We have done two Computing lessons this term already without setting foot in our ICT Suite. Why? We have been discussing Internet Safety. I found a Tweet where a teacher had posted a picture of a rubber duck and asked for it to be retweeted. This was to show that once something has been put on line it can be passed around and you lose ownership of it. It was retweeted 88 times. I also said that people can then take the image and play with it. We decided to take a picture of my electric pencil sharpener: a penguin with a fake moustache stuck to its head giving it a menacing monobrow. I tweeted it (I'm @MrNeaves on Twitter) asking for RT (retweets) at 14:55 on Wednesday 17th September (2014 for those who are watching this on "Dave") and by 15:00 it had been retweeted once. We were pleased. By 15:35 it had been retweeted 4 times. It slowly crept up - almost 100 by Friday morning. Then it went a little crazy at the weekend. It's 18:38 on 21/09/14 and it has been retweeted more than 1200 times. And someone has been putting the penguin into photos. It's awesome. And still rising! Please retweet! https://twitter.com/mrneaves/status/512238476415500288 Today's question: could we get #MrNeavesPenguin to trend on Twitter too?
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We (my Y6 colleague and I) decided we would test our Y5s and Y6s against the 100 words that they are now expected to know at the end of Y6. We can then track their progress. I actually know what was worse than testing 30 children on one hundred spelling words including criticise, harass and conscience - it was marking it afterwards! The children took some delight in working out that I had to mark 30 x 100 words. Sigh. Today's question: why did they decide on these words? First day back. It went well. I think. I'm a little shell-shocked - as are all my colleagues. 6 weeks of fun and sun then suddenly WHAMMO! Expectant faces looking up at you, ears open, and it's GO TIME! Now, the marking has started and I'm already wracking my brain as to how to do a fun assembly about playing safely on the playground tomorrow. I love my job. Today's question: is it wrong that I love it more in August? To enable us to teach our children at our local pool, the staff there request we undertake an annual "Splash Test". This entails a briefing of safety drills and procedures (where the emergency buttons are, what to do when we hear one, two or three blasts on the whistle etc) and some water skills. Wearing t-shirt and shorts (as we would whilst teaching) we are expected to enter the pool and swim 10 metres. We are then to fetch a dummy off the bottom of the pool at a depth we are comfortable of and get it to the side of the pool without ourselves drowning. Obviously (to those who know me), I fetched the dummy from the bottom of the deep end. My ears seem fine (well, no worse!). I know regular viewers (!) were holding their collective breaths! Today's question: will I be able to hear when the children return to school on Thursday? So, we tried to have a nice family holiday. All-inclusive for a week in Tunisia. However, Thing 1 was projectile vomiting in the car en route to the airport and chose to remain with his mother in England rather than join us for the week. To be fair, travelling on a plane to Africa for a week of sun when you've got it (potentially) coming out of both ends was never going to be fun. The hotel was simple. The sun shone. The pool was nice. The sea was bath-like. Or so we thought. And so the multitudes of small black and translucent jellyfish also thought. Anyway, the pool was nice. Thing 2 (turned 3 at the end of July) can now "dive" and "swim" (with armbands) after a fashion and with much more confidence. And I have returned with an ear infection. Water trapped in my ear and wouldn't shift. The pain is immense and intense; if you think childbirth hurt, pah - nothing compared to this! The Tunisian doctor who prescribed me pain relief for period pain (which caused the nurse and doctor today to nearly wet themselves laughing) meant well. And the injections in my rear so if survive the flight home were lifesavers. I'm deaf in my right ear, sore in both and grateful the children in my (as if!) school don't return until Thursday. However, the nurse I saw today who examined my ear by sticking a (seemingly) sharp instrument in it until (it felt like!) it came out the other side seemed surprised when I screamed in agony. I wasn't faking my earache, apparently. Today's question: splash test tomorrow? |