Let's start at the very beginning

Well...this is new! My first ever blog... What could possibly go wrong? Well, I suppose a number of things, but we all have to start somewhere. Adesola recently blogged about 'Beginning in the middle', which led me to question if I practiced this in every day life? 

Julie Andrews comes to mind with the wonderful lyrics from the musical The Sound of Music, 'Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.' Well from my teaching experience I can definitely say when memorising lyrics starting from the beginning is very wise, however this does not apply to all areas of learning. For example, Jolly phonics is a mutli sensory method in how to teach children groups of letter sounds before teaching the alphabet; this enables children to read and write from a young age.

When it comes to movies and books I relish in knowing the beginning, middle and end...I must know how the story ends. Cliff hangers are a nightmare to me. Not knowing the conclusion of how ones journey ends is torturous. How many of us wait in anticipation for the next season of our favourite tv series to come out? Because we want to know what happens to the characters! How do their journeys conclude? What tradegies befall them? Where do they end up?

All these never ending questions whirring around in our heads. 

However, every day life is a compeltely different ball game. I have been teaching myself to embrace the past, present and future and understand that there is no end to learning, developing ideas, growing as an educator, finding connections and reflecting on old and new works. I have mentioned in a comment before that my children are my driving force and they help me to see the world in a different light. With their help I have become more aware of my surroundings, observant at home, and outdoors, when they are doing their homework, when I walk them to school and of course other learning spaces I find myself in on a daily basis. 

I'm hoping with this first blog this will encourage others and myself to write more, to reflect more and to communicate confidently and freely without the worry of thinking...what if my post is awful? What do others think of me? What if I have got this concept completely wrong? 

Don't worry if these questions are mulling over in your mind! I've been there...I'm sure at some point we've all been there!

This is a community of like minded people who I believe want to support and encourage one another, to help each other with this learning process and to cheer each other on as we achieve our goals and ambitions. :)