Day 55: F-F-F-Friday

I love Fridays. Especially Eid Fridays. Half the kids aren't in for 'religious observance' which meant that the classes are nice and small and you can do something a little more lighthearted. It was interesting to see the difference that 5-10 fewer pupils makes to a class.

After an impromptu visit to the pub on Thursday night I didn't manage to sleep well all night and woke up at 4am. By the time it got to 6am I was fed up, and got up and arrived at work by 7am. I was disappointed to see I wasn't the first in, but oh well. I set about preparing my year 10 lesson; as I'd stayed out late and gone straight to bed, I hadn't sorted it the night before. They were a little reluctant to do work, thinking that they should be allowed to just watch a movie, but what I gave them was quite light hearted and they got on with it - analysing the language of an article from Pick Me Up magazine called "I married a panto dwarf!" We ended up chatting for a while about going to see a pantomime, and in the end none of them managed to write the PEE paragraph I set, but it was a fun lesson.

I had a free, and I think I spent it organising my stationary cupboard (because, why not?) Then I had year 7 after break, and it was time, once again, for a library lesson - hurrah! There were too few kids to do the library work, so they all got to read for an hour. I spent the lesson chatting to the librarian, reading Notes on a Scandal, and moving between the kids to stop them talking. One of the girls found a book on childbirth and showed the other kids. I took it off her to stop the giggling, then leafed through it. As I was doing so, P came over and, whilst gesturing to a photo of a baby in utero, said something along the lines of "that's sick man!"
I replied, "No, it's not, it's beautiful and natural."
This is a bit of a joke as, having been brought up by a midwife, I've seen more than my fair share of childbirth (not in person, mind) and I find it fairly repugnant. Anyway, just as I was saying this to P, I flipped the page over to a somewhat explicit photo of a baby being squeezed out. P made a face, then luckily just wandered off back to his seat. Close call.

I was finished after this lesson, so for the rest of the day tried to do some marking, but I think I was less than successful on that front. I did, however, watch Gavin and Stacey with my colleague in his room, which was fun.

After school ended I headed down to the pub, where I stayed far longer than I should have done. Although I enjoy relaxing with colleagues and our weekly ritual, I've decided that I drink far far too much of a weekend, and seeing as I'm on a health kick I'm going to give it a miss for a couple of weeks. I'm also more than a tad concerned that spending 10 hours in the pub every Friday is not doing me any favours, physically or mentally. Time for a change.