A newly old experience

I have to believe that what I am doing is for The Greater Good!

Tomorrow I go back to school.  Not, admittedly to the school on the hill, but rather to my local English speaking school to do a tad of supply work.

I could look on this unscheduled return to work as a way of paying for a lapse.

The Kindle Fire has come to Spain - after settling itself in well in other more fortunate countries of the world who get to grab hold of the latest technology rather earlier than we do in Spain.  As it was an electrical gadget it was something for which I felt an instant and sincere attachment.  My only problem was how on earth to justify it given the number of computers of various shapes and sizes that I have managed to acquire over the years.

Toni (for it was he) came up with the “it would be easier for you when you are travelling” excuse, which I grabbed hold of with both hands and bought one.  It is smaller than the I-pad and obviously more portable – but we are dealing with nuance rather than reality here, but I am much enjoying playing around with yet another gadget to keep me off the streets!

But three days more in school!  It has given me pause for thought, along the “If you can do three days then . . .”  But I think that the shock to the system will be salutatory and I will need Thursday and Friday for deep R&R to bring me back to normal.

It will be interesting to see if I can detect a difference in the kids from when I was last teaching in the school.

I also understand that there has been a building programme to enlarge the school itself so it will also be interesting to see how the dynamic of the place has altered to take account of the altered building layout.

I will be taking Geography classes for which, I have been assured, the “work has been set”.  I shall make no comment, even though the whole of my past experience screams out that the four-word phrase is open to many and varied interpretations – virtually none of which make the life of the supply teacher any easier.  But I get ahead of myself.

Thus evening I have spent clearing out the rubbish in my school case and decided what, if anything, I should take with me.  And a clean white shirt and tie and trousers.  I have been in shorts (and still am) for months and I have left it too late to wash any crumpled remnants than I might find!

My OU teaching material has not turned up yet, and the start of the course is three days away.  Today I received an email from my tutor for the course with the information that the tutor group comprises students in the North of England and Mainland Europe – which I am sure says something about the mind set of the OU, or perhaps the way my mind works when I speculate about why these two areas are lumped together!

Early to bed to compensate for the change in time which has not yet fully worked through the system so that I can be bright and early for my first day.  Again!