Aware of the change

It's not often that we notice changes while they are happening. Generally we only realise later on that something is different. I am, however, very much aware of the change that is about to happen, and is happening, as I move into my second placement and begin looking on to what happens next.
     My time at Uni is at an end (or almost) and it was strange saying goodbye to coursemates who will remain coursemates over the coming months despite the fact that I'll probably only see most of them a few more times. Tomorrow I head to a new school and a new class and many new challenges. I must hit the ground running and keep my head above the water, as they say. (Got to love a good mixed metaphor).
     As well as adjusting to this full time work situation (after a fairly relaxed 5 weeks) I must crack on with my final essay, due shortly after Easter - the year is going so fast - and be constantly on the look out for potential jobs for the autumn. Juggling all of these balls (while running and keeping my head above water) will no doubt keep me insanely busy, so if you don't hear from me/see me much for a few months my sincerest apologies, but I will endeavour to keep you updated on my progress, as well as anything interesting or amusing that occurs!

Me

I am:

Jesus-worshipper

Cricket-lover

Bizarre-fact-collector

Amateur-musician

Teacher-in-training

Creative-writer

Occasional-baker

Quiet-time-keeper

 

I am:

Learning

Discovering

Meeting

Listening

 

I am:

Not perfect

Still trying

Grateful

 

I am:

Simply

Twenty-three

 

I am:

Me

 

Life is for the friends

Oh, beautiful day,

The sunny, Sunday afternoon

In the park.

The fun, the food, the frisbee

And the friends.

Life is for the friends,

With the frisbee, the food and the fun,

In the park,

On a sunny, Sunday afternoon.

Oh, beautiful day.

Choices

I don't know if anyone else saw the 3 part, BBC drama, 37 Days that ran from last Thursday to Saturday. It portrayed the intense political period between the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28th July, 1914, and 11pm, 4th August, when Britain declared war on Germany. Some of the events I knew about, many were new, but most fascinating of all was the way in which a small situation between Austria and Serbia became a global crisis that apparently nobody (or no country) could avoid.
     Alliances and friendships were tested. Some survived and others didn't. Russia backed Serbia, while Germany backed Austria. France sided with Russia, although they might not have been drawn in if Germany hadn't pre-empted their involvement and attacked first. Britain had strong ties with France, connections with (or rather, relations in) Germany, but had also, more recently, made links to Russia. This complicated web of friendships, which existed for purposes of peace and trade, was further reason to not go to war (beyond the fact that war in general is not good).
     In the end it was a different reason that we declared war. Germany invaded Belgium, merely to get to France, but this broke the agreement on Belgium's neutrality, something which Britain had promised to protect. Even then this old arrangement could have been let go, but expectation was too much. There was apparently no choice.
     But this raised a thought in my mind.
     People often believe that they have no choice, but this is not true.
     People always have choice.
     They can of course make a choice that is wrong (knowingly or not) because of the outcome. They can also make a choice that is wrong in the eyes of everyone else, and yet, if it is what they firmly believe then they should see it through.

A changing view

 

Thought I'd drop in a picture post.

Here are some of the many beautiful sights I see from my window...

Phrases, Clauses and Sentences

You know you're in teacher training when... you spend Friday evenings trying to decide whether 'Sometimes it's hard to be a woman' is a Phrase, a Clause or a Sentence. The differences between them are minimal but vitally important when teaching a seven-year-old how to write.
     Other terms with similar qualities include: Subjects, Verbs and Objects (these help to define sentences (and clauses, but not phrases)); 'subordinating conjunctions', which are used in forming complex sentences, as opposed to 'coordinating conjunctions', which are found in compound sentences (but neither will appear in a phrase or a clause (as far as I'm aware)).
     Then there are the 'Active' and 'Passive' voices, which change depending on whether the subject is doing the verb, or the verb is being done to the subject, for example: 'A man was arrested' is in the passive voice, because the man has been arrested, he did not do the arresting, although trying to arrest a police officer must be challenge worth taking up at some point.
     For now though [Phrase], or after I've finished [Clause], I'll have something to eat [Sentence].

Sometimes it's hard to be Trainee Teacher. Have a happy weekend!

Olympic Wrap-up

The Winter Olympics, the Cool Olympics, in which people don't just show off their strength or stamina or speed or skills, but do it on ice or the side of a mountain. My personal favourite events have to be the Snowboard and Ski Cross. Yeah, watching one person slide down a mountain is fun, but far better if there's 6 of them and with humps, jumps and banked corners thrown in for good measure.
     Also, new this time was the Parallel Slalom, which works on a similar principal, although there's only two people. I would like to see two people on a Moguls run at some point as well, and I won't be surprised if it's tried out in the not too distant future.
     Otherwise the Germans have been good a luging, GB bagged another gold in the skeleton and the Canadians are acting like they own the world again. (Well we have to let them, they only get the chance every 4 years). However they haven't managed to finish top of the medal table like last time, Russia took a long time to get going but finally came up trumps, which is fair enough seeing as it was in Sochi. Finishing with 13 Gold medals shows a big improvement too, four years ago they won just 3.
     Other countries that have done well include Norway, finishing second with 11 Golds (2 more than in Vancouver); the Netherlands, finishing 5th with 8 Golds (4 more than in Vancouver); and Belarus with 5 Golds out of 6 medals in total.
     It was not so good for others though, Italy failed to win any Golds; Sweden only claimed 2, down from 5 in Vancouver; and South Korea, the hosts in 2018, dropped from 6 Golds to 3, but maybe they're just saving themselves.
     So now we've watched the experts do it, I guess it's over to us. Perhaps I'll actually manage to strap on a pair of skis before the next Olympics, I'd like that. I mean come on... how hard can it be?