All entries for Monday 20 June 2005

Monday

Follow-up to Friday from Bloggle

It's come around really quickly to Monday and off to school again. I invigilated yet another exam this morning. I'm getting really bored of them – possibly more so than of my own exams. This time it was a mental maths test, so my function was to press play and stop on a tape player. You need a highly trained operative for that, I don't think just anyone could manage it.

Later in the morning me and my partner in school, Kar, were helping with some Year Seven thing which for some reason I can't remember the name of. It was all about feelings and how to cope with them, not really the terrain of a mathematician. I had no idea how to really do anything, but it was okay. I think I even learned some useful stuff myself! Part of the activities was the pupils making a poster. It was fairly anarchic. One of the interesting things was that the girls took control and bossed the boys around. I suppose some things are the same whatever age you are.

In the afternoon we were doing the same but for some reason the kids got on with the work better. I think the sun had drained their energy, if this is true perhaps schools ought to consider boiling the children into submission before each lesson. Or perhaps not. The bizzarest thing today was someone asking me – in all seriousness – if I was French. I checked me head for a beret but didn't find one so I have no idea where that came from.

I've had a number of exchanges with pupils along the lines of:
"What's your name sir?"
"Mr Walker"
"Do you support Leicester?"
It was cute at first but now it's getting tired and dull. The whole crisps connection is especially boring. I suppose they're only kids so can be forgiven, but isn't it annoying when people say things about someone's name they must have heard hundreds of times as if it were some brilliant insight? Though it is always tempting to be one of those people.

Tomorrow sees me teaching a class for a whole lesson for the first time. It could be crazy but I'm well prepared, I just hope they don't ask any quetions I can't figure out how to explain.

: 20 Jun 2005 17:36 |  Tags: Teaching |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem