School was school, and it was ok. We did some work on religion and prejudice in PSHE - again my kids surprised me with their deep and insightful comments. I can't believe how perceptive some of them are, or even how well they can justify their opinions. They were stars - if only they could be that way all the time. The rest of the day was pretty much normal, and then the Year 8 incentives (good behaviour) club session in afternoon tutor time ran again, and I took sports again, and it was out in the sun and all the kids were running around, and it was just lovely to be a teacher right there and then. Obviously taking the Y7 girls' football club after school kept the high going.
That said, our school is a greenhouse at the moment. The company that installed the ventilation has apparently gone bust, and so the bits that are broken can't be fixed yet. Given the massive glass roof and the number of rooms without external windows, well, parts of the school are unbearable. AND it's only May. Luckily I have windows that don't get too much sun, and I can prop open my classroom door to get a breeze going. Still though, it's going to be a long term heat-wise.
The builders are back and seem to be digging a trench round the front of the house. Exciting times, especially when it comes to having to practically vault across said trench to get home. Fun.
I looked up some good info today about cyclones, tornadoes and hurricanes, what with all the drama and sadness in Burma/Myanmar. Here it is for you, courtesy of Yahoo Answers:
All areas of low pressure are cyclones. So technically a tornado and hurricane are both cyclones. The terms hurricane, typhoon and cyclone are all used to describe the same type of weather system. In the Atlantic and East Pacific they are hurricanes, in the West Pacific they are typhoons and in the Indian ocean and Australia they are called cyclones or more specifically tropical cyclones.
It is also true that some people in the midwest will call tornadoes cyclones, which they are.
I finished reading Inheritance of Loss. It's a sad book, but wonderfully written. I wish I could capture moments and create visions like Kiran Desai has - there are parts where you can't escape, that's how vivid it is. I felt the same kind of apprehension reading this book as I have only mostly felt with films/tv before, that's how into the story you can get. But, like I said, despite a little glimmer of positivity and hope at the end, really, there's too much turmoil and unsolved difficulties for me to be happy about it. Anyway, I am done with that and by chance in the library I found The Stone Diaries, which the guy in our photocopying room recommended to me. Given my recent criticisms of Pulitzer prize winners, I have decided to re-open my mind and give it a go. An easy place to start - this book was short-listed for a Booker as well, so I don't have to leap too far in my first few steps. I love the opening quote:
(From "The Grandmother Cycle" by Judith Downing, Converse Quarterly, Autumn)
That said, our school is a greenhouse at the moment. The company that installed the ventilation has apparently gone bust, and so the bits that are broken can't be fixed yet. Given the massive glass roof and the number of rooms without external windows, well, parts of the school are unbearable. AND it's only May. Luckily I have windows that don't get too much sun, and I can prop open my classroom door to get a breeze going. Still though, it's going to be a long term heat-wise.
The builders are back and seem to be digging a trench round the front of the house. Exciting times, especially when it comes to having to practically vault across said trench to get home. Fun.
I looked up some good info today about cyclones, tornadoes and hurricanes, what with all the drama and sadness in Burma/Myanmar. Here it is for you, courtesy of Yahoo Answers:
All areas of low pressure are cyclones. So technically a tornado and hurricane are both cyclones. The terms hurricane, typhoon and cyclone are all used to describe the same type of weather system. In the Atlantic and East Pacific they are hurricanes, in the West Pacific they are typhoons and in the Indian ocean and Australia they are called cyclones or more specifically tropical cyclones.
It is also true that some people in the midwest will call tornadoes cyclones, which they are.
I finished reading Inheritance of Loss. It's a sad book, but wonderfully written. I wish I could capture moments and create visions like Kiran Desai has - there are parts where you can't escape, that's how vivid it is. I felt the same kind of apprehension reading this book as I have only mostly felt with films/tv before, that's how into the story you can get. But, like I said, despite a little glimmer of positivity and hope at the end, really, there's too much turmoil and unsolved difficulties for me to be happy about it. Anyway, I am done with that and by chance in the library I found The Stone Diaries, which the guy in our photocopying room recommended to me. Given my recent criticisms of Pulitzer prize winners, I have decided to re-open my mind and give it a go. An easy place to start - this book was short-listed for a Booker as well, so I don't have to leap too far in my first few steps. I love the opening quote:
nothing she did
or said
was quite
what she meant
but still her life
could be called a monument
shaped in a slant
of available light
and set to the movement
of possible music
or said
was quite
what she meant
but still her life
could be called a monument
shaped in a slant
of available light
and set to the movement
of possible music
(From "The Grandmother Cycle" by Judith Downing, Converse Quarterly, Autumn)
