Bike Riding

I hadn't ridden a bike for over 25 years (that's quarter of a century!) until I decided it would be a good idea to sometimes substitute four wheels or two legs for two wheels. Six weeks ago I bought a pretty blue classic ladies bike. If I can't have the speed and agility that my nephew Zak has on his new mountain bike then I would go for grace and style. It even has a genuine woven basket!  Apparently bike riding is a skill you don't forget, I haven't fallen off yet although grace has given into the odd wobble as I get used to balancing on two wheels again. 

Once upon a time cycling was my only option for getting from A to B. From home to school or university or my first teaching job. It was just a means to an end and memories of cycling all the way across Palmerston North into a strong Westerly head wind meant I had forgotten that cycling could be fun! Now I have rediscovered the joy of being out in the fresh air and rolling along under my own steam (I'm sure my knees will get used to the effort soon). Because I can mostly ride off road along the Wharemauku Stream track it takes no longer than driving to or from work, and these sunny summer days make weekend leisure riding a pleasure too.

Pros of riding my bike:
- No fuel costs
- Zero carbon emissions 
- Exercise
- Fresh air 
- Fun

Cons of riding my bike:
- None really because I just take the car if there is a howling southerly.  

Where has the time gone?

It's still here in cyberspace my little old blog. It does feel kind of old and long neglected. But it still exists! 

It's now the third day of 2018 and I though I'd check in on carolynknz.  I was talking to a colleague today about blogging, she has recently started one. Over time I've got distracted by Facebook, dabbled with Twitter (I'll leave that to Donald Trump) and discovered the handy little What's App. But looking back at my blog today I realise it's a rather lovely snapshot of times past. And it's all mine, unlike Facebook which always seems to have posts jostling for attention (and that's just my profile with a grand total of 83 friends, how on earth do people with hundreds of 'friends' keep up with everything?). Although I love the sharing and keeping in touch aspect of FB I realise I also like the fact I can have my own little space to record whatever I feel like without wondering if my friends will be interested. The blog's for me but you (anyone who accidentally stumbles across it or seeks it out) are very welcome to visit and leave comments. 

So what is significant about the start of 2018?  Actually ... nothing really. I had a quiet New Year's Day (a bit of gardening, a bit of reading, a game of squash - in fact a perfect day of leisure).  Let's see how this year pans out and whether my blog actually accumulates more posts!

First three thoughts for 2018:

• It's hot and I love summer. The front lawn crunches under my feet and I don't care how much the water bill costs to keep the garden plants alive, I just love this long, hot summer. 
• I have rediscovered the joys of cycling. Now that it's not my only mechanical means of transport I can choose when to ride and when to drive. And after more than 25 years I can still balance on a bicycle!
• Feliz año 2018...

New Job, New Library

My poor neglected blog. I've been busy finishing one job, starting another, selling one house, buying another and commuting from the capital city to the Kapiti Coast. Fortunately all is going well and I'm enjoying my job at Paraparaumu Library.  

Cheese Making

Yippee, it's the spring school holidays at last. I spent this afternoon making cheese with a couple of friends. Fortunately Mary had some experience with the cheese making process and she had the equipment, ingredients and recipe ready. Unfortunately we made a mistake in the first step! However we continued on with the process and hopefully we'll have some edible brie cheese in a couple of weeks. The photo below shows the the partially finished product.  It still needed to be turned a few times, soaked in brine and left to mature. We also made some ricotta cheese with the leftover whey. It was quick and easy to make and tasted good with crackers for afternoon tea.

In Front of the Camera

Every now and then you have to do something that terrifies you. Today was that kind of day.  When someone says they want to shoot you coming through the door that's pretty terrifying - even if it just means shoot as in film.

Some time last term I agreed to take part in a film being made by the National Library about 21st century school libraries. Suddenly it wasn't just a note in my diary for some future date, it was today, and I found myself in front of a GIGANTIC camera. Me, the person who hides behind the camera was in front of one for two whole hours. Okay, maybe the camera wasn't gigantic but it was a big one like they use for TV not a handycam.They filmed me doing typical things around the school and library, and then they did a one-on-one interview with me about the Amesbury School library. I also organised groups of students to do various activities in the library and a couple of other teachers were interviewed too. The film crew were at school for five hours and by the time they left I was both exhausted and exhilerated.  They said they were really pleased with the the material they had which was a relief. After they had filmed me working with children one of them asked me if I had a background in performance arts. That took me aback for a moment but then I realised that all I had been doing was normal teaching stuff and interacting with children as usual. I guess teaching often is a kind of performance as you're always thinking about the way you present yourself to children to engage them in learning.

So despite my nerves and fears that I wouldn't say the right thing or express myself articulately I ended up feeling pretty good about the whole thing. They will have hours of film from about four different schools and in the end I suppose there will only be a few minutes of us at Amesbury. Hopefully those minutes will be a true and worthy reflection of Amesbury School library - the place, the people and the learning.

Mike, the cameraman - agreed that he couldn't object to me taking a photo

of him after pointing the camera at me for so long.

Sharon's Visit

I was delighted to have my friend Sharon from Hamilton come and stay for a few days. Not only is she a good friend (so we had a lot of talking to do) but she is also a children's book author. On Friday she spent the day at Amesbury School. She spoke to all the students and took a group of 15 students for a writing session.  They were thrilled to work with her and afterwards made comments such as "I'm a better writer than I thought I was" and "I can write confidently now and not be afraid to put my ideas out there and know I can do it".

Here are some related links:
Sharon at Amesbury School
Sharon Holt (on the Book Council website)
Te Reo Singalong website - these books are just great for using Te Reo Maori with young children in a fun way.

About Time for Another Post

Oops, another month has disappeared and my blog is looking a bit neglected.  Work is busy, busy, busy. One of the teachers I work with went to a meeting at Parliament today to talk about a submission made by Amesbury School to a select committee inquiry into 21st century learning environments and digital literacy. One question they asked was how many hours a week she worked. I wonder if they were surprised when she told them the facts - daytime, evening, weekends - and certainly not just 9am to 3pm. I wish I could work 9 to 3 and enjoy 12 weeks holiday a year!

The school library is also busy and it's great to see the children coming and going during the day.  Most of them can issue and return books independently using our RFID scanning system and we now have a dozen netbooks, some iPads, iPods, Android tablets and eReaders.  Some of the children still need adult help of course. One five year old approached me the other day and asked how to spell her last name. "Why do you need to know that?" I asked. Her reply was, "My parents have secrets and I want to use Google to find out their secrets". Priceless!