August 25th

First off i'd like to appologise for the lack of updates. The school has been in for just about a week now and it's already proving challenging, I'm now on about the 8th version of my timetable which i now have more S1 and S2 less standard grade and the same amount of higher work. A fairly even spread I think.

I've not been able to get a grip with the higher groups just yet. The 2 classes are mixed groups or higher and Int2 (The school does not run Int1). During the course of the student year I observed very different methods of teaching the higher but am finding it difficult to develop my own style. The classes are not only split in ability but split between teachers.

I got quite worked up about it the other day and on advice from some supporting staff I spoke to my mentor (This is also something that has not been finalised yet as to who is going to be my mentor due to in school staffing issues) and raised my concerns so this is now being looked at. (I have noted in my profile for entry that i needed more experience with the post 16 courses)

Both sets come to me 3 times a week and another teacher in the department takes them for the remaining 2 periods. So the decision has been made that I will teach the Computer Systems Unit and the optional AI :(

Hopefully by the end of next week I'll have a better grasp on where I am with the classes and how I'll take them forward.

I also now have a 4th year registration class who seem to be really annoyed by my persistance about their school uniform but again hopefully by Monday they'll not need to be told.

On the accomodation front I'm still technically homeless, fliting from a flat, to hoime and to another house, doesn't make my weekends any easier and an hour's travelling time to and from the school is taking it's toll but it should only be for another few weeks.

I had pretty much decided to go for a mac laptop, got the money in place but am now pondering spending less money and either upgrading my computer or building a new one from scratch. Since my computer is not only used for my work it is also used as an entertainment hub for music, TV and movies maybe thats the best way to go.

I realise that I'm possibly sounding negative at the moment and giving a bad impression of the school and so i'd like to make a positive ending. I'm very happy with the school, The support I am receiving from my department is fantastic. Everyone is approchable and happy to help (So much so that I feel like i'm taking advantage at times). The pupils all seem good and generally are well behaved.

Thats all for now folks.
Andy.

Summer 2006

I'm not less than 2 weeks away from starting through in East Lothian and so far my attempts at finding a place to live have not been very successful. I've been to see the council who have said I wouldn't qualify for priority housing with them but would help me find somewhere privately,

I've been to see some flatshares in Edinburgh and nothing's really got my interest that much. So the plan is to stay with family up ubtil the september weekend and just come back home at weekends so we'll see how well that works.

In light of the fact that i'll practically be homeless i've been considering the merits of buying a laptop so that I have my own workstations wherever I am the question is which one should I go for, On the one hand there's windows based machines, all seem to be decent but none have really caught my eye and on the other hand there's the shiny all singing and dancing macbook. I've never owned a mac but have been impressed by them over the last year even in the face of chris shouting "Click the right mouse button" when anything went wrong in a presentation.

The only issue was the price however by the time I personalised the windows laptops they were about the same price and the processor wasn't as strong so anyone got any advice???

Not much else to say right now, i'll have more educational thoughts the week I start back, until then I'm gonna enjoy this holiday.