To Do before going back to school ...

1. Mark Year 11 exams (2 sets plus one third of two other sets)
2. Mark 2 sets of Year 11 books
3. Mark 2 sets of Year 10 books
4. Plan A level lessons on Sex and Relationships
5. Write Year 11 reports
6. Write revision notes for A level students
7. Produce homework booklets for Years 7 to 11
8. Enjoy Christmas!

Right. So I really ought to get cracking then ...

Added on Saturday 10 January: I didn't manage to get much done ... I am half way through marking the first set of Year 10 books, and I still have most of the Year 11 reports to get finished. They are due in on Monday. I have made homework booklets for Years 10 and 11.

Entertaining

We've just had a lovely evening with friends. Always great to chat to them - she is in the same line of work as H - and it's nice to extend our conversation beyond our usual!

Unfortunately I mucked up my timing a bit - leaving everything to the last minute isn't always the best idea! - but apart from cold lamb and roast potatoes, everything seemed to go down well!

Starter - Olive and sundried tomato hummus with gluten-free pitta bread, cucumber and cherries.

Main - lamb, roast potatoes, and a sort of roasted/stewed veg - carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, fennel, onion and beetroot cooked with chopped tinned tomatoes.

Sweet - fruit salad and cream (pineapple, pear, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, plum, nectarine).

Cheese dish - gluten-free savoury biscuits with 5 cheeses: brie, jarlsberg, danish blue, port salut and medium cheddar.

Chateauneuf-du-Pape was served, along with a Blossom Hill White Zinfandel rose wine. The driver and the cook were drinking freshly squeezed (although not by me!!) lemon juice.

Too full for tea and coffee, which was a shame because I had bought new coffee! Mum and Dad will need to return soon to drink it!

So, all in all, a lovely evening, and a day on which I have done very little else other than do the dishes, the shopping and the cooking.

This was because we were out rather late last night, first of all at the going away party of one of H's school friends who is travelling to Egypt then home, and then we went to the Double Club to celebrate the birthday of another dancing friend. Lots of lovely people at both events, it is nice to get out and about and meet new and interesting folk!

I do have quite a bit of marking to do tomorrow though:

* Finish Year 7 marking (this has been going on for the past three weeks, I think).
* Year 11 Mock Exams (2 and a half sets)
* Year 11 books
* Year 10 books
* Year 12 / 13 assessment booklets
* Year 9 assessments (2 sets; I set them the assessment for classwork to try to get them to do some work, which they haven't been doing recently. Not my class.)

Other things I need to do before the Christmas holiday on Thursday:

* Phone all the parents of the Year 7s who have not brought back their trip letters.
* Tidy up the office!! (A HUGE job ...)
* Write and send the Christmas cards.
* Return a document/booklet/resource to a teacher in another school.
* Write Year 11 and Year 13 reports.
* I'm sure there are many other things .... !!!

Off to bed now. It's after midnight and I have church tomorrow!

Happy St Andrew's Day!

No haggis for us tonight, unfortunately, but I hope you are all having a lovely St Andrew's Day!

Just thought I'd make a list, not of what I have to do, but what I have done since yesterday!

I got up around 10am yesterday morning.

I cleaned the bathroom, put the washing on, did the shopping, hung up the washing (grammar???), put the shopping away, made the lunch (spatchcock poussin) and washed the dishes. By noon.

For the rest of the day, I washed those dishes, made dinner (lamb steaks with rice and squash), washed those dishes and cleaned the kitchen. I also produced two and a half powerpoints (I have just finished the third now) for our big RE day. That was quite a big job.

Today, I have been to church, made lunch (beef stew), completed all the admin things for the RE day, including sending some emails, written my A Level mock exam paper, and made a GCSE revision checklist for my Year 11s. That has taken some time, but I'm pretty pleased with my progress.

I still need to do the dishes, make dinner, and mark three sets of books. Will see how I get on ...

Lots of random thoughts and filling ins

It's finally the holidays! I say finally, but that sort of suggests that I have been waiting for them, longing for them, and actually that's not entirely accurate. They more sort of crept up on me. I'm sure you noticed the lack of entries over the past six weeks or so. It has been a particularly busy time. I'm running the department again, as I may have mentioned, a bit earlier than expected, which has meant a few extra meetings, more admin to complete, more detentions to follow up (from other classes, not necessarily mine), more letters to write home.

However, I have managed to just about keep on top of all the departmental stuff, and still manage to find time to go to interesting events with H. I've also managed to get up earlier, arriving in later, and leave school earlier, getting home earlier, most nights any way. My marking has been a bit behind, and the office is a mess, but mostly the classes have been fairly productive and I am still enjoying myself. Let's see how long it lasts!

So, a few thoughts. Firstly, my cleaner (C). When I am a bit later in leaving, for example because I'm trying to catch up on a bit of marking, he will often arrive and have a short chat about religion before getting on with the hoovering. So it was interesting to learn that he is in the UK completing his Masters in Law, working constantly to fund the study. He's looking forward to going home where he should be able to get a good career as a lawyer, particularly since he will have a British qualification and speaks English. Recently I threw out a few pages of an old textbook, but the next day I discovered it on the table. Thinking that C had left it there in case I'd thrown it out accidentally, I put it back in the bin. At the end of the day, I was writing letters to parents when he arrived. He explained that in Islam, nothing with God's name on it could be put in the bin, it had either to be burnt or buried. That was particularly interesting, since a Jewish colleague had been talking about the same thing earlier with some students.

Secondly, my report on last night. We went out to the Housing Options Affordable New Homes Show, which was informative. Nice to hear a bit more about the options, which being a Key Worker are perhaps a more than for many people. Anyway, we stayed for a bit, then decided to head out for food. I knew roughly how to get to Wagamama at Covent Garden, so we were heading there, but H kept looking in the windows of nice looking French restaurants that we walked past. So I started keeping an eye out too, and just off Floral Street I looked up a little alley way, and could just make out the title, Cafe Des Amis - Restaurant. Let's try this one ...

Anyway, we had a delicious meal. Pretty extravagant, it's true, but every mouthful was a delight. We started with a selection of bread and olives. Three types of bread ... baguette, a wholemeal seeded bread, and a sweeter loaf with walnuts and raisins. Delicious. With lovely French butter. Then we shared a started of scallops with a chicory and chorizo fondue. The scallops were perfectly textured, firm and juicy, seared to bring out the flavour. The fondue, a large scone-sized pinky mound of chicory and chorizo, was also tasty, excellent. I then decided to have a traditional main course, which reminded me of meals at home, of good food, well cooked - poached smoked haddock, with salty crushed new potatoes and a fried egg, and a "pommery mustard beurre blanc". Every bite was heavenly. The haddock melted in my mouth, and came away from the skin with just the right consistency. H had beef fillet with mushrooms. The mushrooms tasted wild, natural and wonderful. Really, we ought to have stopped there (well, I ought to have ... H had a cup of tea, but left dessert for me ...) but I was intrigued to see what would be on the menu for dessert in such a restaurant. Well, the first item seemed so unusual that I eventually decided I just had to try it. Soupe au chocolat (indulgent soup, nonetheless - I'll say!) with black pepper ice cream. How could I not try such a sweet?! I expected a small amount of melted chocolate with a similar sized portion of ice cream. Instead I received a large, hot, soup bowl, full of melted chocolate with a thick blanket of thicker, cooling chocolate, and a small portion of vanilla-looking ice cream rapidly melting in the middle. Yum! Spoonful after spoonful, I engorged myself on this delicacy, enjoying the delicate taste of the black pepper amongst the vanillaness of the ice cream. But I couldn't finish it! I felt my heart beating faster as the chocolate coursed through my veins in overdrive. So, very nice, but only have it if you have a friend or three to share it with! Anyway, it was a wonderful evening, the waiters were lovely, the food was fantastic, and I'd definitely go back ... for a very special occasion!

Anyway, I'm hoping that I might be able to write more this week as I'm off, and it's nice to be back ... but don't worry if you don't hear anything, I'm just really busy!

Busy Bee

What a busy week it has been - again! I've hardly had any time in school to think about anything other than teaching or admin, ie no marking, filing, chasing up minutes, phoning parents etc.

Fortunately most of my classes have been fairly straightforward and well behaved, other than one day when my Year 11 class was very poorly behaved, along with many other students from another class. I wrote a long email to their Head of Year, and we are giving them an after school detention this week. Their letters arrived today - so they were not too happy in this morning's lesson!

Other than that, my evenings have also been jam-packed, which has been enjoyable, but very tiring! For example, we had another open evening (the grand total of two parents visited the department), following which I went to the opening of a gallery fairly near the school. H joined me about an hour later, and since he knew people, we then got chatting and stayed until quite late, when we went next door for a Vietnamese/Chinese/Thai meal. Fortunately we had the car, so it was fairly easy to get home!

The next evening we were out late at a reading event, which again was fun and we met up with some friends and relatives. Another late night - we tried to go to Tayyab's for dinner, but by the time we got there, they were closed, as was the Orange Tree, so we settled for a kebab instead!

Friday I managed to stay in and watch Ugly Betty. How relaxing! Now that Doctor Who is off the air, it is the one show I love to watch regularly.

We visited the new Saatchi Gallery on Saturday. Some of the art seemed quite "vacant", like the eyes of so many of the figures on display, but a few pieces were more interesting. Unfortunately my wisdom teeth started playing up at the weekend so I wasn't able to enjoy the experience as much as I would have liked to! However, it was good to finally discover the King's Road, which had a lovely market selling lots of delicious looking food. We had a sausage on a roll each (yum!) and a box of healthy vegetable dishes, which were unfortunately cold, which was quite unexpected having stood for some time beside the (hot) pans. However, we would still like to go back some time.

Sunday seemed so busy from the start to the end of the day (and the beginning of the next ...). From church I went straight to the shops, then I came home, cooked, then marked lots of books (three out of four sets). In the evening we went out to the home of a new friend, and we stayed until midnight. A great evening, loads of good chat and plenty of good food! Arrived home after 1am, so I am pretty tired now.

I got back earlier from a meeting. Another busy day, but at least I have had the chance to catch up a bit on my blog and some admin stuff here at home. Must go to bed now, though - I think I deserve it! (I definitely need it ... !)

To Do List ...

1. Take back trousers to shop to replace - worn three times, hole in side hem already!
2. Buy and replace brake light.
3. Book car in for a service.
4. Rearrange trip for next week and ensure risk assessment etc are all ready.
   
5. Marking.
6. Finish tidying up the flat.
7. Lots of visits to people and art galleries etc coming up in the next few weekends.
8. Post book to S.
9. Make video for members of our department and for marketing evening.
10. Write two (or three?) lesson plans on Confucius.
11. Book myself onto two diocesan meetings.
12. Arrange detentions for a number of children.
13. Send letters to parents regarding their children's lack of attention.

So, as you can see, once again there is a LOT to do ... (and that's not actually everything ...)

To do list ...

I can't believe how busy I am. I am now HoD but still teaching a full timetable. Hope that will change this week. The teacher that was driving me up the wall has now left and we have a new teacher ... he seems to be okay so far, we'll see how it goes.

Nice weekend planned this weekend. Brought home three sets of books, loads of good intentions to get lots done. My plan was to get up, do some tidying then spend most of the day marking etc, then out last night for dinner with cousin, then get up early today to do shopping, before heading north to our friends' son's baptism, where we would spend most of the day but arrive in good time to get things ready for tomorrow and have an early night.

Didn't quite work out that way.

H woke up in the middle of the night with some strange symptoms of tightness across the chest etc. Fortunately after taking painkillers it subsided, but we wondered if it was partly caused by the disorganised nature of our flat at the moment, so we decided to really spend time tidying the house the next day. Because our sleep was disturbed, we got up later than planned, then decided to start by doing the dishes. Well, the dishes turned into cleaning the kitchen, including clearing out a lot of food past its sell by date, and cleaning some very greasy items from the top of the cupboard. Pans, dishes, food everywhere. Until about 2pm or so, by which time we were hungry, and couldn't really cook because all the dishes were everywhere. So we went out for some light lunch, then went to do the shopping, then came back, got changed, and went to my cousin's. Great night! They have a nice flat with a good view, and we had a delicious lasagne. Came home on the late side and went to bed. No marking.

I woke up this morning earlier than H and marked some homework sheets. Didn't get started on the books. Managed to plan the homework for my GCSE classes, but no more. Headed up north for the baptism. We arrived an hour early for the baptism and drove into the pub car park to think about having a bite to eat. However, H had the tightness again, so I phoned NHS Direct, who advised phoning 999 to get checked out. So we called for an ambulance, who then took H to the A&E, with me following on behind. ECGs, blood tests, x-rays, temperature, heartbeat etc all checked, and all was fine, other than a bit of inflammation in the chest, so he just has to take painkillers for the next week and he should be fine. Not a heart attack, and not indigestion. But we missed the baptism! We were let out around 5pm, so had a quick meal before meeting up with our friends and going back to their house. We therefore stayed a bit longer than we might have done otherwise, which was lovely, but now that we are back - just - I am too tired to get all the homework done! And still have loads to do. So thought I'd write down my to-do list:

1. Take back trousers to shop to replace - worn three times, hole in side hem already!
2. Buy and replace brake light.
3. Book car in for a service.
4. Write wish list for department to take to my line manager.
5. Prepare list of things to do for school trip on Tuesday.
6. Complete risk assessment for that trip.
7. Marking.
8. Finish tidying up the flat.
9. Lots of visits to people and art galleries etc coming up in the next few weekends.
10. Post book to S.
    

Right. Wonder how long that will all take ...

Hello dear world!

Wow, it's exhausting being a teacher! And difficult to find a few moments to write anything at all. Even now, I want to have a relaxing shower, and I need to cook dinner. I have brought a set of books home that I have not managed to mark for two weeks, despite it being the best class I have ever taught, ever, and I have a bunch of admin stuff to do as well. But I wanted to let you know I am still here and am doing okay! I'm going to break off now to do something for a bit ... Hope to be back later this evening!

To do

Here's the most recent list:

1. Photocopy Hinduism booklet for all classes, and complete answers for other teachers.
   
2. Finish Year 10 reports.
   
3. Mark three sets of Year 9 assessments. (2 and a half down, half to go...)
   
4. Write 3 lesson plans for project. (One planned; two to write, but planned in my head.)
   
5. Write Case Study for project.
6. Send off all project stuff by 14 June.
7. Write essay for other course.
8. Plan inspection lessons.
9. Plan all assessments and lesson plans. (This is done in my head, and will be completed by the end of the week whether I like it or not!)
10. A whole load of KS3 stuff ... write a yearly plan, make sure all books are up to date etc.
    

To do over half term

1. Complete Hinduism booklet and photocopy it.
2. Write Year 10 reports.
3. Mark three sets of Year 9 assessments. (2 down, 1 to go...)
   
4. Mark books: Year 7, Year 8, Year 9.
5. Write 3 lesson plans for project.
6. Write Case Study for project.
7. Send off all project stuff by 14 June.
8. Write essay for other course.
   
9. Car insurance, tax, MOT stuff - asap.
10. Plan inspection lessons.
11. Plan all assessments and lesson plans.
12. Financial stuff.
    

I'm sure there's also all the admin and housekeeping stuff too. We'll see.

To do this week

1. Finalise lesson plan and resources for observation.
2. Write up all lesson plans and produce resources for project.
3. Complete Hinduism booklet.
4. Produce mark scheme for Y9 assessment.
5. Send off all car insurance stuff.
6. Pay bills, MOT etc.
7. Go on school trip!
8. Attend course.
9. Write a resume of St Paul's letters for Year of St Paul stuff. (Wasn't needed in the end!)
10. Produce subject specific ICT links for teachers.
11. Write Year 10 reports.
12. Plan all lessons, including cover lessons.
13. Plan homeworks (for over the holidays ...)
14. Produce KS3 review of schemes of work for inspection.
15. Mark Year 7 books.
16. Write essay for course.

I'm sure there are more things I need to do! But this will more than keep me going!

Bank Holiday Blues

What a lovely day it is today! But here I am, stuck inside, trying to get all my admin done! Woe is me!! And we've just had a powercut for the past two or three hours, so no internet access - which has been good, in that I've managed to mark some assessments - but not so good in that I kept thinking, "I should ... look up my new classlists on the internet ... Oh no, I can't. I should ... find out more info about that job ... Oh no, I can't! I should ... look up some info for the new scheme of work I'm writing. Oh no, I can't!"

Had a lovely day yesterday visiting friends, which it makes it all worthwhile though. They now have three lovely children, so I took 140 photos (ah, the age of digital photography!) a few of which I've uploaded to Facebook. Very nice to see all the family, more so since they will be overseas for a year, leaving in a few months time. However, with blogs and Facebook and Skype, I am sure we'll be able to keep in touch and see how the children are growing!

Now, where was I? ... Marking, that was it. Bye!

To do!!

I'm updating it to take away the things I've done and to add more things I have to do ...

1) Visit our friends with a six week old baby
2) Plan a unit on the Holy Spirit that involves art (05/05/08 - I have written the assessment)
3) Plan the forthcoming lessons
4) Sort out the car insurance stuff following my accident last month
5) Mark the two sets of Y7 assessments
6) Mark the two sets of Y9 assessments
7) Mark the Y8 assessment
8) Complete Risk Assessment for school trip (I should point out that I have done most of this, but I have still to write the letter to parents and actually hand it in.)
9) Arrange graduation stuff (at least I've started on this by asking for time off!)
10) Bind my dissertation
11) Complete a booklet on Hinduism (05/05/08 - I have started this, and have the headings)
12) Keep an eye on the job market
13) Write Y7 reports (05/05/08 - Have at least started ... all data entered, just have to write the things now!)
14) Plan two sessions on web stuff
15) Plan session on AfL for NQTs

Have just finished watching High Fidelity. That was fun! Am tired now. Can't really believe how much I've got to do ... Blue things on the list are specifically school related. And they should all turn red eventually as they are completed!

(By the way, we did our civic duty on Thursday, and voted. And now we have Boris!)

Updating my list ...

1) Watch London marathon (want to get pics of the Maasai warriors that are running)
2) Visit our friends with a newborn baby
3) Plan a unit on the Holy Spirit that involves art
4) Mark another set of books (and possibly pop in to school to pick up some more sets of books, and the two sets of year 7 assessments that I left at school by accident)
5) Buy an outfit for my friend's wedding, and a present
6) Buy a present for our nephew's first birthday
7) Plan the forthcoming lessons
8) Tidy the house!! (I've done it, but it has to be continually kept up to date!)
9) Sort out the car insurance stuff following my accident the other week.

So, as far as school goes, I still need to:
1) Mark the other half of Y9 books
2) Mark the other set of Y9 books
3) Mark the two sets of Y7 assessments
4) Plan lessons for Y9 assessment
5) Plan lessons for Y8 assessment
6) Plan lessons for new Y7, Y8 and Y9 schemes of work
7) Plan LOTC scheme of work on religion and art for Y9
8) Arrange times for Parents' Day
9) Complete Risk Assessment for school trip

Also need to:
1) Send off car insurance stuff
2) Get the car keys back
3) Possibly buy coat and gloves for wedding outfit (Done - Sunday)
4) Complete at least 2 applications
5) Arrange graduation stuff (at least I've started on this by asking for time off!)
6) Bind my dissertation

Hmmm. So I still have quite a bit to do tomorrow ...

PS GREAT NEWS! I got the car keys back!

Travelling

All the excitement recently has been around H's trip overseas. It was a bit last minute, but he managed to get a ticket and got on the flight in time. Just! I've been finishing off some form filling for him, and have posted two parcels this morning. So now I have some forms to fill in of my own, as well as trying to tidy this place up.

Let's review that list from earlier this week ...

1) Watch London marathon (want to get pics of the Maasai warriors that are running)
2) Visit our friends with a newborn baby
3) Plan a unit on the Holy Spirit that involves art
4) Mark another set of books (and possibly pop in to school to pick up some more sets of books, and the two sets of year 7 assessments that I left at school by accident)
5) Buy an outfit for my friend's wedding, and a present
6) Buy a present for our nephew's first birthday
7) Plan the forthcoming lessons
8) Tidy the house!!
9) Sort out the car insurance stuff following my accident the other week.

Hmm. I thought I'd managed to complete more than that!! I am very happy with my outfit, which we got a couple of days ago - I'm just hoping that none of my old uni friends have made the same choice as me! I imagine it would look very good on any of them - that could be interesting! I still need to get shoes. And the presents ... so it looks like a day's shopping in London is in order at the weekend. I think I'll concentrate on number 8 (again!) for the next hour or so, in order to have some space to complete numbers 3, 4, 7 and 9. Unfortunately I think number 2 will now have to be put off for a couple of weeks, until H is back and after the wedding. Fortunately my friend also has a blog with some great photos of the newborn - not so new now, he's a month old! - so at least we're keeping up to date with his progress that way!

Right. Tidying, while listening to the Elgar Enigma Varations. Great!

This week so far ...

I wish the lack of entries indicated a host of exciting activities, but instead it probably represents the simple relaxation of being on holiday! I haven't really moved far from the computer, but have been fiddling around with other programs and keeping in touch with people rather than blogging here.

So, F left on Tuesday morning, at the same time as I headed into school. We had a revision session for any GCSE students that wanted to come along. There were about thirty or so, which was a good number, really, for 9am on a holiday morning. I don't think I'd have been there if I'd had the choice! Unfortunately most of them were there to catch up with their friends, so it was more of a social club than a revision session. Even pointing out that we hadn't given up the morning to spend time with them but rather to help them prepare for their exams didn't seem to make any difference, so we cut the class early, but offered the option of staying for any that had particular questions.

Three of mine stayed, and we had a purposeful hour and a half. I was able to go through the exam with them, revise a couple of important parables, answer their particular questions and hopefully encourage them a bit as well. It was just what I had hoped for - a shame there were so few of them. But often smaller numbers helps. We'll see how they do in their exams next month ...

It was also nice to be able to go home, rest for a bit, then head back out to meet a long lost friend in Marylebone. Well, not exactly lost - Edinburgh is hardly the back of beyond! - but we hadn't seen each other since uni! However, it was as if hardly any time had passed, and the couple of hours we had together over hot chocolate and tiramisu passed by very quickly! So it was a great week for catching up with new friends.

That theme continued on Facebook over the past few days. I have now linked up once again with a couple of old friends, one from about nine years ago, the other closer to nineteen years ago ... One of the benefits of Facebook is the way you can communicate with people all over the world quickly and easily, sharing photos and videos easily. (However, the TES had an article this week warning teachers to watch out what they post online, since those photos and comments then become public property, and teachers can be disciplined for bringing their school - and the profession? - into disrepute. I am conscious of this, and probably self-censor a bit on here and on Facebook - I'm often surprised at colleagues that don't!) Anyway, over the past few days I've had some fairly lengthy catch ups with friends, which has been nice.

The other main "event", if it can be called that, is my continual difficulty with swallowing tablets. I know it is entirely psychological, but that doesn't help! Drinking litres of water resulting in a horrible taste as the tablet gradually dissolves is not pleasant, and mixing it in with microwaved banana and chocolate didn't work either. The last couple I've taken I've had to crush and mix with lemon curd, or at least wash down with smoothies, but the instructions clearly say that I am not supposed to do that. So I think I'll have to phone the surgery again on Monday and see if there is an oral suspension liquid thing I can take instead ... I really ought to be more adult about it, but I just can't!!

At least with it being holidays I've managed to mark two sets of books (very briefly, tick and flick, I'm afraid, and with the inspection coming up I'll need to set some more extended writing for them to do so I can give more formative comments!), write a proposal for a new project, and read two or three easy crime fiction novels, as well as have a few lie-ins.

So, for the rest of the holidays? Here is the plan:

1) Watch London marathon (want to get pics of the Maasai warriors that are running)
2) Visit our friends with a newborn baby
3) Plan a unit on the Holy Spirit that involves art
4) Mark another set of books (and possibly pop in to school to pick up some more sets of books, and the two sets of year 7 assessments that I left at school by accident)
5) Buy an outfit for my friend's wedding, and a present
6) Buy a present for our nephew's first birthday
7) Plan the forthcoming lessons
8) Tidy the house!!
9) Sort out the car insurance stuff following my accident the other week.

Well, that's not too bad, and it makes a change to have more than simply marking and planning on the list! I am finding this holiday quite relaxing. Was certainly in need of it. Now, number 8 ... kitchen sink, here I come!!!

Back to school

Well, that's one day over! Another three and a half weeks until Easter!

It's wasn't that bad, actually, although the new seating arrangements - islands of desks rather than the rows that had been driving me crazy, they're so boring - caused a bit of consternation!

The highlights came in my Year 7 class and at lunchtime. Both involved handing back the assessments I've been marking over the holidays. One boy, who is often quite badly behaved, got back his assessment. The first level written on it was very low - I only had a sheet with a few notes. But I thought he might have written another page. At first, he started protesting - "But I wrote all that, Miss!" - but then I showed him another page - "Yes! That's mine!" - and soon he was jumping all over the classroom shouting with delight at his grade! He has asked me to send it home, so I am going to photocopy it and send it home with a note. And I've been telling his other teachers, so hopefully he'll get more praise too.

Then at lunch a couple of Year 9 boys came by to see if I had marked their assessments. I had, and, once again, they were delighted with the grades - they were the top two in their class, one joint equal second with one of the girls who is normally top of the class, so they were really happy too!

It makes all that marking worthwhile!

Time for Bed!

Well, I've passed it, actually. And foolishly - I could have finished this marking ages ago if I hadn't interspersed it with random and pointless excursions to the internet.

Anyway.

I have just finished marking my Year 8 Assessments! And half inputted their reports! And I have also made a good start on another essay that is due in on Friday. So my to-do list now looks like this:

1) Finish writing Year 8 Reports.
2) Complete lesson plan on the Sacraments.
3) Write booklets of work as back-ups from Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 - except that's not really necessary, and instead I have made some key word list worksheets to keep me going.

It's been a really productive half term, relaxing as well (although it's so late, so I'm bound to be tired tomorrow!), and I'm feeling positive about going back. I'm going to rearrange my classroom ... Let's see how it goes! Goodnight!

Eating Out and Staying In

Had a lovely evening out last night meeting up with a Dutch friend and one of her colleagues. We went to Chutney's on Brick Lane, our "local" Brick Lane restaurant, but it was a bit weird. We waited ages to order, then the man insisted on bringing us poppadoms before he took our order, then left these with us without taking the order at all! Someone else did take the order, and the food was really good, as always, but I had to ask four or five times (possible more!) for a second mango lassi, which eventually arrived after the hot food it had meant to cool finished! H decided the waiters were probably overworked and very tired by the time they were serving us. Anyway, the company was great, and we chatted until midnight. It's always good to get someone else's perspective on education as well. Our friend has encouraged me to try a Michelle Pfeiffer on some of our more difficult students. I will try!

Have planned a couple of assessments, but no further on the essay or Year 8 marking and reports. Must get the essay done now.

Doing the admin ...

I've completed some admin-y type stuff. So I still have the two big jobs and the other hopeful but creative jobs to go, but at least that list is getting shorter!

1) Complete an essay on sex education and email to tutor by the end of the week.
2) Marking Assessments: - Year 8 Assessments
3) Write Year 8 Reports.
4) Choose and start planning essay or lesson plan on the Sacraments. (Check when due.)
5) Write booklets of work as back-ups from Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9.