The UK had snow this week - and once again there was total chaos! Part of the problem is that we are just not set up for it. You can guarantee that if a local coucil buys new gritter lorries, it won't snow for years!
Yesterday at 2pm, the clouds rolled in and the hugest snowflakes I've ever seen pelted down. The kids loved it - and it was gorgeous...until I got in my car to drive home at 4pm! EEK!!
Again, cos we're not used to it, Brits don't know how to drive in snow! People were still trying to change lanes quickly, cut into traffic queues and while queuing on hills, were MUCH too close together. I was convinced my beloved Mini was about to roll or be rolled into someone else! Anyway, almost an hour later I got home - a 10 minute journey usually. However, I got off quite lightly. One teacher had a 6 hour journey, and most took longer than me. In nearby Birmingham, it was taking 6 or 7 hours to get out of the city centre. Crazy!
Anyway, turned on the local radio eagerly this morning, hoping our school would be one of those listed as closed...no such luck! After getting caught on the ice on the end of my road, I made it to school and we did our best to advise parents to take their kids home if they wanted - more snow showers were possible later.
It ended up being a nice day - only 8 of my class were in, so we put them all together and just played about. We let them play in the snow just before hometime, and when I went to gather them in I got ambushed!! Snowballs everywhere - and those were thrown at me by other teachers!!
Weather should be back to normal tomorrow, but it was fun while it lasted - apart from the driving.
Saturday, January 10, 2004
Well, back to school this week - and boy was it tough going. Not the teaching, but the having to get up early! I am not now, and have NEVER been a morning person!
Also back to the incompetent idiot that is our head teacher. You know one problem with primary schools? Too many women who put up with male prats!!! He had another stupid annoucement this week about giving us some time off - a whole hour in the afternoon, where he could use our planning to teach and thus give us an hour free for paperwork. Like most experienced teachers, I don't write much down for the non-core subjects (Geography, history, music art etc) so how he think this will help is beyond me, as we'll have to spend extra time writing down plans for him now. He seemed to think we would love the idea! But what really got me is that we all thought it was stupid, but no else would say anything!! I questioned him but no one else would. They all just sat there and moaned later!
Despite what some of you at the Ville think, I am seen as the funny loud mouth one at school :) I will always comment and question and am usually the entertainment! But it gets tedious being the ONLY one who will actually question anything. Sadly, I think its a female thing. I don't think he'd get away with it if there were more men around. Still I got my own back by making him do some ICT stuff in front of everyone, when I *know* he is the most computer illiterate on the staff!! He might be a nice easy going guy, but sometimes I yearn for someone who actually has a clue....!
Ah well, Friday night. The best part of the week!!
Also back to the incompetent idiot that is our head teacher. You know one problem with primary schools? Too many women who put up with male prats!!! He had another stupid annoucement this week about giving us some time off - a whole hour in the afternoon, where he could use our planning to teach and thus give us an hour free for paperwork. Like most experienced teachers, I don't write much down for the non-core subjects (Geography, history, music art etc) so how he think this will help is beyond me, as we'll have to spend extra time writing down plans for him now. He seemed to think we would love the idea! But what really got me is that we all thought it was stupid, but no else would say anything!! I questioned him but no one else would. They all just sat there and moaned later!
Despite what some of you at the Ville think, I am seen as the funny loud mouth one at school :) I will always comment and question and am usually the entertainment! But it gets tedious being the ONLY one who will actually question anything. Sadly, I think its a female thing. I don't think he'd get away with it if there were more men around. Still I got my own back by making him do some ICT stuff in front of everyone, when I *know* he is the most computer illiterate on the staff!! He might be a nice easy going guy, but sometimes I yearn for someone who actually has a clue....!
Ah well, Friday night. The best part of the week!!
Saturday, January 03, 2004
Happy New Year to anyone bored enough to be reading this!
I am not a big fan of the new year (apart from the Tarts always lovely NYE parties! Great again ladies!!) and I often find it a rather melacholic time of year, however, I am looking forward to a few things in the year ahead.
I have renewed my pland for a great holiday taking in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Despite not liking long flights, (especially the leg cramps and sheer boredom) I would love to see this part of the world. However, I am planning something fairly ambitious in terms of destinations - I mean lots of them! Also, bit of a bugger New Zealand being in the middle of winter while we in the Northerm hemisphere are in summer - what WILL I wear!!
I am quite proud of myself for losing a couple of stone and getting fitter in 2003, so one of my resolutions is to keep that up. It's back on the diet after this weekend, and back to the gym. I have never bothered much before, but I surprised myself how good it made me feel about myself. I was always a sporty kid, all the way through university. It was work that made me lazy - that's my excuse anyway! Its easy to think, "I'm tired, I've worked hard, I deserve that ice cream/packet of crisps/bacon double cheese burger and large fries!"
I have a new swimming costume, new tracks loaded on my portable MP3 player, new shuttlecocks for badminton, and am finishing off the Christmas chocolates... here's to 2004!
I am not a big fan of the new year (apart from the Tarts always lovely NYE parties! Great again ladies!!) and I often find it a rather melacholic time of year, however, I am looking forward to a few things in the year ahead.
I have renewed my pland for a great holiday taking in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Despite not liking long flights, (especially the leg cramps and sheer boredom) I would love to see this part of the world. However, I am planning something fairly ambitious in terms of destinations - I mean lots of them! Also, bit of a bugger New Zealand being in the middle of winter while we in the Northerm hemisphere are in summer - what WILL I wear!!
I am quite proud of myself for losing a couple of stone and getting fitter in 2003, so one of my resolutions is to keep that up. It's back on the diet after this weekend, and back to the gym. I have never bothered much before, but I surprised myself how good it made me feel about myself. I was always a sporty kid, all the way through university. It was work that made me lazy - that's my excuse anyway! Its easy to think, "I'm tired, I've worked hard, I deserve that ice cream/packet of crisps/bacon double cheese burger and large fries!"
I have a new swimming costume, new tracks loaded on my portable MP3 player, new shuttlecocks for badminton, and am finishing off the Christmas chocolates... here's to 2004!
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