07:00: Jealousy
Mr TLC casually mentions that he is planning to cycle out to Derbyshire and watch the Lancaster Bomber that will be flying over Ladybower for the 65th anniversary commemoration of the ‘Dambuster’ raids.
I will be teaching trigonometry to Y10 at the time. I like trigonometry. I like Y10. I’m still jealous.
08:30 – Delight
The list of staff who are assigned to cover other lessons today is 100 miles long. Amazingly I am not on it, despite gaining a free lesson when I would have been teaching Y11. I rush off to tackle the enormous pile of work that I am determined to complete before I go home today.
08:40 – Disappointment
“By the way, you are doing the Y11 revision lesson today because R isn’t here.”
Fair enough, but I still feel a bit disappointed at the sudden loss of a free hour. Oh well.
10:30 – Mild Panic
“Where are our homework books Miss?”
A good question, they should be in the box where we keep all of this class’ books. They aren’t. I know I’ve marked them, but where did I put them? We look in all the sensible places and a few that are ridiculous. No books.
10:45 – Relief
A bag in the boot of my car contains one set of Y10 homework books. Phew.
11:55 – Pride
Oh I love that feeling, the one that you get when you have that wonderful sense of achievement. Best of all I’m feeling it without having to do very much. A selection of very nice students turn up for the revision class. We work together for an hour. They leave saying thank you – they tell me they have found the class useful, they’ve made progress, they are pleased. So am I.
13:45 – Amusement
My class appear to be suffering from some kind of collective madness. They keep saying strange and random things. At one point some of the boys decide to answer every question with the answer 42. Then one boy decides to tell jokes, the kind of jokes that kids make up themselves that aren’t remotely funny. For some reason we all start to laugh.
Hey, it’s nearly the weekend, I think we’re all just getting demob happy.
17:00 – Happiness and Contentment
I’m chilling out with Mr TLC. He’s showing me the video clips he made of the Ladybower flypasts: a Lancaster, two Hurricanes, Spitfires and a Dakota. He had a great time. I manage not to be jealous.
Ginger Cat and Black Cat turn up and conduct a purring competition. Mr TLC and I open a bottle of wine. We’re winding down and easing into a relaxing weekend. Now that’s a good feeling.