nigeria

nigeria
Originally uploaded by cherubichomer.

I am in the midst of my final half term week off. After the week, teachers have to go back to school but there won't be any students in as the year 11s, 12s and 13s are writing exams and the year 10s are away for two weeks of work study. The only thing I know that I have to do during these two weeks is to check in once a week with five of the year 10 students. Luckily, two of my students are at local golf courses (can you say a free round of golf?) and the other three are working on the High Street in Ramsey, which is only a five minute walk away from the school. After they get back, they only have 5 more weeks of school before the summer term ends.

ITN has offered me a job in Nigeria. The school there only has 129 students and I think I'd be the only science teacher there but they've included incentives, such as covering the cost of travel and accommodation, fully covering all medical, and providing me with a car and driver! However, it's Nigeria. I couldn't even find it on the African map when I first looked for it. And with only 129 students from preschool to year 11, I can only assume that the city - or village - will be much smaller than Ramsey. Here's the website address for the school's webpage:
www.ibadaninternationalschool.com
I think I'd rather wait it out for a school in Dubai.

tshirts

tshirts
Originally uploaded by cherubichomer.

Here are three students that have won my t-shirt. As you can probably make out, it's a modification of the shirt I made for G.Lang. They have become somewhat a hot commodity at my school. I've only given out a handfull but everyone is working hard to get one. Besides the draw, I've devised a second method for students to win one. On a day that I teach them if they're good, they're given a puzzle piece. If they can collect all the pieces they'll get a shirt. There are 7 pieces to the puzzle all together. They love it, however I don't think any student has more than one piece of the puzzle at the moment. As you can see I haven't done a terribly good job at centering the print. However, I have found a paint made in Germany that glitters. The young lady in the middle has one of only two glittering gold Mr. Jay tees in the world...so far.

(That's Declan in the background. He's going to be Prime Minister one day. Well, maybe not.)

Tutor group/home room

Tutor group/home room
Originally uploaded by cherubichomer.

The Year 11s went home Friday for the remainder of the year. They are now only expected to come to school for revision and to write their final exams. I had a year 11 tutor group and this is our class picture. They all seem nice and presentable but don't let that fool you. Really, the only thing I had to do with them was take their registration in the morning and the afternoon. On Tuesdays I had to take them to assembly in the Hall where the big-wigs (like Headmaster, Head-of-year, or Deputy Head) would tell them things. The assemblies were really awkward for me because (a) as I had to do register quietly as the speaker spoke it was a constant reminder that I couldn't remember any of their names (in class, I just do a role call and if they don't answer positively or I can't hear them I'd mark them absent) and (b) they treated the students like kids in front of the Pope. Most times the students applaud the speaker and the lectures were invariably about morals and how bad their morals were. On Wednesdays I had to do a CAPP lesson with them. We called it Personal Development Education or Personal Safety Education (PDE or PSE) and most of mine turned into little competitions. Cool for some, not cool for some others. Whatever.

Dubai - 12 May 2006

Dubai - 12 May 2006
Originally uploaded by cherubichomer.

So, Neil from ITN came to see me today. Came all the way from London to see little ol'me. Of course, he didn't come empty handed. He brought gifts including: an ITN mug, an ITN pen, and the suggestion that I could work in Dubai next fall. Dubai, the richest country per capita in the world. I spoke to Odette about it. She said that they may pay for everything. All the transport, accommodations, and taxes will be covered by the school. He also offered Angolia, Brunei, and a country called Kroto (though I thought Kroto was the name of a Nobel Laureate and not the name of a country...as you can see I haven't done any research on these places yet). I'm thinking about going to Dubai. I'm sending in my CV for a job possibly in January.

T shirt rewards

Buddy
Originally uploaded by cherubichomer.

Periodically, I've been handing out homemade t-shirts as rewards to my students. They seem to like them and they're actively traded on the open market in Ramsey by those that have one and those that want one. I haven't made many and the students are all asking if they can buy them from me. Obviously, I tell them that the only way of getting one is to win one from me. This has helped a little bit with management and those that want to win one show up ready to impress.
Like this guy here, they all have big smiles after winning.

BTW, Arsenal won 4-2 and finished 4th in the Premiership table. Hotspur lost and finished 5th.

Waddesdon - May 7th

Waddesdon
Originally uploaded by cherubichomer.

This is a picture of Waddesdon. It's a summer home built by the Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in the late 1800s. This is the same family that Fiona worked for during her last few months in London. She worked for Lord de Rothschild. The de Rothschilds are one of the richest families in England. Waddesdon, which is in the city of Aylesbury just outside of North London, is now kept by the National Trust. Len and Carol took me along on this which is only one of the many different weekend jaunts they take to check out National Heritage sites around England.

Naked Homer is the new Dwarf and this was his first job.

May Day: Sunderland v. Arsenal

Arsenal Warmup
Originally uploaded by cherubichomer.

My first ever football match. We drove 3.5hrs north to Sunderland - an industrial town on the east coast of England. It was a pretty nice town but the people's accents were very deep and hard to decipher. We left at 1000hrs and arrive at about 1345hrs. We checked out the shopping district before heading over to the Stadium of Light at about 1600hrs for a 1715hrs start. The game wasn't a great one. Arsenal won 3-0. Arsenal came out very slowly and didn't show much interest in the match. Sunderland came out with a lot of pressure but couldn't do much with their chances. Sunderland, which will be relegated to the Champions league next season, just didn't have enough talent to keep up with Arsenal while Arsenal looked bored. The goals were all scored within the last third of the first half. I missed the first one and didn't get a good look at the second but I know the third was put away by Henry via a free kick. The stadium is only 8 or so years old but it isn't very much to look at. There wasn't a color replay screen so we didn't get a look at what we missed during the game and a lot of the fans were taking to kicking the walls and seats. The atmosphere was amazing, though. The fans - 44,000 - sang throughout the game and chanted whenever they wanted something to happen. They even game Thierry Henry a standing ovation when he was substituted out of the game, which in itself is pretty amazing. The drive back was much quicker with no one on the road. We arrived back at the flats at 0030hrs.