This is Omar’s blog

Department Rules

1 Find a place you trust and then try trusting it for a while.
2 General duties of a student: pull everything out of your teacher, pull everything out of your fellow students.
3 General duties of a teacher: pull everything out of your students.
4 Consider everything an experiment.
8 Don’t try to create and analyse at the same time. They’re different processes.
9 Be happy whenever you can manage it. Enjoy yourself. It’s lighter than you think

From Kottke

First day supply was fineeeee. It’s funny how the moments that define you, the important ones, both big and small are the ones where you don’t have the time to think or over-analyse. They’re the ones where you get-on-with-it.

I saw No Country for Old Men last night, it was the first time I’ve been to the cinema this year. It was good, showed how different some films are from the more relentlessly popular films out there. Even so, I’m always put off by these films the high regard they are constantly spoken of, the talk of Oscar success just doesn’t sit right with me. What does that matter to me?

Though, the film last night was… It was just captivating, from the start to the end. In regard to the end, the more I think about it, the more I think it was entirely suitable for the film. I was thinking about it on the way home last night, how I constantly gripe at perfect films, of it all fitting together and then a I see a film comes along that’s not like that and I didn’t know what to do. Anyway, it’s beautiful shot, the performances were all pretty sweet and it only occured to me half-way through that that girl was in Trainspotting (though her character reminded me of Bruce Willis’ wife in Pulp Ficting a little too much).

I was talking Chris and Jenn last night about working in an office, it’s interesting because it’s not something I’ve ever done. So I only have talking to people and watching tv to go on. I just thought that, more work would go on? Or is that just naive of me? I have a friend who said on occasion she doesn’t spend that much time actually working and other anecdotes of people temping and doing ‘ ‘days work’ in about 30 minutes. (secret’s safe). Things get done though don’t though? So is it an even issue? I don’t know, it just surprised me is all.

So many questions. I don’t even think i have a point, it’s just something that piqued my interest. My experiences are of jobs where I’ve not stopped, admittedly through my inability to stop as there was always something else to do. I mention it partly because now that i’m teaching, in contrast you can’t stop for the duration of the school day. That would have been 8:30 to a little after 3 at my last placement. As in, you just can’t for obvious reasons and lunch breaks are time to prepare for future lessons, have meetings, tidying and doing the things you can’t do with 25 children needing your attention.

This isn’t me complaining about the situation either, I like what I do (so far) and I can’t imagine me in an office. I had another moment in school today, during literacy in a year 4/5 class. They were writing stories based on Robin Hood, thinking about dialogue and the appropriate punctuation - “I needed a minor recap too,” he said. I was reading through one of the year 5 girls story and it occured to that I really love what I am doing at the moment. Yes, i’m finding doing supply stressful (so many phone calls) and being occupied all day is tiring, but there are times when being a teacher is just plain awesome.

First day supply tomoorrow at a school I don’t know. Bit scary. Trying not to overthink and see how it goes. Going to prepare some work just in case.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHBT18Kackk

I does love my new blue jumper.

Also, now if you’re not my mum you don’t need to carry on reading

• The washing up is getting done regularly
• We, well Joey, has done some washing and everything is the same colour as when it went it
• I’ve hoovered
• I’ve regularly tidied the flat
• I’ve made my bed everyday AND my room is relatively tidy
• We’re both having breakfast

OK?! :)

(The thing is the original is quite scary, this video, unscarifys it. Which in itself is scary I think.)

It was something Alex mentioned to me once, that when he’s riding his bike down steep hills that you don’t focus on what’s directly infront of you, you instead look ahead to to what’s coming further down the path. He said that that as a result of this, his riding of bicycles is much smoother, faster. I’ve been thinking about that a bit recently and I think that it’s applicable to everyday life. You could worry yourself silly about tomorrow and a presentation, or a meeting or whatever but you’d be much better served looking ahead to what you’re going to do after that. I think I was doing it with my last placement, that tomorrow was going to come regardless and I will teach the lesson I have planned. That my energy would be far better spent thinking about the day after that and what I will do then.

I’m calmer for it I think, you just have to believe you’re able to deal with what’s in front of you when it comes.