Destination 2014: Magical Maths

Hello, I'm back! I haven't given up on the Destination 2014 series - just had to take an enforced pit-stop while we took our u15 girls chess team to Nationals (where we came 4th in the country, by the way!). But now it's time for the next area of thought - Magical Maths!

While English is my first love, Maths is my first teaching love - it's the first subject I ever taught, and probably my favourite subject to teach. Well, maybe not. I don't know. But anyway I enjoy teaching it.

I've been teaching Maths for four years now, and I believe I am starting to get the basics right. Of course now the syllabus is changing, but I think the underlying principles are remaining the same, and I can teach those. I have a solid selection of basic resources for different topics, and enough headspace to create more as necessary during the year. I have also developed a sprinkling of interesting/inspiring ways of introducing topics and making them come to life which I can reuse each year.

So yes, I think (hopefully without hubris) that I'm a pretty decent Maths teacher at this point.

Now to improve!

The thing about Maths is that it's often awfully dry. Most people don't find the subject interesting for its own sake. They take it because they have to, and hate it most of the time. They struggle with it, stress over it, get poor marks for it. They blame the teacher, blame themselves, blame the system. All in all Maths is a stressful, often unsatisfying subject to teach or learn. Understanding seems to be an unattainable goal.

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The role of the Maths teacher, if anything, is to tie the learner up in knots, confusing them and rendering them complete incapable of making the climb to Mathematical brilliance.

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The Maths itself, rather like Rapunzel's hair, becomes this esoteric weapon which the teacher wields mysteriously, and the learner has no hope of developing for him or herself. But it doesn't have to be. The teacher could teach every learner to wield a weapon. If not the glorious hair of Mathematical truth then at least... the sword of logic? The frying pan of hard work? And once the learners are armed? Well then we can all tackle the tower of Mathematics together instead of working at cross purposes.

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How to make Maths magical? I think the answer is somewhat counter-intuitive. Make it more magical by making it more predictable. Predictability is where the learners will discover the frying pans and swords which will make their Mathematical experience manageable.

Usually I would think that predictability would make a subject boring. But actually I think that predictability cuts down of stress. And cutting down on stress makes learning possible. And once learning is possible - then you can start having fun.

Here are some of the ways in which I will be trying to increase predictability in my Maths classes this year:

1. Structure: Learners need to feel that they know how each lesson/chapter is going to go. I had great results this year when I published a lesson by lesson plan of a chapter before starting. This helped the global thinkers to work out where everything fitted in, and helped the incredibly busy people to plan their workload. And it helped all of us to stay on task.
2. Homework: Unfortunately Maths is one of those subjects where homework needs to be done (and checked in class) every.single.day. I hate this. I find it tedious and boring. BUT. It is necessary. I got it mostly right in 2013, but let it slide a bit (at least the checking part) towards the end of the year when I became demoralised by how many students weren't bothering. That's not okay. I need to find the energy to persist in following this up all year.
3. Independent Work: I want to make a greater variety of resources available to the learners online. This includes extra worksheets and memos, videos, quizzes and so on. I want them to be able to do extra "frying pan drills" whenever they can. In our department we are going to try and make better use of Edmodo to post these extra resources once a week after our subject meetings. This also puts some of the onus onto the learners and parents: if they want to improve, the tools are there.
4. Communication with parents: This is key. It connects with structure, homework and independent work. It links to preparation for tests and exams. The basic principal is this. If the classroom is the battleground of Mathematics, then the home is the training ground. And the parents are the drill sergeants. They just need to know what to do. SMSWEB, Edmodo, emails and phone calls... essential.

I know that despite its title this post hasn't really mentioned much about Maths itself. But all these structural points are what I believe enable me and my learners to actually get the Maths done. Because trust me, it's a WAR out there, and we need to be as thoroughly equipped as possible.

Do you think predictability helps or hinders learning?

yours mathematically

jjr

Destination 2014: Excellent English

I so enjoyed writing the first post in my "Destination 2014" series, not because I think I will get all that stuff right, but because it means that all those ideas and aspirations have stopped swirling around my head. I stopped desperately trying to remember all those things I want to get right next year, because it's all written down...

Ahem! So, speaking of the necessity of writing... Another aspect of my goals for next year: Excellent English!

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(Belle is me, encouraging my students to greater heights in the great library of the English language. Look, there the little learners are, disguised as furniture...)

I have one fewer English classes in 2014, and I will be focusing (yay!) on the juniors: grade 8 and 9. A bit of background: I love teaching English, but found the switch from all Maths in 2012 to 3/5 English classes in 2013 extremely stressful. Even the ways in which the departments function is totally different, and I was tearing my hair out in 14 different positions trying to keep up with everything I needed to know/learn/teach/do. So going a tiny bit back into my comfort zone - while keeping the incredibly joy of teaching English as well - is really the best of both worlds for me. I'm so lucky to be at a school where management at least tries to take my preferences into account (most of the time!).

So. Two English classes. Juniors. My focus - which links up with the focus of my department, don't worry - is writing! I want learners to be able to write fluently, confidently and above all with enjoyment. How do I get that right?

Well, they need to get inspiration from good writing, observing what works so that they can reproduce it...

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They need to write all the time, in all kinds of weird and wonderful situations...

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They need to work on writing, critiquing and editing each others' work...

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And at the end of the day they need to take flight and write LOADS:

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(The old man is me, admiring the huge oeuvre of writing that the learner's will have produced by the end of the year. This time Belle is a student, showing off her wonderful work!)

Let me stop mixing my Disney movie metaphors (though at least I stuck to one movie this time) and get down to brass tacks. These are some of the things I want to implement in my English class (in no particular order other than that which they occur to me!):

1. Class Blog where each child makes one post per term - themes would be book reviews, comments on literature studied in class, creative pieces etc... A strict schedule would have to be set up at the beginning of the year to ensure high quality, varied content. I have taken the first step towards setting this up, but the idea needs some fine tuning particularly with regards to privacy for the learners. But I think it is important to expose the kids to writing in the modern world, and blogs are an important part of that. Plus, how better to drive home the need for editing than knowing that the world will be able to see your work?
2. Journals for private/free writing at some point in every single lesson. They have brought A5 books for this purpose. Now all I need to do is choose topics that integrate the journal writing with our other class work. I am starting an index card box full of "topics". We need to just produce VOLUME of creative output, at least to start with.
3. Integration of writing work with EVERY other topic we cover. Grammar rule? Let's use it in a piece of writing. Poem? Let's mimic the poet's style. Novel? Let's write a letter from the point of view of one of the characters. Writing needs to be a part of absolutely every lesson, topic, idea. An INTEGRAL part. This impacts a lot on how I need to plan my lessons...
4. Grammatical Correctness - of every sentence and paragraph. Not always - of course there is room for "free writing" (see point 2) but sometimes we have to sit and nitpick at the grammar of their writing until every child can write a perfect sentence. A careful, precise, simple sentence. A controlled, specific paragraph with no "fluff". Much harder said than done. This takes a lot of editing, proofreading, time, effort. Especially on my part. It's an investment. On a related note: vocab lists and spelling tests. Yes. Peer editing. Yes. This also impacts a lot on how I plan my lessons. Duh. Should I do another post on lesson planning? 
5. Functional Writing. This is important. The writing they learn needs to WORK. They need to be able to see its usefulness in their other subjects and ultimately in their lives. Do we need to write love letters before Valentine's Day? We are already spending the whole of the first term in grade 9 concentrating on formal writing to help them with their major Science Fair project in the second term. Where else can I demonstrate the practical applications of their writing skills?

I have a lot more to say about my ideas for English next year. But this is already a marathon post, and is probably full of those errors I want my learners to weed out of their work. More later, if I get a chance what with all this lesson prep that needs to happen.

How would you teach writing?

yours writingly,

jjr

Destination 2014: Punctual Planning

During exams every six months, I try to carve some time away from marking and trivial admin to use for dreaming big and creating plans and resources for the coming six months or year. This time has been no exception, and in fact I feel that I've been more successful than usual at making this a priority. This is partly through necessity, because I am acting as curriculum organizer for not one but two year groups in my two subjects so flying by the seat of my pants in terms of planning is just not going to cut it!

Now that exams are over, and school is winding down for the year, I want to make thinking ahead even more of a priority for December. I want to get my ideas, aspirations and plans for next year down on paper (well, virtual paper). Although they may not work out how I imagine now, at least I can refer back to these goals, and see how I have done. Hence my new mini-series: Destination 2014.

My first topic - though it really links into all the others, and is maybe more of an introduction to the series concept: Punctual Planning.

You see, no matter how hard I try to be an good, solid, consistent teacher; cool, calm and collected; patient and caring...

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...taking my students on wild, but carefully organised adventures through the syllabus...

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...more often I am a lot more like poor Jasmine trapped in the deadly hourglass:

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Too little time, too much admin, too little inspiration, too much material and just too many students!

Now of course this dilemma isn't unique to me, nor is it one that can just be solved with a click of the fingers. BUT... I find careful, boring, precise and punctual planning can help a lot. To mix my movie metaphors completely, it just means that I have a bag of tricks to call upon when things get...sticky...

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Anyway, so here is my strategy for conquering planning in 2014:

1. Expectation Management: planning lessons at least two weeks in advance (including resources/activities) just isn't optional. No, really. Come now. Why two? See below points...
2. Sharing (staff-team): I need to be sending at least fortnightly emails keeping all the teachers of grade 9 Maths and English on the same page. Probably more like weekly in the case of Maths. Thursday afternoon deadline: emails must be typed (at home if necessary) so that they can be sent on Fridays. This is partly why one week ahead just isn't good enough. By the time I do the email, my personal planning already needs to be done for the week after next so that I can give good outlines and deadlines (especially for English).
3. Communication (learners): I want to print fortnightly lesson outlines, including topics, textbook references and activities to put up in my classroom. This will help to keep me and the class focused and goal orientated. Hence two weeks' worth of planning, again.
4. Tests: for English, these need to be done a term ahead (term one 2014 already done, yay!!). For Maths I need to start setting two weeks ahead so that I can distribute for comment a week ahead. Diarise these "start setting" dates at the beginning of each term. Do the actual test dates for the year NOW. Yes you can. Tomorrow.
5. Scheduling: one of my two non-chess afternoons (until 5ish) must be dedicated to lesson prep and printing. The remaining chess-free afternoon must be used for test setting and moderating, plus general resource creation. No trivial admin (emails! marking!) on these afternoons. Saturday morning while Adam teaches = laundry and spill-over planning.

Important Questions for...

1. End of Every School Day: Is everything printed for tomorrow? Can I roll into school and "do" tomorrow off the top of my head? Does anything on my plan need to change based on today's lessons? Do I need to do a bit of top-up work at home?
2. End of Every Week: Does everyone know about next week's tests/deadlines? Is everyone comfortable with the goals and resources required for next week? Am I on top of tests/deadlines/goals/resources for the week after next?
3. After Every Assessment: What and when is the next one? Is it set? Has it been checked by everyone? If not... why am I not already doing that??? If so, can I get ahead on next term's assessments?
4. End of Every Term: Are all the English assessments set and checked? Do I have all the dates for Maths assessments + proposed topics + "start-setting" dates?

Remember, future self... planning makes everything better! It means that you are free to just go with it, improvise, have fun, roll with the punches... and still get everything done.

And also remember... all of this punctual planning? Starts now. 

yours planningly

jjr

Teacher Appreciation Cupcakes

Show any teachers in your life some chocolatey, strawberry-ey love this week! Thank you school governing body for our early morning treat :-) We also got wonderful brown paper bags full of goodies at lunch time - what a special day!

Midweek Confessions

1) The kids in my class have asked me whether I only have one pair of shoes... The truth is I only have one pair of winter school shoes and one pair of summer school shoes! I'm surprised it took them so long to figure it out.

2) We only cook once every two weeks. Then we freeze the meal in batches and make friends with the microwave for week-night meals. If we don't do it like this, we don't eat vegetables... At all. And takeaways just keep slipping into the menu... funny that! Variety is overrated. Health isn't.

3) I have one particular class that I am struggling with at the moment. They are frustrated and not understanding the work. I am frustrated and not teaching particularly well. I dread going to that lesson. So I'm writing off this section of work. It is very hard material, I am being forced to move on by the curriculum pacing and it isn't 100% necessary to grasp for next year. I will start again with a positive attitude at the beginning of a new chapter - tomorrow. Yay, can't wait!

Linking up with e myself and I for the first time :) Check out the other confessions!

Winning, Losing and Loving It: have we taught sportsmanship?

So, I hear you ask, what have you been doing with the first weekend of your weeklong mini vacation/break thingy??

I've been waking up early, to get to school an hour before the normal school day starts, to load 13 teenagers and myself into a pilchard tin bus a bit like this one...

...so that we could drive for forty minutes to take part in a three day, all day, chess tournament. Yay!

This entailed watching seven rounds of two hour long games, keeping score, trying to keep up with strategies and points tables and hovering around to defend my players when opposing players or managers become...over-zealous. It happens, people. Chess can bring out the killer instinct!

But aside from the obvious downsides, the tournament has been a great experience. Granted I have a headache, and bitten nails from a (nearly) photo finish in our group. Granted my holiday is now 6 days instead of 9. Granted my ears are still ringing a bit from the bus trip home. But I find it impossible to spend a significant amount of time with a group of teenagers and not start loving them, at least a little. And this particular group has been working towards this particular tournament so faithfully that by now my husband and I have spent a great deal of time with them. So I have started loving them.

Not in a creepy way. Not in a parental way. In a teacher way. I enjoy spending time with them. I find them funny. I care about what happens to them. I am interested in the next episodes of their love interests. I want them to win, because they will be sad if they lose. But I want them to win well, and to behave perfectly, and show the world what amazing kids they really are, beneath the hysterical love interests, and phone obsessions, and weird hairstyles... *sniff*

This particular tournament had a good outcome for us. It was the provincial playoffs for the whole of the Western Cape, and our u15 mixed team won bronze against some unbelievably talented opponents. Our u15 girls team won gold in their section and will be going to nationals in December.

They were happy with their results. I was happy with the results too. I was also happy with the way they acted around their success, and around the teams who did not succeed. But it could easily have gone very differently - as I said, it came down to a very tight points difference in the final round. And I can't help wondering how different their behaviour would have been if things hadn't gone our way.

I hope it would have been the same. The amount of effort and skill they put in would have been the same, and would have deserved a similar amount of celebration. Being defeated by chance or a stronger team is nothing to be depressed or miserable or grumpy about. We always try very hard to prepare the teams for good losing behaviour as well as good winning behaviour. But the proof, as always, is in the pudding. Today we didn't get to taste the pudding. Maybe next time we will.

The mark of a great sportsperson is not how he wins. It is how he loses.

But I must say, I still prefer to win. Not even the prospect of doing it all again at the beginning of the December holidays can dampen my spirits. I am sure my ears will stop ringing soon...





Yours triumphantly
jjr

Stayin' Alive: My Classroom Management Survival Strategy

I am not a disciplinarian. I am not super strict or super scary. And I think I've come to accept that. I'm young and relatively inexperienced - and occasionally I find their naughtinesses funny (anathema!). But I can still manage a classroom well. I can still make sure I am the boss when it comes to the important things. Even in a class filled to overflowing with rowdy, hormonious (sic) teenagers. Linking up (for the first time ever, go me!) with Megan at M*Print...here are my top survival strategies for chaos (I mean, classroom) management.

1) Insist.

Decide which battles you want to fight and be willing to stop the class and spend however long it takes winning. Once you've thrown down the gauntlet you MUST win. Unless a child presents a sensible argument as to why the gauntlet shouldn't have been thrown down in the first place (oops!) in which case apologies and move on. Everyone else in the classroom is willing to waste learning time to misbehave, so you sometimes HAVE to call their collective bluff and be willing to 'waste' learning time to insist on good behaviour. And break time too, if necessary. On a related note, if you say you'll do something as a punishment (give detention, call parents, whatever) you MUST do it. Not following through = discipline suicide. On another related, and perhaps obvious note...

2) Pick your battles

Don't throw the gauntlet on the floor for every little thing. It's too exhausting and time consuming otherwise. Ask yourself whether it is really worth it. Johnny putting a sweet in his mouth? Not so much. Johnny swearing at Billy? Definitely. Johnny and Billy having a quiet conversation about something unrelated? Your call. These are the things I will go to battle for, more or less in order of importance:

•   anything that threatens the safety and well being of themselves or the other people in the classroom (hitting, nasty remarks, setting things on fire...)
•  anything that severely impairs the ability of anyone in the class to learn (talking loudly, not taking books out, coming late...)
•  anything that impairs my ability to teach (or irritates the living $&#% out of me - whistling continuously, throwing pens and papers, eating something that rustles or stinks...)

I try to think about a potential infraction VERY carefully before putting on my helmet and elbow guards and wading into the fray. If it doesn't fit one of those categories, I often let it slide. And if it does fit one of those categories...

3) Explain

I've always had a better response, and less repetition of bad behaviour if I have addressed the WHY and not just the what. If the class understands the underlying reason behind why I'm going all in on an issue, they are less likely to brush it off as the teacher being petty or just 'in a bad mood', and more likely to change the problematic behaviour. Okay, SLIGHTLY more likely.

4) Correct rather than punish

This one isn't always possible, but it's one of my favourites. If the behaviour isn't all that heinous, or hasn't been repeated all that often, or simply isn't that big a deal... as if often isn't (because let's face it, most issues we deal with are stupid petty little things), then there isn't always a need to provide a punishment. This saves time, whining and emotional energy. It also means that when I do punish, it is a lot more of a big deal. In my classroom a detention is a BIG DEAL. It doesn't mean that the other behaviours, the ones I correct without punishment, are acceptable. They still have to stop. They still provoke a discussion, and sometimes even a consequence. It just might not warrant a punishment. Starting with correction also leaves you with somewhere to go if the behaviour doesn't change.

5) Quality Time

That's all very well, but we all know those kids who are perennial offenders. The constant chirper. The lazy lout. The latecomer. The attention seeker. I honestly don't know how to deal with those kids, but the strategy that has come closest to working is... quality time. Call the kid over privately, after class, or when you see them wandering around after school. Find out their 'why'. Take an interest in their circumstances. Can you make any small changes which will help them correct their own behaviour. Most kids don't like being in trouble. Let them know you don't like their being in trouble either. Call the parent for a friendly, concerned chat. It helps more often than I would have thought. Surprise! Apparently that naughty kid ISN'T actually evil...

*ahem*

For that kid who doesn't respond to that, to ANYTHING... my last resort is:

6) Get help

I have been lucky enough to find myself in a very supportive school, with many helpful bosses at different levels. I have battled and LOST battles with various learners through the years, and have gone knocking on doors with a frantic SOS. People, you will get to the point where you're just not coping. In which case... Don't be a hero. Ask for advice. Ask for help. Your boss/colleague/SOMEONE might need to come to the rescue.

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That's it from me. I haven't got all the answers, and goodness knows I'm still learning. I've certainly enjoyed working out how much I've learned about this whole aspect of teaching over the past few years, and I'm longing to read what everyone else says in the linky party "Better Together" at M*Print. Hope this contribution helps you too!

Good luck with the chaos management...

Yours in solidarity

jjr

Homework Menus

I've been trialling a new way of running homework for my three English classes. I can't remember where I first saw the idea (online somewhere, duh!), so if you are or know of the original source then please send me the link and I will be excited to revisit the genius and credit him or her here...

As with many ideas found online, I liked it, and immediately started to think of ways to integrate it into my particular context. Since I have also been following Ken's thoughts on homework, the idea of a homework menu gave me a concrete "hook" for thinking about how to give kids (and their parents) more control over their own homework situation.

What I particularly liked about the Homework Menu idea:

• Allows the student to choose (to some extent) which items he or she would like to do, and which stink.
• Teaches time management (as the tasks need to be spread logically according to the individual's needs)
• Allows for differing extra-mural and personal schedules
• I only have to check/mark homework once a week!

What I didn't like about it:

• In Maths I can't imagine not giving immediate review work on each day's concept and expecting it to be done before I cover the next concept
• Requires a lot of forward planning
• I can't necessarily control every itty-bitty bit of homework - what if I really need this done, now?

Based on all of these concerns, I decided not to bring the Homework Menu into my two Maths classes. Too much change at once and I know that I won't maintain it. Plus I still haven't solved the problem of how to adapt it properly to a Maths environment. Maybe it just isn't appropriate there and I need a different model? Watch this space - I'm still working on it!

But I took the plunge with my three English classes, and so far (nearly three weeks in) I am cautiously optimistic.

These are the bare bones of how I'm running the system:

• I give out the Homework Menu (A5/6 sheet of paper) on a Monday (or Tuesday if I don't see them). It immediately gets stuck into their homework diaries, and I spend five or so minutes talking through the different options and taking questions.
• The kids have to complete the main course plus three others (starters, appetisers, soup, desert etc...)
• There is always at least one that they can leave out.
• The following week Monday, I have an exercise prepared for them to work on quietly and individually in class while I call them up one at a time. I spend two or three minutes with each child admiring what they've done, discussing what they had trouble with and talking about strategies to make sure that they are more successful in completing the work next week if they didn't do it.
• Currently, they all simply sign next to the task when it is complete, and bring some form of evidence to their "personal homework trainer" session with me. If a child is repeatedly struggling to get the work done, then I will call parents, explain the system to them, and get them to assist the child with his or her time-management and accountability. Then for that child, a parent signature will be required as well.
• Once I've checked everyone's work, we mark any exercises that needed direct marking. I take essays home to read through (not mark), and sometimes read exceptional ones out loud to the class a few days later. And sticker them of course. A gold star makes everything better. 
• I keep a record of completion. If a child has a perfect record over a number of weeks, regardless of quality, I reward them with a sticker in their books. Again, a gold star makes everything better.

What I like so far:

• Homework admin focused on a single day rather than a little bit every day.
• Personal attention to each child at least once a week
• Choice for child, but control for me (I choose what the compulsory main course is!)
• I get a sense of the types of task a child enjoys/consistently leaves out.
• Lots of recognition for the child, but also lots of support. 

What I'm finding difficult:

• Choosing valuable but more or less equally weighted tasks relevant to the current work we're covering.
• Pacing lessons so that all the tasks are possible by the end of the week.
• Seeing the long weekly admin session as an investment, not a waste.
• Letting go of SUPER CONTROLLING INNER TEACHER!
• Not giving "extra" homework during the week when I "just want them to finish this one little thing..."

So as always there are lots of positives, lots of things to work on. Overall, I like it. So far so good. We shall have to see how it progresses further...

2013? Really?

Hello everyone!

So apparently it's 2013 already - and the internet is full of focus words, resolutions and general planning goodness. Far be it from me to buck the trend.

(Some of you may have noticed that I've killed Out of Perspective - splitting my attention was a silly idea in the first place. But I did import all the posts, so nothing lost!)

So, on to some of what 2013 holds for me:

teaching english

Yes, this year I am teaching THREE English classes (grade 8, 9 and 10) and only TWO Maths classes (grade 9 and 10). While this is a good thing (I've been wanting to wriggle into English teaching, and yay! no grade 12s), it is also a VERY VERY stressful thing. I've been teaching Maths for almost three years. How much experience do I have teaching English?? Zip, zilch, nada...

Prep time!

teaching maths

So I'm still teaching a fair bit of Maths though, and will continue to lead the grade 9 Maths team at my school, which means a lot of resource creation and general admin. I'm pleased with the plans we've set in place to tweak the ordering of the syllabus, and this year I will be teaching a top-set grade 9 class - yay! Last year I had all mixed groups in terms of Mathematical ability - pretty demoralising when at least half my kids failed every exam. So although I enjoy teaching kids who struggle with Maths, it will make a nice change. 

As good as a holiday? We'll see. This past holiday will be pretty hard to beat.

family

...which doesn't only consist of my cats, believe it or not!

My younger sister is getting married in April (yikes), and then moving to England with her beloved! Very exciting times, but also a bit sad and definitely stressful. So this year will be full of family things, at least for the first part, and I want to try and prioritise them as much as I can...

"Family" also covers my mini family (husband + two cats) and home, and trying to leave work earlier as often as possible (5pm, please? maybe??) so that I can spend time at home and hopefully not leave such chaos behind me when I go to bed at night.

creativity

Last year I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time, and absolutely LOVED it. So come November 2013, all else being equal, I will NaNoWriMo again! Yay!

But I also want to get into the routine of getting creative work going regularly throughout the year, starting with the editing of Mending Hedges (my NaNo novel from 2012). I've also got some other interesting plots and plans up my sleeve but we shall see... dum, dum, dum...

ALSO, I want to get back to a more regular blogging schedule. To that end, I want to stop putting pressure on myself to create one type of post or another at any particular time - just to write and create whatever springs to mind based on current events. Realistically, I will be trying one general post and/or one writing post per week (depending on work situations). Mainly posting on Saturdays, as far as I can make out my schedule, but obviously trying to gather material throughout the week and mainly construct the posts over the weekend.

Anyhow, I'll give it a decent effort for the first little while, and hope to hold up my end when the school work gets tougher.

sjoe!

I think that's quite enough resolution-type things for me for one day...nap time?

The hockey bird has hatched...

(otherwise known as - my U16s hit really hard!)