‘I Love To Laugh’

Although I spend my time striving to be the best possible teacher that I can be, I don’t always succeed. Perhaps this could get me down, and at times it has and does, but I think it’s best to avoid personal criticism. Education is always moving forwards and that’s the direction we’re best going in.

What we can do is laugh about it!

There are so many stories that I can laugh about now

 

 

1.Ofsted arrived in my classroom, with the headteacher.

The student teacher who was meant to be taking the lesson, however, didn’t.

Cue me, making up the lesson on the spot.

The teacher in the classroom before me had accidentally taken the projector remote control and I daren’t stand on the table to turn it on so the lesson I had on my computer was a no go. The Ofsted Inspector interrupted me (mid-flow) to ask whether they had assessment folders. In my flustered state I said: “No”. Brilliant!

Not my finest hour…

 

 

2. I sent a fiery email accidentally…

Another member of staff had been frustrating me for a while and I’d been nagging and nagging and nagging them to talk to some students about their behaviour.

Finally, I got a response from them.

Telling ME off!

What did I do? I drafted an email out, explaining the situation and laying out the fact that they’d been manipulated by the students into getting them out of trouble. That all sounds very sensible, I’m sure. I even sent it to my boss to check.

So what’s the problem?

When I sent it to my boss, I headed it like this: I’m FURIOUS! Will you check this to make sure it sounds ok?

Did I take that heading off when I forwarded it on to the member of staff???? NO.

Hilarious!

 

3. Our Day Out!

I’m usually a firm advocate of school trips but this one I could have done without.

A brief summary would go a little like this:

Imagine a cycling trip, around a local reservoir. Imagine that, before you’ve even started, five of the students con

fess (under duress and the with the condemning evidence of them falling off their bikes) that they can’t cycle. They’ve NEVER done it before. Apparently, it “looked easy”.

They are sent off on a walk. That’s one unexpected teacher down and out of the race.

Imagine then that suddenly another student (who’s conveniently taken the longest loo break ever) suddenly ‘realises’ they can’t cycle either. One poor TA is forced onto a tandem and has to cycle a heavy child around for the duration.

We’re set off in packs but, before too long, it becomes obvious that all of the groups have mixed, one student has shot ahead, five have headed into the nearest village after missing a turn, half of the students are lost, the trip leader has gone ahead, one of the TAs has given up (calling the local cycling support team to take her back to base. Alone), and you’re the only teacher wit

h the lost half –  all of which seem to be intent on taking over the entirety of the road and bombing it down a hill. They ended up in hedges.

Whilst we all survived, it was a surprise!

 

This sort of chaos and carnage doesn’t end either, though the scale of it certainly varies.

For example, this week, I let my year sevens out ten minutes early by accident. If you’d been quick, you’d have spotted me running out the of fire escape to herd them back in again…

What did I do about it afterwards?

It’s what we all need to do.

Laugh!

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