" Thorough flood, thorough fire, I do wander everywhere..."

I wanted to use two quotes for today's blog. Both are kinda relevant. I couldn't decide. The second one is later.

First thing's first. Half term has been and gone, as has my second proper week at Pensnett High School. Was an okay week. The kids were awful, they are behind with the work across all classes, but I've done my best and there's not much else you can ask of a supply teacher. At least I've put some effort in, unlike a lot of supply/cover staff whom I've seen in the past. Through flood, through fire, have I faced the hardships and come out feeling at least vaguely useful.

"Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

The internet is full of silly stuff. There's tonnes of it, and it makes you wonder who comes up with ... well ... most of it really. Just this evening I've been pointed to some frightening/amusing (depending on who you are) things.

May I draw your attention to Dramatic Lemur. Is it cute? Is it scary? Is it both?!
Check it out @ http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1799458/

As my initiation into Danish culture continues thanks to the lovely Miss Rischel (<3), I've spotted certain differences between the Danish concept of law enforcement and our own. While we may "fuck the police", the Danes embrace their police force and churn out a considerable number of cop shows. Of these I am reliably informed that the delightful Anna Pihl is classic entertainment best enjoyed when full of alcohol. Having watched a trailer/opening credits, I can honestly say that Morse/Taggart/Wexford have nothing to fear. Here's your chance to be initiated into Danish cop drama at its finest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRTGDWBWGdQ

I'm not certain the British sing songs about their police force: The Scotland Yard Rap doesn't really ring off the tongue. Plus Brits can't rap anyways. Arguably neither can the Danes, as this little video proves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA1vBooFHy8

Sarah Connor Chronicles

I've gathered that the new Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles has been advertised on Freeview all week (no idea what channel) but I've been trying to keep up with news of the series for a while, simply because I love Summer Glau ¬_¬ I finally got to watch a few episodes of it this week after work, and I have to say I rather enjoyed it. I of course asked Spence if he'd seen it, and he told me that one of the first things he thought while watching it was that "this is just Burrage's kind of thing". Damn he knows my taste in TV well!! He didn't think much of it, but I like to point out at this point that he didn't think much of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda either. I still got him hooked on that xD

Anyways, T:SCC was a good, action-filled romp with some quite violent and icky bits in it. Sure it may screw up the "official" terminator timeline a bit, but its all good.

And did I mention it had Summer Glau? ¬_¬

I'll leave you with this fabulous piece of cinematography.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw

~J

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, rounded with a little sleep"~

"Half Term": A period of respite from kids for their teachers; a period of respite for kids from their teachers. There has, and always will be I imagine, a great deal of public opinion about the long holidays that teachers are priveleged too. Not many, it seems, quite understand that the average teacher does more work in one day than another does in two. The sheer pressure and intensity of the average teaching day - whether it be full time/permanent or, in my case, supply/cover is quite staggering.

For the average full time member of staff, the half terms and holidays are awesome times where they can catch up on sleep, maybe spend a few extra hours with friends/family, and - most likely - catch up with the rediculous amount of work demanded of them by the government/school. As a supply teacher, I escape a great deal of this extra work, and I am most glad of it. Starting at Pensnett, especially after a long break from The Calling™, was a harrowing week, but I am in many ways looking forwards to the next four weeks till Easter.

Let me be frank. Supply teaching, for the amount of work you have to do, is a well-paid job. £110/day with work usually left for you. This is, of course, before tax, and before my £7 a day travel expenses. Paid a week in arrears. Because of the half term I didn't get paid yesterday, and I don't know if it'll be next week either.

Doesn't really matter. The money is decent, the lessons are all planned out in enough detail for someone as competent with his subject as myself to run with them and adapt using my own knowledge on the fly. I don't feel stressed. While I'm taking folders home I'm not doing silly amounts of planning. Yes i'll have to do a bit of marking over the next four weeks, but sometimes its good therapy to whip out the red pen anyways!

Over the next four weeks I'm looking at creative writing with most groups - a certified Master of Creative Writing (hey, I have a certificate and everything!) teaching the area of his subject he's most passionate about - what could be more fun than that. I'm hoping that there's some good stuff produced if I really push the kids in the right way. I'm also teaching poetry. I can't write the stuff for toffee, but I've taught this particular selection of poems before, 3 or 4 times. I know the stuff well, and again its that that will enable me to teach it effectively. In teaching and learning, nothing beats practice!

So yes. Half term. I've had a nice, lazy, relaxing week. I've played some World of Warcraft, levelling Excelsior (my shadow priest) to 61 which has been fairly trying at times due to lack of decent gear. I've also done a piece of artwork which I shall talk about in a moment. The only thing lacking is any noticable writing. I'm gathering my thoughts and energy for the last push to finish the novel. I've got some ideas that I want to try and implement and am just planning how I want to fit them in.

Anyways, as you are no doubt aware, February half term housed that joyous celebration of cheesy romance and gift-giving, the horribly over-commercialised Valentine's Day. In some bizarre twist of fate I am almost always single on V-Day. And because its me I usually have no one interested in me either, as I'm hardly the world's most social person these days, and I am incorrigibly shy even if you can get me out and meeting people.

This year was a bit more interesting. Several people interested in me for a change, which was quite refreshing I can tell you. If any of them happen to read this blog, I'd just like to say thanks to them for making me feel a little bit more special than I normally would around now. :)

Music: It has oft been commented by my good colleague Mr Jones that I listen to far too many soundtracks. This is, I admit, true. However, during the last two weeks I've been diversifying my musical collection. I have followed up my love for Ayumi Hamasaki's single Evolution by finding out some of her albums which are all thoroughly excellent! I recommend My Story, Rainbow, and Guilty especially, with the songs Humming 7/4 and Close to You deserving special mention for their rediculous catchiness! I've also been listening to Flyleaf's self-titled album for a bit of variety, as well as padding it out with a bit of Nightwish, Paramore, and Allen/Lande. And yeah, I've been listening to some soundtracks too. Bite me!

I was gonna spend a section of this blog talking about and showing work in progress snippets from a painting I just completed as a gift, but this blog is a little bloated already so I'll save it for another day.

Its the weekend. I have passoã and cranberry juice. Let the last few hours of half term roll!

~J

PS. The quote is from The Tempest which I am teaching to year 9 for their SATs. After Valentine's Day I thought it vaguely appropriate (for the dreaming) and for Half Term I thought the sleep also befitting ;)

"Never Say Never Again"

Yeah I know its a Bond film title, albeit an unofficial one.

Way back at the end of the 90s I remember playing Bioware's "Planescape: Torment", an RPG based on their Infinity Engine used for classic games in the "Baldur's Gate" series. It was very philosophical in places, much like the Planescape setting for AD&D itself, which I have always loved. A recurring theme throughout the game was change - "What can change the nature of a man?" was a regularly asked question.

It's a good one.

This April will mark two years since I quit my long-term, full-time teaching position and swore that I would never go back into the profession as it simply wasn't worth the time/effort that someone has to put in. I said "Never again!" Turns out that I shouldn't have.

It's February 2008 and, thanks to the supply agency, I'm working in a high school in Pensnett, a relatively poor economical area, covering for a female English teacher for approximately five weeks (excluding, I believe, this coming week, which is half term).

Obviously I did a bit of research before I went in. Having been away from the area for a good 8 years, I had no idea what Pensnett was like, and knew nothing of the school. The OFSTED report isn't brilliant, and friends and family alike warned that Pensnett wasn't exactly the best of areas.

So it was with a fair amount of trepidation that I went in last Monday, teaching four periods of Maths before spending the afternoon conferring with the teacher I was due to replace.

And to be honest, it wasn't as bad as I expected. I mean, okay, the amount of foul language that comes out of the kids' mouths is complely inappropriate for a school environment, but I could probably spend the whole of each 50 minute lesson trying to discipline them for that, and at the end of the day, I'd much rather they learn something that's going to help them pass their exams/SATs/etc. I wasn't threatened with any kind of physical violence; I didn't particularly feely in any danger: both factors sorely lacking in my final couple of months at Our Lady's.

The staff at Pensnett are lovely. Sure there's a lot of stress flying around in the staff room, but I'm not surprised. A lot of staff seem to shrug off a lot of the problems with a great deal of humour, and this really helps to relieve the tension from a hard day with some of the lower ability classes. The PE department, especially, make me laugh a lot.

So, week one may have been a fluke. I'll see what happens after this half term is over. I think its only a four-week stint till Easter anyways, so it can't be all that bad, and by the end of it I should have a tidy sum to pay for a holiday and, hopefully, some driving lessons over Easter.

Am I a hypocrit? Maybe. I did say that I'd not go back into teaching, after all. But maybe I've just changed the rules of the game. No marking on an evening, no planning of lessons. Just go in, get the job done, and come away. The money isn't as good as regular teaching, and obviously the work supply-wise can be patchy in the long run. But if it helps me avoid the stresses of "real" teaching, I honestly don't care.

Will keep you posted on how stuff turns out!

Half term! Writing novel, playing games, preparing myself for a month at Pensnett.

< BEGIN! >

~J

What do you mean it's February already...?

You're kidding, right? It can't be...

Hmmmm nope. 1st Feb 2008. Eeek.

Let's recap January, I guess.

1) Wrote (well, rewrote) about 20,000 words of my novel.
2) Applied to a supply teaching agency.
3) 'Celebrated' my 27th.
4) 'Celebrated' Dave, Rich and Spence's 27ths and Mom's 59th (60 next year Mom, PARTY TIME!!)
5) Painted probably my best portrait ever.
6) Strengthened my friendships with two awesome Danes as well as members of my Warcraft guild.
7) Continued to expand my Facebook page with daft applets and quizzes.
8) Finally got my priest level 40 and shadowform on Warcraft.
9) Read Jim Butcher's "White Night" which was excellent.
10) Stuck to all my new year's resolutions!!

There's probably other stuff too, but its late and I'm only really writing this till I doze off :P

The Month Ahead

February. Nasty, harsh month normally. We're actually predicted snow today I believe. However, while the weather may not be taking a turn for the better, my finances soon will be, as I have acquired my first supply teaching post.

Now, technically this post is everything I didn't want. Its a 5 weeks (ish) position, teaching English, as opposed to day-to-day supply which fits in better with my writing. BUT, 5 weeks, 5 days a week, GUARANTEED work? Well, I need the money basically. Am looking at probably £350 or so a week after tax, which really can't be too bad now can it.

My first £200 of that is going straight on a flight to Denmark to see my ladies over there, as well as soak in the sights of a new place and - in some ways - take the first real holiday I've had since I was 17 (when I went to Florence with college ><) I'm thinking that the 5 weeks of teaching may well take me up to Easter, which is a bit later than I had actually planned on going over there, but I won't know for sure until I actually take a trip to the school later this afternoon and find out just what they are expecting of me.

The rest of the money will go towards reducing my overdraft. But that's a good thing!!

The school I'm going to is in a bit of a deprive area. I expect it to be tough, especially as I've been out of the game for a while. The kids don't know that though, so I'm going in as a hard ass and gonna (try to) stay that way. *fingers crossed*

The book will be worked on in the evenings if I'm not too tired. Theoretically there shouldn't be masses of planning to do, but it depends on how my role pans out there. If I have to bring a load of work home on an evening then I am gonna be a bit annoyed - that was, after all, the whole point of doing supply. Still. Think of the money eh!

Plan for Feb:
1) Renew passport
2) Earn money
3) Book flight
4) Painting commission
5) Write write write
6) Level the shadow priest
7) Stick to those resolutions

*crosses fingers*