It's that time of the year again: coursework nightmare time. In England, in order to get a grade in English, students have 2 years to complete a GCSE (general certificate of secondary education...or some such British nonsense) which consists of 5 written pieces of coursework, 3 speaking and listening tasks and an exam (or three exams, depending on what they are studying). My Year 11s have finished everything but exams and they will be done on June 4 at the latest. In order to finish the work and get it ready to send off to the exam board, all the pieces have to me read, marked, annotated and given a final score. I have 29 students, it takes about 20-30 minutes to properly mark a piece of work and that means...29 times 5...times 30...carry the 2....well, it's a hell of a lot of hours marking.
But, long story short (or not really short at all actually), all the work has been read, marked, annotated and graded and sent off. It is the wind down period now and it is the time when we finally get to lighten up a bit and relax. Thank you Jebus.
Rehearsals for Annie are going well and I am loving being part of the show. The countdown is already on until the show goes up!
Speaking of countdowns...1 week until Norway!
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Recently
I am rather crap at getting back into the routine of updating. Hey ho. To business. '|???
\\\\\\\\\ (that was the cat. Poppy the cat says hello to you all.)
I am one need-to-spend-an-entire-paycheck for: no-bloody-leg-room (ironic since I barely scrape 5' tall), plastic-covered-mush-disguised-as-food, seated-next-to-the-screaming-child-for-8-nonstop-hours with the inconsiderate-8-foot-tall-giant-in-the-seat-ahead-shoving-his-seat-into-my-face, airplane ticket away from buying a damn canoe to get back to Canada. If a (albeit fictitious) man can survive for months at sea with a tiger, I'm sure the Atlantic will be no problem for me. I haven't been able to buy my ticket to get home for the summer yet and I am not a happy camper. I know I should have bought it months ago--I have this fight with myself every year and decide that future Jessica can worry about it. Well, future Jessica is now present Jessica and present Jessica is going to be broke for the second half of May so I can get home. It will be nostalgic, living on a university diet. I wonder if Mr Noodles come in any different flavours now?
Ok, so not altogether thrilled with the cost of airtravel now and don't think the QEII will be any cheaper so I'll have to bite the proverbial (bloody expensive) bullet. On re-reading that, I am realising I am adopting British slang a bit. I'm sure Carleton County will beat that out of me this summer and I will return a red neck--linguistically and literally, I'm sure; sunburns are a'comin'.
I do have some exciting events to look forward to: Tom and I are heading to Norway at the end of May to visit Sarah and Kristian. It will be Tom's first visit and his first time meeting Kristian and I am excited to get back.
The other exciting bit of news--and the one I am probably most excited about and this will dominate many of my blog updates (if I ever become a regular updater again--is there a prune juice for bloggers?) from now on: I have been asked to become stage manager for the theatre company I volunteer with on their upcoming production of Annie. Quite excited for this! I am completely new to stage managing (directing We Will Rock You was fun and a great experience but, who am I kidding, complete and utter omnishambles by the end of it) and I am looking forward to the experience.
So, I leave you on that note, faithful readers. When I update again, I may have in my possession a stupidly ridiculous ticket home for the summer. Speaking of ...I have decided to start a charity. It is the Canadians-need-to-get-home-for-the-summer fund. Completely not for profit and a very worthy cause. You know you want to. This charity doesn't include TV adverts that make you feel guilty and want to change the channel. Really, it is a win-win for everyone involved.
\\\\\\\\\ (that was the cat. Poppy the cat says hello to you all.)
I am one need-to-spend-an-entire-paycheck for: no-bloody-leg-room (ironic since I barely scrape 5' tall), plastic-covered-mush-disguised-as-food, seated-next-to-the-screaming-child-for-8-nonstop-hours with the inconsiderate-8-foot-tall-giant-in-the-seat-ahead-shoving-his-seat-into-my-face, airplane ticket away from buying a damn canoe to get back to Canada. If a (albeit fictitious) man can survive for months at sea with a tiger, I'm sure the Atlantic will be no problem for me. I haven't been able to buy my ticket to get home for the summer yet and I am not a happy camper. I know I should have bought it months ago--I have this fight with myself every year and decide that future Jessica can worry about it. Well, future Jessica is now present Jessica and present Jessica is going to be broke for the second half of May so I can get home. It will be nostalgic, living on a university diet. I wonder if Mr Noodles come in any different flavours now?
Ok, so not altogether thrilled with the cost of airtravel now and don't think the QEII will be any cheaper so I'll have to bite the proverbial (bloody expensive) bullet. On re-reading that, I am realising I am adopting British slang a bit. I'm sure Carleton County will beat that out of me this summer and I will return a red neck--linguistically and literally, I'm sure; sunburns are a'comin'.
I do have some exciting events to look forward to: Tom and I are heading to Norway at the end of May to visit Sarah and Kristian. It will be Tom's first visit and his first time meeting Kristian and I am excited to get back.
The other exciting bit of news--and the one I am probably most excited about and this will dominate many of my blog updates (if I ever become a regular updater again--is there a prune juice for bloggers?) from now on: I have been asked to become stage manager for the theatre company I volunteer with on their upcoming production of Annie. Quite excited for this! I am completely new to stage managing (directing We Will Rock You was fun and a great experience but, who am I kidding, complete and utter omnishambles by the end of it) and I am looking forward to the experience.
So, I leave you on that note, faithful readers. When I update again, I may have in my possession a stupidly ridiculous ticket home for the summer. Speaking of ...I have decided to start a charity. It is the Canadians-need-to-get-home-for-the-summer fund. Completely not for profit and a very worthy cause. You know you want to. This charity doesn't include TV adverts that make you feel guilty and want to change the channel. Really, it is a win-win for everyone involved.
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