I KNOW... IT'S TOO EARLY



I think the essay mind map on the wall and the blanket over my window, to keep the draft out, really add something to this Christmas scene....yes? Let's not forget the stash of vitamins under the tree!

HAMPTON COURT PALACE

This is the great thing about living where I do in London. Everything is a stone's throw away from my front door. It takes literally 10 minutes to get to Hampton Court on the train.


Hampton Court is the former home of King Henry VIII. I think even us Canadians know who he is. If you don't, he's that guy with all the wives that Herman's Hermits were singing about in the '60s!


Officially I went to plan the health and safety aspects of my class' field trip but we still had time to have some fun. We did the famous hedge maze with no problems!

Apparently Hampton Court gets about 50 reports of poltergeist activity a day, particularly in the wine cellar. A historian for the site said he has seen one of them twice; very friendly ghosts, who are just entertaining themselves apparently.

Hampton Court Palace is covered in chimneys. I’ve been told that at the time the palace was built there was a tax for chimneys so this was really showing off! Also during the Tudor Era, sugar was very expensive, and knowing that sugar decayed your teeth, poor women would blacken their teeth to appear wealthy and desirable (Note to my brother: sugar costs less than tooth paste today!).

With its beautiful gardens, state rooms and location on the Thames, Hampton Court Palace is well worth a look.

BENTALL SHOPPING CENTRE - KINGSTON


I live about a half an hour walk from this shopping centre in Kingston. They started putting their decorations up before Halloween!

This display actually sings to you. I didn't know it at the time but when I walked passed on my way out there was a crowd of kids and exhausted parents watching the animation unfold before their eyes. Magic!

The shopping centre is surpisingly high. Going to the top floors my knees start to buckle.

There is a nice gym on the top floor. To get to it you must go up a lonely staircase that juts out over the centre on the mall. However, once you are inside the gym you feel like your in a basement due to the lack of windows.

SOMETHING REALLY STRANGE HAS HAPPENED...


In the last 3 weeks we all became teachers and no one wanted to talk about anything but school. More than our lives, it has taken over our dreams and the thoughts of our every waking moment. This can't be healthy! At least we are all enjoying it.

KINGSTON'S HIGH STREET SHOPPING

Christmas Market - Mulled Wine Booth

Traditional Christmas Weather

Crafts Fair on the High Street

Late Night Shopping (5 pm on Friday!)

FIRST SCHOOL ASSEMBLY

Last week was my class' sharing assembly. They did brilliantly. And I got my first little role in an assembly. At this point the HiFi unexpectedly blasted out music. If you could see the faces you would see shocked facial expressions. Even worse than mine.

Angela leads a group in round to Row Row Row Your Boat (with hand movements and everything!). For safety policy purposes all faces have been blurred.

GUILDFORD...

...Another gorgeous English location, just west of London.



(No idea what this building is but it looked pretty neat)

(Guildford Highstreet)

Lynsey and I had a lovely shopping trip here today. It's nice to see all the shops decked out for Christmas.

Welcome to the

FIRST SCHOOL DISPLAY

I feel like a child on parents' evening.

"Mom! Dad! Look what I made!! Those fancy letters and the big King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I and the Hampton Court Palace and.... and... and I put it all up on the the wall really high and teacher let me use a staple gun!"

The Year 3/4 class I'm working with is studying the Tudor Era and have produced lots of beautiful Queen Elizabeths I (left of display) and tudor drawings (on the right). They also made a massive King Henry VIII (see above) and Queen Elizabeth I (see below).


I worked hard all day piecing this display together and couldn't be more pleased with the outcome. It was fantastic to hear the children passing it in the hall in between lessons. They love it and it is so nice to hear it.


School is going really well. My only regret is that this is not my 12 week assessment placement in the spring. I've only been here 2 weeks and it feels like home. I will miss West Wimbledon Primary School for sure.

BRITISH CLASSROOMS

(My classroom's Smart Board)

I asked Brent whether or not he had interactive whiteboards at school and he just laughed and said they didn’t even have whiteboards! Apparently North Park is still using blackboards and chalk.

You maybe asking what is the alternative? Interactive whiteboards are fantastic. Imagine all the capacity of your computer from word processing to the internet, PowerPoint presentations to watching your favourite film. Now imagine the monitor is the size of a whiteboard and you can drag your fingers instead of a mouse to share information with others.

(the first classroom I will teach in)

What if you just wanted to write on a whiteboard? Most classes still have normal whiteboards too, normally off to the side. Fortunately, interactive whiteboards, such as this Smart Board, have software with fantastic whiteboard feature.

(Smart Board Projector)

No longer is board space a problem (because you just save the whiteboard data!). No longer are we competing for the privilege of dragging tiny televisions on massive wheeled shelves into the classrooms to watch educational DVDs and videos. This is a standard thing in England now and when I go back I will miss them.

QUEENSGATE SHOPPING CENTRE - PETERBOROUGHI have to say, Queensgate has managed to get better Christmas decorations in the past. Are they snowflakes or stars or what!?

Val and I reckon we can make them with some primary school children in an afternoon. Some pipe cleaners, hanger and garland should do it.

GOOD OLD OUNDLE

This is for Mom and Dad. I know you miss Oundle. You’re always telling me so! Oundle's night life is still alive and kicking (4 pubs)! Beans is still there too. And brace yourself…. the former Dillions, former One Stop Variety store has become a Tesco Metro! It was actually a controversial move with many people not wanting to see Oundle’s original shops lost to consumer giants like Tesco. First Boots, now this!

Not much changes in Oundle as you can see. It's where I spent my teenage years and while I am thankful for my time spent there, I'm glad to have left too.(Oundle Bookshop - look out for the sketch in my parents' lounge)

BONFIRE NIGHTS

Basically, on November 5^th 1605 this guy named Guy Fawkes tried to blow up parliament and ever since then people have been lighting massive fires, with depictions of Guy Fawkes on top, in early November. I guess it’s no stranger than giving young strangers sweets at their demand!

I’ve loved bonfire nights since I’ve been here. I was glad to go this year as I haven’t been in a few years and it may be my last!

It normally involved some element of fireworks and if you go to an organised display, as Val and I did last night, the fireworks tend to be brilliant. They really know how to put on a good fireworks show in England.

In fact if in 1605 Guy Fawkes hadn’t been caught, I wouldn’t exist. My great grandmother, an English woman, was in a pub one November 5^th when some, likely wasted, bloke set a firecracker off in the pub. It shocked her and pregnant she went into premature labour and died. As orphans her children were sent to Canada.

Congratulations to Val on her Deputy Headship at the middle school.

PUBLIC WELFARE

This is why I have private health care! Unfortunately it wouldn't surprise me if war ambulances were deployed again.

When England's firemen went on strike a few years ago the army was put in charge. Their fire engines were the "Green Goddesses". These vehicles were used during the late 1940s and were still in service. People lost their homes, possessions and even lives because the army didn't have the facilities to cope with the firemen's strike.

(War display in Peterborough)

TUDOR ENGLAND

I've been looking for Tudor building to photograph for my Year 3/4 class' project. I seem to encounter one problem. Most of what I find is a lot older!

The Tudor period in Britain ran from 1485 to 1558 or 1603 if you include Queen Elizabeth I. Most buildings I photographed in York were from the middle ages. This hall in outside Queensgate Shopping Centre and Peterborough Cathedral is 1671 and so too old. Best keep looking.

PLATFORM 9 AND 3/4

See! I wasn’t lying to Harry Potter fans. But I was lied to. Platform 9 and ¾ isn’t actually a platform at all. I guess they didn’t want enthusiastic children falling off a platform.

It is in fact located between Kings Cross stations two section (that’s between the main station with platforms 1-8 and the secondary building with platforms 9-12). In the actually film I believe platform 9 and ¾ was filmed the centre of platform 4-5. I use this platform regularly.

The trains in the film (navy with red doors and stripes) are GNER’s trains. I use GNER’s trains regularly for Peterborough, York and even Durham and Edinburgh on occasion.

(The main train timetable at Kings Cross Station - can you spot my train?)

GETTING AROUND ENGLAND

Note the time and the time of the next expected train. Typical!
(Surbiton Station )