Friday the Thirteenth!

Well, I taught my thirteenth lesson today and it is Friday! All went well with the class that I had the disaster with on Tuesday. I'd geared the whole lesson towards behaviour management so the content wasn't brilliant but they actually gasped when I showed them my potato. And no, not the potato in yesterday's picture!!! I used one that looked like a hill - not a...erm... man-thingy... - and the contour lines were pretty effective. I also told them at the start that I'd planned for a game of Hangman at the end. I wrote 'HANGMAN' on the board and told them that every time I had to tell someone off, I would cross off a letter. If all the letters were crossed off, no game. I don't believe in bribing students but as an incentive it worked a treat. Subtle difference!

Anyway, if I can start with this more acceptable level of behaviour again next time, I can hopefully hone in on the little things that currently I am letting them 'get away with' but which really need to be cracked down on. Certainly an uphill battle though. I always say that you can't teach someone to be a good teacher. Sure, you can give them tips and strategies, they can gain confidence through experience, etc, but there has to something already there - an instinct that you either have or you don't. If you don't have it, it can't be 'taught'. Not really sure I do have it. It's hard to explain, it's much deeper than being creative and just planning a good lesson. You need to be able to deliver it, too, and that's where it all tends to go wrong. Oh well, time will tell, I suppose!

Today was also Year 11 'Leavers' Day', when hundreds of 16-year-olds officially leave the school. They will all be returning to take their GCSE exams, many will come back to do their A levels and they now have to remain in some form of education until they are 17 but, technically, this is still their 'last day at school'. Warned in an email yesterday to be on our guard for pranks, most of the kids actually did a terrific job of decorating the school. There were pretty coloured windmills on the grass outside, one department was turned into Narnia, another was an underwater world and there was a huge giant's castle - complete with giant - in one of the hallways. Everywhere you looked there was something amazing to see and the Leavers' Assembly was quite moving. The Geography Department was turned into Little Red Riding Hood's forest and as well as the walls being decorated, the students had strewn leaves and branches al over the floor. Nothing damaging, though. Unfortunately, some dic... idiots threw cooking oil and washing up liquid all over one of our classrooms. Obviously too stupid to grasp the concept of 'decorating'. My twelfth lesson was supposed to be in this particular room - leading a Year 8 class in a 'Map Types' session - but this had to be abandoned as the room was unusable until we'd had a chance to clean up later.

Still, all in all a good day! Certainly was an experience!