I just realised I very rudely never explained about my exam marking, in answer to a comment last week, so I will take a moment to do that now.
GCSEs are compulsory exams in the UK, that students must take at 16 (10th grade) before they can leave school. They are set nationally, by several exam boards, so that they are the same for every student. They cover an enormous range of subjects; most pupils sit around 10 different subjects. There are some compulsory subjects, like Maths, Science and English Literature/Language.
I am a team leader for the exam board, for a History paper. That means I am in charge of a team of examiners who are all marking the paper, and I have to mark a bit myself, and make sure they are sticking to the markscheme and keeping the standard. This is my 8th exam series, and my 3rd as a team leader. Normally I only do this in June, but big changes to exams in 2009 mean that my paper is now modular, so students can opt to take a paper in January instead of two in June.
We used to mark actual paper exam scripts. Enormous bundles of these would arrive at my house and I'd have red pen all over my hands for the entire marking period. Samples had to be trusted to the Post Office so that marking could be standardised.
Now it's a bit easier, because all the exam papers are scanned in by the exam board and made available through a special online marking program. This makes the whole job a lot easier, especially because we can put in "mystery answers" - responses we have already marked - to check the examiners are keeping to the markscheme. The computer does a lot of the hard work now. However, it still takes a long time, and I am a bit miserable with it this week. Normally the exam period is 3 weeks long, bit this time it is only 10 days, so I am run a bit ragged.
It makes me a better teacher, doing this extra work, because I know my subject and the exam criteria better than most other teachers. And also the money is extremely handy. Wink.
Hope that explains it some!
Friday, 4 February 2011
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Tuesday Ten
Ten Confessions
1. I really wanted to do project 365 but I failed after the first week. It was just too much effort. I think it would be easier to start in the summer when it's light in the evenings.
2. That thing on the back of the door was down to ME (I can't tell anybody this).
3. I used to think if I won the lottery I'd stay in my job. These days, I'm not so sure of it.
4. People that admit to not being tech-savvy and seem proud of it really annoy me. LEARN. It's not going away.
5. I forgot to brush my hair before going to work yesterday.
6. I have favourites in most of my classes. I can't help it; I'm a human being.
7. I have never admitted it, but that Valentine I was accused of sending when I was 14 and denied over and over again? I sent it. And I MEANT it.
8. Sort of related to number 7 - I find some bits of my teenaged diaries so embarrassing I actually can't read them.
9. I am secretly quite wussy, but make myself do things that scare me or that I might fail at because I always feel a bit sorry for people who won't take any risks, and I don't want to end up feeling sorry for myself.
10. I am a terrible procrastinator, but wish I wasn't. I want to be one of the doers. I just don't know how to make myself.
1. I really wanted to do project 365 but I failed after the first week. It was just too much effort. I think it would be easier to start in the summer when it's light in the evenings.
2. That thing on the back of the door was down to ME (I can't tell anybody this).
3. I used to think if I won the lottery I'd stay in my job. These days, I'm not so sure of it.
4. People that admit to not being tech-savvy and seem proud of it really annoy me. LEARN. It's not going away.
5. I forgot to brush my hair before going to work yesterday.
6. I have favourites in most of my classes. I can't help it; I'm a human being.
7. I have never admitted it, but that Valentine I was accused of sending when I was 14 and denied over and over again? I sent it. And I MEANT it.
8. Sort of related to number 7 - I find some bits of my teenaged diaries so embarrassing I actually can't read them.
9. I am secretly quite wussy, but make myself do things that scare me or that I might fail at because I always feel a bit sorry for people who won't take any risks, and I don't want to end up feeling sorry for myself.
10. I am a terrible procrastinator, but wish I wasn't. I want to be one of the doers. I just don't know how to make myself.
Friday, 28 January 2011
Weekword
This week, John wondered, "Transition?"
I had a lot of thoughts about transition. I had many grand paragraphs mapped out in my head. They had to do with work, and my life, and made me think a lot about both, which I imagine was kind of the point.
But then today I had an exam board meeting in London that went on for 9 and a half hours, and I didn't get home until gone 9pm and I have another exam board meeting of a similar length TOMORROW if you can believe that, and I have to lead that one, so it seems that all the grand plans had to instead come to this -
Paddington station, at 6.30 this evening.
Having grown up on the south coast, my gateway to London was always Waterloo. When I moved away from my home town at 17 and into my first bedsit, I went through Waterloo, and it became very familiar and comforting to me. When I moved to Bristol Paddington became the gateway and I did not like it. For a start, it is absolutely vast, or at least has the impression of being so with its vaulted ceiling; and then there are all the things like having to learn new tube routes and bus numbers. It took me until the tube strike in 2009 to work out where, geographically, it lies; until then it seemed to exist in some sort of void, miles from anywhere.
It's gradually become like Waterloo to me, though. For a start it was built by Brunel, who had a similar transition through his life to me (born in Portsmouth, lived in London, lived in Bristol), which I quite like. Then there is the shift in my outlook: for a long time moving back to London was something longed-for but impossible. Paddington was just a reminder, every trip, that I had to leave it again. Now I am older and I know I would be miserable there. There's nowhere to park, for a start. And I was a student for most of my London life, so of course I have fond memories of those heady days where responsibility was a thing of the future.
Having moved on in my life, Paddington has now become almost a refuge, because I know that once I get there I'm only a couple of hours away from home. So I took this picture this evening to share with you.
Also, Paddington has one of these -
...and I had a 40% voucher which expires tomorrow, so this was particularly good news for me! Look at all that good food, transitioning towards me. I had this conversation with Mr Z...
Me: I'll be on a later train home. I accidentally started eating at Yo! Sushi
Mr Z: Accidentally?! Your nomscuses are getting worse and worse...
Me: Erm. I tripped over on the belt and had to eat everything I touched?
Mr Z: How many times did you go round?
Me: I'm still going. This woman keeps pointing at me and asking if I'm the vegetarian option.
Mr Z: Moo at her next time round.
Nonsense. Pure nonsense, perfect for a Friday night.
Please go and have a read of all the other Weekword entries, you can find the list here. I know I will be!
I had a lot of thoughts about transition. I had many grand paragraphs mapped out in my head. They had to do with work, and my life, and made me think a lot about both, which I imagine was kind of the point.
But then today I had an exam board meeting in London that went on for 9 and a half hours, and I didn't get home until gone 9pm and I have another exam board meeting of a similar length TOMORROW if you can believe that, and I have to lead that one, so it seems that all the grand plans had to instead come to this -
Paddington station, at 6.30 this evening.
Having grown up on the south coast, my gateway to London was always Waterloo. When I moved away from my home town at 17 and into my first bedsit, I went through Waterloo, and it became very familiar and comforting to me. When I moved to Bristol Paddington became the gateway and I did not like it. For a start, it is absolutely vast, or at least has the impression of being so with its vaulted ceiling; and then there are all the things like having to learn new tube routes and bus numbers. It took me until the tube strike in 2009 to work out where, geographically, it lies; until then it seemed to exist in some sort of void, miles from anywhere.
It's gradually become like Waterloo to me, though. For a start it was built by Brunel, who had a similar transition through his life to me (born in Portsmouth, lived in London, lived in Bristol), which I quite like. Then there is the shift in my outlook: for a long time moving back to London was something longed-for but impossible. Paddington was just a reminder, every trip, that I had to leave it again. Now I am older and I know I would be miserable there. There's nowhere to park, for a start. And I was a student for most of my London life, so of course I have fond memories of those heady days where responsibility was a thing of the future.
Having moved on in my life, Paddington has now become almost a refuge, because I know that once I get there I'm only a couple of hours away from home. So I took this picture this evening to share with you.
Also, Paddington has one of these -
...and I had a 40% voucher which expires tomorrow, so this was particularly good news for me! Look at all that good food, transitioning towards me. I had this conversation with Mr Z...
Me: I'll be on a later train home. I accidentally started eating at Yo! Sushi
Mr Z: Accidentally?! Your nomscuses are getting worse and worse...
Me: Erm. I tripped over on the belt and had to eat everything I touched?
Mr Z: How many times did you go round?
Me: I'm still going. This woman keeps pointing at me and asking if I'm the vegetarian option.
Mr Z: Moo at her next time round.
Nonsense. Pure nonsense, perfect for a Friday night.
Please go and have a read of all the other Weekword entries, you can find the list here. I know I will be!
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Tuesday Ten
Today kicked my butt. Therefore I am now going to list....
Ten Reasons Why I Love My Job
1. No two days are the same. It's impossible to get bored.
2. I get to talk about History all day.
3. My geek credentials are an asset.
4. I have some genuine angels among my colleagues who make my life happier just by being in it.
5. I am supported in pursuing activities that interest me, that aren't to do with my actual job. Ski trip, anyone?
6. Most of the kids are really lovely most of the time, and sometimes they are even a little bit grateful.
7. There are very few people I have to work with who I genuinely dislike, which isn't bad when you consider I work with 300+ people, including all the kids.
8. My classroom's out of the way of the main school (quiet, I can get up to subversive things there) and I control my own thermostat, which is more than can be said for most of my colleagues.
9. The salary isn't bad.
10. The holidays. Of course, who isn't going to love 13 weeks' holiday a year? Though I will now refer you to this post about how most of that is actually time in lieu.
Le sigh.
C4 news cheered me up tonight. They mentioned Banksy had been nominated for an Oscar and on the tagline as they went to an ad break they'd written, "Guerilla's on the list." Masterful.
Ten Reasons Why I Love My Job
1. No two days are the same. It's impossible to get bored.
2. I get to talk about History all day.
3. My geek credentials are an asset.
4. I have some genuine angels among my colleagues who make my life happier just by being in it.
5. I am supported in pursuing activities that interest me, that aren't to do with my actual job. Ski trip, anyone?
6. Most of the kids are really lovely most of the time, and sometimes they are even a little bit grateful.
7. There are very few people I have to work with who I genuinely dislike, which isn't bad when you consider I work with 300+ people, including all the kids.
8. My classroom's out of the way of the main school (quiet, I can get up to subversive things there) and I control my own thermostat, which is more than can be said for most of my colleagues.
9. The salary isn't bad.
10. The holidays. Of course, who isn't going to love 13 weeks' holiday a year? Though I will now refer you to this post about how most of that is actually time in lieu.
Le sigh.
C4 news cheered me up tonight. They mentioned Banksy had been nominated for an Oscar and on the tagline as they went to an ad break they'd written, "Guerilla's on the list." Masterful.
Friday, 21 January 2011
Weekword
Carmen cried, "MERCURIAL!"
Two of my favourite people came to watch me teach for a while this week (they are both fellow ski trippers who I love dearly) and complimented me afterwards on my quick wit, so I suppose I have proved a bit mercurial myself, this week. The kids almost never get it so I am usually just witty for my own benefit, like on days when I try and get as many quotes from Friends into my lessons as possible; although, thanks to the endless E4 repeats, they often spot those now.
I put mercurial in the same basket of words as hedonistic, probably incorrectly; but it does make me think of going out and having fun without thinking about tomorrow. I'm not very good at it. Case in point, when I was working on a small project with a colleague yesterday and he came up with a solution to the problem, I actually said, "Yes, but now let's think through the possible consequences of that...." This does tend to be an automatic reaction for me now, and it does sometimes suck the fun out of things. I have become the Very Worried Sparrow.
However, there are still some things I enjoy without fear of consequences, which are fun for the sake of being fun. Here are five of my favourites.
1. Singing along to the radio, loudly and with actions.
2. Playing endless games of cards, with wine. I like to win. Not money, though: that would involve consequences.
3. Champagne afternoon teas. Not enough alcohol to be an issue, early enough to get the bus home, and definitely very decadent. I took Mother Hand for one when she came to visit, and she was appreciative.
4. Going to bed early. Better than sleeping in, because it doesn't involve losing a morning. (I know this one makes me sound anicent and dull but I don't care. After all, it doesn't have to mean going to sleep straight away. Wink wink.)
5. Dancing. I love dancing, it always puts a smile on my face.
Looking forward to reading about some mercurial things out there over my coffee in the morning!
Two of my favourite people came to watch me teach for a while this week (they are both fellow ski trippers who I love dearly) and complimented me afterwards on my quick wit, so I suppose I have proved a bit mercurial myself, this week. The kids almost never get it so I am usually just witty for my own benefit, like on days when I try and get as many quotes from Friends into my lessons as possible; although, thanks to the endless E4 repeats, they often spot those now.
I put mercurial in the same basket of words as hedonistic, probably incorrectly; but it does make me think of going out and having fun without thinking about tomorrow. I'm not very good at it. Case in point, when I was working on a small project with a colleague yesterday and he came up with a solution to the problem, I actually said, "Yes, but now let's think through the possible consequences of that...." This does tend to be an automatic reaction for me now, and it does sometimes suck the fun out of things. I have become the Very Worried Sparrow.
However, there are still some things I enjoy without fear of consequences, which are fun for the sake of being fun. Here are five of my favourites.
1. Singing along to the radio, loudly and with actions.
2. Playing endless games of cards, with wine. I like to win. Not money, though: that would involve consequences.
3. Champagne afternoon teas. Not enough alcohol to be an issue, early enough to get the bus home, and definitely very decadent. I took Mother Hand for one when she came to visit, and she was appreciative.
4. Going to bed early. Better than sleeping in, because it doesn't involve losing a morning. (I know this one makes me sound anicent and dull but I don't care. After all, it doesn't have to mean going to sleep straight away. Wink wink.)
5. Dancing. I love dancing, it always puts a smile on my face.
Looking forward to reading about some mercurial things out there over my coffee in the morning!
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Tuesday Ten
By the end of this year, I will....
1. Be capable of doing five full press ups without stopping. At the moment, I can do one - badly.
2. Wear the flowery Coast dress I bought in the charity shop to the staff Christmas party - or have worn it to the leavers' ball, if it fits by then, in which case I will allow myself to splash out on a new dress.
3. Have finished the Knitpicks sampler lace shawl I started last June.
4. Be able to crochet....yes, it is a Dark Art, but there is this beautiful crocheted scarf pattern that I have an urgent need to make.
5. Have done something high. By which I mean, parascending, sky diving, rock climbing....
6. Be a regular contributor so my savings account.
7. Have decorated Bunny Towers with lots of photographs and pictures. More to look at on the walls, please!
8. Have to come up with a new ultimate goal, having finally crossed the equator into the southern hemisphere. I know I keep going on about this but it is extremely exciting, it's been top of my To-Do list for ages and ages.
9. Finally have an A* in a GCSE, hopefully. I had better started revising now.
10. Be up to 150 projects on Ravelry. This one is going to be difficult, I fear, since I am only on 111 so far; but a challenge should be exactly that. I note, from looking at my stash, that I have quite a lot of single skeins that could be hats or mitts or necklets, and I really should oblige them.
1. Be capable of doing five full press ups without stopping. At the moment, I can do one - badly.
2. Wear the flowery Coast dress I bought in the charity shop to the staff Christmas party - or have worn it to the leavers' ball, if it fits by then, in which case I will allow myself to splash out on a new dress.
3. Have finished the Knitpicks sampler lace shawl I started last June.
4. Be able to crochet....yes, it is a Dark Art, but there is this beautiful crocheted scarf pattern that I have an urgent need to make.
5. Have done something high. By which I mean, parascending, sky diving, rock climbing....
6. Be a regular contributor so my savings account.
7. Have decorated Bunny Towers with lots of photographs and pictures. More to look at on the walls, please!
8. Have to come up with a new ultimate goal, having finally crossed the equator into the southern hemisphere. I know I keep going on about this but it is extremely exciting, it's been top of my To-Do list for ages and ages.
9. Finally have an A* in a GCSE, hopefully. I had better started revising now.
10. Be up to 150 projects on Ravelry. This one is going to be difficult, I fear, since I am only on 111 so far; but a challenge should be exactly that. I note, from looking at my stash, that I have quite a lot of single skeins that could be hats or mitts or necklets, and I really should oblige them.
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Weeknote 15/1/11
In an attempt to return to regularly scheduled blogging, this week I have been mostly....
Knitting:
A sleeve for Cherie Amour. Lacework on size 9 needles with chunky wool goes very quick, but it's kind of dull. I have (unjustly) lost faith in the pattern, too, since I'm supposed to just bind off the sleeve straight and sew it into the sleeve cap and I can't envision it. Nobody has any notes about it though, so I assume it must work.
Going to:
Dinner, with Parpy Jo and Crabby Kath. We tried to go to Yo! Sushi with a 40% off voucher but there was nothing to be had from the belt except desserts and when we ordered hot food it took ages to arrive and then was wrong, so we went to Tampopo across the way and I had a delicious beef rendang which reminded me muchly of Malaysia.
To Yo Sushi's credit, our waitress asked us why we were leaving, and when we explained that we were hungry and wanted something to eat, she comped us the few dishes we'd managed to procure. I was impressed with the customer service.
The gym, a lot. At my personal trainer this week I was finally able to skip for a minute without feeling like death was near (don't tell her that though, whatever you do, or I'll end up having to go for longer) and I've started to notice a bit of definition in my shoulders, so it's not hard to motivate myself to go. I even got up and went to Zumba this morning.
Dry slope skiing. It was really difficult to do my now automatic carving motion on the matting, though, and the boots fricking killed. I am going to take my own boots next time, I think.
Eating:
Slimming World food. I am very focused on my goal. My skin is looking really good thanks to all the extra fruit and veg. I'm also sleeping a lot better, which is a plus.
Learning:
About transferring documents to Kindle. Twenty six Kindles arrived at school this week for my trial, and I think I've managed to talk the technician to set them up for me. Now I just need to write the content for them. I also need to find out if it's possible to publish freely-downloadable material to Amazon for download. Since they didn't even give a bulk discount, it would seem to be the least they could do, but I won't be holding my breath. They don't seem at all interested in its use in education. It's like they haven't realised that usually, once a school has a piece of equipment, it uses it to death, thus increasing the amount of stuff bought for it; and if pupils are used to using it they are more likely to buy it for themselves.
Obsessed with:
Holiday booking. Mr Z and I are going skiing in Switzerland for the first weekend of February half term, and New York for May half term. The ski weekend is tight, as we have to be at Heathrow for a 7.30pm flight which pretty much means leaving right from work; I have spent a long time this week thinking about how this might best be achieved.
I have also been slightly obsessed with NOT looking at my credit card statement. GCSE marking starts in a fortnight which is what is funding these extravagances, but until then I have built a debt back up which I don't really want to think about!
Entertained by:
So many good things back on TV this week, not least of which: Glee, season 2. However, I was not as enamoured of the first episode as I was of the first series, so I hope they haven't lost their charm. For a start the actress playing Rachel is so very thin now.
Feeling:
Pretty good, tbh. Quite positive about all the good work stuff coming up, and excited about all the travelling I'll be doing this year, and generally in a happy mood. Hurrah! No January blues here. We love January at Bunnyland.
Knitting:
A sleeve for Cherie Amour. Lacework on size 9 needles with chunky wool goes very quick, but it's kind of dull. I have (unjustly) lost faith in the pattern, too, since I'm supposed to just bind off the sleeve straight and sew it into the sleeve cap and I can't envision it. Nobody has any notes about it though, so I assume it must work.
Going to:
Dinner, with Parpy Jo and Crabby Kath. We tried to go to Yo! Sushi with a 40% off voucher but there was nothing to be had from the belt except desserts and when we ordered hot food it took ages to arrive and then was wrong, so we went to Tampopo across the way and I had a delicious beef rendang which reminded me muchly of Malaysia.
To Yo Sushi's credit, our waitress asked us why we were leaving, and when we explained that we were hungry and wanted something to eat, she comped us the few dishes we'd managed to procure. I was impressed with the customer service.
The gym, a lot. At my personal trainer this week I was finally able to skip for a minute without feeling like death was near (don't tell her that though, whatever you do, or I'll end up having to go for longer) and I've started to notice a bit of definition in my shoulders, so it's not hard to motivate myself to go. I even got up and went to Zumba this morning.
Dry slope skiing. It was really difficult to do my now automatic carving motion on the matting, though, and the boots fricking killed. I am going to take my own boots next time, I think.
Eating:
Slimming World food. I am very focused on my goal. My skin is looking really good thanks to all the extra fruit and veg. I'm also sleeping a lot better, which is a plus.
Learning:
About transferring documents to Kindle. Twenty six Kindles arrived at school this week for my trial, and I think I've managed to talk the technician to set them up for me. Now I just need to write the content for them. I also need to find out if it's possible to publish freely-downloadable material to Amazon for download. Since they didn't even give a bulk discount, it would seem to be the least they could do, but I won't be holding my breath. They don't seem at all interested in its use in education. It's like they haven't realised that usually, once a school has a piece of equipment, it uses it to death, thus increasing the amount of stuff bought for it; and if pupils are used to using it they are more likely to buy it for themselves.
Obsessed with:
Holiday booking. Mr Z and I are going skiing in Switzerland for the first weekend of February half term, and New York for May half term. The ski weekend is tight, as we have to be at Heathrow for a 7.30pm flight which pretty much means leaving right from work; I have spent a long time this week thinking about how this might best be achieved.
I have also been slightly obsessed with NOT looking at my credit card statement. GCSE marking starts in a fortnight which is what is funding these extravagances, but until then I have built a debt back up which I don't really want to think about!
Entertained by:
So many good things back on TV this week, not least of which: Glee, season 2. However, I was not as enamoured of the first episode as I was of the first series, so I hope they haven't lost their charm. For a start the actress playing Rachel is so very thin now.
Feeling:
Pretty good, tbh. Quite positive about all the good work stuff coming up, and excited about all the travelling I'll be doing this year, and generally in a happy mood. Hurrah! No January blues here. We love January at Bunnyland.
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