0530 Alarm goes off, I curse loudly open one eye check the time and resolve to have another 10 minutes in bed.
0600 I am up, out of the shower BBC World news is on. Drinking a large glass of milk and a slice of very small toast.
0630 Time to switch everything off and go out for the bus that arrives at between quarter too and seven o'clock, or sometimes not at all.
0650 On bus to school - its about a 20 minute walk so why does the bus take 30-40 minutes.
0720 Walking into the staffroom to check on cover, grab a coffee and see if any URGENT messages are on the Noticeboard - Today there is a meeting for all staff at ten which is the official break time.
0730 Open classroom and pupils start to wander in, they have till 0735 to be in class after that they are late, two lates in any week results in internal suspension, 3 lates in a month results in Weekend detention.
0735 I lock my door and take the register. Plaintive knocks on the door eventually get those that are late let in and marked as such. The period starts... Its a Grade 6 class working on their TANGRAMS one girl is at the painting stage, about 8 are on the glueing stage and the rest are still sanding or cutting. I have made a mental note to NEVER do this task again. Cutting a square into 7 pieces means it will NEVER ever be a square again !!! 5 minutes before the end of the period I get the kids to pack up, tidy up and put their work away (Which of course I will need to go and reorganise once they are gone.) 0830 the bell rings.
0830 My next class is a good class one of the Grade 8 classes with the girl who is so far ahead of everyone else in creativity and inovation that I am having to find extension work for her to keep her challenged. The pupils in this class are working on 1 point and 2 point perspectives of the school buildings they are responsible for. They are broken down into 5 groups and one of the groups has a problem visualising the building so I take them out to go look at the building, choosing a point that best exemplifys the 1 point and then by moving a little the two point perspective. This is a great teaching aid as the kids can see the effect of foreshortening and narrowing and I recommend it to anyone teaching perspective. Real world examples beat powerpoint images any day. This class pretty much work on their own which is ideal as it allows me to wander around offering advice and pointers while the majority of the work is worked out and created by them. No spoon feeding here. The hour class flies in which is a shame as I was really enjoying the interaction with the kids, just before the bell Isabella the girl who is so good brings me a 2 point perspective drawing that looks particularly good I have to hunt really hard to find 1 small error. She really will have a great career infront of her no matter what she does.
0930 With the bell ringing its time for my 30 minutes Mentoria I make my way up and shake hands with Hernando the Spanish Geography teacher who is my co host for mentoria. But before I get a chance to sit down 2 girls appear at the door asking if I can explain why they only got a 4 for their term work (The basic answer is they didnt do the work - which I take time to explain) One girl accepts it without concern the other almost bursts into tears, as I look into her eyes I find it very hard to say no to the question Sir can I improve it... Sadly the IB is very clear about timescales and work and I had already extended the dealine not once but twice and these 2 girls were still late in. ! Tough, life isnt fair some days. Just as I am about to go back to mentoria another girl appears with a shoe in one hand and the sole of the shoe in the other.. can it be fixed, 10 minutes later and a liberal amount of super glue and she is off and I am on my way to the staff room for the ten o'clock meeting, sorry Hernando never did get back to mentoria.
1000 In the staffroom with a coffee and a croissant I relax chatting to some of the other international staff and await the start of the meeting there are 2 things on the agenda, 1 is that Brian seve has decided not to return to the school even if asked, and second is information in the march to support the hostages held by the FARC I listen carefully to the information and come away none the wiser there doesnt appear to be any actual plan or the one they think they have doesnt seem very good to me.. However its not my decision I just have to walk with my mentor group sounds easy.
1030 The meeting ends, and I have a Free period, which lets me organise some paper work and prepare for the walk which starts at 1130 and runs through till 1330 which means I lose my next 2 classes since they would have both been Grade 6 I am not too worried. (Actually I am jumping for joy....but I cant show that openly of course)
1130 we are to meet in mentor groups and lines so why is when I get there I find 600 plus kids all milling about in the narrowest of areas I look for the organisation and it seems blatantly missing! I have a bad feeling about this (after all who decided to walk at the highest point in the day for the sun!!!)Eventually Cris the head of Middle school turns up and says your Grade 8 Steve yes,... yes I replied fine lets get grade 8 going then,(Already this is a deviation form the original plan but OK, I set off at the front with Javier from Admin who has a walkie talkie (That could be so useful) 5 minutes into the walk which is a fairly straight road Javier has disappeared and I am now at the front of about 200 kids who think they are in a mile race rather than a marathon, What is even more annoying is I keep seeing grade 6 and 7 kids appearing who are not even supposed to have left. I spend the next 40 minutes threatening every kid who tries to pass me with detention in my class at lunchtime. Few pass though one or two decide to try. I have the sandpaper ready for them to sand down the work benches. After about 50 minutes walking we arrive at the point where we are to turn and go back but ofcourse the teachers strolling along in the sun decide we should sit and wait for the rest of the school. Its now around 1230 and I am cooking nicely, "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun" It doesn't mention anywhere Scotsmen so why the hell am I standing out in the middle of a dual carriageway apart from the fact that I am exhibiting some of the tendancies of a mad dog, like foaming at the mouth!!!. Eventually we get back into the school at 1330 and I now resemble a bloody good impersonation of a Match, White body (T Shirt) and a very RED head !! I can't face food but drink lots of fluids !
1430 The bell rings for the last period of the day and I have another Free which is just as well as I am experiencing the Microwave effect and feel like my head is still cooking !!! I relax by doing some surfing shame its not in a nice cool sea but only on the PC.
1530 End of Day .. .walk to the Bus and watch the end of Ghost Rider on my palm on the way back... Good Film .. not everyones cup of tea but good all the same.
1620 And I am back in the flat. Some TV and then later the Embassy Quiz Night always a nice night in the Irish Bar.
The photos are of the kids marching...
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jaQzRaBaqJHe32txpk0LvbtZEIWwD8UJNAQ80
Update to the quiz it was a nightmare! Questions set by Americans. One set of questions referred to classic films of the 1915-1935s !!! With a small group of just 4 which included Willie an Austrian Travel Agent (Might be a good contact for later) but also is a bit OTT by accepting that WE would do the quiz next month !! even though were expressed our desire NOT TO ! Oh well guess I could muck up the Americans with some questions on Sottish second division football results from 1978 !! OK bed and a few more hours cooking maybe I wont be quite so hot tomorrow! Mental Note BUY A NEW BLOODY HAT
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