Finally took Elise on the rollercoaster that she’s not tall enough for yesterday. It was pretty intense and she didn’t enjoy it, at all.

I am glad she was willing to go on some other rides after. Though, after that experience everything else seemed a little boring to her…

Swings and roundabouts.

Jungle Flying Dragon @ Happy Valley Chongqing, China - YouTube

I love this post by @annie so much, that it’s sat in my head since I read it this morning.

I love your week notes and day notes and art and lists - annie’s blog

And it made me think of this post on Instagram that I saved last week that I’m attaching.

Made me realise the conversations i have with different people and who I send what to, and how I don’t really track any of that. How my friends are all over the world and that that is sometimes hard.

Screen shot of an Instagram post.

Hallelujah (but it’s Baby Got Back) - FULL SONG - YouTube

Still not feeling 100%, been over a week now. Would I feel better if I hadn’t worked all week AND didn’t have two young children?

(It’s a rhetorical question.)

Kaos creator ‘gutted’ at Netflix show’s cancellation.

We really enjoyed this. Such a shame.

Link

My daughter is forever listening to the same podcast and songs on a cheap mp3 player.

Is there a reason not to get her a second hand iPod Touch to download playlists from Apple Music and listen to podcasts?

I guess I’m thinking from a practical point of view, will it still work?

Always strange to see how different the sidelines of sports in the US are… So full of people.

nobody should have to have kids but especially teachers. I can’t imagine what it’s like to work with kids all day and then come home and have to have the energy to do it all again for the rest of the evening/weekend

Teachers are some of the last people we should expect to be parents

I am a better teacher because I am a parent. Seeing things from the other side is enlightening. However, it’s tough.

But am I a better parent because I’m a teacher? Debatable.

Shorten meetings, lengthen pauses to re-focus and write stuff down so the brain can be more creative and less anxious about not forgetting. 

The Greatest Productivity Tips, 126 - Nicholas Bate

I Spent a Day as a 4th Grader (Ashley Redd) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

My week in media

  • Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros 📚 - I did not realise it was romance in addition to fantasy but I’ve started now, and it’s the holidays so I plan to keep going。
  • I have bought a new copy of House of Leaves and it’s sat there judging me for not starting but I need to be in the right frame of mind.📚
  • Sultan and Shephard - Loving their music. This mix is a nice place to start. 💿
  • I’ve enjoyed Teach Sleep Repeat for being very relatable about how I feel about teaching at the moment. It’s often too much. It’s that thing of there not being enough time and always feeling rushed about everything. That i am always thinking about work-life balance too. So ultimately feeling like I could be doing better (father, husband, teacher) but I’m not.
  • Mannequin Pussy on KEXP Her voice. ❤️ 🎤
  • KAOS on Netflix. Lyra and I really enjoyed this Greek Mythology in the present world show. We made time to watch it, which as two time-poor people tells you something. Funny but so dark in places. Jeff Goldblum as Zeus was great. 📺
  • The Wild Robot - All 4 of us loved this tale of a robot washed up on an island, laugh out loud funny in places. I cried twice. They definitely said “On your left” at one point too, which tickled me. 🎬

iPhone Mirroring on Sequoia is the WORST. You mean, I can play with my phone without taking my phone out of my pocket?!

For some reason The Guardian website won’t scroll for me anymore on my phone. Which is frustrating but also, has freed up so much time!

Policymakers treating school system structures like clock-work gears and cogs issue directives seeking school and classroom reforms and believe that administrators and practitioners will carry out these marching orders as directed in flow charts and policy manuals. Too many loose connections, unmapped but interdependent relationships, unpredictable events, political pressures and ambiguous directives combine into a web-like complex system confounding what policymakers seek, what administrators request, and what teachers end up doing.

Explaining Change and Stability in Classroom Practice | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Another week done. Upped the ruck this morning to 10km.

Summary of my workouts this week

Where have all the Headteachers (Principals) gone…? – southgloshead

Who’d want the job?

Welsh 20mph speed limit forces junior cycle race to shorten and reroute | Welsh politics | The Guardian

The support cars would have had to break the speed limit so they had to change the route.

Daring Fireball: ‘Monument Valley 3’ Will Be a Netflix Game – Perhaps a Dead Canary in the Apple Arcade Coal Mine

:(

New school year goals…

  1. Empty download folder
  2. Empty desk

Got to aim high!

I think it’s just a coincidence that I’m listening to The Wasp Factory but I feel it can’t be. I did read it once, a long time ago, but am enjoying taking the time to go over it again.

‘An explosion of talent’: Iain Banks’s The Wasp Factory at 40 | Iain Banks | The Guardian

Would love to go with a friend to this drum and bass night in Bristol. One of the things I miss about not living in the UK.

Bought in the UK last summer and finally getting around to reading it.

Currently reading: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 📚

Love, love, loving the Murderbot series. Excited and nervous about the Apple TV+ adaptation.

See also, if the Rivers of London series, which I also love, never makes it to tv I don’t honestly think I’ll mind!

Finished reading: Network Effect by Martha Wells 📚

Didn’t count. Just glad to be moving. Today, I did it inside as it’s 36c outside. Also, meant I could watch Spectre.

Workout description of dumbbell deadlifts and planks

烧烤

Meat and vegetables on sticks for Chinese barbecue