This week I learned... [22/04/16]

I had a very positive week and the sun shone for a large part of it. Here's what I learned but also quite a lot of what happened too...

1. This year I wanted to do some more challenging things in roller derby. One of my "out loud" goals* was to play co-ed, something I'd never done and then kind of gave myself the fear of. It was really fun, especially because it was part of a fantastic, glittery tournament, the Louisey Rider Cup.

Men tend to play roller derby with bigger hits and seem to take more risks. A men's game often looks more physical or aggressive, but I think it's because the game tends towards body checks rather than the hip checks you get more of in the women's game. In the tournament, you could see a lot of the guys going easy, but a blocker's bum can put you on the floor if it's used correctly, whoever it belongs to! There was some very impressive footwork on display; which has really motivated me to work harder on my own. MattLovin, who plays for Team England, gave me some tips for holding the inside line. With several blockers on my team I did a lot of paired blocking - this was fun and really effective for getting round offence. So yeah, it turns out co-ed is not that scary, who knew? (Me, probably).

2. I had to change some of my self-talk.
Part 1: "I will never win an award in a game."
Managed to win the audience vote MVP for my team. Don't ask.
After I'd finished dying of embarrassment and once my team had the tournament final to concentrate on, I was quite pleased.

But some point during the day I thought "oh, now I can't say I never play co-ed because I have. I can't say I'll never win an award because I have." All the sports psychology must have rubbed off because now my brain is telling me I CAN DO THINGS. We had a goal-setting session today and it did make me aim higher than I would have previously.
Part 2: "I can do this. "
I held my own in a really advanced team of skaters. I didn't once say I couldn't do it, I didn't once come off track and dread going back on again, I didn't once doubt we could win a game. We. Won. Every. Game. Now, I can't say I contributed much to that, I was a mediocre blocker at most, but I think I played really well and the feeling of being on a winning team is brilliant (only my second time for that one). On the one hand, it's made me very confident and determined; on the other hand I had a terrible bout comedown afterwards.

3. Headteachers are still more bothered about whether you polished your shoes and covered your tattoos than how good your teaching is.
Possibly NOT entirely true but I went to do some training and a (recently retired) headteacher talked about what heads are looking for in terms of recruitment. The aim was to get long-term placements in supply teaching. We got some good advice on what to put in a personal statement and preparing for interview. I'm taking with a pinch of salt that part about "one pair of earrings is enough". The most important take-away was when he said
"You are good most of the time... you will have bad days, but you are good. You do make a difference to pupils by being there for them and being yourself."
I think this is true. I may also have a long-term placement. It will mean teaching in an academy school, another first for me.

Otherwise, I've been watching a lot of Victoria Wood sketches, Series 2 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Rear Window (it's on Netflix, worth a 3rd watch). Best yogurt I had was Onken apple and cinnamon. One of our coaches, Abi, took us through a goal setting session, on which more later (my head is a bit muddled and meddled from it right now. Then I tried something new, failed miserably and had to be talked into putting my skates back on - so the self-talk needs some work!)

* There are goals that you should share with others, and some that are best kept to yourself.