The Influencing Of Young Minds And Such

Facebook's great. It gets quite a lot of stick - quite rightly - but, aside from all the stalking and poking and other unsavory activities, it's perfect for keeping in touch with people that you would struggle to without it. And, in fact, it's recently helped me to progress from full-time 'bum' into a slightly more respectable situation. A brief, late-night conversation with an old sixth form media teacher of mine swiftly moved on from the usual pleasantries to an offer of voluntary work for the department.

My months of sitting at home, watching American dramas, eating carbs and talking about going to the gym are over. Well, for two days a week they are.

I'm a voluntary 'learning support mentor', which means I mostly sit in on classes of A Level and B-Tech media and film studies, and help the students with their tasks and discussions, or help out with resources from the office. My first couple of weeks were spent giving advice on coursework, which I really enjoyed because it's one of my strong points. I always thought, watching friends become teachers, that I wasn't sure how I'd ever move from learning myself to actually teaching other people. The truth is, I've found that luckily (and hopefully thanks to hard work!) I know my subject well, and making the transition into telling other people about it has been fairly easy. And enjoyable! The work at A Level is, naturally, a lot easier than I remember it being (isn't it always, looking back?!), so I enjoy going through it again, helping the kids to hopefully love it as much as I do.

And the strangest thing, other than the fact that to an extent I'm actually influencing young minds? My niece is in a couple of my classes... My niece, who I still think of as my little girl (and who clearly isn't anymore!). Very odd!

So that's what I'm up to. I'm possibly going to be recruited into doing some more events for the liaison team too, after a couple of very long (but hopefully useful!) days spent trying to point local Year 9 students in the 'right' direction...! All good fun, and - in an attempt to further prove the point that I am now, in fact, an old lady - it gets me out of the house.

In other news, my dad's operation is finally set to happen next Monday, the 21st. It's scary to think that it's actually going to happen now, but also a relief. My plans for that day have so far ranged from digging a large hold in the garden for me to hide in for those few hours, to going to the pub, alone, and finally being one of those people from the soaps who tell the barmaid their problems. I'm sure I'll opt for something a little less self absorbed and a little more positive, though!

Keep you posted!

#carrollfacts

While many of us are gutted that Andy Carroll has left Newcastle Utd for Scouseland, this did cheer me up... Here's a few of my favourite #carrollfacts to appear on Twitter in the last couple of hours! (I apologise for a football related post... Too funny to leave unposted!).

• Contrary to popular belief, Andy Carroll cannot fly. He just jumps and chooses when to come down (@Paul_LFC)
• North Korea did test a second nuclear warhead, Andy Carroll used it to heat his morning porridge (@basilmcneck)
• Andy Carroll doesn't wear a watch - he decides what time it is (@psycllone)
• When Andy Carroll looks at himself in the mirror, there is no reflection. There can be only one Andy Carroll (Paul_LFC)
• Death once had a near Andy Carroll experience (@Campione_LFC)
• Andy Carroll can read Lady Gaga's poker face (@psycllone)
• Andy Carroll touched MC Hammer (@jimmyfrancis87)
• Many think Andy Carroll heads the ball into the net. This is not true. He merely stares at the ball and it knows what to do (@AMG133)
• Andy Carroll narrates Morgan Freeman's life (@JoeKidda)
• Andy Carroll doesn't wash his clothes. He whips the dirt off them with his ponytail (@mariusoftdahl)
• When Andy Carroll adds milk to rice crispies, they shut the f*ck up (@JoeKidda)
• Superman wears Andy Carroll pyjamas (@KrazyKop)
• Osama Bin Laden is hiding from Andy Carroll (@spanishkop)
• Torres no longer exists. Andy Carroll ate him (@shamblerinho)

The Toon will miss you, long haired lanky one!