Sunday, November 26, 2006

A little busy

It's incredible how little extra busyness it takes to distract me from blogging.

I've been covering shifts for a sick colleague at my adult teaching job and I've also had the dreaded 'observation week' with both my bosses watching me teach.

I explained to all my students in advance that I was having a test. They did a fantastic job of looking engaged. 'Sally' even stood up at the end of the lesson and gave a little speech to my boss about how much they are enjoying themselves :)

My classes are also getting bigger, meaning a lot more preparation. My beginner men's class now has thirteen students aged 19-82. They have lived in the UK for anything between 3 months and 36 years. The pace and abilities of the learners are so varied that I basically have to plan several simultaneous lessons to keep everyone involved and suitably challenged.

My hourly rate of pay for this job is really good but when I factor in all the preparation, admin and tidying up, it's about equal to minimum wage. Less, if I consider all the travel time and expense involved in working 2 hour shifts!

I've been looking for a third job but I'm not sure how I would fit one in. It would be much more manageable if I was offered some additional hours from my current workplaces.

It's lucky I love my work!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good for you! Not many people can say that love their work!

Joe said...

I'd love to see how many of our cohort at uni are still teaching - I'd guess not that many!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I really wonder what's become of everyone!

j a s o n said...

I don't love my work...glad to hear you love your one!

Must make the day go much quicker !!!

Joe said...

After working at IKEA in second year uni I vowed never to get another job where I watched the clock - it felt like my life was ticking away. And I felt guilty for fuelling people's consumer addictions with such crap!