Day 350 - Reserved For Runners

Thursday April 1st

INSET day which means teachers and no children. I spent most of the day in meetings or cajoling my very very lazy Year 11 mentee to finish his coursework. I have been sporadically mentoring him since October and obviously haven't done a very good job because he is now down to 3 predicted A*- C grades in his GCSEs, which means he won't be going to College.

He's a boarder from Hong Kong and struggles with his written English, which means he is going to find his exams very hard. Unfortunately, he seems to have left everything too late and is now in a state of denial, believing he is going to get 5 Cs when he clearly isn't, unless he does something extraordinary between now and June. I have tried to talk to him about it but he is very reluctant to take responsibility.

Excellent club night tonight - tough threshold runs around the cathedral followed by dinner and a couple of pints with everyone at the pub. I was the first to arrive and in front of me was a large sign on a table saying "Reserved for Runners". That's me!

Day 279 - Tangled Webs

Wednesday January 20th

Back to work today but, because of the school closures, both my Year 8 classes were taking exams so I had no planning to do at all. It made for quite a relaxed day and I caught up with a few things.

Soon I will need to face the prospect of applying for a job as there is no current vacancy at Kings'. I am feeling quite relaxed about it but Mrs. N is not. I suppose the thought of going to another new school from September is not particularly appealing having put so much effort into getting to know staff and children here.

I broached the idea of teaching Business Studies to my mentor but backtracked very quickly when a look of horror crossed her face..."but why would you want to do that if you want to teach Maths?....". Ah, it's a long story. I do need to spend some time with the Business Studies department and see what's going on with them. I know a bit about that stuff.

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 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 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 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 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 81 - NCL

Monday July 6th

So my 3 letter "signature" next year will be NCL. Somewhat reminiscent of NCR as in National Cash Registers but I will live with it as it a the first concrete indication of my new status as a teacher at Kings. I am observing for the week and spent all day in school. Enjoyed myself very much although didn't pluck up the courage to go to the toilet so it was a desperate dash home at 3:15. Thank God we're living just up the road.

It was encouraging to be recognized by a few of the kids from back in March, especially the naughtier ones! First up was Jane's tutor group. Jane is my mentor for the year which means she helps me get through my first year. She has a full timetable but has found time to make feel welcome so I'm sure we are going to get on well together.

Sat in on some very excitable classes which was good. For the life of me I have no idea how I'm going to deal with a class that is out of control. My fear is that I will be too tolerant and then lose my temper on occasion. That would be awful so need to be really careful. Sat with the class I taught in March and they remembered the "Guinness" lesson.

Had a complete panic attack when Alexis asked me to help someone with construction. Stayed one step ahead and showed no fear! Got home and fell asleep on the floor!