Exams are all great until you have to mark the %$&!*@ things.
I reckon I still have about 6 hours ahead of me (still!) and classes and reports and (kill me now) a Geography Field Trip to go on.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
I don't want to close my eyes (although Carly says I can)
I'm just watching 'Armageddon' on TV. Of everything I ever achieved throughout my schooling, I consider the feat of watching it on my U6th Biology field trip and not crying one of my finest moments. Yes, it's far fetched and ridiculous. But Bruce pushes Ben back into the elevator thing and tells him 'I always thought of you as a son. I'd be damn proud to have you marry Grace.'
Ok, so perhaps if you imagine yourself to be 18 years old and surrounded by people crying you'd think it was more amazing.
I like the Aerosmith song on it. If you listen to the very end you'll hear a super arrangement of strings on it, which I don't imagine you hear very often on Aeromith songs.
So with that, here's October 07's playlist:
Biffy Clyro - Machines
I really like this. If you ask me the guy singing sounds Northern Irish and I'd bet you all the money in your pockets 'Grey's Anatomy' will use it sometime.
Newton Faulkner - Dream Catch Me
Newton is funny name to have isn't it? But what's funnier is his middle name is Battenberg. Maybe it's a double barrelled thing? [Which reminds me, I was doing the Nazi-Soviet Pact a few weeks ago with my Year 3s and came across officially the worst name ever. Reginald Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (he was a low level British official sent to negotiate with the USSR. The Russians weren't interested. No wonder). Anyway, we have a winner, sorry Newton.]
Annie Lennox - Why
I just took a notion for this. I love the line is 'these are the contents of my head'.
Climie Fisher - Love Changes (Everything)
Not that dreadful Michael Ball Love Changes Everything song. No, no this is classic 80s pop. I don't remember the song from the time but from my Music class at school. We used to do GCSE past papers as practice but there weren't very many for us to do so we'd repeat them. A lot. In one paper (which we did again and again) they used a snippet of this song and we'd all have a sing song in the middle of the paper. Exam conditions? I think not. We then had to say whether it was classical, baroque, pop or country. Hard stuff eh? Anyway, Chris Moyles played it during the 40 Years of Radio One so in it goes.
Avril Lavigne - How Does It Feel?
I used a video on You Tube for a class recently about a girl called Maria Hertogh who was born to Dutch Catholic parents in 1937. Somehow (views differ) during the war she ended up in the care of a Muslim woman and was raised Muslim. There was a custody battle for her in 1950 and it led to riots here. Really interesting story. Anyway the song got in my head.
Carly Simon - You Can Close Your Eyes
She was on Oprah and sang this song. Beautiful piano. A-maz-ing.
Ok, so perhaps if you imagine yourself to be 18 years old and surrounded by people crying you'd think it was more amazing.
I like the Aerosmith song on it. If you listen to the very end you'll hear a super arrangement of strings on it, which I don't imagine you hear very often on Aeromith songs.
So with that, here's October 07's playlist:
Biffy Clyro - Machines
I really like this. If you ask me the guy singing sounds Northern Irish and I'd bet you all the money in your pockets 'Grey's Anatomy' will use it sometime.
Newton Faulkner - Dream Catch Me
Newton is funny name to have isn't it? But what's funnier is his middle name is Battenberg. Maybe it's a double barrelled thing? [Which reminds me, I was doing the Nazi-Soviet Pact a few weeks ago with my Year 3s and came across officially the worst name ever. Reginald Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (he was a low level British official sent to negotiate with the USSR. The Russians weren't interested. No wonder). Anyway, we have a winner, sorry Newton.]
Annie Lennox - Why
I just took a notion for this. I love the line is 'these are the contents of my head'.
Climie Fisher - Love Changes (Everything)
Not that dreadful Michael Ball Love Changes Everything song. No, no this is classic 80s pop. I don't remember the song from the time but from my Music class at school. We used to do GCSE past papers as practice but there weren't very many for us to do so we'd repeat them. A lot. In one paper (which we did again and again) they used a snippet of this song and we'd all have a sing song in the middle of the paper. Exam conditions? I think not. We then had to say whether it was classical, baroque, pop or country. Hard stuff eh? Anyway, Chris Moyles played it during the 40 Years of Radio One so in it goes.
Avril Lavigne - How Does It Feel?
I used a video on You Tube for a class recently about a girl called Maria Hertogh who was born to Dutch Catholic parents in 1937. Somehow (views differ) during the war she ended up in the care of a Muslim woman and was raised Muslim. There was a custody battle for her in 1950 and it led to riots here. Really interesting story. Anyway the song got in my head.
Carly Simon - You Can Close Your Eyes
She was on Oprah and sang this song. Beautiful piano. A-maz-ing.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Big news day
I watch Sky News in the morning when I get up. As I may have mentioned before, I'm not a morning person and the encouragement of knowing I just need to stumble to the sofa and lie down again helps me enormously with actually getting out of bed in the first place. At 6.30am in Singapore, it's 11.30pm back at home and they are reviewing the next day's papers. Today there were reports from the Independent about intelligence and race and lots about Sir Menzies Campbell. (Just by the way, I think he got screwed every which way.)
Then when I go into school, I read what's online on the BBC News website. I'll give you the highlights:
Christmas trees in Ballymena - it's going up on November 1st which one would have to say is a more than a little premature. Mind you, I saw my first one in a shop here at the weekend. And people say all meaning has gone out of Christmas! Pah!
Digital switch over - the first town in England has had its analogue signal turned off. Turns out it's only the BBC2 one but still. Back in the 'head we're all still eagerly awaiting the arrival of Channel 5 to the analogue signal.
The great storm - it's twenty years since the hurricane, although this report pardons Michael Fish who was actually referring to another hurricane. He said, she said, I don't care. I think the real issue here is that it has been twenty years! How did that happen?! I remember that? Things that happen twenty years ago are things that I should not remember!
Good school lie - 14% of parents lie to get their children into good schools. The only surprise to me is that it's only 14%. Of course you'd lie. 'Education is potential, bad schools rob children of that potential, ergo I must lie to get my child into a better school.' Nevermind the child's, or for that matter the parent's, responsibility in it all.
Teens take over - another school story. Teenagers ran a school for three weeks for a TV programme. They started out with all sorts of grandiose liberal ideas but then went all traditional and conservative. But they did learn from teaching others.
I had my own news to share with my classes, as I decided that today should be the day I tell my classes that I won't be back next year. I had put it off long enough and if I didn't tell them today then there wouldn't be another chance for a couple of weeks because of exams.
I told my form class first during tutor time. I said 'and the last thing I have is the sad news that I won't be back in school next year, I'm going home'. Then braced myself for the reaction...and nothing. Silence. Absolute silence. I like to think it was the shock. (It should be noted that my other classes were much more vocal in their reaction. My Year 3s went through the whole gamut of emotions. Shock, surprise, disbelief, despair. I tried to focus on the positives - no more Moodle discussions and no more video worksheets.)
But with my form class, after an age of silence this little voice came from the front and said 'but Miss you teach here now.'
Break my heart, why don't you.
Then when I go into school, I read what's online on the BBC News website. I'll give you the highlights:
Christmas trees in Ballymena - it's going up on November 1st which one would have to say is a more than a little premature. Mind you, I saw my first one in a shop here at the weekend. And people say all meaning has gone out of Christmas! Pah!
Digital switch over - the first town in England has had its analogue signal turned off. Turns out it's only the BBC2 one but still. Back in the 'head we're all still eagerly awaiting the arrival of Channel 5 to the analogue signal.
The great storm - it's twenty years since the hurricane, although this report pardons Michael Fish who was actually referring to another hurricane. He said, she said, I don't care. I think the real issue here is that it has been twenty years! How did that happen?! I remember that? Things that happen twenty years ago are things that I should not remember!
Good school lie - 14% of parents lie to get their children into good schools. The only surprise to me is that it's only 14%. Of course you'd lie. 'Education is potential, bad schools rob children of that potential, ergo I must lie to get my child into a better school.' Nevermind the child's, or for that matter the parent's, responsibility in it all.
Teens take over - another school story. Teenagers ran a school for three weeks for a TV programme. They started out with all sorts of grandiose liberal ideas but then went all traditional and conservative. But they did learn from teaching others.
I had my own news to share with my classes, as I decided that today should be the day I tell my classes that I won't be back next year. I had put it off long enough and if I didn't tell them today then there wouldn't be another chance for a couple of weeks because of exams.
I told my form class first during tutor time. I said 'and the last thing I have is the sad news that I won't be back in school next year, I'm going home'. Then braced myself for the reaction...and nothing. Silence. Absolute silence. I like to think it was the shock. (It should be noted that my other classes were much more vocal in their reaction. My Year 3s went through the whole gamut of emotions. Shock, surprise, disbelief, despair. I tried to focus on the positives - no more Moodle discussions and no more video worksheets.)
But with my form class, after an age of silence this little voice came from the front and said 'but Miss you teach here now.'
Break my heart, why don't you.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Harry who?
It was Hari Raya Puasa on Saturday so even though I work in a Christian school we still got today off because Saturday was a public holiday. Aside from the religion thing, I'm really not opposed to days like these off (there's a Hindu holiday coming up soon too!) But today had the added bonus of my parents being here. So off we trotted to Sentosa for tasty pizza on the beach and a visit to Fort Siloso. Fun times.
But now they've gone (for now - soon to return) and I have work to do and I have the cold and I've only two more episodes of Grey's to watch.
I don't know which is worst.
But now they've gone (for now - soon to return) and I have work to do and I have the cold and I've only two more episodes of Grey's to watch.
I don't know which is worst.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
The return of the parentals
They arrived yesterday!
Once again I say, while their under my roof they'll live by my rules! No doubt there'll be more from the visit in the coming days (assuming my computer still works, it's dying a death which is nearly painful to watch).
In other news, my class did their assembly this morning and nailed it! And dare I say they actually may have enjoyed it. I was like a proud mother! So much so I made them Fifteens to celebrate with! I may be pushy but they get the world's nice traybake out of it so, you know, it was worth it!
Once again I say, while their under my roof they'll live by my rules! No doubt there'll be more from the visit in the coming days (assuming my computer still works, it's dying a death which is nearly painful to watch).
In other news, my class did their assembly this morning and nailed it! And dare I say they actually may have enjoyed it. I was like a proud mother! So much so I made them Fifteens to celebrate with! I may be pushy but they get the world's nice traybake out of it so, you know, it was worth it!
Monday, October 08, 2007
Just so as you know
Grey's Anatomy is the best programme in the world.
I've decided so it's official. All the other programmes can just stop trying now.
I've decided so it's official. All the other programmes can just stop trying now.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Read my lips, no new injuries**
Very nice they were too.
**It should be noted that I did not swim into rocks, fall off the boat, trip over anything, walk into anything, or in any way injure myself yesterday.
And that incident today with spilling the water was totally not my fault.
Friday, October 05, 2007
And so it continues
Tonight in the supermarket I knocked over about, no kidding, 25 boxes of tissues. Oh die.
I've never been particularly dexterous but this is getting ridiculous.
I've never been particularly dexterous but this is getting ridiculous.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Doubley smug
I felt very satifisied tonight. Not only did I finish setting all my exams today (deadline tomorrow), I went to the gym (first time since April).
What else is new?
My form class officially hate me for making them do something serious in their assembly devotion next week. I can take it though. It's a three line whip, only kidney operations are excusable. Let's see how many dare incur the wrath of Miss B. by not showing up!
The results of the clumsiest person in the world came in and I won!
-Today I walked into a doorframe. This is a fairly common occurance actually.
-Yesterday I walked into a desk in my room. Actually come to mention it, this is fairly common occurance too judging by the bruises on my thighs.
-On Saturday, I turned on the oven and put some tortillas in, burning my hand on the way.
-On Sunday, I lifted half the nail off my second toe moving a chair. Thankfully it's still attached.
-All this is in addition to the finger I nearly sliced off the morning of the cruise whilst cutting a bagel.
But I think what really clinched it for me was this. On Monday, I somehow, and please don't ask me how, managed to stand on my own toe while sitting down. It was perhaps more painful than all the others put together. So painful in fact that I wanted to swear but couldn't even speak.
Actually I should make that tripley smug because I didn't fall off the tread mill tonight. Given the current form it was a distinct possibility.
What else is new?
My form class officially hate me for making them do something serious in their assembly devotion next week. I can take it though. It's a three line whip, only kidney operations are excusable. Let's see how many dare incur the wrath of Miss B. by not showing up!
The results of the clumsiest person in the world came in and I won!
-Today I walked into a doorframe. This is a fairly common occurance actually.
-Yesterday I walked into a desk in my room. Actually come to mention it, this is fairly common occurance too judging by the bruises on my thighs.
-On Saturday, I turned on the oven and put some tortillas in, burning my hand on the way.
-On Sunday, I lifted half the nail off my second toe moving a chair. Thankfully it's still attached.
-All this is in addition to the finger I nearly sliced off the morning of the cruise whilst cutting a bagel.
But I think what really clinched it for me was this. On Monday, I somehow, and please don't ask me how, managed to stand on my own toe while sitting down. It was perhaps more painful than all the others put together. So painful in fact that I wanted to swear but couldn't even speak.
Actually I should make that tripley smug because I didn't fall off the tread mill tonight. Given the current form it was a distinct possibility.
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