Half Term Break

I've made it! I'm finally done my first half term at my new school. In England, schools run on three terms (semesters) with a break in the middle of each term and a break at the end of each term. It adds up to a lot of breaks, but they teach until mid-July or end of July in some schools.



So. It's been hard. I've almost given up under the stress. Too much work. Too much pressure. I'm barely holding on but I'm trying very hard to stay on top of things. I am teaching grade 6-11 chemistry and grade 6 physics, plus homeroom, plus on Fridays I take a few kids off-campus to volunteer at a disabled centre (mandatory volunteer that is). Science teachers have to take in one or two pieces of marking each week for each class. That's 230 pieces a week for me. This would be fine if I wasn't having to lesson plan / unit plan / report write / student manage / BREATHE on top of this. It's a very tense demanding school. The Head of Chemistry has already come into my class for the second observation!

My hardest adjustment to make is culture shock. Yes, I know I've lived here for 3 years already, but I've never been submersed into the British style of employment. There is almost no positive reinforcement. Stiff upper lip, no fuss and all that. This is hard for me to deal with. I live off of praise. My last two schools were more American than British or Canadian. This meant things were a bit over the top with positive comments but at least I got them. I've gone from "That was the most wonderful class I have ever observed - ever!" to "It was fine. Now, some concerns I have are..." and then conversation continues with a list of very minute details that aren't really a concern, but one must give one's employee a list of 'constructive criticism' or how will one improve. Agreed. But, a list of positive reinforcement prior to the constructive criticism would do wonders to cushion my sensitive North American ego!

I suppose these comments aren't fair. I've been given loads of uplifting encouragement, support and acknowledgment from other Heads and some staff, just not from the people I really want to impress.

The school is transitioning between the old school teaching of 'sit down, shut up, write 60 mins of notes, go home and memorize them' to the new school teaching of interactive, exploratory and self learning. They want to transition (which is why they've hired new teachers like me) but they're scared of change (which is why they're so demanding). This, of course, is only my observations and not official :) If I can get through this year and prove myself to them, next year should be great.

Outside of work, I'm trying to get myself settled into the community so I'm going to the gym and I've joined a volleyball league (hard to find in the UK).



Oh, did I mention that I'm trying to find time to cook and clean as well??? Thank God Nick does all the cleaning and laundry on top of supporting me and making sure I haven't forgot anything (like to eat). I don't know what I'd do without him.

I'm getting there, but man am I glad I have two weeks off.


It hasn't been all work... Here's a bit of the cool stuff we've been up to.

We took the kids to near-by Knebworth House


to watch a mock jousting competition,




and walk the beautiful grounds which held a hedge maze, carvings from tree stumps





and a luscious fruit & veggie garden.
The person who took a bite from this apple didn't even wait to pick it from the tree!


Nick and I rode our motorbikes to watch Christie row at Ross-on-Wye. We stayed at a gorgeous B&B,
which was something one could only find in England. I found myself wondering how I could re-create this in a new home in Canada.After Ross, we rode along the winding country lanes through Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare's home) and explored some cute pubs and beautiful countryside.









Nick found some rednecked Brits who took him out shooting. Turns out rednecks aren't just in Alberta.









I saw David Beckham jogging near our house.

















It was my birthday. The big 3-0! Mom and Jim got Nick and I tickets to go see the Westend show Spamalot (Monty Python live theatre). Nick gave me diamond earrings! (Exactly what I wanted - right size, shape and beauty) Nick also gave me (us) a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland which we're taking next week.

To celebrate the big 30, Nick and I went to Macbeth starring none other than Patrick Stewart as Macbeth himself and Kate Fleetwood as Lady Macbeth. It was nothing short of brilliant.


We booked a holiday to go skiing with the kids in Italy over Christmas.







We've bought a new bathroom which will be installed over the next month or two.





Our friends had a little baby boy and I cross-stiched a birth sampler for him. (Aren't I my mother's daughter!)

And, that's about all that's happened over the last time I've posted. That's plenty enough. I hope you are all well, happy and healthy. Hopefully I'll post again in a couple of weeks and tell you all about Edinburgh and Nick's brother's wedding in the Lake District.

x

Working Man

Nick has started his new job. He is a civilian investigator for the Hertfordshire police and works out of Borehamwood. This is a picture of him off to work on his first day. Doesn't he look nervous! It's been 20 years since he's had a 'first day at work'! Nick’s been shadowing two other colleagues who asked him to stop wearing a suit as it was making them look bad. So, here he is on his way to day 14 of the job. At least it's easier for him to cycle to work in this outfit!

As an investigator he takes statements off of witnesses, gathers and views CCTV footage, and compiles evidence for court cases. Recently, his caseload has included a list of people who have driven off without paying for their gas (I can’t believe how many!), a bank robbery, burglaries and a house fire. He records statements from witnesses, perpetrators or the victims. When he’s busy, he loves it. There’s no work or stress to bring home. It’s just punch in and punch out. Exactly what he needs after a stressful job like the army.

It's a great job, but I think he should go into the movie industry as a Bruce Willis double. What you do think?
________________________________________
To answer a few questions....
-- Yes I took the photo of Stonehenge at the top. I love that photo. I was there with Mom, Jim, Jack and Nick in January. Cody called me on my mobile shortly after taking this photo.
--I start my new job on Wed Aug 29. I'll post on that next (for now I best get back to my lesson planning)...
--To read comments click the gray "0 comments" or "5 comments" or whatever number of comments there are. The comments will open up in a separate window (so if you have your pop-up blocker function on you will have to allow pop-ups by reading the line that's just appeared at the top of your screen/bottom of your tool bar).
--To post your own comments type in the big box at the bottom of the comments, choose an identity (most likely 'other') fill in your name how you want it to appear in the comments and click the orange "publish your comment" button. Easy!

Camping in Wales... To identify with the

We have the kids for two weeks of holiday and we wanted to go out an do something. Camping is inexpensive and there is a lot of the UK I haven't seen. So, camping it is. Even though this is the rainiest summer Britain has seen in years... even though we had to drive through flooded regions to get there and back ....




(flooded regions in Gloucester where people had sandbags outside their homes and others were fighting over the short supply of bottled water)... But, they have the best view from a grocery store ever.





We went camping! In Wales (land of rain)! This is where N spend many of his summers growing up. His mother () was Welsh.



And it rained! So, we played cards in the tent, ate in the tent, read in the tent, I even cooked in the tent!



I guess that's why the tents are so big in England. This is ours and it was medium in size compared to the others around. It has three bedrooms and a middle common room that extends out front.













On our first day of mostly rain, we went into Pembroke.



and went to the Pembroke Castle where King Henry VII (Henry Tudor) was born. Speaking of reign.






Did you know that Henry Tudor (father to King Henry VIII) wasn't even the son of a king? He was the son of royal blood (Lord R--s to mention one) but he actually was just a well educated, well-off man who was at the right place at the right time. His mother made the right alliances and the right choices for her son and he won (sort of by luck) a rebellion against King Richard III. Maybe that's why Henry VIII was so desperate to keep his blood line going.. it had only just started.

The king of the castle right now though is J...








We had one day of sun and warm weather when we went to the sea. Just a couple miles from where we were camping we had the most beautiful stretch of coastline.





N and the kids went exploring and found all sorts of treasures.

















We even went jumping in the waves like these kids are.




The water was warmer than the Okanogan Lake but getting out was cold! Jumping the waves was awesome! It was like being at a wave pool. I'm usually very scared of the sea and hate swimming in it, but this was warm, shallow, sandy under foot and fun!













The evenings were normally nice. We played catch and frisbee and went into nearby Tenby. Tenby had a gorgeous coastline. Here's J against the evening sky.




The tide was out on those evenings and it exposed a vast expanse of sandy beach.



People wrote all sorts of things in the sand from "Hi Mum" to tractor adverts.





So, Ce made her mark.






















And we all explored the caves and caverns.



















The ride home was through the breath-taking Brecon Beacons.



























The nights were not like the evenings and it poured rain! Part of the tent even collapsed one night under the gale force winds. I'm not sure if I can convince everyone to camp again, but hopefully as time goes on, they will remember only the good things and not the cold, damp sleepless nights.