Therapeutic Thursday

So today's blog post is all about what ways I unwind, relax and generally survive such a busy job and life generally. These are the things that keep me going, that calm me down after a stressful day.

1. The boy

As cheesy as it's going to sound, my boyfriend is probably top of the list. A simple hug from him and all the stress melts away, I can just forget about it all. Shame he's usually 100 miles away though! =(

2. Bubbles and candles

Unfortunately my bath isn't nearly as nice as this one but a good bubble bath with candles is just what the doctor ordered after a difficult day. I don't know about anyone else but I find that I settle down in the bath and have a definite 'ahhh' moment and start to relax. Thankfully my bath isn't 100 miles away!

3. Bed and a film

At the end of a hard day, I do like to put everything to bed by going to bed myself and watching a film or a series (Suits is the one of the moment!) and just forgetting about it all. My problem is that I struggle to switch my brain off so a film occupies my brain which helps.

4. Simba

If you have a cat, I think you'll know just what I mean and I don't need to say any more.

5. Music

Music has the power to put me into any kind of mood. It can hype me up and calm me down so I have a special de-stress playlist on my iPod full of chilled songs that help me to just chill.

6. Going for a drive

This is something I've got from my Dad I think. I have so many memories from when I was a child of going for drives with my dad. Sometimes to chill out if something had annoyed him, sometimes for no reason at all. I can remember many times when I wouldn't be able to sleep or when my asthma would be bad and I'd get in the back of the car with my duvet and drive around with my Dad, usually until I fell asleep. This is still something I do today (minus the falling asleep and duvet bit), if it's been a tough day sometime's I'll go for a drive with no specific destination in mind, making a decision about which way to go whenever I get to a turn. It helps me clear my head if I've been stressed out about something or gives me space to think through things if that's what I need to do.

So there's my six main things that help me to relax and get over a stressful day.

Where I Teach Wednesday

So today's post is all about where I teach. I'm not going to name my specific school but I'll give a bit of a feel for whereabouts I am and then show you some of my finally finished classroom!

Originally I'd wanted to find a job away from home and move. I applied for quite a few and ended up focusing on near home and Manchester, after a couple of interviews in Manchester and a few near home, I ended up getting the job 20 minutes away from home. I had another interview for Manchester a couple of days later so ummed and ahhed about what to do but decided to go with the offer and now I can definitely see that I've made the right choice. The LA I'm working for are apparently a fantastic borough to work for, particularly for NQTs though they've not processed my start or tax paperwork yet!

The school seems like a great school but then again, how much do you really know until it's too late and you're in there? The head and my mentor have been fantastic so far, they've given me a lot of help and advice, answering about a million questions! I'm quite lucky in that I have a fair amount of freedom to do what I want in my classroom and teaching really, within reason!

Now the Ofsted type stuff that none of you probably really care about! It's a slightly larger than average school with around 300 children. It's in a slightly better position than most in that there are lower than average numbers of children with Free School Meals or on the SEN register. It'll be interesting to see the difference between a school with low FSM numbers and my middle placement that had very high numbers of children with FSM. They work to a creative curriculum, which is fantastic. Took a bit of getting used to at first but I love it! Really excited to start teaching my 'Turrets and Tiaras' topic next week.

Here's a few photos of the classroom that'll be my home for the next term (at least) though it's still a work in progress, mostly finished but it'll still need a bit of tweaking!

My desk area - can anyone tell I'm a bit OCD about organisation?!

Challenge Area

Maths display

Again... slightly OCD about organisation! Cupboards were a mess when I got in there so happy with it all like this now.

Sticker charts

Reward treasure chest

It's tidier now but here's the little side part of my room

Didn't take a picture of the whole class but I'm sure that gives you a good idea of what it's like. Can't wait to teach in it now!

Tech Tip Tuesday

Here's my technology tip for Tuesday's blog post.

If I thought you'd be able to afford them, I'd definitely recommend ActivExpression devices for the Promethean board but they're rather expensive for a teacher's salary!

So here's something a bit more affordable and something that I REALLY want (will get on pay day!) - a wireless presenter.

I don't know about anyone else but I like to move around quite a bit when I'm at the front of the class so I really struggle when I'm using powerpoint but not actually needing to do anything on the board (if that makes sense) because I'm talking and moving around and then have to go back to the PC/IWB to move on to the next slide.

I did some volunteering in one school where they had wireless presenters for each classroom. You can walk around and change the slide from wherever you are in the room, problem solved!

I'm planning on getting the Kensington Si600 from Amazon, it's only £21.59, which isn't too bad I don't think. It'll mean I can do my wandering, keeping children's attention a bit better I think and allowing me to really keep an eye on them all.

So there's my technology tip, anyone have any others to share?

Quick update, just bought one on ebay (different make) for around £6 including postage!

Must Have Monday (on a Tuesday!)

I'm a week late but I thought I'd do some posts related to Blog Hoppin's teacher week last week and share my must haves.

So, here are my must haves. First off..

Anadin Extra: No-one wants to teach on a Friday afternoon (or any time for that matter) with a headache so you need to always keep some of these bad boys handy! 

Wine: Always need a bottle in the fridge for after one of 'those days'!

Now for the serious stuff!

Dropbox: I don't know what I'd do with Dropbox, I really don't! It lets me back up all my school stuff and you put everything on to your Dropbox and you can access it anywhere. It's saved my life many a time when I realise I've left something on my computer at home!

Pinterest: I've had a Pinterest account for a while but in the last month or two I've really grown to appreciate it. I've found so many amazing ideas on there that I've taken and used or adapted for my classroom. Here are my boards.

And finally... Organisation: I'll admit, I'm a little bit of a freak when it comes to organisation. Things need to be in order, I need to know where things are, pencils have to be sharp! I may be a bit OCD about it but it makes things so much easier!

So there's my must haves, well most of them!