To Twitter or not to Twitter...

That is the question...

What I like most about Twitter is its simplicity.
Can you string together 140 characters? Sure you can - it is just 17/20 words?
So having established that let me assure you that you can use www.twitter.com and it does have many benefits.

Why should you bother to look at another online site? Maybe you are already on LinkedIn or Facebook or Utube and MySpace.

Then again maybe you are just looking to join the virtual friendship /business/relationship world. If so, Twitter is ideal for a novice.

Well a good enough reason for me, is that social networking experts are promoting the virtues and power of this latest on-line phenomenon.
Secondly, it is fun and fast.
And as someone who subscribes to a "Do it Now” philosophy for jobs that take two minutes and less Twitter is a must have plug-in to my online life.

It is good to link up with faces new and familiar and find up what they are up to. Was one of your new year's resolutions to stay in touch and be better connected to old friends? Twitter could be your new best friend!

The content of the Tweets and the quality of the people I have selected to follow is good on the whole. I have learned some great tips and ideas and shared a few as well. And as I type one new Tweeter is leading me to some potential speaking opportunities.
Let me, as someone who has only been using Twitter for about a month and thoroughly enjoying the experience, offer a few tips to you now:

• Take a good look at the bios of those you are considering following
• A return follow is not mandatory although always worth considering
• There is an option to un-follow or block but with your screening or selection process in place this unlikely to be required
• Check @Replies and Direct Messages first, as this is where I have found my most valuable information
• Chose an eclectic mix of people so that you get a wide variety of "tweets" to inform and inspire, laugh or loathe (yip a few will make you groan and moan and hehe that is good too!)
• Look at whom your favourites are following and consider doing the same
• Promote Twitter to your circle of contacts, friends and family - keeps you in touch - and raise your online presence
• Organisations use Twitter to inform membership – savvy schools posted closures on Twitter this week
• Major businesses, rich and famous use Twitter to create community and generate interest>sales
• Find out how to link Twitter to other sites and save time (lots of great ideas on Tweets as to how to do this)
• Select a Twitter-time in your life stick to it - otherwise you could find the process rather time consuming and maybe even addictive
• Give it a go for a couple of months - if you like it and see benefits -stick with it - if not - just stop twittering on

Read more on Jackie Cameron's great Blog

12 hours old and counting

7 Ways to be a Cool Fat Cat website is live!
And it has been a joy to build.
Steve Otton at Apple Store Manchester has been a great teacher however, I do have to say that Macs are so-o easy to work with and so sensible, logical, simple and straightforward. Cool kit for Cool Cats.

Please visit the site and comment.
The simple strategies behind the 7 Cool Fat Cats are designed to work over a period of ninety days. This is a known success period in goal achievement terms. Just to 1% (yes just one per cent) extra each day and at the end of 90 days (yes ninety days) you will see an improvement of 90 per cent. (yes nearly 100% increase!)

Wow!
Ins't that worth giving a go?
What if it works?

Log on now and make a start...

Bullying by Stealth - TES

"We spend the best years of our lives at school, although few pupils realise it at the time. But what about teachers? Can they honestly say that education is as rewarding as they would wish it to be? It should concern us all that many teachers answer that question with a regretful “No”, because there are few professions which are as vital to the future of a nation as that of teaching.
We entrust not just the intellectual wellbeing of our children into the hands of these dedicated men and women, but also the social and moral standards that society needs to uphold if
civilised behaviour and care for others is to cascade down from generation to generation.
I’ve spoken to many teachers about the great satisfaction, the spiritual reward, they obtain from seeing young minds and souls bloom and grow under their care. But sadly, I have spoken to many others for whom the classroom is a place of stress, anxiety and unhappiness."
Chris Roycroft-Davis

Chris wrote these words as part of the forward in "Love your Life.." and the reason the came to mind this morning is because I was reading in TES an article about Bullying by stealth - The drip-drip-drip of management bullying is wearing away at teachers.
If you have experienced this kind of treatment or know of a colleague who has been on the receiving end of bullying, please share your thoughts and ideas.

You might find the download "Dealing with Difficult People" available at eilidhmilnescom useful.

You will simply have to register to gain access to the free download materials.

A-List Readership!

I have often said that I have the best of clients.
Now I think I can extend that to the best of readers too!

Dear Eilidh,
Just letting you know that I am enjoying the book that Geraldine Masson gave me as a leaving present on my departure from Wheelock Primary.
I like the common sense approach and the use of stories particularly the story of Teddy and Mrs Thompson! It does rather remind you why we are in this great profession.
Since I last saw you at the Deputy Heads Conference, I have been very busy: Successful Ofsted, achievement and attainment significantly improved for past 2 years, completed my NPQH alongside my Masters degree in Educational Leadership and Management (just!!), leadership and management visit to Cape Town schools through LECT ( now that was an experience!) and I have just been appointed as Head teacher to a large urban primary in Stafford (Flash Ley Primary School), a very different catchment from Wheelock but I have the same aspirations and expectations from that community.

I really like the 'Seven Ways to be a Cool Fat Cat' many of the concepts I already try to adhere to but some have focused me on improving those aspects of our characters/leadership that need a bit more TLC!! I have enjoyed reading about ensuring the profession doesn't take over our lives and am making sure I spend as much playtime with my own children as well as deciding to transfer my Territorial Army Commission off the Reserve List and back into an active unit, well all work and no play makes a very dull day. Overall I will certainly be recommending the book as it is so easy to read compared to all the other stuff out there, and I did enjoy the familiarity of knowing several of the names quoted from within the Cheshire area! Best of luck for the future and keep up the good work!

Regards
Gareth Morris
Wheelock Primary School

P.S. On my departure the kids in my class asked me “Now you are a Headteacher are you going to have to start acting responsibly?" My response was asking them what they thought the chances were of that happening. Their loud and enthusiastic reply was a unanimous “No way, not a chance!"...They know me too well!

Please let me know your views and news.

F1 World Champion

Did you see the final of the F1 this weekend? It was drama and tension right to the last corner! And as family of Formula One fanatics... it was a true triumph.

Whether or not you caught the race, it cannot have missed your attention that the UK now has the F1 World Champion in Lewis Hamilton.

He is an amazing young man with so much determination and skill. Lewis had lazer focus on his dream. He believed in himself. He knew that he had what it takes; what was necessary to make him successful.

What can we learn from his amasing feat? Socrates said, "A warrior doesn't give up what he loves... he finds the love in what he does." And it is perfectly clear that Lewis has a passion and love for racing and this has embraced his entire family as well.

Never ever give up – even when things seem hopeless and slipping away from you.
Chase your goal with gritty tenacity.

There is a poem on my website called Don’t Quit!I recommend it to you.

Here is the first verse:
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must – but don’t you quit...

Just log on and register to read the rest of the poem and then you can download a variety of other resources too.

17 Reasons to be Grateful

I am thankful:
1. For the wife/ partner who says, “It's beans on toast tonight,” because at least she is home with me and not out with someone else…
2. For the husband/ partner who is on the sofa being a couch potato because he is home with me and not out at the pub…
3. For the teenager, who is complaining about doing dishes, because it means she is at home; not on the streets…
4. For the taxes I pay, because it means I am in work…
5. For the mess left after a party, because it means I have been surrounded by good friends…
6. For the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have plenty to eat…
7. For my shadow that watches me work because it means I am surrounded by sunshine…
8. For a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need attention, because it means I have a home...
9. For all the complaining I hear about the government because it means we have freedom of speech…
10. For the parking spot I find at the far end of the car park, because it means I am capable of walking…
11. For my heating bill because it means I am warm…
12. For the baby screeching in the supermarket because it means I can hear. ..
13. For the pile of laundry and ironing because it means I have clothes to wear. ..
14. For weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been capable of hard work. ..
15. For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours of the morning because it means I am safe and alive. ..
16. For too much e-mail because it means I have friends who are thinking of me. ..
17. And finally, I am thankful for the crazy people I work with because they make work interesting and fun!

Live well, Laugh often, & Love with all of your heart!

Give Thanks - Excerpt from "Love your Life..."

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of
all the others.” Cicero (Roman statesman and philosopher).

According to Emmons & McCullough, gratitude is the forgotten
factor in their research on happiness (2003). In this research,
under the heading Measuring the Grateful Disposition, most people
who reported being grateful (average rating of nearly six on a
seven-point scale), also had a sense of:wellbeing, prosociality, spirituality and were less materialistic.

In my experience, keeping a log book helps clients to focus on positive experiences and I am pleased that this opinion is supported in the research findings: “In an experimental comparison, those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic about the upcoming week compared to those who recorded hassles or neutral life events.”

Why not keep a gratitude log book? In troubled and uncertain times as we have in the world today it pays to focus on what you have... as opposed to what you have not.

Let me expand a little further on the four categories mentioned above:

Wellbeing: Grateful people report higher levels of positive
emotions, life satisfaction, vitality and optimism and lower levels
of depression and stress. The disposition towards gratitude
appears to enhance pleasant feelings more than it diminishes
unpleasant emotions. Grateful people do not deny or ignore the
negative aspects of life.

Prosociality: People with a strong disposition towards gratitude
have the capacity to be empathic and to take the perspective
of others. They are rated as more generous and more helpful by
people in their social networks.

Spirituality: Those who regularly attend religious services and
engage in religious activities such as prayer or reading religious
material are more likely to be grateful. Grateful people are more
likely to acknowledge a belief in the interconnectedness of all life
and a commitment and responsibility to others.

Materialism: Grateful individuals place less importance on
material goods; they are less likely to judge their own and others
success in terms of possessions accumulated; they are less
envious of wealthy persons; and are more likely to share their
possessions with others relative to less grateful persons.