Assorted Ramblings...

I picked up this blog post the other day from one of the people I follow on Twitter. It's by a teacher in the US, but to be honest, I got about half way through reading it before I realised the blogger wasn't talking about the way that teachers are viewed in the UK.

He/she says that some people have asked why he/she often says that teachers are used as scapegoats on which to heap the blame for all society's ills. So many of the articles I've read in the news media recently keep reinforcing this idea as we're continually fed the idea that there are too many underperforming teachers, and too many underperforming schools. No doubt there are some. But I can honestly say that in all the schools I've worked in since I qualified - and they've all been tough schools - the staff is, on the whole, incredibly hard-working and dedicated.

Add to these misconceptions that there is a new chief of Ofsted who believes that a Principal or Head is "doing something right" if someone tells them that staff morale is at an all time low - and you can't wonder at the fact that a recent survey conducted by the NASUWT stated that around 50% of teachers want out, and the only thing that's keeping them where they are is the fact that the economy has gone down the toilet and there are no jobs out there.

I love DWM, I really do. Although these days, I tend to read it from about the middle to the end first, because that's the part that has all the video, book and audio reviews and the "Fact of Fiction" section. I'm not so enthusiastic when it comes to reading the stuff about the current series.

But I digress. What I'm moaning about is this.
( I suppose this could be considered a spoiler )

I've tried to hide spoilers in this. I'm not saying anything that's not in the public domain, but just in case...

Okay. As a way of trying to stop myself from thinking too hard about what might or might not happen in next week's DW, and about what might be this (highlight to read) thing that will make us look at the series' mythology differently (according to the current issue of DWM) I've decided to post about something that's been bothering me increasingly over the past few weeks.

( Here's the thing... )

A few months back, I bought a copy of Windows 7 to install on my PC or my laptop. My PC is running Vista already (and I've not had any problems with it) but the laptop only runs XP - it was Vista originally, but I was unable to put Vista back on when I had to wipe the HD because of a virus a year or so back.

But I decided to put Windows 7 on the PC, because I'm coasting this laptop through until I can afford a new one - it's 4 or maybe 5 years old now and gets a lot of use, and a new one will come with Windows 7 already, so...

Anyway, all was going well - I'd backed everything up, the installation went without a hitch... until I started to put my programs back on. First up was Norton AntiVirus... which caused the PC to crash. I tried again - another crash.

When I spoke to my Dad, he'd had the same problem. WTF? It's the latest version of Norton and according to the compatility check I did before I installed Windows 7, it's fully compatible.

Fortunately, because this happened to my Dad, he had to buy a new anti-virus program and it covers 3 users, so he's letting me have a copy of his, but if it wasn't for that, I'd have to shell out for another program when the one I've got has still got about 8 months on the license. I'll be having a moan at Norton - although I doubt I'll get anywhere.

Aaaarrrggghhh!!!

How many bloody times do I have to remind kids to put their fucking NAME on their fucking HOMEWORK??!

They're aged from 11-13 and so they shouldn't NEED reminding, but I do it anyway - and they STILL forget!

So now, I'm going to have to wait until I get back to school to finish logging the grades and all the other little pissy bits and pieces I have to do.

I have been practicing the art of serial procrastination for the last few days - I'm very good at it :-) I really need to look at a bit of work before Wednesday, but I've been putting it off. Tonight, though - is the night.

Probably.

Today's procrastination took the form of going shopping for a school coat for Cazlet #1. She probably won't need it for a couple of months, but given the fact that Christmas decorations have been in the shops since before the beginning of the summer holidays, when she actually needs a coat in a couple of months time, they'll be full of shorts and t-shirts, so it's a case of buying it while we can.

Who on earth is responsible for "sizing" children's clothes these days? Okay, so we all know that buying clothes is a bit of a lottery in that sizes and shapes often vary hugely from shop to shop. But it's even worse with kids' clothes. Cazlet #1 turned 11 at the end of last week, but I've been buying clothes for ages 13 and upwards for quite some time now. She's reasonably tall for her age, but she's certainly not fat; in fact, according to the letter we got the other week, she's the right weight for her height and build. Cazlet #2 is a skinny streak of nothing and clothes in her "age" are often too small as well. We're constantly being told that children are getting fatter and that childhood obesity is becoing a serious problem - so why on earth are clothes made several sizes too small?!

Cazlet #1's school blazer is "age 14". Okay, so it's a bit long in the arms (not much though) but once she gets a jumper or cardi under it, it won't be big in the body. And trying to find a coat that will fit over the top of the blazer proved to be an incredibly difficult task. Most of the coats she tried on were for "age 15" and "age 16" - and they were STILL too small! So we got her to try on coats in womens' sizes. You'd think maybe a size 8 or 10 would do given she's only 11 years old and she's not "filled out" yet. But no - she's in a size 12 and even then there wasn't much room for something underneath. And of course, the proportions are wrong - if there's a belt, it's round her hips rather than her waist and the sleeves are too long.

We did eventually find something in BHS that was a girls' coat with a bit of room in it - not very much, but it's the one she liked best.

It is also nigh-on impossible to find knee-length white socks in shoe size 4-5 - I've been looking since the start of the holidays.

It's bloody ridiculous.

I got a thing in the post today about renewing the photo on my driving license. I wasn't aware that I needed to renew it, but it seems that these new-fangled ones that have a photo on have to be renewed every ten years.

Okay. But the bastards want to charge me twenty quid for doing something I didn't ask for and don't see the point of, because my appearance hasn't changed all that much over the last ten years!

I remember when Mr Caz got his license in 2002, and all the aggro he had when he submitted his photo. It can't be this and it can't be that, oh, and if you wear glasses the frames mustn't cover ANY of your eyes and if they do, you have to take them off, and also no lens-glare and, and, and... seriously, it took him about 3 attempts to send them a photo they would accept.

But I ask you, what is the fucking point of taking your glasses off for a photo that could be used to identify you if you wear glasses all the bloody time anyway and nobody that knows you would probably recognise you without them??

Like I don't pay enough in road tax and fuel tax already.

Why the hell can't TV channels just leave their bloody programme schedules ALONE?? Merlin was on so early tonight, I missed it. Most weeks it's been on after 6pm, but tonight it was on at 5.40. Which I found out at 6.20.

Wankers.

According to google, the weather for this area tomorrow is going to be sunny, and temperatures will reach 26 degrees. (That's 79 F for my leftpondian chums).

Well, that's not too bad - apart from the fact that even with the temperatures we've had so far, which haven't reached those dizzy heights (shut up - for the UK, it's a height, okay?) my classroom has been like an oven. I have all the windows open as far as possible (which isn't a lot; we're on the first floor, and while there are some kids, I'd gladly through out of the window, it's not all that desirable!) - but it's still horrible. The kids have been complaining for weeks, and so have I - but I have yet to see the fan(s) I've asked for. Even in winter, I had to turn the radiators off and open windows because it got overwarm in there!

So I'm not looking forward to next week because of that. And as well as the heat, there will be the delightful odour of unwashed-teenage-boy to contend with, together with the eau de god-knows-what-cheap-crap body spray they insist on spraying on themselves in the room despite repeated requests to refrain!