14 posts tagged “teacher”

The Class (Entre Les Murs)

Due to the continuing absence of Mr FD I took to my boudoir and watched my 3 rental movies. The last one was The Class, a French movie that follows a teacher and his class through a school year. I believe that it won a Palme D'or award for best picture.

I have 45 minutes of prac teachng left! 

Today, I taught Sexually Transmitted Infections.  I am ranking this under the form of "other duties as required" that they always tack onto job ads, only this time I don't have a real job and certainly don't get paid anything! "Other duties as required" has in the past seen me closeted in a public library toilet assisting a woman to empty her colostomy bag, so I am a bit wary of the term now, and in any job interview I always ask what perhaps "other duties as required" might pertain to.

In this politically correct days they are no longer called diseases, but are infections. The Year 9 class were a little quieter this time, and half way through the film I looked around the class and every single girl's face was a blush red. I suspect mine was too! At least the film was more contemporary this time as it was created in 2006. I learnt some things I don't think I need to know at my maturity, but should I ever possess a grandchild, heavens they won't get away with anything with this granny.

Next week we get to do a little show ad tell with the girls. A representation of the russian roulette of contratcting a STI. We apparently give them glasses of certain fluids (?) and get them to mix from glass to glass and then we drop in some magic drops and it will supposedly show who might have caught a STI if it had been sex and not a glass of water . I think some of the girls are starting to think of going to a nunnery.

Especialy after they did a slightly too close, close-up of a condom which appeared as though only a stallion of the equine variety could benefit from and they all started to freak out. Forget your banana visuals, ladies!

Ah yes, just another day in the schoolyard.

I am putting together an english unit for grades11/12 and I am using Frankenstein for the novel, Twilight as the movie and would like a poem to sync with those two items. Does anyone have any suggestions of the poetic kind?

Oh yeah. Back to school today.

I almost turned around and went back home, as coughing and sneezing and generally secreting mucous I missed the new turnoff that I had to take and ended up in the industrial badlands. You know how it is on a freeway, miss your exit and it is another 4 years before you can find another that will take you back where you want to go.  Or even the state that you would like to be in. The freeway has been under construction forever, and this week they opened up new exits and of course I wasn't thinking, at all, and sailed right by the one I should have taken. This is pretty frightening for a flamingo dancer with no sense of direction. I thought I was going to have to phone MR FD, who arrived home early last night, and tell him where I thought I was, and order him to come and lead me out, but after about 15 minutes in the industrial badlands I found my way back onto the right road.

Next, I had to spend 2 hours supervising QCS practice. QCS stands for Queensland Core Skills, and is part of the examination process that every year 12 student who wishes to go onto university has to undertake. The real tests are later in the year, but to soothe nerves they practice before hand. Today's test was a 2 hour written response to stimulus English test. I played my part by walking around the 63 students in  my area and returning my germs to them. Revenege is indeed sweet.

It was hard not to cough or splutter during the 2 hours and disturb the dahlings. Most of the time I just stood quietly to the side secreting more phelgm and muscous. I felt the coughs coming on,  but managed to hold it in. I did fear that my brains were going to explode out my ears at any moment though. I deserve a medal for dedication to duty.

Apparently in the real QCS tests, we teachers are not to even make eye contact with a student, or stand in any way that it could be assumed that we are looking over their shoulder. Very strict guidlines. I don't know how, or why, these rules are in existence. They just are.

By early afternoon, I felt like something a puppy would regurgitate after being locked in the house, alone for a long weekend. Apparently I looked like it too, as the doctor who is a prac teacher with us, came over to me and said that in her professional opinion I should go home to bed. I didn't argue, I was gone in 5 minutes.

Tomorrow is Friday....just have to live that long.

Today I taught classes filled with girls wearing pajamas.

To raise money for some special cause [yes another one!] the students were allowed to wear their pajamas to school. Some just wore pj pants with jerseys, but some had the full gear - pajamas, gown and slippers.

It is not easy teaching a class of pajama clad girls. It plays with your mind. Especially when it starts to rain and then with all those pjs in sight all you want to do is shut the door, pull down the blinds and vege out. It was ok though, I maintained my composure and drilled them on their Ancient Egypt funeral rites, as you do!

That is the nice thing about an all girls' school. They are comfortable enough to wear their pjs - and they were obviously their real pjs, not brand new designer pjs either. Of course it wouldn't have happened in a mixed gender school, or if it did the girls would be more aware of their appearance, but when it is just other girls they are more confident and comfortable to be themselves. It is lovely to watch.

If only the teachers could have worn their pajamas...well, maybe it was a good thing we couldn't. I'll say no more.