A kick in the nuts - lasts all day if you get it right

Footy this am not much cop, Napoleon as usual expecting everyone to give him the ball & let him wallop it from 3 feet. Twat. (I would have thought the same thing when I was his age, so I think the word is appropriate. Wrecks any sense on enjoyment for everybody else because he 'owns' the ball. It is not my place to directly adjust this state of play, but for the children to confront/negotiate a way out. I feel frustrated because even at my age I find this kind of in-your-face bully-boys hard to tackle. I have always gone around, using superior ball skills and vision. The got thumped on the bus.)

Green & listless with Fski; Sitting at the back as the uncoordinated boys misbehave, with added bollock-ache from a full-handed slap across the nads in the yard. Just the left one, but enough for general nausea & need for a lie down. Have I any use for them these days, though?

Stole lunchtime upstairs to refresh memory Super Simple Songs' Xmas playlist, need lesson plans for Dec. Think 3/4 of them should do the trick + video for Dec 24th show?

Some went apple picking, older other half went to see their next school. Not I. Find a place to be.
Going to try & get my Brazilian Don Juan here Dec 5th.

Halloween theme & burst lesson plans

Last Friday was going to be productive only it wasn't; about to nail down decent prep for next week & craft the much required lesson plan etc. Instead, dragged out to tail-gun a second expedition to Nonomiya shrine. Interested to meet the the Russian lady again, especially as she now knew my name. Curious.

 Painted remainder of paper plates.

Today? Til one am repairing lesson plan for 16th (why all the fuss?) & then have to interpret bits for my wife as she translated it. FFS :(

10:20 Jim time returned. 

Used Super Simple Songs' downloadable f/cards

 pre-teach characters > gestures to Let's Go Trick or Treating couple of run throughs + CD = not a bad start. 

Crayon-on faces to painted paper plates eyebrows etc

 teacher sticking on hair/beard & silly fluffy nose. 

Ran 15 mins over, but not my fault; iLeader & Choriso wanted to

(and what does that imply about the point of a lesson plan & no flexibility?)

Oden lunch, ugh, and shucking dried corn. Typhoon again missed but my mum worried again from afar.

What can a Hippopotamus be

Cycled to work in the light drizzle, and then practiced drop kicking plums across the yard as there was no one to play with!

My 1st time with tiddlers in the red class, who are super small easily underfoot! Allan's brand of  classroom spontaneity, mostly asides & internal dialogue broadcast sotto voce. She always strikes me as cranky & too quick to blurt. Bit crap on piano (always clock-watching or forgetting the next line) & doesn't engage with the kids very warmly.

Jim time about 10 mins: 

jumping killed the CD player doing Everybody Up! 

Hello song, one little finger, & see you later. 

Lots of smiles & joining in. 

One girl though immediately uses me as a groin-level punchbag. 

Deputy Dog lookalike in the class?

Roped into painting hands and the risk of getting to my next class red/blue/green, but grabbed by Dragon to read a book (What can a Hippopotamus be?)  bilingually - two separate books they have on their library shelf, with them responding 3rd time through with resounding "NO!" Bit of improv & reading from the back of the room :)

Back to lunch with tiddlers - fried tuna & crisps/daikon salad (must be a broccoli & cucumber shortage?)

Would you like to see my puppies?

Experimented with Audio Note today, but while handy is difficult to use with kids around because they want to yell into it, tap the screen or yank one or both of my arms out of a socket. Also need to listen & transcribe myself.

Happy again to be with Legs11 who engages with me from the start, says Hello and invites me to join in - important, because I am not tasked to leap up at the front and make a monkey of myself...not my classroom and I never know what the room teachers' plan for the day involves, and whether or not they want me to be there/actively participate, or be a wallflower, or use my skill & judgment to lean in and guide from the side when I see necessary. Hard to call this level of observer v teacher participation.

We did a song on request, but it was on the hoof & I completely forget what it was - a familiar one needless to say.

Lunch trying to get Boss & music station set up within sight of the yard - in this case the corridor window nearest the hedge. Still requires long distance telepathy but at least I can roam the yard! Re-chalked the colour words & hung large colour hints as well, same as yesterday basically: "I see something blue" - wait until I say "GO" then a mad scramble, with the destructive intent to wreck whatever poster was hanging there. Altogether 8 colours done, and re-did in the classroom finding colours in each others clothes etc. Walking Walking song and the Goodbye one on request.

Kid I have not interacted with before wanted to use me as a swing while Legs11 was running around in the yard athletically, which was good. Beautiful day & enjoyable, with the weekend to look forward to and GW on the horizon.

Rob's memorial day yesterday - FB activity suggests he was not forgotten, and brain cells suitably rearranged in Tokyo. Would not have known what to say if I'd gone.

Dan's visit from US cancelled due to appendicitis - very poor physiology that lad! Holiday plan in tatters, skint and keen to avoid grog. Chance of that?

An old man with a dog/puppies in the back of his van worries me considerably, hanging around at the school gates - in other countries would be lights & sirens and a bit of a chat down the nick. Am I the prev for thinking of worst possible situation?

I can't get my trousers on, and I hate you all!

Minus Five again today! Treacherous cycling this morning, as I couldn't see the ice for the freshly fallen snow :(

I-sensei starts on positive notes as usual, inclusive smile & invites me to begin (and joins in) with genki "Hello" (Super Simple Songs) & on the spot "Walking Walking"! Love her "I'm not happy pout" cheeks that still smile! Kids absolutely do not want to compromise that beam of joy. Sucked straight back into line & behave well.

Nice little girl having a meltdown as she can't tuck herself in; ignored for quite a while, but even with K's uncheerful help she remains in a right old state. Kid's a wreck, I would've picked her up five minutes ago, bu not the style here which I have to respect. She ends up hating everyone until classy I-sensei takes her into a hug & tucks her in very sweetly, but the distraught girls does a "my bum looks a mess in this" number & cracks up all over again. Can't win!

• Library books, whispered names & taiko backing! 
• Class Dojo hard to do at high speed. 
• Phantom tooth brush mystery resolved after bento envy. 

A double bolly whack left me feeling physically sick; sought coffee refuge upstairs, to no avail - knacked again within minutes of emerging. Had an absolute gut-full of this crap, so took my phone to explore the library in more detail, with Goodread looking for titles I can download (? Find online) & read/record/request from the local library.

Over-rehearsing & under origami

Butterfly frames

Given that today's highlight was the sweet chicken curry for lunch with the cucumber/tiny fish vinegar salad...think we can say this morning was a slow burner. Sitting with the slowest eater meant I was there for quite a while!

Origamically Challenged, I managed to remember how to make a snapdragon; second attempt got it the right way around and put numbers & words under the flaps - present for the shy runner I call "Speedy" - the girl is a gazelle!

Quick rendez-vous in the assembly hall & asked to entertain x60 at the drop of a hat with a song & dance. Fortunately I now have the cable to connect my iPod to any radio/CD player & the frequency sussed for the auxiliary channel...and action: "Walking walking" song and pandamonium - which was nice, but my five minute slot fulfilled & trooped outside to practice the tug-of-war.

Rhythm is the key.

Summer heat still with us, and the younger ones kip down for a much-needed siesta; the older ones muster in the hall again for posing practice, pre-grandparents' appreciation  party...for sure that will be video & candid camera central, especially with the butterfly-shaped thank you cards being produced in industrial quantities back in the classroom.

Highlight of the day was teacher K using a particularly creative classmate's drawing book to tell a story & to get everyone joining in, adding ideas & checking the storyline nicely. Meantime, the most disengaged lad in class was trying to attach his handmade spectacles to his hat - had to give him a hand as it was hilarious!

Story-time precedes home-time

Which group am I in?

Where is my line?!

As nominated 'big kid' I got to go and fetch the ball when the goal-keeping team (3 less mobile kids, shall we say) hoofed the football out of the playground. I was very impressed the posse did not chase after it or me, but understood RULE 1 = "Do not chase a ball into the street!"

I spent today with the blue class, again a mix of older & younger children who again did a rotating classroom thing & completely confused me - who is my group? Important that, isn't it? Which kid do I need to follow/copy to get things right & not get lost & laughed at?

The sports day practice a case in point. We kept marching places in lines, beeping whistles punctuating mysterious moves & changes of direction. Imaginary lines as well as some chalk ones in the yard. I used to be in the cadets but this was way harder (knees up & micro steps!).Who do I follow?! Arranged by height - I can handle that but I just lost the kid who seemed to know which way to go - now I've got an unidentified dribbly girl holding my hand like she'll never let go!

Granny & Grandpa portraits

Do I need to practice rolling in the gravel, sensei? I've got a hospital appointment at 4 then classes til 10...don't look at me like that! Oh dear, kid standing by puddle felt obliged to lie down & roll in it - pretty funny & reminds me of a Club Med incident in Noumea...now that was a cool job, drifts off for a moment.

Lunch and selected to be a 'Toban". Don't know what the words are when we have to chant whatever - smile :) Deliver food to hungry mites and get quite a lot of thank you's. Could do this quicker guys? Sweet chicken curry - not my fave but I'm famished. Cucumber in vinegar? Bring it on. At least I did not have to do the pillion position for 45 minutes, waiting, open-mouthed...

Paint it Black

Grandparents: couldn't really contribute to this well-run teacher-led chat (as mine are not going to be visiting next month for open day). My roomies offered up ideas for presents they could give gran & gramps for coming, negotiating towards making portraits of them after discarding some rather cute ideas along the way. Crayons ready: go! I mingled & monitored, this activity had my mates very engaged (mostly), and all schools of art represented. Ohh! Watercolours too? Again, remarkable lack of carnage or catastrophe - as well some hefty self-restraint I think on behalf of les artistes!

Again, this activity was brief & results collected by teacher for work later...drying on the piano. "Can you sing us a song?" No. But, I found a cable to plug my iPod into your CD player - wanna try?

Super Simple Songs' "Walking Walking" got its first outing...killer success, starting quietly and demands for a replay :) Ask nicely, perhaps? Never done this with 36 kids before...No problems - we've got that school show in Feb covered already!

So I could make my way come gravel-free. Ah, but I got sunburnt instead? Ow, my neck!

Storytime - I want to try!