Fly me to the moon!

Here’s me and my mate. I’m calling him Astro… He’s one of about 5 Astronauts that I’ve seen in the city for the Fringe. I get very excited about them. There’s two in Victoria square (that’s Astro and his girlfriend). There’s one on top of the town hall, one on a radio station’s wall (he has binoculars and is spying on you… yes you) and i think there’s another one on King William street too. All very fun!

I have done more than chase inflatable giant astronauts this week though. Of course.  I’ve been working at the college this week.  One of those days involved my having to remember how to knit, the other involved me entertaining a class of students because I was the only one in the city and, as a non-permanent member of staff, i don’t have a key to the campus.  Thank goodness that Adelaide has so many free places to visit.  We did the tour of the city on the free city loop bus (Which bus is free?  The 99c! No ticket!) and then I walked them around the botanical gardens telling them the names of things and pointing out kookaburras.  We were all exhausted by lunchtime!  Was good fun though

I’ve also been meeting with various people on behalf of Teacher Tech, which is now an official registered business (with a certificate and everything).  Training is slowly starting to pick up which is good.  I’ve just submitted my overview for my “invited speaker” slot at the CEGSA conference and I’m hoping to go for dinner next week with Stephen Heppall and CEGSA.

Hendrix has continued to take advantage of the rockery snack bar.  Which is how he sees the frontgarden.  He’s eaten 5 geckos now. *sigh* he can’t carry birds through the window you see (it’s to high up) but a gecko is easy enough to transport. Stan continues to be sleepy and cute doing his chilled out Stan thing

I found a sweet shop this week too.  A sweet shop with actual British sweets (and walkers crisps)  Prices are a little high though.  I did get excited when i saw the following two food items.

Highland Toffee! Save those pennies!

Om NOM NOM!

It’s very important that I can still spend my money on these items.  They remind me of cold, dark autumnal evenings in Webheath where Span and I would scrape together all our coppers (mostly donated by either Nan or Dad’s sock draw) and walk to the post office for a 5p Highland Toffee ( I believe they are nearly 15p now! That’s inflation!).  Such items were contraband in Span’s house you see so this was very, very, exciting.  Of course we then got older and moved onto the hard stuff… mint creams which have to be eaten in a very specific manner.  Not sure if I want to spend 10 dollars for 4 of them though…  we’ll see how desperate I get.

(Mind mapping was created by Tony Buzan. It’s very clever. A bit like a brainstorm but more a map of thought processes. Students are asked to use them to develop their thinking skills and revise key ideas. I asked my Year 11s to create one such map to help them map out the different linguistic devices that could be found in their GCSE English paper. Of course, part of this process involves images, colours and text….)
We get to “Technical Language”

Student: So I can draw something here which reminds me of nerds then?
Me: Yes, i guess so.. that’s kind of the idea! When you think of technical language what do you think of? I’d probably draw a science nerd with big black glasses… you know (does impression of large glasses over face)
Student: Do you know what madam… your husband must be mad! ( Shakes head)
Me: What? Why?
Student: Does he know you’re a nerd?
Me: Yes.
Student: Yeah. I guess he’s a nerd too…. but does he think you’re a mong?
Me: Erm… no… I’m guessing not… he did marry me…
Student: Yeah. Pauses to consider Really you’re kind of perfect for each other?
TA: Do you know madam I know I’ve seen your husband but I just can’t picture him
Student: To TA Oh Madam! How could you forget him!? Right, yeah… he’s massive! Once, yeah, we were waiting to go into a concert and there he was in his surfer shorts and this long hair (indicates length) and glasses. Class titters away

Me: You were just jealous! It was flipping hot in that theatre!!
Student: Yeah and he had this beard too.
Me: No… He doesn’t have a beard it was the end of the week. He only shaves once! You just caught him at a bad time. He hadn’t shaved so he looked a bit well…
Student: Like a tramp?

Some time later….

Student: I’ve drawn a razor madam.
Me: Why?
Student: Well its the razor your husband will never use. It’ll help me to remember that technical language is for nerds.

Done too much flapping, now worn out and the parents aren’t even here yet!

Finish at 8:30  DOH!

Funky Photos

We’re having them.

A modern school photographer came and made the kids pose in fun and interesting ways. It was fun. Well I thought so.

Apparently some of the hormonal adolescents didn’t like being asked to stand next to each other or kneel behind each other. TOO much like fun!
Bless.

Made me laugh when a wise man at the meeting said “Well, I don’t know who suggested that but they clearly know nothing about kids”

Had to clear my throat and lose eye contact for a minute there!

I reckon doing what we did today was much more interesting than sitting on a chair, in a row, smiling inainely at a camera! LMAO

Woo hoo!

and although that’s weird (I’ve been stuck to a computer for 6 weeks now) it does mean that I have only got 16 weeks left until the big LEAP! OMFG!

LMAO (whilst cowering and covering my eyes) ;p

So we’ve had the dreaded “Moderation” which turned out, for some very bizairre reason, to be a bit of a laugh! We discovered a colleagues “emotions” (in joke – too scared to broadcast on interweb and reisted the temptation to eat the two boxes of choccies our lovely student had brought us (he’d got a job); instead opting for grapes and nuts. Phew. The Wii fit won’t shout at me and demand to know why i’ve put the weight back on.

I hate it when it does that… “Oh dear. You seem to have put on 2 POUNDS. Do you know why? No? Well let me tell you about calories…” I don’t like it when it tells me off! It’s serious!!!!

I’m busy trying to renew insurance policies and Breakdown cover at the moment. Currently been on hold for 10 minutes…… Good work RAC. All I want to do is say please renew! I might give up in a minute. Let it lapse… Although… on second thoughts, what with our “bargain” Golf, it might be better to exercise patience. After all that’s what I do all day!

It’s been an interesting day “patience” wise. I think I’ve been watching too much “Dog Whisperer” on Sky 3 (a new staple after Neighbours). I keep standing in my classroom thinking… “Calm and assertive… Calm and assertive”. Amusingly, just like it did on the dangerous Staffy… it works on year 10 too! LOL. Go Ceser Milan!

I also got to speak to a pal in Oz today. He tells me that it’s been raining ( possibly only told me that to make me feel better). When I commented on how that would be bad for the poor soggy Koalas he told me not to worry. 10 minutes in the tumble dryer is apparently all that is required!! He was shocked I didn’t know that that was how the Aussies got them to look so fluffy! LOL.