8th July 2010
So we had a great conference. (#ITTE10) It was my first time being part of a presentation at conference and it all went very well. Some inspirational papers were give, especially the keynot from Sugata Mitra where he demonstrated how young children, given the right conditions can teach themselves very effectively, not only in India but also in Gateshead! I am nnow hoping to become a 'granny' and become part of this fantastic project.
Pete Bradshaw hosted a really interesting workshop about 'Vital' (www.vital.ac.uk) and Miles Berry gave us some great ideas as to how to use blogging with students. I admitted to blogging but somewhat embarrassed as mine are mainly to do with dogs and dog training and didn't feel up to explaining the similarities with 'people' teaching - and there are many. A good discussion maybe when I have had one or two glasses of white zinfandel?
At the end of this great couple of days it was back to the railway station to return home. Pete, Sarah and I were all set to catch the Birmingham train. However, a Nottingham train came in and Pete reckoned it was a better bet for him. My feet were very sore and I really didn't fancy an extra change. Pete however, was not daunted, was sure of the connections and leapt on with, in retrospect, seemed like undue haste!
Sarah and waited until the signs in the station said that the Birmingham train had arrived. Now, the Manchester train was late and was due 2 minutes later, so, on we jumped and settled down to work on the report we were busy completing. The conductor barely glanced at our tickets and there were no announcements.
At some point I noticed we were passing through Warrington and briefly considered that I hadn't recalled that on previous journeys. Later I saw the Peak District, land of my childhood in the distance. It seemed very close and I remarked "Look the Pennines, isn't manchester usually between Liverpool and the hills? Perhaps its over there!" and we continued to work. A little later we slowed. "Is this Wolverhampton?....Look at that Hilton - its huge - I wouldn't like to stay at the top. I didn't know they had a huge Hilton in Wolverhampton!" Shortly afterwards I noticed the staion's name...'Deansgate'. "Sarah!" I groaned " we're in Manchester!" You can imagine what the ensuing few moments were like as we spoke to fellow passengers and realised that yes, we were Manchester bound. In fact,we had to alight there and a rather patronising Rail official suggested that we weren't very good with trains (Happily; Sarah refrianed from following this up with a discussion) and we got onto the train for Norwich which, he assured us, would let us off in Manchester Piccadilly!
Well, there we were, in Picadilly and met up with some really pleasant and helpful rail officials who showed us that the 14 20 from Manchester to Sheffield would get us to a train Leicester bound. We had a short wait - enough to get me into Accessorize for some flip flops to save my blistered feet ( oh the vanity - next time I will wear appropriate footwear and change to posh shoes just for any presentation!!!). We also got a cup of coffee before travelling the lovely trans pennine journey, looking at my homeland at even closer quarters. This, however, didn't quite make up for the rather circuitous journey!
We were, however, making headway with the report - every cloud and all that - a touch of nickel in the lining there!!! Happily, we were also very aware of the humour of the situation and there was a great deal of laughter and not a little wry amusement at the situation!!!
At Sheffield it was a quick turn around onto the Leicester train. Having wished for a few announcements on the Birmingham / Manchester train, there were a lot of announcements which were a tad irritating which Sarah noted - quite a lot!!! Reminding her that we were complaining about the lack of announcements earlier did little to mollify her!
....and so we arrived in Leicester. Finding that it was an hour to my next train was an hour later, my wonderful chauffeur and husband was summoned to Sarah's and I went home with her. There is nothing like a couple of wonderful children to really lighten the mood :)
For me 3 very happy dogs gave me a glorious welcome when I finall arrived hom - just 1 1/2 hours later than expected!!!!
Now, this seems to not be uncommon for Sarah's journeys. If anyone has a journey they would like to add, do let me know and we will add it here!!!!
