Monday done. Check and check.

Today began my first full week of school! I know all of you teachers at home hate me that you are well into the school year but next summer I’ll have a very short summer so it is a good trade. I am starting to get the hang of things at my school. Fortunately, my Year 12 group tells me everything I need to do that I’m not doing in terms of organization and that is actually quite helpful. I spent most of Sunday working on my plans for this week. The actual planning doesn’t take me too long, it is the relearning the material I have never taught and creating all of my teaching materials that is taking me forever.

I did get to have a pretty fun weekend. On Friday, I went out for happy hour at 4 with some work colleagues and didn’t get home until after 11. That’s always a pretty good night. After we left the pub, we “went for a curry” as they say here. This was NOT a good plan at 10 pm and between the massive amounts of beer I consumed and the Indian food, Saturday morning was a bit rough! J On Saturday during the day, I went to the mall in a town called Watford with my new friend (who, by the way, is a SKIER!!!)! I got to see all of the super-cute clothes that I cannot afford on my meager teacher salary! Then, on Saturday night, Anna and I had a bbq with the neighboUrs in the backyard. It was fun to sit outside all bundled up swilling wine. It got really cold and last night we even had to turn on the heat! (Really cold is only relative to how it has been- it wasn’t really that cold!)

As of today, I have now met all of my different students. It is going to take me quite awhile to get their names memorized- that is for sure. I think in total, I see about 200 different kids per week. Fortunately, their day planners have a little white board in the back so they are able to write their name and prop it up so that I can just read their names. Phew. I have been teaching the highest level of kids in “chemistry.” I say “chemistry” because really it is a collection of random facts that are randomly related to chemistry. The unit is called Products from Rocks and it is SO incredibly boring! I am working really really hard to make it engaging but it is a struggle!

However, today, my Head of Science suggested that perhaps I switch with her and take the lowest group because they move more slowly and won’t need to know this random chemistry stuff that I know JACK about in the same depth as the higher kids. So, I think I will do this switch. With the lower kids I am able to have more freedom in how I structure the unit. So, I have made up a long-term project for them where they will have to design certain structures in a town and choose which “products from rocks” they use to design these based on characteristics that they will research. We’ll see how it goes. This will be something that they have never done before as the curriculum is generally so prescribed that they aren’t able to have projects like this. Yay for Understanding by Design!

So far, it seems that the kids have responded well to “The One Rule” and “Living Above the Line.” Not surprisingly, the Year 7-9 kids have been excited when brainstorming all the ways that they can think of to break the rules. I always get some answers like “throw desks out the window,” “set the school on fire.” I just let them say stuff like that as long as we eventually get the realistic ways of not following “The One Rule” on the list like being disrespectful, not raising your hand, or not doing work. So far, the kids here seem just like the kids at home, they just wear a uniform. J I have been extra careful to go over expectations and make lots of “Looks like/Sounds Like” charts whenever we do something new like group work, etc.

Anyway, enough teacher talk. But, that is pretty much my whole life at the moment since I only have two friends! J I really like the people in my department and have enjoyed lunch with them everyday! I am going to be so fried after five days this week. It will take awhile to get used to the random schedule I have. I had Year 8 kids three times today and then I only see them once more this week.

I would like to share a website that someone here shared with me, it is hilarious and totally inappropriate. Don’t read it if you think you might be easily offended by vulgarity. But, it is so close to Jack Handey’s Deep Thoughts that I have to share it.

http://viz.co.uk/toptips.php

Hilarious and a delightful time waster. Just keep clicking “more top tips” and they just keep on coming.

Hasta lasagna!

First day survival! WOO HOO!

I have survived the first day! It was actually quite fun. After my feelings of complete inadequacy yesterday, I was greatly relieved that today was so fun! I guess I will just give the full on play-by-play of the day so it is possible to get a full picture!

I got picked up today at 7:50 (I KNOW! WHAT? It is SOOOO late compared to CBMS!) by my Head of Science. It was nice to get a ride so that I wasn’t completely sweaty when I got to school in my dress clothes- my NEW clothes I should mention which was half the fun of it being the first day of school. At 8:30 we have a staff briefing in the teacher’s lounge/mailbox room (they call them pigeon holes). Apparently, there are a few teachers who don’t like email so we have our announcements done in person every morning. This is just humorous to me after hearing that CBMS has moved past email and only uses google docs.

So, today being the first day of school meant that on the Year 7 and Year 12 classes came first thing. This is because the Year 7 kids are new to the school and the Year 12 kids are starting “Sixth Form” which is an optional level of school if you want to attend university. The Year 12’s have all chosen to be at Chesham Park and they choose which 3-4 subjects they take because they have taken exams in every subject the previous year. The exams after Year 11 are called GCSE exams. See why I cried from all of the lingo and acronyms? And, I even knew what Sixth Form and GCSE’s were before getting here!

Because I am a Year 12 Form Tutor (Homeroom Advisor) I had to meet with the whole Year 12 group for their orientation. I believe there are about 60 kids in the sixth form and they are split into three groups. They do not have to wear uniforms and have their own area of the building with a lounge, computer lab, and some study areas. As you might guess, a bunch of 17 year olds on their first day of not wearing uniforms were not exactly following the dress code. They are expected to wear business attire and there were some in clothes that would really only be business attire if streetwalking was their job! Ha!

After two periods with them where we filled out paperwork and took attendance (registration it is called here), I had my first science class. My first class was Year 10 science. They are the top science kids and have my class 5 periods per week. All we really did today was go over “the one rule” and did “Headlines” about ourselves. Tomorrow I have them again, twice, and we will start content. I have made a bunch of graphic organizers for their first few days of class so at least that is all organized. They are only 14-15 year olds so they were still relatively acquiescing to everything I asked them to do. I, of course, had a few kids who’s names I already know after only meeting them for a 50 minute class- there are always a few in every class who are likely to be complete turds! I will work on building a relationship with them straight away to hopefully combat that!

Then, we have school-wide lunch. All of the little Year 7 kids (who are only 11) looked SO lost and I felt sad that I couldn’t help them because I am equally lost! Everyone in the science department eats together in our office, which is connected to my room since there really isn’t time to go anywhere else in the building. But, it is nice to have people to eat with and not be like a new kid in the cafeteria wondering where to sit.

After lunch, I had my Year 11 class. There are about 35 kids in the class and they were rowdy, loud, and not that interested in school today. I think my high school teacher friends would be proud of my classroom management today with all those crazy high school kids! There were two boys sitting next to each other who were absolutely unable to follow any directions and were rudely chatting the entire time I was trying to speak. During my first short work time, I did a full-on Love and Logic move! I “bent ever so slightly at the waist, looking to side, whispered that one of them needed to find a new seat, assumed compliance, and walked away!” Nobody even noticed that I whispered to them, I did a circuit of the room and by the time I got back to them, one had packed up and moved to the new desk. No muss. No fuss. Kinda bitchy! Go me! I don’t have to see Year 11 kids for two weeks because they have job shadow. Glad to not have to be that “on” until they come back.

My last class of the day was my absolute favorite. They were Year 7 kids and they are SO cute! Imagine all of our sixth graders but in a suit. They were wide-eyed, nervous, and asking one million questions about things like writing with a pen or pencil, using the back of the paper, etc. They were delightful and did a great job with the “one rule” and “living above the line.” They were really excited that the homework I assigned them was just to tell their families about those two items. When I said to them that I have them three times a week and another teacher only one time, one little girl went, “yessssssss!” under her breath. So adorable.

Last of the day, the Year 12 kids come back for 10 minutes to check in. Some of the girls were quite nice and were very concerned that I survived my day okay! I am going to like being their Form Tutor, I think.

I stayed at school until about six but since we don’t get out until 3:20, I wanted to get as prepared as possible for next week so I didn’t have to do as much over the weekend- or really- so I can plan for the week after next over this weekend and try to stay a week ahead. The problem for me is that I am an idiot and don’t know how to do any labs with chemicals. Fortunately the assistants will help me because otherwise I’d be doing some random mixing which is never good.

I have more Year 7 kids tomorrow. I can’t wait! I am definitely a middle school teacher at heart. Tomorrow I will meet my Year 9 kids and see my Year 10 kids twice. I have one period off tomorrow which is delightful because this is a crazy race every day I am starting to feel already!

I also made a FRIEND!! YAYAYAY! Another new teacher is living in my town, right by where I live! So, we are going to happy hour it up after school tomorrow with everyone and then walk home together! Yay for new friends! I get really excited when I have new phone number to add into my phone. Feel like less of a loser! J

So, disregard the tears of yesterday, today was good day and I am hoping that tomorrow is as well. Tomorrow I will actually teach some science so we’ll see. Sorry this has been so long, I’m not offended if you haven’t even made it to this point, but I just wanted to share the full story.

Let the games begin...

I have kids tomorrow. I am excited and nervous as hell! Today was a staff training day and it was completely overwhelming because I don't know any of the English acronyms. And, just as in the US, education is all about acronyms. I feel like a total idiot. I have a really hard time not being good at my job. So, I had a few tears, but I will be okay. I have made a graphic organizer for myself of my schedule so I can see it all laid out for a whole week at a time with my planning written on the schedule. I'm planned up until next Friday so I think I'll at least be able to breathe a little bit over the next week.

My department (and everyone really) is extremely patient and lets me ask one million questions without seeming annoyed- outwardly annoyed anyway. I ALMOST got to go on a field trip with the Year 12 kids to Parliament next Tuesday- I was really excited but they couldn't find anyone to cover the classes I would miss, so alas, next time. They go to Oxford later in the year and I will for sure get to go on that field trip. I am what is called a "form tutor" which is like a homeroom teacher for Year 12. So, they touch base with me every morning and afternoon and I am in charge of tracking their social, emotional, and academic needs throughout the year.

Thank Ganesh that the Year 11 kids are gone for the next two weeks after tomorrow so that I have 5 free class periods without them while they go on a job shadow. Having a reduced class load will drastically improve my easing in process. Teachers here work their asses off. Not to say they don't at home, but six preps is out of control. I know, I know that elementary teachers have a lot (blah blah blah) but I am having a pity party for myself right now so they can just shut up! :)

On a positive note, there were mimosas at my first staff meeting. Who doesn't love that. There was also beer in our science department fridge. Got to love a country that isn't as crazily Puritanical as ours- wait- didn't the Puritans leave England because they weren't strict enough?

Anyway, I am hanging in there and nervous for tomorrow. Will try to post again tomorrow night after school is over from the first day. My brain is mush. I am freaked out. Dream of me tonight having a successful first day because you will all be sleeping while I am teaching!

Soggy soggy London...

This is a picture of my Nana (mom's mom) from 1978 when my grandparents came over to visit my parents in England. (Nana rocked!) I just really liked it and was thinking about this picture last night as I was in London so I thought I would post it. My parents lived in England from 1976-1979 and that's how I got to be a British citizen. Thanks for that Mom and Dad, who knew it would come in so handy all these years later!

Anyway, last night I met my roommate, Anna, out in London for some happy hour drinks. I took the tube from my town of Chesham and even figured out how to get myself a debit pass. Ha! Not a tourist anymore!

I found her in a crowded after work bar and gulped a pint of delicious cider. That stuff could prove to be quite dangerous as it pretty much is like drinking a giant glass of apple juice but has quite different effects! Then, we headed off to another place that was a riverboat right on the Thames River. This was very very surreal since it was right by the bridge that is always shown in the movie Bridget Jones- which I have seen about 1 million times. So the bridge view was behind us, across was the giant Ferris wheel called the "London Eye" and to our right was Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, all lit up for the night. I am still having trouble believing that I was actually just "in London" last night. So weird.

We had dinner in Chinatown which was much more mellow than New York or San Francisco. Maybe it would be different during the day- I was hoping to get a fake Coach bag like when I went to NYC the last time, but alas, only delicious Chinese food! My dad would have been excited because they had a million duck dishes on the menu. By this time, it was close to 11 and the last train back to Chesham is at 11:30 so we had to get back to the tube. I don't know why I am having such a hard time grasping that I am in England. But, I am, and so when I was at the Piccadilly Circus tube stop, it just seemed so bizarre.

As I was walking up to school today to get some documents off the server (this is a story for another time- I cannot handle thinking about teaching Chemistry today) I was just really happy to be here. So far (I know I haven't started work yet) it has been so great that I really feel that coming here was a good decision. We'll see how I feel about two weeks into my chemistry unit where I don't know anything about the different types of reactions that create different types of lime.

Anyway, I now have the first place I am taking visitors (the riverboat) because it was just so cool. So, come on over!

Planning my brain away...

I have spent a few hours in my classroom. The evidence of this is in the picture. Love and Logic makes and appearance across the pond! I should send the picture into them!

I have done two full unit plans in the last few days. Oi vay. It wouldn't be so hard if I didn't have to cram everything they want me to teach into 24, 44-minute lessons which all have to include my community building efforts too. I really empathize with teachers who have to do this regularly. I hope that I end up having a little bit of flexibility with the time but I can see why people revert to lecture and worksheets because at least they get to "feel" like the kids are "learning" all of the material. I refuse to resort to lectures and worksheets- I am just going to have to get more creative.

I've been such a slacker-loser this summer that I think this might be the hardest my brain has worked since maybe like April.

On a fun note, I am headed into London today! YAY! Pictures tomorrow, I promise!

Warning: Massive amounts of Edu-babble ahead...

Sorry that it has been a few days since I have posted anything, I’ve started actually having some things to do here besides recovering from jet lag and swilling drinks in the back garden, although I have done plenty of that. Tried a Pimms and Lemonade-which is a very British drink-delicious-look for Pimms in the US if you can. I am glad to be on the edge of the country here, it is so beautiful and very close.

I finally have gotten my “timetable” which is my teaching schedule for this year. I will post a chart of it but it is so complicated that it will take a lot of explanation to read it. I can’t remember if I explained this before so, sorry if I have. In science, maths, and English, each grade level is broken into five tracked groups (1-5) based on abilities. These little groups travel with each other to most of their classes for all subjects. So, if you are in a group called 7-1, that means that you are in the highest level of Year 7 while 7-5 means the lowest track. Big surprises, the kids in the lower tracks are learning English while they learn all of their other subjects. But, apparently, there is classroom support of some kind to help the kids in the lower section although I am not sure what that looks like.

Okay, so when I got my timetable, I noticed that for some groups, I only have them once per week. I thought this was a mistake. However, it is not a mistake, and a few sections I will actually share with another teacher. Whichever teacher has the kids for the most sections is the lead teacher and tells the second teacher what to teach during that one class period per week. I don’t have any groups that are solely mine for year seven. I have two groups that I will see one time per week, and another that I will see two times. Because they only have four science lessons per week, with the 2/2 split, we will each just teacher 2 different topics within the unit so that we can plan our own lessons and then one of us will give the assessments.

For Years 8, 9, 10, and 11, I have all of my own sections. Although, for one period per week, my Year 9 kids have a different teacher but I will still plan that lesson. My Head of Science (who is 26 and only a fourth year teacher but seems completely awesome already!) said that for those split classes I can either give a full lesson plan to the teacher of just tell them what info I want covered and they can do what they’d like to cover it. Since I am a total control freak, we’ll have to see how it goes. To me, that will feel like having a substitute teacher once per week.

So, realistically, I think that I am going to be doing about 5 or 6 unit plans. We have to rotate the units we teach among the grade levels so that we all have access to the supplies. Speaking of supplies, this is the best news I’ve heard all year. There are two science lab assistants and in order to have a lab set up, all I have to do is give them a copy of the lab and they set the whole thing up! WHAT? How amazing! So I won’t have to fret about ordering things and making late night grocery store trips the night before a lab. Considering how quickly the changeover is between classes, (no passing period actually booked into the schedule) set-up would be a huge issue otherwise.

Below is my time schedule. I am also a “Form Tutor” which means I have an advisory group for Year 12 students.

Time/Class	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Check-in 8:50-9:10	Advisory 12	Advisory 12	Advisory 12	Advisory 12	Advisory 12
Class 1 9:10-10:00	7-1	Year 12- special class	11-2	10-5	7-5
Class 2 10:00-10:50	8-3	9-1	7-2	8-3	OFF
Break 10:50-11:10	Break	Break	Break	Break	Break
Class 3 11:10-12:00	8-3	10-5	11-2	10-5	9-1
Class 4 12:00-12:50	11-2	11-2	7-2	11-2	10-5
Lunch 12:50-1:25	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
Class 5 1:30-2:20	8-3	9-1	OFF	7-2	10-5
Class 6 2:20-3:10	9-2	OFF	7-2	OFF	9-1
Advisory 3:10-3:20	Advisory 12	Advisory 12	Advisory 12	Advisory 12	Advisory 12

For each unit, there are standards and assessments already made. And, to be helpful to new people, there are actually weekly breakdowns of what to teach specifically and links to worksheets, labs, videos, power points, etc. From what I understand, my only requirements are to make sure that I cover the information and have the kids take the already available assessments. There are lab/hands-on assessments and a paper/pencil test for each unit. In the sections that I don’t have to share, I have complete autonomy over how I teach things as long as everything relates to the assessment. For most classes, I have 24 class periods to finish a unit. I was pretty much panicking before yesterday that I was going to practically have a teaching script but I think that it won’t be too bad!

Don’t get me wrong, this is a lot of planning, but I am going to try to lay out each unit all at once using the principles of backwards design like I’ve been taught. We are expected to have objectives on the board for every lesson and I have a white-board and projector hanging from the ceiling. The nice thing is that because they already have things figured out for me, if I am stumped in my own planning, I can always use something someone has already developed. Or, if I develop something new, it gets added to the resources for everyone.

Last night I made my thinking strategies posters with my British spelling- synthesising instead of synthesizing- and there is a laminator (with someone else to do it for me too, just like my darling Ava!) so at least I’ve got that going for me, which is nice. I also don’t have to worry about copies- the science assistants will just get whatever I need made for me. The assistant thing is great when you consider how much will go in to the actual teaching and planning here, I would have to live at school to set up for that many different things.

So, the rest of this week, I am going to be spending planning and poster-making. I have to make posters of the “big ideas” of science. When I have to teach units that are seemingly unconnected, it becomes extra important to relate them all to the “big ideas” so that the kids can actually see some connections between them! I have a fair amount of wall space for posters. I will try to take some pictures of my classroom today. I have TWO WALLS OF WINDOWS, which is amazing! I’ve never had more than a sliver of a window! I think they will become de facto poster walls too.

On Thursday, I am going to meet Anna, my roommate, in London after work for happy hour so I can at least do something fun this week before I have to go back to work on Monday next week. On a non-school note, yesterday I took the dogs for a walk with my neighbor and we tromped through the English woods (dark dark dark) and on the edges of fields. I was introduced to a lovely plant called “stinging nettles” which burns your skin to touch it. I’ll be wearing pants from now on! Oh, I should say trousers instead of pants because “pants” means underwear here so I would sound pretty ridiculous to say I only go hiking in pants! J

Oh right, I actually came here to be a teacher...

This is the Chesham High Street. I already posted this picture to Facebook, but I just thought I'd add it to this blog too! Pretty cute, and as my friend Megan said, it looks a little Disney-ish!

Today I got to meet the Headteacher of Chesham Park and got a tour of the school. First I must say, the hill up to the school is quite steep and I was huffing by the time I got to the top- will have to figure that one out in my dress clothes. My next door neighbor, Este, told me that she knows someone who works there who might be able to swing by to grab me on the way to school. That would be delightful!

The county where I live is called Buckinghamshire and is one of the few counties in England that still give their kids a big exam at the end of Year 6 (6^th grade) that will determine their placement in their secondary education. If they score well, they go to Chesham Grammar School. If they don’t score well, they go to Chesham Park Community College, where I will be teaching. As I’ve spoken to people around town and tell them that I will be teaching there, they knowingly smile and say, “good luck.” However, I am sure that the same has been said to people going to work at my former school. In fact, my practicum match-up teacher said just that when I got my student teaching placement there, and here we are seven years later.

So, keeping that idea in mind, I am not putting a lot of stock in the warnings. Many of the students (about 20% of the 700 students from grades 7-12) are from immigrant families from rural, farming areas of Pakistan and are English Language Learners. Is it any wonder they didn’t score well on content exams that make no accommodation for their ELL status? They will take another set of exams at the end of Year 11 that will determine their next steps in life as well. This is very similar to the system in India, which was based on the British system. My headteacher said that the British system really doesn’t do any accommodating for any diversity of learners and basically treats people as if they are all exactly the same-incredibly standardized, I guess you could say. More standardized even than the American system of state tests that basically test skill proficiency- also, the British exams are content driven instead of skill driven. There is no opportunity for taking advanced classes or remediation in the way things are currently set up, apparently, you just go to a different school.

I got to see my classroom and once it all set up, I will take pictures. Today was a quick tour. I will meet with the Head of Science on Monday where I will actually get to learn more about what I will be teaching specifically. The rest of the school is in about 5 buildings that are connected by outdoor, covered walkways. There are performing arts facilities for dance and theatre and an extensive visual arts program as well. There is a science prep room with two assistants who are apparently good at chemistry! PHEW! I am an idiot with chemicals and might burn down the school without some assistance!

The grade levels are sorted into five different groups based on ability for math, science, and English. I will teach all grade levels from 7-11 but not necessarily all levels of students. In addition to this, I will also be an advisor to a group of Year 12 students who have already taken their first set of exams (after Year 11) and have chosen to continue on with their education. They are preparing for ANOTHER set of exams (A-levels) which will determine if or which university they can attend.

My schedule is quite complicated. As I said before, Year 7-9 students have science four times a week. But, as I found out today, that does not necessarily mean that they have it every day. For example, my Year 8 students have my class three times on Monday and then once on Thursday. So, I will see them 150 minutes on Mondays and then 50 minutes on Thursdays. This will add another piece to the planning that I have been so nervous about. I also have a planning period everyday for 50 minutes except for Mondays.

But, the Headteacher, Kevin, is super nice and is reading DRIVE!!!! He also finds it to be incredibly interesting and we chatted about that while he took me to lunch at my first REAL English pub. It was absolutely adorable and I am kicking myself for not bringing my camera. I am sure I will go there again, or somewhere even cuter, really.

So that’s it for now. After I meet with the Head of Science on Monday, I will have much more to do in terms of planning. For now, I am just trying to recover from my jetlag. I am ready to fall asleep at 7 pm and then wake up at like 10 pm and lay there awake until 4 am. So, I am knackered (my first English slang word meaning tired!) all day long. I bought some sleeping pills for tonight.

On a non-educational note, last night Anna and I ordered Indian food delivered to the door. I KNOW I am going to love that aspect of England- so good! And, they did have salsa at the grocery store. I’m psyched! I got a library card and have already reserved all of the books I wanted to read in the US. It is a nice little library and they have been very helpful. In case anyone is wondering, Bill Bryson has a new book out called “At Home: A Short History of Private Life” which is apparently the history of people at home, the parts of history we never learn about in school. Sounds interesting and besides, I love him and will read any words he writes down. If you’ve never read his work, you should. He is lovely (as the English would say!).

And, I don’t have a cell phone yet because I just got a bank account today and have to wait for my cards to arrive before I can get a phone. But, please join skype if you want to talk to me. So much easier! I’m looking forward to school so I can meet some people- I mean at the moment, why do I even need a phone- I have nobody to call here!