Thanks, Amy Johnson

Thanks, Amy Johnson.
Thanks for being a role model to so many and one who came from my own city.
Thanks for going ahead with your career after getting up and leaving because a man was rubbish to you.
Thanks for showing us all that a woman can be a fantastic engineer and a brave pilot.
Thanks for wearing trousers and fixing engines and making bumpy landings and being badass.
Thanks for inspiring a festival that brought massive moths to the city of Hull.
Thanks for those moths being the motivation for me to spend time with the most amazing woman I know.
Thanks for showing me you can mess it up from time to time and still be remembered for the right reasons.
You were lost but it means that your memory lives on in all of us.
Thanks, Amy Johnson.

What I learned about... attending an open audition

A few weeks ago the following video was broadcast on the BBC's local news and social media for Hull and the area, seeking a brand new presenter for the City of Culture year 2017 - no experience needed.

 I instantly decided this was something I wanted to do. Remember those decisions I made in June? One was the start of a relationship, which unfortunately ended this week. One was to do with work - I got the job but it doesn't start for another month. There have been a lot of times over the last few weeks when I started to regret those decisions. But when I sat down and thought about it (and believe me I did), I realised that the risks had paid off. I could have missed out on those months with someone I really like. I could have gone back to my old job when it was offered to me and not gone through with the new one... The thing is, I took the risk. This was about putting myself out there and giving that calculated risk a chance to pay off.

I avoided making any other plans for Saturday 8th October so that I was free to attend the audition. The downside of this was that all my friends were scattered all over the place so I ended up going alone. A few days beforehand, I did a bit of research to find out who was on the panel and the kind of thing they'd be looking for. I wrote down all the things I wanted to say and thought about how I would get my personality across. My mum helped with suggestions of what to wear and lent me a City of Culture badge to pin on my jacket. Getting all the things I wanted to say into one minute proved more difficult. I had several practices recording myself which I've uploaded to YouTube. This also reminded me to remember some basic presenting skills like smiling, looking into the camera and leaving my hair alone. On Saturday morning I arrived at Hull Truck Theatre to find a large queue already there and it continued to grow as we were filmed for local media. That's my backside in the HDM's photo:

We were given a number but soon told to come back later as things seemed to be going pretty slowly. I finally got to audition at about 6pm.

It was by then pretty quiet in the theatre but inside the studio things were pretty X Factor, with a judging panel, spotlight, cameras and judge buzzers. I said hello, said my things, kept to a minute and that was it! I'm so glad I did it, as I felt really proud of myself afterwards and everyone I spoke to said the same. There were all kinds of different people there, and I spoke to some people I see around Hull all the time and that's what it's all about. The day was rounded off by taking part in a social media trailer for Middle Child (hanging around in an empty nightclub was suitably creepy) and playing a terrible game of charades at a house party.

What did I learn? I'm ok on my own, I have good friends and people are most often good.

Here's what I learned about making decisions [1 July 2016]

In the week after the nation made a huge and ridiculous decision, I found that I had a couple of my own to make.

The biggest was about work. Having just accepted a new job (yay me!), I was offered a position at the place where I used to work previously. It was a case of the head versus the heart. I only spoke to a small number of people about it but the advice was: sum up the pros and cons, you will be letting someone down so try not to make it personal, and think about the long term. I think I did all these things. it was tough, but I went with the head for a number of reasons, and for possible future career opportunities. On Friday I was offered a compromise, which would have allowed me to go back to the previous school for the couple of months before the new job starts. Went into the weekend pretty happy but by Monday that deal was off the table. Time for another adventure in the unexpected I suppose! What I learned is that although the whole thing was pretty stressful (on top of a fraught week at work), I kept communicating, I didn't stick my head in the sand and I made a decision rather than letting it happen to me.

The other decision was entirely a personal one and literally only one person knows about it. I've never really been someone who goes out to get a thing simply because. Perhaps as a result of doing this with the new job, and almost definitely as a result of previously mentioned stressful week, I went out and did it. I put myself out there in a way I've rarely done before... and it paid off. And I hope this is a GOOD THING and I'm really excited (ooh, mystery!)

This is what I learned... from the EU referendum

I thought I hadn't posted for a week or so... turns out not since May, oops!
Much of my energies have gone into school work and political involvement. Planning lessons has actually been creative and fun so I didn't mind doing that. The rage got somewhat channelled into some campaigning and discussing.

In the meantime, I had an interview and got a new job, but it doesn't start for ages yet!

My bamboo toothbrush arrived and it was so weird at first but I'm used to it now and I'm not going back to plastic (it's a pack of 5 so I'm good for while).

Overall, the referendum was a horrible and divisive experience. Going to a vigil after the the Orlando shootings restored some of my faith in people in general, the people of Hull and I was proud of the local LGBT+ community for showing up and coming together in a peaceful act. Then the MP, Jo Cox, was shot. The official campaigning was shut down for a few days. I hoped people might wake up and realise that so many petty and unrelated things had been said and the country was just not a pleasant place to be. It reached a fever pitch on polling day. Then it was all over. I had a lovely day teaching, singing with my colleagues, scrimming with my team; went to bed exhausted... and then yesterday I woke up in a different world. Made it through the day at school. Went to the pub to drown our sorrows. I couldn't sleep so I read a lot and antagonised leave voters a bit on social media.

It seems the leave vote was partly working class and partly the wealthiest people of the nation. Overwhelmingly they are white - some may be first or second generation immigrants but not anyone that I know. People have tried to defend themselves saying they aren't racist and they did it for the good of the UK. They didn't, and there probably won't be a UK for much longer. I think these people acted out of self-interest and we are now seeing the consequence. Several of my friends have children who are mixed race or of mixed heritage and they are genuinely afraid for their kids. I am worried what it means for the NHS, for human rights, for my pension and my house.

As always, I will fight. We're organising and I'm going to every meeting and demonstration I can afford to go to....

What I learned this week [29/05/16]

Sunday post because it rounds the week off better and I did a random pedagogy post.

1. My name is Ju and it has been 2 weeks since I used a paper towel in my house. I really didn't think I would be able to do this one, but it was an "easy win" for reducing waste. When I finished the roll of kitchen roll, I didn't get a new one from the pack upstairs. I used cloths and tea towels - the idea being that these go in a wash you're going to do of laundry anyway. Although, from reading American blogs, they don't seem to have tea towels, what? I think they have them in bars and restaurants and stuff, but by a different name. I did use some kitchen roll at work when we had a buffet and something got spilled. I've tried not to use the paper towels you dry your hands on whenever possible - easier in summer - but this is difficult and also it's meant to be more hygienic to dry your hands on these than any other method. This weekend I gave the Tassimo machine some time off and drank filter coffee instead.

2. We had loads of fun in roller derby this week doing chest blocking. I got some tips from more experienced skaters and then the chance to try them out when our Sunday session was coached by Stew, one of our refs. We had to think a little bit more like the men's derby game to really use this, but I think chest blocking is a great tool in the box and I will be trying to use it more.

3. At school, we had more training on collaborative learning and I re-arranged the desks again. They are all now labelled up and seating plans using data are well on their way. I labelled them with the colours of the rainbow because all work and no play and all that!

Maria Montessori

It was Montessori who coined the term of "mastery" in the curriculum. Good to know.
From this 30 second briefing on the TES. Pedagogy inspiration.

What I learned this week [20/05/16]

Some updates on what I've learned lately:

1. The not-even-nearly-zero-waste is going well. Better than expected. OK, so apart from the Eurovision party that created a LOT of waste and a blue bin that sounded like a pub full of empties, it was a good week. I've been everywhere with my trusty canvas bag and my bags for life. I've managed to make my lunch every day, and there was barely a packet sandwich in amongst it. Even the day when I did have to persuade my colleague into getting me a school lunch before I fainted, it was a slice of pizza on a cardboard sleeve - practically no waste! I also made some absolutely yummy food, and it continues to be mostly plant based (with the addition of various types of cheese and yoghurt; I'll never be a vegan!)
Desk breakfast:

Post training snack:

Salad "bowls" including a failure to spiralise butternut squash and my first attempt at cooking quinoa that didn't come out of a ready made pack:
 

2.  I tried out some different types of collaborative learning that the school is rolling out. This is the sort of thing that's fantastic in theory but pretty hard work on a Tuesday afternoon with a load of bickering 13 year olds! Anyway, it's made me plan lessons in a way that works well for me and puts the onus on the pupils to do the work. It goes well with the TEEP style planning that I was trained in a few years ago. We've been encouraged to lay out the classrooms accordingly and it's been a pleasant change to have a classroom big enough to actually move the desks around and try some different configurations. I've done lots of investigation type tasks in all 3 subjects and will be trying some more creative tasks this week. The school has a policy of each lesson having a "big question" learning objective and then differentiated tasks and outcomes to achieve this which has really focused my thinking. Favourites have been "Should we have wind power in the UK?", "What is the importance of symbols in a Hindu wedding?" and "Could you have fun in the Middle Ages?" (which I'm sure all History teachers will recognise as an old favourite and led to an odd google autofill). Today I tried out "Were animals heroes or victims in WW1?" which needs some work but is well resourced.

More derby stuff another time. You can see updates on the selfie project in the sidebar, and I hope to contribute further to Girl Gang soon. Top yoghurt continues to be Onken organic strawberry.