And the Nokia Whatever10 Photojournalism Award goes to...

I got called out again. Ever keen Chief Motivator (apparently this is better than cheerleader) Chris noticed that I didn't blog this weekend. So here I am. However Chris, if you could ask me around 11.30pm how I got on with the 80 or so essays sitting on the kitchen table waiting to be marked that'd be good too.

But first a blog. The kids mightn't get their essays back, but Chris will get a blog post. He suggested, helpfully I add, a photo and a comment underneath it. I take photos on my phone all the time of things I see. These are mostly for Twitter but never make it, so I looked back to see what I had.

This story was in the Belfast Telegraph at the weekend.

I didn't even get to read about Tyra Banks.

It was the story about the kids in the Odyssey fights. This piqued my interest because of the Hardwell gig the other week. Some of my students were at it so I was interested to see what this one was all about. It was at the darts apparently. But then this took over any interest in the story: the picture…on the front page of the Belfast Telegraph, 'NI's daily newspaper' and winner of the UK's best regional newspaper 2012 (so says Wikipedia).

Well you say camera footage. I say more like Monet's impressionist version of what might have happened. It involved shapes and colours.

Seriously, the only person who took any pictures was using a Nokia 7610 c.2005 with a whopping 1MP resolution and that's what you decided to put on the front page?! Really? Really?! I'm as much for an outrage involving kids and fighting as the next person but this might have been the time to hold off on using a 'camera footage' on the front freaking page. You know, let the words tell the story.

So you're darn tootin' I went to P11 for full story. There might be more 'camera footage'.

I was right!

Oh stop. Four pictures showing the 'footage of people fleeing'. So you say. Are we absolutely sure they aren't sonograms…from the 1990s?

 No bloody wonder the online version of the story doesn't have any photos.

Frozen in time

I don't often get emails from my brother so when I did last week, my first thought was 'this is spam'. Except the subject line was so intriguing I had to open it. It was titled 'You as a kid'. Ever happy to re-live my childhood days I was willing to suffer whatever virus was attached and/or send spam onto my entire email address list for this.

The content of the email was, if I'm honest, a little disappointing. It said, and I quote:

Search for this on you tube

Two Little Girls Singing "Let It Go" From Disney's "Frozen"

One of the girls reminds me of you as a kid.....I think it's the fringe

Sent from my iPad

Was this really from David? They do have an iPad. But why would he not just send me the link to the You Tube video? Or a screenshot of the girl with the fringe. Oh no, David made me work for this one.

I duly searched for the phrase as he suggested and was given these results. 

Well none of those girls have a fringe.

I plumped from the first one to see if it was Maddie or Zoe that had the fringe that was like a 1980s Tina. And then she appeared: girl with fringe. Still not convinced I sent David a message back with a screenshot (for added helpfulness) to check that this was the girl.

I never had a dress with green puffy sleeves. More's the pity.

He confirmed it was that girl and said 'Do you not see it?'

I don't know, there is a certain Je ne sais quoi about us.

This was my awkward growing-out-the-bowl-haircut stage.

No wait. It's really just the fringe, isn't it?

Let's just pretend it's still the weekend, eh?

My new plan to blog every weekend fell at the fourth hurdle. Still, better than the third. Just don't tell Chris, I don't think he's noticed. (And to think I called him my cheerleader.)

So what's been going on with me? Work. Two weeks ago it was a race again time to get exams marked, last week it was to get reports written. But it's all ok, because this week is L6 work experience and as I have two L6 classes, I win big this week. It was funny last week, as one class left my room for the last time, I said 'All the best with your work experience! Do more than make the tea!'. A couple of them said they got really sad at the thought of it being our last class…for two weeks! Haha! I may have upped the crazy, banterful Miss B. a smidge. But I hold on to the memory of my idol in History teaching Mrs. Gregory, who wouldn't go a period without telling us about some trauma that had befallen her kids' goldfish or some such, and she wouldn't say Stanley Baldwin in anything other than a Yorkshire accent. And sure I did alright, didn't I? I love History!

[I've just looked up where Stanley Baldwin was from. Turns out it wasn't from Yorkshire as I was led to believe but I'm pretty sure that was the accent she did. How does a Worcestershire accent even go?]

When I haven't been working I've been doing extra-curricular stuff. On Friday afternoon we had a politician in school, which was exciting. Not least because she arrived in school 15 minutes while I was still teaching. Class abandoned. Then in the evening there was a school concert on so I went to that. As if I wasn't proud already of the students in my school they go and show off how musical they are too.

On Saturday morning, I went to (the school) hockey. Of course I did. Ra ra. I had some work to do with my spectating clearly though, because last time I went to see them they lost. In the intervening weeks I've really worked on my support, clapping and motivating cheers. All my hard work paid off as they won  and are into the final. You're welcome girls.

On Saturday afternoon I went to see the nephews and niece! Good times. Although, from my lofty position of Coolest Aunt Ever there was only one way to go…down. I happened to get him the same present that someone else got him. A fact that a new 5 year old isn't able to hide. Good job he loves me for more than the gifts I give him, eh?!

On Sunday I had a well earned sit on the sofa. For approximately seven hours. I'm not joking. It was an important time to collect my thoughts on the week, catch up on the rugby and watch some Olympics. Two words: The Jones! How brilliant  is Slopestyle? In the evening I went for a run. I know, I got off the sofa and then I did my ironing. Positively productive.

But like I said, just don't mention this is a day late, ok?

The return of exam answers

For lack of blogging reasons I didn't post my (up til then) traditional exam answers blog. So now I'm nearly blogging again, it's time to bring it back (and because I still have the bit of paper with them written on. I throw nothing away).

I think I know what you're trying to say
O'Neill visited Cardinal Williams, the Canterbury of Armagh.
Yes, like Justin Welby is the Canterbury of Canterbury.

The OIRA changed into a more political, sociable IRA.
Sociable, socialist. Totally the same thing. That's why there's two words.

Cinemas showed things like the Internal Jew.
Like Jewish on the inside?

O'Neill waved the flag when the Pope died.
His special 'Aww the Pope is dead flag'?

When women got married in Germany you got 1000 Marx.
Marx? Like Karl Marx?

He won a lot of chairs in parliament.
Chairs and seats are the same thing I suppose.

O'Neill resigned because he had nowhere to stand at this point.
And no chairs probably.

Von Papen was horrible at his job.
His mum still loved him though.

Think it through
Conception became harder for women to get a hold of.
Well they say you can't rush these things.

Germany and the USSR signed the Anti-Soviet Pact.
Yes, those Soviets were very anti-Soviet.

People's Democracy marched in January 1969 to commemorate the Easter Rising.
Ah yes, Easter was early that year.

Direct rule let Northern Ireland be ruled from Dublin. NI wanted to be ruled from the west.
By Tyrone?

The blew O'Neill out of the power stations.
And out of power.

At the beginning when internment was first introduced, nationalists thought that it was fair because it brought back equality. They welcomed it with open arms.
Nationalists would have given internment a big, tight squeezy hug if they could.

Overall I think it that internment was a good thing because it shows that nationalists were finally getting what they want and would no longer be dominated by the unionist community.
Yeah, they showed those unionists.

Nazis made new religion called Lutheranism.
Missed second year History and the reformation then?

An agreement Germany made with other countries was the Anglo-Irish Agreement.
Really? Really?!

One of the laws was you couldn't sit beside a Jew in church.
Yeah, no, because they're probably in the synagogues.

Boys and girls had different organisations. The girls had the German Maiden League of Nations.
I see your confusion.

Hitler visited the German Ambassador in 1945 to express condolences on the death of Hitler.
Just read that back, please.

They had speaker phones in the streets playing Hitler's speeches.
Of course they did.

O'Neill sent his thoughts to the Pope when he died.
Like a medium?

O'Neill discovered the new city of Craigavon.
He was like a modern-day Christopher Columbus!

The bill of rights in NI guaranteed several rights for German people.
We can't agree to protect each other, but we agree to protect German people.

O'Neill created the new town of Craigavon which brought tourists to NI.
I can see the I heart Craigavon t-shirts now.

Spelling Bees
citry = city
cross road electron = cross road election
Brain Falaexem = Brian Faulkner
Tea shoc = taoiseach
Tusche = taoiseach
Colerean = Coleraine
Czeckolovia = Czechoslovakia

Let me be clear
The Republic of Ireland's army moved upwards to the border near Londonderry/Derry/the City of Culture 2013/the Walled City.
Disappointed you left out the Maiden City.

In 1932, the year of the three Chancellors, Germany had three chancellors.
How many? Three you say?

Hitler achieved anschluss to the dismay of the Austrian President. However, he didn't care. The reason Hitler wanted anschluss with Austria as it was his place of birth. Yes, Hitler was born in Austria.
Shocking information to a History teacher. Tell me about his Art School rejection letter too, please.

Internment was completely wrong!!!!
Some would say too many exclamation points are too. Although a different league of wrong.

The summer of '69 was nothing like the popular song would suggest.
Statistically though, someone must have got their first real six-string that summer, no?

I know I mock them, but these really are the ones that keep you going.