Teaching – bikesbabesbytes

2024 – (Insert snazzy title here)

You know the year is finishing when the random (illegal) fireworks going off through the neighbourhood get into overdrive. So that means it’s time for a look back.

About Bikes

This year was a bit of a fizzer really. All the planning and rethinking and all that for the trip, only to cancel it a few days before I left. It was for family reasons, but to be honest, the week I would have been away, I don’t think it would have made a difference. Ah well. I’ve replaced all the gear that needed replacing, I have USB on the bike and the Garmin InReach as well. Ready for the next adventure.

There was the earlier drama thinking I had forgotten to service the Ninja for 2 years and rushed out for it’s major service. Only to realise that I had already done that major service. It got another little inspection just before the MotoGP too.

A fun loan bike! So desperately needs a quickshifter

Otherwise, the Ninja spent most of the time in the garage. I did start commuting (a very short one) more frequently after my eldest finished school and was into her exams. But it takes longer to get changed and loaded and unloaded and changed at either end than I think the ride itself does….

Pushbikes, I did get out to some dirt in one holiday, but otherwise they have been on local rides.

About Babes

Well, my eldest graduated high school. She did well, not as well as she hoped, but better than she expected. She has a uni offer for 2025 to study Business.

The other one has ground her way through Year 9, and into Year 10. She isn’t really sure what she wants to be doing, but she is happier at her new school.

About Bytes

Well I worked my way into the third act for Baldur’s Gate 3, but seem to have dropped the ball there somewhere. I haven’t really got back into it in a few months. I am looking at upgrading the laptop class graphics card in the PC to something more significant.

Totally destroyed my Apple Watch, so replaced it with a new SE2.

D&D continues regularly. I’ve picked up a few items, including the 2 new handbooks that have been released. I also got the 12 Lego minifigs and then for Christmas I received the large Lego D&D 50th anniversary set. Building that is keeping me busy at the moment.

So much detail! Even an adventure with it.

That wasn’t the only Lego I worked on. I also got the Lego Technics RC Audi Dakar car.

Reminds me of my very first Technics, a car as well.

My BattleTech Kickstarter purchases are apparently on a ship somewhere floating to Australia. Was supposed to be mid January delivery, perhaps that is still true. But it can’t be that far away. Still have to figure out how to explain it to the Mrs…. I’m thinking the “I won a competition” gambit. The TMNT one is supposed to deliver this year as well. But that’s just a couple of books. Oh and a dice tray. And a set of ooze dice… oh and a DM screen (oops).

About Me

Well the main thing is that I finished AND submitted my final paperwork to become recognised as a Proficient Teacher (as opposed to a Graduate level). I only got it to my supervisor in the final days of term, so she should sign that up when we go back in a month’s time. A small pay jump will be nice along with the relief of it out of the way. It also means I can more easily switch to part time, should my wife’s new business pick up and demand more of my time.

Come and support us if you see us at your food market

Back to the same school this year, and in the same sort of role as last year. It is most definitely a more relaxed role when compared to a class teacher. I did try for a couple of permanent positions and got onto the reserve list for one, so well done for my first real job interview in something like 30 years.

I’m still healthy and usually happy.

Looking forward to MotoGP this year.

Tickets already purchased, work has already approved my absence.

Slipping into those comfortable clothes

For these last couple of weeks of my school holiday time, I’ve am working as a casual in my old career. I was talking to someone else there. She had worked for a long time, then left, then after a few years came back. She said it was like slipping back into your comfortable clothes.

I totally understood how she felt. It described my own feelings very well. I was somewhere where I knew what I was doing, what was expected of me, there I am an experienced worker, not a beginner. Many of the people who were working in this particular department were the same ones as when I was there myself about 5 years ago.

It is a nice, safe, comfortable spot. But it doesn’t challenge me, I don’t feel like I’m improving or expanding my knowledge.

So while it is nice to be back, and the money is a big help, and I am happy that I can stay relevant and have a worthwhile task to do, I am not unhappy that I have my teaching starting again in less than a week.

Because while those old comfy clothes are good when you want to chill, I’ve got some new clothes, that I am sure will be comfy too, I’ve just got to wear them in a bit first. Like a new pair of boots.

2022 – a year in review

If you say that right, it even rhymes!

2022, things change, things get back to normal.

About Bikes

MOTOGP! Finally. And the ride there and back was great, and the racing was excellent. I stayed in budget (very important this year). I camped, I had adventures… yup, read the two stories here and here. Was worth the wait. The only thing that didn’t work out was Jack Miller getting taken out by Alec Marquez at the new “Miller Corner”. I do think I will stick to my two year cycle and aim for 2024 for my next ride down. It’s at an awkward time of the year, work wise.

I hit most of the roads I had planned, changed a few over, mostly due to the bad weather.

Otherwise the bike was a garage queen at least by comparison to how it (and my other bikes) have lived. It was lucky if it got a ride to the shops once a week. As the year finishes off, I think I’m in the market for a new battery. Even commuting is off the menu at the moment, as work is only 10mins away and I drop my two kids at school on the way.

I got a new bike… sort of. It was fun to build at any rate.

No bicycle riding to speak of really. Some fitness rides on the commuter.

Enjoying the sunshine and open space…. in the middle of the suburbs?

About Babes

Two girls in high school. Both doing well. One won a State Championship for her gymnastics so really well done there. Next year will be interesting as the other one can start learning to drive!

About Bytes

Nothing hugely dramatic here. My Surface is finally getting used a lot, I use as my school device and it’s been great. Except for a dead TypeCover. Replaced, but I am suspicious of the durability of this part.

I upgraded my iPad Pro 9.7 (v1) to the Pro M1 11”. It has been excellent, really nice jump in performance from my last one. They did eventually release an M2 version as I suspected, but it didn’t get the mini-LED display, so I don’t feel like I missed anything. Its keyboard cover has also deteriorated (common theme this year), there are some places where the soft covering material has worn through. It is still working, but has been put away and hasn’t been replaced.

The new PC has been working fabulously, though I really should step up the graphics card. Otherwise it’s been fast and reliable. I’ve since spent many hours using it for gaming, completing the last 3 Tomb Raiders and spending over 100hours in the Baldur’s Gate 3 pre release.

The iMac also has been going well. It has also recently received a new keyboard, a Logitech MX Keys (not the specific Mac one). I’m really happy with this keyboard too.

Having all these devices has meant all my work is available everywhere. The school mostly uses Google’s environment so that was something to get used to. But with it all in the cloud (along with my OneNote) it’s easy to work anywhere. I also switched over to iCloud Photos and this has been working well too.

D&D has been fun all year. Wild Beyond the Witchlight finished up just a few weeks ago. That was a fun campaign for all. It’s been replaced by a journey in the Dungeon of the Mad Mage, which I am not DM, so currently I am a player in 3 campaigns (Dungeon, Strahd and a face to face home-brew) and not a DM anywhere. It’s so relaxed! Strahd is likely to finish up soon and the DM wants to put us in Spelljammer (D&D in space). I have never played in that environment, so I’m a little unsure. I’m writing my own home-brew adventure for when I get a DM slot again.

About Me.

My offical career change occurred in mid-April (not Christmas as planned), I stayed in order to finalise a couple of medical issues with work. Even though that was the offical date, I was on holidays from that work from Christmas until April and actually working as a teacher full time.

I am enjoying my teaching. My school has a really nice community working environment. There are some challenges, partly due to the children and partly due to my limited experience. However, the school has always been supportive.

The pay is a significant cut from my old pay, at least in these first couple of years. Once I complete my proficiency after two years it will jump up and be a lot closer. I don’t think it will ever surpass it.

To help make up for this, I have secured some part time work in my old career for the school holidays and that will be a nice bonus for me. It’s also a way to stay relevant and connected to that old career in case I am needed.

Next year will see me having my own class, and it looks like it will be a Year 5/6 one. Equally excited and nervous, but everyone at work assures me I will do a great job. That makes me feel very supported, but then also nervous that I don’t want to let them down!

My class, as it was handed to me… a blank slate.

2023, here goes…….

M1 iPad Pro 11”

Partly as a treat to myself for Christmas and for changing career, as well as spending some money my wife gave me and finally as my original iPad Pro 9.7 was starting to have battery troubles, I upgraded. I admit, I probably could have gotten away with a current Air, which is still a pretty sweet spot between price and capability, I wanted to go all out again.

So just before the back to school sales finished up, I bought the iPad Pro 11″, and the new Pencil. I already had the keyboard case (not the fancy one with a trackpad, you can’t fold that one right back to tablet format) as we had one that wasn’t being used in the house. Scored a free set of AirPods as well. Put them in the cupboard for when the battery dies in my current set.

Anyway, so I could have waited to see if Apple dropped an upgraded one this year, and I expect they will. But two things (apart from just plain impatience) were motivating me. One, I would want it when school started, and Two, if they did change the shape it would be another couple of hundred to pick up the keyboard case too.

That was then. It’s now Week 6 at school and the iPad Pro is proving a very useful device. Now I’ll admit, there probably isn’t much that I am doing that my 9.7 could not do. OneNote, Edge, Outlook, Google Slides and Docs. This M1 iPad is very smooth and battery life is wonderful. I rarely get below 80% a day. My 9.7 would have managed this back when I first got it (and it was second hand when I did) but now, about 6 years later, nope.

I do love that it uses a normal USB-C connector. I have a USB-C to HDMI cable which I just plug straight into the class displays to run my lessons. It saves problems with logging in and out as I move about the school. (I don’t have my own class, I teach the same subject across 8 classes). Again, the 9.7 with the adapter could do this alright too. But I can also connect memory sticks easily, which is new.

But I’ve found my Surface Pro has been cast aside by the iPad. Chiefly weight is the issue. The iPad, is close to half the Surface. Smaller too, but the screen is fine for me. So overall the iPad is less bulky. Add the protective case on the Surface and it is even more skewed to the iPad.

Compared to a MacBook, that I’ve never had, I think the touchscreen, pencil and tablet form are much more useful than the MacBook’s traditional laptop form factor. This is still where the MacBook falls down (and where the multitude of Windows based 2 in 1 ought gain something back).

By using cross platform software (OneNote, Outlook, Edge, Google Docs/Slides) I’m not tied to OS. So working at home on my iMac, at work on my iPad, upstairs with the Surface or (for reasons I can’t think of) on the gaming PC, I have access to all of my work, synced across the lot. Even if I do log into the Windows PC at work I can access everything. But I find myself using the iPad as my preference. I like it’s pencil the most.

One thing I haven’t tried is one of those paper-like screen protectors that a couple of folks at work use. I might see if there is one for the Surface, experiment with that. Or what about the Surface without the Type Cover and with the paper-like protector… hmmm

The couple of people at work (one has the 12.9” iPad) use Goodnotes instead of OneNote. For me, that means my Surface, my PC and my work computers can’t link to my work.

Oh, non work related – I did connect an xbox controller and the iPad Pro easily coped with a couple of games (Pathless & Genshin Impact). This is definitely something that the old iPad Pro 9.7 (and to be honest, the Surface Pro) struggles with.

Overall, super happy with the iPad Pro

2021 – Another big year

Well 2021 turned out to be even more of a strange and significant year than 2020. Again, with my wife and I both in “essential services” we weathered the COVID lockdown storm better than a lot. We did have a couple of near misses, mostly me, with being close contacts and having to test or isolate. But so far we’ve dodged it. We are both fully vaxxed and so are our kids. Mrs and I both have had the booster too.

About Bikes

The Ninja didn’t see as much riding as expected. The lockdown had me at home about 3 days a week so it didn’t commute as often. Worse, the MotoGP, for which I had been planning and organising for most of the year, was cancelled at about 100 days out. Still, we did get in a ride to Canberra and to Newcastle, both of which went well. So it’s not all bad. It’s approaching 42,000km now with almost 40,000km of that being my own after 3 years of ownership. Possibly the lowest tally of any bike I’ve owned?

On the way back from Canberra via Kangaroo Valley

I am planning for the MotoGP this coming year. With Jack Miller and Remy Gardener both in the main game it will be exciting from an Australian perspective. Otherwise, the bike might see only a little riding as I don’t think I’ll be commuting as much on it.

I bought a tent and some other stuff that I will plan to use in 2022

As for the other two wheels, I’ve spent a little time in lockdown getting used to cycling again. I did plan a whole bunch of mountain bike rides as the lockdown finished and work wound down, but weather and life found a way to block it. I’m hoping January will be different.

Actual dust on my MTB for the first time in 6 years?

About Babes

Mrs and the eldest both carry on fine. The younger one starts high school in 2022. Not much else happening there. One plays Genshin Impact whenever she gets the chance. The other swaps between Switch games and Roblox. Again, with enough devices and steady internet, they completed their own schooling from home without any drama during our lockdown.

About Bytes

Of course, the biggest news there is the final gasping death of the PC. My 1st gen i7 has finally gone dark (and I mean this literally, no post screen even). I suspect the actual culprit is the 9800GT. Sorry, Mrs, looks like I’ll have to buy a whole new PC, this one is dead….

Yes, that’s a 11(?) year old video card. Probably 11 years of dust too.

So I did. I’ve ordered an 11th Gen i5. I did want to get a 12th gen, but my budget won’t stretch that far. It’s also going to be a mini-ITX case, so much smaller than the mid-tower it replaces. I’ll post a full description in a week or two when the parts have arrived and I’ve built it.

Not really a lot else in this category. I’ve saved up enough that even on top of the emergency PC purchase I am still intending to upgrade my 9.7 iPad Pro to a new one. I may hold off long enough to see if they do add the M2 chip or the mini-LED screen makes its way to the 11″ Pro before I do. The Surface has had much more use this year, so the iPad is less urgent.

Dungeons & Dragons continued well also. I’m running two groups at the moment and playing in two games. I think it will be a little much in 2021, so I plan to wind up one of the games I’m running (the Ghosts of Saltmarsh) and move the Wild beyond the Witchlight game to Friday (as a replacement). I also plan to leave one of the other games, probably the Sunday crawl. It’s more of a home-brew than a straight crawl, and a lot of fun, but I’m more interested in the story from CoS. Though perhaps if my character dies, I’ll pull the character from the home-brew as my Dwarven wild magic sorcerer is proving a bit of fun too. I also messed about a little with Battletech again, which I have enjoyed. I wonder what it would be like against a real person… (I imagine I will lose terribly).

About Me.

Well last, and by no means least is the decision to finally make the official career switch that has been building for about the last 5 years. Next year will see me as a full-time primary school teacher. While I won’t have my own class, I will have a set schedule so I will be able to work on finalising my proficiency, ready for my own class the following year (fingers crossed).

It is a big life change and certainly at the beginning when I am at the bottom of the salary pile, I think things will be a lot tighter at home than they have been for some time. Thankfully we have ourselves pretty nicely set up and things like upgrading the PC and the iPad are already budgeted.

A GIANT decision

Well, yesterday I took a huge step and submitted my resignation to my current employer of the past 27 years.

The main reason for the decision at this time is that they wanted us to move to Melbourne from next year. While we quite like Melbourne, we’re settled here. And have a life here etc.

So yesterday I submitted the paperwork and as of January 2022 I will be leaving. This gives me time to finish up my current position before I go.

And so from January 2022 I will be a full-time casual Primary Teacher. Hopefully I can get something steady, like a class contract for a term or year. And I will get good experience and look towards a permanent position.

Onwards to the new life….

Teaching – My first steps.

I realised that I posted the entry about ordering a new laptop, but hadn’t actually mentioned that I have started teaching on a part time basis. So here is the set up.

About 5 weeks ago, I realised that with this being the last term, and with only about 8 weeks left, that if I took 1 day off per week it would only use 8 days of leave. Now I have a bit stored up with all of the COVID effects this year, so that wouldn’t be a big loss.

I ran the idea past my boss who supported it. I have kept them informed of my ongoing plans to leave so it isn’t a surprise and I am certain that helped getting their support.

Then, apart from the usual bureaucracy that needed to be completed, I started putting my name forward to local schools.

And was immediately taking bookings and turning them down. Many asked me to teach on days I had said that I was not available. Going by the requests, there are a lot of days available as a casual teacher. I could almost have worked full time from pretty much the moment I introduced myself. Amazing.

So far I have worked at two great schools, across a range of classes. Even now, only 5 weeks in, I am seeing a lot of different classes and situations. A large part of my work so far has been just taking a class for a couple of periods with work set for them. This is the easy end. But I’ve done one full day on a class (without planned work) and even been in the situation that I’m sitting in front of the class as the bell rings to start school, creating their task as I’m speaking!

Behaviour management is the most obvious thing to create stress, especially as a casual. There is no chance to build the relationship that the class teachers use to manage. Equally, you don’t know if any of the kids have current issues (autism, language problems, partly deaf….), or even what the dynamics within the class are (X hates Y. D and C are always talking if you sit them together).

I am struggling with it, but not to the point where work isn’t getting done (or rather, lessons are still being taught and reaching the majority of the class). And I am experimenting with different things.

Overall, I am happy with my long term plan and the choice I have made. I am torn between wanting my own class (build relationships, watch the kids develop, create really interesting plans…) and being able to walk away from a class at 3pm and not worry about reporting, discipline, organising resources etc!

At the moment the casual suits. And my boss has made positive noises for letting me do something similar next year, for the entire year.

Now I need to work on making myself available for blocks of days…… “Hey boss! Would it be okay…..”

My first laptop… almost

One of the first things I’ve discovered in my few casual teaching days is that some schools, the teacher brings their own (school issued?) laptop to the class, but this also means that when they aren’t on class, they may have the laptop with them. This means that I can be in a class and have no IT. This is certainly something that can be worked around, but isn’t ideal.

This was the last push that got me thinking about finally upgrading the iPad Pro 9.7 I’ve been using for the last 3 years or so. I would have preferred to stay on Apple, but until Apple has a touch screen, pen enabled, convertible (perhaps?) laptop (oh, they do, it’s called an iPad), then I think they miss out. The other factor is that NSW Public Primary schools are currently all Windows based. And of course, since they are super interesting, I’ve decided to buy a Surface Pro. So it’s almost getting a laptop that is still really a tablet?

Now it has been some time since I’ve had a laptop. And yes, I consider the Surface basically a laptop as it runs a full desktop OS, unlike Android or iPadOS. My first laptop was an Apple Powerbook 145B in 1993. Then we had some mid range Dell in about 2004, which we ended up giving to a friend in about 2005. Then nothing since the iPad in 2010.

It’s probably not quite the right time as I suspect sometime in the next 4-6 months they will announce an upgrade to the current Pro 7, but I might need this as early as next week, so I needed to do something.

I had seen them about 2 months ago at an amazing 20% off. But at that stage I hadn’t decided what I wanted to do (and I hadn’t had my first teaching day back then). So when I did decide, they could only go to 10% off and not off the accessories. I also found that the Microsoft website does 10% off everything for educators and students. But the Black Friday sales were only a couple of weeks away. I decided to wait.

Black Friday sales opened on Wednesday and both the retailers and MS were doing 20% off, with MS still doing the 10% off the accessories and throwing in a sleeve as well. I ordered off MS.

I had settled on the i5 8GB RAM and 256GB HDD version. It was more than I wanted to pay to get the i7 version, and even doubling the RAM was a little more than I was happy to spend, especially when you add about $500 of accessories (type cover, pen, mouse). I knew the i5 would be fine for my use, HDD space can be expanded with USB and cloud storage. And I’m fairly certain the i5 and i7 have the same onboard graphics. However the sales meant I could get an i7 16GB RAM with 256GB HDD for less than the original i5 price. Plus the accessories came down to just over $400 and a free zip up sleeve to carry it all in.

So order placed.

Shipping details arrive…. accessories scheduled for this Friday. Awesome. Surface itself, Monday.

Argh! Frustrating.

DHL let me delay the first deliveries, so I’ll stay home Monday and everything is scheduled for then.

Exciting.

It’s amusing to note that I suspect it will be a more powerful gaming rig than my desktop, which is a 10 year old 1st gen i7 (i7 850).