I trust you have been worried about my absence. Obviously I had fallen off a cliff/got eaten by a shark/kidnapped by pirates/arrested for finally losing my patience with my mad kids.
Nothing so dramatic actually - our NTL crashed. No cable for a week, shocker! No internet either. Was a surprisingly good week; I am starting to believe all those people that complain that we are too "connected" nowadays.
I can't really remember the whole week, but some useful nuggets I picked up:
1. Try out the questions you set your kids before giving them the work.
This is vital. Nothing as embarrassing as work that doesn't work. Was teaching kids to make nets for pyramids (remember, those 2-D layouts that you can fold to make 3-D shapes), but the dimensions were wrong and so a pyramid couldn't be formed. My poor Y11s were utterly flummoxed by it all, but luckily didn't blame me.
2. Know your lingo.
I couldn't explain what a "length" was, despite doing a whole lesson on length, perimeter and area with Y7. Also, had no clue what the difference between tonnes and tons was (the former is a metric unit for 1000kgs; the latter is an imperial unit; I am yet to figure out if those words are singular or plural). And still don't know how much a centilitre is, or what a decimetre is.
3. Don't forget to do things that could be exciting.
I went to a forum on the future of entrepreneurship, which really inspired me for some ideas for our school project. The girls at football have loads of potential, and are psyched by the thought of playing some matches soon. I'm also seeing if I can get something sorted for Children in Need - maybe a talent show? Will be a complete feat to organise in 4 weeks, but maybe...
4. Quiet sometimes work.
Shouting, shouting, shouting - this quickly loses power. Being really quiet works too.
5. Talk to your kids.
On break duty on Friday, two Y7s from my PE class came over and told me about the love poems they'd made up for their new "boyfriends" (I think the extent of the relationship is standing together at break time, and also being able to tell other people that so-and-so is your boyfriend. Bless). The lines were so cute, stuff like "I love your smile, it makes me smile" and they all rhymed too. They offered to let me borrow their lyrics to text to someone special - I told them that their words were too special for anyone I knew :)
What other highlights of the week? Oh oh, on Monday, little Lucy in Y8 threw an absolute tantrum in maths over a 7 minute detention! She flung her chair to the floor, shouted all kinds of expletives, and stormed out of the classroom. Drama drama. I was a bit stunned, but managed to continue the lesson. Anyway, after trying (and failing) to catch her to set her a proper detention, and having her skive my Tuesday lesson, she finally came and apologised saying she had just lost her temper. Poor soul, she probably just had a tough weekend.
Observation last lesson on Friday was absolutely awful - I think the fact that one of my kids said "wow Miss, I didn't even realise we were doing maths today" about three-quarters of the way through said it all! Sadly this was the lesson on length etc. so obviously got lots of "constructive feedback".
And finally, am back on the good stuff :) After a 35 days off, and to celebrate the end of Lariam, I have returned to gentle, responsible drinking. Mmm, it's good, and I forget how cheap cheap Wetherspoon's is. Stevo, 35 days off drinking is not the same as 35 days off Fanta! And, ok, your salary is worse that mine, you win there.
Aaah it's the weekend, whoop! 2 weeks to half term!
Nothing so dramatic actually - our NTL crashed. No cable for a week, shocker! No internet either. Was a surprisingly good week; I am starting to believe all those people that complain that we are too "connected" nowadays.
I can't really remember the whole week, but some useful nuggets I picked up:
1. Try out the questions you set your kids before giving them the work.
This is vital. Nothing as embarrassing as work that doesn't work. Was teaching kids to make nets for pyramids (remember, those 2-D layouts that you can fold to make 3-D shapes), but the dimensions were wrong and so a pyramid couldn't be formed. My poor Y11s were utterly flummoxed by it all, but luckily didn't blame me.
2. Know your lingo.
I couldn't explain what a "length" was, despite doing a whole lesson on length, perimeter and area with Y7. Also, had no clue what the difference between tonnes and tons was (the former is a metric unit for 1000kgs; the latter is an imperial unit; I am yet to figure out if those words are singular or plural). And still don't know how much a centilitre is, or what a decimetre is.
3. Don't forget to do things that could be exciting.
I went to a forum on the future of entrepreneurship, which really inspired me for some ideas for our school project. The girls at football have loads of potential, and are psyched by the thought of playing some matches soon. I'm also seeing if I can get something sorted for Children in Need - maybe a talent show? Will be a complete feat to organise in 4 weeks, but maybe...
4. Quiet sometimes work.
Shouting, shouting, shouting - this quickly loses power. Being really quiet works too.
5. Talk to your kids.
On break duty on Friday, two Y7s from my PE class came over and told me about the love poems they'd made up for their new "boyfriends" (I think the extent of the relationship is standing together at break time, and also being able to tell other people that so-and-so is your boyfriend. Bless). The lines were so cute, stuff like "I love your smile, it makes me smile" and they all rhymed too. They offered to let me borrow their lyrics to text to someone special - I told them that their words were too special for anyone I knew :)
What other highlights of the week? Oh oh, on Monday, little Lucy in Y8 threw an absolute tantrum in maths over a 7 minute detention! She flung her chair to the floor, shouted all kinds of expletives, and stormed out of the classroom. Drama drama. I was a bit stunned, but managed to continue the lesson. Anyway, after trying (and failing) to catch her to set her a proper detention, and having her skive my Tuesday lesson, she finally came and apologised saying she had just lost her temper. Poor soul, she probably just had a tough weekend.
Observation last lesson on Friday was absolutely awful - I think the fact that one of my kids said "wow Miss, I didn't even realise we were doing maths today" about three-quarters of the way through said it all! Sadly this was the lesson on length etc. so obviously got lots of "constructive feedback".
And finally, am back on the good stuff :) After a 35 days off, and to celebrate the end of Lariam, I have returned to gentle, responsible drinking. Mmm, it's good, and I forget how cheap cheap Wetherspoon's is. Stevo, 35 days off drinking is not the same as 35 days off Fanta! And, ok, your salary is worse that mine, you win there.
Aaah it's the weekend, whoop! 2 weeks to half term!
