ashopping with my Mum, then coming home, putting the shopping away and then going to bed. Not a very exciting way to be spending this unique day, but oh well, hopefully next leap year will be more exciting, here’s hoping xx

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Being an ICT Technician

What a busy day today. Not that that’s much different from any other day just recently! I have a list that fills an A4 page and I’m somehow expected to get through this. Phew!

Taking a moment out to write this post and add my contribution to this great project. I have also made some time this morning for emailing around the three schools I support to try and get them blogging on here. Hopefully we will be seeing some posts from some of the children (and teachers?!) from these schools. Very positive responses from two of them, so fingers crossed!

Time to get back to work…

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Being an ICT Technician

What a busy day today. Not that that’s much different from any other day just recently! I have a list that fills an A4 page and I’m somehow expected to get through this. Phew!

Taking a moment out to write this post and add my contribution to this great project. I have also made some time this morning for emailing around the three schools I support to try and get them blogging on here. Hopefully we will be seeing some posts from some of the children (and teachers?!) from these schools. Very positive responses from two of them, so fingers crossed!

Time to get back to work…

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Fetac level5

I am taking part in International blogging day in Cork and I am sitting in my college class hoping to do at least do ok at it!!!
I am just back from watching my daughter take part and come first in The primary schools choral feis-woohoo!!!!!!

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Becca’s post

Today I am sitting in my office, readying myself for another exciting day of creating primary resources.

It’s pretty grey outside but I’m hoping to have a walk round the park later, and possibly bump into Gok Wan, who lives nearby and is often seen walking his dog.

Later on, I’m going to go to the cinema at Stratford City. Not sure what to watch, possibly the Muppets?

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The Blog Boys

Today, just like every Wednesday, I met with some of the boys in my class. Together, these pupils are called ‘The Blog Boys’. I am their teacher. They write on their blog during assembly time and we visit other blogs and comment on them. You can visit their blog too if you’d like. We’d love to hear from you so please feel free to leave us a comment. Our web address is: http://theblogboys.primaryblogger.co.uk

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Mundella Dynamos

Getting ready to watch the Year 3 Dragons’ Assembly at Mundella Primary school. Hope everyone’s enjoying 2012′s extra leap day! We’ve been enjoying a day of learning.

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Mad Media

At the moment I am sitting in our school video suite (teaching the best year 6 media group). We are looking at internet and TV adverts aimed at children and discussing if they should be allowed. Soon we will have a ‘lively’ debate on this topic. Right I’d better do some teaching I suppose.

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Creating Tutorials

Creating tutorials for some of our online students about how to use the library resources to find sources for their assignment. Will probably spend most of the rest of the day updating and creating online subject guides aimed at the same purpose, in between answering reference questions from our students and other patrons.

Don’t be afraid to ask your librarian for help! We’re not at all (well most of us at least) like the horrid librarians in your children’s books. In fact, most of the coolest people I know are librarians. So don’t assume we’re all Madam Pinces! Helping you find the resources you need for your school assignments is our job – even if we may look busy working on a website – it is still with that goal, and we welcome your interruption to ask a question!

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Mayville High School UK Rock Challenge

Today we are at the UK Rock Challenge Competition at the Southampton Guildhall. There are 8 schools taking part with the message of promoting a ‘Drug Free High’. The pupils taking part are getting ready to go onto stage and perform their eight minute routine. We have costumes, lighting, set, scenery and the atmosphere is buzzing with anticipation and excitement. Our Headteacher Mr Castle has especially enjoyed his premiere role of ‘slap-on-of-foundation’ to Year 10 boys!!! We have had a fantastic day and hope to make it to the final!

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A day in the life of the education Centre at Carrow Road

Today I have run a mock press conference in the Press Room at Carrow Road with a lovely group of year 6 pupils from Howard Junior School in Kings Lynn, followed by some work on work on newspaper writing back at the Study Centre (based in the Jarrold Stand).

I’m then going to go off to Lionwood Junior School to deliver some football books to them for use in their Premier League Reading Stars project.

All in a day’s work delivering education through Norwich City FC!

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I’m blogging and so are my pupils!

The room I’m sitting in with my pupils in Craggagh National School, Co Mayo, Ireland was built in 1884…..a leap year! I wonder what went on in this room on February 29th 1884?

Well, for a start, the student population was about 3 times what it is today. The average family size has dropped significantly over the past 128 years. Also, in 1884, boys and girls were kept separate, separate teachers, separate classes and separate playground.

The photocopier is working very hard beside me here and there are 10 laptops/PCs buzzing with bloggers. How would someone from 1884 interpret that sentence?!

The concept of using a “slate” in school has changed dramatically since then too! Children in 1884 used white chalk to write on slates, today’s child sees slates in a very different way!

I was told once that children will not remember everything you teach them but they’ll remember “how” you taught them.

In future leap years, I hope my pupils will remember Feb 29th, 2012 fondly!

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I feel old

I’m teaching ICT today. It’s painful, roll on 3:20

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Day in the life of Southwark (part 1)

2012 is a special year because it has an extra day in it. We call these years leap years. Today is that extra day!

We thought that to celebrate we would see what happens across the whole school today from Nursery to Year 6!

Here is what was going on across the school at 12 o’clock!

 

Nursery- were dressing up and playing

Reception- were tidying up very sensibly and singing songs

Year 1- wer elearning clever maths

Year 2- were writing information texts about a country using computers and books

Year 3- were writing alliteration poems!

Year 4-6 were eating dinner!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read all about what was going on at 12 o clock at Southwark here…

http://southwarkprimary.net/2012/02/29/a-day-in-the-life-of-southwark-part1/

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Happy Birthday SuperNet

One of the new projects I get to work on is the SuperNet – which is the Big Network which connects every school in Alberta. Alberta is very large geographically so it is a big network – It encompasses over 12,000 km fibre-optic cable and 1,814 km wireless connections! We are celebrating by making plans to get all of the new schools being built connected to the network!

February 29 is a special day for the SuperNet because it is the SuperNet’s birthday. The original funding proposal which started the building of this massive network was released 12 years ago today on February 29, 2000 (a cool date because a leap year only hits a year ending in 00 every 400 years!)

Happy Birthday SuperNet! http://www.servicealberta.ca/AlbertaSuperNet.cfm

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1000th Day

Celebrating our 1000th day togther in London, spending time down memory lane, tears and fears, hoping to celebrate 1000 more. xxx

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Lobbying should be transparent

After a day spent solving problems at work, and failing to solve other problems, I am sitting in Portcullis House attending a Hansard Society event. The event is titled “should lobbying be transparent”.

I am pleased to hear that everyone on the panel things that lobbying should be transparent, and that government legislative suggestions don’t go far enough. The lack of disagreement on the panel so far is a little disappointing. Can’t have much debate when everyone agrees with each other.

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My poem about me.

There was a TA who had a dog,
She wanted to write an amazing blog,
She thinks its her way to really shine,
And talk about the world in 20 years time,
Computers will be teaching a child,
And maybe robots will be running wild!
Cars might be able to fly,
And trains may be up in the sky,
And as for me,
I might be,
Rich and famous and in Miami!

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a 24 hr in todays life

morning
work
purchase
celebrations
blogging
&
goodnight

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Cool blog!

Today I am teaching fourth grade, like I do every day. Our school is looking forward to a two-week spring break starting soon. This day was special because we were able to see our 9th graders perform a fantastic play called, “You Can’t Take it With You.” The actors were amazing and the storyline was hysterical.

Our class is studying the 50 states right now. My students are also in the process of publishing picture books. They are wonderful!

Happy Leap Day!

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A long day!

An extra day in the year. I only wish that it meant that it was an extra to catch up on myself.
I teach in Hertfordshire and I love my job but at the moment my to do list is growing quicker than I can cross things off!
I have achieved a lot in the last 4 years: becoming a Deputy Head, survivng being a single Mum and buying my own house for me and my angel.
I hope that the next 4 years are just as good. Who knows by then I might actually be married and have another baby by the time that the next leap year comes around? A girl can hope. But I won’t be doing the proposing…..

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Hello world…

I am a Headteacher of a school in Bradford who is obsessed with blogging. Great to see so many hits from around the world.

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Just Another Day

While I enjoy novelty, I am finding today to be fairly mundane. This is a good thing for me, as I have Bipolar II. That means my mood is rarely stable even with medicine, so I cling desperately to those days that are neither up nor down. While not as rare as leap days, they are precious enough that boredom of the banal rarely sneaks up on me. If it does, well… it’s just a big honking clue that depression is probably around the corner. Such is my life, and all I can do is cling on for the ride. Thankfully, I’m both stubborn and curious, so I should see many more a leap day as they come. Bring it, life – I’m ready for both the good and the bad.

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The Blog Boys

Today, just like every Wednesday, I met with some of the boys in my class. Together, these pupils are called ‘The Blog Boys’. I am their teacher. They write on their blog during assembly time and we visit other blogs and comment on them. You can visit their blog too if you’d like. We’d love to hear from you so please feel free to leave us a comment. Our web address is: http://theblogboys.primaryblogger.co.uk

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Leap Day!

Lots of events today, there is a Microsoft SQL Server 2012 pre launch event, which I could not go.

Also, a game development seminar using Unity, which I am not quite interested.

Finally, even though I cannot join the Webcamp meeting happening, I am watching the stream at www.webcamp.my/live! :)

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Being an ICT Technician

What a busy day today. Not that that’s much different from any other day just recently! I have a list that fills an A4 page and I’m somehow expected to get through this. Phew!

Taking a moment out to write this post and add my contribution to this great project. I have also made some time this morning for emailing around the three schools I support to try and get them blogging on here. Hopefully we will be seeing some posts from some of the children (and teachers?!) from these schools. Very positive responses from two of them, so fingers crossed!

Time to get back to work…

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Teaching in Lewisham

Today I am teaching in a school in Lewisham. So far I have taught reading graphs in Maths and finding features of recounts in Literacy. It is soon lunchtime and I’m going to eat spaghetti bolognaise! My favourite!
After school, I am going to try and go swimming!

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Fetac level5

I am taking part in International blogging day in Cork and I am sitting in my college class hoping to do at least do ok at it!!!
I am just back from watching my daughter take part and come first in The primary schools choral feis-woohoo!!!!!!

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29 favorite apps.

29 Best apps

1. Shazam
2. Viggle
3. Skype
4. Facebook
5. Twittelator
6. iMovie
7. Garageband
8. iTunes U
9. Kindle
10. Keynote
11. Pages
12. Fotoplanet
13. Say what you see
14. Globs
15 Rat on a skateboard
16. Flood it.
17.Lesson plans
18. Netflix
19. Dragon dictate
20. Google earth.
21. PS Express.
22. Color Blast.
23. Pro create.
24. Toontastic
25. TeeVee
26. Vimeo
27. Naked trailers.
28. 60 Minutes.
29. Video time machine.

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A history teacher preparing for Ofsted

A history teacher preparing lessons for Ofsted Inspection

Next week we will be involved in an Ofsted and as such i have been getting my lesson plans together for the possibility of an observation. As regular readers will know I ‘loves a caveat early doors’ and here is todays; I do not profess to be an expert on Ofsted, I am not trying to give out guidelines, but simply to offer my reflections. I have been observed once by Ofsted in 2010 and I am using that experience, along with advice from many people, to help me write this short blog post.

1) Focussing on Progress

I have really tried to focus on progress in my lesson planning. This is obviously from the start to the end of the lesson but also for each of the parts of the lesson. My old Head of Faculty once said “as soon as they walk in do a mini-plenary” and whilst this might have been partly a joke, I believe it is sound advice. Ofsted are only ‘in’ the lesson for a short period so it important that they can see the progress that has already been made or is made in that time. The easiest way to do this is to have lots of mini-plenaries built into the lesson plan.

2) Pick activities that you are familiar with and your students love

The lessons I have planned for the Ofsted contain elements and activities that the students know and have done before in another guise. When planning the lesons I have included activities that I (and the students) know work really well. I don’t believe an Ofsted inspection is time to try something completely new. Others might disagree but I feel that if you have taught an activity before and it has gone well then there is a reasonable expectation that it will be successful again. If the students are doing an activity they have done before and enjoyed they will be far more engaged and focused. There will also be less chance of them getting confused or mis-understanding.

An example of this is an activity I have used before which involves ‘building’ a conclusion using different cards to represent each factor; the higher off the table the card is the more important it is. Students complete several cards (each with a different factor on) and then construct them into a kind of tower using blu tac.
A Card building activity from Year 7 based around the causes of the Peasants Revolt

A card building activity from Year 8 about the reasons soldiers carried on fighting in WWIThe students place key words on the front of the cut up cards and place explanations (written or visual) on the back.
Here is a completed ‘building’ on the causes of US involvement in Vietnam from GCSE
I know that this activity was successul and that the students loved it. They were also able to be creative and the resulting conclusions were well thought out and of a high level. When I told one of my Year 8 classes we were doing this activity next week they all went “Yes!” What that said about the lesson that they were currently being taught I don’t know! However, I do know that they will come into the lesson engaged and looking forward to it.

You can also see from this that both my Year 7 and Year 8 lessons will be doing, in part, a very similar activity. The content and level will be different but the resources similar. This has really helped my planning work load. Once the Year 8 lesson was planned it was easier to plan the Year 7 one.

I think that if I focus on progress and pick activities I know my students love then I will give myself every chance of having a successful lesson whether I am visited by Ofsted or not. I guess too that these are not bad principles for any lesson.

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Tech in 4 years time

I think we will be able to project TV shows and computers without screens like in Avatar

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Where am I?

Hi,

My name is Mr Hall and I am the ICT Manager working the Four Oaks Cluster of Schools in Birmingham, UK. I work in 6 primary schools and thoroughly enjoy my job.

Today I am working at Moor Hall Primary School and planning for a teacher day which is being held on the last day of this term. The teachers will be learning a little more about some online resources we can use and will learn how to set activities for children so that they can access them both at home and in school. Hopefully, both the teachers and the children will find this really useful.

I thought I would share this with you, just so that you know that when the children of Moor Hall Primary School have finished the Spring Term and are at home on Friday 30th March. The teachers will still be in school, learning and working hard to make your time as enjoyable and as fun as possible.

It has been great to see lots of fun things that people are blogging about today! It’s a shame that Feb 29th only comes in a leap year!!!

Happy Blogging Everyone!!!

MR Hall.

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Nomadic Learning and Teaching

Today I write about the good, bad, beautiful and ugly things about being a nomadic (substitute) teacher

1. Developing the ability to think on my feet
2. Opening my mind to new ideas
3. Getting to see my county under many different guises/ethos’s/frameworks
4. The sinking feeling going to bed without work the next day
5. The elation of being booked for a days work…a weeks work…a months work…
6. Frantically making my lunch
7. Trying to locate a new school while eating my breakfast in the car
8. Discovering something new about my teaching abilities
9. Seeing a lesson idea come to life
10. Seeing a lesson idea fall flat on its face
11. Getting a call back from a school – SCORE!
12. The trepidation of trying to call a school via text-a-sub* before someone else
13. Leaving a school knowing that we, as a class, had a great day
14. Leaving the class wondering where it all went wrong
15. Connecting to the world via my teaching
16. Volunteering at home and abroad as a teacher
17. A welcoming staff room
18. Friday evening: driving home, parking and chilling out ready to prepare for another week
19. The mystery – Will I work? Will I not? (positive and negative)
20. The paycheck!
21. Seeing my diary fill up!
22. Enjoying the mid-term/Easter break because I too have been working
23. Having a child in your class tell you that they enjoyed your lesson
24. Having a teacher asking you about a lesson you did with their class
25. Making good friends with staff members even though you now work somewhere else
26. The support and advice I get from other teachers
27. The support and advice I can give to other teachers – esp subs!
28. Lunchtime!
29. Making a contribution to the world, as a learner and teacher

*Text-a-sub is a text service in Ireland which allows schools to advertise subbing positions to sub teachers within a geographical region

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Blogging Day

Today we have used our extra day in our class to do lots of blogging. In fact we have been blogging for most of the day. We have blogged on this website about the leap year and what we would do if we had an extra day. We have also been blogging on our own class blogg (y45.wycheblogs.net). We have just started quadblogging with 3 other schools (2 in London and 1 in USA) and are very excited about it.

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Educator

Today I am teaching my middle school students. I will be going to my sister-in-law’s birthday dinner this evening.

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Happy Birthday SuperNet

One of the new projects I get to work on is the SuperNet – which is the Big Network which connects every school in Alberta. Alberta is very large geographically so it is a big network – It encompasses over 12,000 km fibre-optic cable and 1,814 km wireless connections! We are celebrating by making plans to get all of the new schools being built connected to the network!

February 29 is a special day for the SuperNet because it is the SuperNet’s birthday. The original funding proposal which started the building of this massive network was released 12 years ago today on February 29, 2000 (a cool date because a leap year only hits a year ending in 00 every 400 years!)

Happy Birthday SuperNet! http://www.servicealberta.ca/AlbertaSuperNet.cfm

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100 Day Pancakes

Making pancakes in my classroom with my kindergarten students for the 100th day of school! Doing what I love most!!

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Leap day

Writing blog post Happy leap day. This is the best holiday ever!

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Six Nations Winner

I think its a real competition this year as all teams are having good and bad games, there in no one team that you could call outstanding!

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Footbsll

I AM THE GREATEST FOOTBALLER IN THE WORLD, CHRISTIANO RONALDO AINT GOT NOTHING ON ME.

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Our day so far

Started our day by heading to school first. Rushed around then left for the meeting. Traffic was awful, red lights all the way…boo :-( However, despite the traffic, best part of the day so far has to have been our parking space! Drove straight in and there it was, waiting for us :-) Arrived now, meeting begun but no tea or biscuits allowed IN the room! We’ll see how the day progresses.

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Away day!

I have escaped my work place to a training event!

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4AD are celebrating Leap Day!

4AD are having a Leap Day challenge morning! Ms Donnelly has written numeracy and literacy challenges for the children to do this morning. We are finding all the different ways we can make the number 29, writing word problems that all have an answer of 29, writing lists of 29 things, writing short stories that are just 29 words long and many more! We will be sharing some of our work later!

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Life

I’m wondering what I ought to ask my class to blog about when they go on the site this afternoon.

http://hillcrest5cf.primaryblogger.co.uk

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29 things about nomadic teaching (posh term for being a substitute teacher!)

I blog today as a learner and a nomadic teacher.

29 good, bad, beautiful and ugly things about being a substitute teacher

1. Developing the ability to think on my feet
2. Opening my mind to new ideas
3. Getting to see my county under many different guises/ethos’s/frameworks
4. The sinking feeling going to bed without work the next day
5. The elation of being booked for a days work…a weeks work…a months work…
6. Frantically making my lunch
7. Trying to locate a new school while eating my breakfast in the car
8. Discovering something new about my teaching abilities
9. Seeing a lesson idea come to life
10. Seeing a lesson idea fall flat on its face
11. Getting a call back from a school – SCORE!
12. The trepidation of trying to call a school via text-a-sub* before someone else
13. Leaving a school knowing that we, as a class, had a great day
14. Leaving the class wondering where it all went wrong
15. Connecting to the world via my teaching
16. Volunteering at home and abroad as a teacher
17. A welcoming staff room
18. Friday evening: driving home, parking and chilling out ready to prepare for another week
19. The mystery – Will I work? Will I not? (positive and negative)
20. The paycheck!
21. Seeing my diary fill up!
22. Enjoying the mid-term/Easter break because I too have been working
23. Having a child in your class tell you that they enjoyed your lesson
24. Having a teacher asking you about a lesson you did with their class
25. Making good friends with staff members even though you now work somewhere else
26. The support and advice I get from other teachers
27. The support and advice I can give to other teachers – esp subs!
28. Lunchtime!
29. Making a contribution to the world, as a learner and teacher

Bain sult as an lá bisigh seo ;o)
Enjoy today the leap day!

*Text-a-sub is a text service in Ireland which allows schools to advertise subbing positions to sub teachers within a geographical region

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29 things about nomadic teaching (posh term for being a substitute teacher!)

I blog today as a learner and a nomadic teacher.

29 good, bad, beautiful and ugly things about being a substitute teacher

1. Developing the ability to think on my feet
2. Opening my mind to new ideas
3. Getting to see my county under many different guises/ethos’s/frameworks
4. The sinking feeling going to bed without work the next day
5. The elation of being booked for a days work…a weeks work…a months work…
6. Frantically making my lunch
7. Trying to locate a new school while eating my breakfast in the car
8. Discovering something new about my teaching abilities
9. Seeing a lesson idea come to life
10. Seeing a lesson idea fall flat on its face
11. Getting a call back from a school – SCORE!
12. The trepidation of trying to call a school via text-a-sub* before someone else
13. Leaving a school knowing that we, as a class, had a great day
14. Leaving the class wondering where it all went wrong
15. Connecting to the world via my teaching
16. Volunteering at home and abroad as a teacher
17. A welcoming staff room
18. Friday evening: driving home, parking and chilling out ready to prepare for another week
19. The mystery – Will I work? Will I not? (positive and negative)
20. The paycheck!
21. Seeing my diary fill up!
22. Enjoying the mid-term/Easter break because I too have been working
23. Having a child in your class tell you that they enjoyed your lesson
24. Having a teacher asking you about a lesson you did with their class
25. Making good friends with staff members even though you now work somewhere else
26. The support and advice I get from other teachers
27. The support and advice I can give to other teachers – esp subs!
28. Lunchtime!
29. Making a contribution to the world, as a learner and teacher

Bain sult as an lá bisigh seo ;o)
Enjoy today the leap day!

*Text-a-sub is a text service in Ireland which allows schools to advertise subbing positions to sub teachers within a geographical region

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29 things about nomadic teaching (posh term for being a substitute teacher!)

I blog today as a learner and a nomadic teacher.

29 good, bad, beautiful and ugly things about being a substitute teacher

1. Developing the ability to think on my feet
2. Opening my mind to new ideas
3. Getting to see my county under many different guises/ethos’s/frameworks
4. The sinking feeling going to bed without work the next day
5. The elation of being booked for a days work…a weeks work…a months work…
6. Frantically making my lunch
7. Trying to locate a new school while eating my breakfast in the car
8. Discovering something new about my teaching abilities
9. Seeing a lesson idea come to life
10. Seeing a lesson idea fall flat on its face
11. Getting a call back from a school – SCORE!
12. The trepidation of trying to call a school via text-a-sub* before someone else
13. Leaving a school knowing that we, as a class, had a great day
14. Leaving the class wondering where it all went wrong
15. Connecting to the world via my teaching
16. Volunteering at home and abroad as a teacher
17. A welcoming staff room
18. Friday evening: driving home, parking and chilling out ready to prepare for another week
19. The mystery – Will I work? Will I not? (positive and negative)
20. The paycheck!
21. Seeing my diary fill up!
22. Enjoying the mid-term/Easter break because I too have been working
23. Having a child in your class tell you that they enjoyed your lesson
24. Having a teacher asking you about a lesson you did with their class
25. Making good friends with staff members even though you now work somewhere else
26. The support and advice I get from other teachers
27. The support and advice I can give to other teachers – esp subs!
28. Lunchtime!
29. Making a contribution to the world, as a learner and teacher

Bain sult as an lá bisigh seo ;o)
Enjoy today the leap day!

*Text-a-sub is a text service in Ireland which allows schools to advertise subbing positions to sub teachers within a geographical region

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Filed under Feb 29th Blogs

29 things about nomadic teaching (posh term for being a substitute teacher!)

I blog today as a learner and a nomadic teacher.

29 good, bad, beautiful and ugly things about being a substitute teacher

1. Developing the ability to think on my feet
2. Opening my mind to new ideas
3. Getting to see my county under many different guises/ethos’s/frameworks
4. The sinking feeling going to bed without work the next day
5. The elation of being booked for a days work…a weeks work…a months work…
6. Frantically making my lunch
7. Trying to locate a new school while eating my breakfast in the car
8. Discovering something new about my teaching abilities
9. Seeing a lesson idea come to life
10. Seeing a lesson idea fall flat on its face
11. Getting a call back from a school – SCORE!
12. The trepidation of trying to call a school via text-a-sub* before someone else
13. Leaving a school knowing that we, as a class, had a great day
14. Leaving the class wondering where it all went wrong
15. Connecting to the world via my teaching
16. Volunteering at home and abroad as a teacher
17. A welcoming staff room
18. Friday evening: driving home, parking and chilling out ready to prepare for another week
19. The mystery – Will I work? Will I not? (positive and negative)
20. The paycheck!
21. Seeing my diary fill up!
22. Enjoying the mid-term/Easter break because I too have been working
23. Having a child in your class tell you that they enjoyed your lesson
24. Having a teacher asking you about a lesson you did with their class
25. Making good friends with staff members even though you now work somewhere else
26. The support and advice I get from other teachers
27. The support and advice I can give to other teachers – esp subs!
28. Lunchtime!
29. Making a contribution to the world, as a learner and teacher

Bain sult as an lá bisigh seo ;o)
Enjoy today the leap day!

*Text-a-sub is a text service in Ireland which allows schools to advertise subbing positions to sub teachers within a geographical region

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Help

I am being held captive in russia help

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Help

I am being held captive in russia help

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Standard 9-5

Went to boring work and then my pt session. Absolutely rocked my session and improved my cardio circuit by heaps compared to last. Went and celebrated by playing porkies and drinking!!! Very healthy. Playing with my cat now.

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4AD are celebrating Leap Day!

4AD are having a Leap Day challenge morning! Ms Donnelly has written numeracy and literacy challenges for the children to do this morning. We are finding all the different ways we can make the number 29, writing word problems that all have an answer of 29, writing lists of 29 things, writing short stories that are just 29 words long and many more! We will be sharing some of our work later!

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Improvement

It’s not daily increase but daily decrease; hacking away the unessential.

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The leap year in Plymouth

Feb 29th is a lovely sunny day in Plymouth. I have been teaching Geography to PGCE students this morning, and after lunch I will be teaching Science to first year BEds.

Later on today I have a meeting to organise the PELeCON conference.

Here is a photo of the view from my office window where I am sat at the moment.

http://flic.kr/p/bmqs8Y

The view from my desk on this sunny leap year day

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Holy leaping shower screens, Batman!

What’s on my 29th Feb agenda? Marriage proposal? War and peace?  Nothing so mundane!

I’ve had a shower screen fitted! Woo! There should be a spangly light show in my bathroom right now, cupboard size that it is.

My day is otherwise the eternal quest for media work, uploading podcasts from my radio show and watching Batman: The Animated Series at appropriate intervals.

I’ve had a somewhat uneasy relationship with Batman over the years, but of late there’s been something of a renaissance in my love for his Gotham City universe.

29th February doesn’t register on the radar, despite its rarity on our calendars. Blink and it’s gone, and in hindsight we probably think… oh, yeah!

So if you’re expecting some fundamental words today, I’m not sure I’m the one to give them.

All I can hope for this leap year is a leap of faith, and hope that everything turns out right, for myself and for all humans.

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Don’t panic….carry on.

I have spent the 29th as normal teaching ICT. Love my job, but don’t have time to make note of leap year. So I thought that I should spend one minute to a cause like this.

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Listening to the inner voice

Today I got some news that could be viewed in a negative or a positive way. Though I automatically viewed the news in a negative way for the first 5 min. or so, I later chose to see the “bad news” as an opportunity, as a push to finally follow my inner voice…despite fear, lack of energy and faith in my ability to succeed.

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a whole extra day

Do you ever get the feeling that there are certain days that should be more special than others?!?
Well, I turned 25 a month ago and I spent a large part of it in cafes…not really particularly exciting. And on the 11th of the 11th 2011 at 11.11 I was at work, sorting something out in the basement. And then today…leap year day…only occurs every 4th year, that’s special…but no, I didn’t do much, just went to work and wished I could have time for a nap.
But I have realised that the point isn’t what you do, but simply that you remember what you did :) So today, I went to work, did enough, saw a friend for coffee and then home to my boyfriend…and I had a great time.

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100 Words

“You’re going to laugh, I forgot my keys too” He said through the letterbox. “Come round to the window and I’ll help you.”

I walked from the front door to the living room window.

“I tried climbing out the window but I’m too big” I said “I got as far as sitting on the window sill but I wasn’t sure how far it was too the ground and I couldn’t get out.”

“Don’t be silly – it’s easy.” he said. Before I could protest he was explaining how to get out. “So sit there and then take a leap of faith.”

Original post here

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Taking the Leap!!!

Well my Leap day was extremely good indeed.
Finished up in school and can honestly say I have had an amazing time – 18 lovely P1s. Cant wait to go back :D

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Just in time

So before the 29th Feb ends thought I’d write a little something and contribute to making history yes that’s right we have all written something that will be read by future generations. Well in the next four years and maybe many more years after that I can look back at this and remember what I did on this day. My day consisted of dance rehearsal with a girl struggling to learn some moves for a cultural program and going to a zumba class to feel good about myself. Which I did. always feel great after a good zumba workout. Other than this I spent my day reading lots of amazing things on twitter and other websites as and when I come across interesting things about what goes on in this wonderful world. I wonder now twitter Will have developed in the next four years and what new technology will change our lives and the way we interact. we shall blog about it in four years time. This has been a a great idea and I would like to thank those who set it up. Cheers. Happy Blogging for the future :)

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Thank god today will come again in four years!

Leap year! What an awesome day to do something amazing.
Started the day like any other. But today I did something I never thought I would do in my life. So here’s to those people who say never, because ‘never say never’.
My actions definitely put a smile on someones face. Thankfully for me I can only be reminded of it in 4 years time ;-)

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Another Disney Day

Made use of this extra day by watching Lion King 1 1/2 (3rd Lion King film).
Work was not to bad either and after laughing at Tam Cowan on the Off The Ball podcast I finished this extra day with some Timon and Pumba fun. :-)

HAKUNA MATATA

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Distraction

At work being distracted by Twitter. It is so much more interesting to read the prattle and follow links to interesting distractions such as this, of which I had no knowledge 2 miutes ago!
Well, back to writing copy for a help site for tutors on using technology for learning…

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World Blogging Day!

Today the whole school is getting involved in World Blogging Day! We are all very excited and busily typing new blog entries!
I wonder what we will all be doing when World Blogging Day comes around again!? What do you hope to be doing in a year, two years, three years time?

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Should some of us get a bonus for working an additional day free of charge!

How many of you will be working an additional day for free today 29th February?

Salaried workers loose out. Hourly workers gains….. ;-)

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Should some of us get a bonus for working an additional day free of charge!

How many of you will be working an additional day for free today 29th February?

Salaried workers loose out. Hourly workers gains….. ;-)

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d1d y0u kn0w…

If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.
The numbers ’172′ can be found on the back of the U.S. $5 dollar bill in the bushes at the base of the Lincoln Memorial.

President Kennedy was the fastest random speaker in the world with upwards of 350 words per minute.

In the average lifetime, a person will walk the equivalent of 5 times around the equator.

Odontophobia is the fear of teeth.

The 57 on Heinz ketchup bottles represents the number of varieties of pickles the company once had.

In the early days of the telephone, operators would pick up a call and use the phrase, “Well, are you there?”. It wasn’t until 1895 that someone suggested answering the phone with the phrase “number please?”

The surface area of an average-sized brick is 79 cm squared.

According to suicide statistics, Monday is the favored day for self-destruction.

Cats sleep 16 to 18 hours per day.

The most common name in the world is Mohammed.

It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is shake and the 46th word from the last word is spear.

Karoke means “empty orchestra” in Japanese.

The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

The first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 B.C.

Rhode Island is the smallest state with the longest name. The official name, used on all state documents, is “Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.”

When you die your hair still grows for a couple of months.

There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.

Isaac Asimov is the only author to have a book in every Dewey-decimal category.

The newspaper serving Frostbite Falls, Minnesota, the home of Rocky and Bullwinkle, is the Picayune Intellegence.

It would take 11 Empire State Buildings, stacked one on top of the other, to measure the Gulf of Mexico at its deepest point.

The first person selected as the Time Magazine Man of the Year – Charles Lindbergh in 1927.

The most money ever paid for a cow in an auction was $1.3 million.

It took Leo Tolstoy six years to write “War & Peace”.

The Neanderthal’s brain was bigger than yours is.

On the new hundred dollar bill the time on the clock tower of Independence Hall is 4:10.

Each of the suits on a deck of cards represents the four major pillars of the economy in the middle ages: heart represented the Church, spades represented the military, clubs represented agriculture, and diamonds represented the merchant class.

The names of the two stone lions in front of the New York Public Library are Patience and Fortitude. They were named by then-mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.

The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

The sound of E.T. walking was made by someone squishing her hands in jelly.

Lucy and Linus (who where brother and sister) had another little brother named Rerun. (He sometimes played left-field on Charlie Brown’s baseball team, [when he could find it!]).

The pancreas produces Insulin.

1 in 5,000 north Atlantic lobsters are born bright blue.

There are 10 human body parts that are only 3 letters long (eye hip arm leg ear toe jaw rib lip gum).

A skunk’s smell can be detected by a human a mile away.

The word “lethologica” describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.

The king of hearts is the only king without a moustache.

Henry Ford produced the model T only in black because the black paint available at the time was the fastest to dry.

Mario, of Super Mario Bros. fame, appeared in the 1981 arcade game, Donkey Kong. His original name was Jumpman, but was changed to Mario to honor the Nintendo of America’s landlord, Mario Segali.

The three best-known western names in China: Jesus Christ, Richard Nixon, and Elvis Presley.

Every year about 98% of the atoms in your body are replaced.

Elephants are the only mammals that can’t jump.

The international telephone dialing code for Antarctica is 672.

World Tourist day is observed on September 27.

Women are 37% more likely to go to a psychiatrist than men are.

The human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet (9 m).

Diet Coke was only invented in 1982.

There are more than 1,700 references to gems and precious stones in the King James translation of the Bible.

When snakes are born with two heads, they fight each other for food.

American car horns beep in the tone of F.

Turning a clock’s hands counterclockwise while setting it is not necessarily harmful. It is only damaging when the timepiece contains a chiming mechanism.

There are twice as many kangaroos in Australia as there are people. The kangaroo population is estimated at about 40 million.

Police dogs are trained to react to commands in a foreign language; commonly German but more recently Hungarian.

The Australian $5 to $100 notes are made of plastic.

St. Stephen is the patron saint of bricklayers.

The average person makes about 1,140 telephone calls each year.

Stressed is Desserts spelled backwards.

If you had enough water to fill one million goldfish bowls, you could fill an entire stadium.

Mary Stuart became Queen of Scotland when she was only six days old.

Charlie Brown’s father was a barber.

Flying from London to New York by Concord, due to the time zones crossed, you can arrive 2 hours before you leave.

Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least 6 feet (2 m) away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.

You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV.

A lion’s roar can be heard from five miles away.

The citrus soda 7-UP was created in 1929; “7″ was selected because the original containers were 7 ounces. “UP” indicated the direction of the bubbles.

Canadian researchers have found that Einstein’s brain was 15% wider than normal.

The average person spends about 2 years on the phone in a lifetime.

The fist product to have a bar code was Wrigleys gum.

The largest number of children born to one woman is recorded at 69. From 1725-1765, a Russian peasant woman gave birth to 16 sets of twins, 7 sets of triplets, and 4 sets of quadruplets.

Beatrix Potter created the first of her legendary “Peter Rabbit” children’s stories in 1902.

In ancient Rome, it was considered a sign of leadership to be born with a crooked nose.

The word “nerd” was first coined by Dr. Seuss in “If I Ran the Zoo.”

A 41-gun salute is the traditional salute to a royal birth in Great Britain.

The bagpipe was originally made from the whole skin of a dead sheep.

The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear. Any cup-shaped object placed over the ear produces the same effect.

Revolvers cannot be silenced because of all the noisy gasses which escape the cylinder gap at the rear of the barrel.

Liberace Museum has a mirror-plated Rolls Royce; jewel-encrusted capes, and the largest rhinestone in the world, weighing 59 pounds and almost a foot in diameter.

A car that shifts manually gets 2 miles more per gallon of gas than a car with automatic shift.

Cats can hear ultrasound.

Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.

The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.

The United States has never lost a war in which mules were used.

Children grow faster in the springtime.

On average, there are 178 sesame seeds on each McDonalds BigMac bun.

Paul Revere rode on a horse that belonged to Deacon Larkin.

The Baby Ruth candy bar was actually named after Grover Cleveland’s baby daughter, Ruth.

Minus 40 degrees Celsius is exactly the same as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of unwanted people without killing them used to burn their houses down — hence the expression “to get fired”

Nobody knows who built the Taj Mahal. The names of the architects, masons, and designers that have come down to us have all proved to be latter-day inventions, and there is no evidence to indicate who the real creators were.

Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell.

7.5 million toothpicks can be created from a cord of wood.

The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.

A 41-gun salute is the traditional salute to a royal birth in Great Britain.

The earliest recorded case of a man giving up smoking was on April 5, 1679, when Johan Katsu, Sheriff of Turku, Finland, wrote in his diary “I quit smoking tobacco.” He died one month later.

“Goodbye” came from “God bye” which came from “God be with you.”

February is Black History Month.

Jane Barbie was the woman who did the voice recordings for the Bell System.

The first drive-in service station in the United States was opened by Gulf Oil Company – on December 1, 1913, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The elephant is the only animal with 4 knees.

Kansas state law requires pedestrians crossing the highways at night to wear tail lights.

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Aliens

I have been abducted by aliens it is becoming apparent that they know that we are in this universe and that they will come in the near future. The scientists at nasa have even seen aliens in the sky but are afraid to tell us because they will rip our heads off and suck our guts out.

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Aliens

I have been abducted by aliens it is becoming apparent that they know that we are in this universe and that they will come in the near future. The scientists at nasa have even seen aliens in the sky but are afraid to tell us because they will rip our heads off and suck our guts out.

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feb 29th

wearing make up. and going to work. playing with my kids after work.

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What is the greatest fundraiser of all time?

We’re challenged by today’s news that Sport Relief are about to complete their latest challenge to raise money for charity. But what’s the greatest charity fundraiser of all time? Read on… http://generaloverflow.com/running-a-mile-for-goodness-sake

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Make it count

If you’re taking this day as a giant leap. Take it, grab it, use it well. Who says it has to be marriage you propose? Propose something new, something fun, something worthwhile. This day is a bonus, an extra. Make it count.

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Universal!

1. Helping the national societies and international communities.
2. Being involved with global organisations and various charity works.
3. Making very important decisions and contributing to the excellence.
4. Gaining personal successes and taking greater opportunities to better develop.
5. Learning from previous experiences and preventing repeated unnecessary mistakes.
6. Finishing a training and planning more arts, creativity, inspirations and achievements…
7. Staying in a total control and giving trust another chance only from the next 29th February 2016 probably! So, let us celebrate! :)

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The Eleventh Hour

Hey, supposed to be working on a magazine edit for a local church until the early hours but, couldn’t resist, checking in here first and being a part of this awesome project. I’ve been on a course all day and had the opportunity to discuss the power of social media and ICT in schools (specifically primary, where I’m based) and make some great progress. This blog will definitely help with my case studies. I’ve recently taken on the ICT at our school and I’m bursting with ideas for future, both imminent and further down the line, and being able to connect with great people via twitter and the likes, has proved incredibly beneficial! Glad I got here in time, even if it is the, ‘eleventh hour!’

I have a quote going round in my head at the moment that I thought I’d share as I leave to continue designing…

‘Our future is far greater than our past.’

Mike Walker
ICT Developer at St Luke’s Primary School Bury
www.twitter.com/eyeseeteaandme

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Never forgotten…

Today, 16 years ago, I lost someone very special, someone who meant the world to me and never got to see or share my future. She would have loved my family and especially her wonderful Great-Grandson.
February 29th will always hold a special place in my heart. Never forgotten.

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My 2nd ever blog post!

Long time iPhone addict, recent twitter convert. Novice blogger.

I spent my whole day teaching. I was teaching primary school children during the day and adults in the evening. I wish someone would teach me some time management skills!

Perhaps taking up blogging is not the way to go?! I hear it can be quite the time drain (especially all those hours lost by ‘researching’ other blogs!).

At least we get this extra day once every four years to claw back all our wasted hours!

Happy February 29th! I hope you made the most of it!

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Life in an Outstanding School

Yet another busy day full of 30 great kids, a lesson observation, yet another book scrutiny, best friends, a 5 month old baby and lots of washing up! February 29th may only come once every 4 years, but (un)fortunately days like today are ten a penny!

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Second child??

Having a pregnancy test and finding out it was positive! Fingers crossed all goes well!! X

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29 words to describe a quite crazy day…

Today has been hectic! A myriad of things done and a feeling of progression! Introduced blogging for the first time to my class and now I’m addicted too! Fantastic!

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Can you guess the name of this animal?

I am working on the Night Zookeeper project today. In particular I was just going through a project we delivered in Lauriston Primary School in Hackney, London yesterday. I came across an amazing animal, which unfortunately does not yet have a name. Could you please help me by sending some of your suggestions through as a comment on this post? To view the animal select http://www.flickr.com/photos/70299019@N05/6940987261/in/photostream

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My Feb 29th 2012

Today I had the pleasure of teaching my wonderful year 6 class and sharing this fantastic blog with them. I love my job whole heartedly and feel honoured to spend each and every day doing something I feel so passionate about. So why is today special to me? It is exactly ten months until I walk down the aisle and become Mrs Black! Hope you all had a wonderful Feb 29th.

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Teaching with Images

Today I had a group of first year ITE students for a seminar on ‘teaching with images’. We explored how powerful images can be as a teaching resource, how they are open to multiple interpretations, and some approaches to teaching with images. We also looked at where to source images and some different media to present them, including how images can be used to make posters using the really great Blockposters site: http://www.blockposters.com

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Having Dinner

my partner Adam and I went for dinner this evening at Stanmer House on the outskirts of Brighton, UK. Dinner was really lovely and was great to spend some quality time together with NO WASHING UP! :)

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Teaching, learning, and dreaming

I am in Seattle, Washington right now, even though I like in New York City. I am here for the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Annual Conference. Today participated in the NAIS 21st Century Skills/Technology Task Force, a now permanent think tank for NAIS.

Tomorrow I co-preset a Speed Innovating (think speed dating, but for learning) workshop about the new high school (http://www.gcschool.org/highschool) that we are building in New York.

I am a long-time blogger (http://www.21apples.org) and Tweeter (http://twitter.com/arvind) and love teaching and learning. I am happy to participate in this world-wide blogging experiment.

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Blogging could change your life!

I work for a Social Media Consultancy called Reach Further. It’s a fairly cloudy day and I’m looking forward to planning some tweets for a client.

What I wanted to write about here though is that in more ways than one, getting involved in blogging has changed my life. Here are some things that have happened to me:

- I wrote a blog post that my current boss saw on Twitter, she read it, got in touch with me and offered me a job!
- I have made a number of friends through my blogging
- blogging has helped me to become a reflective practitioner – someone who can look back and see where I’ve come from and learn from my experiences
- blogging has given me the opportunity to share my thoughts with the world and have them challenged.

So on this special blogging day I would encourage you to take the plunge and start blogging – you never know where it might take you!

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French lesson with 8H

Sung ‘tete, epaules, genoux, pieds’ and then described ourselves in French. Blogging our answers now!

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My Ideal Feb 29th…

Woke up today overlooking the beach in Sorrento, Italy. The sun was shining through the window of my hotel room and I could feel the gentle salty breeze from the sea. After a hearty breakfast I headed out to explore the market; I bought some fresh bread and fantastic local fruits for my lunch.

Having spent a couple of hours lazing on the beach – sunbathing, swimming in the clear sea (and even building a sandcastle,) I ate my lunch and set off in my convertible Audi S5 for the city centre, where I was meeting a good friend for cupcakes and a catch-up. The weather today was glorious; not too swelteringly hot but warm enough to add to my developing sun-tan.

As the evening drew nearer, I drove back through the country roads to my hotel. I needed the time to get ready for a big night out; I was on the VIP guestlist for an amazing open-air concert. My friends arrived one by one at the hotel, and pretty soon the room was a mess of make-up bags, jewellery, boxes of chocolates, wine glasses and an entire wardrobe of colourful party dresses, as we prepared to head out to the gig.

The concert was amazing – bright lights, loud guitars and a brilliant after-party – and I got back to the hotel far too late, tired but happy after an incredible day. Unfortunately, I woke up and found that all of the above was in fact a dream, and I was actually in Northampton, getting ready to go to work… oh well!

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Hours of Fun

I have used the extra day to learn more about the internet, in particular ecommerce packages and web hosting. My mind is in a whirl, its an area I have little to no knowledge in! I have spent quite a few hours on the lap top, but no time wasted as I have used the extra day woohoo!

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Hours of Fun

I have used the extra day to learn more about the internet, in particular ecommerce packages and web hosting. My mind is in a whirl, its an area I have little to no knowledge in! I have spent quite a few hours on the lap top, but no time wasted as I have used the extra day woohoo!

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A day at EBHS……

Today the students in my ICT lessons will be blogging about their day. EBHS is a school in Suffolk in the UK and we have pupils aged 11-16. I have worked here since May 11 and I really enjoy it!

Currently year 9 are making computer games in Scratch in their lessons and there is some really great work going on!

Year 7 are making a music track and then they will make a music video to go with it before the easter holidays.

Look out for their blog posts and tell me what you think!

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Can it not be a weekend add-on

I was ill all day, and have been for the past week with Flu. It would be much better for me if we got an extra day in the middle of the summer, that was also and extension to the weekend.

Might I suggest the week as follows : Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Friday, Friday (2), Saturday, Sunday… See what I did? Or alternatively, and more seriously, we should use the day to do something epic and good willed. Perhaps everyone who is working, goes to work as normal, but donates their whole days pay to a charity of their choice..

Just a little idea before I drift off to the land of nod..

zzzzzzz

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Yipppeeee!

I am a teacher blogging with my Year 5 class. They are extremely excited!

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Hope to take a shower today

While writing this I’m waiting for the plumber that will repare the boiler in my home. Due to a bad installation some months ago, I’m without heating and warm water since almost 3 weeks now. It’s an interesting experience: one adapts to colder ambient temperature quiet easily (and luckily I have good hiking clothes that keep me warm) and I realise that it is maybe a good idea not to take a shower every day (for ecologic reasons). But I’m glad anyway that the problem will be solved (hopefully) today so that in the future the more ecologic way of life may become a choice.
So that’s my 29th of february of today. I know, it’s nothing special & people all over the world are certainly confronted with real problems of life …

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I’m so excited!

I’m so excited, I’m so excited, I’m about to blog all day and I think we’ll like it.

Apologies if this has been posted before, but I couldn’t find it!

We are about to start a whole day of blogging in Moorfield Primary School, and I can’t WAIT! I’ve got a team of helpers (Blog Squad) and we are going to teach everyone in our school about blogging. We will be taking advantage of this special day to add comments to our three school blogs and those of our quadblogging chums!

I would just like to say a massive THANK YOU to Mr Mitchell, not just for today, but for inspiring me to start with blogging with our school. Since we began one of our blogs alone has had 17,000 hits. All from one Tweet. I’d also like to add my CONGRATULATIONS to Mr and Mrs Mitchell on their fantastic news. What a brilliant way to share it with.

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My day in year 3

Today I am teaching my year 3 class. We have a child whose birthday is today so we are finding out about leap years. We are going to be very busy writing posts on the blog and reading other people’s posts. Later today we will be doing Numeracy and Literacy work. We are also going to be finding out about the Muslim festival Ramadan.

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What I’m doing today

I am a year 5/6 teacher from Flitch Green Academy and today I’m getting my class to blog about some of the ideas given by yourself. My interests are sports and in particular Rugby. I support Welsh Rugby too!

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Just another day?

Today I was going to blog about what I had done at work, but sadly, I am off work sick – so I will be pretty much sitting at home in my pjs, popping cold remedy tablets and hoping I am better tomorrow!
I will instead give you a run down of what I should have been doing today!
I work for a charity – The National Trust (We look after historic buildings and important coastline and countryside so it can be enjoyed forever, for everyone). I am the Custodian of The Needles Battery, a Victorian fort on the Isle of Wight overlooking the famous Needles Rocks.
This time of year is very busy for us as we are opening for the 2012 season in 17 days. There is lots of last minute jobs to make sure the site is spick and span for the visitors to come and enjoy. I have just finished a new exhibition about what life was like for the soldiers based at the Battery in the Second World War. It is a great part of my job when I hear what people think of the exhibitions that we make. It is a real honour to be able to tell the stories of people who were a part of the Battery.
I also give guided tours of the site to lots of people including about 3000 school children each year.
On my to do list today was to paint the front gates of the site, it is always important to give a good first impression! One of our volunteers , Sid would be there to help me. I would also have been updating our twitter account @needlesbattery with what is going on. I probably would have also answered a few emails and perhaps a bit of paperwork relating to our tearoom. Including looking at some new recipes for cakes to try out!
Some National Trust staff are using the Leap day to give back to their local community by volunteering their time on leap day to do community projects. As we are so busy just now we’ll be doing our leap day volunteering later on in the year by doing a beach clean, at one of our local beaches.
Anyway, as you know, I am not doing any of that today, but I hopefully will be doing it tomorrow instead!
Happy Leap Day!

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If I had an extra day….

If I had an extra day, I would spend it with my family as time is a valuable gift. I would tell them I love them (something which is not normally done) and give my mum a hug. We take our people for granted and we forget what is important to us as we get wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life!
In fact, I’m not going to wait for an extra day, I’m going to do it today!
Happy blogging!

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Impressed

We’ve been preparing for St. David’s day (Patron Saint of Wales) and World book day. We’re going to celebrate both eventsby reading traditional Welsh stories/legends and a mini Eisteddfod.

My wife is pregnant – due in 5 weeks – so by the next leap year our little baby will be nearl four!!! Exciting times.

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FAB!

Today my wonderful class are blogging about what they could do with their extra day. I am very proud of my children as they have written in a very mature and thoughtful manner.

Well done 6 Cherry

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What I’m doing today

I am a year 5/6 teacher from Flitch Green Academy and today I’m getting my class to blog about some of the ideas given by yourself. My interests are sports and in particular Rugby. I support Welsh Rugby too!

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Children’s ideas

Today a child in my class told me confidently that people who are born on February 29th only have a birthday once every three years…I love these types of statement, as they lead to such great learning from just a small conversation!

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Badders

I had a great game of badminton with 3 good friends, feeling fit now, cheers guys!

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Busy busy busy! :-)

Today was a fairly typical day as a busy working Mum. Up at six to get things ready for school. E mails done before getting my little one up and ready for school. Bags packed with swimming kit, etc. Breakfast everyone then dog and girl to my Mum’s.. I would never manage without her!
Then it’s drive to school. Dealing with staff and parents immediately and get resources ready. Use of the internet, e mail, USB stick and interactive whiteboard all used by 8am.. Don’t remember how people taught before without them!
Busy busy day at school teaching. Lunch duty, school photo day, planning meeting with a teacher, governor’s meeting then a quick dash home to pick up my daughter and take her to perform in a show at the local school with ‘Young Americans’ visiting group. Inspirational show and I was a very proud Mum :-)
Then it’s daughter home and ready for bed before sorting out my costume for World Book Day at school tomorrow! Horrid Henry it is!
Now sitting down to do school work. Have worked on the go all day checking and responding to e mails on my iPhone which I could never live without! Not to mention the tweeting, texting and Facebook posts today!
The way I see it I have two jobs.. Mum and Deputy Head. I love them both and think they are the best jobs in the world!
Life is what you make it and I think teaching children and being a Mum have made my life pretty brilliant! :-)

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Our Students are Rockstars

We enjoy each and every day in our classroom watching our students take on challenging tasks. So we were very excited to provide them with the opportunity to blog on Leap Day with the world!

Today we have been very busy working on our individual goals, self-assessing our progress, and preparing for conferences with our parents. The ability our students have to accurately assess their own progress, providing evidence to support their growth, is inspiring. They truly know themselves as learners.

Today has also been a day to celebrate our diversity and our connections to the world through the work of blogging. Our lab is buzzing with the excited voices of nearly 50 students actively communicating and computing with the world!

When our students inspire us we dance, and today may just be one of those days! Thank you David Mitchell for this experience!!

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Going green

Had a great day with my class of Year Five children. We have been learning about Global warming and climate change today. We have tried a little blogging in the past and we would love to do more!

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A new healthy me

Today I had to go for possibly one the most gross painful treatments yet, i’ll spare you the full details nobody needs some visual imagines,

but let me tell you all the cells were removed and when I saw them all in a little tub being sent off to the lab it felt kind of werid

Not quite how I had imagined spending my extra day of the year, but I hope that it will be the start of a new healthy me now everything has been removed

All I have to do now is wait for the results so fingers crossed please for no more treatments and I am going to spend the rest of my 29th eating chocolate

I’m sure chocolate was in the small print of the recovery plan….. or if not it is now :o )

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Scratching Around

I’m an ICT teacher.

Today my year 7 pupils (aged 11 and 12) have been designing and creating their own computer games using a free program called Scratch.

The level of planning, thinking and problem solving that they have shown has been incredible. I’m so proud of them. For me, the best bit was when several of them wanted to stay at break to carry on.

One boy even recorded a video for me explaining how he had solved a problem with our ‘pacman’ style game. I’ve added it to the lesson so that my other pupils can learn from him.

If you haven’t tried Scratch, do it. It’s great fun as my pupils will tell you.

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Scratching Around

I’m an ICT teacher.

Today my year 7 pupils (aged 11 and 12) have been designing and creating their own computer games using a free program called Scratch.

The level of planning, thinking and problem solving that they have shown has been incredible. I’m so proud of them. For me, the best bit was when several of them wanted to stay at break to carry on.

One boy even recorded a video for me explaining how he had solved a problem with our ‘pacman’ style game. I’ve added it to the lesson so that my other pupils can learn from him.

If you haven’t tried Scratch, do it. It’s great fun as my pupils will tell you.

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A day of learning…

Today I have been on a training course in mathematics. I am a primary teacher and have been learning about how to identify the gaps in a primary child’s education in maths. By finding the gaps, usually about understanding numbers and being afraid to play with numbers and have a good knowledge of place value.
If I had 29 wishes, a couple would be to help children have a good education, feel confident about themselves and feel safe. If I can help that, by using one of my passions of ICT, then it would be a great start to my wish list!

I have wondered many times today about where I might be in 4 years time at the next leap year. Will my own son be happy and successful in school? Will I have any other children? Will I still be in the same school teaching? WIll I be further along my path to becoming a head teacher? We shall see!

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An average day, no proposals

Today was an average day for me as the headteacher of a primary school. Meetings followed by more meetings. However, our school is being decorated by some of our children and teachers with amazing window paintings and they have really brightened the place up. After school I went to the gym, which always puts me in good humour even when I don’t look forward to going. Overall, an average day!

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Spreading the word

Today I showed my school this blog in assembly. We had already looked at it about 1 month ago and as the day got closer a lot of children were asking for the web address! We also saw that Leicester where we are from was ranked high on the most visits on the globe! Again we were proud.

This blog has also raised the profile of our class blog in our school. So great idea for the blog and look forward to the next big project?

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Little things

Had one of those great days where all the little things went right. Was walking to work and got offered a ride by a neighbour. The lady I work with brought in home made cookies and was eager to share. I found a favourite earring that had been missing for several days. I had thought it lost for good, but it had fallen into an inside pocket of my coat. I came home prepared for a huge pile of dishes and my husband had already done the bulk of them. Feb 29th may well be my favourite day this year.

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Taking inspiration from you all

Hello
I am a teacher in Shetland, the small islands at the very north of Scotland. I would really like my class to get blogging so i am going to open this blog tomorrow with them and show it to them.
We will look at the different styles of blogs, the ages of the bloggers as well as the number of nationalities posting. I want to inspire them to get blogging from our school. I want to open up our very small school to the world. We only have 11 children in the school ages 5-12 so it would be great to reach out to a much bigger audience.

As for what ive been doing today, well im still off on maternity leave from having my little girl Isla and today I took her swimming. She loved it.

Fantastic work David Mitchell.
:-)

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Test

Just posting to see if this will post

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Working Parent’s Treadmill

Woke. Kettle. Teeth. Son woke. Hot chocolate. Daughter woke. Bottle. Iron shirt. Shower. Wife woke. Baby woke. Dress. Breakfast. Dress kids. Car. Journey. Work. Photocopier broke. Strong coffee. Meetings. No shows. Drop ins. Phonecalls. Preparing. Coffee. Meetings. More meetings. Lunch. Tired.
Meetings. Visitors. Coffee. Agreements. More visitors. More coffee. More meetings. Pack bag. Car. Journey. Supermarket. Car. Journey. Home. Kids. Storytime. Work. No more coffee. Dinner. Work. Teeth. Sleep.

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To learn Another Day

Today I woke early not knowing if I had a job to go to. I dusted off my laptop and begane to edit my children’s book. My phone Zappa to life and I know; today I will be teaching. The call was from a school an hours drive away,so I waist no time and grab my iPad and jump into the batmobile.

I taught senior infants today, we covered what their usual class teacher had laid out and when there was time leftover I showed them a prezie presentation with fact and pictures abut Feb 29, by connecting my iPad to the projector.

After a quick art lesson I snapped some pictures and showed them on the projector. They rally love their work being on the IWB.

And now? Well my day as a substitute teacher is over and so I am heading back to edit. You see that’s the thing about being a teacher, always learning, sharing, re-learning and re-sharing.

Http://TeacherMoloneyKing.com

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City Life

Today I had an interview and was required to take the rish hour train into Manchester. Now the interview was challenge enough but the journey did give me time to appreciate personal space, and time. With my face in one armpit and a bike wheel between my legs, I longed to be back in my car listening to 5 live watching the world go by. That is all, happy blogging and congratulations DeputyMitchell.

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What a day!

Didn’t do much today other than be jealous of those at One More Disney Day today. Then heard about my fave Monkeey and first celebrity crush, Davy Jones passing away. Son’s LEGO club at school went from being an extra hour long to being cancelled all together. 3more hours then it’ll be March and hopefully a better day!

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Pinches of my life

Got some great bargains on the school’s Bring and Buy Sale. My 1 year old has just broken my precious lantern holder for candles which was my centrepiece in my living room. And I am putting my finishing statements on my project work.

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Heads, shoulders, knees and toes

After a long night of random wakings, the day started suddenly when I realised I had finally slept for two hours solid and needed to be leaving for the hospital in 15 minutes.

BOING!

That’s me, jumping out of the bed, grabbing some clothes from the random assortment littering my bedroom floor (they’re clean, but they never get to be put away as I need them before I have the time to shelve them…) and sprinting into the bathroom for a quick shower before donning the aforementioned clothes.

Luckily, it turned out the Other Half had been a little more organised whilst I was sleeping, and the Wee Man was dressed and ready for a speedy exit, even if Bubby D was still in her nightwear.

10 minutes later and we were in the car and on our way.

The Wee Man has not yet learned that hospitals in general are places of long, tedious waits with overpriced parking, limited eating opportunities and uncomfortable chairs. Instead, he views them as a great adventure with new people to meet, new toys to play with and new experiences to take part in. Perhaps this is the best way to view a hospital, really. It does seem to make the whole experience just a bit more pleasant. In fact, I think if they made adult waiting rooms as colourful and fun as children’s waiting rooms, people might be a little bit happier about their discomfort.

A brief weighing (14.76kg) and height (93.5cm) taking session later, and we were in to see the neurologist.

‘You need a brain wave scan’ he pronounced. ‘You’ll have to wear a little bonnet with wires, for about 15 minutes’.

The Wee Man seemed indifferent to this proposal. He was far more interested in whether the experience would result in a lollipop. ‘I like lollipops’ he informed whoever was listening. The student doctor seemed quite keen on the idea of a lollipop too, as it turns out. Unfortunately however, the neurologist had no lollipops, and the Wee Man had to settle for a rice cracker. (The neurologist likes them with marmite, apparently. Sounds like a recipe of nothingness and yuck, to me).

But as luck would have it, later, having returned from the hospital, and after acquiring a brand new big boy haircut, the barber handed him a lollipop in the shape of an orange. ‘Here is your haircut lollipop’ he said.

‘I like lollipops’ the Wee Man informed the barber. And he smiled all the way home.

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Enjoying the weather

Today, I am enjoying the calm that the rainy weather brings. I am also enjoying the peace and quiet outdoors due to most people staying inside and trying to stay dry.

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Tired teacher

I’ve been blogging all day with my class so decided to add a post myself, last day of bens job and end of an era, wonder where blogging will be in 4 years time by the next leap year!!

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One day out of 366

Thank you @deputymitchell for this fantastic idea you had! I am sitting with my precious BIG baby blogging away…the little baby is sleeping, I get the feeling she may blog before she can stand if her fascination with the laptop is anything to go by!
Hope you don’t have too late a night. Give your self a pat on the back from me for a job very well done!

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Leaping Frogs

Today Year 2 at Bridgewater Primary school in Northampton learned why today is a special day. Then, to mark the occasion we made origami frogs (why? because frogs leap….). We then took our frogs into the hall and practised making them jump. Those of us that wanted to had a frog race. Some of us found this really hard and cheated by pushing the frogs across the floor. The winner of our frog race was Jake – not because he came first (he was actually the slowest) but because he took his time and made his origami frog leap properly.
So, what has leap day meant to us….well it has taught us to take our time and that when we do so the results are better and so are the rewards!
Happy Leap Day to everyone around the world – we have enjoyed reading about what the world has done with their “extra day”.

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Class Pet Blog

Katy posted about her horse riding lesson at the weekend with our class pet, Loveheart.
Here it is:
loveheart the horse ridder

On Sunday Loveheart and I went horse ridding, and I did my first canter. First you have to walk, then you have to learn to trot, and then you canter. Canter is a bit faster then a trot, but it’s like being on a swing going back and forth. It is really fun, and I’m still excited that I’m doing it, but I know you have to calm down. The Sunday before last I did a very fast trot, and when I tried a jump I fell off not a pretty site. We came home after my lesson and had a roast diner. Yum! I think Loveheart enjoyed her stay.

Check out our class pet blog: http://dannythechick.primaryblogger.co.uk/

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It’s a small world after all

Last August, I was terrified. Pretty much from start to finish, actually, as I had a new job. There is always a lot of excitement and anticipation about any new job you take up, but this one in particular was a special kind of scary, as it was over 4,000 miles away on the tiny island of St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.

I was terrified for plenty of reasons, chief among which was simple fear of the unknown – I’d never been faced with so many unknowns before starting a new job – but just as important was the fear of isolation. Several of the questions in my interview were geared towards living with isolation, so it weighed pretty heavily on my mind.
Since getting here, though, I have shared 6 months with a spectacular bunch of teachers and students, and learnt so much about this incredible place, but (and here’s the kicker) I haven’t lost touch with the wider world – a wider world that means a hell of a lot to me.

As an ICT teacher, I bang on about the idea of the world getting smaller pretty regularly, but I hadn’t actually felt it until I came here. Mum & dad are only a Skype call away, family & friends are all on Facebook, and the thousands of teachers I connect with on Twitter are always there to keep me learning.

We moan about it all the time, but technology is truly changing the way our world works. If it hadn’t, neither I nor any one of you would have the opportunity to share our February 29ths together like this.

It’s a good thing :)

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Random Science Lesson

Walking up the stairs to class this morning, the Librarian had a massive sign around her neck shouting ‘Happy Leap Year’.

It seemed funny to me, celebrating such a thing – maybe it’s a culture clash (US/UK) but another teacher asked me ‘why is it again? how often does it happen?’ – so I offered my services to explain.

So I had a fun 15 minutes with grade2 with one child holding a football (you are the sun, you must not move, YOU ARE THE SUN, YOU MUST NOT MOVE!!!!) spinning another around and around while holding a football (you are the earth, don’t stop moving,DON’T STOP MOVING!!!) explaining the whole leap year concept.

How much of it they understood, I suppose I’ll never know (and as for most of them English is a second, or third language not a lot I should imagine!)

So maybe tomorrow, I’ll show my class (grade4) or maybe I’ll show them this site.

To me, the facts aren’t that important, it’s the questions, the why, where, how, when etc… — I suppose that’s what makes me a teacher.

I will be a better teacher tomorrow.

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Leap Year Birthdays

Hi I am an Assistant Headteacher from Christ the King in Huyton Liverpool. Today we have 3 Birthdays in our school, including our French teacher Madame Kelsall. Happy Birthday to our 2 pupils in year 7 and Madame Kelsall. I hope everybody has a fab Feb 29th xx

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All about me!

Married mum and looking after my youngest son who has chicken pox. He is being very good bless him. Lots of mummy cuddles needed.
My husband is watching the football. England v holland. We are 2-0 down at the mo. hubby ok though as I bought him a couple bottles of Stella Cidre today!!!
Lovely wife I am!!!!!!!

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Feb 29th

Every forty eight weeks
The second month of the year
We find an extra day
We didn’t know was here

It hides itself inbetween
Two months we have each year
And jumps out every now and then
But there’s nothing for us to fear

Some people have their birthday today
A very rare event
Keeps their birthday presents cheap
Not too many gifts are sent!

But I bet they feel so happy
When they get their special day
I like to think they wouldn’t choose
To have it any other way

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A busy day in the Prep Dept

Today was a day like any other in our wonderful school. Our happy children enjoyed playing outside in the warm sunshine.

The day was extremely busy for our P7 children.

The morning got off to a great start with cross country running, rugby and hockey practice.

After a well deserved break, the children were finding about the Titanic. Today, we started filming our advertisements using our iPads for a ticket on board the large “unsinkable” ship. The children had great fun creating the set and using the iMovie app to create an advertisement.

We also used selected words associated with the Titanic to create a wordle. The children liked how the words appeared in different directions and appeared in different sizes.

The school day ended with a practice our production of Annie.

Another busy day in Prep

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A Pi, a goodbye and a lacrosse match…

This morning I woke up at ten to six, in order to try to secure myself the purchase of a much anticipated Raspberry Pi. The distributors’ websites crashed very early on due to the strain of the many such geeks as myself – all trying to access them at the same time. Sadly, I failed in that particular mission – however I have placed a pre-order for the next batch – which is expected about a month or so from now.

Usually, I would be on a train to University at 7:23 – however today I was bunking lectures due to attending the scattering of the ashes of an old friend. I had seen my grandmother’s ashes scattered in Stockport, but the crematorium in my home town did things a little differently. It was an unseasonably warm and bright day as we walked out to pick a spot on the chosen plot, and as the Crematorium Manager finished scattering, the sun came out from behind a cloud – as if Terry had smiled on us. Those assembled went for a coffee afterwards, and all in all it was quite a peaceful and ‘closing’ experience.

At half past one, as there was little point in traveling to my very-out-of-town campus for the tail end of a lecture, I drove down to the sports park, where my University women’s lacrosse team were going to play a league match. Due to my commitment in the morning, I had agreed to play. I am a goaltender (though not a very good one yet!) and we were taking on Imperial College – who had beaten us on their turf, 20-0 before Christmas! We gave them a shock when we came out all guns blazing, and they were surprised by how much we had improved in such a short space of time. We had a really hard-fought match, and lost 5-17 – which was better than we had been expecting! There was some great work from the team, and we really gave them a run for their money on every play. I must have saved as many as I let in – and I was very pleased with some of them! I’m becoming a lot more confident in my own abilities etc. nowadays – and as soon as I can fix up my footwork and get my moving around more fluid – I should hopefully start to become a force to be reckoned with! The feeling I got when I charged out for the groundball which was being fought over, with my helmet down, stick in the ground, shouting my throat raw to scare them off – was amazing, especially when it came off and I scooped up the ball!

I then came home, had a shower, and I’m now writing this post! I think that I have made quite thorough and good use of this ‘extra’ day! :-) I now have to work out what I am going to have for tea. Time to get the beers in I think!

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wedding

Following on from this morning I am proud to say David Kirk married Emma today at 4:45 pm in Cowdenbeath Registry Office then a reception at the local indian restaurant. David and Emma Kirk are now a happily married couple. I have permission from both of them to blog their wedding. In less than 2 months from the proposal on 30th Dec 2011 they are now together as a married mr and mrs.

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Work, food, packing

I’ve been working as a media researcher all day long and probably for a few hours more yet. I move house on Friday so this evening will consist of frantic packing and eating everything in the fridge!

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i am nobody

here I am. I am nobody. I stand here with a gray heart. A gray mind. A gray soul. i constantly think ‘is this my life’ ‘is this my world’ ‘are these my people’ as I walk down all the same roads. I am so tired but what else can I think or do.

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Proud!!

Was very proud of my students today writing their blog post by themselves and adding to Feb29th.net page. An excellent achievement for SLD students!!

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Leap Day

Today I have been busy most of the day looking after my teething twin daughters. At six months old they are quite a handful already and now they are teething there simply isn’t enough of me to go around! I wouldn’t have it any other way though – I am incredibly lucky. Already one of our babies has returned from the brink to beat meningitis and I am getting married in August this year.
All I can hope is that on the next leap day I might get more sleep! :0)

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Just another day in the office

My leap day started when the alarm went off at 5:45am. 20 minute Kettleworx core workout done I woke my wife up with her breakfast. Showered, dressed, lunch made, breakfast and out the door.
My office was a half hour drive along main, reasonably fast roads. Got into office in good time and faced the Wednesday morning office weigh in. I had lost a quarter of a pound (not much but still a loss).
With a mug of hot coffee on my desk my office day had begun. I work for an IT support company giving remote and telephone support to small and medium sized businesess up and down the country. One of the many office conversations this morning was about the leap day and one of my colleagues had read that we were working for free today which killed that conversation rather quicker than normal.
Lunchtime rolled round fairly quickly and I warmed my homemade soup in the microwave, spicy carrot and butternut squash. I read my Kindle whilst eating the soup which was good. Walked over to the Tesco supermarket across the road from the office for dinner supplies. Stopped for some money out of the cash machine, just before the money popped out the machine asked me if I was considering to buy Coco pops today (why??) swiftly said no and took the money. Supplies bought and back in the office for the afternoon.
The afternoon dragged more than the morning had done but was broken up by my wife ringing me for items for me to purchase after work as she had to dress up as a book character for world book day tomorrow at school. Several hot drinks, a pint of water and customers assisted it was time to leave the office.
Picked up the items my wife had asked for at the same Tesco I had visited at lunchtime then back home. Started dinner, chicken enchiladas, quick but filling.
My wife came back after one of her parents evenings this week, told me about her day then relaxed in front of the tv whilst I finished making dinner. Dinner enjoyed I nipped to the shops for some items I had forgotten earlier despite visiting the same supermarket twice today.
Got back and my wife happily watching the England vs Holland football match I went upstairs to my desk with my laptop. Paid a few bills including my car tax, then wrote what you are reading now.
Hope you had a great 2012 leap day!!

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Can you feel the heat?

Hello to all of you! What a special project – i am so pleased to be part of it. I am writing from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I am originally from Canada, though, just living here for the time being. It was a very hot, humid day in Rio which is not unusual for this time of year. We can’t get cool enough! Carnival has just ended so, as they say, life begins in Brazil! I dropped my 4 year old daughter at school and did the shopping. At our supermarkets there are fruits that I have never seen before, some originate from the Amazon rainforest! I came home with my two year old son and played until it was time for my Portuguese lesson. Today’s lesson went well which is rare! I am struggling to get my adult brain to soak up this new language! This afternoon I spent time on my own blog which gives me great satisfaction. I picked up my daughter from school and we made smoothies and had a picnic in our yard. I wish I had done something fantastic or exciting or ground-breaking, but today was a day just like others even if it is the 29th of February. It was a day that was happy, simple, and full of giggles, hugs, friends, and love. Hope your day was the same no matter where you are!

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CPD on blogging tomorrow

Tomorrow is our CPD evening tomorrow and I am helping lead a session on blogging and how it helps with literacy skills. This couldn’t have happened at a better time for our session!! The statistics are amazing, so many people have got involved and posted something or responded to other people’s comments – it’s amazing!!

My students were facinated by the globe (they’re year 13!!) and kept watching it go around! “Oh look, Miss! People in America are posting!” followed by “Eeeee, someone in Manchester has posted! Manchester, that’s miles away!!” (Geography lesson swiftly followed) Loads of conversations came out of today including why we have a February 29th and why February is shorter than other months (thankfully I knew this because someone in the staff room had told me earlier today!! Phew!)

Anyway, tomorrow’s session should be good as today has reminded me exactly why I love blogging so much and why I am DESPERATE to launch a whole bunch of blogs! Now, if only I had an extra spare day more often…….

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Heads, shoulders, knees and toes

After a long night of random wakings, the day started suddenly when I realised I had finally slept for two hours solid and needed to be leaving for the hospital in 15 minutes.

BOING!

That’s me, jumping out of the bed, grabbing some clothes from the random assortment littering my bedroom floor (they’re clean, but they never get to be put away as I need them before I have the time to shelve them…) and sprinting into the bathroom for a quick shower before donning the aforementioned clothes.

Luckily, it turned out the Other Half had been a little more organised whilst I was sleeping, and the Wee Man was dressed and ready for a speedy exit, even if Bubby D was still in her nightwear.

10 minutes later and we were in the car and on our way.

The Wee Man has not yet learned that hospitals in general are places of long, tedious waits with overpriced parking, limited eating opportunities and uncomfortable chairs. Instead, he views them as a great adventure with new people to meet, new toys to play with and new experiences to take part in. Perhaps this is the best way to view a hospital, really. It does seem to make the whole experience just a bit more pleasant. In fact, I think if they made adult waiting rooms as colourful and fun as children’s waiting rooms, people might be a little bit happier about their discomfort.

A brief weighing (14.76kg) and height (93.5cm) taking session later, and we were in to see the neurologist.

‘You need a brain wave scan’ he pronounced. ‘You’ll have to wear a little bonnet with wires, for about 15 minutes’.

The Wee Man seemed indifferent to this proposal. He was far more interested in whether the experience would result in a lollipop. ‘I like lollipops’ he informed whoever was listening. The student doctor seemed quite keen on the idea of a lollipop too, as it turns out. Unfortunately however, the neurologist had no lollipops, and the Wee Man had to settle for a rice cracker. (The neurologist likes them with marmite, apparently. Sounds like a recipe of nothingness and yuck, to me).

But as luck would have it, later, having returned from the hospital, and after acquiring a brand new big boy haircut, the barber handed him a lollipop in the shape of an orange. ‘Here is your haircut lollipop’ he said.

‘I like lollipops’ the Wee Man informed the barber. And he smiled all the way home.

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29 things I like to do

29 things I like to do:
1) play the viola
2) read books
3) cuddle my hamster
4) feed the fish
5) Do the gardening
6) Make music in my orchestra
7) Play the piano
8) Decorate my flat
9) have a coffee in Neros
10) Walk
11) Travel
12) see my friends
13) Go to church
14) call my nephews
15) look at photos
16) play with my friend’s children
17) Read what my class have written about Patch, the class bear.
18) Cook- especially cakes
19) Spend time on a narrowboat
20) Stroke dogs
21) Have a pyjama day
22) Buy shoes
23) Get into bed
24) Sing
25) Teach singing club
26) Perform in a concert
27) plan holidays
28) make lists
29) learn

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an extra day

On this rainy leap day, I am doing a lot of what I do every day. I woke up at 6am, fed my two cats (Atticus and Gatsby) and sat in traffic on my way to work. I’m a teacher. I moved thier seats today and even decided to reconfigure the room, facing the desks in a new direction. It’s been feeling warm and I think the threat of winter has passed so I guess I am in the mood for a change. This afternoon, I will re-post my “word wall” in a more prominent part of the new room layout and try to grade papers. After work, I will go home and do some laundry while I make dinner for my husband and myself. We are newlyweds – and I love that we have a leap year as our first year married. It’s like we get an extra day to be excited about being together :) He will be home around 5 or 6 and we will talk about our days and maybe daydream about what our house might look like in the future. We will eat dinner and watch TV and our cats will be crazy, as they usually are. After dinner, We will most likely check in with msnbc to hear what people are saying about the Republican Primaries. I am not a republican but I’m very interested in politics, so I follow the results closely. Mitt Romney won both primaries last night, but it was close and I like to hear the spin from the candidates and the media. And tomorrow, it will be March.

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100 Day Pancakes

Making pancakes in my classroom with my kindergarten students for the 100th day of school! Doing what I love most!!

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Exxtra Time

Well I have dedidcated this time to catching on metting minutes that I should have handed in a while back. What better time to do this than the extra day of the year. Later will watch a memorable movie to close off the day.

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Enjoy every minute

Yesterday is history
Tommorow is a mystery
Now is a gift, that’s why they call it the present
Live each day with fun and laughter and remember smiles are contagious
Be thankful for your present

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lucky to be me today

Currently, I’m sitting on my landing trying to Lotte, my youngest daughter, to go to sleep. A nightly occurance, unfortunatley. However, this post is called lucky to be me, and I am. This time four years ago, i was sitting (probably comfy on my sofa, not on the landing lol) my mind miles away worrying why we couldn’t have children. Little did i know that less than 2 months later, I would ‘fall’ and naturally too.
So, here I am, four years later, with a 3 year old and a not quite 2 year old. Both cute, adorable, cheeky and very full of love and confidence. My husband and mine’s dreams fulfilled.
Yes, life is hard, especially with the current economic crisis, at times, but waking up, ususally with one of the girls in our bed, or coming home to their smiling faces makes it all worthwhile. So today, of all days, i can truly say, and believe, that I am lucky to be me and can’t help wondering where i will be on the next leap year and what adventures the two girls will have brought home to us.

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Snow day

Lots of schools in my area (lower Hudson valley, NY) closed today due to impending snow. We went in and had an early dismissal. Happy leap day!

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Footy

Watching Holland demolish England

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Awe and wonder

Thoroughly enjoyed watching my class blog on here today. Watched their excitement as they read comments from around the world and saw their own posts appear. Awe and wonder is only how I can describe their reactions. Blogging has just reached a new level and I am proud to be a part of it. Keep blogging everyone!

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The beaches

You should really go to Sri Lanka. The beaches
here are beautiful. It so natural and it never to
busy. Some days you have the whole beach to yourself.
The people here are always really nice. O just feels so
real and natural. I thoroughly recommend that you go to
Sri Lanka as it is beautiful there.
I actually here now and it is just amazing

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Joan Baez live in Glasgow

Seeing folk icon Joan Baez live at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall!

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2012 count down

I’m in the classroom serching internet for my project.

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20 years time

In 20 years time the date will be Sunday 29th February 2032. I will be 48 years old. I will still be a teacher.
I hope I will be relaxing on this day. I will be preparing for another day at school the next day, but school is different. All the children will have i-pads in their desks. We will no longer use pencil or pens or even write much as we will use the computer. We will even have holograms to introduce new topics.

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100WCGU “Take a leap of faith”

I thought I’d give my love of history an airing in this week’s 100 word challenge for grown ups. Here is my short story:

Take a leap of faith

“It is time.”

Lady Jane Grey bowed her head obediently but she was struck by the intoxicating thought that she could just refuse.

I shall not be queen!

“It is God’s will,” her father kept on telling her. But all she could see was the will of a greedy, ambitious man.

But who could she trust if not her father?

***

“What shall I do? Where is it?” cried Lady Jane Grey, the blindfold shielding her view as she fumbled for the block. Assisted by the Deputy Lieutenant of the Tower, she lay her down her head and was beheaded.

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20 years ….

In twenty years I hope I will have my own family and have travelled to lots of different places around the world. I also hope that there will be lots more cures and more technological inventions that will help people.

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100WCGU “Take a leap of faith”

I thought I’d give my love of history an airing in this week’s 100 word challenge for grown ups. Here is my short story:

Take a leap of faith

“It is time.”

Lady Jane Grey bowed her head obediently but she was struck by the intoxicating thought that she could just refuse.

I shall not be queen!

“It is God’s will,” her father kept on telling her. But all she could see was the will of a greedy, ambitious man.

But who could she trust if not her father?

***

“What shall I do? Where is it?” cried Lady Jane Grey, the blindfold shielding her view as she fumbled for the block. Assisted by the Deputy Lieutenant of the Tower, she lay her down her head and was beheaded.

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“Leave only footprints!”

At school with my fantastic students all eager to learn! Yeah! Teaching, marking and planning lessons!
Spending time with my family this evening – best time of the day!
We’ll be off to the beach to play in the sea and leave footprints in the sand – happy times!

Keep Smiling!

My favourite poem x

Footprints

One night I had a dream–
I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord
and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints,
one belonged to me and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life.
This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you would walk with me all the way,
but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints.
“I don’t understand why in times when I needed you most,
you should leave me.”
The Lord replied, “My precious, precious child,
I love you and I would never, never leave you
during your times of trial and suffering.
“When you saw only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you.”

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Writing a presentation!

I am working on a communications strategy presentation at my office in Market Harborough!

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Blogging in ICT lesson

Today my year 8 class in Penzance, Cornwall are blogging! They are all going to try writing a blog, some of them it will be for the first time …. So we say give it a go and try!!!

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Ice Ice Baby

I started my Leap Day with 45 minutes of extra sleep! Our area in southeastern Minnesota recieved quite a bit of rain and freezing rain last night. Because of that, school is starting 2 hours late. As a teacher, I chose to approach the opportunity two-fold: get extra sleep and get some extra grading time in. It works for me!

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100WCGU “Take a leap of faith”

I thought I’d give my love of history an airing in this week’s 100 word challenge for grown ups. Here is my short story:

Take a leap of faith

“It is time.”

Lady Jane Grey bowed her head obediently but she was struck by the intoxicating thought that she could just refuse.

I shall not be queen!

“It is God’s will,” her father kept on telling her. But all she could see was the will of a greedy, ambitious man.

But who could she trust if not her father?

***

“What shall I do? Where is it?” cried Lady Jane Grey, the blindfold shielding her view as she fumbled for the block. Assisted by the Deputy Lieutenant of the Tower, she lay her down her head and was beheaded.

NB based on fact. Lady Jane Grey was the, “Nine days’ queen of England,” executed for treason in 1554 at the age of sixteen. Great grand-daughter of Henry VII, she was arguably an innocent victim of the political and religious struggles around her and her only desire was for her studies rather than her marriage to Guildford Dudley and led by his father, the Duke of Northumberland, her seizure the throne of England. After the Privy Council changed sides and supported Mary I’s claim to the throne, Lady Jane Grey’s father, the Duke of Suffolk, abandoned his daughter and proclaimed Mary queen in order to save himself.

Lady Jane Grey was imprisoned in the Tower and at first her life was to be spared. She was only giving the death sentence after a protestant rebellion the following year, which of course she had nothing to do with. Her father took part in this failed rebellion, thus securing his own execution the week after Lady Jane.

For me, nothing sums up the tragedy more than the frightened words of this blindfolded teenager’s composure momentarily slipping as she grappled for the block before she was able to recite the line with which she wished to end her days: “Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit!”

Isn’t history fascinating!

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Mid-week R & R

I’m staying home today, recovering from teaching on a long but successful seminar day on narrative based research. Being “on” all day yesterday was such a buzz and a rush of adrenaline that today my body went, “no more” and proceeded to catch fab head cold. So I’m writing this with a dripping nose! Fortunately being at home I can slouch around my flat and generally just be. I haven’t had a day at home for about 3 weeks now, so it’s a fab change. And the fact that I’m doing this on a non-day (the 29th Feb) is equally cool.

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Riddle

I visited the Old Sea Lion General last night. I met him at his enclosure, which at night is an endless rolling ocean. Beside the ocean it was cold and wet and the Wolf in the Wind stole many words from my mouth before they reached his ears.

The Old Sea Lion General had simply looked at me with amusement as I battled the elements to greet him. Then, in a moment of peace, he asked me a riddle. “What,” he asked, “waves, yet has no arms, hands, poles or branches to wave with?”

I didn’t have an answer for him then and I’m afraid that after a hard night in the zoo I’m still no closer to the truth of it. Can anyone help?

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My class blog

I am looking forward to showing my class how to use a blog for the first time. I know that they are really excited and they are looking forward to starting their own blog up at the end of the week.

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Me today in 29 words

Head of year 11, ICT and Business teacher at Paget, Staffordshire. Worn out after parents evening. Looking forward to the weekend, time to relax and go for a Nandos!

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An hour in the life of my children

I wake at 7am to the thud of my four year old son landing on my bed. “Morning Mummy” he shouts, my one year one daughter who is sleeping in her room nearby wakes and starts calling “Mama Mama”. My day has started. I reluctantly get out of bed, my husband delibrately ignores all the noise and lies still, although he is now wide awake. I start to get the children dressed, although no sooner have I dressed one they have started to undress again and run away. This is their favourite morning game. This continues for ten minutes before my husband reluctantly helps me. Breakfast follows a similiar pattern by the time we get the kids out to the car both my husband and I are exhausted. I whole day of work lies ahead and I wonder where I will find the energy from. As I kiss the children goodbye at nursery I think to myself how very lucky I am to be woken up by such beautiful children. I cannot wait until the end of the day when I can kiss and hug them again.

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hello

i am going to tell you about da way i like to spend time on my aunties house back at home in kazeckstan. She is a woman but likes to dress as a man and he/she has loads of chickens animals. but she is a very pretty lady.
have fun america.
borat.

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hello

i am going to tell you about da way i like to spend time on my aunties house back at home in kazeckstan. She is a woman but likes to dress as a man and he/she has loads of chickens animals. but she is a very pretty lady.
have fun america.
borat.

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One More day @ Work

The leap year made me work an extra day… Ohhhhh

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Literature trip Feb 29th

Currently waiting for 8 AS Level students at Burton train
Station so that we can go to Birmingham to a series of lectures
On the poetry of Thomas Hardy. Great way to spend the 29th!

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U,S and A

I went to U,S and A and was learning about the American culture
Grat SUCCESS

HIGH FIVE!!!

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kernow

Work. Then surf in the most beautiful place on earth! Cornwall how i love you.

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