Day 18: The Hump

They call Wednesdays "The Hump". Apparently because once you get over it you're almost at the weekend. I wasn't really looking forward to today, especially after having yesterday off from the kids, but I was prepped and ready to go as normal.

I was caught off guard when more than one colleague asked me why I was in such a good mood this morning. I'm not sure whether I should be offended by the fact that I have given off such an air of despair, or relieved that it has evaporated recently. Either way, I am feeling more positive for some reason.

I started the day with year 7. I always look forward to this class, and I wanted to play some classical music (as a treat for myself rather than them) as they walked in. Unfortunately my quick youtube search ended up with me playing Clint Mansell's Requiem For A Dream theme, which was a little dramatic to say the least. I cleverly (or so I thought) pretended that this was intentional, asking the kids how the music made them feel and why - and how we can achieve the same effect through words. Or something. The lesson went well, apart from one of the tasks that was a little tricky and I didn't really explain it, and then two of the kids cried (not my fault!)

Straight after was year 9, and I'd had the chance to chat with my colleague who'd be team teaching with me about how we'd do it. Unfortunately my pacing was rubbish so we didn't get to the bit we decided he'd do, but otherwise the lesson was ok. One of the kids, U, gave a fabulous answer for the task on semi-colons: "I don't like school; I've got maths today." This had originally said "English" which made me laugh out loud, and he changed it. He's a tricky boy who's obviously bright but his literacy is a little dodgy but I think he could do well if he wanted to. I was a little taken aback by A turning up, despite the fact that he was supposed to be on the Bridge today - luckily my colleague escorted him down without complaint (from my colleague.)

I had break, then year 11, who I was also looking forward to. I was going to try setting them some group work which I wasn't convinced would work, and it didn't really. I took advantage of the new coursework tracker on the system and showed it to them, in order to shame a few of them into doing the pieces they were missing. The girl in the group agreed to do her Shakespeare piece, and I emphasised the fact that she could easily get a C. Two of the boys volunteered to come after school to do their media, and the other I trapped into coming at lunch tomorrow. We'll see if he shows.

I had lunch, then a free, which I spent rustling up crib sheets for the Romeo and Juliet coursework for my year 11 girl, and then had to babysit a rather obnoxious year 11 as I was down on the behaviour rota.

Then year 10. My group is dropping like flies; I only have 26 left. Not that I'm complaining. I'm not sure where I am with this group - I felt good last week but there's a lot of moaning, and as we were finishing off the work they did last lesson, the lesson itself was a little flat. We had 5 minutes at the end, so I showed them the opening of West Side Story. They were not impressed.

So the day finished, and my two year 11 boys turned up. We stayed in the media room till half 5 and they worked on their coursework while I attempted to mark my year 10 work (someone was moaning in the class.) It was a lot easier than it had been with H - EAL really makes a difference - but I suspect that the boy coming at lunch tomorrow might be trickier.

I decided to go home, and plan lessons the next day. I don't start till period 3, so have plenty of time to put them together. Plus I need to observe my colleague and mark. Busy day.