3 good things

So, this blog has been woefully neglected for several months, for reasons of procrastination, lack of energy and lack of time. There was a bit of literal and metaphorical hand-wringing, plus empty promises made/deadlines set, but that all seems pretty pointless. Instead of bemoaning the fact that I’m just no good at writing a journal, I am going to follow the example of a teaching blog I’ve been reading. This blog is called “One GoodThing”, and it’s where a group of teachers go to post about one good thing that happened to them that day. The rationale behind it is that there are so many not so good things and sheer busy-ness that get in the way of us remembering to notice the good stuff. I really like this idea, and so the rest of this post will be on this topic.

I had planned to write about 3 good things that happened this week, but once I started thinking, I realised there have been a lot more than that! I will pick the best ones:

1. The biggest, and best thing to happen for a while involves my Sec2 class. They all passed the last three tests. All of them. 3 times in a row. I’ve never had that happen before. When they got to 2, I made them a deal; if they made it to 3 in a row, I would make them cake. Their last test was Wednesday and I was so excited I marked it before school finished, then ran upstairs to tell them the good news. After a small lesson on manners and greed (they are teenagers (some very very spoilt), not angels after all!), we came to the agreement that I would make red velvet cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes with mint chocolate ganache (one student begged me for this, apparently it’s his favourite!) and mini apple pies (which got a rave review when I made them for Pi Day – yay!).  And for the record, it is definitely worth the late nights (I really should have planned better – making all of that in two nights is kind of stupid) to show my students how proud I am of them, and to reinforce the lesson that hard work pays off.
2. My students have got the message about saying please and thank-you, and being polite. Now whenever someone asks me for something, and I pull my ‘I’m waiting for something face’, one of them chimes in with “say please” . My Sec1’s, and one boy in particular, are very cute about the way they do this. It makes me smile :-)
3. Next week is a holiday, and my sister is coming to visit. And that reminds me, we are also organising the June holiday, which is going to involve Bali and a trip to Komodo Island. It’s nice to have something to look forward to!