Fandom and Phantom in London and Other Weekend Adventures

Hello friends and family!

So after my insane week I had a pretty fantastic weekend to make it all better.  School is open again tomorrow and since the fire was limited to one end of the school my normal routine should not be affected very much at all.  It is still a horrible thing that happened but it does not really add stress to my life at this point now that all of my students are safe.

On Friday I ran a bunch of important errands that I had not gotten around to taking care of yet and in the evening I went out to a pub in my neighbourhood for a social with all of the Canadian teachers in Southampton who came over with the same agency as me.  It was really nice to meet them and I found out that most of them live in the same building as me!  Crazy!  One of them even went through both Trent and Queen’s in the same program as me and we had several classes together over our five years of university.  It certainly is a small world!  Lots of us were from Ontario with three from Halifax and one from Alberta. 

On Thursday night when I found out that I would have an extra day off this weekend I contacted my friend Ketsia (who I met at Queen’s when we were in the B.Ed. musical) and we started planning an epic day in London for Saturday.   I found some great tickets for Phantom of the Opera on the West End for only £24 each so we scooped those up pretty quickly!  I think buying them the day before did help price-wise.

I started the day at 7:30am walking to Southampton Central and boarding the 8:00am train to London Waterloo.  I was in London by shortly after 9:00 and I went down to brave the Tube on my own for the first time.  

Laura taught me well the first time and there were a lot of helpful signs so I had no problem getting on the right line.  I got up to Ketsia at Euston and we walked straight to King’s Cross to see Platform 9 ¾.  

As you can see from the photos it is all very official with staff and a gift shop.  We waited in line for over half an hour before choosing our house scarves and taking our turns going through the enchanted wall.  The man whose job it was to put scarves on people and to direct the crowd was adamant that we had to come up with enthusiastic poses – he was very funny when interacting with the crowd. 

Next we went over to North Gower Street to see the outside of 221B Baker Street from BBC Sherlock.  The door is replaced during filming but the rest of the building and adjacent café are exactly the same as they are when Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are there filming the brilliant series.  I was fangirling out big-time!!  The flat was to let as well so Kristy (my little sis) and I have discussed moving in so that when they decide to film Series 4, we will be there!

After this we made our way down to the real 221B Baker Street (which I realize is not actually real since Sherlock is a fictional character, but anyway…) to see the Sherlock Holmes Museum.   We waited for almost an hour outside since the building is quite small and they only let a few people in at a time.  

We took turns in the gift shop while we waited and before we knew it we had made it to the front door. 

It was so cool inside!  It was set up like it was actually Sherlock and Watson’s house in some areas but there was also a floor of wax figures of characters from the stories and artefacts from various stories on one floor.  It seemed really real.  It is definitely work the £8 admission for anyone who is a Holmes fan!  I took a ton of pictures so if you want to see the rest look on Facebook :)

Finally we went down to the Baker St. Tube station and went down to Picadilly Circus because it was almost time for the show!  

On the way I saw Benedict and some Sherlock Holmes silhouettes.  Perfect photo op!

We picked up our tickets at the box office and stopped at the Nero café across the street from the theatre for a quick sandwich since by this point we were STARVING. 

Since I had been waiting for probably a decade to see Phantom I was exploding with excitement by the time we went back to find our seats.  I took a few pictures inside the theatre even though we really were not supposed to just so that I could remember the moment. 

As soon as the initial auction scene began I was completely enraptured by the magic of the story and the music.  I knew every word and note that was coming up from watching recorded performances and the film but seeing it all live was an incomparably enthralling experience. 

I cried at the end of both acts, during “All I Ask of You” and in the final scene from “pitiful creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known?” onward.  I felt emotionally spent afterwards.  It was beautiful and heart-shattering and frightening and perfect and everything that I had ever imagined it would be.  Christine, the Phantom and Raoul had brilliant singing voices.  The costumes, sets and effects were world class.  Geronimo Rauch who played the Phantom portrayed him as a perfect blend of sinister genius, seductive captor and tortured soul, with all the complexity that makes me simultaneously love, pity and fear him.  I would honestly see it a million times over. 

After this we went to M&M World down the street since Ketsia was determined to find the new dark chocolate peanut variety and I wanted to see what the place was like.  I ended up with a bag of chocolate in all of the different shades of blue.  My fav!

By the early evening we were exhausted so we went back down to the Underground to go our separate ways and to find the trains back to our home towns.  All in all, it was an emotionally and mentally refreshing but physically exhausting day!

Today I went to church in the morning and then went out to lunch with a bunch of people to a pub called the Red Lion which is in a building that dates back to the 12^th century.  It was really cool inside!  It is supposed to be the most haunted building in the area but I did not see any ghosts during the meal.  Apparently Henry V once held a trial for treachery there in 1415 and the three men were convicted and later executed down the road by the bargate.  It was definitely full of character and was decorated with several suits of armour.

 

We dug into a Sunday roast which was delicious but included A LOT of meat!!  I had chicken breast which was huge in itself and was also filled with stuffing and covered with thick slabs of bacon and accompanied by a side of crispy potatoes and veg and a whole lot of gravy.  

It tasted so good but I definitely did not finish it!  I don’t think I will even need to eat supper tonight after all of that. 

Now it’s back to reality and I have been planning for the week ahead this afternoon and evening. 

On that note, I should get back to it!

I am feeling more and more like I am where I am supposed to be and I cannot wait to see what crazy adventures month two in England will bring!

-Heather <3

Teaching Tales-Week 3: Things Are Heating Up!

Hi everyone!

Maybe it’s too soon for fire jokes, but since none of you reading this were involved in the situation, I figure it’s okay.  The first two thirds of my week were fairly unremarkable.  I was busy but I felt like I had a much better handle on things than I did during Week 2.  We had ‘Open Evening’ on Wednesday night so I was at the school for over 12 hours that day since I live so far away and there was no way I could go home between the end of school at 3:00 and the beginning of the event at 6:00.  Year 6s and parents from the town came to tour the school because they have to apply to whatever secondary school they want their kids to go to in November.  We basically had to explain what our program was about, be sociable and generally “sell” the school.  I got home last night at 9:00 feeling completely shattered and then got up and went to school today, expecting another routine day.  I was certainly wrong about that!

My Year 9 Literacy and Year 7 Science lessons went as usual.  I was just about to grab a Weetabix bar out of my bag at break time when the fire alarm went off.  We went out to the tennis courts out back and I lined my mentor group up in alphabetical order to make sure that everyone was there.  Some of the kids started saying that the smelled smoke, but I assured them that it was just a drill and that we would be back inside in a few minutes.  At this point I was a bit perturbed that a fire drill had interrupted my break and that I would not have time to set up for my next class like I thought I would.  This is until I noticed a smoky haze coming from the far end of the school building.  Shortly after this our Head of House informed us that it was a real fire and that we had to move the kids into the back football field to get away from the smoke. 

Before long we knew that the fire was serious and fire trucks were beginning to arrive.  Before too long there were over 30 firefighters working on combating the blaze!  The kids were asking me millions of questions like “Will we be sent home?” and “What started the fire?” but I really did not know anything other than the fact that the school was burning.  None of the students in my group were panicking which was great.  However, there was an ambulance with medical staff on the field with us for students who needed any assistance. 

I spent the waiting time chatting to the students in my group and the two groups on either side to try to keep the mood a bit lighter.  Despite the gravity of the situation it was kind of nice to have some time to talk to them without having to worry about staying on task in lessons and it was nice to meet some of the older students that I don’t get to teach.

Side note: I still think it’s funny that when almost any of the students meet me for the first time they tell me that they like my accent and/or ask if I am American! 

Eventually we were told that we were in full evacuation mode and that the students had to call their parents and either show us proof through text or a phone call that they had permission to go home.  Most of the students at the school live nearby so as long as they had a house key they were able to walk back.  That process was crazy since I was surrounded by students calling my name and holding cell phones out to me so that I could get the word from their guardians.  The noise and confusion around certainly did not create the best environment for phone conversations!  The few students that were left went in the school’s mini-bus that is used for class trips with a few teachers and were dropped off at home or at the home of emergency contacts nearby.  The teachers knocked on doors to make sure that the students were able to get into the house and had some place to go and eventually everyone was home safe and sound.   

Once the kids were all safe I started worrying about how I was going to get my belongings out of the school.  It was raining out and really cold so I was pretty miserable and stressed after the whole ordeal.  We were allowed to go into the Tech block since it is separate from the rest of the school to wait for more instructions.  The Head teacher came in to tell us that we were not allowed into any other areas of the building and then I started to freak out a bit.  I did not have my wallet or keys to my flat so I could not go home or really go anywhere at all.  However, many of my colleagues, seeing how upset I was offered me a place to stay for the night so I knew I would not be out on the street.  Over the walkie-talkies a couple of the teachers tried to negotiate with those in charge of the operation to see if I could get my stuff out since the area of the building where my classroom is was not connected to the wing the was burning and was nowhere near the actual fire. 

Finally, the head IT guy at the school who was also a fire marshal brought me into my classroom for literally ten seconds to grab my stuff and get out.  After this I was able to text the other teacher that I drive to and from Southampton with as he was still driving students home on the bus to make plans for getting home.  He told me to wait a little longer before getting a train so I hung out with the other teachers that were still at school until he came back.  It turned out that he knew the fire-fighter who was in charge of everything so he was able to get his car out from the area that was right near the fire even though the road was blocked off.  About three hours after the fire started we were on our way back home.

When I got back to my flat I made a cup of tea, watched coverage of the incident on ITV News at 6:00 and read what local newspapers had to say.  Based on what various media is reporting the fire started in the boiler room and burned up the roof of the sports hall but was contained to that area.  There is some water damage from the fire-fighters' hoses in that area as well but the school should be open again on Monday.  I have an unexpected long weekend since school will be closed tomorrow and although it is not worth the cost I am happy to have an extra day to do some planning and to run some errands. 

I cannot believe that just as I was starting to feel less frantic a disaster like this happened but I am trying to see it all as part of the adventure that I am starting on this year.  I am just glad that everyone escaped safely and that the fire remained fairly contained.

That is my craziest story of the week!  There is never a dull moment in my life over here.

Love you all!

-Heather <3

The First Full Week

Hello all!

I case any of you had any doubt, I am still alive and well!!  This week was so insane.  I do not have time to get into every little detail but basically adjusting to:

-A new school system (with millions of new acronyms, new curriculum and new assessment types/levels)

-A program that is fairly new to the school and always being further developed (a project based learning Middle Years Program)

-A new school (with different sanctions and operations and that I still don’t fully know my way around)

-New students (who are about 4-5 years younger than the students I am used to teaching)

-New staff (who are all lovely but there are lots of new names/positions to get to know)

-Teaching new subjects that I have not taught before (mainly Maths and a Literacy intervention course that incorporates geography)

AND

-The new experience of being an actual teacher with my own classes in general…

all combined made me feel like I was frantically running around without a spare minute to take a breath all week.

HOWEVER, I have not for a second regretting taking the position which makes things easier.  God has given me the endurance, energy and peace that I have needed which I am infinitely grateful for.

One of my major stresses coming into this week was that I have to teach a Year 7 Maths class three times a fortnight. However, I learned that one of the teachers from the Maths department has the same class twice a fortnight so I have a good amount of support and the kids can ask him any difficult questions if I ever get confused.  He and I met to plan my first three lessons last week and we have been catching up after school to talk about how each class went.

I always have at least one teaching assistant in with that class which is really helpful since there are several students with Special Educational/behavioural needs.  I have taught them twice so far and I am feeling more confident about the whole thing now but I was pretty apprehensive to begin with!!  It is only a class of 21 and they are students that struggle more in Math so the lessons are differentiated to be more basic than the ones that some of the students in the year will get.  I am sure that the concepts will not be too difficult but teaching styles and methods in Math are very different from those in the Arts and Humanities so I am still learning about what works.

Another big stress in my week was my Year 9 Literacy intervention class.  I have them twice a week for a one hour lesson and they are the only students that I teach who are not Year 7s.  I had been given some resources by the lady who had taught the class before but a lot of the things that she had given me these students had done in other classes.  Since they are the thirteen students in the year with the most need for extra literacy help I think last year teacher must have pooled resources a bit too much, which left me with a bunch of lessons and assignments that they had already done. To make matters worse, the lady who had taught the class in the past fell on her way to work on Monday and cracked her head open and broke her arm so she has been away from school recovering from that accident. 

Thankfully, the teacher who has been taking on some of her duties over the course of this week helped me to develop a plan for this half term since he teaches history to the same students and has taught them in previous years as well.  We ended up designing a unit on Canada and I will incorporate basic literacy-based activities into each lesson with a final project at the end which they have to complete on one province or territory.  During our second lesson together this past week I introduced the topic and the students seemed quite enthusiastic, it will just be a matter of getting these reluctant learners to complete the tasks that I set out for them and to stay focussed in class.  They are going to be a challenge since their needs are so diverse but I have talked to several teachers who know them well and have taught them in the past and I will continue to get advice from them about what strategies work for each student.  Since Special Education and Literacy are my top two teaching-subject passions and are what I have trained for most in my journey to become a teacher I think this class is going to be a positive albeit exhausting challenge.

My regular of Year 7 students are very enthusiastic, but at this age (the equivalent of Grade 6 in Canada) they are also very much in need of my approval which is something that I am not used to having worked with older teenagers during most of my teaching experience.  They constantly want to know if their writing looks neat, if their ideas are good, if their drawing looks nice and if they are following my instructions to the letter.  It makes me feel like they need me and appreciate my opinion but it is also drives me a bit crazy at times since they are so worried about doing things the “right” way and all seem to seek individual attention from me at the same time.  They are so sweet and cute though.  There is only one student who has been quite an issue behaviour-wise but I genuinely think he will come around eventually based on the interactions we have had since school started (disciplinary and otherwise).  I just have to keep my management of his behaviour consistent and to continue to communicate the fact that I want him to do better and believe that he can. 

We got the Year 7s started into their projects this week for Science, Tech (both food and design), Numeracy, Literacy, Art and Humanities.  Each of the projects falls under either the theme of “How would my life be different if I lived in Japan?” or “What makes a hero?” and the themes and projects will switch every half-term.  Teaching all of these different subjects is stretching me but I just keep reminding myself that if I was teaching Grade 7 or 8 in Canada I would be teaching the same subjects but without all of the support that I get from the subject specialists in this program and from my teaching team. 

The big event this week will be the “Open Evening” on Wednesday during which prospective students/parents in Years 5 and 6 come to tour the school and see what we do.  It is a promotion strategy since we are an academy and we have all been trying to organize our rooms and get bulletin boards together so that all of our displays look attractive and relevant.  The actual night will not be stressful since I will just be in my room talking with people who wander in, but I do still have some organizing to do in my room since the lady who taught in there before me left a bunch of stuff that I have not fully sorted through yet, considering the fact that I was hired so late and I did not have time to work on my room before the first week of school. 

The next big thing that I will have to be thinking about now is assessing where students are at in each subject and beginning to track their progress.  The achievement levels and criteria are different here so I will gradually be learning what numbers and letters look like in practice with the help of the other teacher in my department.  These assessments will inform how we will differentiate instruction for students, especially in core subjects and will lead up to half term reports. 

There will always be new things to learn but as I get a handle on more and more of the little things then I will continue to feel less and less lost.  For now I am holding on to the fact that my colleagues never fail to be eager to help me and to offer to assist me with any needs that I have and that my kids really seem to like me.  I still feel like I bit of a novelty in the school and the students in all different years want to ask me what it is like in Canada and to hear my accent which they seem to think is the coolest thing ever (which seems so funny to me!).  These are the kinds of things that break up my frantic moments and make my days more enjoyable.

The community at my church continues to be a massive blessing to me.  Specifically this week I went to the first evening in a five-week Newcomers dinner/Bible study at the home of a couple in the church which was so refreshing after a crazy Monday!  There were 11 of us who were new to the church from all different places and backgrounds and it was so lovely to get a chance to connect.  We were made to feel so welcome in the home where we met and it was just an all-around lovely time.  I am looking forward to week two tomorrow night!!

Also I went to pudding and pyjama party with a bunch of girls from the church last night and got to meet some more people which was just what I needed after the week I had.  We ended up watching Tangled which of course made me super happy (and made me want to watch the whole series of Chuck, as listening to Zach Levi`s voice always does).  Disney is always a winner with me!

That’s all I have time to write about for now, but I hope that your curiosity has been sufficiently satisfied!

-Heather <3

First Week as a Teacher!!

Hello sweet friends and family!!

I have had an insane week but I will try to give you a bit of a summary!  It’s still hard for me to believe that I am a real teacher/career woman –I’ve signed a contract and I will be getting my first paycheque at the end of next week!   Five years of university and I am finally doing what I have been working toward for so long.  Crazy!

Tuesday and Wednesday were INSET (IN SErvice Training) days at the school so I was just meeting with the other staff to go over vision and goals for the year, sanctions and procedures and needs of certain students and to plan in our learning areas.  These days were crazy and overwhelming as there were so many details about daily school procedures and teaching focuses for me to learn on top of preparing for my students’ arrival on Thursday.  Since I got the job at the last minute these were the first days that I was able to set up my classroom and meet with my teaching team to get ready for the first couple of days.    

All of the staff who I met were very friendly and helpful and were always happy to answer my millions of questions.  This continues to be a huge blessing but I am doing a lot of learning on my feet as well! 

When Thursday came, the first group of students that I met was my mentor group who I will meet with every day before the morning break for the rest of the year.  Each house in the school is split into several of these groups all lead by a teacher who is associated with the house.  I have 25 students in the group, a few from each year group (7-11).  That morning we had time to hand out planners and timetables, talk about school rules and uniform policy and to get to know each other a bit.  The girls in Year 11 helped me to know where to pick things up and volunteered to give the Year 7’s a tour of the school so that they would know their way to their other classes which was really nice.  That group is going to be really lovely and I am excited to do more getting-to-know-you activities during mentor time in the coming week so that we can get more comfortable with each other. 

In the afternoon I met my regular Year 7 class for the first time!  I will have the same group of 23 for their Literacy, Art, Tech, Science, Humanities and Maths lessons so I am going to get to know them very well this year.  We had a Literacy lesson that we had to deliver during this time and since our team of four teachers has to stay at the same spot with all four classes of Year 7s I did not have much time to just chat with the students and get to know about their interests.  I hope to do some sort of fun activity with them on Monday morning before we get down to business so that I can start to connect with them more.

   

They were pretty chatty and excited since it was getting to the end of their first day so I was glad that the lesson included a lot of discussion and group work!  They all seem like good kids but it feels a bit strange because they also seem really little to me since they are only 11 and I am more used to teaching 15-17 year olds.  It’s going to be a bit of an adjustment that way.  When they first heard me speak, one of them thought that I was Irish and then another asked if I was American.  It was cute!  They are still at the age where a lot of them want to call me over to show me the work that they have done so that I will tell them that they have done a good job which is pretty cute too :)

On Friday I found out in the morning (through my school network account) that I had to cover a Year 9 English class but I had no idea where to find the cover work so I had to go find one of the other teachers in the department to help me at the start of the lesson while the kids went wild.  Once I found the USB stick and the sheet with instructions for the lesson it went okay but I was pretty stressed out at first!  After that I went to meet with my mentor class and we talked about who Brunel was (since our house is Brunel) and started brainstorming what the house motto, logo and anthem should be so it was pretty low-key.  

Next I had my Year 7s for two lessons in a row.  The first lesson was Art and we began talking to the whole year group about their first Tech/Art project of creating a Japanese restaurant.  They will be combining food tech, graphic design and artistic elements over this half term to create the end result.  The students seemed VERY excited about everything which was really encouraging.  The Art project that we started was Japanese block printing that will be used to decorate the restaurant space.  We introduced the art to them and gave them example photos to inspire them as they began sketching their own designs.  They are going to start working on the design and food parts of the project on Monday during Tech class.

During the second half of the time we were back down in my regular classroom and we began a lesson on the attributes of a good learner as a foundation to the project based learning Year 7 program.  The kids worked well but they seemed pretty excited that it was almost the weekend!   I had a prep period during the last lesson and after school the four Year 7 teachers went to meet with the Tech teacher who will be helping us with design lessons on Monday to make sure that everything was ready.  

I was happy to get home after that as I was SUPER exhausted!!

I am going to be very tired and stressed over the next little while as I get the hang of the routine of the school day.  Also I am not used to collaborating so much with other teachers in my lesson planning but the nature of the program that I am teaching in requires constant planning with others so that we are all on the same page in the department and so that we receive the assistance we need from subject specialists.  In a way this makes planning easier but in another it makes things more complicated but I’m sure I will adjust after a few weeks of working with the team.

One super huge blessing is that I have found another teacher in the school who lives very close to me and who is willing to give me a lift to and from school each day!  No more trains and walking for ages!!  I am just going to pay him cash for gas every week and my commute will be much shorter and cheaper!  He is really easy to talk to as well so I think it is going to be a really good arrangement. 

Overall I am feeling really positive about my first week and I think I am going to have a good year.  There is still a lot of learning and adjustment time ahead of me but that is the nature of the job!  I must say I am glad that I am going to be in one place rather than all over the place doing supply.  I am excited to get to know my kiddies and my colleagues better in the coming weeks.

Please keep praying for me and everything is going to continue to be exhausting and stressful!

-Heather <3

UK Cultural Differences: Part 2

Hi Everyone!

I feel like I haven't blogged in ages but my week was super crazy!  I will try to have a post about my first week up sometime this weekend to keep you all updated.  For now, here are a few more little differences that I have noticed since moving here.  There are a few glimpses into my teaching life in this list as well...

Enjoy!

1. Traffic lights turn from red to yellow to green (instead of straight from red to green) as well as turning yellow before they turn red.

2. Most cars are just little (because fuel is so expensive - £ 1.40 or $2.30 per litre in my area).  I have not seen any SUVs and have had hardly a glimpse of the typical North American family mini-van.  Loretta (my little Toyota Echo) would fit right in here!  Except for the steering wheel being on the wrong side… 

3. Cars have pretty much all standard manual-shift transmissions.   I told some friends that many people in Canada marvel my ability to drive a standard car and they thought it was pretty funny. 

4. There are no STOP signs.  In Southampton they are mostly substituted with traffic lights, but elsewhere in the UK they would have roundabouts instead.

5. ‘Come Dine with Me’ is on TV every day.  I watch it while I am making dinner and I am kind of getting addicted.

6. TV shows start at any random time, not just on the hour or half hour. 

7. Instead of frozen concentrated juice there are big bottles of “fruit squash” which is just liquid fruit juice concentrate that you then add to as much water as you want. 

8. Milk mostly comes in plastic jugs (like convenience stores in Canada sometimes have) instead of cartons of 4L bags.

9. Apples are insanely expensive.  The cheapest I have bought them for is £1.50 for four, which works out to about $0.63 each!!  Needless to say, I hardly ever buy them. :(

10. Most British students just call female teachers “miss” in the classroom.  When a teacher refers to another teacher in front of the students it’s the same.  During the school day I don’t have an actual name!

11. Schools actually have houses like in Harry Potter and the students wear ties according to the colour of their house!  In my school we have house assemblies every week and will have house events and competitions throughout the year (no Quidditch or magical duels though, unfortunately).  I am in charge of a group of students in house Brunel and the other two houses are Newton and Darwin.

12. Pretty much every school has uniforms and they are fairly strictly inspected.  I am supposed to phone home if any of the students in my house group is missing part of their uniform.

13. British people will say “you alright?” in the same way that we would ask someone “how are you?” as a greeting.  Don’t feel self-conscious – it’s not because you look like you’re not alright! 

You shall hear more about my first week of teaching soon!

-Heather <3