What's all this then?


I tweet too much. So I needed somewhere else to start storing all the words. This is it. Think of it as the external hard drive for my thoughts.

I don't have an obesssion, a dream, a fixation or a hook, so don't be expecting a focus here. It's like great big lumps of my twitterings. You may see teaching stuff, rants, maternal anxiety and occasional sojourns away from reality.

Anyway, I like a nice chat so we should talk. By we, I of course mean me...

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Dear reader...


So, it’s a new term and here goes the blog again.  I’ve had a bit of a block with the ol’ writing stuff. Well, not the writing, but in finding the courage to start to post again. When I first started, this was the scariest thing ever, then some of you were kind enough to be nice about it on that twitter and it became fun.

But as all teachers know, one negative can outweigh a whole lot of positive. So, returning as ever to my teaching roots, I thought I’d start blogging as I would start with a new class and establish some parameters for myself.

What is this blog for? Well, it’s for rambling mostly. It’s for my thoughts that won’t rest until they’re out. Often that’s about teaching things. More often it’s about things that have irritated me. It’s where I tell stories.

What will I gain by reading it? Oh, that’s a good one. If nothing else, you’ll find a way to fill a couple of spare minutes that could usefully have been spent filing your papers or doing the washing up. I know I love the procrastination activity I get from other blogs. I wouldn’t bother searching for the meaning of life here, or indeed anything of great personal insight, as it’s most likely to be a fruitless task. Unless you’re looking for a great boozy pudding, rifling through my archives in the hope of finding illumination is wasted time of the bad sort, as opposed to chore avoidance.

Is it all about you? Well, it’s all from my perspective, however that perspective looks from your perspective. I think it’s important to point that out right here *cough…ros wilson… cough*. But, ultimately no. It’s stories and trifles and anecdotes, a bit like listening to that venerable sage who is The Bloke In The Pub. It’s not insights into my psyche, which anyway is mostly full of my kids, cartoon horses, ideas for experimental cakes and suitable alternative careers for Gove. You wouldn’t want to go there, I certainly don’t want you poking about in there and I’m not about to give you any of my deep dark secrets here. Except…. no, you don’t even need to know about the chip and the laminator.

The chip and the laminator? Let’s not talk about it. Really. Let’s not talk about it. Ever.


Someone said you never know a woman till you get a letter from her. 
Hang on a minute…. I’ve just googled who said it. It was Ada Leverson.

Is a blog the modern equivalent of the letter? Can you know someone by reading their blog? I think you do get glimpses of the truth, after all psychologists seem to agree that most sane people can’t keep up a pretence online, the self you see is self you get. Maybe we’re even closer to our real selves online. In any case, the me here is the me proper, but only in nice little bite sized chunks.

From my side, I like my blog when I know there are friendly people out there reading. I was never any good at writing a diary, in the same way that I can’t just go for a walk. I like to have a purpose, even if it’s just to get a pint of milk (and a magazine and some chocolate). 

I like it when people leave comments, what blogger doesn’t? I talk back too. It feels nicer than having a load of anonymous reader out there, silently marking my work. I hope you don’t write on the screen in red pen when I get stuff wrong though, that’s a bit looney and we wouldn’t want that. I love that I know people are reading, I know they come from all sorts of far-flung places, that’s great isn’t it? And I love the search terms that lead them here from google; although some of the more (ahem) specialised googlers must be very disappointed...

So. Let’s go forward from here. I’ll write stuff, you’ll read it if you want. If I like what I write, I’ll write more, and if you like it you’ll read more. If I don’t like it, I’ll shut up and if you don’t like it you’ll stop reading...

What could be simpler? *gulp*