"The mud run".....sounds interesting huh??........well maybe.....not really but anyway I did it last year so I know all about it and yeah it's pretty smelly, deep and thick. This is how the "mud run" went:
other schools and my school, we made our way to what I call a "mud pie" or "mud mania" or "the dirty swamp".
I tried to sprint through the mud but it was like a boat just sunk then when I got near the end "oh boy" here comes "the dirty swamp" it looked worst than what I thought but I got a lot of help to get out.
"Plonk!" I just sat there until two year eight girls (Lisa and Stevie) told me to swim to the side (after they tried to get me out)
"Yay!" I got out! I ran up the bank. "Bam" mud run over "yayy yeah".
Boobear
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Guest blog: Our leadership day.
Today's post is by a guest blogger. This student in my class is definitely a superwoman in the making... but she hasn't earned her cape yet! So, without further ado, let me introduce Wonder girl and her recount about a recent school Leadership Day.
On Friday the 13th the year 7&8 students went to Green pastures for leadership day. The first thing we did was the mud run. Now as you should know not many girls like to be covered in mud from head to toe. Well I was one of them. Except I wasn't covered from head to toe. I was only covered up to my chest.
I walked into the first bit of the mud and it was so watery and then I pulled on the rope and I slid right in. There was a little bit of a slide. After that I took the shortcut along the bushes. I got to the other side of the deep deep bit and we had to help heaps of other people.
Stevie and I were extremely exhausted after getting Boobear out of the really deep part. The deepest part would probably go over Stevie's head or maybe just up to her eyebrows or even just up to her forehead. The deep part would've only been up to my nose. I'm amazed how some of the boys didn't mind the mud.
There was one flat bit on it that had a big leaf on it and I stood on it and it turned out to be a big giant hole. My ankle hurt so badly after that. It was time to wash off in the lake. I thought it would be freezing in the lake but it was actually really warm. We were allowed to bomb in,jump in and all that. There was this one funny bit where my shoe fell off in and I was searching underwater for my shoe. That was funny. It was the best part about the leadership day.
On Friday the 13th the year 7&8 students went to Green pastures for leadership day. The first thing we did was the mud run. Now as you should know not many girls like to be covered in mud from head to toe. Well I was one of them. Except I wasn't covered from head to toe. I was only covered up to my chest.
I walked into the first bit of the mud and it was so watery and then I pulled on the rope and I slid right in. There was a little bit of a slide. After that I took the shortcut along the bushes. I got to the other side of the deep deep bit and we had to help heaps of other people.
Stevie and I were extremely exhausted after getting Boobear out of the really deep part. The deepest part would probably go over Stevie's head or maybe just up to her eyebrows or even just up to her forehead. The deep part would've only been up to my nose. I'm amazed how some of the boys didn't mind the mud.
There was one flat bit on it that had a big leaf on it and I stood on it and it turned out to be a big giant hole. My ankle hurt so badly after that. It was time to wash off in the lake. I thought it would be freezing in the lake but it was actually really warm. We were allowed to bomb in,jump in and all that. There was this one funny bit where my shoe fell off in and I was searching underwater for my shoe. That was funny. It was the best part about the leadership day.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Celia Lashlie - gone but never forgotten.
I suspect that many people in New Zealand have been feeling slightly discombobulated this week with the out-of-the-blue news that Celia Lashlie was fighting pancreatic cancer - and then the news following so hard on its heels that the cancer had won.
I choose my words carefully - I am certain that she was fighting to the end because that's the sort of woman she seemed to be.
I only met her a couple of times, at conferences where she was the keynote speaker and I was a lowly workshop host. She spoke for an hour each time, eloquent, passionate, forthright and caring. And although the conferences were close together, and the topic was the same, her speech was different each time. She clearly had some key points that she wanted to make, but seemed to speak from the heart as if each occasion was the first upon which she had decided to bring the topic up.
It was clearly Celia the person we were listening to rather than a slick, polished public persona - she spoke to the room full of teachers as if she were with friends at home - and I must confess to some delight at the surprised faces the first time she dropped an f-bomb in the middle of a sentence. She spoke honestly, without fudging any issues and in such a matter-of-fact way about some truly appalling situations, and you just had to take notice of her message.
I had read her book on raising boys, and brought many of those insights to my roles as parent of teenage boys and as a teacher of pre-teens. But hearing her speak made it all make so much more sense.
Her incredible sense of outrage at the way society deals with some issues, and her unwavering faith in the basic goodness of human nature all resonated with me. The compassion and humanity she brought to all aspects of her life and work shone through her words.
She leaves some very big shoes to fill in the field of social justice. She is a tough act to follow, but we need to hope that somebody does. The vulnerable and the disenfranchised need another champion. Our politicians and pundits need somebody to tell it like it is and keep them honest. Our troubled teens need a beacon to light their way towards the adulthood they deserve.
Celia Lashlie. Gone but never forgotten.
I choose my words carefully - I am certain that she was fighting to the end because that's the sort of woman she seemed to be.
I only met her a couple of times, at conferences where she was the keynote speaker and I was a lowly workshop host. She spoke for an hour each time, eloquent, passionate, forthright and caring. And although the conferences were close together, and the topic was the same, her speech was different each time. She clearly had some key points that she wanted to make, but seemed to speak from the heart as if each occasion was the first upon which she had decided to bring the topic up.
It was clearly Celia the person we were listening to rather than a slick, polished public persona - she spoke to the room full of teachers as if she were with friends at home - and I must confess to some delight at the surprised faces the first time she dropped an f-bomb in the middle of a sentence. She spoke honestly, without fudging any issues and in such a matter-of-fact way about some truly appalling situations, and you just had to take notice of her message.
I had read her book on raising boys, and brought many of those insights to my roles as parent of teenage boys and as a teacher of pre-teens. But hearing her speak made it all make so much more sense.
Her incredible sense of outrage at the way society deals with some issues, and her unwavering faith in the basic goodness of human nature all resonated with me. The compassion and humanity she brought to all aspects of her life and work shone through her words.
She leaves some very big shoes to fill in the field of social justice. She is a tough act to follow, but we need to hope that somebody does. The vulnerable and the disenfranchised need another champion. Our politicians and pundits need somebody to tell it like it is and keep them honest. Our troubled teens need a beacon to light their way towards the adulthood they deserve.
Celia Lashlie. Gone but never forgotten.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Ask a busy person.
It is said that if you want something done you should ask a busy person. I don't know if that's generally true, and I prefer the term "active" to "busy" but I do know that I've achieved an awful lot this weekend and it feels fabulous!
I've got well under way with my start of year planning and organising for things at work. We've had a couple of short weeks because of the start of year and public holidays, and next week is my first full week of the year. I have a delightful class, and only 18 children, so the emphasis is very much on peronalised learning for them. It's a bit more work for me, but the results are worth it.
I've also been inspired to make some games for my maths classes - as we work across the whole school for Maths Cafe I now have to teach place value to children from 5 years old to 13 years old (not at the same time, obviously!). I saw a brilliant workshop session at the recent Teachers Matter conference in Rotorua, led by an inspirational teacher called Libby Slaughter. She had so many ideas for games and activities for the younger students, and I just had to try some out. Once I got started I found more and more ideas popping out, so I had to visit our local gold coin shop and buy an assortment of fly swats, pom poms, mini-pegs and plastic cups. Check out my other blog (http://maths-and-me.blogspot.co.nz/) to look at the maths things I've been getting up to.
This morning I also had a 90 minute planning meeting with my husband, getting next week straight in the company that he owns. It is an exciting time for him as he is launching a new venture, and there are lots of elements that need attention. We plan together at the weekend, and he spends the week working through his to-do list!
Apart from that, I've managed to get 3 loads of washing done, and a press release written for the Jetsprint Association - my husband's other company is contracted to the NZJSA to provide publicity for their championship each year, so he takes the most awesome action photos and I support behind the scenes with press releases, race reports and pit lane photos.
And inside all of that I've also made time to do some reading for pleasure, stroll by the river holding hands with my husband and eating yummy gelato, and relax in a long hot bath with a bathbomb from my favourite organic toiletry company.
So quite a busy weekend, but so much fun. Maybe they're right. If you want something done, ask an active person!
I've got well under way with my start of year planning and organising for things at work. We've had a couple of short weeks because of the start of year and public holidays, and next week is my first full week of the year. I have a delightful class, and only 18 children, so the emphasis is very much on peronalised learning for them. It's a bit more work for me, but the results are worth it.
I've also been inspired to make some games for my maths classes - as we work across the whole school for Maths Cafe I now have to teach place value to children from 5 years old to 13 years old (not at the same time, obviously!). I saw a brilliant workshop session at the recent Teachers Matter conference in Rotorua, led by an inspirational teacher called Libby Slaughter. She had so many ideas for games and activities for the younger students, and I just had to try some out. Once I got started I found more and more ideas popping out, so I had to visit our local gold coin shop and buy an assortment of fly swats, pom poms, mini-pegs and plastic cups. Check out my other blog (http://maths-and-me.blogspot.co.nz/) to look at the maths things I've been getting up to.
This morning I also had a 90 minute planning meeting with my husband, getting next week straight in the company that he owns. It is an exciting time for him as he is launching a new venture, and there are lots of elements that need attention. We plan together at the weekend, and he spends the week working through his to-do list!
Apart from that, I've managed to get 3 loads of washing done, and a press release written for the Jetsprint Association - my husband's other company is contracted to the NZJSA to provide publicity for their championship each year, so he takes the most awesome action photos and I support behind the scenes with press releases, race reports and pit lane photos.
And inside all of that I've also made time to do some reading for pleasure, stroll by the river holding hands with my husband and eating yummy gelato, and relax in a long hot bath with a bathbomb from my favourite organic toiletry company.
So quite a busy weekend, but so much fun. Maybe they're right. If you want something done, ask an active person!
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Well you learn something new.....
I love learning new things, and I love technology. So when I can learn something new about technology it's double exciting.
Today I was holding the first meeting of the new year with the PRT 2 that I'm mentoring, and once we had finished the business of the day I asked her about Pinterest. I know she uses it, and I have registered but not done much with it. But today I got a great session of personalised learning and now I am more comfortable using Pinterest - and I feel that it will be a useful addition to my online presence.
It may not be rocket science, and it may even seem really obvious to many of you reading this, but to me it was just one more thing that I was meaning to get to but didn't have time to learn it from scratch. Thanks to my lovely young colleague I've got the grounding I need to make it work for me.
It just goes to show that you are never too old to learn, and that new technology is not that scary once you have the basic idea of what the application, programme or website is about.
Mostly it is about having enough time to explore the new things so that you can get the best from them. It will never be handed to you on a plate, so you have to go out and make the time, or make the most of the knowledge around you.
Today I was holding the first meeting of the new year with the PRT 2 that I'm mentoring, and once we had finished the business of the day I asked her about Pinterest. I know she uses it, and I have registered but not done much with it. But today I got a great session of personalised learning and now I am more comfortable using Pinterest - and I feel that it will be a useful addition to my online presence.
It may not be rocket science, and it may even seem really obvious to many of you reading this, but to me it was just one more thing that I was meaning to get to but didn't have time to learn it from scratch. Thanks to my lovely young colleague I've got the grounding I need to make it work for me.
It just goes to show that you are never too old to learn, and that new technology is not that scary once you have the basic idea of what the application, programme or website is about.
Mostly it is about having enough time to explore the new things so that you can get the best from them. It will never be handed to you on a plate, so you have to go out and make the time, or make the most of the knowledge around you.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
It's been a while....
It has been far too long since I managed to get here and put fingertips to keyboard. To say that life has been active is somewhat of an understatement! I deliberately didn't say "busy" as I have removed that word from my vocabulary. It has such negative connotations and holds stress in its double syllable - "busy" feels like you are imposed upon and your busy-ness is outside your control. Strangely, the synonymous "active" has a much nicer feel to it. Active is a choice, and it is a good thing. An active lifestyle is good for you, and keeps you well and healthy.
So I revel in my active life, and thank my lucky stars every day that as well as a probationary superwoman I am also the Queen of Logistics, which means I can fit everything in to each day.
I am teaching full time this year with a class of Y5 - 8 students. My school is a small rural one, so in addition to classroom teaching we all muck in and do all the things that need to be done -duties, clearing up, sink unblocking, chicken feeding and so on.
I am also still running my education business, which is growing slowly but surely, and I've been running workshops from Levin to Waiouru, and from Palmerston North to Hawera (and all points in between). We've held sessions for Teacher Aides, classroom teachers, management teams and PRTs (provisionally registered teachers, who are in their first 2 year of teaching). It has been so much fun, and it makes me feel great to spread enthusiasm and ideas through these sessions with school staff. I feel like I can make a real difference to more children in classrooms if I can help to upskill the staff that work with them.
In addition to teaching and teacher-training, I have also been working in my husband's business helping out with his paperwork and planning, as well as photographing the behind-the-scenes shots on some of his jobs.
I have also been studying with Massey University as part of my training to be a maths support teacher... so 2 university papers over the last 2 years, and an A- for last year's work. I really enjoyed being involved with a university again, and loved the access to their library. My one grizzle was that I didn't have the time to do the reading around the subject that I wanted to... and that my university library access has ended now that my papers are finished. But hey, on reflection I didn't do too badly and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of being a student again.
So in 2015 I intend to do a lot more blogging and writing, now that I'm not doing 60 hours of reading for each essay I have to write. After all, that's a lot of "free time" I'll have now, and I can't stand to be idle.
I'd much rather be active.
So I revel in my active life, and thank my lucky stars every day that as well as a probationary superwoman I am also the Queen of Logistics, which means I can fit everything in to each day.
I am teaching full time this year with a class of Y5 - 8 students. My school is a small rural one, so in addition to classroom teaching we all muck in and do all the things that need to be done -duties, clearing up, sink unblocking, chicken feeding and so on.
I am also still running my education business, which is growing slowly but surely, and I've been running workshops from Levin to Waiouru, and from Palmerston North to Hawera (and all points in between). We've held sessions for Teacher Aides, classroom teachers, management teams and PRTs (provisionally registered teachers, who are in their first 2 year of teaching). It has been so much fun, and it makes me feel great to spread enthusiasm and ideas through these sessions with school staff. I feel like I can make a real difference to more children in classrooms if I can help to upskill the staff that work with them.
In addition to teaching and teacher-training, I have also been working in my husband's business helping out with his paperwork and planning, as well as photographing the behind-the-scenes shots on some of his jobs.
I have also been studying with Massey University as part of my training to be a maths support teacher... so 2 university papers over the last 2 years, and an A- for last year's work. I really enjoyed being involved with a university again, and loved the access to their library. My one grizzle was that I didn't have the time to do the reading around the subject that I wanted to... and that my university library access has ended now that my papers are finished. But hey, on reflection I didn't do too badly and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of being a student again.
So in 2015 I intend to do a lot more blogging and writing, now that I'm not doing 60 hours of reading for each essay I have to write. After all, that's a lot of "free time" I'll have now, and I can't stand to be idle.
I'd much rather be active.
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