Positive feedback

I really need to learn how to take compliments. I got some good feedback from the lesson I was observed teaching yesterday, and my instinct was to squirm and come up with all the things that were wrong with it. Sooner or later in my life I'm going to have to accept that there are some things I am good at, and I'm going to have to deal with people praising me for doing those things well. People sometimes assume I'm fishing for compliments when I put myself down, but quite often I genuinely think I'm not doing a good enough job whatever the evidence to the contrary. It's the same with personal compliments; at the weekend I saw a pupil from my form when I was out in town. She commented that I looked nice, and quite cool when I wasn't dressed like a teacher. Rather than taking it as a compliment, I took it as an insult to the way I dress for work, which is not the way she meant it at all.

The deadline for Fantasy Football at school looms ever closer, and I have still given no thought to my team except trying to decide whether to risk Thierry Henry or not. I didn't do very well last year, which was a source of great amusement for my pupils, so in a way I have nothing to lose, but it would be nice to put together a slightly better team. Unfortunately, I haven't really been following the Premiership recently, and I'm not sure I can be bothered to do my research, so if any of my boundless multitude of readers have any hot tips, please share them with me.