Finito

I should have posted this ages ago but due to lack of connectivity and a very crazy end of the school year that didn't happen.

I'm back in the U.S. for semi-good (who knows what the future holds?!) now.

The U.K. was a fabulous experience and I would encourage people who want to do it to go for it, but go in with eyes wide open because it isn't easy!

If you stumble across this blog and have questions, feel free to ask questions still and I will do my best to answer.

Sports Day

Has been cancelled! I'm not sure if I'm actually really excited or not. I was getting out of teaching my mad year 7 Drama group, and I kinda wanted to just hang about on the field chatting to people. But, on the other hand, I don't like how crazy sports day can be in terms of technically getting everyone where they should be at the proper time.

It's today and 3/4 of the day tomorrow and then the school year is over! I have every piece of coursework in except one, the folders are finished and ready to moderate on Friday. Here's hoping for a quick and easy last two days of school!

More Coursework and Saying Goodbye

I've told the only two groups I'm making it a point to tell that I am leaving, that I am leaving. It was a nice reaction of Miss we'll miss you and why are you going's. I've had my final lessons with 3 different drama groups, I cannot say I am sad about those. We are watching some movies next week, Mean Girls, The Simpsons and She's the Man.

Today was the deadline for year 10 coursework, I have all but two pieces in and one may arrive via e-mail by midnight. I am super chuffed since last year we know the amount of work was not quite this good. I have a few more pieces to mark, and then the organising of all the marks and averaging, etc. Blah!

After that is done there is no marking or planning to do for the rest of the year, yay!

I have my leaving do on Tuesday, the English department, well 5 of us anyway, are headed into Covent Garden for dinner and then to see The Woman in Black, which I hear very good things about. Our staff BBQ is on Thursday after school - lots of people are attending so it should be a nice time and a chance to say good byes.

I leave for Greece on Friday after our English department coursework moderation work day, back the following Saturday and then back to American on Sunday. Where has the time gone? I'm sad and happy all at the same time.

Stupid *&#*(&%($% Coursework!

It would be faster if I had just written all the outstanding coursework myself! Chasing up the late work and making copies of the handouts is taking up way too much time! I have all these boys complaining that they worked really hard and still got a D, well sorry buddy you wrote the work 4 months after we studied it and are surprised that you don't remember all the finer points of the arguments you're supposed to show in your paper. How is that surprising at all!?

Two in one day?

So, I'm fairly okay at getting video stuff set up for lessons. Some of the video's we used are literally still VHS. Today I wanted to show Twelfth Night to my year 8's as a treat since exams were last week. I had the rewound tape in the VHS player and it wasn't working, I tried to eject it to find that it was stuck. I run around like a crazy person trying to find someone with a DVD or an open room. I find an open room from a French teacher, I take the second departmental tape which isn't rewound put it in to rewind and it shuts down after rewinding a bit, I turn it on and what do you know? That video is stuck too! I have no lesson plan, I've ruined two VHS players and my year 8's are being very annoying. Along with this a student is job shadowing for some work experience and I look like an idiot. He asks if I need help but I calmly explain no I'll just find it on youtube, which I do, thank goodness for youtube!

It was also funny because it was so obvious that all my year 8 girls thought this year 11 boy was cute who came into class lol

Officially Qualified to Teach in the UK

with only 14 days left here! lol I got the big packet in the post yesterday with my certificate that I am fully qualified teacher! I'm glad all that hard work led to something, even if it is only for 14 days.

Year 10's have mostly finished their coursework, I have 4 boys out of all English lessons now to be doing their work. I have all of the year 8 exams marked, about 8 year 7 exams left to mark. Year 9 take their SAT's on Wednesday which I don't want to mark and then it's a few good days of report writing, which is truly dire. I'd rather see their parents again for another parents evening than write these repetitive reports.

There are lots of events going on the end of the year. Some year 8's were at Glasbury this past week, July 10th they are headed to Southend on Sea, a sports day is scheduled for the Wednesday before end of term. Drama lessons are getting hard to plan because there are only 1-2 lessons left so no sense in starting a new unit.

I'm attempting to pack and decide what needs to go with me and what is being put in the bin out of my classroom. I'm also trying to decide who needs/deserves what of my left over teacher stuff. I'm dealing out old books and trying to decide if I should give DVD's to friends or to the school in various departments. It never ends truly!

QTS

Sorry this hasn't been posted sooner, laptop issues (I'm borrowing my housemates at this time)!

The QTS day went fine, no major issues, my year 8's were a bit of an annoyance, the year 10's were stars though. The interview was good at the end we talked for a bit about the difference between learning and lesson objectives and making sure we are clearly stating what we expect. I had quite a few questions on assessment and then said goodbye.

On Thursday I had a letter in my pigeon hole stating I was being put forward for QTS so from my understanding it is all behind me now, which is very reassuring!

There are just 19 days left of my time teaching in England; I cannot believe it is nearly over!