Teaching and working at a boarding school

My writings have become irregular and I really hope I’m not repeating myself cos I keep forgetting what I’ve already written and what not. Today’s supposed to be my day off, but I need to plan the lessons as I have absolutely no idea what I want to do in classes.

As for the teaching bit... The summer courses over here include a lot of (and when I write a lot of I mean seriously a lot of) excursions and activities, so it sometimes feels like English classes are just a secondary activity and us teachers are sometimes treated like that as well. For example, today we had a fire drill (yes, it was my day off and my only chance to sleep in since beginning of July and no, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t have to participate in the fire drill) but none of the teachers was told what to do, so I asked our CD what my duties are and she told me and then this morning a AO gave me completely different instructions, so who do I listen?! Most teachers believe that we’re not informed enough, especially cos it’s our first summer here. Ah well, I guess we’ll all survive.

Yesterday I bought Dongle at the 3G shop, so now I have expensive Internet access in my room. Lucky me! And it’s not restricted. I got so frustrated with the restricted Internet at this school that I now totally understand why some girls lose it when they leave a Catholic school! Sport web-pages are restricted (it seems like a good Catholic girl is not into sports) and so is “The News of the World” (apparently it has low quality content) and that’s far from all the other restricted or simply put BLOCKED web-pages. In today’s day and age that’s an utterly and completely insane if you ask me! I understand some schools blocking Facebook as it can be dangerous since children add people they don’t know as their friends, but news and sports and even teaching resources web-pages?!

The school itself is nothing special. I have always imagined British boarding schools in almost a romantic way, but working at one has opened my eyes. The rooms have no bathrooms, so you share (I really hate the fact that I am sharing a bathroom and toilet with students!!!), a lot of rooms have no desks or chairs, so you write on your knees (which I am sure is very good for your back and general health) and students’ rooms do NOT lock (which I guess would make it easy for valuables to disappear). As for the classrooms - they are in different buildings and whereas most of them are equipped with an IWB (which have been taken off, so we cannot use them) the rest of the equipment and furnishings would make most of the teachers I know back home cry (and those wouldn’t be tears of joy). But we’ll manage! Teachers are the toughest breed I know!

Here are some photos of my room, so you get a taster (keep in mind that my room used to be an office and it is much bigger than your normal single room!).




And I still haven’t planned the lessons....

No Internet?! You must be joking!

“This is going to be tough,” was the first thing that went through my mind when I heard that I (or any other member of the staff) won’t have Internet access while working here. The second thought was “Why?” The school has WiFi, but they don’t give us the password which in today’s day and age is like forbidding a person to breathe. Internet is almost a basic human right, isn’t is? I’m still recuperating from the shock that news caused. I depend on being able to keep in touch with people, who aren’t here, and now I feel like 2 months of my life will rush by while I’ll be cut off from the world. I almost feel like Robinson Crusoe.

Apart from that my one day in Oxford was lovely. I didn’t sleep in as I keep waking up around 6am, which is completely insane considering I love sleeping in. The B&B I was at Thursday night was absolutely fantastic and so was the breakfast. They had a normal continental breakfast and while you were nibbling on your croissant they offered a proper English breakfast, so once you got out of the dining room, you were nicely full. After breakfast I had to pack (for the third time in five days) and then I left for the city centre. The bus ride to town sets you back around 1.90 GB and the return one 2.90 GBP and the bus takes you to Magdalen street (sorry if I misspell anything). The first thing I did was buy a new watch, because I have a feeling I might need it, and then I set into my usual routine - glossy magazine, grande latte and an armchair at Starbucks. My feet and my back were hurting quite badly, but you would understand what I mean if you saw all my luggage (or what has become of it after two days of shopping sprees. At around 1 o’clock I had to be at school’s premises for lunch, so I took the bus back and went for lunch. The first impression: a lot of people know each other from previous years and it seems like this is going to be a nice place to work. The food was actually quite good, I really cannot complain - four choices for the main course and veggies, potatoes, buns, etc. for sides. After lunch there was induction, dinner and an hour worth of a break which we spent at the pub. In the evening we moved to the course site and to finish the day we had crisps and wine. For the first time ever I managed to eat salt and vinegar crisps - I tried and tried before, but it always grossed me out, so I don’t know what’s different this time.

The evening and most of the night over, I returned to my room. Remember my rambling about hotels? Then you probably understand that I’m not exactly jumping of joy at the sight of my room. It’s big enough, with a bed and a wardrobe. Thats’s all some of you might ask. Yes. There is no desk! And that was even more of a shock than the lack of Internet access (argh..... we live in the 21st century and I cannot get online?!) How am I supposed to get any work done if I don’t even have a desk?! Whereas it is OK to force everyone go into the staff room so people are forced to mingle, it isn’t OK to deprive people who can concentrate much better when they are in a quiet environment and not disturbed. I can manage sitting on the bed and working for a short time, but it’s not comfortable or very efficient.

On the bright side, the people I work with are a good bunch and there ‘s a swimming pool on the site. There are also loads of excursions around England and we get fed a lot :-) I hope I get to go to a few shops soon to get some essentials and explore this area a bit.