7:45am - wake up from deep slumber
completely missed 6:30 alarm
did it not go off?
did i sleep thru it?
who cares?
it doesn't matter now
the sun is well above the horizon
no yoga or dawn blog post today
just one big rush to get to the chalkface
8:00am - delicious aceh coffee n muesli
the radio spouts some forgettable snooze news
'gordon brown choked on a bacon sandwich this morning
and couldn't decide whether or not to call an ambulance'
prepare sarnies
vegan pate dolloped onto thick-cut home-baked bread
8:15am - shower with aromatic home-made korean soap
8:45am - kisses n cuddles with woodle and mrs f
8:50am - bike thru strangely quiet bright streets
it isn't raining!
9:00am - arrive at bham uni
set up classroom technology
put on some penguin cafe orchestra
to wake up rammadan-enduring studes
9:15am - staffroom banter
9:30am - begin morning lessons
swift recap on academic style
the positive energy is flowing
11:00am - iffy coffee (not aceh) and more banter
11:30am - back into class to talk about reading strats
(strategies unfortunately, not stratocasters)
a downpour begins outside
1:00pm - lunchtime and banter with joe n jon
draft silly email to sarah h at bc in sk
another heavy cloudburst
2:15pm - last class of day begins the beguine
i maintain studes' attention
by setting them assessed essay homework
3:45pm - lesson finishes
bid studes fond farewell
not sure if it's mutual
rearrange furniture to better suit group dynamics
mention concerns to boss about classroom
being strewn with abandoned porcelain toilet bowls
(in light of british council inspection starting tomorrow)
don't want them to kick up a stink about it
in their report
ha! ha! ha!
form crew to reorganise classroom
we manage to conceal toilet bowls & plumbing paraphenalia
behind desk and cupboard
4:30pm - headache in the offing
head for home on bikey
just manage to avoid yet another downpour
4:45pm - kisses and altercations with a moody woodle
final caffeine hit of day (aceh hurray!)
munch thru some of mrs f's freshly-baked sweetcorn cake
5:15pm - start preping dinner
chopped tomatoes
steamed cauli n runner beans
fried onions n garlic n pepper n mushies
to go with baked spuds
6:30pm - dinner with mater & pater
mrs f and woodle head off on walk to find slugs
uncle j nowhere 2b seen
7:00pm - wash up
(does the fun ever end?)
w and mrs f return
they have counted twenty slugs n snails
this must be perfect weather for slugs
7:30pm - play pre-bed game of pelmanism with woodly
woodle cheats by peaking at cards
when it's not her turn
and jealously guarding matches she has identified
by sticking her hands over them
weekend cold coming back
afternoon headache gradually getting worse
take some paracetamol
8:00pm - prep woodle's warm water
and drag her upstairs
brush w's teeth while mrs f has time-out on computer
tidy messy bedroom
get w to choose 2 bedtime stories
dumbo and pinnochio
read books together
w skilfully latches onto phrase 'a mighty flap'
as in 'dumbo gave his ears a mighty flap'
time for lights out
9:00pm - sit down at computer
read sk's blog
check email inbox
finish daft email to sarah and press send
do wikipedia search on clint beetroot aka eastwood
reject idea of doing work for bc inspecto
and decide to get up early instead
(hope alarm clock goes off!)
10:00pm - start writing this post
was it worth it?
i think so
but i'll leave you to be the judge, dear reader
10:36pm - night night
f
x
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1 comment:
Hi Dave,
Your post got me thinking about the bedtime story scene and I just thought I'd pass on a few successes we've had, in case of they're of interest.
Andy Stanton - Mr.Gum series
This bloke is rather different. Clever, irreverent and imaginative, and oddly postmodern, with false endings, songs, hidden chapters, Pythonesque humour and a Gingerbread Man called Alan Taylor, they still manage to connect with the kid's worldview head-on.
http://www.egmont.co.uk/mrGum/book.asp
Gwynneth Rees - Cosmo The Cat / Fairy series
Another good writer, although the cast of characters and various plot points are quite challenging for a 5 year-old. She is extremely good at language grading, 'comprehensible input' even, dropping in a 'come to the aid of' for every four 'helps' and so on.
http://www.gwynethrees.com/Books.php
Julia Donaldson - Princess Mirror-Belle
You'll know all about Julia Donaldson's bigger picture-based books and Axel Scheffer's incredible illustrations (The Smartest Giant In Town is a work of art, no?). It seems she's super-prolific, writing for all ages, but we've been through this little series of 3 books 2 or 3 times already, and they're delightful. The beauty of them is the way the stories are skilfully constructed lend themselves to prediction, as well as the light humour, the compassion and the demystification of things like starting school, meeting new people, growing up etc. Lots of fun!
http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/485785/Princess-Mirror-Belle-and-the-Magic-Shoes/Product.html
(sorry, can't bring myself to link to the JD site as it's full of comic sans)
Oh, and one old one...
Desmond Digby - Bottersnikes and Gumbles (first book)
I read this 30-odd years ago, and it's still brilliant. Possibly out-of-print, but worth opicking up second-hand, if you get the chance. Imaginary Australian creatures inspire awe in the natural world and subtly demonstrate the value of cooperation, civility, gentleness and tolerance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottersnikes_and_Gumbles
(apologies if you know all about these - if we were in the pub, i would have let you interrupt me and buy me a beer instead, but such are the vagaries of internet communications)
Nice to hear you're teaching again - it would be a waste were you not, I would have to say. As for me, still at the school in Brighton. things have improved a lot. I'm currently a week into a CELTA (course leader now), doing about 5 a year now, as well as an in-house two-week teacher-training course for foreign teachers 4 times a year. On top of that, I'm doing a little bit of ICELT, possibly involving a trip or two to Russia soon (we did Korea BC last year, but Mike Bowls just got someone closer for the next one - fair enough, air-fares etc - which was a shame from a personal point of view). Still do Genral English and FCE/CAE/IELTS teaching too, of course, filling up the gaps, but the less the better!
Okay, all the best to Jinny and Hannah - just keep in mind that those Ruttles were right, all you need is love.
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