#Summer10

As inspired by @rlj1981 here are my #summer10 promises to myself.

1. Sleep. I must catch up on sleep. For seemingly months now I have been staying up too late to get the job done. I have a Fitbit so I have a record of how little sleep I’ve had. Last week there was an update and there are now ‘awards’ for 8 hours sleep per night. I’m going to aim for 8 per night through out this holiday so I can rest and feel human again. 

2. Read. I have a stack of books, some novels and some ‘thinking’ books that I would like to read across the next six weeks. I’d also really like to get some French literary texts re-visited too. The joy of reading a novel from cover to cover is reserved for holidays! Whilst on holiday in Mauritius earlier in the year I unplugged, no IT, no TV, just books, sun and it was ace. 

3. Exercise. I’m very lazy actually and besides walking the dog and striding through the maze of corridors to get to my classroom I don’t actually do very much. So getting out on my bike is something I’m looking forward to. I might even Canicross train the dog, we’ll see. 

4. Catching up with some fantastic (but neglected) friends. Six whole weeks to actually physically see and hug friends that I haven’t seen for a while will be utter bliss. New additions to families and sad departures have meant that time has slipped by far too quickly but the coming weeks will allow time to pick up where we left off but face to face. I can’t wait. 

5. iPad usage. Father Christmas gifted me a mini iPad seven months ago which is great but I definitely do not use to its full capacity, far from it, because I don’t know how! This holiday I’m planning to change this. iPad for dummies anyone…

6. Eating. Recently I’ve been surviving on coffee, sugary naughtiness (biscuits, pastries and chocolate with mini packets of haribo thrown in for good measure) which isn’t great. I shall eat much better, ‘cleanly’ following a detox of all things processed this holiday seeking to be nourished rather than just grabbing a hit whilst on the run. 

7. Declutter. I seem to collect ‘stuff’ on my travels, some very useful, life changing even, some truly not. I shall be gutting cupboards, wardrobes, drawers, desks and shelves because I just don’t ‘need’ these items and they certainly aren’t being used.

8. Stopping and Thinking. I love whiling away the hours lost in thought and the holidays are perfect time when I am alone to do this.

9. Baking. I have no confidence in the kitchen, in fact I detest cooking because I make a mess and the kitchen looks like a bomb site when I’ve finished with every utensil, measuring jug, pan or baking tray covered in detritus which explains why I am so very good at washing up. However I am not bad a baking biscuits and flapjacks. Following decorating workshops the plan is to move on to fairy-cakes, well buns (called cupcakes these days) edible ones hopefully. Well I hope so. 

10. Work. We all have to do some so I’m going to get on it. I also want to look back through my notes from the collection of fab TMs and Ed conferences (TLAB15, @NRocks15, @pedagoolondon15) and online training events that I’ve attended to reinvigorate my classroom practice and resource bank and to stay fresh, fun and focused whilst keeping my #MFLAllstar learners and fab colleagues #TeamMFL interested and motivated too.  Have a brill and balanced summer everyone, I plan to! 

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