Hello...is it tea your looking for?

Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of toast and tea
    T.S. Eliot

How is it that tea solves a world of problems? Every drop of warm tea is like the sweetest nectar in a world full of stress.  It's the medicine that solves illness that can't be solved with anything else in the same way as tea can solve it.  The most valuable lesson that I have learned this week: when things seem difficult and overwhelming, sit down with a nice cuppa, re-evaluate and take 10 minutes to remind yourself that things are never as bad as they seem.

This week has not been without it's fair share of dramas, melt downs and cups of remedial tea.  Having started off a bright and early Monday morning filled with a resolve to be more positive, to enjoy even the more difficult classes, I very quickly realised that this was not going to work for me this week.

Having spent the last too many weeks working on 'All About Me' projects with my S1 class, I felt it was time for a change and decided a short novel was the way to go.  Having consulted with other colleagues, I chose an abridged version of 'Treasure Island' by Robert Louis Stevenson.  Cue several requests to watch 'Pirates of the Caribbean', my horrific attempts at pirate voices and some very excited first years.  Their enthusiasm really is adorable! The way that they genuinely believe that their teachers know everything and the sheer innocence of some of the comments that they make never ceases to amaze me.

Much as the S1 class is enthusiastic about work and reading, I am sad that a rift has developed within the class.  No longer do they depend on one another to feel safe and secure as they journey through their school days, already there are primary school friendships breaking, the mean girls group forming, the group that just gets on with everyone and then the poor floating souls who don't belong to any of these groups and who are starting to withdraw into themselves.  Before becoming a teacher, I always thought girls were the worst for this however, now I can see a real mean side to boys that I hadn't noticed during my own school days.  The snide, mocking remarks and the pulling faces to each other when talking about another class member were things that I was shocked about this week.  As a result of this, I ended up having to talk to certain class members to remind them the standard of behaviour I expect in my class.  On a more positive note, I got nearly a full class set of homework from them - booklets with pictures that told me all about themselves. 

S3 are doing away fine and still reading 'Witch Child'.  Although I have to admit, it's the girls in this class who can be a bit unnerving.  The constant reminders that my classroom is NOT a beauty parlour for them to do their make up drives me INSANE but also don't exactly go down well.  The eye rolling and tuts actually make me laugh now.

This week I have been assigned a new class, an S4.  They have just finished a short drama by Willy Russell, 'Our Day Out'.  They are an extremely small class with a lot of challenges at home and in school.  The first time I met them, I thought they would be a real handful however, as time goes on, I have grown to really appreciate them and look forward to going to teach them each day.  They started off as a challenge but after building up a good rapport using a bit of banter, I have managed (however temporarily) to get them on side.

Now for S5.  The time of every day that fills me dread.  In fairness, that's not entirely true.  There are some real gems in that class who work hard even if they find it difficult in class to achieve the grades that they deserve.  Then there are the others.  The ones who refuse to sit still or do ANY work, the ones who act up and refuse to listen to a word that I say.  The thing I have to remind myself of every day is that more often than not, it is not that these pupils don't want to do the work and achieve their grades, often it's a frustration that they are acting on in order to cover up their lack of ability, they mask it with bad behaviour, cheek and chaos. 

This week has been a difficult one for me.  I am setting down new boundaries and ground rules this week and re-evaluating a lot of my teaching techniques over this long weekend.  I have left school today feeling like I am inferior, lacking ability and like I am completely out of my depth.  Each and every day I genuinely have no idea how I would manage without several cups of tea and the support from my friends, partner and the rest of the department. 

Miss.