Out of My Tiny Tree

I must be MAD! It's been chaos at school - well, I say chaos, but what I really mean is there are not enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do. Like today. Up at 6, out the door at 7.30, arrive at work at 7.45, prepping lessons until 8.40. And wrestling with a computer system that still refuses to play ball.

Then registration, then assembly, then tutor time...I mean, mentor time, which is fast becoming known as 'mental' time.

Then lessons one and two, a double (2 hours) with 30 year nine students, half of whom have special needs, four of whom can barely speak English (Question from me - 'So, we're studying the Gothic novel this term - what do you know about the Gothic genre?' Response from EAL student - blank stare...), one of which who goes hormonally peculiar with a full moon, one who can't sit still for toffee and six who can't stop talking about boys, shopping, Facebook, boys, soap operas, boys and boys.

Then break - on duty in the playground dodging two footballs and being mown down by a group of Year 8s playing a game of British Bulldog.

Then lesson prepping for an hour, most of which was spent assisting an unqualified-straight-from-university teacher who has no idea what she is doing but can talk for England, and despite asking my advice chooses to ignore it and do her own thing anyway.

Then a snotty bunch of Year 11 who arrived noisy and smelly and ten minutes late from PE.

Then half an hour for lunch which involved five minutes clearing up after snotty Year 11, ten minutes prepping for after lunch Year 10, five minutes trekking across the school to visit the loo, and ten minutes trying to bolt down a bagel and a mixed salad and failing abysmally.

Then Year 10. Three quarters of whom have special needs. And the inability to stop talking for more than 30 seconds.

Then after school duty on the road, trying to stop students getting run over because they still think they're invincible in a car 'n' student fight.

Then more listening to unqualified teacher witter on and reject more of my advice...and so finally leaving work at 5 haibg looked at the remains of my lunch and thinking I couldn't really be bothered.

And an hour and a half later, I find myself searching the internet for a clip of Vincent Price or Christopher Lee reading something Gothicky in a spooky way, and a visual plot summary of Romeo and Juliet for the snotty Year 11 because I can't access anything at school from You Tube(which is an excellent resource for teachers) because You Tube has been blocked by the super-duper-doesn't-work-properly IT system!

Oh, and planning a blog for my sixth-formers to use as an on-line forum for their studies, but I don't mind that because 1) I like my sixth-formers and 2) I like blogging!

Oddly, four of my sixth formers came from my old school! I last taught them when they were in Year 8.

'Mrs Hunt!!' they all squealed happily when they found 'twas me delivering their course. Ah, it's nice to be wanted...

So I'm giving up on the school stuff today. I've had enough. The branches of my tiny tree of sanity are bending 'neath the strain. And if I had a doughnut, I'd eat it in two bites, but I don't, which is lucky because I don't think I could keep up with the sugar rush.

Thursday tomorrow. Which is one day before Friday which is one day before the weekend. Which I have allocated to sleep. And maybe some retail therapy.

And a doughnut...