Sixteen weeks + 6

I had absolutely the best day yesterday, no I didn't finish my essay, and right now that doesn't matter I will do it and it will be fine. It's kind of sad really but I got to teach my first lesson, accidentally, so I'm thinking it was better (for me) than knowing I was going to do it. I know you are asking yourselves "how do you accidentally teach a lesson?", "did I trip into it or something?", well no, what you do is arrange to go to Summerhill even though you know Miss Wilson is away for the morning, she arranged for me to still go and help out the cover teachers. Something that was good for me to experience, and good for them as I just might be a help, more so than I probably do with Miss Wilson. Then you get the first cover teacher not to turn up, and the TA (that's Teaching Assistant, if you didn't know) knows that Miss Wilson writes the instructions for the cover teachers on a pad, and then you start the lesson off, because that's the right thing to do, then before you know it, you've taught the whole thing. It was absolutely brilliant, I know I'm a little sad, but this is the whole purpose of the degree, and now I know I really can do it, I got such a buzz, luckily for me, and probably the next two classes their cover teacher did turn up. Will asked who it was and I described her as a very attractive smartly dressed lady with long dark hair and a French accent. Only to be informed by Will that she was Russian, well I'm a history student not a linguist what do I know.

The rest of my day was filled up by lunch, going to the field and taking Ned to the woods. By that time the boys were back from school, Xander tried to sneak through the house and make me jump, it seems to be one of his main goals at the moment, sneaking up on me. It's an odd phase to be going through, but so far I've managed to detect him every time, still I'm sure he'll get me one day soon. Then as a treat for Neil I took him to the Wall Heath Tavern for dinner, he again had the beef and ale pie with battered chips, he keeps saying he'll try something different but he never does. I had a nice juicy rare steak, which was rarer one end, still I know it's hard to get that right, I don't have steak very often but every now and then my carnivorous side rears it's ugly head. I do like my meat, it really surprised everyone when I became a vegetarian for 18 months. Still that was a long time ago, Will tried it earlier in the year, he is funny about meat, won't eat lamb or duck on moral grounds (not sure about the morality of eating duck, but still), so he tried to be a vegetarian, he lasted a week and a half, until the first time we went to McDonalds. I was quite glad as a tin of hot-dogs (his food of choice) is 50p the vegetarian substitutes were £2, so I could see his vegetarianism bankrupting me.

Anyway so , yesterday was a good day, today I am going to knuckle down and get on with this essay, I have all morning to go at it, then after lunch I'm off to Summerhill again. Miss Wilson is again away today, but I'm sure I'll be of some help to the cover teacher today, as it's the year 10 lesson and they are studying Northern Ireland. Will says the kids all love a cover teacher as you mess around and don't do anything, I'm not sure that Miss Wilson would find that acceptable, it's interesting seeing it all from both sides of the line. That cack Fybogel stuff hasn't had any effect yet, so I'm guessing I'll be onto two a day for the second week, mind you it has only been two days, I'm just not very patient am I. Right I'm off for coffee number 2 and to find out where my kids have got to.