Long Time no See..
22 October 09 11:24 AM | HAYLEY Jones | with no comments
Well I am now in the midst of a well deserved October Break.. Having completed the first term of operation 'pretend to be a teacher' without an overwhelming amount of personal injury. In the second half of the first term I really started to enjoy my classes; even the ones that were particularly challenging. However, out of the blue I came down with a case of 'The Oink' (the real one and everything!) which meant that I had to miss a whole week off school... This put both me and my classes in rather awkward positions...After thinking for endless amounts of time about how I could catch certain classes up and reinforce my classroom management styles with only a week left until the holidays upon my return, I resolved that an early start my first day back would give me a heads start. However, when I reached my desk i discovered a monumental pile of paper, post-it's and notes to sort. As I teach a full day on Monday it would be a lie to say that my first thought wasn't one of dread. Alas, there was no time to dwell on this fact as my register class waltz in with a "Good Morning Miss! Long time no see!" They then proceed to sit down and this is the conversation that unfolds: . Me: Good Morning class. Sorry I was absent I ... Interjected by boy1: Nah, dinnae worry Miss. We sorted the teachers out. Boy2: Yeah! We did the registers and the uniform lists. Girl 1: I read the notices! Girl 2: So did I! Boy1: And the Notes list is on the desk.. Girl 3: I have a note. Boy 2: We left a spare slip out for you too Miss to attach your note for being off but you'll need to take it home to be signed... Me: WOW! you guys were organised! Although i'm pretty sure I don't need to fill in the absence note and get it signed by my parent but thanks though.... Normal Service Resumes! and the lesson of 'The Show must go on' has been well and truly learned!
Half-way mark!
12 September 09 10:12 AM | HAYLEY Jones | 1 comment(s)
Why has no one ever invented a medal for completing half of the race?! This should change in my mind. I am as you can probably guess half-way through my first term. Thus far, the covert operation of 'pretend to be a teacher' has remained largely undetected, which is a job in it's own right really. This monumental occasion was marked rather spectacularly by the School Sponsored Walk.. It was organised like a military operation, with the first set of staff, myself included, arriving at school for 7am! (The expresso was particularly potent on this day!) The day went largely without a hitch (meaning I only lost track of 1 child and not the anticipated 29!) and the effort that all the pupils put into their Fancy Dress was fantastic! What was really nice about it was that it was my first opportunity to see the pupils in this school outside of the classroom context and vice-versa. It was really nice to have conversations with them about how their hair managed to stand on end for the day, or even ask how they will manage to get the blue paint that had transformed them into Smurfs for the day off?! While it is nice to have survived until this point, I am beginning to realise how much work actually goes into being an effective teacher.. the meetings at interval/lunchtime, the CPD recording, the Mentor meetings, the extra-curricular activities and lets not even start on the marking and assessment reporting that goes on... However, even with all of this I am determined to see the glass as half-full, meaning i've now got weeks of learning names, putting routines into place and developing my own teaching styles into practice which should in theory mean the next 4 weeks is simply a case of topping the glass up...right?! Ha! If only....
Filed under: ,
Pinch...Punch...It's the first of the month!
01 September 09 07:46 PM | HAYLEY Jones | 4 comment(s)
‘Pinch…Punch…It’s the first of the month!’ and yes I am still pretending to be teacher. The nuclear war alert that is currently performing a cameo as my alarm clock is as keen as ever to let me, and anyone else in a 2 mile radius know that it is indeed ridiculous o’clock again and low and behold, time to rise! However, once the mandatory cup of tea & espresso has been had, (this is a new habit I have gotten into on the account of living with an Italian) I am beginning to feel altogether more human. Upon practically vibrating into school, I greet people with the usual grumbles about the weather, exchange pleasantries and trot off to collect my notices/post/messages etc. which I hear is a chore, however, for someone who still gets excited when post arrives, I perhaps enjoy it a bit too much. Before I know it I am in my classroom, setting up for the day ahead: registration class?-Check, School letters? Check. and then it dawns on me, I think this is my morning routine…. I have a morning routine. With a renewed sense of self-worth at having achieved this monumental milestone of a qualification, which instantly puts me further into the realm of teacherhood, I set about my usual departmental business. My registration class shuffle in, by now we have somehow engineered a morning routine that we are either too tired, grumpy or lazy to change and so we begin. Having moved to the area where I am teaching now, from a big city after waiving my preferences my register class find it hilarious to try and teach me a new word every week. This ‘new word’ isn’t in another language, although at times I feel like it may as well be, just another dialect… Tuesday is apparently the day of choice for my impromptu language lesson… and then another thought occurs to me, I think I might actually be enjoying this! Of course it has barely begun and already my overwhelmed-indicators have abandoned ship deeming it an illogical mission, however, I don’t feel quite so hopeless as I remember feeling… even last week. Maybe that’s what this thing is about… gaining the little things like a morning routine, and before you know it your not feeling quite so ‘pretend’ anymore… and failing that there is always espresso!!
Filed under: ,