Can you pay by card?

Random sweet memory from the last week: my four-year-old told me he's changed his mind and no longer wants to be a train driver when he's older, but "a universary school teacher like you."

Random sweet memory from the last week: my four-year-old told me he's changed his mind and no longer wants to be a train driver when he's older, but "a universary school teacher like you."

It was *the* replacement for coffee in occupied France in WWI too, presumably also in Belgium... I once had it, alongside sugar from beetroot for the full Northern French experience, and it wasn't too bad!

Talking to my four-year-old in French, pointing out a ray of sunlight (rayon de soleil), and he makes a bilingual pun on 'rayon de miel' (honeycomb) by saying, "Sunnycomb". Very proud.

Alors "enjamber", pour toi c'est un "*pas* du tout"...

(Il doit y avoir également un jeu de mots sur "nous enjambons" et le mot "gammon" en anglais mais je n'y arrive pas).

An edited list of responses on how to improve a module, highlighting 'more jokes' and 'keep the jokes going!'

A list of feedback on what students liked about a module, with 'The puns on the PowerPoints' highlighted.

Some student feedback on my modules this term. Nice to know at least a few people appreciate my attempts at humour. One day the fusion between stand-up comedy and teaching will be fully complete.

I took off my glasses to clean them, only to realise my right nose pad has fallen off. I'd argue it's more annoying than losing an iPad. I won't be able to go to the opticians until Wednesday, so until then I'll no doubt make a real spectacle of myself.

A woman on the train is angrily discussing pet insurance on the phone with her mum: "I don't understand it. Okay, I'll just put it into Copilot to work out what's best."

Stop outsourcing your thinking, people!

I ended up knocking and saying I had a class, albeit apologising as I did so then hating myself for that.

And it's happened again for the seminar of this module. Sigh.

It's been a difficult term of teaching, especially juggling returning from research leave with my son starting primary school, so I'm even more delighted than I would've been to have been nominated for a Student Choice Award in Inspiring Teaching!

For the @alcs.co.uk users in the audience - it looks like our statements are available in the members area!

I just had to end my first-year survey module lecture on a bum note, because the lack of time meant I was running 2 minutes over myself, and when the colleague teaching after me came in to set up, I was embarrassed so finished up instantly. No grand drawing together of all the topics, no big hoorah.

This term is nearly over, and one thing I've noticed is that I've never experienced so many colleagues teaching 10 minutes longer than they should, taking time out of my lectures and seminars. Very frustrating.

To be fair, another James Connolly had a more impactful and better take on St Patrick's Day: www.marxists.org/archive/conn...

As a child, St Patrick's Day used to mean receiving a card and a tricolour harp badge from my grandparents to wear in school. Now, it means getting WhatsApp messages from older relatives. Thus my family's Irish diaspora experience moves with the times, but becomes less visible to others.

As I got off the train, I stood behind a man holding a briefcase and another tapping away at his Nokia 3310. It was like I'd gone back in time.

For a guy who claims to not like to dwell on the past, he really is spouting a lot of rubbish about the past.

Hope whatever the surgery was (not prying) went well, and that you recover soon!

Space opera?

L’histoire par les textes - Aphg Antiquité Moyen Âge Période moderne Période contemporaine Thèmes transversaux Historiographie Liens utiles N.B. Les documents portant sur les séquences intermédiaires entre plusieurs ères (antiquité t...

Il est là, tout chaud grâce au colossal travail de compilation réalisé par @andreloez.bsky.social pour @aphg.bsky.social : le site l'Histoire par les Textes rassemble, grâce à la collaboration de nombreux enseignants ayant exercé à l'université, brochures et fascicules. www.aphg.fr/lhistoire-pa...

I also feel there should be a distinction between liking and loving something, and the heart blurs the line. But maybe that's my native Anglophone brain refusing to get on board with the complexity of 'aimer' in French etc.

The irony is that to 'like' this we have to click on a heart.

I too have this problem. And for anyone teaching twentieth-century French history more generally, a lot of INA.fr's links have changed - in some cases, videos have been removed entirely.

In an increasingly depressing world, I can't offer insightful takes on current events but I can offer mild distraction via lots of puns and silliness about the French Revolution and #FrHistory

Modern French History Seminar

You can also hear much more about the book at my book launch tonight!

It takes place at the IHR in Senate House, from 5.30pm. If you can't attend, you can always watch along online!

www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

🗃️ #skystorians

Just started listening to this on the train and enjoying it a lot! Two clever, funny people I know being clever and funny - but you don't have to know them to appreciate it.

In an increasingly depressing world, I can't offer insightful takes on current events but I can offer mild distraction via lots of puns and silliness about the French Revolution and #FrHistory

James Connolly - The French Revolution stand-up - dates and origins YouTube video by JEPC123

An extract from my stand-up routine on the French Revolution. Excuse the poor sound and image quality.

youtube.com/watch?v=SSLV...