Happy 21st Katie!

Happy 21st birthday to my niece, Katie. I wish her a fantastic birthday and a wonderful 21st year. Wish I could be there to celebrate it with her, but she will be in my thoughts, as always and I will be calling her on the weekend, of course!

I started at my first school placement on Wednesday. The school is called Knowsley Park Language School. It used to be called Prescot Language School. The students there all study a language right through to either GCSE or other vocational language courses.

It is a brand new school and has actually merged two former schools together.

That in itself raises some issues. The school is a little overcrowded and it is sometimes mad trying to get up and down stairs with so many kids. The school has an open concept look to it, with some of the classes being held in the open spaces between classrooms. The tables are mostly round, which means some of the pupils have their backs to the teacher. I don't like that! Didn't like that in Korea, either.

The students are all at different levels and are put into a class according to their overall ability in the subject. The teachers I have met up to now are very nice and very helpful. I am learning so much and am enjoying it immensely. It has only been 2 days and I am loving it!

The behaviour of the pupils is not surprising. Well, some of it is! They shout out in class, talk over the teacher, stand up and make noises all of the time. Not all of them, of course. There are some very good students, but the overall behaviour is demonstrating a lack of behaviour management. The teachers spend a lot of time correcting this aggravating, persistent, rule breaking. But the overall feel I am getting, is great and I am just loving being at a school. I know that teaching has, is and always will be the job that I have always wanted to do. I am a happy camper......lol.

It takes me about 50 mins each way to get there, but very convenient. I catch the bus right outside my door, the 61 and then get off at a bus stop on Prescot Rd and then wait at the same bus stop and get the 10a. I then get off at a bus stop close to the school and walk for about 5 minutes to get to the school.

I get up about 6.15am and have a shave and a wash. Then I eat breakfast, which is usually weetabix and crumpets. I then go on the computer and check my email and facebook and read the football on my favourite sites. Then I leave the house about 6.55am and get the 7.05am bus.

Talking about football, the England game is not being shown on t.v. this Saturday. It is being shown on the internet and the cheeky bastards are charging 10 pound. From the people that I have been talking to, they are not going to order it. I hope not! It should be so much cheaper. Again, the greed of the businesses shines through clearly!

I began to exercise yesterday with a 4km run and I must say it felt great. I am going to start working out tonight and then back to normal after that. I have started this program called 100 pushups. My friend, Stu, told me about it and I am going to start the program, which is over 5 weeks and supposedly trains you to do 100 strict pushups without stopping. I did the initial test and was only able to do 20 strict pushups. I will keep you informed of my progress.

Not much else going on except being busy with school and doing assignments and readings. I am going to visit my cousin Yvonne on Saturday afternoon and stay the night. I will be meeting her in Chester and she will pick me up at the bus station.

A Week Of Frustrations, Again!

The week started quite well and I thought I was going to write a good blog about my first placement school. That was not to happen and a few other things were destined to annoy me.

The school was full of flu, so that headache and crappy Tuesday that I had, must have been down to me having a mild case of whatever was and still is going around the university. I thought it was the chocolate that I had eaten. Thank god it wasn't and I can still have my Fry's Turkish Delight. One of the rewards of life.

On Monday, we were supposed to see if the placement school had sent a fax through about what time to show up and any other items that were needed. Nothing happened, so we were instructed that if no contact had been made, we were to call the school and ask them personally.

Kate, the girl that I was supposed to go with at Ridgeway, did as asked and called them on Tuesday and left a message with someone about our situation and what we had to know. I went to the sauna after school (remember this is the afternoon before the next day that we were going to our school). When I got back there was a text on my phone from Kate saying that we had been cancelled at the school! The school had double booked and we were not able to go there! How could they be so unprofessional! I was so annoyed and wondered what they thought they were playing at. This is not the university that I am annoyed with. They had set everything up and were not aware of any problems. The school should be held responsible by someone for their actions..........grahhhhhhhhh!

Well, the situation now is that there are 4 teachers who have no school due to these moronic schools that waited 'til the last minute to tell the university. I have no idea what is going to happen other than the university has to find us all spots now. I am quite stressed out about the whole thing, and just hope that we find a school sometime soon and can get on with what the other 28 students in our class are doing: Teaching!

My back has been bothering me still and I am still unable to do any exercise other than walking. It is getting better, but slowly. Being 45 years old, things take a lot longer than they used to.

I started an Excel introduction in town, through the university and will continue for the next 3 Mondays with more Excel, then Powerpoint and then End Notes. It was really good and I learnt a lot that I didn't know. It is 2 hours per class and is included in our study support help.

My criminal background check came through and that was the good news. There was another problem that arose with a bunch of us over these checks, too. It got sorted out and I got it yesterday in the mail. I am not a criminal.

Watched the Liverpool game at The New Yorkers on Allerton Rd on Tuesday. Worst first-half I have seen Liverpool play in a long, long time. They were good in the second half, but did not do enough to win. Let's hope the game against Chelsea makes up for it this Sunday. Chelsea are without Czech, their goalkeeper, as he is suspended after that red card last week against Wigan.

Did lots of work yesterday and today and got a lot of research done for one of my big assignments in October. Got a lot of information and articles to reference, so that is a plus. Did all the catch-up stuff that I needed to do and am on track again now.

So that is the situation at the moment. Feel like I am in limbo, just like the other 3 teachers must feel. I am meeting Kate and Leyla, 2 of the schooless teachers, in town tomorrow for a coffee about noon time. We all just need to have a chat and make each other feel a little bit better. I think!

The weather is getting cooler here and autumn is in full gear. Nights are a bit chilly. I still am liking being by the park and love my flat!

I will keep you all posted on what is going on with my situation and hopefully will have good news soon. Until then, I am going to stay positive and not be to annoyed with the school or should I say schools. I harbour a little blame for both the university and the school, by the way. Not a good way to run things. Doesn't fly with me, anyway.