A wonderful day had by all - and Cool KWL charts

Morning all. My birthday officially ended, I can now concentrate on more important matters, like getting over the fact that I'm gettting old...! Age has never bothered me before - it's always been just a number. But this time it mattered. As you do when you reach a certain point in your life, I  spent the most part of last week taking stock of what I've done with my life, what I've achieved (and not achieved) and how to make things better - all the things most people think about when they make New Year Resolutions. I guess it doesn't help that in my mind I seem to be going backwards instead of forwards - I gave up a permanent contract so don't now have a reliable source of income, and although subbing definitely has it's plus points, I'm finding it a little difficult to handle the insecurity - it's all a little unsettling, and I don't "do" unsettled.... So, what have I got to show for the last 46 years? I really am very lucky in a lot of respects - I have a wonderfully supportive family, my 98 year old nan is still with us, I live in the most beautiful part of the world, I have been given a great education, I have my health and I have been blessed with a beautiful, intelligent 17 year old daughter. I have been given the opportunity to do a job that I love (albeit on an ad hoc basis...), to shape young minds, to laugh with children and cry with them as well as educate them. I really am a very lucky girl... My resolution for the coming year - to count my blessings every day and never forget that life is a wonderful adventure, whatever stage of the journey we're at.

Sunday sermon over, I've been working on a set of KWL charts for you. I don't know how many of you use KWL charts in the classroom, but used regularly they really are a great tool both for the children and for you. They help children understand what they know about something - it doesn't matter if they know nothing because they also focus their minds on what they want to learn. At the end of the unit of study, they can revisit their KWL chart and fill in the third column, what they learned. This is great for us as teachers, because we can assess how much learning has taken place. KWL charts are a fun way of assessing learning - why not give them a try if you don't already? I have others in the pipeling, but please could you leave me a note with suggestions for things you'd like to see on KWL charts.

Dydd Sul hapus - Happy Sunday!