This week was a very busy week so not many photos at all I am afraid. I took this one of a sign outside a shop on the way to work. It's the first time I have seen Wordle used for this purpose and I think it looks really effective:
My bedtime reading has consisted of a charity shop bargain in the shape of Alan Titchmarsh's book called ' How to be a Gardener'. I like it because it contains many practical ideas.
I also bought the November edition of Kitchen Garden magazine, which contained 2 free packets of seeds.
I am looking forward to sowing the seeds when I get back to Abruzzo next week.
I did lots of tidying up of my teaching materials, which I returned to their boxes and placed in the attic, ready for next time.
My group of Swiss students in the afternoon became very lively in Week 2 and I decided to try out a new type of lesson with them, one entirely via their mobile phones! It worked out very well, and I was delighted to see how engaged in the lesson they were. I allowed them to work in the cafe area singly and in pairs and I gave them a QR code for them to access the lesson. Below is a code that will take you to the wiki page which contains the presentation and a recorded dialogue on slang which they created in pairs.
That's it really! I think the QR code lesson was definitely the teaching highlight of my week and it is a direct result of the inspirational mLearning course I am currently taking with The Consultants-e. We are in Week 3 already and I am learning a lot. It's a pity I won't have a class to practise on for the last 3 weeks, but I am taking lots of notes so I can implement an mlearning strategy for the future!!
My two weeks at the Lake were as wonderful as usual, and I had two great classses. It was lovely to teach there and chat with my colleagues and have lots of fun!
The past two weeks have literally flown past!
Week 41 is marked by cakes galore!! Starting off with these two fabulous wedding cakes I saw in the shop window in the specialist cake shop in the Covered Market.
Then the Lake School teachers organized the 'Great Lake Cake Off' to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Charity! Teachers baked cakes and then sold them to students and teachers during the coffee breaks from Wednesday onwards. They raised over £200 and the results were amazing!! I took the following photos of the wonderful and delicious creations.
Below a group photo of the Lake School staff, showing off all the cakes made :-)
I am delighted that some of the photos you can see above that I took have been included in the Lake School Facebook page here.
I did my bit by buying quite a few of the cakes and eating them during the breaks .... and yes, I do need to go on a diet now!!!
On my daily cycle ride to work I came across this red bike with a basket full of flowers. I think this sort of thing really brightens up the city centre.
I also took these images of some typical signs in Oxford:
I am very interested in the ivy covered tree and wall below. I wonder how many years it has taken for the ivy to spread so much?
I am wondering how my concrete pole in Abruzzo is getting on with the ivy creeping up around it.... I can't wait to get back to my garden! I miss it very much indeed.......
I am now back in England for the next few weeks and I am already missing Abruzzo, K & the furbies, and my garden and seedlings. My one thought is will my sweetpea seedlings survive? How about the melons, peppers, onions etc that are all still growing? K already has a lot on his plate, keeping up with the land maintenance, renovation work and dealing with the twice daily feeding frenzy.... although he copes admirably with it all.
Freddy has been going to bed at 4.45pm recently with no fuss or cajoling!! This picture hanging in my current room below reminds me of home!
The pair of 2 cockerels were a gift from the family and I will be taking these back to Abruzzo. I love them! Youcan see the weather yesterday was not good - lots of rain!
My bedtime reading over the next few weeks will consist of 'Backyard Composting'. It is a
brilliant book and I have already learned a lot from it! I bought it from a charity shop for only one pound - a real bargain! I discovered that I must never
ever add Oleander leaves and its flowers to the compost bin as it is
poisonous and may affect the vegetation. I am guilty of adding it to the
mix, I won't ever do it again!!
Also another interesting fact is that bits of bay laurel leaf plants in a compost bin may deter healthy plant growth due to the toxins and acids contained in them. Again I feel a bit bad now because I chopped lots of a bay tree branches and added it to the compost mix last week! I won't do this again either .....
Out and about with my mum we had a lovely lunch in Fred & Jacobs a local cafe / restaurant. I noted they were hiring and so took a photo. I will inform students at school tomorrow if they wish to find a part time job, this might be a good place as it is small and very friendly.
Another lovely gift was waiting for me when I arrived - a jewellery stand. I love it as reminds me of the days I used to dress up in glamorous outfits such as the one below. I still like a bit of glitter though, but I rarely get the opportunity to dress up in this way in the middle of the rural countryside in Abruzzo!!
This is a very short post this week as I have been very busy with online work, catching up with family, and tomorrow I begin full time teaching again at the Lake School. Also I am doing a six-week course with the Consultants-e on mLearning, and so there will not be much Me-Time over the next few weeks. However, it is going to be an exciting and challenging time ahead. I just need to be super organized and hopefully I will rise to the challenge :-)
