First Week in School
I've managed to survive my first week at school. This is something I'm immensely proud of, because survive is the word, and it's looking like the first week is the worst, and that it's going to get better.
After my last post, I started the day afterwards by apologising for being a bitch to the assistant librarian and mentioning that I hadn't had a great time at school. To my surprise, she understood and told me she had a bad time too and that she understood. That helped me start the day in the right frame of mind.
The day progressed well when year 13 sixth formers (or Upper Sixth, as my school used to call them), came back to school officially and I started introducing myself to them. Just my presence in the library helped settle them and I passed my first hurdle, getting them to settle down and study.
The morning passed quite quickly, where I stayed in the library reading up about writing UCAS statements. I was contacted by one or two of the youngsters about it and that helped put me in a good mood.
Alas, this wasn't to last. After lunch, I got a completely different crowd, who seemed to be more of a handful. I was tired and I couldn't cope. Then two students asked me for help with their extended essays. The first one was on geodesic structures and tensegrity, which was just not the thing I needed to be asked about on the first day. I promised to look into it, which I have and... well, I think I know what they're about, but really, it just doesn't grab me. But I think I can cope with the mathematical proof the youngster asked me about. Then I got distracted into a deep conversation about psychopaths when a girl asked me about essay structure, which I didn't handle very well. I ended the day in a bit of a funk.
Friday was a bit more stable, as after getting home on Thursday, I got a bit more perspective, as well as a decent night's sleep. I worked a bit more on the list and finally got into a rhythm on that, which helped me get through it. I got as far as S by the end of the day. I helped a girl with some UCAS stuff, by pointing her the right way to a website that I'd found during the quiet moment on Thursday, and promised to read her extended essay on wings and lift. I also tried to help a boy print something off, but he stormed out
After all this, I headed out to the pub with some of the teachers and socialised as we all celebrated living through the week. Broadly, I'm feeling a lot more positive about the whole thing and generally people seem to like me and think I'm OK. I think the main thing that's really made my life hell is a mixture of being overloaded, not supported enough and trying to find my way. Writing about it would take a whole other post, which I'm not sure I want to write yet. Especially if I want some space from all of this this weekend.
After my last post, I started the day afterwards by apologising for being a bitch to the assistant librarian and mentioning that I hadn't had a great time at school. To my surprise, she understood and told me she had a bad time too and that she understood. That helped me start the day in the right frame of mind.
The day progressed well when year 13 sixth formers (or Upper Sixth, as my school used to call them), came back to school officially and I started introducing myself to them. Just my presence in the library helped settle them and I passed my first hurdle, getting them to settle down and study.
The morning passed quite quickly, where I stayed in the library reading up about writing UCAS statements. I was contacted by one or two of the youngsters about it and that helped put me in a good mood.
Alas, this wasn't to last. After lunch, I got a completely different crowd, who seemed to be more of a handful. I was tired and I couldn't cope. Then two students asked me for help with their extended essays. The first one was on geodesic structures and tensegrity, which was just not the thing I needed to be asked about on the first day. I promised to look into it, which I have and... well, I think I know what they're about, but really, it just doesn't grab me. But I think I can cope with the mathematical proof the youngster asked me about. Then I got distracted into a deep conversation about psychopaths when a girl asked me about essay structure, which I didn't handle very well. I ended the day in a bit of a funk.
Friday was a bit more stable, as after getting home on Thursday, I got a bit more perspective, as well as a decent night's sleep. I worked a bit more on the list and finally got into a rhythm on that, which helped me get through it. I got as far as S by the end of the day. I helped a girl with some UCAS stuff, by pointing her the right way to a website that I'd found during the quiet moment on Thursday, and promised to read her extended essay on wings and lift. I also tried to help a boy print something off, but he stormed out
After all this, I headed out to the pub with some of the teachers and socialised as we all celebrated living through the week. Broadly, I'm feeling a lot more positive about the whole thing and generally people seem to like me and think I'm OK. I think the main thing that's really made my life hell is a mixture of being overloaded, not supported enough and trying to find my way. Writing about it would take a whole other post, which I'm not sure I want to write yet. Especially if I want some space from all of this this weekend.