The song ‘Sing’ by Gary Barlow is an incredible one. It gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it. The power of children and adults singing together from around the world. Amazing!
Here is the Gary Barlow video. If you have never seen it then sit back and enjoy.
I was on YouTube looking for an instrumental version of it and came across this video. One man in his house, performing over the backing track with his guitar.
What talent!!! It’s brilliant.
My jaw almost kit the ground today when one of the children in my class took everyone by surprise.
To remind you – I teach – I teach 3 and 4 year olds, and that pretty much guarantees that there will be shocks and surprises – on an almost weekly basis.
Today a little angel of mine was feeling sick (Eng. = poorly; Aus. = crank).
I’m so international.
The mum (of sick child) arrived and came into the classroom. I explained how her daughter had not been feeling 100% and that with her soaring temperature, it was best to have a nice restful afternoon at home. Being a teacher who encourages the children in my class to express themselves and be confident individuals I was not surprised when another of my little treasures started chatting to the mum.
She asked the mum why her little friend was going home – to which the mum replied, “Well she’s not feeling very well, so I am going to take her home”.
This clearly wasn’t enough info – more please – “Why isn’t she well?” (the girl asked)…
The mum smiled back and explained that her daughter had been feeling sick during the morning….
The girl looked at the mum – thought a bit and said – “Perhaps you should have thought about that before you brought her to school today”. –
It was said in a flash of brilliance – but with such innocence….. I almost choked.
Kids.
Back in October I posted a couple of pictures about how not to look after a baby.
Well, quite by chance I have found some more little gems – from the same manual.
Here goes…
Our neighbours have just had a baby. We’re thrilled for them. I’m a little green with envy – he’s just so cute!
Our Dutch neighbours live upstairs – it’s The Netherlands after all, so everybody pretty much lives upstairs/downstairs in apartments.
I got to thinking about those first days as a parent.
How do people know what to you?
I expect it’s all about learning ‘on the job’. I’d be so nervous.
So………..
I did some random googling (as always) light research and discovered this.
Maybe I’ll email it to my new neighbours – just in case.
We recently had International Days at my school. It is a time to celebrate our school’s multi-cultural make-up.
The children come to school dressed in a traditional costume or clothes to represent where they come from or where they have lived. We have a big parade where all the children walk through school in front of each other and all the parents. It’s a great sight!
Loads of the parents volunteer to come in and run a stand representing their countries. There’s food to eat, games to play, puzzles to work out and things to make! I love it.
This year I had some volunteers to come in and work with my class. My class are 3 years old. We did lots of different activities – making flags, sharing stories, craft fun, dancing and lots more…
Next, we were going to try…. origami.
Yes, origami with 3 year olds.
I was a little stunned to begin with – but the children loved it.
I am not sure whether they loved the activity more or the fact that their teacher (me) and teaching assistant were frantically rushing around our little circle (with 13 children) helping to fold paper left, right and centre.
It was simple origami. By that I mean – extremely tricky rather complicated. I giggled as I worked.
I think I’m an origami pro now!
I’m glad it’s the weekend – I need the rest!
Not a child from my class - I just love the expression! Boats next time, maybe?
In the life of a teacher – this is just another of those mysteries.
I was teaching a class of 5 and 6 year olds last week. Working with young children is great fun, but it comes with consequences…. Sometimes children have accidents at school.
Wet accidents.
It happens…. It’s part of life. No problem.
The little boy in my group didn’t seem too fazed. I led him to the toilets and gave him spare pants and trousers to change into.
Sorted.
Well, I thought it was sorted…
About 5 minutes later the boy returned to the classroom followed by my assistant. She brought the plastic bag containing the wet trousers and asked where his wet pants were.
Where did they go?
I looked at her with a puzzled look.
“Are they not in the bag?”
“No” she replied.
“Where are they?” I asked myself…
I’ve been teaching long enough to consider all possibilities…… It could only mean one of the following:
We went and searched the toilets.
No pants!
The boy didn’t speak any English so we couldn’t ask him – that plus we didn’t want to make ‘a big thing’ of it.
How can a pair of underpants go missing?
Any ideas? What do you think……?
The next day I stopped to talk to his mum in the playground. We talked about the accident. Not a problem she said – it happens.
I asked about the missing underpants. I said we couldn’t find them.
“Oh yes, they were on his bed at home. He forgot to put them on in the morning!”
Commando!
You gotta love boys.
An amazing teacher posted a video onto Facebook showing the scenes when she calmly protected her class whilst a drug cartel gun battle went on nearby.
The video, posted below, has taken the internet by storm after it was discovered by local news.
Class teacher, Martha Rivera Alanis can be heard asking the children to lie on the floor and stay down. “No, my love, nothing is going to happen, just put your little face on the floor,” she tells one girl.
During the shoot out there were 5 people shot and killed at a nearby taxi stand in Monterrey.
The teacher has since received an award for her bravery by the state’s governor.
What an amazing teacher!
Long summers. Playing outside until the street lights came on or until it was too dark to see across the garden. Building dens. Climbing on the garden shed, even though it was banned. I loved my childhood. I had the best times with my brother, Nigel and my two neighbours Becky and Ben.
Becky was my partner in crime. We lived two doors away from one another and did everything together. Becky was 18 months younger than me, but was no wallflower. We laughed together – squabbled together -fell out – made up, but had the time of our lives. I’m smiling now, thinking back to the fun of the 1980s.
It was after the hurricane of 1989 that the fences in the back garden were blown down. 8 fence panels all ripped out over night. The next morning we looked out to see pieces of fence all strewn across the garden. It took quite a while to clear up. I was about 10 years old and keen to help as much as possible (I think). Maybe I’m looking back with those rose-tinted glasses.
My neighbours has one son, a lot older than we were. We were always peeking through the fence to see what was happening on the other side. It was all very exciting as a child. But, when he got a girlfriend the spying continued. We’re stand and giggle. Once the fence was down though we would wave then run and hide. It was more fun than it sounds.
On one afternoon, we’d played games, cycled, been to the park and back. A great day! We returned to my back garden and noticed the teenage neighbour with his girlfriend in the room. We giggled about it. Kissing was something to laugh at still. (Eeewgh – the thought of kissing…..) We crept towards the house, keeping ourselves well hidden. A brick wall divided the patio areas at the rear of the houses and so we tried to get as close to the window to have a really good look.
Feeling brave I got onto my knees and crept on the ground until I was right underneath next door’s window. I’d have a great view from here. I felt invisible. (I clearly thought, being ten years old, that my actions were on par with James Bond)….. I slowly, very slowly began to stand up…… I inched towards the window sill…. A few more centimetres and I would peek in through the window……
I froze! Stunned silent! My eyes locked onto the eyes of my neighbour. The mother! She stood in the room about 10 centimetres away from the glass on the inside. She knew! Her face was stern. I swallowed. Caught out!
Clearly the moral to this story is. Don’t peep on your neighbours. Don’t think you’re better at sneaking around than you really are. Prepare for a good telling off by the mum if you do get caught.
Ah – memories!!! (It wasn’t my idea…. Does that count?)
Internet sensations travel around the globe within minutes these days. Times have really changed. Technology allows us to share information instantly with people everywhere. The lastest sensation to sweep the online world are the talking twins.
The video is fab! To date, over 6 million people have viewed the video on YouTube. The question is – Are these children really talking? If they are – then what exactly are they discussing? It’s fascinating.
Watch and enjoy.
This is Wesley Bear. He is possibly one of the most well travelled bears in the world. For the last 11 years he has been part of my class. When I started training to be a teacher I bought adopted Wesley (He was already named).
Helping in the kitchen
When I got my first class (4 year olds) – We called it ‘Reception class’ then – I introduced Wesley Bear to the class bear. Each and every weekend he would (and still does) go home with one of the children. (A great reward for good behaviour).
Wesley goes sailing (One of the mums made a lifejacket for him)
The children in the class, and in all the classes that I have taught, have fallen in love with Wesley Bear. They cannot wait to have their turn to look after him.
He’s been taken on some wonderful trips around the world. There are times that I wish I could swap places with my teddy so that I could travel in his place. (I wish). The idea is for the children to look after him and to show him wonderful sights around the world. They take photographs, send postcards back to the school and add a little stamp to his passport. He’s been on more that 100 trips abroad!
After 11 years of travelling around the world with the children in my classes, with family and friends and with colleagues, I have quite a collection of photos. The children love to look at them and it provides a wonderful tool for exploring holidays and travel in class.
Just a couple of Wesley's holiday snaps!
He’s met dolphins in Israel, camels in the Canary Islands, lizards and seals in the Galapagus Islands and enjoyed Champagne in France! Oh what a life for a bear!
This shows where Wesley Bear has been taken since March 6th 2000.
This beats my map of world travel.
One of the best parts is listening to the children when they bring Wesley Bear back to school. They are alive with enthusiasm and are eager to tell stories of what he’s been up to. Some of the children tell me that Wesley has been naughty, he’s made their bedrooms a mess or that he’s had a holiday romance. Oh yes, I’ve heard a lot.
My favourite picture.
One Life by jamieonline 