More ranting

I have my SLT observation tomorrow morning and a twilight to catch up on the Leadership Discovery Day that I missed tomorrow afternoon. I have Year 7 maths papers to mark and a Year 8 group to entertain in a computer suite. I'm not sure how the day could be any better.

Oh wait, something funny. There were two completely different papers to be answered in the Year 7 end of year test. The papers were sat on two consecutive days in formal exam settings. And yet, one of my kids somehow managed to do the same paper twice. How did she not notice she was doing exactly the same test all over again? At least she got a better mark the second time round.

I'm also glad I'm not Adam from the Apprentice. Shame he was fired tonight, I kinda wanted him to win, just cos he wound everyone up so much.

Nothing else useful to say except that if one more kid calls me "Miss Paramashawasha" I will be forced to plead temporary insanity when my subsequent actions are questioned.

Ooooh just read this little nugget....hahaha if it's good enough for Tony Blair's son eh?

The Apprentice

New series started tonight. First episode looked very promising with a nice rag-tag bunch of stab-in-the-back business types. The old "apprentice" stereotypical characters are evident i.e. we already have "Badgers" and "Sayids" coming to the fore-front. Interesting first challenge - selling coffee. Obviously one team messed up remarkably as per usual, while the other team had just as many cock-ups but managed to escape from the firing line. They all blamed each other and poor old Andy got the sack. I didn't like Andy at the start since it seemed like he was a bit sly with the whole project leader stuff, but his clumsiness as a manager made him endearing. But why on earth didn't Sir Alan fire Gerri? She didn't seem to have anything to offer and with regards to her boardroom defence all she said was "but I sold 11 cups"....rubbbish. Plus she looks like a retired beautician, who sadly could never afford the treatments herself. Not that I judge people or anything. Well, not as bad as my little brother, who spent the whole episode referring to the black girl as "Keisha" and the asian girl as "Shilpa". Diversity doesn't seem to be really valued.

Jadine, the girl who had to lead the boys, was absolutely appalling as a leader - so hostile and dominating and confrontational (albeit with some rather renegade characters working for her). She was very lucky her team won the task, else she would definitely be packing her bags.

Apart from Tre, who was pretty good at the business stuff, but appears to be a complete nightmare to work with (I can't wait till he's actually the project leader so that he gets a taste of his own medicine), the other person who stood out was the Essex girl. I can't remember her name, and she didn't really stand out in a good way, but all the things she said were hilarious and so "Essex" that it will be a complete fluke if she wins.

I personally would hate to be on the Apprentice. Having just helped a girl from uni out with some advice for her TF assessment centre, I don't even want to have to do that again, let alone a "12 week interview". The kinda characteristics that come out in people on the program aren't what I'd like to be like. But viewing is addictive and I'm sure I'll be glued for the next 11 Wednesdays (and not just to find out whether Margaret and Nick are more than just friends!)

On the tiny off-chance that Sir Alan is reading this, might I suggest giving each team a city Academy and a term in which to make it a shine? If you can do that, you can do anything.

A quote for the end from our old favourite "Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools" (edited by Ellis): Teachers need to have a good sense of themselves and have to work hard at managing their emotional state so that it does not interfere with the business of teaching and learning....you do need to look hard at yourself and use your 'emotional intelligence'. Some sound advice for the last lesson of term with Y8!