I read something somewhere recently about someone who had started keeping a job list of everything they do at work all day, to look back on when people asked them what they did. So here's my Wednesday.
7.16 - arrive at school
7.20 - open SIMS to see what I need to plan. It is an easy teaching day - only two lessons. I have to do some urgent marking. There are traditional school plays on, though, and I have a lead role, so I get cracking.
7.25 - ski trip admin. Check forms that were due in on November 4th. Transpose data from forms into ski trip form. Find form from parent whose daughter is not on the list. Wonder how she got the form. Spend far too long puzzling about this. Email parent to find out what is going on. Send updated form off to ski company and request updated payment reports from admin. Worry that large numbers of students are about to drop out, because they haven't sent their forms back.
7.50 - coffee.
7.55 - plan lessons. Start to look at tomorrow's lessons but can't settle.
8.05 - email ski company about the meeting in December.
8.10 - breakfast.
8.15 - more lesson planning.
8.20 - parent emails back to ask if her child can have a place. I think about how to reply.
8.28 - still planning my first lesson.
8.35 - go to teach. One hour lesson to Y11. Involves a quiz, which they love. Also involves them working independently, so I do some more emailing. Finance list has come through; worry some more about people cancelling. Help some children. Email to chase up heating as has now been broken 18 months.
9.40 - a free. Remember there's a Geography field trip next Tuesday and I haven't done the final paperwork submission. Pull data off SIMS. Update risk assessments. Do payment admin for another trip next month. Request days off for a couple of meetings. Find someone to do the minibus driving on the Geog field trips. Update the calendar on the whiteboard. Book first aid bags. Update everything for the field trips and send off.
10.35 - feel sad at the loss of an entire hour to basically trip admin but then remind myself that nobody is forcing me to do these trips.
10.40 - break. Still haven't done any marking. Have a second coffee, though this is folly as it will make me twitchy and chaotic this afternoon, but luckily it's not very strong.
10.55 - tidy my desk, because it is stressing me out.
11.00 - start to plan some lessons for tomorrow.
11.25 - look up who is missing from my next lesson so I know which essays I can avoid marking. Start marking the others. It's so cold by now in the office that I have to put my coat on.
12.00 - pack my stuff up and head down the road for my next lesson.
12.10 - none of my students have turned up. Half should be missing for play rehearsals but I am a bit annoyed at the others not coming. Apparently this is officially sanctioned. Hrmph.
12.15 - spend the rest of the lesson doing an indulgent planning activity for my Politics lesson tomorrow on civil rights. Still not finishing the marking.
1.00 - pop down to the nice bakery on the corner because my lunch is boring.
1.30 - finished lunch; change into my Trump outfit and make my face orange.
1.45 - plays begin. Y13 sending up the teachers, very funny and well-observed. Our play is second. Trump gets mightily booed - I am pleased with myself.
3.45 - end of the day. I scarper, quickly.
4.30 - home. Wash face. Do some work emails for my other work.
5.30 - training session.
7.00 - home for dinner.
8.00 - exam board work.
8.30 - publish podcast a friend and I have cooked up. I've been planning it for nearly 2 years but she has made me follow through. Quite pleased with myself. Hopefully it will go down well.
8.45 - shower.
9.00 - Apprentice.
10.00 - think about other jobs I could do outside of teaching, not because I want to leave teaching, but because one has come up I might want to do. Discuss with Mr Z. Check to see how many people have listened to my podcast. 90 already!
10.30 - blog
11.07 - ....now I really must finish that marking. FML.
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Wednesday, 6 November 2019
Saturday, 5 March 2016
New news
It's an exciting week! This week I've landed not one, but two new jobs. Two. They're like buses! Sort of.
Firstly, I got promoted at the exam board. I had to attend an interview with them before half term: my first non-teaching interview since 2001. There were some great moments in that interview. Like, at the end, when one of the interviewers told me she used to work at my school. And like when they asked me about the course I took with the board last year:
Interviewer: So, just a few admin questions....did you participate in the xyz program?
Me: Yes
I: And how far did you get with it?
Me: I finished it
All 4 interviewers: *slowly look up at me with incredulity*
I1: Wow
I2: You're the first person we've come across
I3: You'll have to tell us how you managed it
I like moments like that. They feed my hungry behemoth of an ego.
Secondly, I got another teaching job. It's the same as I am doing now but at a school in Bristol. It feels really weird, because I've worked at my school for 13 years and I don't know how I am going to cope with not seeing those people every day. Thirteen years is a long time. BUT I can get the bus every day (more knitting time) and I loved the school, which reminded me of the one I went to, and everybody seemed really friendly. It's very near to some good teaching friends I have in the city too. So exciting. I'll get a discount at yoga for being a city employee.
That interview did my behemoth of an ego good, too. During the interview, the head waved his hand at my application form and said, "I'd just like to unpick you a little, if I may. This is incredibly impressive - you've done this, you do that, you're an x, a y and a z, you advise here, you write that...just, how?" Later, he asked why I was still a middle leader when I could walk a senior post with my experience. See? How could I fail to like somebody that spoke to me like that?
Unusually for a teaching post, I left right after the interview on Wednesday and they didn't ring until Thursday - a delay with references. Mr Z and I were discussing risotto for dinner. I pointed out that we didn't have any wine; he suggested I have a glass of prosecco so he could use some of the open bottle instead. "I don't want to jinx it," I said, "but I could put a picture of it on Facebook and everybody would wet themselves." Then the phone rang. Really spooky.
The past couple of months have been more stressful than I've really cared to notice, but which is probably spelled out by my absence from here. Fretting about the exam board job has gone hand-in-hand with a growing realisation that my time at the school I love needs to come to an end. Consequently, I feel about 10 stone lighter now this is all decided. Terrified, yes, but lifted, all the same. Onto the next chapter.
Firstly, I got promoted at the exam board. I had to attend an interview with them before half term: my first non-teaching interview since 2001. There were some great moments in that interview. Like, at the end, when one of the interviewers told me she used to work at my school. And like when they asked me about the course I took with the board last year:
Interviewer: So, just a few admin questions....did you participate in the xyz program?
Me: Yes
I: And how far did you get with it?
Me: I finished it
All 4 interviewers: *slowly look up at me with incredulity*
I1: Wow
I2: You're the first person we've come across
I3: You'll have to tell us how you managed it
I like moments like that. They feed my hungry behemoth of an ego.
Secondly, I got another teaching job. It's the same as I am doing now but at a school in Bristol. It feels really weird, because I've worked at my school for 13 years and I don't know how I am going to cope with not seeing those people every day. Thirteen years is a long time. BUT I can get the bus every day (more knitting time) and I loved the school, which reminded me of the one I went to, and everybody seemed really friendly. It's very near to some good teaching friends I have in the city too. So exciting. I'll get a discount at yoga for being a city employee.
That interview did my behemoth of an ego good, too. During the interview, the head waved his hand at my application form and said, "I'd just like to unpick you a little, if I may. This is incredibly impressive - you've done this, you do that, you're an x, a y and a z, you advise here, you write that...just, how?" Later, he asked why I was still a middle leader when I could walk a senior post with my experience. See? How could I fail to like somebody that spoke to me like that?
Unusually for a teaching post, I left right after the interview on Wednesday and they didn't ring until Thursday - a delay with references. Mr Z and I were discussing risotto for dinner. I pointed out that we didn't have any wine; he suggested I have a glass of prosecco so he could use some of the open bottle instead. "I don't want to jinx it," I said, "but I could put a picture of it on Facebook and everybody would wet themselves." Then the phone rang. Really spooky.
The past couple of months have been more stressful than I've really cared to notice, but which is probably spelled out by my absence from here. Fretting about the exam board job has gone hand-in-hand with a growing realisation that my time at the school I love needs to come to an end. Consequently, I feel about 10 stone lighter now this is all decided. Terrified, yes, but lifted, all the same. Onto the next chapter.
Thursday, 3 March 2016
Throwback Thursday
It got me looking at some pictures though.
First, 2009 in KL, outside the Petronas Towers.
Then, 2010, on the beach we went to for the weekend at the end of the trip. This place was idyllic. The outward bound teacher from our host school took us on a surprise trek through the jungle - a risk assessment nightmare, muddy and uneven; all the students were in unsuitable footwear, including me. It was 20 minutes of slip-sliding panic. But then we ended up here. The only people nearby were at the end of the beach rock climbing on the cliff. Just, bliss.
I have a feeling I've shared this before. It's a really happy memory.
Tutt and I have just booked our summer holiday to Vietnam. I'm looking forward to going back to Asia.
Saturday, 20 December 2014
The FOs
Difficult to know whether I mean the hats or the kids, really.
They are such a marvellous bunch! It's a hard slog getting a new tutor group in year 7 when they're so needy and lack resilience, or the ability to maintain a civil tongue in their heads towards one another. Then the hormones start raging and there are epic fall outs and people leave and new people join, and I just think longingly about being a sixth form tutor with students who are mature and know what they're doing and don't tell me to f off when I ask them to tone down their ridiculous eyebrows or come to school on time.
But then they get into year 11 and all that doggedly maintaining consistent boundaries comes home to roost. So far this year (touch wood) we have had relatively plain sailing, with only the odd incidence of verbal abuse, and I am actually enjoying seeing them every day. I have spent quite a lot of time with my lot over the past week and I honestly could not feel prouder.
They're not quite FOs yet of course....still another six months to go. I'm really going to miss them when they go. I gave these hats out on the last day of term and they were so excited. We spent the whole 40 minute tutor time taking selfies together, and they all said thank you at least twice. It was totally worth all the effort I put in just to see their faces when I pulled out the bag and started distributing. And the really nice thing was that they congratulated me on my achievement of getting them all done! Now, my old tutor group were pleased, but they were not this effusive.
Interestingly, when I gave them out to my old tutor group, many of them refused photos. That must have been 2008. Clearly the era of the selfie has only begun since then.
They are such a marvellous bunch! It's a hard slog getting a new tutor group in year 7 when they're so needy and lack resilience, or the ability to maintain a civil tongue in their heads towards one another. Then the hormones start raging and there are epic fall outs and people leave and new people join, and I just think longingly about being a sixth form tutor with students who are mature and know what they're doing and don't tell me to f off when I ask them to tone down their ridiculous eyebrows or come to school on time.
But then they get into year 11 and all that doggedly maintaining consistent boundaries comes home to roost. So far this year (touch wood) we have had relatively plain sailing, with only the odd incidence of verbal abuse, and I am actually enjoying seeing them every day. I have spent quite a lot of time with my lot over the past week and I honestly could not feel prouder.
They're not quite FOs yet of course....still another six months to go. I'm really going to miss them when they go. I gave these hats out on the last day of term and they were so excited. We spent the whole 40 minute tutor time taking selfies together, and they all said thank you at least twice. It was totally worth all the effort I put in just to see their faces when I pulled out the bag and started distributing. And the really nice thing was that they congratulated me on my achievement of getting them all done! Now, my old tutor group were pleased, but they were not this effusive.
Interestingly, when I gave them out to my old tutor group, many of them refused photos. That must have been 2008. Clearly the era of the selfie has only begun since then.
Thursday, 6 November 2014
Fame At Last
Yesterday when I checked my phone at lunch, I thought for sure I must have been hacked - I had dozens of Twitter notifications. Turns out I made it into the Guardian! They've also bigged up my work blog, where you can read me attempting to sound professional and not talk about cake and shoes and holidays and stuff. I try not to write about work stuff too much on here, but sometimes something so amazing happens it has to make the jump onto my personal blog.
I got 200 new followers in a day. The pressure is intense - now I am over-thinking every tweet I send.
I got 200 new followers in a day. The pressure is intense - now I am over-thinking every tweet I send.
Friday, 30 May 2014
Marking
At the end of a very busy term, exam marking has begun, thanks to a very early exam this year. When the contract came through I was initially very pleased to see the bulk of my work would not take place in the holidays, forgetting how much I would need the break. Now I can't wait to get back to school next week!
This is my 11th summer as an examiner, which must make it my 14th series, counting the January ones. Now I don't have much marking to do - only 45 scripts or so, due to my elevated position. This year I am managing 5 people who are managing 40 examiners, plus 2 examiners of my own. The entry is bigger this year so there is another person doing the same job as me. Last summer I had it to myself and I managed 9 people who were managing around 60 examiners. I had responsibility for the whole unit - 17,000 entries. I felt quite proud of myself.
This conversation still happens all the time, though:
Teacher: It's nice now things have calmed down at work, isn't it?
Me: Oh, well, yes, but I'm marking so...
Teacher: You're marking for [insertexamboardname]?
Me: Yes / No, I'm marking for [insertcorrectexamboardname]
Teacher: Oh, I used to do that (dismissively) but it just wasn't worth my time, you know?
At this point I usually nod and smile, and say something like, "It's only for three weeks a year."
I do not say any of these things:
"I slightly resent the insinuation that your time is more valuable than mine, or that I am slightly simple for wanting to do this work"
"Doing this work for over a decade has given me a better understanding of the exam process than any amount of CPD ever could, even though I teach a different board - what comparable activity are you doing to improve outcomes for your students?"
"I'm not actually marking: I hold quite a senior position which is giving me excellent experience of managing people whilst also demonstrating that I can multitask effectively in a couple of high pressured roles at a time. That goes on every application form I fill in"
"Thanks to my tenacity in this role, I have made a considerable sum of extra money this year from related side projects, thus proving it is definitely worth my time"
I usually think at least one of them, though.
This is my 11th summer as an examiner, which must make it my 14th series, counting the January ones. Now I don't have much marking to do - only 45 scripts or so, due to my elevated position. This year I am managing 5 people who are managing 40 examiners, plus 2 examiners of my own. The entry is bigger this year so there is another person doing the same job as me. Last summer I had it to myself and I managed 9 people who were managing around 60 examiners. I had responsibility for the whole unit - 17,000 entries. I felt quite proud of myself.
This conversation still happens all the time, though:
Teacher: It's nice now things have calmed down at work, isn't it?
Me: Oh, well, yes, but I'm marking so...
Teacher: You're marking for [insertexamboardname]?
Me: Yes / No, I'm marking for [insertcorrectexamboardname]
Teacher: Oh, I used to do that (dismissively) but it just wasn't worth my time, you know?
At this point I usually nod and smile, and say something like, "It's only for three weeks a year."
I do not say any of these things:
"I slightly resent the insinuation that your time is more valuable than mine, or that I am slightly simple for wanting to do this work"
"Doing this work for over a decade has given me a better understanding of the exam process than any amount of CPD ever could, even though I teach a different board - what comparable activity are you doing to improve outcomes for your students?"
"I'm not actually marking: I hold quite a senior position which is giving me excellent experience of managing people whilst also demonstrating that I can multitask effectively in a couple of high pressured roles at a time. That goes on every application form I fill in"
"Thanks to my tenacity in this role, I have made a considerable sum of extra money this year from related side projects, thus proving it is definitely worth my time"
I usually think at least one of them, though.
Sunday, 20 May 2007
I am a cliche
This afternoon, while Mr Z slumbered deeply during his nap, I decided I was sick of looking at the long grass in the back and front garden, and that maybe if I mowed the back garden, he might do the front. This was also a ruse to get out of going to the gym this evening, as I thought that some pushing-up-and-down of a mower would count as exercise.
It was all going swimmingly, until I decided to do the edges. And now the lawn mower doesn't work, and one of the pieces of wood on the border is badly splintered. I fear I have become the cliche of woman-with-machinery. And now, we are have this situation.
And in the front garden? Wild fucking kingdom.
Not only can we not finish trimming the back garden, thanks to a dearth of cord for the strimmer, but the only way the front garden will get cut before next weekend is if I take my nail scissors to it.
Here are a couple more gratuitous garden shots - there's some lovely colour in the front garden, and the sneaky Christmas tree is growing again - we put it outside in its pot in January 2003, intending to burn it, and it has rooted through the pot, but it keeps pretending to die and then coming back to life.
...and one further gratuitous shot, of Mr Z peering out of the window, trying to work out why I was taking pictures of my butcher job on the lawn.
It has been a week of weeks. Due to the early commencement of the GCSE exams this year, the year 11 leavers' ball took place on Tuesday. It was the usual mixture of drinking, being ignored by the kids and dancing to the Cha Cha slide. This year, Paul, the very definitely inclined dance teacher, got tongues wagging by dancing extremely suggestively with Katie, whilst his staff "girlfriend" Cara looked on, green-eyed (oh how we love spinning these yarns for the kids); Rob and I tried to re-enact our Christmas Strinctly Come Dancing success to McFly's "Stargirl", succeeding only in knocking Heidi's drink from her hand; and I managed to get all three men in my department into a picture together. Sadly, the cover supervisor also decided to join us, since she spends such a lot of time in the History department, but oh well.
The highlight of the evening, however, has to be when Carol, the head of repro, decided to have a good old boogie in her gorgeous green satin boob tube, and forgot that she had to keep her chest lifted and shoulder blades back. The unfortunate year 11 who was having his picture taken at the time got an eyeful and is possibly scarred for life. At least it was just the one that popped out. This is why strapless bras are an absolute must under boob tubes.
Anyway, the year 11 ball was tres fun, but it was a TUESDAY for crying out loud, and I didn't manage to catch up on my sleep all week. It was so bad, I spent all day Saturday with chronic indigestion, napping on the sofa. The whole 5-fruit-and-veg-and-20-minutes-of-exercise plan has totally gone out of the window, and I am not feeling great. Back to it this week.
An aside: I am annoyed that the option to change my text into Times New Roman has gone *pout*
It was all going swimmingly, until I decided to do the edges. And now the lawn mower doesn't work, and one of the pieces of wood on the border is badly splintered. I fear I have become the cliche of woman-with-machinery. And now, we are have this situation.
And in the front garden? Wild fucking kingdom.
Not only can we not finish trimming the back garden, thanks to a dearth of cord for the strimmer, but the only way the front garden will get cut before next weekend is if I take my nail scissors to it.
Here are a couple more gratuitous garden shots - there's some lovely colour in the front garden, and the sneaky Christmas tree is growing again - we put it outside in its pot in January 2003, intending to burn it, and it has rooted through the pot, but it keeps pretending to die and then coming back to life.
...and one further gratuitous shot, of Mr Z peering out of the window, trying to work out why I was taking pictures of my butcher job on the lawn.
It has been a week of weeks. Due to the early commencement of the GCSE exams this year, the year 11 leavers' ball took place on Tuesday. It was the usual mixture of drinking, being ignored by the kids and dancing to the Cha Cha slide. This year, Paul, the very definitely inclined dance teacher, got tongues wagging by dancing extremely suggestively with Katie, whilst his staff "girlfriend" Cara looked on, green-eyed (oh how we love spinning these yarns for the kids); Rob and I tried to re-enact our Christmas Strinctly Come Dancing success to McFly's "Stargirl", succeeding only in knocking Heidi's drink from her hand; and I managed to get all three men in my department into a picture together. Sadly, the cover supervisor also decided to join us, since she spends such a lot of time in the History department, but oh well.
The highlight of the evening, however, has to be when Carol, the head of repro, decided to have a good old boogie in her gorgeous green satin boob tube, and forgot that she had to keep her chest lifted and shoulder blades back. The unfortunate year 11 who was having his picture taken at the time got an eyeful and is possibly scarred for life. At least it was just the one that popped out. This is why strapless bras are an absolute must under boob tubes.
Anyway, the year 11 ball was tres fun, but it was a TUESDAY for crying out loud, and I didn't manage to catch up on my sleep all week. It was so bad, I spent all day Saturday with chronic indigestion, napping on the sofa. The whole 5-fruit-and-veg-and-20-minutes-of-exercise plan has totally gone out of the window, and I am not feeling great. Back to it this week.
An aside: I am annoyed that the option to change my text into Times New Roman has gone *pout*
Thursday, 19 April 2007
Predictable as ever
Of course, I went back to work and the entries tailed off immediately.
ICI's quotes of the week:
"Oooohhh you're all doing so WELL! I'm so produ of myself."
"I'm not saying anything this time. I'm not speaking. I won't say a thing. ................. STRADDLE! Ooohhh I can't help myself"
Extreme comedy value.
I have kept up the 20-minutes-a-day extremely well; the weekend was a bit hairy, I actually hauled out Yourself! Fitness and went back to Maya for 15 minutes. She was very pissed off with me and our 15 minute session consisted of weighted squat-lunges (3 sets on each side) and 100 side crunches. Note to self: do not ignore computer program for so long again: programmers have a sadistic streak.
I tried the dress on this week. It still fits, in that it stretches over my inflated frame, but I couldn't do it up without some serious corsetry or a minor miracle. It will be a good measure of success (or lack thereof).
My tutor group seem to be having something of a meltdown this week, there have been some very strange goings on, from even the most quiet member. We've had the usual "EVERYONE HATES ME AND THIS SCHOOL IS SHIT AND NOBODY CARES" rant from C; L has been excluded for most of the week for throwing a rock at someone; and today, there was a big row between S & S - S says she's going to punch other S if she doesn't stop sending her rude texts. It's like a little soap opera, it really is. The highlight of the week so far was when Ca refused for a day and a half to remove her second pair of stud earrings and was removed from lessons as a result. I find this extremely petty, on both sides, but she is the only one I had a chance of talking round. It didn't work. More of this school's shit and I'll go somewhere else. Le sigh.
Funny moment today when Sarah, the PGCE student, quietly and cautiously voiced her concerns that K always seemed stoned, to which Caroline and I responded in tandem, "He is." I then realised how matter-of-fact we'd been about it and was momentarily a little shocked, but then, he's been stoned for the past 2 and a half years, so it's no great shakes. At least his ambition has moved on from pimp or drug dealer to scaffolder - he won't need Maths GCSE for that, not like the other two.
I have been rather hurled into the deep end with the new job. The Head caught me on Wednesday and told me I needed to find 2 gifted year 11s staying on in the 6th form who could afford to fork out £700 to go on a G&T conference to Hong Kong in November, by Friday. Deadline for said trip passed 3 weeks ago, so needless to say my predecessor (who has the jobs of about 4 different people combined and a very sick baby at home) is named "Muddikins von Mud Mud" with senior management. I was torn between wanting desperately to complete Mission Impossible and impress, and being very aware that I don't officially take the job until May 1st - I haven't even had the confirmation letter. In the end I threw myself into it. I think I may have sorted it, although I don't have any paperwork about it at all, even application forms, so that makes the possibility of success slightly slimmer. Still, I have my first G&T meeting tomorrow so perhaps I can get one then.
SO tired. Bed and Ian Rankin novel, I think.
ICI's quotes of the week:
"Oooohhh you're all doing so WELL! I'm so produ of myself."
"I'm not saying anything this time. I'm not speaking. I won't say a thing. ................. STRADDLE! Ooohhh I can't help myself"
Extreme comedy value.
I have kept up the 20-minutes-a-day extremely well; the weekend was a bit hairy, I actually hauled out Yourself! Fitness and went back to Maya for 15 minutes. She was very pissed off with me and our 15 minute session consisted of weighted squat-lunges (3 sets on each side) and 100 side crunches. Note to self: do not ignore computer program for so long again: programmers have a sadistic streak.
I tried the dress on this week. It still fits, in that it stretches over my inflated frame, but I couldn't do it up without some serious corsetry or a minor miracle. It will be a good measure of success (or lack thereof).
My tutor group seem to be having something of a meltdown this week, there have been some very strange goings on, from even the most quiet member. We've had the usual "EVERYONE HATES ME AND THIS SCHOOL IS SHIT AND NOBODY CARES" rant from C; L has been excluded for most of the week for throwing a rock at someone; and today, there was a big row between S & S - S says she's going to punch other S if she doesn't stop sending her rude texts. It's like a little soap opera, it really is. The highlight of the week so far was when Ca refused for a day and a half to remove her second pair of stud earrings and was removed from lessons as a result. I find this extremely petty, on both sides, but she is the only one I had a chance of talking round. It didn't work. More of this school's shit and I'll go somewhere else. Le sigh.
Funny moment today when Sarah, the PGCE student, quietly and cautiously voiced her concerns that K always seemed stoned, to which Caroline and I responded in tandem, "He is." I then realised how matter-of-fact we'd been about it and was momentarily a little shocked, but then, he's been stoned for the past 2 and a half years, so it's no great shakes. At least his ambition has moved on from pimp or drug dealer to scaffolder - he won't need Maths GCSE for that, not like the other two.
I have been rather hurled into the deep end with the new job. The Head caught me on Wednesday and told me I needed to find 2 gifted year 11s staying on in the 6th form who could afford to fork out £700 to go on a G&T conference to Hong Kong in November, by Friday. Deadline for said trip passed 3 weeks ago, so needless to say my predecessor (who has the jobs of about 4 different people combined and a very sick baby at home) is named "Muddikins von Mud Mud" with senior management. I was torn between wanting desperately to complete Mission Impossible and impress, and being very aware that I don't officially take the job until May 1st - I haven't even had the confirmation letter. In the end I threw myself into it. I think I may have sorted it, although I don't have any paperwork about it at all, even application forms, so that makes the possibility of success slightly slimmer. Still, I have my first G&T meeting tomorrow so perhaps I can get one then.
SO tired. Bed and Ian Rankin novel, I think.
Friday, 6 April 2007
It WORKS!
OK, it pretty much works. Yey me! I have not lost all my techieness, in spite of taking up knitting and stuff. Alright, it doesn't work PERFECTLY, because it should be uploading to the diario folder, and it's just uploading to the main folder - but that's OK. I can change my links (read: get Mr Z to fix it when he gets back), and anyway nobody reads this anymore. I KNOW YOU DON'T READ! Otherwise, you would have emailed me. It's OK. I know I'm boring now. I don't care.
Well, it's exciting. Yes, it is an exciting time. Exciting times! Interesting times, if you will. It is spring. Spring is springing all over the place. The weather is great. I did 4 loads of washing today and line-dried the lot, in the space of one day - and I didn't even get up until 11am. I bought some new (pink) gardening gloves and a trowel and mini fork and dug the garden. Alright....I dug a square foot of one flower bed whilst waiting for dinner to cook, but my heart was in the right place. I am hoping there is a magnolia on the way - Mother Hand has hinted there will be a magnolia in place of an easter egg. I have wanted a magnolia for a very long time. Last year, Mother Hand presented me excitedly with a camelia. Eventually I had to come clean and explain why I wasn't as excited as she thought I would be. So, I need to clear a space for the magnolia. Our next door neighbour has just removed all growing things from her front garden and gravelled it, so I feel the need to
(a) replace the foliage which previously shileded us completely from the street, so I don't feel so exposed
(b) plant something that will shed leaves and flowers on her gravel, thus punishing her in a very small way for removing the shield of plants that hid us from street view (only in a very small way - she is very nice and I will probably help her clear up any rogue foliage).
So, want my MOST EXCITING spring news. I got PROMOTED! Yey me! I had started reluctantly, to look around for new jobs, since I have been at my school for 4 years now, and one risks getting stuck in a rut. I didn't feel ready to leave, but I said I'd look when my luscious tutor group got to year 9, and my little babies are there now so I thought I'd better show willing. I got some details for a school closer to home, and guffawed at my arrogance - the school is bigger, with an 80% A*-C rate in History - yeah, right! I wouldn't have had a prayer.
Then, the day after I rang up for the details, I was having a bit of banter with the Head of Personnel, and she went a bit quiet. I froze for a second - she is one of those turn-on-a-dime people and is also in charge of cover, so not the type to piss off - and thought about what I might have said wrong... but then she leant over and whispered, "There's a job coming up. An internal vacancy. You might be interested in it." And I forgot about the other school instantly, because I thought, well, if the head of personnel is giving you insider tips, she obviously has you in mind, and that's a good sign, right?
It was. I applied. I panicked a LOT about the letter getting to the head before the deadline. I went out and bought a new dress (as you see - although it is listed as a top and I did wear it over trousers, and the colours are much nicer in the real thing - very aqua and springlike). I picked the forum's collective brain for hints and found out one of my fellow forumites works for the relevant department at the DfES, and she was able to give me some excellent pointers in terms of what websites to look at. And I had my interview. And I got it! Although it was crap, and when the governor asked me what I did at the school my mind went totally blank and I ended up reeling off a list of subjects I teach instead of talking about mentoring PGCE students, which is ACTUALLY what he meant although I totally didn't get that at the time.
So, I was the only applicant, but the head made a point of saying that they had me in mind for the job, and that even if there'd been a dozen applicants I would have been a very hard act to follow, which was really nice of him to say.
The job is Lead Teacher for Gifted, Talented and Able - which is a very posh way of saying head of G&T. Well, the job was obviously mine - I love G&T. I wanted it when I was an NQT and didn't apply, and always regretted it. Now it's even better, because it's a fat payrise and I will have hours in my timetable to dedicate to it, and I get really decent training which could count towards a Masters (yeah, cos I need another post-grad qualification...). This program is being rolled out to all schools and I think that eventually it will mean I can apply for a job as Head of G&T, like people apply for pastoral or senior management jobs. I am stupidly excited.
The job is mainly going to involve me observing teachers and telling them how they can better provide for gifted students in their lessons. Guess I'm going to be off a lot of Christmas card lists. Oh well, better for the environment. This is where the PGCE mentoring comes in - I am lucky I have been doing that for so long, it probably swung me the job.
That's all for now. I mean, how much excitement do you want in one post?
Well, it's exciting. Yes, it is an exciting time. Exciting times! Interesting times, if you will. It is spring. Spring is springing all over the place. The weather is great. I did 4 loads of washing today and line-dried the lot, in the space of one day - and I didn't even get up until 11am. I bought some new (pink) gardening gloves and a trowel and mini fork and dug the garden. Alright....I dug a square foot of one flower bed whilst waiting for dinner to cook, but my heart was in the right place. I am hoping there is a magnolia on the way - Mother Hand has hinted there will be a magnolia in place of an easter egg. I have wanted a magnolia for a very long time. Last year, Mother Hand presented me excitedly with a camelia. Eventually I had to come clean and explain why I wasn't as excited as she thought I would be. So, I need to clear a space for the magnolia. Our next door neighbour has just removed all growing things from her front garden and gravelled it, so I feel the need to
(a) replace the foliage which previously shileded us completely from the street, so I don't feel so exposed
(b) plant something that will shed leaves and flowers on her gravel, thus punishing her in a very small way for removing the shield of plants that hid us from street view (only in a very small way - she is very nice and I will probably help her clear up any rogue foliage).
So, want my MOST EXCITING spring news. I got PROMOTED! Yey me! I had started reluctantly, to look around for new jobs, since I have been at my school for 4 years now, and one risks getting stuck in a rut. I didn't feel ready to leave, but I said I'd look when my luscious tutor group got to year 9, and my little babies are there now so I thought I'd better show willing. I got some details for a school closer to home, and guffawed at my arrogance - the school is bigger, with an 80% A*-C rate in History - yeah, right! I wouldn't have had a prayer.
Then, the day after I rang up for the details, I was having a bit of banter with the Head of Personnel, and she went a bit quiet. I froze for a second - she is one of those turn-on-a-dime people and is also in charge of cover, so not the type to piss off - and thought about what I might have said wrong... but then she leant over and whispered, "There's a job coming up. An internal vacancy. You might be interested in it." And I forgot about the other school instantly, because I thought, well, if the head of personnel is giving you insider tips, she obviously has you in mind, and that's a good sign, right?
It was. I applied. I panicked a LOT about the letter getting to the head before the deadline. I went out and bought a new dress (as you see - although it is listed as a top and I did wear it over trousers, and the colours are much nicer in the real thing - very aqua and springlike). I picked the forum's collective brain for hints and found out one of my fellow forumites works for the relevant department at the DfES, and she was able to give me some excellent pointers in terms of what websites to look at. And I had my interview. And I got it! Although it was crap, and when the governor asked me what I did at the school my mind went totally blank and I ended up reeling off a list of subjects I teach instead of talking about mentoring PGCE students, which is ACTUALLY what he meant although I totally didn't get that at the time. So, I was the only applicant, but the head made a point of saying that they had me in mind for the job, and that even if there'd been a dozen applicants I would have been a very hard act to follow, which was really nice of him to say.
The job is Lead Teacher for Gifted, Talented and Able - which is a very posh way of saying head of G&T. Well, the job was obviously mine - I love G&T. I wanted it when I was an NQT and didn't apply, and always regretted it. Now it's even better, because it's a fat payrise and I will have hours in my timetable to dedicate to it, and I get really decent training which could count towards a Masters (yeah, cos I need another post-grad qualification...). This program is being rolled out to all schools and I think that eventually it will mean I can apply for a job as Head of G&T, like people apply for pastoral or senior management jobs. I am stupidly excited.
The job is mainly going to involve me observing teachers and telling them how they can better provide for gifted students in their lessons. Guess I'm going to be off a lot of Christmas card lists. Oh well, better for the environment. This is where the PGCE mentoring comes in - I am lucky I have been doing that for so long, it probably swung me the job.
That's all for now. I mean, how much excitement do you want in one post?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)