New term, new challenges

As the summer holidays draw to an end and the weather begins to improve it's time to think once again about what lies ahead. The beginning of a new academic year is like January when I makes new resolutions, but this time about my teaching. As usual I'm going to work hard to be the best teacher ever (although I have heard that it's OK not to be perfect and just be "good enough"), be the most organised ever etc, etc, etc... On a serious note, however I will strive to make improvements on last year even if that means saying "no" once in a while so as to do my best in other areas.
Plans I already have in place to work on right at the start of term are varied. Naturally I have my Langwitch Blog to work on with my pupils and my Langwitch Wiki which I hope to use more often. In addition as mentioned in an earlier post, I have signed up to the all new IWB Challenge and hope to teach myself some new tricks with the ActivStudio.
In a new venture, I was asked to develop ICT-based projects for the Yr7 SOW - one per chapter of Metro / Logo, which I have done. In order to "show off" the work created by our Yr7 pupils and also to encourage some AfL I was also asked to created a French Blog and a German Blog so that staff can add work to them. (No links yet as there's nothing to see). This venture should be extremely interesting as it will involve me a) training staff in the MFL Area how to do the projects (no.1 make a Voki) and b) ensuring that I am not the one doing all of the work. Part B I think maybe the hardest, as I introduced the Heads of French and German to the new (Edu)blogs in July and told them that they needed to register so that I could make them administrators and so far neither of them has.
Keeping on the theme of training I am to go to a local university in October and do some work with their PGCE students, quite a daunting prospect for someone who sometimes struggles to talk to 16 yr olds but one that I am relishing none the less. On a similar topic I will continue to add to the Teacher's Corner of my Wiki so that my colleagues and anyone else who chooses can use it as a reference for doing some of the activities I have suggested to them. I will of course continue to direct them to Joe Dale's wonderful blog for a more detailed view of how to use ICT effectively in their teaching.
There are at least 2 eTwinning projects that I'm to work on, both with Yr 9 pupils (but not the same ones). A German project entitled "Reisen in Europa", a virtual travel guide to our regions, with a school in German, one in Poland and one in Hungary and and English project with my tutor group entitled "How Green in your World" with a school in Poland and a school in France. For this we will be working together on a Wiki where our pupils will add their work as they complete the half-termly tasks.
Finally I'm supposed to be involved in developing our all new Moodle VLE. Quite what this will involve I don't know.
In addition to all this, I'm supposed to go back to choir (Monday), go to the gym 3 times a week (Tuesday, Friday and Sunday) plus swimming with the kids (Sunday) and play badminton with my husband (Thursday).
If I manage to do it all I will be amazed!

Return of the IWB Challenge

Whilst away on my eventful holidays the IWB Challenge was resurrected. I couldn't wait to get home (I know but have you read about my holidays!) and get myself signed up for it.
As a previous participant of the IWB Challenge, set up bu Jess McCulloch in April / May I discovered that there is so much more that the IWB can do other than show Powerpoints, I figured that taking part in this new, longer and more challenging (to me) challenge could only do me (and my pupils) good.
I'm really looking forward to learning what more the board can do for my teaching and my pupils.
For me, it's really important to get them involved and have them come to the front to participate. I know that others in my department disagree, feeling that it demotives other pupils when only a few get to come up and do things. My answer to that is that I am sure there are severaly members of each class who would be mortified if they had to do anything in front of the class (as I would have been as a pupil)...however this kind of activity can build their confidence and also if the pupils know that everyone who wants a turn will get a turn in the course of time they won'd mind not being chosen straight away. During the last IWB Challenge, some of my best lessons were with a class of 31, most of whom were boys. They were so well motivated I couldn't believe it (although it was chaotic and very loud)...the main thing was though that they were engaging with the lesson and with the language (something I struggled to get them to do during activities involving textbooks).
I will be blogging about by successes (and failures) as the term progresses.

Kahlilla Blyss Donahoo

People will probably think I'm odd for writing a second post on this theme, but here it is and I'm drawing a line under this kind of thing from now on!
Some people may have read my previous post about a beautiful little girl called Samatha Hughes who died in April, aged 5, from a rare childhood cancer called Neuroblastoma. Less than 100 children are diagnosed with it in the UK in a year and the survival rate past 5 years is about 20% ,I think - awful!
Anyway you couldn't follow Samantha's story without also following the story of Kahlilla Blyss Donahoo, her "twin", a girl from Phillip Island, Victoria who shared the same birthday as Samantha and was diagnosed with the same horrible illness around the same time as her. I read with great sadness on Monday that she too had joined Samantha and become and Angel. It's heartbreaking to think about this but it does make me value my own 2 children all the more...especially when they're making a mess and fighting over the Magnetix toys!

Tents, tyres, toothache and Twenty20 cricket

The title of this blog post just about sums up my summer really. A couple of people have asked me recenly how the holidays have been and I have replied "interesting" as I think that this is the word that best fits how they have been.
It's funny how we break up for the summer holidays in July, seeing a wonderful 6 (or 5 1/2 this year) weeks' holiday ahead of us and high hope for the perfect holiday and, for me they never quite live up to their expectations, somehow! This year was definately no exception, it seemed to be "one of those years" where we were destined to have our plans changed and where I was to have my French tested.
Our plans for the acutal "holiday" were as follows-spend 3 nights in our tent in Honfleur then drive down to St. Hilaire de Riez in the Vendee to spend a week in a mobile home, before returning home after nearly two weeks in the sun and on the beach. Things got off to a good start, Honfleur was beautiful as ever, and the campsite we stayed on was great (I can thoroughly recommend it - Domaine de la Catinière it's callsed). Alice and Dan both loved the pool (Mum and Dad thought it was a bit cold, though) and the food was OK - don't believe in cooking too much on a camping stove!. We did have a bit of rain but the worst of it happened when we packed the tent up...why is always mad hot when we put the tent up and raining when we put it down?
Then the trouble started...we headed of to the Vendee on the 2nd of August...I know, I know, silly me I should have know better...it took us 8 hours to do a 3-4 hour journey! We finally arrived in St. Hilaire and I know immediately by the look on Graeme's face that he hated it. Tents and caravans squashed into tiny pitches, too many people and a funny smell (although to be fair I think that was just damp sand as it had rained all day!). We got to our mobile home more or less right on the dunes and Graeme remarked that it reminded him of Seaton Carew. To top it off, the flush on the toilet broke late that evening...we discussed leaving but decided to give the place a chance. The next morning we awoke to find we had a flat tyre (and it was Sunday), anyway we got the toilet fixed and Graeme managed to put the spare wheel onto the care and we got the tent dried out. The pool was over-crowded and the beach was dirty we made plans... On Monday we got the tyre fixed(15 Euros, well impressed) and I used some great GCSE-level French to achieve that and ...the toilet broke again, I got on the phone to my mum and told her to book us a pitch on the campsite they had just arrived on in the Loire Valley (we went there last year in mobile home so know it was a nice site). Next day we packed up and left Seaton Carew in France behind, losing quite a bit of money in the process but by that stage we didn't care!
Once again, we errected the tent in the blistering midday heat but the pitch was wonderful, really private and just enough shade for us to cook and eat in. Even better my parents looked after the children whilst we were busy. The pool was fantastic and even the campsite owner remembered us from last year. Things were great, we even managed to head to Saumur in the opposite direction to the thousands of cyclists who had descended upon the town for the annual meet and have our Croque Monsieurs in our favourite bar (a tradition when we are in the Loire Valley). The Graeme's toothache struck...he had to get up a 4 in the morning and wander round until the morning due to his pain! Once he got some painkillers things were a bit better and we got to go to Angers and look round the castle and Tapestry of the Apocalypse, much to the displeasure of my parents (Mum because she's desperate to go and Dad because he isn't...they only ever visit the outside of castles!!). That was the end of the holiday. A very rough sea crossing with a seasick Graeme and a stay in the Travel Inn at Dover and we were home!
Once home, Graeme had to seek out a dentist who would see an emergency patient (we don't have a dentist at the moment as we don't agree with paying for something that we already pay for on the NHS). He found one and got his tooth sorted (root filing, eek)
Since then things haven't really improved...bad weather, warring children and the Twenty20 International between England and South Africa, that I'd bought Graeme tickets for at Christmas, was cancelled because of the weather.
Surely the last week of the holidays well be successful!