Work/Life Balance - welcome back holidays, weekends and evenings I've missed u xx

I’m so glad to be at my new school and can only reinforce the importance of getting into a good school although in true human form I'm sure it won't be long before I find something to moan about. Right now, there’s a few reasons why my new schools great:

1)      The boss is calm and knows his stuff. Having worked for incompetent nutters in the past; this was a relief to discover. The only problem with him knowing his stuff is he knows when you’re stuffing up; and even though he might not say anything, you know he knows. We have observations coming up and the teachers are shitting themselves. I don’t know a teacher who isn’t shit scared of observations. For a while, I chilled out. I knew I’d get a satisfactory grading for even my worse lessons. Trouble is, now, satisfactory is not satisfactory. Is it possible to be graded ‘outstanding’ without working your butt off? I once got an ‘outstanding’ grading for my lesson; needless to say I’d worked my ass off.

2)      The school is technically advanced. The children have just had their thumbs scanned for ordering their lunch – god knows how that works. The register is electronic as is the reward system. The parents can then log on at home and see the positive comments left by the teacher every day. Check it out at http://www.vivomiles.com/. You can access everything at home (when you know how) the only problem, after a hard day’s work, is switching off – literally. Technology is great – as long as you know how to use it. I’m just waiting for an electronic robot teacher who I can program to teach all my lessons whilst I put my feet up and drink tea, oil it once in a while and get paid for it.

3)      Some of the children work at a really high level so I am never bored. I was beaten at a maths challenge for the first time in 5 years. One of my extension tasks is often: ‘think of a question related to the LO which you can answer but you think the teacher can’t.’ More often than not I can answer it; I’ve had years of practice at this game. This time, I was beaten on Monday in a sequencing lesson when a 10 year old boy came up with a sequence I couldn’t crack in the time available. I’ve cracked it now but see how long it takes you:

0, 7, 26, 63, ?, ?

4)      Its well organised.

The boss also stresses the importance of a work/life balance...so on that note, I’ll bid you goodnight as I am off to bed at a reasonable hour.

Miss Phitt xx