Confessions from behind the whiteboard #1

Every Wednesday I'm going to write something real from the classroom. No tips, no press releases - just honest stories from behind the whiteboard.

This week, we're starting with why you should never be afraid to say the wrong thing in class.

Spoiler: nobody says worse things than me.

"Put your kids under your cars". That's what I said. Out loud. To a room full of adults who had paid money to be there in my first aid class. What I meant was: pop your child manikins under your chairs. What came out was something that probably should have been reported to Oranga Tamariki.

And then there was the jellybean incident. A whole sentence about treating jellybean stings instead of jellyFISH stings. Delivered with complete confidence.

And, we won't even talk about what I said I could do to a man on a blanket. Believe me, it was meant to be first aid related, infact, relating to moving a patient safely, but it certainly did not come out that way.

I've been teaching first aid for 25 plus years. I still get my words spectacularly wrong.

I tell you this because I know some of you almost didn't come. You were worried you'd freeze, or say something daft, or not know the answer.

Nobody in that room will ever out-fumble me. I promise you that.

Come anyway. Say the wrong thing. We'll laugh together and you'll still leave knowing how to save a life.