My brain is full!

Wow!  I'm on day 3 of a 3-day block course in Auckland to support my Maths Support Teacher training.  It has been awesome, if a little full on, and my brain is now feeling like it is full enough to burst. 
The good thing is that I love learning new things, and this is really making me re-evaluate my own philosophy and practice in teaching, so that is so good for me personally and professionally.
The other brilliant thing is that I have so many fantastic friends up in Auckland and it has been a non-stop social whirl once the thinking is over.  I enjoyed meeting up with D over a few glasses of wine on Tuesday night, and then going out for dinner with J+R last night.  And today, once the course has finished, I'm visiting my old stomping ground to catch up with a host of people there over coffee before I jump back on the little plane that will whisk me home once more.
I am so very lucky.
I'm being paid to be here, my flights, food and accommodation are paid by the ministry, and I have the opportunity to do 2 things that I love: learn new stuff and have fun with old friends.
And tonight I get to hug my kids again, and settle down to sleep in my own bed once more, snuggled up with my gorgeous husband.
How lucky can a girl be?

Looking forward to having fun!

I'm up in Auckland again next week for 3 days as part of my Masters degree - and I'm going to make the most of the time I have there by catching up with lots of old friends.
I'm seeing 2 on Wednesday - serial dates! - that I haven't seen for five years, and it will be lovely to spend some time with them.  Hopefully I'll be able to line up a few more to visit on Thursday afternoon, before I hop on a plane back to good old Wanganui.
Social media helps us all keep in touch, but I can't wait to give them big hugs again!

Lucky to be me.

I'm not well at the moment.  The usual teacher stuff: no voice, aching head, fevers and chills.  It catches us all at some point, and for me it was the weekend after a very busy week when I actually took a day off and went out for an adventure with my lovely husband. It was not the adventure that was my downfall, but the relaxing that went with it.  Once my body comes down from its state of tension and drive that accompanies high-stress deadlines - and this week contained 3 of them on consecutive days for various jobs  - it is vulnerable to any stray germs that are floating around.  Most teachers experience this in the first week of the holidays... push through to the end of term and then collapse.
But I am feeling lucky this week, because my illness has allowed me to be grateful for a few things:

1. I was only working at school for 3 days this week anyway, so I'm not disrupting the children's programme too much;
2. Last week my business partner and I decided to postpone a workshop that we were due to run this week, so when I felt ill on Tuesday this week I didn't feel obliged to go and run a full day workshop;
3. My boss at school rang me for a chat on Monday (a day that I don't teach) and was horrified at how I sounded, so when I phoned her the next day to tell her I wouldn't be in to teach on Wednesday she wasn't surprised;
4. My boss then showed how caring she is, and the strength of her new-found determination to show the staff explicitly how much they're valued - she rang me on Wednesday to tell me she had already got a relieving teacher in to the classroom for Thursday so I didn't try to come back to work too soon.  She would rather I took the extra day and got properly better;
5. I have found that my attention span is only about 30 minutes at the moment before I feel rubbish again, so i have been doing lots of little jobs, but nothing that involves high level concentration... but I have achieved so many of the little things I've been putting off for a while;
6. I have decided to be more gentle on myself.  I must take Sean Covey's advice and take time to
   "sharpen the saw"... so I've been painting this week - a new creative project but nothing that is pressurised.

So how lucky am I?  Who would have thought that a nasty cold could carry so many lessons? 

Mooching

Wow!  What a fabulous day in Wellington! 
Hubby and I grabbed a day to drive down and visit the NZPS exhibition (it was a bit thin on the ground this year - but it served its purpose for us.  Hubby has decided NOT to rejoin the NZPS as he feels that they put all their efforts into documenting what is in front of their eyes.  Nothing wrong with that, but he documents what is inside his head!) and the City Gallery.  While we were there we also took in the works are Ora, Kura, The Art of Dr Seuss, and Shona Moller.  Oh, and Te Papa.
So a bit galleried out now, but what an amazing day.
It makes such a change to be able to please ourselves, now that the boys choose when to join our adventures. 
Highlights of the day for me were the Len Lye exhibition (City Gallery) and Shona Moller.  And browsing in Artie Bees bookshop.  And wandering along Cuba holding hands with hubby.

And we had great fun experimenting with time lapse photography on the trip down.  I can't wait to see the results.
I know that since bootcamp I've been evaluating things in terms of the Habits of Mind again.  Yesterday was definitely one for responding with awe and wonder, thinking flexibly and gathering data with all my senses!

WOW!

What an awesome experience!  The Habits of Mind Bootcamp 2013 is still swirling round in my head, and it will be a few days before many concrete thoughts are available for articulation!  
I have taught and used the HOM before, but this bootcamp is the most intense experience I've had for some time.
Karen Boyes and her presenters were incredible, and she is so skillful at guiding people through their own personal journeys - we emerged triumphant on Tuesday from breaking planks of pine with our bare hands, and many of us were emotional and tearful on Wednesday after a visualisation that took us face to face with our childhood self.
Thursday's presentations were all fabulous - it is amazing what we can pull together under time pressure, in a group of people that were strangers to us at 9am on Monday but feel like old friends now.
I can't wait to receive my letter to myself in 3 months time.  It's a strategy that I think i might start using with myself a bit more often, and also with the participants on our workshops.  I think my mum and dad might start to receive a few letters that they have to hold onto and then post back at a later date!
I'm so glad I went.
And i'm equally glad that I'm home again now.  Cuddling my husband yesterday, and kissing my boys (much to their disgust!) was just fantastic.  Sometimes it's good to spend some time apart, so that you can enjoy getting back together again.
And tomorrow, we're having a spontaneous day in Wellington to see the NZIP annual conference exhibition.  Such fun!  Bring it on!