Fabulous Friday: Sharing with you my exciting plans

So...this week; in between lesson planning, university, getting my head round some tricky Spanish phrases and attending a very poor theatre performance of 'Alien's Love Underpants'; I have been organising some rather exciting projects which I will be working on in June 2014. 

On Wednesday 4th June next year, I will be journeying over to Asia. There I will be teaching English as a foreign language in Hanoi, Vietnam. 

Education is something I am highly passionate about. I believe every child has the right to an education which develops their personality, talents and abilities to the full. I also believe primary education must be free for all children. It is something we take for granted in the UK, but elsewhere in the world 61 million children are still being denied their right to go to school (UNICEF, 2013). For others, poor teaching and facilities, or poverty, deny them the opportunity to fulfil their potential. Other factors excluding children, especially girls, from education include social attitudes and the pressure to work. For too many children who do go to school, it is not the positive experience it should be. Schools' should be protective environments equipped with trained teachers and adequate resources. 

Education is becoming an increasingly important issue in Vietnam. Traditionally, agriculture has provided jobs for the masses, but this sector’s growth has plummeted. Nowadays, international commercial trade governs the Vietnamese economy, especially in major cities such as Hanoi. This economic shift has created a greater demand for skilled labour and particularly a workforce that is multilingual with English being the main language required.

In recent years, access to primary and secondary education has risen significantly and schools have received increased levels of funding. Furthermore, there is a greater focus on physical, psychological, social and emotional growth, alongside general educational achievement. English language training was introduced into the national curriculum in 2010 as the government continue to recognise the importance of the ability to speak English to young people.

Schools’ in Vietnam really are grateful for any sort of input from a native speaker, whether just practising the alphabet with a small group of 6 year olds or holding a conversational English session, a bit of creativity and enthusiasm can make a difference and I feel I can really put my skills to good use.

For more information please visit my page:

http://www.gofundme.com/54n0do

Reference: United Nations Children's Fund (2013) Education. Available from http://www.unicef.org.uk/UNICEFs-Work/Our-mission/Childrens-rights/Education/ [Accessed: 8 November 2013].

Tuesday Temptations: Banana bread with blueberries

I absolutely love baking and seem to have a real gift with the blueberry themed delights! Blueberries add so much to a banana loaf. In addition to the berry flavour, they almost make the banana bread even more moist, without letting it lose the texture. Biting a slice of banana bread with blueberries is very much like having a slice of a berry cake: juicy and fruity, but without all the butter. 

A couple of things to note with this one:
1. The nuts element is entirely optional. (I personally wouldn't because my 2 year old sister is highly allergic to nuts)
2. The key to a moist and flavourful banana bread is to use very ripe bananas. Wait until they turn black on the outside and are really soft to the touch. When peeled, such bananas are still white inside but very soft and mushy, not really holding their banana shape. Mashing such bananas with a fork is very much like stirring a smoothie: effortless! That’s when bananas are at their sweetest, granted they don't look particularly edible from the outside!

Banana bread with blueberries

Total time: 1 hour

Adapted from Simply Recipes.

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup blueberries

1) Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2) In a large bowl, mix mashed bananas, Greek yogurt and melted butter, using wooden fork or spoon. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix just enough to blend the ingredients; do not over-mix, the lumps will work themselves out.

3) Add chopped walnuts (optional...I think you get the gist now) and whole blueberries to the batter and mix them in to distribute evenly through the batter.

4) Butter a 4×8 inch loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with grease proof paper, butter the paper too. Pour the batter in the pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Note: lining the bottom of the pan with grease proof paper ensures that the bottom of the bread will not get stuck. 

Monday Musings: Teaching

Love it!

Other tips from me for surviving teaching:

- Keep in mind: Every day is a new day

- Remember: We all make mistakes

- Nourish yourself: Work/life balance is important and you must know when to stop

Friday Fancies: Sparkly Pumpkin fun

With Halloween horror in the air pumpkin carving is a popular tradition in many households. We don’t celebrate Halloween but with an abundance of the classic Autumnal vegetable in the supermarket it seemed a shame to deny Lollipops the opportunity to paint and decorate one just for fun!

It’s great to try out new and unusual canvases for art work, and the spherical shape of pumpkins makes for an interesting change to the conventional.

I pulled out whatever I could find around the house and in my creativity box: glitter, PVA glue, beads and poster paints. The poster paints didn't take to the shiny waterproof surface of the pumpkin particularly well and so next year I think I will invest in some thicker paint like acrylic.

At 33 months she loved this messy, decorative hands on activity! Her older brother carved a face for it beforehand but this isn't necessary. Let's face it boys will be boys.

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!