Off at about 8am...
Nearly at the top of the long hill, good to stop to catch my breath.
Daffodils still in bloom. Lots of farm tracks have them growing on the verges.
Leaves are just starting to show green against the tree branches.
A favourite view.
Over the pond. Two pairs of greylag and canada geese were having a bit of a to-do in the field in the foreground.
A favourite tree. The sun almost breaks through the cloud.
Two farms with white-painted buildings, as seems to be the preference hereabouts.
Bramble leaves.
A burn. The grass is bright green, so nice to see after the dull brown-green of winter.
Big stone, bend in the road and attractive farmhouse.
Another favourite view.
Ewe with twin lambs.
Snail making his way slowly across the road. I wonder if he made it without getting squashed.
Tree mound in the distance.
A beech hedge still wearing its winter colours.
Old red gate and tree mound.
Beautiful silhouetted branches.
Uh-oh, the road's blocked.
Not a problem!
Blackthorn blossom.
An unfurling fern.
Blackthorn blossom mixing with hawthorn foliage.
A lovely wee road for cycling along.
The old hut is still there.
I stop and get off the bike for the short walk to admire the waterfall. The water is thundering over and I can feel the spume against my face.
I'm approaching a small town. I've a few emergency pennies in my purse so I pop into the charity shop where I buy a tiny brass pig. One of the staff is extremely irritating, barging into the customers including myself (twice!). I know she's a volunteer but a little politeness wouldn't go amiss...
Looking over the loch to a house on the hill.
Grey. I realise my camera battery is getting low, so no photos for a wee while as I want to save the for...
...the bluebell woods. I'm too early! I know they're out further south but I'll just need to be more patient.
Bike shot against a folly.
Pretty blossoms.
Wise owl.
Old chapel. Then home.
This is my second bike ride since starting my PGDE in August. It's good to see there are very few changes out and about, aside from those related to the seasons of course.
I had a crit yesterday. I passed, but have been clearly informed what needs to improve before my next crit in two weeks time. I'm told my ideas and plans are great, what I need to work on is my class control. I have a P1 class, ie 5 & 6 year olds. I have improved since I started my placement as I can now get them to listen and sit quietly when I'm talking to them. The issue is when I send them off to do their work and the noise levels start to rise. I know quite a few bloggers are teachers, so any advice is welcome! My tutor and class teacher have also given me advice which I will heed come Monday... Today I've been having a break, tonight I'll be back to working again. It's exhausting at times which I expected - no-one gets on to a PGDE course without knowing how tough it's going to be. I'm usually working till around midnight when on a placement, and till 1 or 2 am in the week before a crit. I just hope it will all be worth it in the end!
19 comments:
Lovely to see you took the chance to get out on your bike. It sounds like you're doing really well - I'm sure you'll be great on your second crit......good luck when it comes to practicing the tips you have been given and sorry I can't offer any! John's new job, which he started last week, is head of Inverness High School - which has a really deprived catchment. But that's what he loves and enjoys, goodness knows how he controls them! Juliex
Love, Love love coming along on your journey....lovely shots of the countryside.....thank you for sharing!
I SOOOO enjoy your photos! It literally brightens my day when I see you have a new post. I used to be an elementary school art teacher so noise control was always a challenging part of the job. I wanted the children to be able to talk freely while they worked but QUIETLY. I didn't want to have to remind them all the time so I used the red, yellow, greenlight method. Each table had 3 cups (red, yellow, green) and they all started on green. If that table became too loud I would switch the cup to yellow, as a warning. If that didn't work they had a red cup, silence. After a set time they went back to green. It was a little tedious at first while they are learning the system but it was very effective once they got the hang of it. Maybe worth a try?
Beautiful landscape!! Great photos and I love all that green.
your photos are lovely, it looks like a wonderful bike ride, I'm sure it will have done you the world of good to spend some time on yourself x
A beautiful bike ride.
I was saying to my husband yesterday hat it is so green at the moment. ( we'll it's grey and raining this morning but you know what I mean!) Good luck in the classroom. X
Great pics of the lovely countryside, thank you! Wishing you the best with your next crit, and I'm sure it will be worth all the effort you're putting into your studies, etc.. Joy x
I have missed your beautiful bike rides. You live in such a gorgeous area.
Hugs to you,
Meredith
Gosh, good luck with the studies ... it sounds very draining. I do admire anyone who can handle a classful of children and wonder how they manage it! (This is no help at all, is it?) :)
Well, you may not be getting very many rides, but you certainly made this one count. Such a lot of beautiful photos - the daffs, the favourite view (I think we like the same types of rolling fields and treelines), the bramble leaves, the deep saturated green of the grass, the gate and tree mound, the lovely wee lane....
Of course the sheep WOULD pop up just when you're going downhill! :)
Hang in there with the work, and blog when you can. It's always nice to hear what you're up to.
Do you miss the bike rides, or are you too busy to think about missing them? Glad to see you're getting out occasionally still. Love the two photos of the sheep, and that little chapel, ohhh... would love to have a look inside. And it's definitely more Spring like down here, all the bluebells are out, daffodils have pretty much all gone.
What a lovely bike ride. Some beautiful pictures. Love the sheep.
Rosezeeta.
beautiful landscape...such wonderful photographs ;0)
It's lovely to see another bike ride :) Glad you found time for it. Not long to go now? It sounds like you are doing well, good luck with the rest of your training.
Hi there, just catching up! Looks as though your bike ride was wonderful, thanks for taking us along. I hope that the crits went/go well for you, good luck with everything. Hope that you have a good week. xx
Lovely photographs. It's a great season for cycling but also for flies emerging. I swallowed one by accident at the weekend, panting up a hill, and had a major coughing fit for ages afterwards trying to get it dislodged.They never show that when they promote cycling!
Great photos - on the cusp between winter and spring. What camera do you use? The quality and colour saturation of your photos is great.
No advice on the teaching front I'm afraid. I like the idea of the cup system from the first comment. My late mother was a primary school teacher and could quell a class with a lift of her eyebrow, but I don't know how she did it. The teaching gene has escaped me, but my uni student daughter is determined she is going to be a secondary school teacher. Good luck with the remaining crits.
I too have missed your bike rides, such beautiful photos as usual. I like the idea of the cups too. When OFSTED came in to our school they didn;t seem to mind the noise level as long as they were all on task!
Good luck.
xxxxx
One way to manage classroom noise is to make a noise meter out of cardboard with an arrow attached by a brad. Then set the meter with the noise level (moving from silent to outdoor) you expect during the activity. It is an idea from Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey and you can probably find a picture of it somewhere on line.
I love the way the snails in your part of the world have such lovely "exotic" shells.
Lovely blog.
- when you send the children to their tables quieten your voice so that they follow your example and go quietly
- the instant the noise level rises raise your voice and praise a table for the low noise level 'they must be really concentrating well', etc
- give them breaks , a 'listen to this' and read a sentence from a child's work' praising them at the end with your quiet voice for working quietly themselves
- good luck!
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