Wow - what a hectic two weeks!!
I'm sitting here listening to Little Shop as today we had the recalls for the principal roles at school. Now I'm sure the kids involved don't read here but I still can't let it out who's got the parts til it goes "public" on Monday! I'm so excited though, the kids are great and will really get the best out of their parts. Oh, and Jon, if you're reading this, I was showing photos of our Little Shop to the drama department today!
I have now survived my first full week in school. Last week didn't count so much as it was only three teaching days. It has been the biggest challenge of my life - the earlier part of the week didn't go so well, after a promising start in week one. But I took lots of advice on strategies for getting the kids to behave - adopted the cool, calm and collected approach and don't let them know if things are getting to me, and it seems to work.
The two worst girls in my Year 10 English class took themselves off to work in another teacher's classroom (where Year 12 was being taught) and got lots done. They actually said they were sorry and they didn't want to cause disruption in my lesson (for the first time) and I was able to see how well the rest of the class worked without their "Vicky Pollard" style influence - the difference was incredible, and they are now getting in to the text, which is Willy Russell's Our Day Out. I love the play and finally my enthusiasm is coming through and becoming infectious. I also got kudos for my ability to do a great Liverpool accent, and my attempts at the Jamaican, Texan and Cockney of the starter activity went down well too, though my attempts at Ali G were pretty laughable lol!
So I'm looking forward to spending the day at Scrapbook Sisters' crop tomorrow, meeting new people and getting some scrapping done for the first time since the holidays. Right now I'm off to soak my tired feet in the bath and drink my second cheap Italian beer :D
