Three Mondays to go!

Another Monday down. Three more Mondays of term left. Hopefully in the future I will never have to "work" on a Monday again.

Weekend was lovely, as usual. Went to Oxford, and also spent lots of time with X, lovely. Legs are very achey after a pretty hard-core gym session, but it was worth it for an excellent night's sleep last night.

Oddly felt a bit restless during the day, but made up for it after my nap in the afternoon, being super-productive marking and writing complaint letters-wise, giving me lots of time to work on the BoK and also look up some WWOOF-ing in the summer. Have decided I want to work at a rural educational centre, so will hopefully learn some agriculture and also work with kids too. Three potential ones in Somerset, Devon and Snowdonia, so would be ace if I could get two weeks or so at each.

What else? The ICT systems failed this morning after a power-cut on Friday so we were left with no means to do registers, use phones, access email and student data, no internet, no access to servers (and thus files/programs stored on servers) and no IWB access. This was the most critical, since our super-high-tech school has made no provision in most classrooms for ordinary white boards. This means that should the network/your PC crash, then you can't use your classroom board. Believe me, it's pretty difficult to teach maths without having something to write on. Luckily only had two lessons to teach today, and I enjoyed having an excuse for not writing my Y10 reports or my Y8 tutor reports. Plus it was pretty ironic that we were told in the staff briefing this morning that we will be having an ICT inspection next week, hahaha.

I have to make my NQT folder, which will be a tedious paper trail I suspect, but I guess it has to be done. I also have to have my "transition point 3" meeting to talk about what I have learnt this year and what I will do with it. I made the joke that I am "transitioning to freedom" in the staffroom today, which got some laughs. It's true though.

Apart from that, nothing major to report, except little brother is back, which is really cool as he is fun, but also a bit tricky since we argue a bit and I nag a lot and he does things that wind me up a lot. Fingers crossed we will get on alright. I think we are just too similar as people. Oh well, I will try and be a bit more easy-going.

Right, time for some Stephen Fry.

A good day's worth of ramblings

I was going to lesson plan but I really wanted to ramble on my blog first so here I am.

A good first day back, mainly because my head of department came and shouted at my Y10s again and then they were good (albeit perhaps for one lesson only) meaning that we actually did some work and I didn't have to shout over them and thus the rest of the day was good. Disappointingly I had to move my classroom tables from the group work formation they were in back into rows of desks so that I could split up the kids and hopefully stop them talking a bit. I also had to go back to seating them in alphabetical order. Two kids just wouldn't conform to the new set up and so truanted, while one was kicked out twice. Thus I spent some time calling parents today, but that was ok.

In other news the general incompetence of the people in charge of internal exams meant that the maths exams for Y7 and Y8 didn't happen today after all, and so we had to teach them. My impromptu lessons were ok though, I am pleased and I managed to write up one set of Y7 class reports, meaning only one more class to go there, yay!

Most of the day was spent thinking random thoughts that I wanted to post up. Firstly R, one of my colleagues, told me about WWOOF, which is this cool organisation whereby volunteers go and work on organic farms and gardens in return for food and accommodation. She went to Norfolk over the half-term and had an awesome time, so I am thinking maybe I will get a bit more self-sufficient by learning some of this stuff myself this summer. Secondly she told me about a book called "Grow It Eat It" about fruit and veg growing and recipes to cook with, which was a lovely book (made for kids!) and really captured my imagination.

I also spent some time contemplating how relaxed my holiday has made me in that things that normally stress me out haven't (and hopefully won't). For example I was called up in assembly today to give out merit certificates for my tutor group and accidentally had the clip on my trousers undone and the kids pointed it out to me, which should have been mortifying, but was actually quite funny. Also facebook keeps messing up when I try and load my Malta photos, but that's ok, I can do it another day. Also my little brother is running for the Cambridge Union, meaning he is now officially a hack, yuck, but oh well, whatever makes him happy.

Going back to assembly, it was on the environment and the UN World Environment Day. In an exciting move forward our school is finally going to get its recycling sorted, yay! The assembly itself was pretty inspiring and carried the message "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" which I am going to try hard to do. I made my first big step today by switching my credit card, bank account and mobile phone bills all to digital versions, meaning less paper posted to me.

The last thing I was thinking about was how much drama there is with football managers at the moment, what with Mourinho going to Inter and Sven formally getting the boot and maybe being replaced by Mark Hughes, and also how great it is that we have the Euro tournament to tide us over until halfway through August when the Premiership kicks off again. Football is so dramatic and ridiculous sometimes. I mean, can you believe that the Glazers would potentially turn down £70m from Real for Ronaldo, even if he refuses to play for Man Utd, and instead just force him to sit on the bench just cos they can?! Talk about trying to prove a point.

I had a nap at 7pm today after dinner, against my usual belief that 7pm is too late if you still wanna go to bed at a decent time, and am feeling mighty refreshed from it. There was an article in the Metro about sleep spas and how 39% of people surveyed said that they felt so tired at least one day a week that they just wanted to go home from work. There was also this woman that lost 3 stone over a year simply by taking power naps. I knew naps were good for the soul.

Right I really should get back to my lesson planning if I want to read any of the books I am browsing through at the moment. I currently have three and picked up a fourth today that I want, so I think maybe I will put the other three aside and read this new one, and then come back to them. Hmmm, but perhaps that is the mistake I made each of the other times? Perhaps I should just focus on one.

Oh and finally, I can't remember if I mentioned it already, but please make sure you see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull just because it is so awful it's funny. And if you're still bored after reading all of this you can text 'JOKE' to 118118 today for free to get a nice joke from them, hahaha!

Living in Dust

Our house is a SERIOUS BUILDING SITE. It's full of dust and making me sneezy. And other dwarves too. I wish I could move out while all this was taking place. I also wish I had a huge storeroom for all my tat so I could just store it away and be happy with my hoarding, rather than having to sort through it and throw some of it away. I hate throwing things away. I do like sorting though.

Today was a good school day. Mondays are getting better, mainly because I am still on a high from the weekend. That said, this was the first Monday I've actually taught this term (one training day, one bank holiday, one sick day) so perhaps it was novelty value.

I spent the whole weekend doing fun stuff, and also the whole weekend with X, which makes me smile tremendously. I am now plotting ways to make the weekdays as good as the weekends. This is going well with regards to this half of term, but patently next half will be far busier, what with report writing and exam paper marking and not having any lessons planned etc. Still, that's the final push, so it'll be ok. This is despite the fact that teachers seem to be leaving the school in waves. Poor kids, no teachers want to stay there, but that's what happens when your school is nuts.

This week's word of the week is METICULOUS, which I like. Last week's was EMANCIPATE and the student sentence that won the prize was "Abraham Lincoln emancipated the slaves, but why did he wear that ridiculous hat?" Hahaha.

I'm off to shower now after playing with all that dust. Then I am going to sit and chill now that most of the ground floor is completely uninhabitable. Woo.

School and Sun and Books

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:

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

(From "The Grandmother Cycle" by Judith Downing, Converse Quarterly, Autumn)

A Ramble From School

I have 48 more teaching days left. This seems like a lot. I prefer to think in smaller goals – 18 days to Malta for example, yay!

Actually I am having a stellar day today. It’s lunchtime at school and the sun is shining and the report writing software isn’t quite working so I can’t write the 150 odd reports I have to do, so instead I am enjoying myself. I taught a good lesson with my Y8s – dividing with decimals, something I thought was difficult, but which they really jumped on. My Y10s too were good, mainly because loads were absent, and because I changed the seating plan, and because I was stricter and they just decided to work today. That was all good.

The best thing about today though is how I just woke up on the right side of the bed, and it was sunny, and so I am happy and smiling and feeling cheery. I think it is also to do with my new found ideas of survival and sufficiency and “taking it back to the old school”, in that so much of what modern society does seems pointless to me, so I am eventually going to just rid my life of it, and instead live on a nice tropical island by the sea and spend my days doing productive things like growing my own food and securing my own water and energy, and reading and writing and playing, just working on living rather than doing some pointless employment to get money so that I can live in our modern society. Sure, there are things in modern society that I value, like medicine and education and welfare etc. but there are lots of things that I would change, but seemingly can’t, so I guess I will just escape from them.

Anyway so I decided I would spread my good cheer and vision around the staffroom, which has genuinely worked wonders, if only with regards to making people smile. Loads of people shared their own visions with me, like moving to the Caribbean, living in the country, breeding dogs, not being hungover(!) etc. which was really cool since just on the news this morning they were saying how fewer than 50% of people meet and speak with at least one neighbour in a week – we are all just too busy rushing around to be involved in the neighbourhood. Thus I have decided that today I will reach out to my school community and plant little seeds of peaceful rustic life in them.

What else? I had an awesome weekend in Oxford and London, making me realise there is loads more to life that the daily stress and strain. I realised though that I have been bailing on things, like drinks and socials and stuff like that, mainly because other things have more priority. I think that perhaps I will have to stop the bailing and return to trying to do more things, since I know time is limited, but so are friends and so I should try and do more of their things with them. Just a bit more, but more all the same, I’m sure I can fit it all in. Besides, it’s only polite J

Right, it’s almost time for afternoon lessons. We are going to watch a maths video and do worksheets since the Y9s have had SATs all day. Plus it’s sunny outside, why work too hard?

A Secret Socialist

I am thoroughly enjoying myself this week. School is cool. I'm ahead of my planning, and doing my best to keep on top of my to-do list, so things are mostly working out. Plus, NO MARKING, yay! I really think it's the naps and knowing that I will have a few hours each evening to do what I want in, it really makes a difference.

As I mentioned yesterday, I'll be in school tomorrow, but I'll be striking in spirit. I think I am becoming progressively more left wing. Back in the day I used to think striking was an absolute scandal and a disgrace, and thought that trade unions should have been banned. But now I see why they are really important, and fully support the NUT's actions tomorrow.

Further, I was browsing the London Mayor Election booklet, and found that the most appealing candidate to me was Lindsey German of the Left List. This was based purely on campaign policies, but then having done a little bit of research on the Left List, I have realised that I have been secretly socialist all along (at least, on most aspects) and just never acknowledged it. How odd. I wonder if this will last, or whether I will stray back to the centre once I leave school?

I am reading Monkfish Moon and it is making me crave Sri Lanka. I want to finish it tonight so I can go back to The Inheritance of Loss and get really into it. I feel like this week is still a bit like a holiday, so I better enjoy it while it lasts. Even if I do have to work tomorrow.

First day back with the kids

First day back with the kids. Was kinda dreading it, but actually it went really well. Despite all the time-wasting, managed to plan the week's worth of lessons, and the sudoku starters went really well. Found out I only have 7 more lessons with my Y9s before their SATS, and only 7 more lessons with my Y12s before their AS paper, good drama!

Was cool to have my tutor group back again, and there's just something about the summer term that makes me happy, it's just nice to work in the sunshine I think. Today has been a lovely day weather-wise, plus I don't have any marking to do, and I got to have a nap, so generally I am in an awesome mood.

Other good things include the wonderful Dina sorting out the half-term escape, woo hoo! I am also pretty psyched about the weekend, since I have decided to get all my planning done tonight and tomorrow night after all, so that I can play all weekend. We're going to see Avenue Q on Friday night, which will be hilarious, and then a big night on Saturday, and I am trying to wangle my Sunday with X, so it'll all be good fun I think, and thus I am looking forward to it. And then it's only 4 weeks to half-term, and only one of them is actually a full week of teaching for me, so that'll be awesome. I shouldn't get too used to four-day weeks, it'll mean after half-term will be shocking. Oh well, enjoy the present right?

My school is an academy so we're not part of the NUT strike on Thursday. This is controversial in my opinion, since even though our sponsors set our salaries, they are in accordance with government pay scales, plus, more importantly, the whole point of the union is that the members stand together, whether an issue directly affects them or not. Collective action looses power if some members don't take part, and I feel a bit like my right to stand up for my colleagues has been taken away without my consent. Another negative of the academy system...there's no way the whole country could strike for the staff of all the academies because you can only enter a dispute with one party at a time, and so those people not employed by academies wouldn't be able to take part in any pay dispute we had with our sponsor. The other thing that isn't right about this is that just because we work for an academy at the moment, that doesn't mean we always will, in fact, there are so many more government run schools, that chances are our future employers won't be academies, so we should get a chance to stand up for our future.

Anyway that rant over, another thing I want to ramble about is homophobia in school. Two kids in my tutor group came to me today and said they had been joking about "lesbian friends" and that a girl in Y11 had gone a bit nuts and threatened them. I spent some time trying to explain that it's offensive to say what they were saying, just like racial terms can be offensive if used in the wrong way. The kids just couldn't see the similarities - they knew and agreed that using certain racial terms in certain way could be offensive, but were adamant it was ok to joke about homosexuality because it "was just a joke" and "it's not real anyway". I'm not sure how to educate them about this without being seen to promote homosexuality, which, as far as I understand, is a no-no, particularly in our "Christian-ethos academy". Hmm, something to think about.

Right, time to lesson plan. In front of the football of course.

I am really happy because...

• • I got my MSc in Sociology offer from Oxford today!
  • Y12 parents' evening only last 1 hour
  • I taught 4 really good lessons today
  • I didn't have to write a single incident sheet
  • My tutor group had a really deep and mature PSHE lesson on death lesson 1
  • I was observed with my top set Y8s lesson 4 and got some great feedback
  • The Advocates (Y12 mentoring) launch event last night was a great success and my kids are really inspired
  • Some more Y12s have offered to run extra coaching sessions for my Y7 footballers
  • I got a new phone off my brother
  • Bertie is back in the country and I'm going to see him tomorrow
  • I don't have to work in the City any more
  • I've applied for another job at TF, which I probably won't get, but am glad I've tried anyway
  • I get to see X tomorrow
  
  A long list and a really good day. And now it's time for bed. Cool.
  

A good day, even with drama

Today went well. Mostly. I had some lovely attendees at my maths support club, and all my lessons were good - I think I gave out about 20 merits in the day, that's loads. Y10 were really great, worked really hard etc. I think my day depends on Y10 and my tutor group - if they are both good, then the day is good.

Have two kids on blue report (danger of exclusion) and one girl currently excluded, plus some other TROUBLEMAKERS. Wish they could behave better. On the plus side, had a discussion with my Learning Log mentor, and he seems to think we're making good progress on the goals. This is despite the Head of Y12 having to postpone the Cambridge trip that I spent ages trying to organise. Grrr.

Only have one set of books left to mark this week, yay! Also, tomorrow is World Maths Day so I figure I will take my classes to the computer rooms so they can take part online. Obviously this is a recipe for disaster since the website will crash and the kids will riot. Oh well. I am happy right now.

One minor drama today though. Apparently I have had so much time off school that I am in danger of not passing my NQT year. That is awful bad news, equivalent to failing, I can't be doing that. Except I have already resigned my post, so it'll be tricky to have to extend my training to another term. Plus I don't want to have to come back in September, I already have a job lined up. I can't believe it really, I'm slightly shocked, since I was so highly rated last year, and now this year they think I'm going to fail. Crumbs. Better pull my socks up. I'm sure it'll be fine...

That's all for now. National Bed Month remember? Go to bed!

One day down

Inspection day 1. I escaped, hurrah!

Turns out planning and being prepared and creating exciting lessons and putting some effort in actually leads to better teaching. Who knew eh? If only I had the time to do this kinda work all year, well, my kids would surely benefit. This patently explains why I was such a better teacher last year - I just had more time to do it in.

Figured I will get seen tomorrow, am already a bit scared. One of the inspectors is a maths specialist, and I am the most junior in the department, and the only NQT, hence it's guaranteed. Really hope it's not with my Y10s. Also am teaching lessons 1 to 4 back-to-back, so it's a STRESS anyway. Hmm. Don't forget Y9 parents' evening tomorrow night too, and then it's Friday week A all over again, great!

What else? It's my mother's birthday today, we're having a dinner party, guests have just got here (or so it sounds) so will pop a look in, but then scramble off to bed, my throat is still sore.

Looked up some words from Atonement:

garrulous - full of chatter
equanimity - composure; steadiness of mind under stress
lariat - a cord tied as a necklace that ends like a necktie

Also love this bit from p90, it got to me:

"The anticipation and dread he felt at seeing her was also a kind of sensual pleasure, and surrounding it, like an embrace, was a general elation - it might hurt, it was horribly inconvenient, no good might come of it, but he had found out for himself what it was to be in love, and it thrilled him".

Bertie, high fives :)

The news said today would be miserable but...

...not for me! I am feeling pretty damn good. It's 21:35 and all that I needed to do today is done. I feel like I have nothing that I have to do right now. It's a good feeling.

Listening to Lupe. Sick. Maybe I feel a bit like a Superstar myself.

Today was definitely a stay day. I taught three good lessons, had minimum drama, and maximum support from my mentor, head of department, and induction tutor. All these pep talks are adding up. Really, I can't quit, it'd let too many people down. Plus today I feel good about it all. I just have to keep remembering that there are good days.

So I got my observation feedback and it was pretty good. She said that she had seen me teach better, but given that I was hyper on Friday, it was reasonable. Seems my energy came out in the good bits, since I got high ratings for teaching and behaviour for learning. Progress, challenge and assessment were all rated a bit lower, but I'd like to think that was because my teaching made the kids find the work easy, rather than because the work was easy. It patently wasn't easy - converting between fractions and decimals, that's tough stuff for level 3a/4c 11 year olds!

I think the bit that made me feel the best today was the fact that ALL of my Y9s turned up to my whole class detention after school. I was expecting like three of them or something, but apparently my rage at them got the message across. So seriously did the kids take the detention that one parent phoned in, and two got notes from their folks to excuse them. I let the kids that had behaved on Friday go within the first 5 minutes, and everyone else was really well behaved in the detention. My head of department remarked that this was a really good thing - that the kids want to learn from me and they respect me after all. Hopefully this is true, and now that I've been cross with them, they'll start behaving. Y10 were also better today, good.

What else? I played this memory game with all my classes today, it's ace! And hilarious that I can do the same stuff with 11 year olds and 15 year olds and they all get on with it. Also, this article about sleep and mobile phones. I've taken to putting my phone on proper silent at night to stop me waking up, but occasionally I mess this up and put it on super loud instead, leading to a massive shock if it goes off at night.

So fingers crossed tomorrow is as good. And that Spurs win. Time to cane the rest of my scrabble games and then for the early night I have been looking forward to all day :)

SHOUTING!

I was a shouty teacher today. It was great! I usually can't shout, and really by the time it got to lesson four I was quite drained by it all, but on the plus side behaviour was soooo good and I actually got to teach stuff almost all the way through my Y10 lesson - unheard of! Also PSHE with my tutor group was lots of learning, I like it. I could almost get used to it, although clearly I can't be a super shouty person all the time. That said, the more experienced teachers say that if you can get it down at the start, then the kids know where the line is and so will behave accordingly. Plus if you over-use your shouting it becomes ineffective; the kids learn to drown you out. But today, being super strict and nipping things in the bud, along with a few readings of the riot act, really worked a treat.

I have set my first homework of the term. Tomorrow I will set five more classes their homework. Which means next week I will be marking marking marking again, grrr, I hate marking. We have a super long staff meeting + twilight INSET on Tuesday, which will be knackering, and I have a meeting with the corporates on Thursday, so essentially I should go to bed now to catch up on the sleep I will lose. Clearly that won't work though, this weekend is also pretty hectic and I'll have to work Sunday. Boo. Oh well, it was nice to not be sleep deprived for a while.

No comment on Arsenal - Spurs last night, except that at least we didn't lose.

And finally, J from my tutor group has been away at Disneyland over Christmas and today was his first day back in school. He bought me this, bless...

Being a positive teacher

I had a bit of a dodgy night's sleep last night. Lots of hours and everything, but kept getting disrupted, grrr. Thus this morning I was cross and resolved to hand in my resignation first thing. I am prone to dramatic extremes.

Anyway, my crossness rapidly dissolved when I entered my classroom and found my lost blue earring on my table! One of the cleaners had discovered it in another room, which cheered me no end. So I resolved to be positive all day to repay the good karma.

My classes were all really ace - I forget how much fun school sometimes is, and also how much I enjoy it. Obviously soon this feeling will be weighed down by the marking and incident reports and bad behaviour and bureaucracy, but for now it's ok.

The best bits were in Y10, when one of the girls said she really liked maths this year because of me, and when another stayed back after the lesson to show me the extra work she'd done in the holidays. Also in Y9, when I told the kids they only had 15 mins left of the lesson, and they remarked that they had no idea where the time had gone, the lesson had passed by so quickly. I took this as a good sign - when time goes quickly for me it's cos I'm enjoying whatever I'm doing.

Y12 made me laugh too. We're beginning the topic on gender and educational achievement, discussing stereotypes and expectations for different genders. We had a lengthy and comical debate about what we were like as children, and whether it's ok for boys to cry. All five of the girls in my group are "girly girls" so I was surprised to hear that three had been tomboys. Similarly, one of the very laddish and comedy boys told me he'd played with his own Barbies as a kid, setting up families with his dolls and Power Rangers. Funny stuff.

Only my tutor group were tiring today. They just talk too much. My new island table layout doesn't help much since now there are even more people for each child to talk to. However, instead of complaining, I have decided to create an inter-table competition for the class, so that good behaviour is rewarded on an individual and table by table basis. I've made a lovely poster and hopefully the kids will respond to the league table style set-up, and behave better. On the poster making note, I also made a "star table" poster to put up in the window next to my "students of the week" poster. The idea here is that each week the best table out of all of my classes will be photographed and put up in the window for all to see. Obviously by best table I mean the best working kids on a table, not the table itself, that would be rubbish, they are all boring and identical.

I have 25 pages of Love in the Time of Cholera to read (it is getting seriously good, and sad, they are all old and about to finally accept their love) but realised today that my copy of The Reluctant Fundamentalist is due back this weekend, so may try and blitz that in the next 3 nights instead. Tactical.

Smiley versus Panic

My gosh, there's SO much to do for school next week, picnic panic!

More than things to do are the things to know. I don't know where anything is, or what any of the rules or routines are. Plus I have to spend 3 hours with my tutor group on Monday teaching them all this new stuff that I don't know. Aaargh!

I haven't planned any lessons or made any seating plans yet. I am not yet in teacher mode. Hmm, I really should put my head on properly.

Yesterday I failed at my drinking resolution, but it was so worth it. I've decided to adapt it so that I only drink on Fridays and Saturdays, and not in a crazy extreme way, excellent. We had an old school reunion, was so much fun, everyone was totally grown-up and stuff, ace. It was great to see what people were up to and reminisce about funny times at school. I'd forgotten a lot of the silly things we'd got up to, particularly the boys, and also all the gossip and scandal. I think the best thing about old friends is that it's really easy to get straight back into the banter, and also the intimacy. I had a real deep and meaningful on the way home with an old flame, and on one level it was like we were still 18, and on the other hand it was cool to be where we are now.

What else? Today I have decided to be a smiley smiley person. Actually, not decided, it's just happening. As a result, lots of people are smiling back at me and giving me lots of banter and generally making me feel good. Aaah, back to the good days, it's almost as if it's not worth worrying about school at all.

A good first day back

I am feeling pretty damn good today. Thus I shall write in purple.

My good feeling is despite a crazy night's sleep....or should I say tossing and turning in sweat-soaked sheets as a result of numerous vivid dreams/nightmares (so no, not tossing and turning in a good way). Resolution #1 is suffering a bit.

I left for school with 11 minutes to spare, and managed to complete the 12 minute journey in just 10, thus arriving at 8:29am. This was a good start, even when I found out that apparently I didn't have to be in until 9, whoopsie. My classroom was leaking, but it didn't matter, I decided to focus on the positives and get on with it. We did lots and lots of unpacking, with the music on loud and lots of silly chatter. I was dreading going back to school, and obviously there will be some tough times, but today was really good. I think it was mainly because it wasn't too challenging, and also because our staff are so solid and such great people to be around that it makes it easy.

What else? Well, I was trying to explain to a colleague about how my situation was similar to Berbatov's when she asked me why I hadn't done any preparation for this term. She doesn't know football though, so it was a useless analogy, but honestly I feel like that, in that it's difficult to throw yourself 100% into something and be entirely committed when you're not sure you'll be there next season, and when you know other "clubs" (aka employers) are after you anyway. Still, I shall try.

Other resolutions are going well, particularly living in the world of the imaginary. Managed to run 5.5km purely on the power of fantasy. Excellent. Am also adding resolution #7: try and do some small something good for someone each day. Build up the good karma.

On the Peter Pan front I realised part of my confusion stems from the fact that most of my knowledge is pinned on Hook, which I have since learned is a sequel to Peter Pan rather than an interpretation of the actual story. However, given that I understand Hook, I have faith I shall understand Peter Pan eventually too.

I am not doing any of the work I am meant to do. Instead I'm going to watch Bruce Almighty and contemplate the selling of Berbatov. I'd be sad to see him go, but it'd be worth it if we could buy a defence with the money.

Ooh and finally, I heard a great word today - globesity! It's the topical term coined by the WHO to describe the global obesity epidemic. I love it when you put two words together to make a new one. I also love it that obesity is now considered an epidemic, implying being greedy and lazy is contagious.

Feeling Good

I am about to go and practice my piano. For some reason I decided it was more important to blog first. This is despite our hilarious lesson on Sunday night where I quite openly talked to my hands. Jade was shocked. I have since clocked that it is never ok to talk to your hands or explain how sometimes they are independent of my control.

I am feeling very chilled and mellow. I like it. Perhaps this is my normal stage? I can't remember really. David Gray is playing in the background. Not literally, though that would be awesome. It's just the CD, but I love him.

Last night I got more than seven hours sleep for the first time in ages. Long overdue and absolutely splendid. I woke 4 minutes before my alarm, just like I used to be able to do, and only spent 10 mins contemplating when I could next get into my perfect bed (whilst brushing my teeth) but after that I was zooming and ready to go. I had a good day despite not being able to fully "project" (my voice). This is probably because I have removed all the parts of my job that are really tedious i.e planning, assessment and reporting, leaving me with just class-room teaching, excellent. Obviously this isn't a long term solution, but I like it for now.

Seriously, half-days are perfect for me, coming home for lunch and having a nap then hitting the gym and giving me my evenings free is just awesome. Earlier I contemplated becoming a part-time receptionist for some doctor or something. Clearly a bit pointless with the uni degree and all, but maybe the simple life is what I should be aiming for?

Something else I contemplated today was whether I could drink a pint of tea. I am still undecided on this.

Went to boxercise for the first time in ages today, didn't really fancy running or weights. Was great, my body is properly aching, in that nice way. I get such a kick from exercise, it's bizarre. Today was extra good because the bionic Chinese lady was there. She's like 40 and tiny and the only person I know who will regularly out-work the instructor. The 50 year old blond gym bunny woman was also there. I like it when they are there because then I have some competition. Pushed myself hard, and during the warm down the chap was playing some Motown track with the refrain "it hurts everywhere", which was so true. Strangely he played a lot of samba during the session, not sure why.

We're going to the Cuckfield tomorrow, yay, Fruli! Can't wait to see you girlies!

250! And a wedding

It's my 250th post! So I shall try and make it a good one.

Let's get the tangents out of the way. Haven't been to school all week, don't really want to talk about that, enough said. Diwali on Friday, happy Diwali everyone! Watched a really sad documentary about the conflict in Sri Lanka, made me feel really rather awful for not being satisfied with all the blessings we've been given, when there are people crying in Sri Lanka because they've lost everything, and their "everything" could probably be replaced using the cost of one of my little brother's average shopping sprees, and there are "death squads" and landmines and soldiers and all kinds of nastiness over there. I feel sad for them all, I really do.

On a more positive note, my father pointed out how life here is a blessing in disguise. Tamil people here are for the most part doing exceedingly well. This success was clearly evident at my cousin's wedding last night. If you know me, you know that I go to a lot of weddings. And I mean a lot. It's traditional to throw huge weddings, with your parents inviting almost everyone they know, and throwing a huge party and all that. But last night's wedding was different.

Firstly, my cousin D was marrying her long-term boyfriend F. D is Hindu, F is Muslim. Controversial, you'd think, but actually no, since she's converting (I think). Anyway, they had a far smaller affair, about 150 people, at The Palm Court in the Waldorf Hilton. This place is big time fancy, such a lovely venue, apparently it featured in the Titanic, or inspired scenes in it or something. Loads of marble and grand staircases and pillars and gold etc. The wedding itself was delightful, not just because it was only 30 mins long! Tamil weddings frequently run to two or three hours, with breaks in the middle, changes of costumes, food and drink served, people walking in and out. This was nothing like that.

My favourite bit was how so many different cultural aspects had been combined. D walked down the aisle with her parents and the whole set-up was like a church wedding, except with a hilarious Australian registrar. Sisters and friends gave readings from The Prophet Khalil Gibrain, Shakespeare, ee Cummings, Blake, and an Apache wedding blessing. They tied a thaali (a thick gold chain that a married woman wears) and swapped garlands, but they also swapped rings and made vows to each other (beautiful vows, I wish I had printed copies). The string quartet played Pachbel's Canon, Air on a G string, and Handel's Water Music. There were no crazy drummers and musicians, which while I love at the start of the wedding, when my ears begin ringing I get cross. The music and readings and everything was all moving and romantic and lovely. And the party after, wow, excellent DJ, great food, chocolate fountain, and catering for all the alcs on my side of the family by setting up a sneaky outside bar so that we wouldn't offend anyone!

I think it was all about details with this wedding. They had a guests' memory book so that people could sign their well-wishes, and also the video guy got people to record wedding messages. Everyone was dressed impeccably, both the families are prosperous, generous, and welcoming, and so things went wonderfully. Actually, it's more the sort of wedding I'd like to have, rather than a huge crazy thing where everyone tears their hair out and you can't remember half the people there. But we shall see. Check out the photos on Facebook. Oh and F's youngest brother, 16, gave a speech, which he opened with "funny how history repeats itself. Twenty-eight years ago D's parent sent her to bed with a dummy. Tonight they're doing it all over again". Hahaha!

So school tomorrow? Hmmm...

Round Two

After spending most of last night tossing and turning (not in a fun way), I stood in front of the bathroom mirror this morning and gave myself a little pep-talk. Once again I decided it was time to 'fess up at school and get some support, but as usual, when it comes down to it I can't really declare anything, which means I can't get the time off. Pretty much trapped on that front for now.

Anyway, doesn't matter, Spurs won last night so decided I should just plough my way through school. It was alright.

Particular highlights:

• rolling on a condom on a rubber willy before 9am, and having to explain what self-stimulation was
• hearing that my form had received so many complaints across the school that "serious measures" were to be taken (hahaha, at least I'm not the only one being driven mad there)
• "E" from my tutor group slamming her bag against the wall twice within the space of 10 mins
• my Y10s taking my slightly insane behaviour from yesterday to heart and so behaving today
• my Y7s understanding the concept of negative powers of 10 (crazy stuff, some kids will never get that!)
• my Y9s actually learning in the computer room, despite "M" coming back and causing drama with "T" who had decided that bunking maths to go to random other lessons was no longer feasible
• a kid in detention actually apologising for his behaviour and giving me a lollipop

I made a bit of a mistake today - I mentioned to someone that I wasn't going to stay for next year. Whoops.

Am also cross about the salacious TF gossip that is flying at the moment, you can't trust anyone these days. Hahaha, bit of a contradiction there actually, given that I half bare my soul on here on the regular. But still.

Civil Service Day

Tuesdays are meant to be the most productive days for UK workers. Am I feeling productive today? Kinda. Am I channeling this productivity? Not exactly. I do have grand plans - completing my uni applications. These plans are not quite at an implementable level. I have completed one though, so half the battle....most of that was already done though.

Reasons I am not working:

• I lost a scrabble game by 11 points, when it was in the bag until an entirely unforced error. Boo.
• Spurs lost last night. Again.
  
• I have a slight hangover.
• The lovely lovely staircase polisher man is singing along to Magic FM.
• I woke up at 5am and couldn't go back to sleep. This too wasn't that bad, meant I could daydream, giving me control of my screenplay rather than just having to accept whatever my mind chooses. Enough of that.
  
• I am still a bit high from yesterday and can't really be bothered to focus.

So, yesterday. It was the TF Government and Civil Service Sector Training Day. A really good day, learnt a lot about the Civil Service, how the Government is structured, how policy is implemented, the various roles civil servants can take on, the opportunities presented by the Fast Stream, a snapshot into the life of an MP etc. Very informative. Two highlights: visiting the House of Commons, and being taken on a whistle-stop tour of Whitehall while being simultaneously taught about the structure of our political system by lovely Irish Steve.


I didn't know that members of the public can actually sit in on parliamentary debates, but we can, you just have to request a ticket for the Public Gallery from your MP. You can find out who your MP is using theyworkforyou and then email your MP using links from the site. My MP was super efficient (a reason to vote Tory?) and got me a great seat.

We watched questions to Des Browne, Secretary of State for Defence, which was really good and detailed. The department under question gets questions submitted to them 5 days beforehand, and then they have to prepare all the answers. It's good to know that other MPs are questioning the actions of various departments, and also that there's a bit of checking and balancing going on even within the Labour party. I was a bit shocked at how the MPs behaved around each other, lots of heckling and cutting each other down etc. but the Speaker was a good referee and kept them under control (kinda reminded me of dealing with a rather enthusiastic class!)

Anyway this was all exciting enough, but then at about 3:20pm loads of MPs started coming into the Commons and we were all trying to figure out why. Then the big-shots came in too - Cameron and Brown. Mr Brown delivered his speech on the EU Treaty hot off the press, was really cool. Annoyingly we had to leave before it got super juicy, but it was pretty awesome to watch the whole thing and also see the Prime Minister and Charles Kennedy and Ian Duncan-Smith and others too live in action. I wanted to say live in concert there, heehee.

The crazy tour made me a laugh, mainly because Steve doesn't know I did politics at university, and also because I am shocked at how little I remembered from first year...clearly the years of drinking have knocked me out. Bless him though, he answered all kinds of questions and even dealt with my endless comparisons of our government being a large football squad and the Cabinet being the first XI. So despite being really rather hyper all day yesterday, I was on good form and it was educational.

Still a bit gutted that Spurs lost last night, but on the plus side I had a lovely evening with Mouche, with lots of walking and drinking and laughing about silly things. London at night by the river is SICK. It was strange, we were walking through these side roads in the cold cold back to the tube station and Westminster was just silent, it was like being in some village somewhere, very nice. I think the coldness helped keep me sensible, I am proud.


Right I'm going to have a nap to prep for some squash later this afternoon. Rouse, a shout-out to you, I am still laughing at you today, you're hilarious! Maybe I will dream of you and cakes...

Sunday Funday

It's Sunday night. Am I lesson planning? Errrr NO! Hahaha, it's half-term, I don't have to! Enjoying these days off so much is probably going to come back and bite me seriously hard in the ass, but oh well.

I am feeling pretty damn good, I think it's something to do with a quality gym session, gorgeous olive ciabbatta, good coffee and chocolates, Sunday papers, wearing jogging bottoms all day, many other things too.

Perhaps it also has something to do with not being hungover. A typical holiday will usually start with a lash, but I have managed to keep it respectable. This is despite losing the rugby last night, oh dear, sad stuff. Commiserations also to Lewis Hamilton, what a shame there, although as my father pointed out, F1 isn't a proper sport and seriously damages the environment for no good reason, so maybe I don't feel as bad there.

Anyway, I sense this jolly mood may soon be diminished as even though I have good intentions for a relaxing week, these intentions will not be realised. I'm a bit too busy for my own good, with drinking opportunities aplenty. Further to that, I have decided it will be good to plan an entire half-term's worth of lessons (that's almost 150 hours of teaching!), catch up all my marking, AND complete and submit my university applications. Not to mention tomorrow is completely taken up with the Civil Service Sector day. I think the week will go before I know it. Doesn't matter though, after such a lovely chilled day today doing all the things I like on a Sunday, a little bit of hard work won't hurt.

And finally, I am convinced Matthew Tait and Daniel Radcliffe are long lost brothers...what do you reckon?