Storm brewing.

So...this Thursday it is the Eisteddfod in Stanthorpe and the local school are performing poems and songs. Thursday is my normal teaching day at the school but with the day so badly disrupted by various year groups  being bussed off to the Eisteddfod I emailed wondering if they would prefer I swapped to a more normal day. The upshot being I am not working at the local school this week but doing two days there next week instead.I had already been booked weeks ago to work today at the school in the town but yesterday received an email from them saying they had been in contact with the local school and found out I was not working there on Thursday and could I do an extra day with the class I was taking today instead. I didn't feel I could say no despite my looking forward to having a Thursday off so felt a bit outmanoeuvred.I went today to work in a Year1/Year 2 class while the teacher spends the next two days celebrating her 98 year old mother's birthday in Goondiwindi.I had received all the planning and it was fairly straight forward and had been forewarned about the few miscreants in the class.I was on them before they even had sat down telling them I expected their help and that if they helped me I would help them and that it was much better to keep me happy than annoy me. One of the miscreants I was aware of and had met them before but I assumed it was in one of the classes at the Town school last year. I found out later in the day that he was from the village school near the cheese factory and was in fact one of the 'Two Titty's' who had made my days a misery there.All in all the day was not too bad with me keeping them all tightly under my thumb and not letting them get a word in edgeways with my constant over the top patter and performance so they never knew what to expect next.At one point the door opened and in came the Principal with a man in a suit. They smiled and said "Hello" and I immediately felt sick as it looked very much like an Inspection."Ooh! This looks official" I greeted them.The man came forward holding out his hand and he shook mine limply. He introduced himself but I didn't catch his name because I was a rabbit caught in headlights and still fighting the urge to flee."I'm just a stand in" I managed to say hoping that it would send him away."I know" he said "How long have you been in this area?""Just over a year" I replied, "I taught in the UK for 27 years before coming here and now just do a few days supply.""Well, the Principal says that you are very good, unless she was just lying.""Well, I hope I am good" I said, "I do try my best. ""Thank you for all you do, " he said, "It's good to know we have teachers like you to call on. "He left with the wool pulled firmly over his eyes.At Lunchtime there was a fuss out side with a teacher calling to a child to come off the climbing frame."Come here Zak, or there will be no computer this afternoon", "Get down Zak now", "No computer this afternoon Zak if you don't come now!"...the child blatantly ignored all the requests and carried on playing."Right I am going to count to 5 and I want you to come here" said the teacher,"1.............2..............3...............4.......................................f.........f............f.........................................5"The child still carried on playing oblivious.I didn't see the outcome but was thinking 'Heck! I pity the teacher that has to put up with that!'The rest of the day went well and the miscreants behaved themselves and I was given a picture by one of the girls."Do you remember last year when you used to call me 'Bob?" she asked. I called her that because she had a dreadfully short haircut which made her look like a boy."I do Bob, yes" I said.This was Bob's picture....I swear when I first read it I thought it said 'You are the bastard that called me Bob' but it actually reads 'You are the best teacher in the World"At the end of the day I nipped up to the classroom upstairs to ask a question about some work tomorrow. I will be taking this upstairs class for 8 days in July while the teacher extends her winter holiday by a fortnight. I did the same for her last year."How's it going?" I asked."Oh, I have a new boy." She said "  He has a Teacher Aid with him all the time but since he came everything has gone to pot.""He's not called Zak is he?" I asked feeling weak at the knees."Yes," she said.The clouds hovering above the eight days in July on the distant horizon suddenly became blacker and lightning flashed out of them alarmingly.

Visitors from the UK!

So...today we had visitors from the UK.Kath and her husband Steve are over visiting their daughter Clare who lives, coincidentally, very near to Tracy and Jen in Ashby by the mighty Clarence River. Kath and I worked together at Wigton Infant School and weirdly she also used to work in Heywood where I grew up. They popped up to see us on their way to Brisbane and we had a lovely afternoon at Frogknot showing them round before heading into town for a meal tonight.They were very taken by our home. Steve said he could live here and thought it very cozy. Kath said she was pleasantly surprised and that it was not as shed like as she had expected it to be.While showing them our toileting facilities I said "Can you imagine Anne Dixon sitting there?"Oh how we laughed.

Plans for a trip!

So...we are off on a very exciting trip at the weekend and much of today has been spent in researching it and finding accommodation for next Sunday night. It's going to be great!I cannot wait!

Poison!

There was another funny moment today at school when this afternoon one of the lovely Year 1 girls came up to me and said "Mr Allen, Z is writing on his tongue with a 'texter' ( felt- tip pen)."I looked over and sure enough there he was drawing on his tongue with a felt pen." Stop that!" I said but he shook his head and just grinned, awkwardly, with his tongue out and kept on doing it defiantly." Z it's poisonous!" I cried with fake concern and his annoying grin faded quickly."Wipe it off quick!" I cried adding a touch of hysteria.Z dropped the pen with fear in his eyes."Get a tissue quick!" I was on a roll now.Z rushed across to the tissue box, his tongue still sticking out and he grabbed a tissue and started wiping at his tongue."Wipe it off!" I cried with urgency.He wiped faster."Quick! Wipe it off!" My face filled with mock concern as I pretended I feared for his life.He actually whimpered and wiped frantically at his tongue with the tissue and I could see he was now actually utterly terrified. A crowd of open mouthed class mates had gathered around to witness his final moments on Earth." O.K " I said suddenly more calmly, "It's gone." I added a sigh of relief.He stopped wiping and looked at me, his eyes blinking on the verge of tears."Never, ever do that again" I said looking at him with all the seriousness I could muster whilst trying very hard not to laugh.He shook his head sheepishly and went back to his desk.He thought I meant never ever write on your tongue with a felt pen again but no, what I really meant was never, ever say 'no' to Mr Allen again.Those are the kind of lessons I like teaching. I felt very satisfied with the outcome and I believe it was a lesson that Z will remember for quite some time.

Fun.

So...today I was back in school standing in for the Prep/Year 1 teacher who was away. There is a teaching student in the class who was teaching the full day and so I was only there to supervise. It was a pretty easy day for me though I did do some group teaching and read a story at the end of the day.They had a spelling test earlier in the day."The next word is 'fun' " said the student teacher.  She put the word into a sentence for context..."We are at school and we are having  fun " she said."Yes! Because Mr Allen is here with us today!" Piped up one of the class pests.I put a finger to my lips to quieten him, embarrassed for the student teacher with the implication that it was not fun without me.