First of all - What is going on?  Am I turning into a daily blogger?  3 days in a row!  As a teacher I  feel that it is important to celebrate the small steps so I am always expecting a certificate or a sticker to appear from somewhere/anywhere and land on my desk when I do something that surprises me.    Of course It never happens ... but a comment from you might give me that same feeling that a sticker would.  Is that a hint?  lol

I know these wee blogs are being seen out there.  My last blog write up received 2,056 views!!!  Wow!  So maybe that has inspired me to write this one.

Well it all comes down to simplicity this week.  It is the final week before my class run off to see the Easter Bunny and eat lots of chocolate.  I still want all of them to read and think mathematically - that may be only a wish that I will send off to all as they leave my classroom on Friday.  Saying that I did ask my lovely parents via Seesaw to work with their children over the two weeks and sent home voluntary homework.  You see Seesaw is a cool app. (read my earlier blog on seesaw).

Anyway where was I?  Oh yes- I'm tired this week and so are my class.  We need to do something "simple" this week and yet connected to our topic, "Special days".  Flicking through my own resource file just didn't inspire me this week so of course I checked out the lovely website Twinkl.  And low-and-behold there was the perfect worksheet for my class - Easter Egg Doubles Colouring Activity.  I have set a link below the blog as it screams out simplicity and straightforwardness and the lovely part is - the children learn, will be developing their skills in The Arts and they will go home with a colourful Easter egg at the end of the day.  Win-win situation.

I will of course have to enlarge it to A3 and set out a variety of painting tools for my class to experiment with - who needs the basic paintbrush?  Saying that my CA might insist that the odd paint brush is put on the craft table.  I love the way she returns me to reality every now and again.  Thank you Caroline.  

I did see a post on pinterest - painting with pom-poms - I might try that out today.  Anyway whatever I do with this great resource I will post on instagram - northernirelandteacher and here on my website - watch this space.  

Finding simple, straightforward worksheets isn't always easy.  That makes me want to shout out to the lovely teachers who work in Nurture groups.  The teachers who are always on the lookout for simple, straightforward worksheets without the clutter and worksheets that stick to the basics.  I would recommend Twinkl to all of them.  Check it out.  Anita you know I am talking directly to you - after our chat on Saturday.  

So that is my blog today - oh and I started this at 5am!  Miracle morning!  If you don't know how that works check it out on Facebook.  Don't if you looooovvvvvveeeee your sleep.  Do if you want to work at your peak performance!  Teachers if you want inspiration read Hal Elrod's book - it might just change your outlook on life itself.  

​Stay strong and keep smiling.  

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Who is the main person in a Primary School?  Well my opinion hasn't changed over the past 20 years I have always believed that the main person in a school is the caretaker.  This character neeeeeeeds to become your best friend.  Not just your friend!  He or she needs to be your best friend!

​Here is the caretaker - who works in my school.  Check out his website.

Why is this important?  Well he is the guy who:

• Cleans your room.
• Moves heavy furniture around your room - and in my case back to where it was initially, as I worked out that it just didn't work that way round!  Whoops.
• Hangs up your washing lines.
• Paints the room
• Maintains your room.
• Changes your light bulbs.
• Makes your day with a great big smile on his face.
• Cleans your outdoor play equipment.
• When you are a teacher you speak to kids all day and it is great to speak to an adult at least once a day.
• He will make you feel sane.
• The one person who sees your room each day and may fire a compliment your way if he sees that you have changed an area or a display.

A caretaker can make your day - so always give him a smile and thank you for all the great work he does around the school.  

 I love listening to Jim Rohn.  Jim Rohn was an American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker and yet when I listen to him I can easily link his advice to my teaching.  Here are a few examples that have helped me:

• Time management: Get in charge! Reasonable time is enough time to reach all your goals.  Time management is essential.  Set goals and then set priorities within your goals.  Review your goals.   What is your progress?  Time yourself and see what you have achieved in that time.   Reflect on what you have achieved.  What distracted you? Did you remain on the task? 
• Be Healthy - look after your own health.  No school wants you to be off or always ill/ depressed.  
• Important conversations on the phone - jot down an agenda.  This saves any issues.  After the call - write down the main information and date it!  Date it so you can refer to it at a later time.  Great if a parent turns up on your doorstep unexpected.  
• Learn to say, "No." or "I don't think so, as I am so busy this week/ month, but if that changes I will let you know."   -Don't let your mouth overload your back.
• Keep work and home life separate.  At the beach be at the beach, at the gym be at the gym, at work be at work.  
• Be serious about your work and career.  Not grim or unhappy.  All work is good; appreciate your job.  You worked hard to be a teacher - now enjoy working hard to be the best teacher that you can be.  
• Be alert of the things that are stealing your time.  
• Solve problems by jotting them down on paper.  Take the ideas out of your head and put it on paper.  Work out the way that suits you to record - mind-mapping, quick to-do lists, a quick sketch.
• Keep a journal.  Collecting good ideas.  There is no way that all the ideas from other teachers, the internet and all the courses that you go on, will remain in your head.  My advice - check out bullet journalling on youtube or read my write up on planners.  
• Use photographs for evidence:  link that to the seesaw app. 
• Finally enjoy your life - create a great home/ work balance that works for you.

Check out Jim Rohn on youtube - you will not regret it.   Enjoy!

Seesaw - where can I start?  Seesaw describes the app best in their mission statement.
At Seesaw, our mission is to create an environment where students can be their best.
For us, this means: 

• Empowering students to take ownership of their learning and to reflect on their progress over time.
• Giving students tools to show what they know in the way that works best for them.
• Inspiring students to try their best by providing an audience for their work beyond the classroom.
• Creating a meaningful home-school connection so families can better support their child's learning.

​As for my opinion - well it is hard for me to express how much I adore it.  I have been using the app for 2 and a half years now and I LOOoOOOOOVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEE it.  The main reasons for this endless love of seesaw are:

• It is a direct contact with parents.  No longer the need for the communication book.
• It inspires my pupils to work hard so they can send their work to show their parents.  They are a direct audience for my class.  Therefore, it immediately gives the class a purpose to produce great work.
• Also I love most things that I can access using my iPhone 7+ (Yes - I love Apple products too.)
• It is child-friendly.
• You can post - a photo, a video, a drawing, a photo from your camera roll, a simple note or a link.

I like the way you can create folders on the app too.  Of course I linked mine all to the Northern Ireland Curriculum - and colour coded them.  Here are the folders I created:

The great thing is you can video an activity which is cross-curricular and select several areas .  My favourite folder is the I.E.P folder as I pop in evidence that the pupils are reaching their SMART targets and this is great when you are asked my the SEN co. how the children are doing.  

You can also send links to the parents.  Great for posting Youtube videos on a skill that you wish to reinforce.

Overall, this is by far my favourite app for teachers.