A Resurrection (of sorts)

Inspired by @johntomsett wp.me/p2wufC-nN I am starting what I’m sure will be a long and arduous quest; a perilous journey to the fabled land of ‘work-life balance’.

For a little over a decade I’ve failed miserably to get anywhere near it; this time I feel things will be different.  This post is intended as my reintroduction to the world of blogging - something I flirted with very briefly two years ago. As part of a New Year's Resolution in 2012 I wrote an epic 'To-Do-List' - it contained over a hundred and fifty items, all of them things designed to improve my life, and that of my family. Some of the items were mundane, things I told my wife I'd do but never got around to: 'fixing the fence', 'throwing out odd socks', ‘painting the kitchen’. Things that would still not make it on to a priority list. Others were bigger, more exciting (more expensive): 'go on a family holiday abroad'. I had planned to complete them all; documenting each and everyone one of them over a twelve month period. And do you know what? I actually finished some of them - certainly not a hundred and fifty, but more than the nine I actually blogged about.

And now I'm back. I've rediscovered the bug and I have twitter to thank for that. Despite the fact that I've been on twitter for exactly 5 years I've only written a little over 500 tweets - a large chunk coming in the last month. Who knew that twitter was for more than just stalking celebrities!? It’s been an incredible reawakening.  Twitter is a place filled with inventive, inspiring and Innovative education professionals - it has been exactly the kick I needed.

I've enjoyed the reinvigoration twitter has brought with it. Like many teachers (cue sweeping statement) I’d found myself stuck in a rut. After the hardest year of professional life (twelve months that definitely need a post of their own) I had found myself going through the motions - ultimately, seeing my classes get a raw deal. Something needed changing and twitter was just the thing to do it. Teachers freely sharing ideas and resources is refreshing and I like the warmth that comes when my ideas are shared and received positively – a figurative pat on the back. But most of all I enjoy the debate, the discussion and the disagreement.  I don’t want everyone to think like me – I’m an English teacher – I thrive on dispute.  I encourage my students to question everything they’re told, to investigate beyond the obvious – searching for layers of meaning and alternative insightful interpretations, because that is how they, as students, will succeed.   It makes sense to practice what I preach.

So here we are: the resurrection of the 'To-Do-List'. It's going to be a better list, a stronger list, focussed, with an even mix of the things needed to help strike the work life balance.  And although there’s likely to be an even greater number of tasks to complete, this time I’m better set for success – twitter’s got my back.