Fave Friday

Weekword seems to have met its end, which is sad. I found a lot of good blogs that way. Perhaps it will come back soon. Perhaps I will blog a word on Monday and see if anyone joins in.

For now though, I'm resurrecting Fave Friday.

Five Favourite Things About My Job This Week

1. Awesome student homeworks. I have taken to adding, "Present your findings in a creative way" to the end of my research tasks. This has produced some truly outstanding results. This week: a model trench with explosions THAT LIGHT UP WHEN YOU PRESS A BUTTON (still a bit over-excited about that) and a model treasure chest full of booty and a picture of Elizabeth I, for a task about Francis Drake. So. Creative.

2. When they really want to learn. It's assessment week so there's been a lot of keen interest in how to improve. There's some satisfaction among those students who go home knowing they've worked as hard as they can, I'm sure.

3. A good piece of wit. I set my sixth formers an essay where they had to argue for and against a theory I came up with. One of them began his essay with the words, "A famous historian once claimed..." He gets an A, clearly.

4. A carefree attitude. Example: "It's raining, but we only have half an hour for lunch, so we'll play football and just sit through afternoon lessons wet - who cares?" Helps to remind me not to sweat the small stuff.

5. The ducks. I know I have already bigged up the ducks this week, but they bring such joy into my mornings! In the rain today, they all hopped out of the pond in pairs and scavenged the bank, bringing real meaning to the phrase, "Nice weather for ducks." And then later, when I went back up to the staffroom for lunch, they were perched in shallow bits of pond looking all ruffled and snug.