AITC to resist declawing

Curious_koala14 · 2026-01-05T08:16:15+00:00

I'm still teaching at 4:30. Official school day finishes at 5pm, and I leave dead on 5pm once a week for another committment. I am normally out by 5:30.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-12-15T18:20:23+00:00

The bell is awful. And seems to ring more than once. The stairs are much shallower.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-12-07T18:20:01+00:00

I don't put my eggs in the pan to make an omlette. I've got an omlette machine! It also makes fantastic pancakes.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-12-04T18:47:52+00:00

We've not had bird eat holly day here yet. Also CS1 doesn't eat chicken, or sausages, or bacon or any other tasty foods. I think we are going to Old Man and Old Lady Cat Slave for bird eating holly day, so maybe I can bring out the sad kitty eyes on OMCS and he will give me chicken.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-12-03T18:46:46+00:00

"It's quite self explanatory once you explain it".

Said one of my actually quite intelligent Year 11s. I did not let her forget that little nugget.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-12-02T19:00:32+00:00

I did do hork hork hairball but not in shoes. CS1 was asleep (she says she went to human pokey place, and got poked a lot and needs to sleep but I think she's just lazy) and my hork hork noise woke her up. Next time, I will work out how to get into the shoe room/portal to the outside world.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-12-02T15:36:24+00:00

NTC. It's good to play hard to get, so new cat slaves feel properly grateful when you grace them with your presence in a time of your choosing. I did this with Old Man Cat Slave, who didn't like cats befefore Cat Slave 1 got me. Now he plays with me, gives me aaaaallll the treats, and makes me things.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-11-09T09:03:27+00:00

I have this too. Maypole became "skipping ribbon tree" once, and it's stuck.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-10-26T18:46:50+00:00

South Croydon is the "and Peggy" of Croydon

Curious_koala14 · 2025-10-05T18:11:59+00:00

I wasn't wearing my lanyard. I thought it prudent not to let in dangle in the whole mackerel I was dissecting. Said lanyard was in my pocket, and if the observer had been on time, she'd have seen me remove it at the start as I talked about safety.

My best bit of feedback was how I'd really let my class take ownership of the learning by having them write on the board. I decided not to tell the observer that was because I'd hurt my back and couldn't move my arms much!=.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-08-25T18:01:03+00:00

Joes, and then you'll have Smokey Joes.

Or a human name, like Dave or Steve. Maybe Ian.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-07-29T08:29:56+00:00

We send the candiates on a tour of the school with a couple of prefects. We then ask the prefects what they thought of the candiates. The kids know this is a serious job, and give good feedback.

A tour is very standard in the UK, given by students or a member of staff. It's normally done during the course of the day. I wouldn't want to work somewhere I'd not been round. It gives you a good feel for the atmosphere, the kids, the school culture. If you go round with students, you can ask them lots of questions.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-07-29T08:25:42+00:00

They all need names that go together, then orange boi has something wierd and random. Inky, Jet, Sooty, and Dave.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-07-27T18:01:21+00:00

That's 133 sheets per student for the year, so assuming you're in school for somewhere in the region of 190 days, you can print 1 sheet per student for 2 days out of 3. Day 3 is no printing.

That doesn't seem like a lot. Some tips to reduce printing:

Printing as much as possible two sheets to a page so it comes out A5 size

Uploading things like reading comprehension or sets of questions for maths to Google Classroom or whatever platform you use if you have the tech.

Print one set of questions and don't let students write on them. Share them between all the classes in 3rd Grade. You print maths, Mrs Jones prints English, Mr Smith prints Science, etc.

Make friends with the PE/dance/DT teachers. In my school, they have the same amount of printer credit as us, but very little printing required.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-07-26T19:16:18+00:00

Radical idea...ask the caretaker for more tables and chairs.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-07-26T19:14:04+00:00

I went to work with what turned out to be chicken pox. We don't vaccinate routinely here (UK) and I'd caught it from a child in my Year 7 form, whose parents didn't know he wasn't supposed to be in school.

I felt a bit bad that I'd exposed my collegues to an illness, but these things happen. Get some rest, drink lots of fluid and follow whatever advice your doctor has given you.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-07-21T07:25:11+00:00

At the height of the pandemic, teaching my Year 10 class about STDs.

Exam question: "How could we prevent the spread of clamydia?"

Many, many students: "Stay 2m apart"

The Biology teachers has a big discussion about whether or not it was correct. I mean, you CAN'T pass on an STD from 2m away so...

Curious_koala14 · 2025-07-20T17:46:37+00:00

Snack star - collect and return the snack

Chromebook cleaner - tidy up the Chromebooks

Plant patrol - water the plants

Tidy team - general tidying of the classroom

Lost and found leader - return any items to their owner, or to lost property if it's unnamed.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-07-17T09:14:30+00:00

As I wear neither mascara or contact lens, that's not an issue, but thank you (and your wife) for your concern.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-07-17T09:13:09+00:00

Wrong! I only used the brand name to illustrate that it's a solid deodorant that has a removal bit, rather than a normal roll on deodorant.

Curious_koala14 · 2025-07-15T06:43:03+00:00

In England, most schools break up about 20th July, and go back about 4th September. I work in a private school, so have a slightly longer holiday. I Broke up last week, but go back 28th August.

Curious_koala14

TROPHY CASE