Sunday 16 September 2012

Project #366 Week 37

Every morning has started with drizzle, making everyone think that the weather is turning autumnal, but it has brightened up by lunchtime and been warm and sunny. Still, I think the weather is on the turn. It's still in the 20s, but only just.


Sunday 9th September 2012


Windy

Final day of the regatta. Today there was enough wind to go sailing, and M finished, at the end of the day, with a second prize. Not bad considering that he went swimming yesterday instead. I drove him down to the quay so that I could get a look at Le Marite. She is the last 3-masted  fishing boat in the French fleet, and has been massively renovated. 
Monday 10th September
Today our guinea pigs will arrive for teaching practice sessions. My fellow TP tutors and I are going to teach them, to do a diagnostic lesson for the trainees. At the moment I don't know how many, what level or where they come from! I'm going to eat my lunch by the beach in St Brelade's in order to have some quiet time before the chaos.
Update- We had 70 students,  mostly from Portugal and Eastern Europe, although there were a few Western Europeans, and a couple of Thais and Philippinos. We managed to make some excellent sized TP classes, with some beginners, elementary, pre/intermediate and upper int students. That will give the trainees some good practice at the different levels:-)
Tuesday 11th
I went to the supermarket this morning to pick up some milk. We have a rota system on the course and today is my turn. I had to get my camera out because I couldn't believe my eyes. Talk about wishing one's life away. Is this the earliest sign of the big C word ever? I was surprised and dismayed in equal parts.
My trainees did well for their first session. We don't have any weak trainees- including my daughter, thank goodness :-)
I have quite a lot of things to do this evening, including getting to grips with the course Gavin Dudeney is running on Digital Literacies. It's probably not a brilliant time to do a course, in the middle of mine, but I will try to make time for it, as it is something I'm interested in.
Wednesday 12th
 These are the first Gladioli of the season. The ones I found were almost black, but they are opening up as a dark, velvety red. As you can see, we still  have the scaffolding which they promised to take away last week! A busy day today, quite wet and windy in the morning. In the evening M and I went out to pick up a birthday present for Cairis. I had to wait until she went to bed in order to dress the room and table, and to wrap the presents. This was late, as she was writing her self evaluation of her lesson, and preparing for her next lesson.
Thursday 13th
Cairis's birthday and the Battle of Britain air display. The college is on the flight path from the airport to the bay. You can't hear yourself think, so we have cancelled the lessons for this afternoon, and given the trainees some catch-up time. I offered to do lunch for everyone, as it is Cairis's birthday. She loves sushi, so I ordered some from the local deli. We were eating it in the lunch room, with a handful of elderly Japanese students at the next table. They were looking longingly at our food, and sadly at their sandwiches and fruit, so we shared with them. Much bowing ensued:-)
We dashed down the hill at four O'clock, to watch the end of the air display. We were in time to see a few enormous helicopters, and then, the stars of the show- the Red Arrows. The sky was cloudfree and the sea was a beautiful blue. The bay makes a natural ampitheatre for the show, which was watched by hundreds of people all around the coast. We were also treated to a view of le Marite leaving the harbour in St Helier, on the other side of the bay. She had her sails raised and looked like an elegant vessel from times past.
 
Friday 14th
 The end of the week. The students have all turned up regularly, and the trainees have done a good job of teaching them at the different levels. I take my hat off to the group who had the beginners class. It is difficult, even for experienced teachers, to have a class of students with a spiky profile, and they coped surprisingly well. One of the Japanese students from the main college made a birthday card on Photoshop for Cairis to say thank you for the Sushi :-)
When I got home, I was delighted to see that the scaffolding had been taken down at last. Our house is not quite finished, as there are bare patches where the pillars were placed, but I expect it will be finished on Monday . Our neighbours like it so much that they are going to paint theirs the same !
 
Saturday 15th
I had to go in to work for a few hours. I promised my trainees the chance to get in to photocopy or prepare lessons without getting under the feet of the main school teachers. I returned to find everyone at home working flat out- Cairis was doing her Learner Profile and M was preparing a Money Laundering prezi for his trainee accountants at the office.They look like a pair of bookends, although they were actually working in adjacent rooms :-)



7 comments:

  1. Very entertaining as usual. Thanks for keeping a window to you life (lives) open for us! :)
    Chiew

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    1. Thanks Chiew. I always thought that my life was quite routine and boring, but as I am taking photos every day I am actually surprised by the variety of things which are happening around me on a daily basis:-)

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  2. Hi Sue

    I agree with Chiew. I like the fact that on Sundays I have a bit more time to enjoy reading your updates.

    The air display looks spectacular. I have seen the Red Arrows in the past at an airshow, and it was truly incredible.

    Re the "C" word, it is unbelievable the shops have already started selling stuff! Here in Abruzzo, at least they wait till early November, but that is still too soon in my opinion...

    It's so nice to be sharing views on Gavin's course... Look forward to what's in store for us all next week.

    Best

    Janet

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    1. Thanks for your comments. I love the Red arrows. The air display always falls during a TESOL course, and I have to go down to the harbour to watch the planes over the bay. The natural area for the display is stunning. I am enjoying Gavin's course, but having to juggle all my other things to do it and keep on top of everything else :-(. I'm only a day behind, which I'll try to catch up on :-)
      Looking forward to next week too.

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  3. Another great account of your week, Sue! I must say the house looks lovely in that soft yellow.
    Many, many years ago, when I worked in my first school, I went to the airshow that a colleague of mine organised every year. The red Arrows were invited many times as they are a fab team!!

    I love it how the genderless English language uses "she" for boats:-) "She had her sails raised and looked like an elegant vessel from times past"...... Lovely sentence...

    The gladioli look so beautiful and I also love your bookends pictures :-)

    Have a great week!

    Mieke

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  4. Thanks Mieke
    The genderless language actually can surprise us, but I've always known boats as 'she'. I have to admit that I thought the house colour was a bit sharp at the beginning. As more people stop to comment on it, it's growing on me. My bookends have been like that most of the weekend! Cairis is doing my course ans there is a lot of work to do this weekend. Malcolm has been learning to use Prezi under my tutelage as I thought his powerpoints were boring :-)

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  5. What a bumper week :-) We've all been waiting for the scaffolding to come down! and I just love your bookends too.I SEETA courses are great, but the beginning of the academic year rules it out 4 me.

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