Day 244 -Christmas Lunch

Wednesday December 16th

Good day at school today and it even snowed a little.

I learnt that solving equations is a whole lot easier than creating them. I set my 8.1.3 class the task of creating 8 linear equations in pairs, and then creating a Tarsia puzzle. Tarsia puzzles are great - different shapes that you can create from a template piece of software, print out, cut up and then hand out for them to solve. You can use them for anything and can last for 10 minutes or a whole lesson. This was meant to be a whole lesson to create and then solve. They only got through the creating but it was good as it got them to think about algebra from a different perspective.

Had my first school Christmas dinner in a fair few years. If anything defines the difference between celebrating the Holidays in New York and Christmas here, it's the Christmas lunch served at every school and office canteen around the country in the lead up to the big day. Turkey breast, roast tatties, sprouts, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy all washed down by Christmas pud and custard. School lunch was exceedingly good, especially for £2.

Day 243 - The Noughties

Tuesday December 15th

The theme today was the last decade. It's gone very quickly for me. At the end of the last decade, I was 32, with a new baby, a toddler, a 5 year old, a large mortgage and struggling to grow into my responsibilities as a husband, father and senior manager. 10 years later, I'm still learning but I no longer fight so much, principally because I've found some peace in my change of career but having three kids who are 15, 12 and 10 is slightly easier on the mind and body than 5,2 and 2 months.

I don't under estimate the impact of my running either. I've stuck at it for a couple of years now and proved that with hard work and focus, I can achieve big things, like taking 18 minutes off my half marathon PB in two years. I had lost sight of this a few times over the decade, especially in the context of work. The effort I was putting in didn't seem to be achieving anything of worth, so I stopped trying. Once you stop believing you can make a difference, the ground starts to open and swallow you up little by little.

Day 242 - A Week Too Far

Monday December 14th

This term is definitely feeling like a week too long. I took BYS advice and went easy on 9.2.2 this morning, relaxing a little. They were a lot better than last lesson. I must use praise more and, in some cases, lower my standards a little. DVS and I struggled through a final box plot lesson with 10.2.2, most of whom look dead on their feet.

I've started to help some of my tutor group find work for their summer work experience. I got lucky with my first attempt, getting a provisional yes from a marketing agency for one of the girls. I've also tried Hampshire Cricket Club for another lad, and now have a contact to try after Christmas. I enjoy this part of the job - I know I have the experience to guide children in figuring out what kind of thing they might like to try once they leave school.

I have been thinking quite a bit about what I want to do come the summer and the end of my contract. The school has indicated they want to keep me, although there isn't currently an opening in the Maths department. I like the idea of trying a split timetable with Business Studies or trying my hand at Economics at a sixth form college

Day 241 - Ted In Mid Season Transfer Shocker

Sunday December 13th

A day of rest....went for a really good run this afternoon, just before Ted's final game for Wyvern. Managed a solid 7 miles in the bitter cold. I got a bit lost on the back roads but eventually made it back.

Unfortunately the game was more of the same and I ended up sitting in the car towards the end. Some comedy defending and too few boys willing to stand up and be counted when it mattered. They lost 1-7, not a great way to go out although Ted got the man of the match. In the land of blind men......the transfer is going ahead, with large amounts of cash changing hands and a bung for his agent. In January he'll be a Compton player.

Day 240 - Cauliflower Ears

Saturday December 12th

Took Ellen off to rugby this morning while Ted went off to play a friendly for his new team. What a fantastic experience. They have been doing tag rugby every Friday since half term and tried tackling two weeks ago. Today they played a full contact game against Perrin's school. They were magnificent and Ellen, after initial nerves, made a couple of decent runs and tackles on the wing. As you can see from the photos, some of the girls are a little scary so I was very proud of my little girl.

It has been a challenging few months with Ellen, walking a tightrope of teenage behaviour and moving back to the UK. On the whole I think Mrs N and I have handled it OK but she has the capacity to wind us up to snapping point every now and then. Today proved that she is capable of so much more than sitting in her room swapping vacuous texts and iChats with all her 700 best friends.

Day 239 - 3 Cans Of Boddingtons

Friday December 11th

So so day. Yet another observation with Year 11 GCSE group this mornng with the Deputy Head. I tried something different, creating a boardroom style table and used mini whiteboards. It worked for 45 mins or so before they got bored with it and started misbehaving. Fortunately, she had left by then and scored myself my second "Very Good" of the week. Tssssssss. On fire.

World Cup draw live on TV. We all got very excited about England's draw. This is concerning, being this excited before a ball is even kicked....disappointment can only follow. I also realised that having agreed to go to Space Camp next summer, it falls in the week of the QFs and SFs. Dilemma.

Went to Alice's football team Christmas party. Priceless. It was at the Conservative Club and featured a bar and DJ. The girls played some fun games, we won 3 cans of Boddingtons in the raffle and the U17 girls team sitting next to us were pounding pints of lager. Only in the UK.

Day 238 - Snow Flakes

Thursday December 10th

My first Christmas lesson with 8.2.4. They had to convert a fraction to a decimal and percentage, then cut out snow flake patterns and hang them on ribbon. They hate fractions. They are frightened of them and can't see the point of them in the outside world. I had to try and coax them into engaging.

This was not easy but by the end of the lesson I had about 10 of them up at the board teaching each other how to convert a fraction into a decimal - brilliant! For the first time with this particular class I felt like I was getting somewhere. The snow flakes looked really good as well

Day 237 - Teacher On Fire

Wednesday December 9th

Today was my external observation by the Head of Maths at another school. I wasn't that nervous but didn't feel like I was that well prepared. When the time came, I was pretty much flawless. It all went according to my plan, the class responded and the observer was very very complimentary. My first "Very Good" rating. One specific thing he said has stayed with me - "the children wanted to do well for YOU". I was on cloud nine for the rest of the day.

I was invited to the Christmas Tea at the boarding house so popped down there for a mince pie. It's a very small boarding house with about 30 kids in it. I got a guided tour and it didn't seem that different from my own experience of boarding for 10 years. I will offer to help there as I have an inkling of what it's like for them.

Day 236 - 101 Things To Do With An Interactive Whiteboard

Tuesday December 8th

Interesting day at university today - everyone was very tired and the energy levels were pretty depleted. I went to four sessions. The first was about different learning styles - really good session and a big theme for me as I try to understand how to spot and then cater for different learning styles. The second was about teaching able, gifted and talented kids. Another thought provoking hour or so, only slightly distracted by the fact that Ted and Ellen are both considered able....proud Dad but are they being stretched enough?

The afternoon was very very long. The first session was ICT and was very good as we worked with the interactive whiteboard and multimedia. There is so much I can do with the interactive white board and haven't got round to yet. The last hour on data was less useful and I was happy to depart for home.

It's funny that everyone was grumbling about a day of meetings that lasted from 9.30 to 4.15pm. Then I remember the average 8am to 6pm Diageo meeting with a working lunch.....

Day 235 - Child Protection

Monday December 7th

Exciting week ahead with university day and my external observation on Wednesday. As a result, my planning is pretty much under control and today I dragged 10.2.2 kicking and screaming through Box Plots before relaxing while 9.2.2 did a topic test. I noticed one of the girls had quite nasty burn marks and scratches on her arm during the test. I decided they weren't there by accident so I wrote it up and hope the child protection team can get to the bottom of it. That's all I can do.

Planned my observed lesson by the end of school and was home free all evening. Went out for a long run (8 miles) with Neil while Ted was with Compton. Felt it in the legs but happy to get out again after over a week's inactivity.

Day 234 - Dambusters

Sunday December 6th

No football today so headed up to the Goulds for Sunday lunch. The weather was foul on the way up but roads were kind to us. A shame it's a 2 hour drive.

Highlight was most definitely watching the Dambusters. There is something very special about a big roast lunch on a cold winter's day and then slumping in front of a black and white film for a couple of hours, nodding off every now and then. Nostalgia indeed. What I had forgotten was that Gibson's dog was called Nigger. We all squirmed a little every time it was on screen.

Also reminded me of a favourite ad for Carling Black Label. Great stuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKHc-U2FNHk

Day 233 - Cup Nail Biter

Saturday December 5th

Doubleheader for Alice this morning as she had cup games for U10 and U11. Her U10 game was a nail biter and went to penalties. Her shot was saved but they emerged victorious. Much better than last game when they lost heavily to an over age Saints team and one of their players told her to f*** off. Classy.

The football has been sporadic since the beginnning of November and Ted hasn't played much at all. He has been training well with Compton so it looks like he'll move there in the new year.

Day 232 -Relentless Planning

Friday December 4th

The countdown is definitely on. I am tired and am looking forward to a break from the daily grind of planning. I'm enjoying being in the school but the planning is relentless. Next term I will be teaching 4 lessons on a Friday which will be quite a challenge from a planning perspective unless I am sufficiently organised to do some medium term planning ahead of time.

The kids have started to play up us well, especially on a Friday. It's a mixture of fatigue, lesson overload and growing excitement about Christmas.

Day 231 - First Term Report

Thursday December 3rd

My first term review is done and it's not bad at all - one down, two to go. Everyone seems very pleased with my progress and now it's a question of focusing on the areas of teaching I haven't attempted yet and/or aspects that I'm not that comfortable with.

I haven't really found my level on the behaviour front (or maybe I have). I do keep good control in my classroom and am happy to maintain uniform standards but in the corridor, with kids I don't know, I do not want my first encounter to be a petty conversation about top buttons or walking the wrong way along the one way system. I like to think I can deal with a serious behaviour issue in a calm and non-confrontational manner but having very little experience of it, my fear is that I'll bottle it. So far I haven't had to put it to the test but I don't know whether that's because I've been lucky or because the way I behave doesn't lead to escalation as much as some of the other teachers I can hear through the walls.

Day 230 - Amnesia

Wednesday December 2nd

Back to school and a busy day. I'm sitting here on December 17th and have no idea what happened on December 2nd. I am a little behind. I will catch up when school breaks up on Friday.

Day 229 - Kinasthetic Learners

Tuesday December 1st

24 days til Christmas and our first icy cold snap. I spent the day at a Maths course in a theme park. It was all about helping children with different learning styles to access Maths. This is a big one for me as I am very good at learning stuff by listening, reading, writing down and figuring it out through logic and practice. Therefore, that is how I teach.

This is OK for the kids who learn like I do but there are plenty who learn differently - they are much more visual or kinasthetic - they need to access through seeing and/or doing. The lecturer was very geeky but I thought very good and gave us some very good ways to teach a little differently. We used interlocking cubes, straws, pipe cleaners, an abacus, loads of different stuff that we can use in the classroom. I really enjoyed it and it gave me some ideas BUT it's still going to be hard for me because I'm still at the stage when, if I explain something clearly, simply and logically, and the child still doesn't get it, I think there's something wrong with THEM.

Day 228 - Data Handing Is Easy

Monday November 30th

A good day today. Kept plugging away with 9.2.2 on percentages and ratio and I seemed to have got the pitch right on this one. It really does make a difference as they stay on task and aren't so needy. I can praise them as well which they lap up.

10.2.2 was OK as well. We did cumulative frequency graphs and they settled down and got on with the work. Data Handling, as the whole area is called, is relatively easy for them to grasp as conceptually there isn't much to it - just learning a bunch of different ways of collecting, analysing and representing data. Easy.

I'm on a course tomorrow so no lesson planning. Glee. I did however lend a hand to my friend Vinay from Diageo days. He left over the summer has a mad scheme to get them to pay for him and his friends to travel around the world and drink Guinness. It might just work...

Day 227 - Cold, Bleak...the 70s

Sunday November 29th

My disciplined weekend continued with an early morning run in the rain (tick), some diy (tick) and some more work (tick). No sport as it continues to rain without interruption. I did some ironing and finally got to see The Damned United. Very very good, not only the acting but it captured the era (early 1970s) brilliantly. What a cold, bleak time in this country's history.

Three weeks left of term and I can understand why the experienced teachers say this is the longest and hardest term in the year. The kids are definitely tired and it is harder and harder to keep them on task. I am actually looking forward to the next few weeks and then Christmas with the Nichols family in our new house. Should be fun.

Day 226 - Clockwork

Saturday November 28th

Woke up with a bit of a fuzzy head to be honest. That hasn't happened in a long while! I was not to be deterred and managed to work for 6 hours today. I am quite proud of the self-discipline but a little perturbed at the need to do so. I have no desire to go back to the crazy hours of my previous job and even then I didn't work at the weekends. However, I am in training so everything seems to take that much longer. I'll also take a few hours over the weekends for a 3.30 finish time during the week

Day 225 - Bolt of Lightning

Friday November 27th

Today was an excellent day!

My final lesson with 8.1.3 was an observation by the MSN, head of our department. She had witnessed one of my worse lessons but this one went like a dream. I started off by getting them to stand in the corridor and hold a length of string that measured 10.4 metres, the distance that Usain Bolt ran in 1 second when he broke the 100m world record. The class were really engaged and it went well from there. She was very happy with me and gave me some really good feedback

It was such a good way finish the week. 3 weeks of term left. Went out for dinner at the Wykeham Arms with Kevin and Catherine. Good food and company. It's beginning to feel like we live here.

Day 224 -Beyond Salvage

Thursday November 26th

Is it possible that a child can be beyond salvage at the age of 13?

There is a boy in Year 8 who is a persistent issue for the school. He comes into school, which is a minor achievement, but when he is there he basically refuses to learn. He disrupts lessons, goes walkabout, winds everyone up and generally sticks two fingers up to school, teachers, adults and society. Why?

I bumped into him today as he had been sent out within minutes of a lesson starting. I said I would sit with him and he disappeared. On the surface, he was playing the hard man. Underneath, he was a boy who was upset because the teacher had not listened to his request to sit next to a friend who helped him settle down and concentrate. It was fascinating to watch. Another teacher who knew him happened to walk by. We got him back into the class, he asked politely to move next to his friend, the teacher said yes and he behaved himself for the rest of the lesson.

A small victory BUT he will drop out and end up in prison or dead because no school can dedicate the time and effort needed to turn kids like him around.

Day 223 - Gifted & Talented

Wednesday November 25th

Helped BYS escort a small group of gifted Maths Year 10 pupils to Portsmouth this afternoon. We went to the Dockyards for a very short afternoon workshop. The kids were all from Ellen's class so I was very interested in what constitutes gifted and talented. As befits the state sector, there are specific definitions. "Able" means that the child has scored 120 or more on 1 or more of the three CAT tests every child takes. Ellen and Ted both scored 120+ in all three putting them in the top 2% of the population. "Gifted" means a child has a specific ability in an academic subject. "Talented" means a child has a specific ability in a sport or art. There is meant to be a register in every school.

Back to Portsmouth. it was short, interesting and not a whole lot to do with Maths. The kids seemed to enjoy it, partly because they were out of school and partly because they got to see a 60 pound cannonball smash a thick piece of wood in half

Day 222 - Stem & Leaf

Tuesday November 24th

This week is proving very turgid for some reason. I attempted a little humour when attempting to teach stem & leaf diagrams to 10.2.2 but it backfired on me, partly because it was bad humour and partly because some of the boys were more focused on leaving for a rugby match. What is the purpose of stem & leaf diagrams? They are absurd and I have never seen them used in real life. This is basically what I told the class and they nearly downed tools and refused to work. I won't make that mistake again.

On the plus side I had an observation lesson with 7.2.1 in the computer room and it went well. We did some sequences using excel. This works well if they understand how excel works but took them a while to get the hang of it.

My running has been terrible since Gosport. I didn't get out to the track again tonight

Day 221 - Teflon Man

Monday November 23rd

I think I got away with my weekend of indolence. Breezed through 10.2.2 in the computer room with some pie charts and frequency diagrams - they looked pretty good when they were all printed out. 9.2.2 was a little scary as increasing and decreasing by percentages did not rest easy with them. Bless.

By lunch, I was in the clear and managed to catch up with things by the end of the afternoon. I promised myself I would not let that happen again and committed to a more disciplined approach to some planning next weekend. Old habits die really hard, teflon man.

Day 220 - More Indolence

Sunday November 22nd

I actually think this weekend of rest has done me a world of good. I couldn't even rouse myself for a run. The guilt was there and it certainly puts pressure on me for the week ahead but I felt like I'd earned a break. Mrs N and the kids went to the Farmers Market in the pouring rain and I stayed back with great intentions to do some work. I was still lying on the sofa when they got home. Oops.

The weather has been terrible. It feels like it's been raining non-stop for weeks and any minute the Ark is going to arrive to pick everyone up. All football has been cancelled for the last few weeks so Ted has been bouncing off the walls

Day 219 - Indolence

Saturday November 21st

This was the start of my laziest weekend ever..or at least since I was an indolent student. Today, I did absolutely nothing. I watched TV, I read my book, I drank beer. That was it. Bliss but as usual felt guilty about it

Day 218 - Inches

Friday November 20th

Unscheduled fire drill this morning just as we were celebrating our Assembly triumph in tutor group. We were investigating a 24 hour ration pack to see what the army eats when they are in the field. Brought back happy memories of CCF at Epsom and cycling around the Dordogne with those packs and a gas burner.

Nervous day as I had a new Year 11 group who are retaking their Mod 3 paper in March. They were on their best behaviour but obviously thought I was lame. I showed them the clip from "Any Given Sunday" where Al Pacino gives his speech about inches and suggested that the difference between a D and a C could be the matter of a few marks here or there. We were together to find those extra marks. No idea what I was talking about

Watch Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_iKg7nutNY

9.2.2 and 8.1.3 were OK after lunch but nothing special. Very hard to keep them focused on a Friday afternoon so find myself working a little too hard and tired by 3.15. Always remember 3.15, not 8.15!!!!

Out to the pub for a couple of pints with Kevin. Tidy

Day 217 - Their Fate Is In My Hands

Thursday November 19th

Today I shadowed an LSA and had to set my first cover lesson.

The day itself was a bit of a blow out as the LSA wasn't really sure what she or I was supposed to do. I ended up observing a Year 7 and Year 8 Band 3 lesson in RS and English so it was OK but could have been so much more productive. My cover lesson went really well as I was there to set it up and they did more work in it than they have ever done for me!

I had to recommend 4 of the class to move up a set. Harder than I thought.

Day 216 - Upside Down

Wednesday November 18th

Mrs N stayed in bed today feeling unwell. Given that I can count the number of sick days she has had in the 20 years I have known and loved her, this is a BIG DEAL. I was therefore on duty and managed to survive three lessons and get Alice to ballet on time. I went for a run while I was waiting and bumped into Neil. Mrs N does not believe this was a coincidence and thinks there is something untoward going on. I think she is delirious.

Going back to my theme of the week about feeling some strain. I had a chat with my mentor about this and I think it is a combination of things. The first cause is obvious - I have turned my professional life upside down and am doing something completely alien to whatever skills and experience I have picked up since 1989. The second came to me out of the blue but is also obvious - I have never trained so hard in my life. I am 10 or so weeks into a new job and am still in training every day, whether it's being observed, having assignments, figuring out what to teach or just adjusting to life in a big school. Of course, I've moved jobs and countries frequently through my career but to be in formal training for that long is something I've never experienced.

Day 215 - The Big Production

Tuesday November 17th

The big production today and our tutor group did not disappoint. They were word and cue perfect. We were given an average 8 out of 10 and a few tears were mentioned. I think I have shown what I can do!!! Not that I'm competitive but the other tutor group did not involve all the kids and their tutor seemed to be doing all of the work. Felt a mixture of relief and pride. They're a very diverse (in the context of a predominately white, middle class, C of E town in the South of England) and sweet bunch of kids.

Reality kicked back in with two lessons after lunch and the realisation that I had three more on Wednesday. No track tonight as a result.

Day 214 -Go On, Define A Reciprocal

Monday November 16th

The post race euphoria was definitely wearing off by Period 3 on Monday but I got through. With 10.2.2 I attempted to do Reciprocals as a starter and it turned into the whole lesson. Oops. Oh well, I think they get it now! 9.2.2 I had in the computer room again and that was relatively straightforward with percentages.

It is now week 10 at school and I can confess to a teeny amount of strain creeping in. First of all it is a long long term and as the weather and nights close in the kids get tired, the teachers get tired and it feels like a long slog til Christmas. For me, there is a little bit of that but not much - I do pinch myself every day to make sure this is actually happening as I seem to have more energy than ever before and enjoying life on a more even keel than ever before.

Day 213 - 1:29:35

Sunday November 15th

I DID IT

I nailed sub 1:30 in the Gosport Half Marathon with about 30 seconds to spare. The last 2 miles really hurt but the conditions were great, the course was flat and what a feeling. To think that I fell gasping over the line in Manhattan in a touch under 1:48 in January 2008. I have taken almost 20 minutes off my P.B. in just under 2 years. I remember running 1:45 in Amsterdam in 2001 and thinking that I couldn't go much faster.

I honestly believe I can dip under 1:25 now and I want to go sub 40 in the 10k and sub 19 in the 5k. I will need to train even harder but with the running club right here, I know I can do it. 6:49 minute miles. Sizzle

Spent the rest of the day in a daze and enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine to celebrate.

Day 212 - Last Minute Merchant

Saturday November 14th

Worked really hard today. After my disaster lesson on Friday, I decide to write a few medium term plans so I knew what was coming up and could discuss with class teachers way ahead of time. This is a really good idea as it takes the panic out of lesson planning the night before. It is such a good idea that I have failed to do it. This is because I am a last minute merchant, because I love exams, because I thrive on the thrill of thinking on my feet and seizing the moment. Maybe in my old job but not in front of 30 children in a subject that you are barely literate in. It is also interesting that other people have this perception of me as a good planner. I talk a great game and then make sure other people do the actual work. I need to learn a new skill!

The weather was horrible so it was nice to stay indoors and listen to the rain, wind and football on Radio 5 Live.

Day 211 - Best of Days, Worst of Days

Friday November 13th

Last rehearsal before the big performance and the tutor group are finally getting ready. I've enjoyed organising them and the best bit is that it is all their own work (well, except the Pink Floyd lyrics).

Very busy after that with a final revision lesson for my re-take class. I served up chocolate biscuits and tea to them as we went over questions and techniques. My whole objective was to try and relax them before the exam. After lunch I had a couple of tough lessons. First up was 922 and an observed lesson which went well in the computer room but pretty draining. That was followed by a bit of a disaster when the lesson I planned with 813 bombed half way through. Our head of department is the class teacher and tried to rescue it, which only made it worse.

As I was licking my wounds, two girls from the re-take class came in and THANKED me for all the help I had given them. they said that they had been more relaxed and answered more questions than they would have done without my help. Now that's what I'm talking about.

Day 210 - Bus Duty

Thursday November 12th

I love Thursdays. One lesson, a little bit of training and then an afternoon of relaxed work in the staff room. I brought the bike up this morning so I could head off early to the dentist. Unfortunately, the heavens opened, I got soaking and decided not to go to my appointment as my trousers were wet through and my shoes full of water, much to Mrs N's derision.

Prior to that, I was on bus duty and stopped a boy who was smoking as he left the school gates. He didn't seem that bothered but he gave me his name anyway. I guess it's not illegal, dumb but not illegal.

Day 209 - Hard Wiring

Wednesday November 11th

My weaknesses are beginning to show - planning ahead has always taken second place to last minute panic and winging it. That really doesn't work in a school, especially when I have three lessons today. My second, related, weakness is lack of discipline. If I give myself an hour to plan a lesson, I will spend 40 minutes doing something else (like this blog) and then killing myself for 20 minutes getting the work done. I keep telling myself to change and on occasion I manage it. When I manage it, it feels good because the work is done, I am relaxed and can enjoy something as a reward. Maybe it's just too hard wired.

Day 208 - High Praise Indeed

Tuesday November 10th

The house is quiet again after our visitors have left and one thing I can guarantee as a teacher is the same classes come around week after week. On both the down and up side, I know what to expect! This morning I embarrassed Ellen as I went up to the front and answered a question in Year 10 assembly. She'll get over it.

A brilliant afternoon, when I did a group task with 10.2.2 on prime factors, which they seemed to enjoy and stay focused on, followed by a shiny new 7.2.1 class. This was interesting as it was my second attempt at teaching sequences. I learnt a lot from my first experience and it went very well. In fact, OSM loved something I did so much, he stole it for his class. That felt very good.

Day 207 - BIG Government

Monday November 9th

A second day at University in under a week and we learnt all about assessment in the morning and more maths in the afternoon. There is certainly a lot of data around in schools, not least government targets, standards, tools and processes. The level of jargon and acronym use would put Diageo to shame. All of it is eminently logical and sensible but the issue with BIG government, as it is with BIG business, is that someone has to apply it all. I do not know for sure but that someone is almost certainly the poor classroom teacher. I am also sure that there are senior management teams put in place to oversee the classroom teachers and make sure they fill in all forms and follow the directives. I must dig out that brilliant powerpoint presentation about the team of rowers.

It was an interesting morning and I managed not to embarrass myself in the maths session. I still haven't sorted out my second school placement but it looks like it could be at a small private school for special needs boys with behavioural and learning difficulties. Should be interesting.

Day 206 - Poppy Fields and Graves

Sunday November 8th

Attempted to run a swift 10k this morning and it went OK, 41 minutes or so. Full pancake breakfast and then off to the Farmers Market. I found out it was Remembrance Sunday this week rather than next week so a little miffed as I wanted to go to a service. We did the 2 minutes silence next to the hogs' ears bucket. A nice touch.

Took Ann off to Ted's game and almost witnessed their first points. 3 minutes to play, 0-0 and they let in a soft own goal. Poor team has had no luck this season but they played with a lot of spirit and Ted was a lock for the Man of the Match but somehow lost out to.....the coach's son.

Back home for roast pork and all the trimmings, a bottle of wine and general goodwill to all man. Another trip to Uni tomorrow so did not have to plan a lesson. Bliss

Day 205 - Burn A Catholic Night

Saturday November 7th

Lots of football this morning followed by a mad dash down to the Old Oak pub in Bank to have a traditional pub lunch with M&D. Sat around a big table drinking Guinness with Dad charming Debbie and Ann before a brisk walk amongst the trees and a cream tea in Brockenhurst.

Rushed home to put on the warm clothes, pick up our sparklers and join the Bonfire Night celebrations in town. What celebrations they were! The flaming torch procession down the High Street was a sight to behold and not a Health and Safety Officer in sight to keep the torches away from flammable clothing, hair products and out of the hands of babes and small children. 22,000 turned up and witnessed a magnificent fireworks display at the recreation ground. Brilliant. Debbie and Ann were very disappointed not to see a Catholic flaming on top of the mountain of old pallets

Day 204 - Mollusc Pace

Friday November 6th

Thank God Mrs N comes home from Paris tonight.

Today was a good day - my GCSE revision class went well and they all sat relatively quietly and worked on past papers. I attempted a group activity with 922 in recognition of their inability to focus on a Friday afternoon. This went quite well except for a couple of the groups, one of which was slow to the point of mollusc paced and another where two of them would have cheerfully strangled each other if allowed to do so. Finally, 813 was fun to finish with although that classroom is very small and claustrophobic.

I watched Ted's team lose on penalties in the national cup in the pouring rain. He soon cheered up and went out to a party. I stayed in and waited for Mrs N to come home late on the train from London. Knackered

Day 203 - Boarding School Memories

Thursday November 5th

Our first November 5th since 1999....

Alice now delights in getting herself to school so I drove up early.

Met my mentee for the first time this morning and got to know each other a little. He is a boarder who only goes home during the holidays. Hmmm, I wonder if I have some relevant experience? Early days, but I hope I can help him as exams seem to be a big issue for him and this is his GCSE year.

The day rushed by and I still did not manage any planning for Friday before I left school. This puts so much pressure on me at home! We sat and watch football on TV while I tried to cobble a few plans together. Too much last minute stuff will trip me up soon.

Day 202 - Sam Loyd's Dissection

Wednesday November 4th

Alice walked down to the bus stop with me and I headed off to Soton for a day of Maths. It was a very enjoyable day and I got a B for my assignment. Yeah! Spent all day on geometry and Ruth gave us loads of great ideas including measuring dolphin fins using triangles...who would have thought?

I still haven;t organised my second placement so agreed with Andy to link up with him and his school in Basingstoke. I had to leave early and almost missed Alice but got there just in time and delivered her to ballet and football on time AND managed a run in between. Ted cooked burritos which were a BIG hit.

Exhausted tonight but feeling good. First night sleeping on my own in the new house without Mrs N. Boo Hoo.

Day 201 - American Invasion

Tuesday November 3rd

Tuesdays go really quickly even though I only teach two lessons. We got our shiny new Year 7 set today and it was great to observe OSM at work. He has a very clear routine for his new classes and he goes about his work so serenely you just have to stand back and admire. What made it even better was that it took the whole lesson so my hastily prepared 10 minutes on sequences was not required.

Rushed home to see Debbie and Ann. They were pretty tired but we kep them up past 9pm. I'm so excited for them all going to Paris. Not excited, jealous. I'm in charge from tomorrow.

Day 200 - Back to School

Monday November 2nd

200 days since I left Diageo. It does feel like another life. Teaching is certainly proving to be hard work especially as I am left to figure much of it out on my own. In many ways the challenges and routines are similar but the most important change is in myself. It no longer feels like my job defines or consumes me. It feels very much like something new that I am having a go at, in the same way as I've taken up running in a big way or taken on a new house in a new city. I'm curious as to whether I can be good at it as opposed to success or failure will define whether my life is a success or failure, a feeling I had many times over the past 20 years in my chosen career. I know this year will be all consuming as I train but once I'm more experienced I can start expanding my horizons and choose what I want to do.

Back to school today and tired myself out in just one day! Not that bad but it certainly didn't feel like we had had a week off. Worked through my two lessons in the morning and then was able to relax. I really enjoyed the lesson with 10.2.2 when we went through the topic test they had done.

9.2.2 are troubling me. I can't seem to get the pitch right with them. If I try and stretch them they go very quiet and just sit there. If I try and make it fun and engaging, they start mucking about. On top of that I have a few kids in there that are just not participating at all. I can't decide whether that's my fault or I need to get tough with them. Sounds familiar from my past life....

Day 199 - Lordshill 10m

Sunday November 1st

Ran the Lordshill 10m in howling gales and torrential rain. Appalling weather but my first outing in the WADAC vest so I worked hard and managed 68:18. Really pleased with the time and how good my legs felt. If I run that well in Gosport the 90 minute half marathon is within my grasp.

However, I did feel tired for the rest of the day! Ted played in goal for the first time and Wyvern scored their first goal of the season and almost got a result. They eventually lost 2-1 to the league leaders and restored a little pride

Day 198 - Halloween England Style

Saturday October 31st

Our first Halloween in England since 1999 and, while it has changed, it bears no comparison to Hastings. This is no bad thing as the thought of Halloween overshadowing and replacing November 5th fills me with horror - a British institution that reminds us of Guy Fawkes' gunpowder plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament versus a commercial horror show that encourages kids to eat enough sweets to rot their teeth and send them into sugar induced rampages with eggs and flour. Mmmmmm.

Day 197 - St Edmunds Pot Luck

Friday October 30th

Guy came over for a run. We did about 10 miles and had a great chat. He used to work at Diageo and jacked it all in and is doing GTP in Slough. He's also a very accomplished runner and triathlete. We shared experiences and they are quite similar. He doesn't care for the lack of management competence he fins in his school and enjoys the "thinking on your feet" challenge of the classroom. I worry less about that aspect but do worry about my subject knowledge. It's there but a little rusty.

Spent all afternoon trying to bring some order to my portfolio and had some success and then we had the long anticipated St Edmunds pot luck. Unfortunately, Simon at Number 1 suffered a heart attack this week so we were down to 3 but we had a good time and will do it again when he is back at full strength - appetizers at Number 3, main at Number 4 and dessert at ours where once again, Ted's magnificent key lime pie stole the show.

Day 196 - The V&A

Thursday October 29th

Trip up to London en famille and what fun we had. Walked across the bridge from Waterloo and had lunch with Benj in Covent Garden so he could see his Goddaughter. Then we got the tube to South Ken and had a speed tour of the V&A. A strange museum but Ted and Alice really enjoyed the architecture and glass exhibit.

Got the bus along the Brompton Rd, past Harrods and Marble Arch as far as Oxford St. Visited the food hall in Selfridges which was very tempting and instead spent a fortune on furniture in John Lewis

Train back and I can honestly say that the Nichols family got on with each other the whole day.

Day 195 - Seven Bridges of Konigsberg

Wednesday October 28th

Spent all day on my University homework. As is my wont, I left it to the last minute and received a chastening email from my tutor reminding me of the deadline. It's not my fault, it's in my blood. That's why I was always good at exams. Managed to get it all done, including a quick timeline of key mathematical discoveries and a starter based on Konigsberg's Bridges.

Cooked fajitas for dinner and they were fabulous

Day 194 - 3 For 3

Tuesday October 27th

Caught the bus into Southampton and sat my QTS Skills Tests one after the other. These are tests to check that we have the basic numeracy, literacy and ICT skills to become teachers. I got through them in 2 hours and passed them all. Tick that one off.

Got home feeling a little tired but then finished off the skirting boards in the dining room. Made a few minor errors on measurement (I blame the apprentice I used to measure everything up) but then Mrs N used her considerable spackling expertise and they look brilliant. Another tick.

Off to track and some speedwork before going out for a pint and bite to eat with my new running buddy, Neil. He works in the wine business and offered me some reasonably priced damaged goods. This is how karma works - we are running out of wine from our stash and boom, some cheap wine turns up.

Day 193 - All In Double Digits

Monday October 26th

Alice turns 10 today and I'm not at work....brilliant

I can't quite believe that all our children are now in double digits and in January we will have two teenagers. Before we know it they'll be gone but my cunning plan to see them more often is working.

Got a call from Ted's coach saying he had been approached by another club to sign Ted. Ooops. It wasn't meant to work like this but we talked it through and agreed to hold off until Christmas. Now we just need to agree transfer fee and signing on bonus.

Mum came over for the day so we made Delia's Christmas puddings and went for a walk into Winchester. The weather was fantastic and we showed Mum the flats in Peninsula Barracks. I got my pension letter through from Diageo and it kicks in from 2029. Twenty years til I can retire to our cosy flat there and rock gently back and forth with my pipe, slippers, blanket and a good book

Day 192 - Farmers Market

Sunday October 25th

A glorious, glorious autumn day and we walked into Winchester to visit the farmers' market. Wow! the scale and variety was astonishing, especially compared to Hastings. Meat, dairy, veg, fish, baking, beer, wine, craft, garden.....there was loads to enjoy. We bought a piece of pork with crackling for later.

I then watched Ted play against Littleton and he had a very good game. They lost 0-3 and are still searching for that elusive goal but were desperately unlucky. Two of the team have now stormed off so this would not be a great time for Ted to leave. The Compton manager was there to watch him and definitely wants him to join.

I think we may have turned the corner with Ellen. She had 9 friends over today, 3 girls and 6 boys, all very presentable. She has the whole week planned out and not much mention of Hastings at all. Fingers crossed

Long run (10 miles) with Neil, roast pork and then relaxed in the glow of no school tomorrow.

Day 191 - Fantastic Mr Fox

Saturday October 24th

Haven't been for a run since Wednesday as my legs still feel like lead, probably a combination of fatigue and head cold. Wrapped up warm and headed out into the wind and rain to watch Compton FC play over in Bishops Waltham. A very pretty village but the football wasn't pretty in the weather conditions, although the team is a step up from Wyvern.

Alice had 5 friends over for her birthday party and we went to see Fantastic Mr Fox. I loved that book as a kid and Dahl is such a good writer I can still vividly remember it. The film was not what I expected but very good all the same.

To cap off a great day, I settled down to watch QPR v Derby on TV and watched us come back from 0-2 down to win 4-2. Come on you RRRRRRRRRRs. Premier League here we come.

Day 190 - I Made It

Friday October 23rd

Got my head together and headed in. First up was rehearsal for Year 10 Assembly. Not brilliant but first rehearsals never are. I think it will go well.

Next up were my Year 11 retakes. Surprisingly, they were not ecstatic at the thought of Maths standing between them and lunch but I managed to get Emily to not only laugh but then admit it was the Maths that made her happy. Result.

Made it through 9.2.2 (painful) and 8.1.3 (fun) before packing everything up, coming home and collapsing. 1/6th of the way through. 9.2.2 troubles me as I put together a fun lesson that obliquely got them into algebra. They did not appreciate it and messed about the whole time. Chatting to my mentor afterwards, she suggested that I legislate for the fact that it is Friday afternoon and go easy on them with a few games. PAH! wouldn't have happened in my day.

Day 189 - Running Out Of Steam

Thursday October 22nd

Definitely flagging today with the onset of a cold and the thought of three more lessons on Friday. Thursday is an odd day as I only have one lesson and yet the day gets away from me and I never manage to get any of the Friday lessons planned before I go home. This leaves me a mountain of work to do on Thursday night when I am meant to be training with WADAC.

So I get home feeling tired and a little under the weather, crawl up to bed and spend the next 5 hours sweating over 3 lesson plans for Friday. Worse day so far without question BUT more driven by fatigue and poor planning than anything else. Got it done and fell into an uneasy sleep

Day 188 - Early Departure

Wednesday October 21st

Another big day today as I had another 3 lessons to deliver. It started well with my final Year 7 lesson before they go into their sets after half term. We were in the computer room and had some fun with Autograph. Metric Measurements was not so much fun with 8.2.4 but I persevered although still too much talking from me.

8.1.3 was observed by our Deputy Head and I almost had a coronary when she departed halfway through with what looked like a sympathetic smile. I carried on but had this awful feeling that I had screwed up in some major way. It turns out that she had planned to do that and was pleased with what she had seen. I relaxed a bit after that.

Took Alice up to football practice and went for a run but the legs still feel heavy. I managed some hill work and about 5 miles

Day 187 - Swans

Tuesday October 20th

Started to feel tired this week and I can't figure out whether it's the running or the 6 weeks of intense teacher training I've experienced. On the surface, my new job is a 50% timetable that goes from 8.45 to 3.15 every day. Underneath, I'm definitely in swan territory - serenely gliding along while my skinny little legs are thrashing frantically around trying to work out which way is forward.

I really am getting the hang of working at school - getting to know the staff, getting to know the kids, being prepared for everything on time...just. The two areas I feel tentative in are the big ones - consistent, strong behaviour management and the effective teaching of Maths. The former is all about suppressing the liberally minded 'que sera, que sera' in me, the latter is fundamental and will take time. I may be able to do this stuff myself but getting it across to 30 individuals is one beast of a professional skill

Day 186 - Transfer Speculation

Monday October 19th

Mixed bag this morning. Announced to 10.2.2 that they were having a test tomorrow and they were not happy. One happy lad grumbled that it was against his statutory rights to only have 24 hours notice to revise. Followed up with a poor lesson with 9.2.2. Can't seem to pitch this one right as we started on algebra. I gave them an easy set up with BODMAS, which went really well, lulling me into a false sense of security, and then they came crashing down with algebra. Who would have thought the simple substitution of letters for numbers would stump them so much?It's really hard for me to crack this as I find it so obvious.

Took Ted up to Compton to train with a different team on a bitterly cold night. He enjoyed it and I discussed terms with the manager. Ha Ha.

Day 185 - 16 Miles

Sunday October 18th

I ran 16 miles with Neil today. Never done that before me and two things struck me. One, I can run 16 miles at a brisk pace and if I trained I could probably do a marathon in 3:10-3:20. Two, the countryside is beautiful around here. We ran out of Winchester towards Eastleigh, through Otterbourne and Shawford, along the River Test. Legs felt OK and we even picked up the pace a bit towards the end.

Cooked myself an outstanding bacon and egg sandwich with lashings of HP sauce and then sat on the sofa and watched the world go by.

Last week before half term coming up and I'm looking forward to the break. Teaching 10 lessons a week is only half a timetable but when you add a couple of hours either side for planning and marking per lesson, that's a minimum 30 hours a week.

Day 184 - Voluntary Work

Saturday October 17th

Sat and marked books during Ted's practice while the Mums discussed childbirth, bullying and bad teachers. I kept my head well down.

Headed into town with Ellen as she signed up for voluntary work at the Cancer Research shop. She's doing her Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award and seems genuinely interested in it. I hope it lasts beyond the 10 mile walk they have tomorrow. I sense that she is reaching the point where new friends and interests replace the old. We are waiting for the day

Philippa's cousin Graham came for tea with his wife, Jayne. He's an interesting character and you can certainly see certain family traits between him and his cousins.

Day 183 - Space Camp

Friday October 16th

Today has been a bit of a whirlwind but I think I performed relatively well in the circumstances. First up was first rehearsals for our Year 10 Assembly. It's coming along nicely but needs a firm hand from Mr Nichols. Grrrr.

Next up was my favourite 11.2.4 and another formal observation. It threatened to kick off a bit with a couple of the boys but fortunately calmed it down and got on with it. After lunch I had 9.2.2 which was relatively straightforward as we were quietly looking through the topic test and then I finished with my first teaching of 8.1.3 which I did a little blind as I hadn't checked the scheme of work. I came up with a "It's a Knockout" style game with decimals and they seemed to like it. Whether they learnt anything is another matter.

School wants me to chaperone a trip to Space Camp in Alabama. This is a dilemma. On the one hand, I would rather have my balls chewed off slowly by a sadistic piranha than wear the proposed "Space Camp 2009" t-shirt on the way over. On the other hand, if I'm in Alabama, how hard is it to either get on a flight to New York OR invite the book club down to Talledega for a weekend of turkey legs, Bud and NASCAR racing? You see, it's a dilemma.

Day 182 - Getting The Pitch Right

Thursday October 15th

Teaching metric measurements to 8.2.4 today. It started well but I lost them when we got to conversion from one unit to the next. This is a big issue for me - what level to pitch each lesson at. It seems to change with each topic so you have to be ready for anything. My assumption was that it would be pretty straight forward BUT when we got to the number getting smaller as the unit of measurement got bigger, bang, lost them completely.

Tomorrow is my first 3 lesson day and I'm a little nervous about it especially as one of them is being observed.

Day 181 - Assignment Day

Wednesday October 14th

Day at Uni - bliss. Took the bus, did some marking, envied some students and then completely changed my assignment title. I loved the tutor who basically told us to do what we needed to do to pass and no more. I'm all for that

I haven't really shared experiences with my fellow GTP students yet so maybe that is still to come but it looks like I will be spending my second placement at a school that has lower academic achievements and you know what that means - some outstanding behaviour to deal with. Great

Day 180 - Treasure Hunt

Tuesday October 13th

Busy day today but prospect of a day at University to look forward to tomorrow so can enjoy it.

Had a good session with BYS and discussed my GTP assignment. This requires a 3,000 word paper on exploring an issue or opportunity in education. She rejected my first few ideas as being too philosophical and impossible to test or apply simply in the classroom. I think I have a good title with some excellent buzz words incorporated.

Had 10.2.2 in the computer room today and set them a task to plot Olympic medals on an Excel scatter graph. It ended up working very well and while very warm in the room, we almost finished on time. I followed that with a 7.2.1 Treasure Hunt around the corridors of Kings. I briefed them and sent them on their way only to find out that the Head and her team were walking the corridors. Fortunately they were all well behaved.

Ted had a Cup game for the school and won. What a contrast with his club team. He is now a regular starter so very proud of him for that. I went off for some hill work and mile repeats with WADAC. Hills felt good, miles less so

Day 179 - Scatter Graphs

Monday October 12th

Beautiful crisp morning as I walked to school. Breathe in, breathe out and enjoy.

New topic went well with 10.2.2 and we rattled through scatter graphs with my lesson plan working very well. Next up was 9.2.2 topic test when I got to sit behind the desk and do NOTHING. How hard can this be.

I am definitely feeling the effects of my run today as the limbs are a little weary. I have been asked to mentor a Year 11 Chinese boy from the boarding house. I am excited by the prospect as I want to see what impact I can have on the pastoral side of things. I think I've played football against him on my one indoor experience the other week

Day 178 - Butcher's Dog

Sunday October 11th

So, my new running buddy, Neil is running the Solent half marathon and I'm a little jealous as he is going for sub 90 minutes and if he does it and I haven't I will be very miffed. I decide to run a half as a training run and do it semi seriously. I do a warm up first mile and then run it relatively hard. I end up with 1:33, A PB by almost 3 minutes from Tucson last year....on a training run. I am VERY HAPPY with this and conclude I must be in very good shape. Neil narrowly missed sub 90 so we are all set for Gosport.

Legs felt tired but full of beans because of the run AND that Monday was a test for 9.2.2 so no lesson plan required. Took Ted to his Cup game and it looked ominous when the opposition's captain stepped up, all 6 foot and facial hair of him. They kept it to 1-0 in the first half and then wilted in the 2nd half, losing 6-0. A respectable performance and let's hope they carry that into next week.

Day 177 - Transfer Speculation

Saturday October 10th

Cycled over to Bar End for a morning of Alice football. She played U10 and U11, scoring a goal and playing her heart out. Meanwhile back in the States her old team mates were winning a penalty shootout to get to a final in a Columbus Day tournament. The standard is significantly better in depth here. Ted came back from practice and we watched some of his friends playing for Winchester FC....he wants to switch from Wyvern as they've lost all their games and not scored a goal yet. We shall see.

Alice got her new training top with initials but no logo. She's waited so long for it and now this. Turns out she will keep this one AND get a new one

Day 176 - The Final Cut

Friday October 9th

Having persuaded my tutor group to read Pink Floyd lyrics at their forthcoming assembly about Remembrance Day, I am now working with them to get ready for the big day. I can do this stuff so I am whipping them into shape. I think it's going to be pretty good if they can pull it off. It will certainly be a gauge of whether I can bring anything extraordinary to the school.

Another good day. Powered through revision with 11.2.4 and did not let up for the moaning, groaning and general indolence. I really just want to shake them vigorously by the shoulders and tell them to snap out of it, make the right choice, do some work, get a C and do something with their lives otherwise they'll just slip into an eternity of failure, self pity and numbing boredom. Instead I smiled indulgently at their childlike antics.

I really enjoyed my first foray into the Computer Room. who wouldn't when you can give them all work on the computer and take your time with helping individuals. I'm sure some of them were just playing games on line :-)

To cap off an excellent week, Mrs N and I went off to the pub and had a couple of drinks in The Queen Inn and the Wykeham Arms. Great pubs and way too long since we just spent time on our own.

I forgot these lyrics were on The Final Cut

When you're one of the few to land on your feet
What do you do to make ends meet?
Teach.
Make them mad, make them sad, make them add two and two.
Make them me, make them you, make them do what you want them to.
Make them laugh, make them cry, make them lie down and die.

Day 175 - Monster Spreadsheet

Thursday October 8th

Just the one lesson today and my karma is holding up. Had a good lesson with 8.2.4 and then spent an enjoyable hour with the other GTP students sharing experiences and evidence. It's obvious but we need to do more of this as we can draw strength and reassurance from each other. We briefly met the PGCE students as they are in school for the first time. This is good as I don't feel like the newbie any more.

Got some planning done after lunch including a monster spreadsheet showing some self assessment by 11.2.4. It colour coded how confident they all feel about all the topics in the GCSE re-take they have to do in March. It looks impressive and will be a fantastic addition to my portfolio. Whether the 16 year olds involved give a flying f*** or not remains to be seen. Left early and worked a little at home before heading off to track.

Neil is doing the Solent Half this weekend and I SO want to do it but will show restraint and wait for Gosport on November. Fast course, fast time. We zipped around the cathedral a few times in the dark. It was busy so a little hairy. I need to wear my miner's lamp

Day 174 - Winging It

Wednesday October 7th

Didn't go to track last night so punished myself with 5 quick miles today. Really enjoyed school today for some reason...just felt calm, relaxed and in control. Fun lesson with 7.2.1 and then a really good lesson with 8.2.4. They were pretty engaged in the lesson and learnt a bit I think.

Very strange the last few days as I've felt very calm and serene, very different to the same time last week. I think it's partly down to decent organisation and getting lessons planned when I have the time. It's also down to a little more confidence - you can plan so much and then you need to deal with what they throw at you. As I say to everyone, I used to do "winging it" as a full time career so should be pretty good at it.

Worked late and then met up with Ted on his way back from a school match. It was tipping down and he was shivering and soaking wet. Poor boy had a hot bath and then headed back out to another practice

Day 173 - A Major Contribution to Road Safety

Tuesday October 6th

Sat with Year 10 in their assembly and they had a talk about road safety. Scared the hell out of me but I'm sure didn't make much impression on the kids. The man presenting was from the Fire Department and was very good, with some viscerally effective TV ads to show. The trouble is, and I know we were all the same as teenagers, the kids believe it will never happen to them. You really want them to grow up and behave responsibly, and the majority will do, just as most of us have. 3 or 4 of them will be in a horrible but preventable car accident in the next few years.

I am now very mad - both Kevin and my brother have broken 20 minutes for 5k before me. I need to smash it now.

Day 172 - Triumph and Disaster

Monday October 5th

Ready for the fray today and had a formal observation from DVS. Now, the lesson was not great, in fact it was average and we didn't get through nearly as much as I planned. However, the important thing is that I didn't get upset by it. I just accepted it could have been better and moved on to the next one. The next one went really well so what's the moral here? I'm going to have good lessons and bad lesson, good days and bad days, but as long as I don't get too disconsolate or too giddy, I should be able to pace myself through the year without too much stress or shooting myself in the foot.

I think I've quoted this from Rudyard Kipling before, but:

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

Day 171 - Great Clarendon Marathon

Sunday October 4th

Picked up early for my first run in the UK, a marathon relay with Neil, Andy and Sue. The conditions were excellent but I was feeling nervous as we drove up to Salisbury. The course was beautiful, all rolling hills and classic English countryside. I ran the 3rd leg which was just over 7 and a half miles. The map suggested lots of hills all of which I took relatively easily and felt good as I handed over - 7:23 minute miles. The race ended up a Kings' School and we came 9th/90. Pleased with that.

I checked it against the Leatherman and was amazed to discover that this was longer, with more hills and my pace was significantly better. This was probably a combination of temperature and severity of hill...and being in better running shape

Leisurely afternoon other than pressure washing the dining room wash ahead of the blinds coming tomorrow.

Day 170 - Deep Philosophical Comment...Not

Saturday October 3rd

Today is much better than last Saturday. I am feeling quite relaxed about next week's lessons and whatever is thrown at me. I watched Alice's U11 team win 1-0 in between trying to prepare for next week.

Kate visited this afternoon and our kids entertained each other very nicely around the house and on the trampoline.

I'm happy I'm me. That's it

Day 169 - Hangman

Friday October 2nd

All relaxed today as no school just half a day at University with my Maths tutor. We got our GCSE papers back and I managed 92% (hooray) and 76% (boo). We raced through loads of material which was great. I now have enough starters to get through the next few months including hangman, word search, and a website called armoredpenguin.com. Odd.

Our assignment this month is to research famous Mathematicians and create a starter based on one of them. Euler will do for me as I have all that stuff from York.

Had a really good time and the time flew by. Students are back on campus now so it was very busy with Fresher's Week. That brings back memories from a long long time ago.

Day 168 - 824 Enigma

Thursday October 1st

824 are my enigma. Pitching work to them at the right level is proving hard for me as I seem to be getting it more wrong than right. I tried an off the shelf activity with them today on temperatures but they really struggled, didn't seem to enjoy it and therefore played up a bit. Adding and subtracting negative numbers is one of those things you get or don't get I suppose.

Thank God I have a training day tomorrow as I am very tired and not sure I could plan and deliver two lessons tomorrow. There is definitely a pattern to my week whereby I start of strong and then see to run out of puff by about Wednesday. Need to manage that better.

Track again tonight and ran with my new team mates. Great Clarendon Run on Sunday - marathon relay with me on 3rd Leg

Day 167 - Decimals Are Boring

Wednesday September 30th

Last day of the month and taught a very quick 721 lesson which went well (particularly as it gave OSM back the time to do other stuff. Good call!)

Misjudged 824 today which I should have realised. I gave them back 3 bits of work and spent way too long talking about it. Move on!!!! We got on to some number work and decimal ordering. They looked a bit bored. I know I was.

Ted had a cup game today but started on the bench. I managed to watch the first half and they ended up winning 9-2. We walked back together sharing a bottle of Lucozade. Father son bonding moment.

Day 166 - Pentomino Surprise

Tuesday September 29th

In some ways I miss getting up at 6 to go running but given I finish work much earlier now (did I mention 3.15pm?), I'm not so exhausted that I can't run in the evening. More on that later.

Very good lesson day today. 1022 went much much better today as I took DVS advice and spoon fed them more of the work. This involved working through multiple examples of grouped frequency tables and then regurgitating them on the IWB. DVS is great as she gives me meticulous feedback.

Quick definition break:

1022 - this means Year 10, Band 2, Set 2. Each year has 3 Bands with Band 1 & 2 having 4 sets each, and Band 3 having 3, making 11 sets in total,all streamed by ability. So 1022 is the 6th set, bang in the middle, expected to get Cs and Bs at GCSE

DVS - all the teachers have initials. I am NCL. DVS is the main teacher for 1022

IWB - Interactive Whiteboard...lots of fun

My second observation was today with 721 when we worked with pentominoes (shapes made from 5 squares or cubes). I got a "good" from OSM so I'm now 2 for 2. Good feedback and areas for improvement.

Track work tonight and rattled off some very good speedwork. A good day

Day 165 - Toughen Up

Monday September 28th

Today was make or break with 922 after my too friendly approach on Friday. It worked. I read the riot act, gave a detention to the unfortunate child who had the temerity to stroll in as I was giving my soliloquy and was greeted with silence and good behaviour. Felt much more in control and much happier after that and the lesson went well.

On the down side, 1022 was not so good. I changed my plan at the last minute which didn't help but I get the sense that these kids are waiting for me to screw up and then they're going to devour me. Not today!

Day 164 - 14-0

Sunday September 27th

My Dad turns 75 today. No way he looks or acts 75. Couldn't get hold of him as they are off in Spain playing golf. Hope I get to enjoy my retirement like he has.

Long run today and managed 6 miles at goal pace (allowing for low bridges and tree roots). That got me in a good state of mind for the day and finished off a couple of lesson plans before watching Ted get annihilated 14-0. Poor Ted, he worked hard but the other team just ran rings round them all. The defence was nowhere to be seen and at this rate, they're not going to score a goal let alone win a game. Need to start looking for a team close to home.

Day 163 - Funk

Saturday September 26th

Couldn't shake the funk I was in after last week and that horrible beast, stress, started to rear it's very ugly head. I worked myself into quite a state during the morning and started on that downward spiral that was all too familiar from my old job.

I managed to calm down during the afternoon and Tony stopped by for a cup of tea on the way back from Southampton. Much calmer

Day 162 - Meltdown

Friday September 25th

Well not literally, but I think the week got to me today as I had a bad lesson with 922 and finished the week on a real low. I have taken on a lot this week and when 922 started to play up I wasn't ready for it and just let it go. My mentor came down hard on me so unfortunately I finished the week low on energy and confidence. Having high expectations is great but I have to realise how much I am attempting to take on.

On the plus side, my tutor group are going to read some Pink Floyd lyrics as a poem, my 11.2.4 group engaged in my Smarties lesson and I had a great night out in London with Geoff, Tony, Karen and Bis. On the minus side, my 8.2.4 class are behind where I would want to be, 9.2.2 played up a bit and I have a whole bunch of lessons to plan next week.

Day 161 - Perspective

Thursday September 24th

Today I assessed my 8.2.4 class on how much they had learnt from my teaching of sequences. Not much it seems. A very good reality check for me as very few of them had grasped "the nth term" and I thought I had done very well on communicating it. There's also a big difference between what you think they get in class and what they can regurgitate back. A bit of a blow, but not unexpected.

Put my football boots on for the first time in ages up in the school gym. Very pedestrian but enjoyed it and managed to plan a busy day tomorrow.

Day 160 - Which Classroom Am I In Today?

Wednesday September 23rd

Still buzzing after last night but the school week was beginning to get to me. I think it's the frequent room changes. I (obviously) do not get my own classroom so not only do I have to prepare the lesson, I have to remember to take everything with me, find the classroom, get set up for a different space and then teach.

My 8.2.4 lesson was in another block and I got all the way there and realised I had forgotten their books. Panic. Fortunately, my colleague walked back to get them all and saved my bacon but a great example of the detail you have to remember.

Day 159 - Pros v Joes

Tuesday September 22nd

What comes after pride? Not such a great day today as I didn't connect with the 10.2.2 class I had to the extent I thought I would. It wasn't bad but I let them off the hook a bit on delivering against the task I had set and not sure they learnt anything. 65 minutes just flies by.

Went to my first track coaching session for WADAC and finally got to experience some proper training. Other than screwing up the various sets I felt good and my pace was quick. What a difference a track makes after weeks of road and track. The spring was extraordinary and I felt like I was going fast. Clocked 5:53 mile without pushing it so will definitely attempt a time trial soon.

Day 158 - Glorious Autumn

Monday September 21st

Week 3 in school and what a glorious day to walk in. Warm, sunny and that unique English autumnal smell. Today was a good day as my lesson planning paid off and my two new classes, 10.2.2 and 9.2.2 seemed to go well. I paid for it with a far too cavalier afternoon, sitting around drinking tea rather than planning the next few days but I enjoyed a bit of basking.

Helped out with football practice and then helped clear out the final few things from Nightingale. It was like we were never there.

Day 157 - Conker Fights

Sunday September 20th

Long run this morning and then sat and attempted to plan next week's lessons. Felt pretty confident about them but it seemed to take forever to do them. Next week is going to be hard, I can feel it coming. I'm taking on more and more lessons which means I have to plan them. This doesn't seem so bad but when you are planning a 65 minute lesson from scratch on a topic you know nothing about, to a group of children you hardly know and moving from classroom to classroom with a plastic box of stuff that you think you might need......

By the way, what happened to conker fights? Our local streets are covered in conkers but none of the kids seem bothered any more. I remember a time when we would scavenge tirelessly in the street, woods and into people's gardens, soak them in vinegar, leave them on radiators and then carefully bore a hole through the middle before threading the string and going into battle with trembling hands and hope in your heart that you had found "the one". More often than not you finished with bruised knuckles and a bruised ego but every now and then you could boast a "tenner" or better. Happy days.

Day 156 - That Big Girl

Saturday September 19th

We'd never heard our tiny little daughter described as big but given the ferocity of her tackling in both U10 and U11 teams this morning, it made me stop and realise that our baby is almost 10. The year breaks are different in the UK and she has gone from being one of the youngest in her year (December cut off) to the oldest (September cut off). We never noticed this when she played in Hastings as she always played up a year. Ellen and Ted are the same, especially Ted who has adopted a little bit of a swagger since coming home, partly because he senses he's a little bit older and more worldly wise than his class mates.

N&G paid us a surprise visit on their way back from Wales. Dad has been researching his family tree and went back to visit Mumbles, where his parents came from originally. Some fascinating stories emerging about the black leather Baptist bible, bakers, shotgun weddings and pirates....who would have known? I am particularly excited about being related to Captain Henry Morgan

Day 155 - You Should Be An Accountant, Sir

Friday September 18th

I was really looking forward to my 11.2.4 lesson today as I was clear on what I wanted to achieve but knew I would have a few challenging kids in there to test me. In the end we got half the work done and then the fire alarm went off for a planned drill. Classic moment of the day and the week is when one of the boys was trying to distract me and suggested I could earn more money if I trained to be an accountant. Bless. Thought the lesson went well as far as it went.

The afternoon dragged for everyone I think. Ran starters for both lessons but didn't feel the energy so happy to pack up and head home by 4.30pm for a relaxed evening with my family.

Day 154 - First Observation

Thursday September 17th

Everyone back in today and had my first formal observation by Jane, my mentor. The lesson went well albeit a little pedestrian to begin with. I was so keen to follow my lesson plan that I didn't get to new stuff until late on and ran out of time. A shame as that bit went really well but was rushed and not sure if they all got it. 8.2.4 is a hard class as they are well behaved but very passive so need to generate some energy in the classroom.

Got the feedback afterwards and was rated a good. She challenged me to try a range of teaching styles and get the kids much more involved with working in groups or individually rather than rely on me at the front. It's definitely what I want to do but there is a certain safety in being rigidly in control of the situation when are not quite sure of the material or the class dynamic!!!! I know I can create energy and engage the room, I just need to be confident that I can stick to some kind of plan while doing it.

Went off to track tonight and joined the 'threshold' runners. Managed 4 lots of 5 mins at 6.25 pace. Got me dreaming of a 1:25 half...

Day 153 - Tutor Visit

Wednesday September 16th

Our darling daughter's 15th birthday today and no school for them. Just me trudging up the long steep hill to school. Today was all about annual reviews...done a few of them before! It was very nice not to have to do one for a change. Instead I had a meeting with Keith, the head of the GTP course at University of Southampton. The meeting went well, especially as I had everything handy to show him.

Brought back bad memories of the final leadership course I had to do at Diageo when every sinew within me screamed in protest at having to fill in forms, do tests and go to week long courses, all the while knowing I was moving on. I enjoyed it much more this time - how could you not when it's all new and interesting and stretching me in different directions rather than bullsh*t of the highest order that gets cancelled as soon as the money runs dry in a recession?

Day 152 - Pastoral Care

Tuesday September 20th

The cold is definitely taking a hold but I needed to get through the school day. Unlike working in an office taking a sick day means the school has to pay to cover your lessons. In my case that's not a big deal as I am only supporting the main teacher but it does put a huge burden on teachers to not take a day off.

Today was Year 10 Assembly. I am learning about pastoral care. In other words, what does the school do other than churn out A through C grades at GCSE? Kings' seems to have it covered with tutor groups, assemblies, houses and loads of sport and other after school activities. For a school which is big on discipline and results it has an amazing amount of other stuff going on. I introduced myself to the Head a few days ago and remarked on the size of the school. She said that it operates as 5 schools on one site with the Head of Years running a school of 330 kids each. A school within a school. I think that's the route I want to go. Can't see myself as head of Maths!

Day 151 - Bingo

Monday September 14th

Feeling a little nervous this morning as I joined a Year 10 Tutor Group and had planned starters for 9.2.2 and 10.2.2 in succession. I knew some of the tutor group already so that was OK and then I tried out my bingo starter on 10.2.2. This went well up until the point where they had trouble filling out a simple 5x5 grid with the numbers 1 to 25! Managed to get over that and got a winner quite quickly. In 10.2.2 it took ages to get a winner and I got a question wrong. Panic started to set in but I managed to bluff it out. You definitely have to sweat the small stuff when you start out as it's those details that can trip you up and ruin a lesson.

The afternoon was relatively relaxed but I could feel a cold coming on so instead of going straight home I got changed and helped out with football practice. Spent an enjoyable hour herding about 30 Year 7s about. Really enjoyed but was pleased to get home and bed.

Day 150 - Spiders Webs

Sunday September 13th

A beautiful morning and headed off for a 10 mile run. As I ran towards the rising sun (yes, that early) the light caught hundreds of spiders' webs twinkling with dew in the long grass. Stunning image that I know I could never capture with a camera but definitely worth the early morning slog.

Alice headed off for her first away game and came back very grumpy. She didn't play much and that really doesn't sit well with her.

Mrs N and Alice went to church with Ellen and ran back screaming. Apparently it was a little too happy-clappy and even Ellen was a little freaked out. I think I might have punched someone if I had gone.

I completed two GCSE papers under exam conditions over the last couple of days and I fear that I have been a little under zealous on my subject knowledge revision over the summer. It's times like this that I behave like a 15 year old school boy and not a middle aged man - I am slightly concerned that I am going to be told off for being stupid by my tutor.

Day 149 - Opting Out

Saturday September 12th

Took Ted to practice and worked in the car on lesson plans for next week. Had a chat with one of the other Dads about what I was doing and by the end of the practice his wife informed me that he had gone home and told her he was "opting out" like me. Not quite what I meant but you know what happens when we hit our 40s....

The dartboard finally went up today so posted a few photos to Anthony. I need to set up the webcam so we can do the virtual darts match.

Ellen was away all day in Basingstoke and Ted off with his friends so it looks like we will be childless at weekends again soon.

Day 148 - Coming Up For Air

Friday September 11th

I didn't realise it was 9/11 until about 3pm today. 8 years ago RIP.

I cycled up to school. It was harder than the first time as I had a big back pack on. I did make it the whole way but very sweaty as I passed all the kids at One Stop. Very cool.

Very amusing Year 11 class where a back row kept me occupied with their attempts to wind me up. They really did think that I was a student teacher and I suppose they were right in one sense. I have enough verbal ammunition to deal with them. Looks like I will be working with a few of them on retaking their GCSE papers in March. Looking forward to that challenge as it will be in smaller groups and their is a very specific goal...get a C

End of the week so celebrated with a beer and an early night

Day 147 - My First Lesson

Thursday September 10th

Didn't run this morning but got up instead and went through my lesson plan for the millionth time. My heart was definitely pounding - what could possibly go wrong with a room full of 12 year olds?!

The lesson went fine although (and I know this sounds really stupid) I was so focused on managing the classroom, I don't think I actually taught them anything. I was also a little non - plussed by the lack of energy in the room. It felt like I had to generate it all myself which is tiring. I shouldn't be surprised, we are talking Maths after all.

Ted headed off to play for the school in his first game and I finally went off to the Winchester Athletic Club at the track. We went for a 7 mile run and I cycled home in the dark. Not clever.

Day 146 - Keep Smiling Til Christmas

Wednesday September 9th

Full day at University today so caught the bus there and back. It was a good day as I was familiar with most of the presentations in the morning and the lack of teaching jargon was refreshing. The guy who presented dismissed the thought of "don't smile til Christmas" with exactly the opposite. I like that.

My Head of Dept is leading the Maths specific content and I embarrassed myself with one of the questions she asked. Oops. Bless her though, she moved swiftly on to spare my blushes. She may be questioning her decision to hire me though.

Day 145 - Lesson Planning

Tuesday September 8th

We have a template for lesson plans. This makes sense as the better planned you are, the better the lesson will go as you are clear on objectives, have all the right resources, work to timing and can focus on the kids in front of you rather than what you have to do next.

I am currently writing my first proper lesson plan for Thursday and so far it has taken about 4 hours. This is not good as there are 25 lessons a week. That's roughly 100 hours planning with a full timetable.

I reviewed it with my mentor and she was pleased with it. The obvious flaw in it is that you fill in all the boxes and get lulled into a false sense of readiness. However, when it comes to actually delivering the meat of the lesson to 30 kids at different levels of understanding, with different learning styles, none of whom I know yet.....

I got home today a little drained and once again daunted at the scale of what I have taken on. Getting home at 4.30pm made me feel a whole lot better

Day 144 - How Badly Can They Behave?

Monday September 7th

So my biggest nightmare is being soft on behaviour. I lie/sit there and think of all these different scenarios where kids defy me, laugh at me, swear at me, attack me (or someone else) and I am frozen on the spot, unable to take firm action. My preference is for some cutting witty remark that stops them in their tracks and there is no more trouble but I know that is fantasy land.

Even standing in the corridor and checking uniforms (top button done up, tie up to the collar, shirt tucked in) is a dilemma. How do you be consistent if you know that a. say it once you have to say it a thousand times and b. once they walk round the corner, they undo their top button again.

At the staff meeting today, I received a weighty copy of the behaviour policy and had a talk from the child protection officers. We have a 'Referral Form' which we need to fill in and pass to senior management if we punish anyone. The list of misdemeanours is priceless - swearing, smoking, drugs, alcohol, not working. Also priceless is what you need to refer to the CPO - pregnancy, abortion, drug abuse. Not much of that to deal with at Diageo.

Day 143 - Sudden Death

Sunday September 6th

Good run this morning, 5 miles at 6:50.

Worked in the morning on class registers and then took M&D down to watch Alice's tournament. She did very very well, the highlight being her nerves of steel as she slotted two penalties in a shoot out. She was exhausted by the end but has definitely impressed her team mates and coaches. Some lovely kids there but the tattoos and smoking are definitely intimidating

Ted was off with his team all afternoon and has made a couple of friends it seems.

It's now 10pm. Ted and Ellen are in bed thinking of all the things that can go wrong tomorrow at their new school. Me too.

Day 142 - St Cross Garden Show

Saturday September 5th

We have found the replacement for dominating the Terry Ryan Run. We walked down to St Cross Hall and discovered the annual show which we will be entering and winning next year. It was held in an ancient and very English village hall and included flowers, bread, vegetables etc. with prizes awarded by an independent judge. The vegetables were very impressive but I fancy my chances in the bread making next year. Mrs N said it reminded her of the shows her Dad entered in Rickmansworth back in the day and saw the glint of competition in her eye...watch out St Cross, here we come.

Day 141 - Overload

Friday September 4th

If yesterday was a gentle introduction, today was anything but. I was bombarded with so much stuff from every direction today and while outwardly I remained calm, inside my brain and stomach were whirring and lurching respectively. Nothing bad just trying to get my head round everything I need to do just to stand up and teach one topic to one class for 65 minutes.

My two biggest fears are 1. My mind going blank on the subject matter and not being able to string to words together and 2. Not standing up and being tough on behaviour (or trying to be too tough and not backing it up).

Ted is also in Band 1 for Maths and probably everything else so at least they will be on the right track for Monday. I have made tentative enquiries about getting involved outside the department - Business and Enterprise and PE...probably Cross Country.

Day 140 - The Time Has Come

Thursday September 3rd

The time has come the Walrus said

To talk of many things

Of shoes and ships and sealing wax

And cabbages and kings

And why the sea is boiling hot

And whether pigs have wings

A very auspicious day for new beginnings - on September 3rd in 1939 WW2 started, in 1989 I started my first job at Beecham Bovril Brands and today, 20 years later, I start my new career as a teacher.

An INSET day is probably the easiest intro I could ask for as there were no children in the school but it did not diminish the enormity of the occasion. I walked to school with my packed lunch and QPR mug, got my new badge and then found out I was not on the list of staff. Oh well. I did get a laptop and login name on my first day which was very impressive.

Work finished at 3.15. I'll repeat that, 3.15 so I walked home, took Ted to practice, ran 3 miles, got home and didn't feel that tired. Cracking.

140 days, exactly 20 weeks since I left Diageo and I have enjoyed every single day of those 20 weeks. I've run a 24 hour relay race, done a triathlon, run a Beer Mile, moved countries, bought a house, got all three kids into school, two kids into football clubs and ticked off quite a few things on my bucket list. I really did have a dream to become a teacher for many years and now that is exactly what I am making a reality. I have always been more fatalistic than anything - taking each day as it comes, tackling whatever is in front of me and, I suppose, more often than not, taking the easy option and operating within my capabilities. This is the first time I've seriously set about achieving a big long term goal. Let's see if I'm any good at it.

Day 139 - Finishing Touches

Wednesday September 3rd

Ted and Ellen went off with Alex and Helena all day so we had Alice to ourselves. Felt a little fuzzy headed so had an easy morning before biking into the library with Alice. Cycling in Winchester is interesting. There are some nice trails and paths that are every safe from traffic but once you get into town it can get a little hairy. There are also lots of hills, especially up to school.

It started to rain after lunch and didn't stop for the rest of the day. Alice's practice was cancelled but we went and picked up her kit for Sunday...No.9 no less! Spent the rest of the evening ironing and watching "Defiance" - a great story but not sure the film quite hung together.

Went to bed feeling relatively relaxed but well aware of the enormity of what I'm taking on from tomorrow. This week will be an easy introduction as there are no kids tomorrow and Years 7 and 11 only on Friday

Day 138 - 16 + 51 = 1450

Tuesday September 1st

Busy today as I managed a run (decent pace) and finished off my 8 page review of the summer school I went to last week. I packed it full of potential "applications" in the classroom so I am hoping I can use it for my portfolio and/or training. A little longwinded but glad I got it done.

Catherine came for the day so we had the cousins running around keeping our lot occupied. All of them are very different and real characters. Walked into town with them and dropped Alice off at her party. She has definitely gone a little quiet in the run up to school.

Then we headed out for our anniversary dinner with M&D. They hadn't had a drink all month so the champagne went straight to their heads. Good wholesome food in a building dating back to 1450 and then Dad drove us the wrong way down a one way street in the centre of Winchester. No police around which was lucky