#Project 366 Week Eleven

Where has the time gone. I can't believe we are already 11 weeks into the year! This week I was concentrated on my trainees-  it was their first week in the classroom. We have been looking at ways to make learning more student-centred and fun. The weather has been indifferent: I started each morning by driving to work in the fog. By early afternoon the sun had usually burnt it off, and the day improved from that point onwards. There are definitely more tourists about this week . And Spring is really apparent now.

Sunday 11th March 2012

Green Island Mound

Today we went for a walk around the coast and ended up at Green Island where we stopped for a break. This is one of the Neolithic sites in the Island, and archaeologists have been working there for years. The problem is that it is now being eroded by the tide and the wind, and it is debatable whether it can be protected, or even if it should be protected, from nature.

Looking East from the beach

Monday 12th  March

Second week of the  training course and this week we are looking at skills in the classroom. Today was The Writing Skill. To illustrate a way to ask our students to start writing simple instructions, we looked at Kinder eggs. Inside there is usually something to build, and a set of pictures.
I give out an egg to each pair and they write the instructions that are in picture form.

Here are our instructions!

They then pass the instructions and the toy across to another table, and if the instructions are clear the other pair will be able to build it. It is a bit of fun to start the week, along with many more techniques.

found this little cutie in an egg

We found that one or two of the eggs had little characters inside, so it is a good idea to have more toys than you need for the size of the class, just in case!

Tuesday 13th March

I had a couple of late starts this week as my colleague was doing some of the input sessions. This gave me time to admire the beautiful Magnolia in a neighbour's garden. This is such a lovely time of the year, as everything starts to blossom afresh.

Wednesday 14th March

Elizabeth Castle in the fog

Where is the other side?

High tide in the fog

 Fog!. It's like living at the edge of the known world. I couldn't see the other side of the bay and each day the horizon  became more difficult to find.

Thursday 15th March

I had to pop into St Helier briefly and found myself at West's Centre. Jersey is justifiably famous for its cows, and here we have a set of bronze sculptures of the beasts. Tourists love to sit their small children on them for a photo opportunity, and I didn't have time to wait until the street was empty, so you can see what I mean in my picture.

Friday 16th March

Our new park on the outskirts of town is being well used. The person who designed the water features should be given a pat on the back. Although this one is at the main road end, the noise of the water falling cancels out the traffic noise quite effectively. It will be a super place to sit and contemplate life in the Summer. 

Saturday 17th March

Nice atmosphere

Leprechaun

Table decoration

Ask any Irishman the date and he'll tell you that it's St Patrick's Day. He is the Patron Saint of Ireland, and the country loves to celebrate. I play in a ceilidh band, but tonight we have been asked to do a Ceili, an Irish evening, for some of the Local Irish community. It is also a fund-raiser for the Brain injury charity Headway. It is being held in a local hotel and they have decorated the room in the Irish colours of Green, White and Orange.

The evening was a success and raised a lot of money for the charity. It was nice to be involved and also to play some of our other stock of music, which doesn't always get played, as we are predominantly an English folk music band.