Good Morning,

I hope you are all doing well! I really do appreciate all of your feedback. I do hope y’all keep me posted on what’s happening with you, as I am equally as interested J

Things are going pretty well over here, for the most part. By the third week you start to settle into a routine- which is nice. I have to admit, this second week of teaching has been really eye opening for me. If you’re a new teacher reading this, I would actually love to hear what your experiences subbing are like in a BC classroom- because at this point I really have nothing to compare it to. . . who knows, maybe all kids are crazy? ;)

I’m going to try and give a clear portrayal of what a day might look like here, I’ll hold nothing back… so here it is; the good, the bad and the ugly..

I might have mentioned this before, but every day (unless we are told the night before which school we’ll be subbing for) Tanisha and I bus to the nearest tube station and wait in the Starbucks for our first call of the day. We have to be ready at 7:30 to go anywhere. It might be one bus stop away, or it might (and most of the time is) a couple tubes and a couple busses away. At this point, we have been all over London, from Uxbridge, to Southall, to Heathrow, Bank, Tottenham – you name it. Funny how three weeks ago those names would have meant nothing to me. For fun, we sometimes put our cheapo phones right beside each other… only to add to the anticipation of whose phone will ring first! Haha. Silly, but we do it every day!

Alright, here it is…Monday. I get called into a school at 8:30AM. This gives me 20 minutes to make it the school on time. Of course, it’s in the middle of central London and it ends up taking closer to an hour to get there. As I enter the class I’m already aware that the kids aren’t listening to the teacher that is filling in for me for that hour. I start thinking to myself, if this man doesn’t have control of them, and they are familiar with him inside of the school, how are they going to treat a supply/sub? I refused to continue with the dysfunctional activity, and insisted we took the first few minutes (however long those few minutes would end up being) to get to know each other and establish some clear expectations for the day… this also took longer than expected. These grade fours simply had no respect.  The other unsettling factor to this day was that I had no T.A.  In London, every classroom is given their own teacher’s assistant.  They have become my best friends here, easily. Teacher’s assistance understand the class routine, the individual students, their source of motivation and the types of consequences that should ensue.. Without a T.A you are really left in the dark. I had 5-6 kids with behaviour challenges, 25 students in total…I cannot tell you what a nightmare this day ended up being. One boy refused to listen to anything I said and simply walked out of the classroom every few minutes. Two other boys that had a previous unresolved problem literally broke out into fist fights at two points in the day. At the very end of the day I caught 3 boys stealing from the prize bucket. AH! Karen Evans, I wish you were there beside me!!

I was relieved when I heard the lunch bell (2 hours into my day)… I wanted to talk to the different teachers, find out what works in the classrooms of this school, learn about the different kids in my class, conquer the last half of the day.. The staff was kind, and tried to give me support- but it was different than the support I’ve seen in other schools. The poor staff…they were all drained. By the end of lunch, I just wanted them to be encouraged… but it’s so difficult, when this is their day...everyday!  I also took the boy aside that kept walking out of the classroom… I knew that wasn’t the problem, it was merely a symptom. After 5 minutes of waiting for him to speak, he opened up and shared what the real problem actually was . . . it wasn’t until that moment that I realised how frustrating it is working as supply.  You can identify problems, but more often than not, you cannot help to solve them- because in fact, you’re in today but gone tomorrow. These kids need follow up.

Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant. But guess what!?? Good news! That was the bad and the ugly! Shall we move on to the good? Because there’s a lot of that!

Just a little more school stuff, I promise! So, I have found a method of gaining kids attention! Can you take a guess? Nope, its not a bell, a clapping rhythm or turning off the lights…but I can tell you it has worked 100% of the time I’ve used it.. I sing to my kids! I sing a dandy little tune and include their names, and all of a sudden they magically sit down and listen! Awestruck even! Haha.. well that might be pushing it, but its pretty funny.  “Miss. Thor, aw yoo a singa!?”  For any discovery school kids reading this, one of the transitions I use between classes is the song, ‘Magallina Haggalina!’ The kids love it.

I also have to share my gratitude with a dear colleague that shared with us his favourite book during the last days of school. I have honestly read ‘The Gruffalo’  to every class I have been to. Everyone loves it! 'Silly old Fox, doesn't he know...there's no such thing as a Grufall ....oh!" I have also not forgotten my childrens literacy goal. One day, just wait.

Wow this is getting long!! Have I lost my readers? I sure hope not, but I wouldn’t blame you if that be the case.

Hm. What else is interesting to tell you… chocolate is amazing here. No really…its to die for. It’s also incredibly cheap. What a horrible combination for a chocolate consumer like myself! Oh, here’s something you might or might not know…dryers are uncommon.  The washing machine lives in the kitchen, but few places have dryers. The food is actually really good. Don’t believe everything you hear. Yes, there are a lot of places to go for fish and chips, but there are also a ton of ethnic cuisines.. so delicious! Tons of Indian, Thai, Italian, and Greek...mm!!!

Its funny, but the first and second week I was overwhelmed by all of the immediate differences between the different cultures. As I get to know the people here, those differences become smaller and smaller. I’m starting to really like it here. I just wish it was a bit warmer.

We did a bit of sight-seeing yesterday! I must also confess, I have become increasingly interested in the royal family… it’s too bad that right now they are renovating Windsor Palace, because that’s first on my list! Jenn, it opens up again March 25^th..we will get to see it! It’s funny too, because the curriculum is a bit different here.. The kids have me brushing up on my castle terminology! There are castles everywhere. . .

Thanks for reading!!

xox

Buckingham Palace!

A beautiful statue across from the palace.

^" When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you"- Isaiah 43:2