Frozen Britain...

Well, a fun and adventurous week-end is now behind me but the adventure has definitely not stopped for a lot of people in and around Britain. The week ended on a really good note for me. We only had a half-day of school on Friday and I also had first and second period spares so I only needed to teach one class! It was a Year 7 class and they are really good except they are SUPER ENERGETIC!!! Plus, it being a shortened period and the last day of school didn’t help. They needed to do their assessment performances for their unit except there were a lot of students missing so only two groups ended up actually being able to perform. After that we just played games for the remaining time until they had to head back to their tutor groups for PM registration before heading home. I also had the opportunity to meet Ms. Downes, the teacher whom I have been covering these last few weeks. She was able to come in and say hello to everyone and we had some lovely conversations about how the classes have been going and where they all are at this point. She has good mobility but it’s going to be a progressive return to the classroom, hence why I am booked in until February half term at the earliest. She is going to be slowly taking on a full week’s schedule over those weeks and I will be retaining most of the Key Stage 3 classes while she’s doing that. I’m definitely looking forward to it and the fact that I have eight more weeks of guaranteed work is a big weight off of my shoulders going into the holiday season. At the end of the day the staff all gathered in the staff room for a couple speeches for people who are leaving at the end of this term. While this was going on a snow storm was beginning to rage outside so we booked it out of there as quickly as possible before people couldn’t get their cars out of the car park. It stopped relatively soon afterwards and I was able to make it back on the train without any problem. That evening I went out to The Durell Arms in Fulham for the Cheam Staff Social. It’s an end of the term Christmas party/ Pub Quiz night that they apparently have every year. It was a lot of fun and I had the chance to meet and get to know a few more people than I had before. My team was really bad at the quiz and we ended up not finishing it because we were so far behind in last place ha ha ha. Still, the Guinesses went down nicely and the conversation flowed. All in all, a really fun evening.

Saturday and Sunday I spent just lounging around the house. It was nice to finally be on a break without having to worry about work at all so I just chilled. Sometime during the night on Friday however it ended up snowing another 10 cm or so and this is where the story really begins. “Frozen Britain” the headlines read across the nation after the last two days of travel chaos all around the country. There have been varying amounts of snow all over the place but there’s a lot of ice build-up that occurs on the roads because they can’t clear the snow fast enough. Runways at Heathrow and Gatwick have stalled air traffic for a huge chunk of time. There are crashes all over the motorways, trains not running on time, and tube disruptions all over the place. It’s unbelievable that this could happen a second time when the country was disrupted so severely only a few weeks ago. The biggest problem here is it happened to be on the busiest travelling days of the year, the week-end before Christmas. Not only are there hundreds of thousands of people trying to fly out of the country but there’s just as many trying to fly in. Heathrow and Gatwick were both closed entirely on Saturday and yesterday they only let a handful of flights go out of the airports with no arrivals at either. BAA has been spending a fortune on hotels for stranded passengers and thousands of people have had to spend the last two nights sleeping in the terminals of Heathrow. Two of my flatmates have been thrown around left, right, and centre trying to figure out how to get a flight home for Christmas Day, plus Jeremy has now had his flight from Belfast cancelled twice (though he’s supposed to be on one at 5:30 tonight…we’ll see if that remains on schedule). The biggest problem is not just the ice and snow build-up but because of where the airports are located in the jet stream through here. There’s a lot of snowstorms floating around us right now (we’re supposed to get another 5-10 cm tonight) so if planes take off and get caught up really quickly in a white out there’s going to be some serious trouble in the air. BA is trying to keep it safe but they’re in a “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” situation right now. There’s thousands of people pissed off at them for grounding flights but if they allow flights to go ahead and one slips on the runway and crashes people will be pissed that they didn’t ground the flights to avoid a tragedy. There’s a lot of irrational anger happening on all sides of the fence right now and a lot of it stems from people just wanting to be with family for the holidays. Hopefully everything will get sorted out but the important thing is that people get off the ground safely.

Other than that there’s really not that much going on. I’m just eagerly waiting to find out if Jer’s flight this evening is going to go ahead as scheduled. If not, it’ll just be another lazy night in I suppose. I think I just might take this spare time to catch up on a bunch of writing I’ve been meaning to get done recently. Might as well be productive right? Anyways, wherever you are going this holiday season I hope you make it there without any trouble and safely. Happy holidays to everyone!

Cheers and love,

Erik

Review: Deathtrap

Dilemmas…everybody has them and most of us don’t know what to do about them. People in this world deal with dilemmas both large and small and often have to resort to extreme measures to dig themselves out. This is a very real part of everyday human life and is an almost intrinsic element of theatre. Every piece of theatre out there involves some sort of a dilemma for a character that the show (usually) revolves around and how they are able to identify their problem and find a solution that may or may not be successful. In “Deathtrap” Ira Levin is able to take the commonality of a human dilemma and turn it completely on its head producing a well written and twisted murder thriller.

I had the opportunity to view the show about a week ago with Laura and Alisha, two wonderful people whom I know are going to become dear friends of mine after becoming almost attached at the hip for a good week-end. We decided impromptu to go and see a show in the West End on a Saturday and we started coming up with suggestions. They both wanted to see a musical but I’m not exactly the musical type. I suggested “Deathtrap” because it had received very good reviews, it ended soon, and it starred Jonathon Groff (of “Glee” fame) alongside a host of others. This was “go” at that point and we picked up tickets on the day of thanks to a lovely cheap ticket shop called TKTS and were in to the Noel Coward Theatre to see the show.

From lights down you knew that you were in for a treat. The production used a clever technique to project an image of the title of the show being typed onto the curtain like a typewriter. This instantly screamed big budget and when the curtains came up the set confirmed it. The stage was lavishly decorated from downstage to upstage, left and right. The setting is a study in a hunting lodge owned by the main character Sidney. The designers (and the builders for that matter) clearly took a considerable amount of time to put this all together. There are working doors at two different points on stage, a fire place practical enough to actually burn paper in, tables, chairs, desks, medieval weapons, hunting trophies, knick knacks, and more festooned all over the place. It had the organization that a proper set should have while still portraying the chaos that a writer’s thinking space should have. This set is changed periodically throughout the show but since it entirely takes place in this study there’s no need to have everything movable. It was a work of art to behold and difficult to capture in words. There was a true feeling of being welcomed into the home of Sidney and his wife while being voyeurs into the escapades that would unfold.

The story itself was very twisted and, I must admit, difficult to follow at times. I don’t want to talk too much about the plot of the show because I don’t want to ruin the “ah ha!” moments. As it is a thriller there are many different moments where you think something has happened onstage when it’s the opposite, lots of twists. M. Night Shyamalan would be a fan. The storyline moves at an incredible pace throughout the first act with actors almost tripping over their own lines as they move about the stage. This is where all of the action takes place involving Sidney, his wife, and Clifford (played by Groff). After this action packed first act, the second act is pedestrian at best and deliberately so. The characters now become much more intertwined than before and we begin to delve into their relationships and intentions…information we were not privy to only scenes before. It helps to clarify what has happened before and we get to move on. I thought it was especially well conceived because we were able to enjoy the first act for what it was, have a break, and then dive into some serious character analysis in the second act before everything is wrapped up. The two acts are a lovely contrast to one another and full of unpredictable events.

The acting was also quite enjoyable for the most part. Simon Russell Beale and Groff are wonderful as Sydney and Clifford respectively. The entire show surrounds their turbid relationship as professionals and more twisted and winding through a plot of inconceivable atrocity. Beale played a man who was clearly at a cross roads in his life and could for his life think of what to do. He deliberately does not stop pacing around the stage and there is hardly a moment when he is not calm or standing still. This becomes a contrast in the second half when he becomes much more calm, comfortable, and stationary (much like the plot) with Clifford around. Groff’s character is fun, energetic, and youthful. He cuts an innocent, enthusiastic type but tantalizes us with his range of acting skills as we are revealed to his true intentions. I was unfortunately disappointed with Claire Skinner’s portrayal of Myra, Sydney’s wife. Although the character is quite the caregiver for Sydney, there was no sense of softness or love in her voice at all. This is a character that becomes highly emotionally wrapped up in the play’s events and has a severe heart condition but the lines Skinner delivers were bland and almost indulgent to a point. She did not seem within her own element in the performance and it’s unfortunate because there are elements of what I wanted to see from her but it just wasn’t coming through as much as I would have liked.  Terry Beaver and Estelle Parsons play Porter and Helga respectively. Porter is Sydney’s lawyer and, although a minor character, he is integral to driving the story. Helga is a wonderfully hilarious psychic who becomes intertwined in the plot while warning the cast of things to come. Some much needed comic relief to the intense and thrilling scenes surrounding her appearances. Most of the actors talked extremely quickly and were spitting out speeches like they were on the meter. However, the plot moved along smoothly (particularly in the second half) and became easier to follow as it progressed.

One of the most delightfully confusing elements to this entire production is the play “Deathtrap” itself. Now…you’re probably a little confused right now. The play “Deathtrap” is a script being written on stage by the characters…whilst also performing the play “Deathtrap”. The actors are literally performing the play that’s being written as it’s being written. So, it’s a play being written in a play that is the play that it’s being written in. With me so far? I know…don’t worry too much about it. It gets quite confusing in the show itself but it’s also used as a fascinating plot device. Now, the first act is already written in terms of the “Deathtrap” that is being written in the show. However, once we hit the midway point the characters are working on the second act of the show while in the second act of the show. Soon, they work so far ahead that they are writing an ending to their show before we’ve even seen it! It almost becomes frustrating but we are inevitably hooked to seeing everything take place that only seem like they were written on a whim on stage. One hilarious moment takes place when Sydney begins to read the set description while walking around the stage. Of course, in his world he thinks he is just reading a set interpretation of his house when in fact he is reading a literal description of what is around him in terms of props and set design. Again, it’s very VERY difficult to place into words, it’s something you’d have to see in order to appreciate.

Although the acting becomes a bit rapid and points and the plot itself becomes jumbled within about six different dimensions, “Deathtrap” by Ira Levin is a wonderful show. I have not seen it being performed anywhere else before but if any of you get the chance to please go and see it. I cannot for the life of me do the ingenious plot design justice with my feeble words. It’s something that needs to be experienced through sight and sound rather than stationary words on a computer screen. The perpetual confusion that takes place within this show becomes entirely representative of what Levin is really trying to show…dilemma, and with that he succeeds with flying colours.

Happy Christmas Break Eve!

Well, almost another week has gone by…but this one has been quite different. There’s something oddly “festive” about it. It’s almost like something amazing is going to be happening at the end of it all. Oh yeah, IT’S CHRISTMAS BREAK EVE!!!!! A little name I like to give this time of year when knowing that the next day is that last of the school term for two weeks. A two week break in which we get to spend time at home, enjoy the holidays, and to ring in a New Year! I definitely look forward to all of these things, but first; let’s see how we got here…

The school week has been moving along at quite a nice pace up to this point. All of my Year 7 and 8 classes are performing their assessment tasks for the second unit. They all had time last week to work together with their groups to create their performances and this week is the time to show them on stage. For the most part they have all been quite enjoyable. There are always the odd groups that should have used their time a bit more wisely, but it’s great to see what some of the students come up with for their scenarios. Plus, it’s funny to be able to pick out some of the students that are definitely going to stick with this subject as an option subject and most likely do very well. One downside however, the Everest of marking that I am now slowly chipping away at. I know, I know…it’s part of the deal. I get to come into work and lead these classes in a subject that I absolutely love, direct and help them with their scenes, and then get to watch them. But, somewhere in there I have to be a teacher and nothing says “Teacher” more than marking. It’s going slowly but surely, I’ve got most of their performances done but I also have to mark a response for each individual student which is eating up the most amount of time. It’ll get done though.

Tuesday was a bit of an easier day. Cheam was having an Activity Day that day so I was able to participate in it. An Activity Day for the school is a day in which all of the different subjects take students on either a field trip or have somebody come into the school for a workshop. The Music Department had a musician come in to teach for a day, the English department went to the Globe for a performance, the French department went to France for two days (yeah), and Drama went to a matinee production of “Jersey Boys”. I hadn’t seen it before and I also haven’t been to see a musical in the West End yet so this provided me with a wonderful opportunity to catch a show for educational purposes!!...and for free. I’ll post a review of the experience soon.

Wednesday and Thursday have been lurching by at much the same pace as the previous couple of days. I did find out on Wednesday that I would be kept on at Cheam until February half term at the earliest! They’re not sure exactly how long they’re going to need me for so I’m booked until then and after that point everything will be re-evaluated. I’m definitely looking forward to having a lot of these classes for a consistent basis and getting to know the kids a lot of better. I definitely want to try and build something in the classroom and who knows…maybe it might turn into something even bigger if they feel like I’ve become an important part of the department. I don’t want to get ahead of myself though. On Thursday I had a great opportunity to watch a PEP class work on their pantomime performance for tomorrow. PEP is the Post-16 Entry Level Programme. It’s a sixth form program for post 16 students with a statement of moderate learning disabilities who want to do vocational or life skills courses at further education or residential colleges. The program provides a stepping stone for those who aren’t ready by the age of 16 to do so. The students in the class were absolutely amazing and very funny! The show itself is a funny take on Cinderella taking place in Sutton itself. The teachers in this program are also very kind and patient and they were amazing to allow me to sit in and watch. It’s definitely a performance worth seeing for those in the program.

That’s about it so far…things will be a lot more interesting once the week-end starts I promise. Tomorrow’s only a half day before the holidays begin so it will be a short one and then I’m heading out tomorrow night with a bunch of the other staff members for a pub quiz night in Fulham which I’m really looking forward to. Saturday I’m going to see a Christmas pantomime show of Peter Pan starring DAVID HASSELHOFF as Hook!!! Right? Weird I know. That should be interesting….hopefully he won’t appear on stage drunk wielding a cheeseburger instead of a sword. On Sunday, Jeremy arrives! After that it’s fun times had by all. 

Until then…

Cheers, love, and happy holidays!!!

Erik

One Amazing Week...

There are times in a year when you look back at the week you just had and think about everything that has happened. All of the people you’ve met, the things you’ve seen or done, and decide whether or not that week deserves a thumbs up or a thumbs down. This past week definitely gets a gigantic thumbs up, one of the best since I’ve been in London so far. A lovely time in the classroom, amazing moments working on the musical, and social events galore dedicated to the holiday season!

My week at Cheam definitely set the tone for the entire week by the classroom environments I’m in. The students are mostly amazing and really make it fun to teach. Some of the students are quite bright and they really surprise you sometimes with their abilities to empathize and critically think about a problem or issue that we’re tackling as a theme for scene work. It can seem a little repetitive to be teaching the same lesson to the same year groups throughout the entire week but the individual classes vary so much that each one presents its own challenges that keep me on my toes for the full hour. I have different SEN classes that require support teachers in the classroom as well as many high energy students that just want to get up and work on scenes instead of sitting and listening to an explanation. There are some behavioural issues as well (normal) with two classes in particular that cannot handle practical work because they go mental and start running around and hitting each other. It creates a very unsafe environment for the other students in the class so we’ve brought them down to written work until they can prove that they can handle the practical work safely and properly and that they can listen to instructions beforehand without being disruptive. It’s going to be a bit of an uphill battle on that one but at least it’s providing me with a challenge. I really want to be able to do practical work with them because that’s what Drama is all about and it’s how they develop their skills. I just need to get them to see that.

My Year 7’s are finishing up their unit on Bullying with a scene presentation for this coming week and my Year 8’s are going to be presenting a series of scenes about Peer Pressure. That’s one of the amazing things about these classes (and Drama in general), they use them to teach the students technical and acting skills but also get them thinking about serious issues in their lives and in the school itself. A great double whammy that the students may not even realize when they are working on it. I had to deal with a couple of instances involving some bullying as well this week and it’s interesting how the lesson can provoke a student to confide in you as a teacher when these things have happened because they recognize it through the lesson. I had a really fulfilling week and I think that I really helped some kids out this week and had a lot of fun with them too.

I love it when I can joke around in my classes and have a lot of fun with the students. Drama is all about fun and I shouldn’t feel like a giant dictator in the classroom but more of a mentor and a guide. In one of my Year 7 classes, whom I didn’t have last week because of the snow days, there was one such funny instance. I was doing the register (attendance) and when I called out a little girl’s name she asked me if I could call her “Kitty” which I assume is a nickname. This work combined with the accent made me think she was saying “Katie”. So I repeated “You want me to call you Katie?”. “No sir, Kitty” “Katie?” No, Kitty!” “Like….like a cat?” At this point the class all started laughing when I had finally figured it out. When I continued through the register I called a boy’s name to which he replied “Sir, can you call me dragon please?” To which I obviously did and he was quite happy. By the end of register I had one Kitty, a Dragon, a Gorilla, and an Old Chap in my class. The funny thing is when you have that kind of a start to a class they get completely on board with you and they were my go to kids the entire class because they participated so well. These are the types of classes that I really want to have and every one of them can be this way, it’s just a matter of getting through to the students who disrupt the lesson before t even begins.

In other news at the school the musical is starting to really get up and running. We had a rehearsal on Monday after school and ran through the blocking for Act 1 and it’s actually not too bad. The kids all seem to know what they’re doing for the most part and it’s just a matter of polishing the scenes up after we’re back in the New Year. I ran a character development workshop on Wednesday after school for the students that we there because a lot of them (mainly the younger ones) are having a tough time being their character on stage. It’s just from a lack of experience in the subject and on the stage so I’m working with a lot of them to get them thinking about how they can really be somebody else on stage and have the audience believe in it too. The kids really enjoyed it and apparently called me a “legend” to Lucy after I had already left that evening. I love doing these types of things as well because it allows me to use my experience in the theatre as an actor to direct the students from a production standpoint. I got really into it and it seemed like they were having a fun time too. They were laughing a lot which is always a good sign, especially in character and scene work. If they’re not having fun then they’ll start to lose interest so it’s about creating a positive environment for them to enjoy the work that they’re doing and it will show on stage when they finally do perform it. I’ll be going through the same workshop again on Monday for the students that missed out on Wednesday and I’ll also be creating a handout for the kids to read through and refer to when they are learning their lines over the holidays (hopefully).

This week Protocol also hosted a couple of Christmas related social events in London for teachers as well as consultants. On Wednesday evening the Secondary Consultant Team hosted a drinks night at a pub local to the Protocol offices on Chancery Lane. There was a relatively small group of us but I had the chance to meet a bunch of different consultants that I’ve talked to many times over the phone when I’ve called in for work. I’ve never been able to match a voice to a face before and it was nice to be able to actually sit down and chat with them outside of work hours. They are all quite pleasant and were keen to know how my placement at Cheam was going. It was also nice to get to thank them all for the help they have given me since my arrival in the UK and in getting me set-up with the job. A very pleasant evening indeed.

On Thursday night Protocol hosted a Christmas dinner at the Slug and Lettuce just off of the Strand in London. The dinner was absolutely delicious, I had turkey with parsnips, broccoli, brussel sprouts, potatoes, and sausages. The dessert was Christmas pudding with custard which was also quite delicious. I had the chance to meet quite a few people there and made some connections for over the holidays to meet up with some people who are sticking around. I also bumped into Laura and Alisha (whom I met at the Ale Trail a couple weeks previous) and had a great time chatting with them. I ended up winning a trip through a draw at the end of the night as well! I have a choice between two different two day trips to Wales or a trip all through Oxford, Cotswolds, Bath, and Stonehenge. I’m not sure which one I’ll choose but it’s pretty cool that I won!

Friday night I ended up heading into the city to The Porterhouse in Covent Garden with my flatmates for drinks before Brittany headed back to Canada. We spent a good chunk of time at the bar, which had a live band playing covers for a little while, and then headed back to Colliers Wood to hit up the Tup until closing time. On Saturday I met up with Laura and Alisha in London to go see a performance of “Deathtrap” at the Noel Coward Theatre. It was a really enjoyable show and one of the performers was Jonathon Groff of “Spring Awakening” and “Glee” fame. I won’t get into too much detail with that because I’m going to be writing a review sometime during the week but it was very good. Afterwards we went out for dinner and drinks and made plans to meet in Camden on Sunday to walk through the markets.

Overall, quite the packed and enjoyable week. I have to buckle down for this week but it should go by relatively quickly because everyone wants to get through the day to get to the end of the week. Jeremy’s going to be arriving on Sunday the 19^th and spending the holidays straight through to January 3^rd. I’m really looking forward to that and being able to see and do and bunch of stuff in the city. I have to get through this week first!! Until then…

Cheers and Love

Erik

A Day In The Life Of A Drama Teacher...

I have been living in London now for almost three months and I have to say I have loved every minute of it. I’ve been able to explore many different regions of the city, see a lot of the sites, and truly get a feel for English culture. I have been working as a supply teacher for Protocol since the beginning of October and have been to a wide variety of different schools teaching many different subjects. Although I didn’t mind teaching whatever subject I was assigned for that day (such is the life of being a supply teacher) the biggest thing I wanted to accomplish here in London was to attain a long term position, or at least some significant experience, teaching my subject: drama.

I love the dramatic arts. I took it earnestly in high school, studied it as a major in university, participated in many productions, and lastly chose it as my primary teachable subject. It’s hard for me to put my finger on the exact reason why I love to be in drama…there’s too many reasons and would take too long to explain in this post alone. What I really want to talk about is what it means to be a drama teacher.

As some of you might have read before, I posted to Protocol’s blog my thoughts on funding the arts in schools. I truly believe that it is a vital subject for students to have because it taps their creative tendencies in many different ways. It challenges them to be able to speak confidently in front of their peers, to exchange ideas, work effectively in groups, and have an outlet for their emotions. I know from experience the release that being in drama can give to a student and how it can become a focus for students suffering from many different learning disabilities. I could go on and on but feel free to peruse my previous post on the subject to get a more rounded idea.

I’ve recently been placed in a long term position as a drama teacher at Cheam High School in Sutton. I have had the most wonderful time at this particular school so far and everything that I’ve been looking forward to as a drama teacher have already become to materialize. I mostly have Year 7 and 8 classes which I’ll admit is both a blessing and a bit of a curse. They are very young kids and so enjoy getting up, working together and creating scenes. However, they are also full of energy which equals a lot of noise and running around but reminding them of the safety factors involved in such behaviour will calm them down to a more manageable level. Leading the classes in this scene work has been loads of fun. For students so young it becomes important to establish the concepts of scenes, characters, themes, etc. After they grasp these basic building blocks they will be able to readily comprehend the more complicated aspects of performance. As a result, these years do a serious amount of scene work.

There’s something oddly satisfying about the distinct lack of paper in a drama classroom. The students are forced to get up, move their bodies, speak, and exchange ideas with one another while working on their scenes. It’s an intangible but highly creative atmosphere and as a teacher I can swim through their varying ideas as I move from group to group in order to facilitate their work. A drama teacher has a unique ability to be able to model the skills and techniques for their students to imitate at first and then build on in their own performances. You approach it from their own level without desks or chairs separating you. There’s no board to write on or pens and paper passed out. It’s a wonderful atmosphere that only the teachers of the arts can know.

Another wonderful part of being a drama teacher is the ability to become involved in extracurricular productions for the school. At Cheam right now they are working on a production of “Bugsy Malone” due for presentation in March. It’s a musical in collaboration with the music and dance departments. As a teacher coming in I was keen to get involved as much as possible and for a production of this scale there was lots of areas in need. It’s a wonderful process to be a part of a school theatre production as a teacher. You work with these students on many different technical skills, you help them refine their performance abilities and understanding, and you practice them with practical work in the classroom. While this is true of many different subjects it usually stops here. With drama we have the unique ability to put these skills to use in a productive way that gives students the types of experiences that constitute working in theatre as a profession. They get more practical experience and it’s also just a lot of fun. It doesn’t even have to be drama teachers or students who get involved. Productions come in all shapes and sizes and it’s more encouraging to see students who don’t normally take drama to participate and gain those valuable skills that the subject can provide. For all of the teachers out there reading this, I urge you to try and get involved in a drama production in your school if you can. Even if it’s only ever once I can guarantee you that you will have fun, you will get a fabulous opportunity to bond and get to know your students outside of the classroom, and you might even find a love for an aspect of theatre that you didn’t even know you had.

I feel blessed to be where I am in teaching right now. It’s not a permanent position and I will eventually have to go back to supplying until the next opportunity rolls around but as a newly trained teacher these are the types of experiences I want. I would like to continue working in drama as a teacher and performer/designer for many years and it’s these experiences that will help lead to that. I look forward to the coming weeks in my classrooms and sharing some of those stories with you.

Good Day And Welcome To December...

Well, it has been quite an eventful week around here…and by “here” I mean Britain in general. As I know most of you have been hearing from either myself (or some other source out of the UK) it gets pretty mad here when it snows. I know, it seems like a rather ridiculous thing to think about. As Canadians we’re just so used to snow being a part of our lives in winter and we’re also well equipped to deal with it. Here in the UK however they don’t get it that often and it usually doesn’t accumulate that much. With a large weather system flowing down from Russia, Britain got hit….hard. People went absolutely mental around here because they’ve never gotten this much snow this early before…mind you it was just a couple of inches. We didn’t get hit as hard in London as they did up north and in Scotland, plus Surrey, Kent, and Essex were hit particularly hard. Cheam School is in Surrey so I ended up with a couple of days off this week, and here’s where our story begins.

 Monday and Tuesday were actually pretty good days. I’m slowly getting to know my classes and most of them are really good. The Year 8’s are a bit crazy and hard to handle but I think I’ve mentioned this before already. My Tuesday schedule is also considerably lighter than the other days of the week so I had a lot of free time. I’m also getting set for the students performing their assessment tasks in a couple of weeks…yes, seriously marking! It’s like I’m a real teacher! For those of you who can’t find the rather large amount of sarcasm in these words…now you know. I’m also helping out with the school musical. The teacher whom I am replacing at the moment was directing the acting portion of the show so it’s been in a bit of disarray since she’s been out. They’re performing “Bugsy Malone” which apparently was a musical on film released in the Seventies depicting old Prohibition-era gangsters but played entirely by children. I think there’s supposed to be irony in there somewhere but it seems like a pretty fun show, at least I read it that way. I’m going to have the chance to take on scenes to direct and help while the other teacher directs scenes. It’ll help to get more done and faster and I’m really excited to get my practical experience to help me out. Tuesday was also the day it started to snow and so of course the kids went absolutely crazy that day. It was quite a battle to get them to not throw snow at each other. There isn’t really a strict policy about it because the snow’s not usually around that much to worry about it but teachers were being very strict about it that day. One kid did end up taking a snowball in the head and getting cut….kids just don’t have some sense sometimes. Everybody left as soon as school finished that day because they were worried about having trouble getting home. They were right.

I didn’t have any problems myself. The trains were still running without any issues at this time so I managed to get home without difficulty. The other teachers didn’t have it so lucky however. One of the other Drama teachers, Alexis, ended up stuck on the road just a mile away from the school, waiting for over an hour in standstill traffic, and finally having to abandon her car and walk the rest of the way home. There’s no comprehensive system for snow removal in the country and there’s also a massive shortage of salt for the roads. As a result there was a considerable build up of black ice on the major roadways, a lot of accidents, and people resorting to abandoning their vehicles. Most people don’t own snow brushes or shovels either so it was interesting watching them cleaning off their cars or driveways with whatever they had handy. Trains also operate on a third rail system that froze quite quickly in the very cold temperatures so people were stranded in train stations. Gatwick airport had to be closed for a couple of days and a lot of people had to bunk up at work because they couldn’t get home for the night. It was actually quite a nightmarish situation for a lot of people but still pretty crazy that this amount of snow would cause almost the entire country to ground to a halt. Now, I didn’t mind having a day off on Wednesday because of the snow but I lost a day of work on Thursday as well. It’s unfortunately because I can’t control the weather and it directly forced me to lose days of work which sucks. I guess that’s just part of life though. I did however end up getting work on Friday at Henry Compton School in Fulham. The schools closer to the main city didn’t get as much snow and the main roads were cleared pretty quickly because of the heavy traffic. They were open all week and they had a teacher out sick on Friday so I covered. It was a Food Tech classroom so I ended up watching a couple of classes cooking and got to taste some of it as well. There’s a technician that works in the classroom so she handled what they had to do and I just wandered around and observed. It was actually not a bad day and went by fairly quickly. I’ll hopefully be back at Cheam on Monday though. They’re going to be opening later than usual apparently because the site is still in rough shape as are the roads in the area. It’s been very warm out the last couple of days here however and most of the snow has melted so I’m thinking it shouldn’t be a problem.

Other than that I’ve had a pretty decent week-end. On Friday night I went with Brittany, Nicole, and Kim to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. It’s a really cool and massive Christmas market and carnival that gets set up in the park every year. I’ve been badgered by Scott to go check it out because he and Dusty went there together at this time last year when he was visiting. There are a ton of different shops set up selling all kinds of practical, crazy, or downright silly things. Lots of bars set up selling mulled wine, beer, and hot chocolate (which could be spiced up with a little Bailey’s if one was keen). Tons of different food options from your regular hot dogs, burgers, and cotton candy to bratwurst, crepes, Belgian waffles, and even a place that sold Haggis sandwiches (of which I might have to go back and check out). Plus there’s a skating rink set up and a bunch of different rides and games. It was really neat and set up right in the middle of the park in London, you really forget where you are when going through it. Afterwards, Kim and I met with a couple friends in Wimbledon for some drinks before heading home.

On Saturday I ended up sleeping in a bit and sitting around the house for the most part. We had people over to the house in the evening for a Secret Santa party before people all left and it was also a going away party for Brittany because she will be leaving us soon to head back to Canada. It was a fun party (a lot of people actually) and we ended up playing Christmas music all night and exchanged some funny gifts. We also ended up playing beer pong and for those of you who think I might have lost some skill having been over here…I dominated. When I come back to Canada it’s going to be on like Donkey Kong you’d better believe that.

Sitting here now I’ve got to sort out some script stuff for Bugsy tomorrow and then probably chat with my parents later on Skype about my week and there’s. I’m making up a scene breakdown chart for the show so we can organize rehearsals a bit better as well as breaking them up into scene groups to rehearse specific scenes simultaneously. I wasn’t asked to do it but it’ll help so of course I’m glad to do it. That’s another week in the books ladies and gents…only two more school weeks until the holidays start if you can believe that. It’ll be nice having some time off but I think I’ll definitely be looking forward to getting back to it in the New Year. Until then…

Cheers and love J

Erik

We're Gathered Here Today To Witness The Joining Of This Blog Post With The Week-End It Depicts In Awesomely Matrimony...

Well, it was quite a crazy second half to my week last week in which a lot changed around here. First off, as most of you already know I am now a full time Drama teacher! Well, at least until the Christmas holidays. Most likely the position will continue on into the New Year for at least a couple of weeks or so but I’m not going to get my expectations up too much at this moment. I have guaranteed work for the last 15 days of the schools year and I could not have asked for anymore than that J. Once I finish up the two week break for the holidays then I’ll start worrying about how long this position might be going for. I want to also take a moment to thank everyone for their kind words and thoughts. It makes me feel really good to know I have so much support behind me back home and you guys really keep me going over here. So much love!

Alright, so last Thursday I had my last day at Bishopsford of this term. Obviously I was pretty excited for this because the school I’m at now is a lot better in a number of different ways. Going in for my last day this term I just wanted to coast through the day as much as possible, assign the work, supervise, and get back home and ready for my next day at Cheam. Obviously the powers that be could not allow this to happen and thus my most eventful day at Bishopsford had to be my last. The beginning of the day was alright actually….just agonizingly slow. I just had to assign work for my Year 10s to accomplish and then waited the hour each time for the (seemingly) uber slow clock to hit the one hour point in each lesson. My period three class was a bit hectic, it’s a small class that has a lot of bottom set students in it and they were acting out a bit in the class. One student in particular ended up having a football in class and was kicking it around the classroom and heading it back and forth with a different student. I really, really didn’t want to have to go through the process and getting it taken away because that would have ended up keeping me back at the end of the day so I told them to put it away multiple times. Unfortunately they chose not to heed the warning and so I didn’t have any problem solving it fast. I had to call Patrol in to claim the football and the student ended up giving him some serious attitude and getting escorted out of the class. After this class I had the same class again for a Sport BTEC (exams that are less difficult than GCSEs) class. Luckily their regular teacher was there to set up the lesson before heading out and I would supervise them. The student from the previous lesson came into the room and needed to get work to bring with him to do in the Principal’s office. On his way out he decided it might be a good idea to smack another student on the head with his workbook (bad decision number two on the day). The other kid just snapped, got up, and proceeded to punch the student in the face LITERALLY in front of their regular teacher. The other teacher and I snapped into action immediately and took the punched student out into the hallway while I jumped at the door handle and held it shut with one hand whilst holding the punching student back from being able to get out of the door. Luckily the other male students in the class sat him down a couple of times and tried to calm him down before a bunch of senior management came in to take them out of the lesson. Just ridiculous and for something so small. Needless to say I was ready to be heading home by the end of this day.

To be honest I don’t really have that much to report on the events of Friday for school. Apparently the teacher who I am covering has an awesome Friday schedule with only two classes during the day and the first one isn’t until period three. I only a Year 7 and a Year 8 class and they were quite lovely actually. The rest of the time I just chatted and came up with some plans with Alexis and Lucy on what to cover and expect in next week’s lessons. There’s also an Inset Day (PD Day) on Friday next week in which they will be doing departmental planning and I was invited along to get some more information on how the school and department works.

On Friday night the week-end began and it was AWESOME. I was prodded (quite easily I might add) into heading up to King’s Cross with a couple of my flatmates to go to an event known as “Power Ballads”. I feel like this title should tell you everything you know but I’ll give a little music lesson for those of you who I just lost 25 words and one punctuation mark ago. A “power ballad” is pretty much any arm-pumping, head banging, held note dominated, rock out song from the Eighties or Nineties. Basically think bands such as White Snake, Bon Jovi, Meat Loaf, Heart…I’m sure you get the idea. Evidently the guys who were DJ-ing it thought Miley Cyrus belonged in the same category but I’ve been slowly trying to remove that portion of the night from my memory. We were completely pumped for a night of epic singing, dancing, and air guitar awesomeness. As most of you know I have a stupid memory for song lyrics and they came in very handy this evening. The venue itself was actually pretty cool, you wouldn’t expect the club atmosphere that’s inside looking at the outside of the building. This place was completely decked out too with smoke machines, periodic confetti cannons going off, and a female attempting to swallow the entire neck of a blow-up guitar…..I’ll let you visualize that for a moment……..yeah…….take it as you will. We ended up rocking out on the stage, singing to a ton of songs (whilst semi-shredding some vocal chords along the way), and finally heading out at around 2:30AM. Once getting outside of the venue it then became apparent that we really didn’t know how to get back home considering the Tube doesn’t run that late. After figuring out we needed to take three different buses to get home we caved and took a £40 cab to get home and crash.

Saturday rolled around and I woke up with my voice feeling like I just went on three consecutive Bands road-trips. I’m still coughing periodically right now as my throat recuperates….completely worth it though. On this day I was treating my flatmate Brittany to her first (and only) English football experience. She’s been here for over a year and had never been to a match so this was a must for her. We headed into Fulham to catch the Lilywhites take on Birmingham City. After arriving a little early we headed to the pub for a couple of pints and then rolled out to the match. Our seats were AMAZING!! I mean I did pick them out myself online and that’s why I was so excited. We were on the Putney End just to the right of the goal in the very front row. The players were almost directly in front of my face as they came into the box or were gathering for a corner kick. It was amazing to see some of them so close! On the other hand….it was f%&$ing COLD!!!!!! England is currently experiencing some heavy Artic winds blowing down from Russia and it is nasty cold right now (“But isn’t this like summer to you” says every English person I know before I metaphorically punch them in the face). The match ended up a 1-1 draw with Fulham coming back in the second half. An alright score for such a bitterly cold evening. After the match I ended up meeting up with Nate and some other friends for post-match pints in Putney while Brit headed home to warm-up. We ended up home soon after and it was soon to bed.

Sunday I woke up relatively early to run a few errands in the city. First off, I finished my Christmas shopping!! What in the world is up! I just need to figure out how much it’s going to be to ship things back to Canada but at least it’s all bought. In my travels I ended up walking passed the Tower of London. I had completely forgotten that the ice rink of open at the Tower and spontaneously decided to go for an hour skate while I was there. Now…I’m a mediocre skater at best. I’m not amazing but I can take solace in the fact that I am light years ahead of the skating abilities of almost every person living in this country. It was HILARIOUS (in a rather macabre way) watching people falling left, right, and centre. Kids falling, parents falling, parents falling on top of their kids (yeah), and whole families falling together. Almost 75% of the people didn’t let go of the boards so they could keep their balance and meanwhile I’m just kind of trucking along around the rink. It was funny watching their jaws drop when I was doing crossovers while they’re struggling to push off to get some speed. I’m bragging in any way because at home I suck in comparison to other people, but at least I can be a bit cocky while I’m here ha ha ha. In the evening I ended up going to see the new Harry Potter movie (awesome!!!!) with one of my other flatmates, Kim. Once we got back home it was time for a quick Skype with the family and then off to bed.

Overall, quite the epic week-end and definitely one of the best I’ve had since arriving here. I had my first day of my full week at Cheam today but I’ll leave that for the mid-week school blog post. I’m helping out in some directing of their school musical this year, “Bugsy Malone”. Unfortunately I’m not familiar with this show at ALL so I have to sign off and get cracking on reading the script (conveniently located beside me). I’m off to bury my head in a book and until next time:

Cheers and Love Y’all!!

Erik

P.S. if you haven’t heard any of the new Kanye West, Kings of Leon, or James Blunt albums I highly suggest you do because they are quite enjoyable. I’m also seriously into Mumford and Sons and Belle and Sebastian if you get a chance to hear them! 

Teaching and Learning: The White Paper

There are few who would argue that teaching and learning are not the full purpose for having and running schools anywhere in the world. The basic functioning of education requires a building, a curriculum, one who teaches said curriculum, and one who learns it from the teacher and applies it to their own lives. Teaching and learning are at the apex of the educational system. Inevitably the intricacies and implementation of these two pillars changes from person to person and from government to government. Education reform is something that we see all of the time in different countries, people always trying to fix the system to make it more accessible or more equal or to produce better results. Yesterday the coalition government, and mainly the Education Minister Michael Gove, released a white paper outlining their proposals for overhauling the educational system here in the UK. Reading an article in print this morning I was amazed at how in depth they are going to hit every corner of the system in order to balance things out. Although I would like to write up my personal opinion about all areas of the white paper, for the purposes of this post I will keep my focus mainly on teachers and teaching in general.

The first change that many articles about this paper point out are the changes to teacher training. The government will no longer fund graduates who have less than a 2:2 (or second class) degree when becoming teachers and they are going to be encouraging and fast tracking people who want to make a job switch to teaching. Now, as many people who have recently gone into the world of teaching can attest, this occupation is highly competitive as it is. There are always people out looking for teaching jobs (many for full time) and it becomes difficult in the long run sometimes, especially as a new graduate. The fact that the government is going to provide incentives for people who want to switch into teaching and create less work for people who chose to dedicate their lives to it is a bit questionable. Even more so, these incentives include higher leadership positions in schools instead of “starting their careers from the bottom” as many new graduates do. There are people, wonderful people, who have been working in schools for years and have the knowledge of the students and the curriculum to effectively become Heads of subjects. To think that they could be replaced because a highly successful corporate businessperson who suddenly decides to become a teacher is worrisome. I read an article earlier in the week in which Michael Gove specifically states that teachers need to have a high emotional intelligence just as much as academic intelligence in order to effectively deliver lessons and engage youth. Gove is even quoted as saying that there are people who can be successful specialists in a range of subjects but be ineffective teachers and people who get lower degrees can still engage and level with students and make a classroom fun, inviting, and inclusive. His choice was clearly to side with the specialists and hope that their subject knowledge will be enough to keep them afloat. I beg to differ on that one.

Any teacher out there will tell you that it takes a lot more than knowledge of a subject area to be a good at their job. As was drilled into our heads in university; we as teachers act In Loco Parentis or “In Place of Parents”. We are caregivers, social workers, counselors, role models, police officers, organizers, motivational speakers, and so much more on top of our ultimate duties to teach the curriculum and provide students with knowledge. Yes, you need to know how to engage a class, but you also need to be able to gain their trust. You need to be able to show them respect and expect it from them as well. You need to build a relationship with students that foster a truly inclusive and spirited environment that allows students to flourish. Teachers, for eight hours a day and five days a week, are every aspect of a student’s life…and we take pride in that. We take this challenge and we ride head on into it because we want to see every one of those amazing faces staring back at us succeed and in turn face the world without fear. I’d like to see Mr. or Mrs. Corporate Businessperson jump into a school suddenly after years in business and try that.

On top of this, Mr. Gove is proposing an easing of standards allowing schools to terminate ineffective teachers. I don’t agree with this either. Although there are some people out there who may have chosen the educational route but clearly should not have, for the majority of us we are human. We have our own troubles year to year. Students change, atmospheres change, and I think that a higher commitment to professional development and ongoing teacher training should be more at the forefront when it comes to these teachers. Allow them the opportunity to rehabilitate and re-enter the classroom with fresh ideas and a new lease instead of just casting them aside when the going gets tough.

As a teacher I feel that there’s always an element of ongoing training. Every day I enter a classroom I am learning new things about not only my students or my lessons but about myself. I strive to constantly revise and tweak my own teaching practice in order to be as effective as I can for my students. I think that if the government here endorsed and provided elements of training for ongoing development more we would see better products in the schools. You want teachers to create better lesson plans, show them how! Don’t just say it and can the ones who you think don’t live up to the standards. If they expect us to be an example for our students, perhaps they should be an example to us.

Just my thoughts…how about you?

Drama Teacher!

In keeping with my promise of more regular updates here is what’s been going on across the pond so far this week!....it’s a lot.

First off, I’m booked into Bishopsford right now Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. The first couple days were, again, quite trying and long days. On Monday I was covering the RE classes for most of the day and had a spare first period to be able to get everything prepared for the lessons. I had the opportunity to plan the lessons this time around and really wanted to give the kids an opportunity to talk about the material instead of drowning them in the endless “read this and answer these questions” work they’ve been getting a lot recently as a result of the constant presence of a supply in that classroom. I was unfortunately way too optimistic about how this was going to go. I mainly had Year 11 classes and when trying to facilitate discussion with them about material before moving into some book work I could not get ANY of them to speak! Either they would say nothing, ignore me, or give me the standard “I don’t know” answer and shrug it off. I knew that these classes liked to talk a lot but as soon as I try to turn it constructive they immediately shut down. It was quite a frustrating day and not because of behaviour issues but I just really wanted to try and get something out of these kids and really teach them something but they were giving me nothing in return. One of the other teachers in the department talked to me about it and told me that it’s difficult because I haven’t built any kind of a relationship with them from not being their normal teacher so it’s difficult to really get them out of their shells. He told me it would be easier to try to get discussion going for a bit and then move on to book work. At least this way the students who are keen to learn the material and get something out of it rather then watch me beat a dead horse. It was deflating for sure but also beyond my control.

When I got home Monday evening I was, deservingly, a little down. That is I was until I received a lovely phone call from Protocol. It turns out that a long term Drama position had opened up in an outstanding school and I was to be booked in for Wednesday and Friday as trial days for the job! This is exactly the type of job and school that I had been looking for and immediately my mood went through the roof (as my flatmates can testify). I was absolutely ready to go and started researching heavily through the school’s website about what to expect and the types of facilities they offer. More on that in a bit.

Tuesday was quite a turnaround day for me going back to Bishopsford. Knowing that I had this trial day lined up for Wednesday I just went in with a good attitude and didn’t let any of the really disruptive behaviour get to me too much. I got through the day unscathed and actually had a couple good lessons (and one nightmare one) but overall no problem. Even more, last night I headed over to Stamford Bridge to watch another Chelsea Champions League match with Neale and Stephen.

The match itself was alright. It was friggin cold but I bundled up and was alright. The Blues ended up going down 1-0 in the first half and SLOWLY worked their way back to a 2-1 victory with the winning goal coming in the 85^th minute. Neale, Stephen, and I ended up going to the pub before and having a couple pints and chatted football for about an hour. It’s nice because they have such a big knowledge of football and are impressed y my own. Plus they ask me a lot about what the fan base is like in North America and I tell them a lot about Toronto FC and how the game is growing in Canada. It’s a great time and once they dropped me off I mentioned that I’d fire them an e-mail in a couple weeks and we’ll get together for drinks around the holidays. They were all for it! It’s kinda funny that we’ve really hit it off and become mates when there’s an age gap but it’s great times so why not?

Today was finally the first trial day at the new school. The school itself is called Cheam High School and is located in Cheam, Sutton. The website for the school really laid out how amazing it is. The school has brand new facilities in almost every department and holds multiple specialist statuses including one for Performing Arts. The OFSTEAD (school ranking board) gave them “Outstanding” ratings in almost all categories including teacher-student relationships, teaching efficiency, student behaviour, and overall effectiveness. Needless to say I was excited to get into this kind of a teaching environment. Once I got in I met the other two Drama teachers in the department who usually work alongside the colleague I’m covering. They are both absolutely fabulous! They’re not much older than myself and clearly have a passion and knowledge of Drama much like myself as well so we definitely hit it off famously. They’re both very open-minded and absolutely hilarious as well. The department is amazingly organized and I actually received a booklet that lays out every lesson for the units all the way to the break! There’s a ton of support and the friendliness of the other staff is outstanding. The students themselves were mostly well behaved. I am going to be teaching mainly Years 7 and 8 so there’s a lot of energy in the room when doing Drama. I’m definitely going to work on being able to manage them when they’re doing their group work. I had some students in the classes that the other Drama teachers found slightly difficult but they observed that I actually had them well under control and engaged which they didn’t expect. A bunch of the students do not have a male role model or influence in their lives so they think that I might actually do a lot of good running that classroom. I also had the opportunity to work with a Year 11 class of only seven students. We were working on characterization through script reading and I ran them through an exercise to get them into the mood and we had a lot of fun. I was able to participate in the game as well to get them motivated and did a lot of modeling to show them what I mean when I’m talking about certain things. They all didn’t have any background in Drama so they found it helpful when I described but also showed them what I meant. They gave me a lot of feedback later to another teacher about how “awesome” I was and that they really enjoyed the lesson. I just feel like there was so much pent up expressive Drama teacher in me that I let it all out today and it felt great! I seemed to make an amazing impression on the department and I had a wonderful day so they decided to keep me on until the holidays! It’s going to feel really good waking up in the morning and looking forward to work. Plus, I’m booked every day for the rest of the term which is wonderful. I’m just excited to finally doing something that I love and have wanted to do more of since I had my practicum experiences at Queen’s. They are also currently working on a musical production and other various extracurricular activities that they welcomed me to get as involved in as I wanted, which I definitely will!

I have to return to Bishopsford tomorrow but I’ll take comfort knowing that I have a great long-term job lined up that I couldn’t be more excited for! I’ll update later on about how the rest of the week goes but until then:

Cheers and tons o’love!!!!

Erik (Mr. Smith the Drama teacher!!!)

Busy, Busy, Busy...

I am truly sorry for the lack of posts this week. Things had gotten quite hectic and I ended up having a busy week overall. It was fun, entertaining, stressful at times, and ultimately quite exhausting. I’ve finally just now gotten the opportunity to get it all written down. Hopefully this will fill you all in to how crazy (yet awesome) my week was.

First off, I worked all of last week at my lovely archenemy school: Bishopsford. Now, I don’t want to sound too much like a broken record or continue to bash this school on my blog. Okay, so there are a lot of students in the school that have behaviour and learning issues and it is quite a difficult school overall. However, the principal has made significant improvements to the school overall and they have done better in recent test results and GCSEs than ever before. The school is on its way up and I want everyone to know this and not think that this school is a complete waste of time. I spent last week mainly covering a Religious Education teacher who has unfortunately been out sick for a number of weeks. This hasn’t helped the students very much because they’ve had a merry-go-round of teachers coming through and giving them book work to do. I ended up being booked for last week and this week to cover all of her classes. I’m hoping that this brings a bit more consistency to the students. One of the biggest issues they face in that school is the fact that it gets judged quickly. Teachers come in from different agencies and have difficult days in the school and immediately cast a judgment. Most of them refuse to ever go back and therefore Bishopsford becomes this school where there are constantly new teachers going in and out. Through my experiences over the last week in the classes there are a ton of amazing students at this school. A lot of kids want to do the work and are quite creative as well. It was a cool experience being able to walk through the hallways and having kids say hello to me and I get to know their names as well. The familiarity helps in controlling some of their classroom behaviour and it builds a bit more trust when I have certain students. Although I’m still not going to be there for the long haul it’s nice to know that if I go back for certain days that at least I’ll still know a lot of the students there. The week itself went really well overall and I won’t get into a ton of specifics about each class but I had a lot of good ones and a few bad ones but great experiences overall. As I said before I’m back at Bishopsford Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday next this week covering the same classes and I actually get to plan the lessons which is pretty cool so we’ll see how that all goes.

The academic side of my life last week as pretty consistent in terms of location but my social life was all over the place! On Monday I realized that the show that I really wanted to see (Krapp’s Last Tape) was closing over the coming week-end so I impromptu bought a ticket and attended the show Tuesday night. I posted a review the next day so please have a look at that for more details about my thoughts.

On Wednesday night I attended the England-France friendly match at Wembley Stadium. As it my second England match I opted not to bring my camera and pay a bit more attention to the match itself. Unfortunately it was quite a bad match indeed. Fabio Capello (England Manager) called up a lot of young players for this match to get some first team experience. As a result they had a lot of problems meshing on the pitch and were outplayed consistently all evening. It was quite cold and raining a bit as well. It got to the point where I was just getting frustrated by the whole deal and left in the 75^th minute. It was nice to attend another football match but hopefully the next one will be a bit better in terms of a result.

Thursday night I attended the Protocol Winter Travel Evening. It was an event held in a pub in central London on Chancery Lane where different tour companies attended and talked about their services. They had a ton of flyers available (of which I took many) and I got a free drink and entered into a raffle. Although I didn’t win anything in the raffle I did win….at a free drink? Sure. Although I don’t think I’ll be heading anywhere specifically just yet it’s nice to have the information for future reference.

Saturday ended up being a really cool day. A couple flatmates and I along with others went on a “Dick Whittington Ale Trail” through the streets of London. These are a series of different pub crawl trails that spread throughout different areas of London. You get a map and a stamp at each pub that you attend and if you get five stamps you trade it in for a t-shirt that commemorates your accomplishment. We ended up taking the Blackfriars Trail which led through the City of London (the old part). We went to a lot of pretty cool and old pubs along the trail, along with a few that were not a part of the trail. I took a few pictures and they’ll go up on Facebook soon.

This week coming up is going to be another pretty crazy week. I’m already booked for Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday in terms of work. I’m also attending a Chelsea match on Tuesday night and a Fulham match this coming Saturday. Busy, busy, busy as per usual but I promise to update a bit more consistently you keep everyone updated!

Cheers and love to you all!!!

Erik

A Bit Of Wisdom

I’m going to take a moment of your time to spread a little bit of wisdom. Since arriving here in the UK I have found it a bit difficult sometimes to really feel at home, mainly based on the incredible distance I am from my actual home. This sometimes becomes very true when I am in the classroom. Classes can go really well for me at times and others can go quite disastrous. Mind you it is usually just a handful of students who cause these situations but I sometimes long for those classrooms that I enjoyed as a high school student myself. Classrooms where students stopped talking immediately when a teacher asked, when we got to work right away when directed, and we learned, asked questions, and were generally non-disruptive. Schools in the UK are just different: they operate differently, students respond to things differently, and they all snicker a bit when they listen to me talk because it is vastly different from the way they talk. Needless to say, it can feel lonely sometimes and this loneliness and turn one to sadness if I’m not careful. Therefore, I have devised a nice little list of ten things that I try to accomplish in my day to add a little happiness and keep me going through some of the more trying times. I share this with you all in the hopes that if you are having a bad day yourself (or want to start a day in a positive way) you can turn to this and it might help you on your way back to happiness. So, here’s my list of ways to brighten your day, enjoy!

1. Acknowledge or say a pleasantry to a complete stranger. I try to acknowledge somebody I don’t know every day. Whether it is on the tube, walking, or on a bus. It could be a “Good Morning” or just a simple head nod, but doing so raises my spirits a little bit. I can’t explain why but it’s nice to be nice I guess. Hopefully it brightens their own day too which becomes a win-win.

2. SMILE! Generally I can seem like a slightly morose person when I’m walking down the street. It’s not that I’m angry or anything but I just don’t have any expression on my face. I find that just by putting a smile (just a slight smile) on my face while walking it just lifts me up a bit and puts me in a good mood. It almost feels like I’m untouchable, which is helpful in the classroom when things get seriously out of hand. I always make an effort to walk into a school grounds with a smile on my face to set the tone for my day.

3. Wake up early. Okay, I’m a teacher and need to be at school early so this is a given. But, on the week-ends I still try to make the effort to wake up as early as possible. I’m at the point in my life where excessive sleeping in makes me feel like I’ve wasted a good portion of the day. There’s a whole world happening out there, why spend it in a dreamland? Plus, there’s something magical about being up when the sun both rises and sets, you feel like that day was truly fulfilling.

4. Maintain a clean living environment. I occasionally let this one slip but I always make the effort to correct it ASAP. When one becomes stressed their living areas tend to become more cluttered because there’s always a distinct lack of caring to put things away. I find that if your living space becomes cluttered and disorganized so can your mind. A nice clean space makes for a nice clean attitude. A little corny but I think it’s true.

5. EAT! And I don’t mean eat to numb the pain. I mean eat properly and often. Too many times in the past have I sacrificed food for time. Nothing helps you get on with your day than eating breakfast, snacking appropriately, having a lunch, and cooking a dinner to enjoy. Food equals energy that will give you the will to press on with your day. If you’re low on energy you’re bound to become sluggish and depressed and that’s just going to make matters worse.

6. Vent when you need to people close to you. I find that when I have my hardest days if I come home and vent it a bit to one of my flatmates I put it more into perspective and it doesn’t feel too bad. It’s insane to try and keep these extreme emotions bottled up and it’s unhealthy too. Just let it all out and you’ll realize that it’s just one day and most of all, that it’s over and you can look forward to a new one.

7. Set weekly goals for yourself. I try my best not to look too far into the future while I’m here. I understand that Christmas break is coming up soon but if all I do is spend my time thinking that far ahead every day will seem so much longer. I try my best just to look towards Friday and the week-end as much as possible. I suggest filling a couple of days with some sort of event. It could be as big as a trip to the theatre or a match (for me anyways) or as simple as a walk. If you work towards those things it breaks your week down into little attainable chunks and makes it a lot easier to get through.

8. Find something you enjoy doing and do it every day. This one sort of ties into the whole weekly goals thing but it’s definitely distinct. During the week for me it gets a bit routine because I really only have a few hours to myself once I get home before I need to get to sleep and start up all over again in the morning. In those few hours though I try to do a bit of writing (blog or otherwise), reading, or just enjoy a cuppa and watch some t.v. By doing these things every day I look forward to them and work towards them, plus they help to sharpen my mind and allow me to express my thoughts in a constructive way.

9. Although this is a cliché, no matter how trying, annoying, stressful, or downright awful you think your day has gone please always remember that there are people in this world who have it a lot worse than you. I hate it when people (myself included) go off about small inconveniences to their days when there are people who would do anything to have them. There’s a lot of injustice in our world and it becomes important not to take them for granted. Sure I have rough days sometimes when I can’t stand some of the kids in my classroom, but at the end of the day it’s putting up with a few brats for a few hours. I have a job, a place to live, and food in my fridge. It’s important not to forget that my days are not so bad when compared to what some people in this world are going through. I try to give back as much as possible to reconcile this as well.

10. No matter what always…ALWAYS remember that tomorrow is a brand new day. Every morning becomes a new chance, a fresh start filled with brand new opportunities, experiences, and people. How cool is that? Take advantage of those opportunities because you never know what they might lead to.

I hope you can take the time to try some of these points, you never know what it could do!

Cheers and Love Always,

Erik