Mr M's videoblogs

08: new classroom

Lesley Middlemass — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:58:00 GMT

Mr M celebrates finally moving out of temporary accommodation and into his brand new classroom.

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Duration: 2:03

07: The Knackering

Lesley Middlemass — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:23:00 GMT

Final Profiles, assessments, job hunting...no wonder Mr M's so exhausted!

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Duration: 3:32

06: teaching computing without a computer

Lesley Middlemass — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:38:00 GMT

A powercut offers Mr M an opportunity to improvise a lesson and, hopefully, impress his headteacher.

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Duration: 05:44

05: parents' evening

Lesley Middlemass — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:01:00 GMT

Mr M reflects on his first parent's evening.

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Duration: 06:16

A Curriculum for Infection

ALEXANDER MCNEICE — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:58:00 GMT

Decided to write this rather than plant myself in front of the camera. Last Thursday I woke up and instantly felt.. well, crap for want of a better word. I was ill. Now this in itself was a major surprise for me because I rarely get ill but yes, I was aware that an increased exposure to kiddies harboring all manner of nasties would result in this happening at some point. However, it totally threw me and whilst I got through Thursday no problem, Friday was another kettle of fish.

I probably shouldn't have been in at work on Friday and the sympathy I received from colleagues mounted to "Jeeze your eyes look awful Mr. M." Also, a lot of FEMALE staff (emphasis there and you'll see why in a minute) started doing the whole "aww, do you have man flu? Well don't expect any sympathy!" I stood there dripping mucous and trying to explain that I never said I had man flu or that I was at death's door nor was I looking for violins and lemsips.

I thought the weekend would get me back together but it didn't. I even tried a mate's home remedy of drinking milk boiled with an onion and that only served me to moan a lot more (it was vile). I woke up on Monday to find out my throat had decided to jump off the sinking Mr. M ship and my voice was similar to Joe Cocker's but less likely to make women throw their underwear at me. With this lack of a medium to teach with, I had no choice but to phone the absence line and say I couldn't make it.

I felt bad about that.

This was made worse when I found out that two other member of the department had called in sick leaving the PT on his own after morning break (the last member of staff is part time and goes home Monday at some point)

Thankfully my voice returned yesterday. So what were the chances of feeling totally crap this last week of term?

04: staffroom solecisms

Lesley Middlemass — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:31:00 GMT

Mr M recalls some staffroom faux pas from his first few months of teaching. Oh, and he catches up with some DIY at the same time.

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Duration: 05:07

03: building relationships with pupils is sometimes harder than you think

Lesley Middlemass — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:21:00 GMT

Forging connections with some students can be difficult. When one of his more distant pupils finally approaches him for a chat, Mr M hopes it will help to build a rapport. But he's disappointed to find out that there's little he can do to really help.

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Duration: 04:45

02: class-setting

Lesley Middlemass — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:36:00 GMT

Mr M has his first encounter with class setting, and finds it more difficult than he thought.

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Duration: 06:29

01: the first few weeks

Lesley Middlemass — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:35:00 GMT

Mr M reflects on his first few weeks of his year as a probationer teacher. His verdict? Shattered. Totally shattered.

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Duration: 06:01