Sleepless in suburbia

Seriously....I hate waking up in the middle of the night. There are three reasons that I wake up:
1) toilet stop....and I generally get back to sleep straight away.
2) illness....then getting back to sleep is dependant on type
3) whirring mind....then sleep is fitful.

Tonight is a mixture of all 3....probably too much information...illness is the ongoing cough.

Whirring mind is nearly everything that has to be done by next week. Concert preparation, budget stuff and general correction. While I love my job, I really hate it when it takes over my nights....

At the moment I'm listening to a crazy quiz on the radio(to try and calm the whirring mind)....the dj asks 5 types of questions...who, what, when, how,where.....tonight the focus is animation of any sort. The questions are quite hard. You really need to know obscure information....

BACK to the whirring.....One of the things that is flying through my mind at 2am is the concept of drive and ambition. I find that it is not a major factor in my world but I question if it should be. I am career focused enough to strive to do the best that I can as a teacher and as a leader. Being a leader is not something I demand in my world, it's something I do if no one else really steps up to the plate. I cannot stand working for people who are inept!

It's funny watching someone who is career focused and obviously ambitious in your workplace. Someone a decade younger than me has been promoted to a very high position within a school. Absolutely fantastic teacher, highly dedicated and a nice person to boot. I believe that this teacher will be fabulous.....but it still is something that has me thinking. My major thinking is, am I ambitious? If not, why not?

A friend of mine and I have discussed the concept of promotions within the school workplace. We have both come to the conclusion that we are now in the wrong age group...most promotions are coming from those under 36. She works in a different school and has mentioned that most promotions in her workplace are to those under 36. Neither of us are really concerned from our own position but watch those who are older who seem to be bypassed....workplace politics always fascinates me.

I think it's time to stop thinking and time to focus on some sleep action.

Wordless Wednesday and thoughtful Thursday

After my excitingly quiet weekend, I realised that I hadn't had enough of the silent treatment. Work on Monday learning to use the Ultranet (Victorian Education department's version of Social Media which didn't quite work as they thought/hoped it would) where I whispered my way through the day. My throat was a little sore and yet I hadn't spoken that much.......

Tuesday I was in for the day - I had two rehearsals that I needed to run. It's funny how you can do something in a totally different fashion to what you thought you would have to and it works.....

Both of these rehearsals were silent. I had a few flash cards for my Year 8 band and in the beginning they were a little silly but they soon realised that I wasn't going to raise anything more than a whisper.....Choir was more interesting but my senior kids realised that I needed a helping hand and shushed kids up left, right and centre.

It's days like Tuesday that make me really appreciate where I work. The kids are amazing.

On the way home I stopped in at the doctor to pick up a medical certificate for the afternoon and managed to sneak in to see him. He checked my throat and announced that I had a good croup-like cough developing. Two more days were written onto the certificate. We then discussed possible medication. I am on day 2 of steroids (of 4) and was given a weeks worth of antibiotics. The reason for the medication is to kill off the secondary symptoms to give my body a chance to rid itself of the tract infection.

The doctor and I are quite clear on my deadline of August 26th and the fact that I need to be at school for specific rehearsals. He then decided to let me know of another teacher he is treating who is up to 10 days off work with the same thing! Hmmm! I will see how tomorrow pans out when I am at work running the massacred singing.....

So yesterday I went nuts on the email......and achieved a fair few things. Today I will sort out some correction.....plan the program and might even get some other planning done.

The crotchet hook and I have had a great work out, and we have just about finished 60 squares to add to the many that I have already......

Don't speak and you can achieve so much....no wonder I shush my students so much. I know the truth!