Not got much mojo this week. I think it’s probably a combination of going back to school and this miserable weather we’re having at the moment. I mean, snow? In April? Come on…
So anyway, I’ve consoled myself with embroidery and made this picture
that was meant to fit into a frame and be part of my mum’s birthday present. Too big for the frame. Meh. It can become something else when I get a little more motivated. I also finished off a shopping bag for my sister,
This week a kid who left school last year came in to say hello to me and let me know how he was getting on. This is a kid who last year was banned from my classroom for forcibly berating me on the corridor because I’d ask him to leave the class. And he wasn’t just banned from the classroom, he wasn’t even allowed to talk to me on the corridor, in the canteen, the whole kit and caboodle. The whole thing had straightened itself out by the time he left, but if there was one kid I would not expect to want me to know what he is up to now, then it would be him. And there he was bright as day and I was really very proud of him.
When you work in a school you tend to get really insular. The seasons come and go and the kids move up the school ladder but as soon as they leave you don’t really think too much about what happens to them. So it was nice to see someone who just wasn’t made for school doing well in the real world. It also made me realise why some people say in the same school for the whole of their career. There’s something very comforting and cocoon-like about being in a place where not a whole lot changes. Of course there are changes and there areunbelievable pressures that you have to cope with every day but there’s a lot of safety there too. Like Neverland but with league tables and target grades, stacks of marking and not time to do it, kids who can’t wait to get out and grown ups saying, ‘I’m sorry, is my lesson interrupting your conversation?’
Today I’m going out for a pad around my neighbourhood with a Brownie Cresta II camera I got for £1 at a car boot sale a couple of weeks ago. I’d bought it more for show than anything else so was quite surprised when I got home to find that it would work and had nothing missing. Then it’s shepherd’s pie for tea, the only meal I cook that John actually enjoys eating. I’m quite the Gordon Ramsey you know … x
Love the embroidery, as usual.
I feel the same way about teaching. At the university level, the school is so large and you only have the students in class for 14 weeks, then you usually don’t see them again. It’s always nice when they swing by to say hello; it makes you feel so good and proud.
Any rabbit that has a preference for Bob Dylan is a friend of mine…AND has good taste!
Came from the Ravelry train and am happy that I did!!
Cheers, Jenny (jennyspider on Ravelry)
Hi, I’m stopping by from Ravelry!
When I was a high school teacher, I had a few similar experiences. I’d have a student who I thought hated me (the screaming and cursing was usually a good indication) and then a year or a semester later, they’d stop in to say hello as if there had never been any bad blood. And of course, there wasn’t on my side, since we teachers tend to develop pretty thick skins! I always found it comforting, like in some way, they had grown up and matured enough to forget the unpleasantness and respect that we had had a connection. I almost (almost!) liked it better when the troublemakers came back to visit, than when the “good” kids did. The change in them was more remarkable. Good luck finishing your year, it’s almost done!