Journal Entries
You say it best when you say nothing at all (NaJoPoMo Pt.21)
Posted Nov 21, 2011
This isn't the journal I'd planned to write today: I'd hoped to write about the UCAS consultation I was supposed to be going to tonight but it got postponed. So I've got a question for you all, how would you deal with the following situation?
In my Urdu class there's a guy who is streets ahead of the rest of us. It's a mixed class with absolute beginners and people with some knowledge so that's to be expected. The problem is he uses vocab and grammar far in advance of most of us and will not shut up. A few of us have simply shrugged it off so far and started tuning him out but it came to a bit of a head this week when the least confident member of the class got quite upset. He was making her feel like an idiot when the truth is she's only just behind me and two others, and probably ahead of us with her script work: she thinks she's alone in the class in not being able to understand him because we just ignore him.
So far my response has been trying to support this woman and making it clear that the three of us who aren't bothered by him are just bluffing and mainly focusing on enjoying the class, but last week I did have to ask this guy to dial down his language while we were working together as I understood next to nothing of what he was saying, he was getting impatient with my struggling and as a result I wasn't able to learn very much.
Hopefully at some point before the next class the teacher (who I think has pitched the class perfectly) has a word with this gentleman, having seen how much he was bothering some of us, but if not we may need other strategies.
So what would you guys do?
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Latest reply: Nov 21, 2011
Forget the sorrow and I can be on the last train home (NaJoPoMo Pt. 20)
Posted Nov 20, 2011
In the entry about learning Urdu I said choosing to take those classes is one of the best decisions I've made in a long time. Turns out it might be given a run for its money as today another choice I made recently came to fruition as I had my first days training for volunteering on a local steam railway.
http://www.kwvr.co.uk/
Ever since I was a kid I've liked trains and I've always thought steam trains are extremely cool, but the decision to volunteer came more from the fact I like to help people and I enjoy the minutiae and logistics of travelling: it keeps my brain sharp. Working in the booking office (which every volunteer starts out doing) fulfils those cravings. I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed today (as I just have done for nearly half an hour with my aunt) but I'd end up waffling and naming pretty much everything I've done today. I guess the edited highlights would be:
The train ride up there - chugging through a beautiful valley as the winter sun burned through the morning mist. Similarly coming back and seeing the fires of the steam train reflected in its smoke.
How incredibly handsome and cosy the stations are: the stations are maintained and kept at how they looked in the 1930s, with gas lamps and old-fashioned tills and the staff uniforms are as authentic as possible. The roaring fire and comfy armchairs inside the booking office helps the feel too.
Being around enthusiasts and excited people. The staff I met today were all absolutely lovely and really happy with what they're doing - that's such a buzz to be around people who are doing what they love. And then there's the visitors and the excitement that builds when one of the old steam engines pulls up to the station. Being around such happy people makes me happy myself.
I got cake. Enough said.
Discuss this Journal entry [5]
Latest reply: Nov 20, 2011
You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream (NaJoPoMo Pt. 19)
Posted Nov 19, 2011
One of the best nights I've had this year was going to the MEN Arena and watching Glee "Live" - yes, I'm well aware there's an awful lot of lip-syncing going on so it wasn't a real concert but good God it was fun. There's just something about Glee that bypasses my aversion to cheesiness and makes me smile. It does make me regress somewhat to my teenage years, singing along to cheesy pop and having fawning crushes: in Glee's case, it's Blaine and (in a development that's given me some pause for thought) Santana that make me go all gooey.
What I really like about Glee is, amongst all the cliches and melodrama, there's actually some really well-observed drama and realistic portrayals in there: Kurt's reaction when he nearly lost his father to a heart attack, Finn's discovery he's got his girlfriend pregnant (or at least he thinks he has) and Karofsky's denial and eventual acceptance of his sexuality. Plus Blaine: I think every gay kid knew someone who was impossibly attractive, talented and out and proud while they themselves were coming out. It's things like this that elevate Glee from standard televisual Valium to something altogether more special.
They also do musicals properly: since Once More, With Feeling (perhaps Joss Whedon's finest moment) it's become a bit of a cliche for TV programmes to do a musical episode but it's more event telly than proper musical where feelings and motivations are enunciated with catchy melodies: the Glee writers/directors are getting extremely good at weaving the songs in seamlessly - the last two episodes have been excellent in this regard (and curiously it's involved Naya Rivera/Santana both times). I've loved musicals ever since I was a little kid because I think there's little sexier than a human voice, especially one that's expressing its feelings and I love Glee's blending of musical classics with modern pop stuff: their take of Pink's Raise Your Glass (already one of my favourite songs of the decade) is one of my favourite things ever.
Now I'm off to 
over Darren Criss some more. I may be some time...
Discuss this Journal entry [5]
Latest reply: Nov 19, 2011
I don't mind doing it for the kids (NaJoPoMo Pt. 18)
Posted Nov 18, 2011
So yesterday (and most of this week if I'm honest) was ghastly but I do generally enjoy my job, or have done since September at any rate.
As I mentioned in my second NaJoPoMo entry, I genuinely have no idea what's going to cross my desk that day - sometimes that's really sucky things, but often its not and occasionally there's some really cool things. Like today where I got to throw a custard pie at my boss.
It can restore my faith in humanity: there's a young lad in the SEN department who has fairly severe developmental disabilities and he seems to be the happiest kid in the world. A world that has someone that happy in it can't be all bad. The lads are completely accepting of him too: they look after him on the school field and in classes - it's really quite sweet.
The students can really surprise you in all the best ways. Around this time last year a lad told me he wanted to be a doctor and I had to sit down with him and tell him that without a phenomenal amount of it work it wasn't going to happen. Today he got his first offer from a medical school, with grades he's capable of achieving. Another student wrote a beautiful, poetic and profound opening paragraph for his UCAS personal statement.
I also get a real sense that I'm changing things for the better: we're looking at arranging anger management sessions for the lads, something which (as far as I'm aware) not other local 6th form offers and would really help the lads. I get to help change someone's entire life and that's just so exciting.
Ih only the pay was better...
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Latest reply: Nov 18, 2011
That day, that day (NaJoPoMo Pt.17)
Posted Nov 17, 2011
There just some that make me want to go into the foetal position and today was one of them. I had:
The realisation 6th form students don't know how to use capital letters or basic punctuation
A student bawling his eyes out because he's been removed from A Level Business
The father of that student pulling him around by the neck and screaming abuse at him
A lad with a serious steroid abuse problem kick off at me
And a parent ask me "Why should I be bothered?" when told his son was doing badly in the final year of 6th form
I'm really not sure what I can do in the face of those situations and wonder why I'm bothering. So I'm chilling out tonight with some Baileys Hagen Daaz and trying to forget about the place. I'll decide whether I'm going in tomorrow tomorrow.
Discuss this Journal entry [9]
Latest reply: Nov 17, 2011
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