28daysofwriting – Page 3 – A Box of Thistles

#28daysofwriting Day 6: Rest Day

Published on 7th February 2015 by robeanneLeave a comment

Hot on the heels of post 5 which was late, I am playing catch up with post 6! The last one ended up taking me far more than 28 minutes because of distractions so I am determined to keep this one short! It is an unashamed plug and demand for money too!

Today is a rest day. Not just a rest from work since it is Waitangi Day, but also a rest from walking. This week (starting from last Saturday) I have walked 85km. I have a blister under my little toe which is sore. Any advice on healing blisters fast gratefully received. Tomorrow I will walk 20km and on Sunday we are walking 30km along the Waikato River Trails.

Why? I think I mentioned in my first post that I have committed myself to completing the Oxfam Trailwalk on 28th March. I might also have mentioned it again in Post 3. And in Post 4. No apologies – training is taking up quite a lot of my time, energy and thoughts at the moment.

I am building up plenty of resilience (Post 5) and I think I am going to need it. Big style!

But the people we are raising money for have to show far more resilience than we in western developed countries can even imagine. For us, it might be grappling with new approaches in teaching and learning, it might be managing that awkward class last lesson on a Friday afternoon. It might be getting our own kids off to school, tidying the house, hanging the washing out, getting the car to the garage before we can get to work. It might be grumpy colleagues, or it might be that idiot pulling out in front of us at a roundabout. Of course, I am being a little frivolous and there are plenty of people in western countries who have to deal with serious issues at any time in their lives. I am not saying that we don’t have to deal with family members or close friends with debilitating and life-threatening illnesses, or that people in western countries all have roofs over their heads and enough food in their bellies. I know that there is poverty and need in all countries. But I have travelled to some developing countries and I have seen poverty on a completely different scale. All the things we take for granted; clean water, shelter, health care, education, safety from persecution – things that are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are not necessarily there for people in other parts of the world. Oxfam works to provide aid but also sustainability, training young people, giving them lost skills which are culturally appropriate and consistent with the environment in which they live so that future generations can thrive.

So, and here is the plug – please consider supporting us as we walk 100km in good shoes and warm clothes, supported by friends and family to help those who often have to walk long distances in extreme weather conditions to collect water, food, go to school or escape persecution.

Here is the link to donate (you can even offset it against your tax!)

Our team for the Oxfam walk. 4 ladies. — Pat and The Posties

#28daysofwriting Day 4 Counting Down

Published on 5th February 2015 by robeanne1 Comment

So, I am a day behind already! I desperately wanted to write yesterday but I ran out of time; at 11.48pm my husband came through as I was writing up the Hockey Club minutes after planning lessons, responding to emails from students and colleagues and checking in on Facebook.

I thought I was doing OK when I looked at the clock at 10pm but then all of a sudden it was nearly midnight. Where does time go to?

Like sand through a timer it seems to go quite slowly at first and then, “Whoosh!” it is gone, all too soon. Holidays are like that too, aren’t they? The first weeks of the summer holidays stretch out in front of you. Delicious days of waking when you want to, relaxing breakfasts and lazy days catching up on reading that you just don’t have time to do in term time. Days at the beach, leisurely catch ups and coffees with friends, evening barbecues and drinks in the garden enjoying the coolness of the evening as the sun goes down. And then, before you know it, you are half way through and the count down just gets faster. The days slip away and there is a hint of panic as you realise that you actually haven’t done any of the things you said all term that you’d so in the holidays! Sort out the photos, tidy the garage, organise someone to clean the roof, hang the pictures you got last Christmas, write letters and send cards to friends who don’t have internet, plan some lessons!

This summer I went to Costa Rica and Nicaragua with a group of students. We spent Christmas in the rainforest and New Year on the beach with the local community with whom we were working. It was interesting to note how the girls coped with the time we spent there. Four weeks for them seemed interminable, especially those who were homesick. Odd, because they had spent eighteen months of preparation excitedly counting down to their adventure. As soon as we arrived they spent four weeks counting down to going home! It is not that they didn’t enjoy themselves and throw themselves into the experience and make the most of it, because they did. But, as they explained to me, they just missed their families and were looking forward to seeing them again! I didn’t get it! But then it wasn’t the first time away from home for me. Time went far too fast and there just wasn’t enough time to do and see everything I wanted.

Three days this week I have walked 15km training for the Oxfam Trailwalker. (probably why I haven’t any time!) Time is strange then too. In contrast to holidays, the first half of the walk seems to go by very fast but the second half seems to go on for ever! My legs are weary and my feet hurt. Every step is painful. If you let yourself think about it. Fortunately we are four “50-something” women and we know how to talk! We keep each other going and time passes more quickly.

And now my 28 minutes are up. Strangely the Pink Floyd song “Time” from the album “Dark Side of the Moon” is playing as I finish! A song about how time slips by fast without us really noticing before it is too late. I just looked at the Wikipedia info about it and it suggests there that Roger Walters realised when he was 28 that he was no longer preparing for life, he was in the middle of it! Not sure of the veracity of that but it seems apt given that I am writing for 28 minutes for 28 days.

Image: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8088/8541529818_13a97735fb_h.jpg

#28daysofwriting Day 3

Published on 3rd February 2015 by robeanne1 Comment

Okay. It is 11.30pm so I have just over 28 minutes to get this one done and dusted! Here goes!

I know I said that I would write about our Oxfam walk preparations but we had a rest day yesterday and Sunday is too far away to remember! I was tired, my legs were tired. That’s it.

Today my team mates all had an excuse not to walk. All perfectly plausible, understandable and acceptable and as I have already said, they are already much better prepared than I am. So I decided to go on my own. Actually, I persuaded (with little resistance, I might add) younger son (aged 15) to come with me. I was surprised because when I came home he was playing a computer game with his friends. All in separate houses, on separate computers. He does sometimes invite them to our house (or he goes to their’s) and they bring their computers and they all sit at their computers, stare at the screens playing the game and yet talk to each other. They plan, they strategise, they negotiate and they fall out and then in again! It is fascinating to listen.

But I am a mother and I am of a certain generation and even though I am relatively techy minded and I do understand the benefits of online gaming and all that sort of stuff, I still worry about how much time he spends on a screen. How much time this summer break he has spent on a screen. And I feel guilty. I wasn’t here for four weeks. And then I needed to work. So he stayed on his screen. And it was easy. For me.

In the winter when he is playing hockey and football and training five times a week with matches on Wednesdays and Saturdays and homework, I can justify the times in between when he is on his computer games. But in the summer, I struggle.

School starts tomorrow for him. Year 11. NCEA Level 1. NO MORE COMPUTER GAMES MIDWEEK!!!

So, he came out for a walk with me. It was a pleasure having his company. We talked. We walked. He ran! We went further than he expected but he kept up and he didn’t complain. And I actually think he quite enjoyed it! 10km. One hour 40 minutes. Time with my boy. Need to do that more often.

#28daysofwriting Day 2 Hats

Published on 3rd February 2015 by robeanneLeave a comment

Just going to squeeze this one in barring distractions! Why is it that despite all the preparation and planning that I do in the holidays, the first week at school is complete chaos? The last week has been manic. I know that I have also been training for the Oxfam Trailwalk so this weekend more than 7 hours were spent pounding the concrete, the gravel, the sand and the grass. But even so, I feel like I’m lurching from one thing to the next. I do have several metaphorical hats to wear at school which adds to the mix but this year I have escaped having a form class. Truth be told, I’m actually quite missing that contact with the students first thing in the morning but ssshh! I’m sure I’ll get used to the extra time it frees up!
One of my hats is a digital one; I am the “eMentor” for our staff and support them using tech in the classroom for teaching and learning. The beginning of term is always busy helping new staff get to grips with new systems and supporting others as they make the shift from beach brain to teacher brain and they grapple anew with all the techy challenges they were sure they had mastered last year!
I said in my last post that I needed to redress my work life balance. Strangely, I do have balance in my job. My next hat is that of Outdoor Education Coordinator. Three weeks of the year I get to leave technology and the four walls of my classroom behind and enjoy time with our students and staff on school camps. I really don’t think you can overestimate how much benefit kids get from learning outside the classroom when they are challenging themselves and putting themselves outside they comfort zones.
Finally, but actually most importantly is my sombrero; my last hat. I am a teacher first and foremost and I love teaching. I have had to reinvent myself as, sadly, the importance of learning languages is simply not recognised in New Zealand and learner numbers are falling rapidly across the country. My first second language is French but I now teach Spanish and am learning alongside my students. It has been a steep learning curve but a welcome challenge and I am enjoying how it has made me think about my teaching methodology. I can’t be lazy any more, I don’t have the language at my finger tips like French and I don’t have a store of lessons in my head for the days when I really need to “wing it”! Fortunately, I have a dear colleague in a nearby school who has helped me immensely. It has made me reflect that we cannot be islands. We have to build bridges and causeways to connect with others and share good practice.
Oh, my 28 minutes are up! Time to stop. Feels odd.

Image: http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs21/f/2007/233/1/1/hats_by_GreenInkling.jpg

#28daysofwriting Day 1

Published on 2nd February 2015 by robeanne1 Comment

So 28 minutes to write. What about? I wasn’t sure how I was going to do this but yesterday when I was out walking the idea just came to me! Amazing how being out in the fresh air, away from technology, the classroom, the housework and everything else that serves to distract me, helps me to formulate my thoughts.

Why was I out walking? Well, first of all because I love the outdoors and try to get out as often as I can (which is not as often as I would like) but secondly, and possibly more importantly, I have, mad thing that I am, committed myself to walking 100km to raise money for Oxfam with thee other equally mad women. Actually, I say equally mad but I think two of them are madder because they have walked it before and know how gruelling it is!

So there I was, trotting behind my team mates who are much fitter and faster than me thinking, “Oh my goodness, what have let myself in for?!” They are seasoned long distance runners and multisport participants and little old me has never run further than 15km before. I have done lots of mountain walking, and caving and kayaking and climbing. I am an adventurous sort. But I have never undertaken anything as long as this that requires training. Training! What is that? Five days a week averaging 15km a day at the ridiculously fast (for me) pace of around 7km an hour! That’s what training is. And, of course, I have come in late to the programme. The Oxfam website has a recommended training schedule (we’re aiming to do it fast = 18 -24 hrs) which runs for 16 weeks. We have 7 weeks to go before the big day. 28th March – check it out! So the training programme starts for us at week 10. Yes, straight in to just about the peak time and starting right from scratch for me! That’s why all I see as we walk is three bottoms!

So, I hear you asking, “Why?”. Good question, and one that I was pondering as I struggled to keep up yesterday. Why? It seemed like a good idea when my friend suggested it in the staffroom one day. I felt I needed a challenge in my 6th decade of life. It is a strange thing, isn’t it, age? I don’t feel old at 52 years and 11 months old. But, what does prey on my mind is that my Mum died at the age of 53 years and 1 day. And I am frighteningly close now to not knowing what life holds for me past that point. I have no point of reference. I see my Mum when I look in the mirror, but I don’t know what the future me will look like because Mum’s face stops at 53 years and 1 day. So, before I get maudlin and start to cry, I guess I’m doing this for my Mum. To prove that life goes on, as well as because it is a huge challenge and we all need challenges to test ourselves and I haven’t had a real physical challenge for a while. It will keep me away from work and help to redress some of my work life balance which has swung heavily to the side of work over the last few years, it will help my fitness (as long as my body doesn’t break from the training!), and I am doing something to help others.

So my #28daysofwriting may well be a chronicle of the next 4 weeks of training as I build up to the big day. What has that to do with learning? Oh, everything!