Whew! What a week.

I've survived my first few days of being a teacher in a British school. Of course, there were no kids involved. They come into the picture on Monday. I'm actually looking forward to that.

It is quite different here. As I understand it, St. Peter's is a bit behind where it should be as far as having set rules and regulations. That makes it a bit difficult for new teachers coming in (and, truthfully, the people who have been there a while). But I am, by nature, a positive person. Things will work out! The only thing I can control is the running of my classroom, and I have ideas in place, ready to implement. Now, if I could only have the actual room ready.

It's a mess! The previous music teacher apparently had a lax attitude about being on time, being organized, and classroom management. I've had several people tell me he was worth his weight in...nothing. He's been described to me as a "prat" (English term for a-hole, I'm assuming) and as a fu**wit. (!) Seriously, people used those very words!!

In other words, I don't have huge shoes to fill. That's nice...but he left that room in a horrible state. It's not ready for Monday. Good thing I won't actually be teaching in there on Monday. Another good thing--I received some partitions to use to hide the worst of the mess. Oy vey.

So it's a bit chaotic...but everyone seems pretty supportive and friendly. I've been the subject of some interest, mainly in terms of the following question: "Why'd you want to come to England?!?" This question always follows, "Oh, right, I'm from California."

: )

Seem to be impressing the boss already. My natural positiveness came across yesterday, prompting a fellow teacher to whisper "Oh, well done, he's impressed!" to me. Today, the head teacher (fellow by the name of David) noticed that the American was the first to catch on to the presenter's raised hand. In the states, the raised hand commonly used to get kids (or a large group of teachers) quiet. I guess not so much in England (or maybe just St. Peter's) because at first I felt a bit foolish with my hand up in the air...until I saw David pointing and grinning at me and giving me the thumbs up.

So I have a weekend to get ready to roar. Monday I'll meet with my mentor group (I'm a mentor to a group of kids--actually I share a group with another teacher) for two hours. Other than that, I'm not actually teaching any classes, as I have a lot of preps on Monday. Next week, when things are back to normal, I'll have one class that day.

Craziness! But...I'm in England. : )