Sports Day and associated ramblings

Sports Day today. Much fun had by all. Very impressed at all the posters and chants and things the kids made. Also by the general behaviour and positive attitude throughout the afternoon - even some of the naughty kids were on their best behaviour. Sad not to run in the teachers' relay - can't wait for this knee to sort itself out.

Had a nice chat with Mr L (the epic former head of Y11 and now head of Y9). Taught me some stuff to do with behaviour etc. and how I shouldn't let the little monsters defeat me, but instead keep going and show them who's boss. He sorted out the nasty Y10 who had a go at me at break time. Basically tried to get her to turn her phone off - I didn't even try and confiscate it! - and she starts swearing and then turns and points to her face and says "does it look like I'm bothered? I don't care what you say" and then walked off. Nice. Between him and the head of Y10, who is also pretty damn good, the girl was in tears and later came and apologised in a very mature way. Was impressed there.

Obviously easy to do when you've got people around. Not so when I'm left to my own devices. Later in sports day, caught a Y7 hurling a cymbal into the grass (one class had bought a load of instruments down). When I tried to reprimand him, he just flew into a strop and refused to apologise or improve his behaviour. Similarly, three other Y7s were throwing water at each other. Managed to get two of them to stop but the third one just wouldn't cave. So in the end I kinda gave up. Wrong thing to do, but it just feels hopeless sometimes.

And finally, I got moved from being a Y11 tutor (yay!) but am now instead going to be a Y8 tutor (no!) for the current 7E aka "7 evil". I'm sure a few posts back there was week when they destroyed me. Oh dear. Still, I will try not to let the dread of next year encroach upon me already.

A quote from K to finish (she says she was quoting Gandhi): you must be the change you wish to see in the world. Right then, sounds easy enough...

Four weeks to go!

Plus plus plus next week I'm on second school placement, so not really school, and Y11 are obvy not coming back, and Y10 are on work experience for two weeks, so things should get better!

I sneaked home early on Monday after my last lesson of the day (end of period 3 - 12:10pm) justifying it to myself by claiming that it's just silly to expect someone to stay for 3 more hours just to cover a 20 minute tutor time. Sure there were probably useful things I coulda done in that time (marking, planning, WA4, the dreaded P word....PORTFOLIO!!!!) But no, decided I'd had enough and did a runner.

School is going ok, am a bit la-la land about it all really. Y8s went a bit mad today, one even stormed out of break-time detention. Called their parents etc. but the kids for the after school detention skived it, so have slapped them into the SLT detention on Friday. Had a department meeting, wasn't that interesting really. I still find that I hardly understand what they are talking about or why, but have hope that maybe one day I will.

Been covering 7E while their tutor gets over the shingles. 7E and I are not the best of friends, but I think we are making small improvements. The class has lots of weirdos in it and they are hard to control, but I think I am going to try and up my game with them a little bit. This afternoon's idea of talking about tips for the new Year 6 crashed like a lead balloon, but they soon got back on side when I let the well-behaved kids leave 5 minutes early. This is probably an unprofessional strategy, sending out all kinds of bad signals, but whatever.

Am more concerned about the camera I bought on ebay still not arriving - am convinced my postman nicks all my fun things, grrrr. Also have my first meeting with my careers coach tomorrow night, so need to think of some things that I want to achieve....hmmm....well top of the list is surely getting through the next four weeks!

PS Suggestions for the stress head include: counseling, happy pills, an extended leave of absence from work...essentially all kinds of things that I'm not interested in doing thank you very much. So will just have to get my head back in the game - can't be that hard.

Today and not today

Today was a pretty typical Saturday in lots of ways, and it also wasn't.

Before I start the story, some good points from Friday, when I was liking school for the second day in a row! :

1. My new Y7 class - after some moving round of the Y7 sets, I have a new, slightly bigger, Y7 group. Finally I get to do all the things that I shoulda done right at the start of the year e.g. expectations for behaviour, learning, equipment, attitudes etc. I think sense good things will happen with this class.

2. Expectations, again, for the London Youth games football team. REY laid down the law to the girls, and I think it'll work, so no more moaning and negativity, excellent!

So, onto today. Well, the day itself was pretty standard so let's move on to the evening. Firstly, it was my mother's old school's fundraiser/reunion night. This was actually pretty great - particularly since my mother is President of her old school society, so lots of people know her, and thus want to know me. But, from a less selfish perspective, the evening was really well run, the food was good, the entertainment was great, and I was so proud of my mother's speech and her dance and things, I could see how much she'd put into it and it had all paid off. So yes, stage 1 was good.

After that, I made my way to Nina's birthday party at The Moose Bar off Oxford Street. Before that, another good thing - Bertie called me :) Yes, it was lovely to hear his voice and also find out that he is back in good old Blighty, for one week only (just like Phil Collins) and so I am looking forward to seeing his lovely self. Back to the story then. At Redbridge station I was just minding my own business waiting for a westbound train. An eastbound train pulls into the station and lots of people get off. Among them was a typical Essex couple - tall blondey sporty looking man, shorter blondey slightly under-dressed woman. The woman was grumbling about something, and then, as she passed me, she stopped, turned around, and came up to speak at me. "What are you then? Muslim or Hindu or what?" I could sense trouble so I replied that I had no firm religious beliefs (not true, but really, she should be glad I replied at all). She went on to criticise my dress - I guess her point was that my skirt was too short, but she couldn't really get straight to the point, preferring instead to mumble incoherently. Anyway, I was a bit cross at this, but decided not to retaliate since she looked a bit like a heroin addict and perhaps she might have thumped me, which would make things difficult at school on Monday: "why do you have that black-eye"..."oh because I wasn't dressed like a good Asian girl"...."so did you Dad hit you?"...."no, it was this wiry little white woman at the station". Hmmm.

I couldn't figure out how I felt about this woman. No-one has ever really said that I was dressed inappropriately before, but then part of me was kinda glad that this middle-aged woman was concerned about the "youth" (I heard this word amongst her ramblings). Still, I was annoyed since it seems like she was only critical of me because I wasn't white, when it shouldn't matter - if that's what she believes, she should say it to everyone, regardless of colour. Also, can't believe she lives in Redbridge - where has she been hiding all this time?

CK called me up, asking what I was doing tonight. Turned out he had VIP passes to see the Sugababes (v. cool) but managed to bring Meera and Gid along to The Moose afterwards. This was a good and fun thing - I like them. Was also pleased to see some Forest crew tonight, particularly Ange, Liz and Fi, whom I haven't seen in a good while.

On to the final strangeness then. In the cab on the way home (no nightbus tonight!) Ange and Liz started discussing the finer points of drink driving and why I was such a cretin for doing it. It's true, I agree with them, I'm an idiot for ever driving home after a few drinks, let alone regularly. They tried to make me justify it, and I couldn't really, only on the grounds of convenience. But, despite taking their arguments fully on board, I'm pretty sure I will keep doing it. Why? I dunno really, perhaps because I think it's worth the risk. This would be an ok reason, if it wasn't so darn selfish. Lots of things are wrong in what I do, but I think this is an obvious one that I should try and fix. Add it to the list.

All in all a pretty balanced night, but not looking forward to the planning tomorrow (no hangover - yep I can sense that already!) but loving the weekend :)

Good and funny things about school

Finally a good day :) Because:

1. I got enough sleep.
2. I finally got to teach actual "challenging" maths i.e. something above what I did in primary school. My subject mentor has lent me the top 7 kids in her top set Y9 for me to do A/A* material with, and it's great! Yippee! Also I am working with my HoDs top set Y10 group on Mayfield coursework, which is actually quite good fun when you don't have to spend 10 lessons going over what the mean, median, mode and range before you can even start.
3. Y7 parents' evening - this was very tiring but good to speak to parents and tell them how much their kids have achieved over the year. On a slight downer, lots of lovely troublemakers from the top set will be moved down into my group tomorrow, which will obviously cause some nice chaos, excellent.
4. Hitting the gym. Shoulda done this a long time ago. My general fear that I might actually whack a kid has pleasantly subsided (I am convinced I have that IED thing that the Swiss Re banker who whacked his daughter has, bless her soul. Although obviously not as intense as him).
5. My Professional Tutor is returning! Yay Babs! And apparently she sent my professional mentor in school an email full of criticism about my mentor's lack of work, excellent! Aaah, despite all her controversy, I am a big fan of Babs, can't wait to tell her all the drama.

So, to reward you all for putting up with my grumbling etc. here are some funnies my uncle sent me. Yes, they are to do with exams, but this is supposed to be an education blog. Supposedly.

A good thing and a bad thing

I am worried. Today one of my Y8s completely lost the plot and started ranting and shouting and crying at me. And I kept my cool and just soaked it all up. Strange.

Those of you who know me from back in the day will testify that I have a bit of a temper. Bit being a slight under-exaggeration. Perhaps the only girl to actually commit a violent act ever in the history of our wonderfully prim and proper independent school, I had a reputation as a bit of a hard nut. Unjustified really, I think I just lost control occassionally. But only cos I was immature and bit of an idiot.

But today, really, I remember feeling like I wanted to smack someone for only about a second, and then it all just flowed outta me and I was calm. I called the kid's mother and she was very supportive, and I think I will try and demand an apology from him on Thursday. But with regards to this little episode ruining my whole day, well, it didn't.

The reason I am worried is that I think I have become apathetic. The kid's behaviour should concern me I'm sure, I should be dwelling on it and thinking about how to fix the situation and how to avoid it happening in the future. But I don't really care.

Aaah it's a slippery slope, soon they'll all be walking all over me. Burn-out anyone? Hahaha, yes, paranoia too.

In other news, I think my Y7s are loving our current work multicultural maths. So far we've learnt to count, read, write and do sums in Chinese and Roman numerals, solved a number puzzle written in lots of different numbers scripts, learnt about time zones, and made Vedic square patterns. Still to come are lots of Vedic maths techniques using computers, rangoli patterns, islamic art, multiplication from around the world, and tangrams/egg-grams. I love teaching this way, it's so much more fun than textbook work and the kids are genuinely enthusiastic about it. Bless, maybe I care after all.

Mind your f-ing language

Just watched an excellent Cutting Edge titled "Mind your f-ing language". Read the program synopsis here.

Basically it was about a school and it's swearing problems and the approaches it took to solving them. There was no real swearing policy and kids argued that swearing was a way for them to express their feelings. Hidden cameras showed the full extent of their foul language, some of which even made me blush. However, when privately surveyed, many pupils said they would be happier in an environment were swearing was more of a rarity rather than standard noise pollution. Poignantly, one child pointed out that perhaps poverty and injustice were bigger problems in the world than the odd c-word here and there. After consulting specialists and visiting other schools, the focus school implemented a one-week zero-tolerance no swearing policy, the results of which were mixed, but which ultimately led to the introduction of the school's first swearing policy.

The whole program was engaging and well made (clearly I don't get enough swearing at school so I need to watch it in my free time!) and got me thinking about swearing at our Academy. It's pretty low-level in classrooms but the corridors and playgrounds are peppered with colourful expletives. The perpetrators are hardly ever picked up on their language - I'm just as guilty as the rest when it comes to turning a blind eye at the swearing of random children. However, I'm sure it'd be a much nicer and friendlier place if the kids just thought about what they said a bit more carefully. Though that would imply a certain level of maturity not even common in university graduates!

Today was unusual in that there was swearing in both my Y8 and Y11 classes. I think the Y8 one was accidental - we were looking at pictures of cars as part of the car hire investigation and one child said one of the cars was "sh*t", but then clamped her mouth over her hand and apologised profusely. She got a formal warning for that. In the Y11 lesson one girl called a boy a "div" and then when I asked her to leave the room, she started complaining that it was all so "f*cking unfair". She got a full incident sheet for that one.

Anyway, a point was made in the programme that if children swear in the classroom it shows a lack of respect for their learning environment, classmates and teachers. I think I agree with this - I mean, I don't swear at them, no matter how much I want to! In fact my Y11s mock me for saying "whoopsie daisy" when I drop something, and my Y7s know they can't even say "crap" in front of me. But still, from tomorrow I think I will up my position on this.

Finally, this week is the last for Y11s before study leave. You'll be pleased to know that three of my kids forgot to bring their practice papers, thus completely missing the point of today's lessons. Worse, two of them proceeded to have a spirited conversation about farts and how best to release them in a formal setting. I was not pleased but frankly have given up trying to make them understand that perhaps GCSEs are a bit more important than they seem to think. I'd hate for them to learn their lessons the hard way, but I fear they may have to.

Drinking and Walking

I wanna have a nap but feel the need to update the old bloggy first.

I've spent all day with Y7 kids on the Bridges to Africa walk. 10km, 10 bridges, 1000 kids, and pouring rain. You know I loved it though, actually loads of fun, and our kids were so well behaved and good and didn't moan about being tired or bored or cold or anything like that. Even if they did start thinking about moaning, all we had to say was "think of the children in Africa" and they got on with it. Plus I caught up with lots of other TFers, many of whom I haven't seen in ages, so that was wicked too. A lovely day for a worthy cause :)

In other news, here is what I have drunk this weekend, in chronological order (I love the word chronological, it's ace!):

1. A third of a bottle of cabernet shiraz
2. A pear Kopperberg
3. A vodka lemon and lime
4. A jagerbuller (or Jaegerbomber as Puja thinks it's called, but really she is wrong)
5. A double SoCo and lemonade (I think...?)
6. Two generous measures of Chivas Regal on the rocks (my father is so proud of his daughter's ability to drink neat whisky)
7. A gin and lemonade (we had no tonic)
8. A nice glass of Hennessy
9. A chilled Bailey's with ice


I think there was more in there, but really, how proud are you about the variety and diversity etc. of my drinking? I think I might have had all my units in about 24 hours, but that is a huge improvement from uni times. And sure I have been quite shockingly hungover for two days now, but it was worth it!

Girls, Friday night was ace, we must do it again soon, and not just so that we can complain about good for nothing boys. And Bertie, you musta loved my rambling, and don't worry, you must be good for something, I just don't know what yet.

Right, I still haven't written my Y7 reports properly or my applications for TF summer projects. Onwards and upwards (by that I mean, to my bed!)

Funny maths things

Two funny things happened in school today. Well, lots of funny things, but two particularly funny things.

Firstly, period 2, support teaching Y10, a lesson on ratios. As a starter the teacher has pictures of giant apples and bananas on the board, and asks the class the ratio of apples to bananas. There are 6 apples and 2 bananas so some pupils correctly answer 6:2. The discussion moves on to simplifying ratios. In an attempt to help them understand, the teacher splits the fruit into two groups so that there are 3 apples and 1 banana in each group. However, the teacher does not really consider the layout of her new fruit groups. She stacks the 3 apples one on top of each other, and then puts the banana next to them. The banana is at an angle. Cue ridiculous guffawing from most of the class, and, I am ashamed to say, me too. The teacher isn't sure what is going on and so tells them to be quiet and then continues pointing at the giant ratio fruit, now resembling huge wide awake willies. Oh dear.

Secondly, I was marking Y7 practice papers for their exams next week. Yawn yawn, I hate exam papers, and can't believe I have to prep my Y7s for their end of year exams, how ridiculous, talk about narrowing the curriculum and teaching to the test. Anyway, question 10 is about sampling. Ali, Brian and Caro all ask people to taste two drinks and decide which they think is the supermarket cola and which is the more expensive cola. Ali surveys 20 people, Brian surveys 50 people, and Caro surveys 200 people. Part d is as follows, with sincere answer from one of my Y7s:

Ali, Brian and Caro all had different results. Whose result is likely to be the most reliable? Tick your answer.

Y7 ticks Ali.

Explain why you chose that answer.

because I wouldn't bother going round to ask 200 or 50 people about some coke! it would waste my energy. I think 20 people would save time.

Bear in mind we spent aaaages on surveys and sampling, and almost every other kid in the class got the question correct by choosing Caro and explaining that she surveyed the most people, and this kid's answer gets even more funny. Bless.

Here's an article on TF, perhaps with a vision some of us jaded TFers have forgotten....
And another one in the same issue of The Independent, which is all about TF but manages not to mention it by name at all, ingenious.