Monday Musings

It must be half-term if I'm back in the blogosphere!

This time I have visitors so am not going away apart from a long weekend, so with more time at home, I finally can get around to a cheeky blog post.

I miss the old link-ups that used to happen in the educational blog world so I'm going to make a Doodlebugs Five for Friday inspired post today.

Language Learning
One of my New Years Resolutions this year has been to learn a language. I try and motivate my class to become life-long learners and what better way to model this myself than taking on a new challenge? So far, I am far far far from fluent, yet I find myself beginning to be able to read a little and understand some of the spoken language. I mostly use the Duolingo app but there are many other options out there.

Buying a flat

Next week I am due to complete on a flat purchase, this is very exciting but means I am currently very poor money-wise and have a long list of things to sort out (like furniture and utilities!) It seemed like such a good plan when I had it earlier this year, but oh what a lot of work its turned out to be! Still, its a gorgeous little property and I can't wait for it to be officially mine!!

New experiences

A couple of weeks ago I went to a cooking class with some friends to learn how to make Xiao Long Bao (pork soup dumplings). Long-time readers of the blog might remember how I have mentioned Din Tai Fung is my favourite restaurant, well there is absolutely no danger of them hiring me as a chef! It did taste nice though. 

More holidays
Since I last posted I went to Portugal over the summer and fell in love with all the tiles (would have bought some for the new if I could have figured out how to fit them all in my suitcase!)

New class
And finally, something more teaching related, my lovely new class! I am still in Reception/Kindergarten and loving the new little characters I have. There is a wider range of abilities than I'm used to, but everyone is a hard-worker and cute as a button! Let's hope they don't forget everyone with a week off now!

Nelson Mandela

While looking through my blog back when I first started it, I discovered a post I had written shortly after the death of Nelson Mandela. When I visited South Africa earlier this year I was fortunate enough to visit Robben Island and see the jail where Mandela spent the majority of his 23 years in prison. The size of the jail cell was tiny and hearing from former prisoners and seeing the island was a very emotive and sobering experience. Although I've always considered him a very inspirational person, he became even more real to me. The work he did and the passion he inspired in others has left a lasting legacy of social change, not only on education, but the wider world.

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Original post - 8th December 2013

I started this post a few days ago and it was going to be about some websites that I find invaluable in the classroom and some of the things I find inspirational. Then of course, someone incredibly influential, not only to me, but the whole world died, so I decided to keep the title of the post and completely re-write the rest!

A friend of mine was devastated by the news of Nelson Mandela's death and asked on Facebook for some positive and upbeat news. Another replied "Nelson Mandela lived". I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, yes, the world has lost an inspirational man, yet we should be so glad that we had him at all.

Here are some of my favourite Nelson Mandela quotes:

Around the world

Sometimes I think I should be a travel blogger rather than a teacher one! But being a teacher, and in particular, an international teacher is how I have the opportunities to explore so much of the world during the term breaks (and how I afford it!). I cannot express how grateful I am that my lifestyle allows me to visit such beautiful countries, eat amazing food and experience different cultures and that I get to do it multiple times a year. If anyone out there is considering becoming an international teacher, then you have my fullest support... honestly, go for it! I am happy to answer specific questions, although I've only worked in Asia (and the UK), but I can't recommend it enough. Please comment if you would like to know more, but for now, here are some photos from my latest adventure to the gorgeous island of Lombok in Indonesia.

Teachers Pay Teachers

So this post is going to have some shameless plugs for my TPT-store, but please bear with me for some thoughts on earning money from resources.

Whilst I'm never going to be earning on a scale where I can give up my day job and make resources full-time, the notifications from PayPal of my monthly payments are always a nice little bonus. Some people produce on a grand scale and are well-known for the quality and quantity of their resources, this is not something I aspire to, as my main motivation is to share resources I've found useful in my own classroom settings. Of course, why not share them for free in that case I hear you ask? I do share many of my creations for free, but I sell the rest mostly to fund my own addiction to buying resources from others.

One thing to note is that if you are selling through a site such as TPT then they will take a percentage of your earnings, although you can reduce the percentage if you pay for their premium service. I've loved seeing other people purchase my products (free or paid) and love the idea that people around the world are finding them useful. So why not give it a go yourself?

Some of my favourite products in my store are:

Anyway, to make up for a post essentially about promoting my own page on Teachers Pay Teachers, I am throwing a sale on there, so head on over and browse, you might find a bargain!

Ready to read?

Let me start by saying that my class this year are gorgeous and I'll be genuinely gutted to say goodbye at the end of this term. However, they are super active and I'm trying to get them more interested in reading.

An amazing find is the website Epic Books.

It has a huge online library of e-books, which you can search by topic, series and age range. I especially love the 'read-to-me' section that has saved my teaching voice! Although I don't use this feature, you can also assign reading to students and have class reading competitions.

p.s. this isn't a sponsored post, I just love this website!

Am I too old?

While browsing the Times Educational Supplement online, I came across this article 'Teachers over 30 are too expensive to keep'.

Credit: TES

As a teacher in my 30s myself, I found this article quite thought-provoking. I am an international teacher now and absolutely loving the life that I have currently (travel, great kids, career experiences, long holidays, more money!) but at some point in the future I do see myself returning to the UK. Will I be too old to get a teaching job if I'm not interested in leadership positions? I've never wanted to move into senior leadership as being in the classroom is where my heart lies. But middle management, such as a head of year or subject, may have to be considered as otherwise I'm just an 'expensive' teacher.

In terms of moving forward with my career, I've started a Masters in Early Childhood Education to enhance my CV when the time comes to move on from my current job, but I constantly wonder if I should be taking on additional responsibilities as well.

Although I bring experience and expertise to the classroom, will headteachers only see my age and pay scale?

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment!

Remember me??

Excuses excuses...

So what can I say for the distinct lack of blogging for the last 2 years?

Life!

Every so often I get notifications that someone has followed this blog or bought something from my TPT shop and I'm reminded of the fun I used to have writing this blog and bonding with the blogging community. So here I am again...

Updates:

• I am still teaching in Hong Kong and loving this city more each day.

Star Ferry at night

• I completed my first ever 5k run.

• I moved year groups again from Nursery to Reception.

• I've been spending most of my free time travelling!

Changdeokgung Palace, Seoul, South Korea

Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

Lion's Head, Cape Town, South Africa

• I am 2/3 of the way through my Masters in Early Childhood Education (a commitment I may not have thought through!)

 

I've linked this blog post to Anna Nuttall's Bloggers Link up, my first time for this particular link up, but I'm always happy to try new blogging parties!

Anyway, what's new with you?