On Friday, I missed my classes, all five of them - including the killer back-to-back juniors after lunch. No, no, don’t look at me like that: I did it on purpose, with the blessing of my head of department and the deputy principal in charge of such things, and, instead of teaching, I attended the Canterbury Big Sing. For the first time in 3 or 4 ( Read more... )

 
Wen waved a hand, and two glasses of wine appeared on the stone.

'Everything is as important as everything else,' he said.

Susan grimaced. 'You know, that's why I've never liked philosophers,' she said. 'They make it all sound grand and simple, and then you step out into a world that's full of complications. I mean, look around. I bet this garden ( Read more... )

I finished my first week out at Rangiora this afternoon. My Friday’s are pretty cruzy - just two classes and both senior sections. I pulled a kid out of form time this morning to run diagnostics and now I know what’s going on with him, and another kid stayed in through lunch to figure out solving 3-variable systems of linear equations and I think ( Read more... )

Ah…hi. *shy wave*… been a while. Sorry…

I’m back at school; summer vacation is over and, just to be spiteful, the weather has just gotten gorgeous. Figures. I’m not assigned to a school yet - that’ll happen at the end of next week. For the time being we’re doing a mini-placement at a school for kids with severe mental and behavioural issues (very ( Read more... )

 “Mary Poppins, don’t you love
us?” the children pleaded.
“And what would happen to me,
may I ask, if I loved all the children
I said good-bye to?” she replied.

A sharp return. Maybe even harsh. But given to help a child just about to take the next step towards adulthood. And, you will note, not actually an answer to the question. Because Mary would ( Read more... )

 It’s 7:30. pm. Tonight I’m going dancing, and because this is the modern world where we trust our electric lights, the program doesn’t start for another hour. And I will get there on the bus. I will also be coming home on the bus at around 10:00. Maybe even 10:30.

Please do not faint.

I’ve been told that Christchurch’s public transport system - ( Read more... )

 I started week 4 today. I have no idea where the last 3 weeks went. My teaching log says that I’ve solo taught 27 classes and planned several others (due to weirdness in my schedule that calls for me setting work for the regular class teachers…), and my binder says I’ve done enough work that I had to buy a second binder to fit all of the papers, ( Read more... )

 I can’t leave the house yet. If I leave I will arrive at Shirley Intermediate at 8:15, and I’ll have to wait for a full 30 minutes before they open the library doors, and it’s cold outside this morning. At 9:00 I get to pick up a 12 year old girl with an odd sort of name and pretend to help her with her reading for 40 minutes, but since it turns ( Read more... )

 So… I’m here. I’m in New Zealand. Following the Plan. All things considered, it’s going really well - I got accepted into the program (YAAAAYY!!). I’ve found a flat, complete with gay roommates and a pair of wonderful cats. I’ve obtained furniture, registered with the Inland Revenue Service, arranged to get a license, opened a bank account, bought ( Read more... )

Wen went to Europe and she ate…

• Cheese in Amsterdam (I’d have eaten more, but I kept getting sick)
• Waffles and chocolate in Belgium (We were there less than 6 hours, so I felt that was pretty good.)
• One amazing meal in a proper, backstreet, French restaurant near the Louvre in Paris. (We missed the crepes by a couple of hours.) There was an onion soup ( Read more... )