From Covid to the Classroom

 

Again, I have been remiss in running my fingers over the keyboard; but then again, it’s been damn near impossible to be creative in the past three weeks. Here’s why, Gentle Reader:

In the first week of this past three weeks, I had FUCKING COVID, and as the old ad went: Not happy, Jan! I don’t know from where I caught the virus, but given my husband and eldest had symptoms before I did, I’m guessing my son caught it at work from a customer. I woke on the Monday feeling a bit lousy, so I carried out a home test. Lo and behold, it was positive. I rang my work to report my result, then asked my youngest son if he had any spare RAT kits for his dad and brother, explaining I had just tested positive (the school supplies kits to the students).  Sure ‘nuff, Mr Bingells and our oldest spawn turned out the same.

Everyone’s experience of Covid is different. My own experience was colossal fatigue, which when trying to finalise two university assessments that are due, is a nightmare. I also had to produce some lesson plans for the practicum placement I was to undergo just after my isolation period, and it was a Kafkaesque clusterfuck trying to plan something for Year Tens studying Journey of the Magi when my brain felt like a pile of confused dung. It took me two hours to plan one lesson! All I wanted to do was sleep, and I’m still feeling the exhausted after-effects. My son is still coughing. My husband struggled greatly because he is in the vulnerable category. We had to put off builders who were to clad our house that week. I lost income because I am a casual and I also had to cancel my tutoring.  In the miserable mire, we were very grateful we are vaccinated; I cannot imagine how dastardly the experience would have been otherwise – particularly for Mr Bingells. I have no sympathy for those who choose not to get vaccinated and then come down with the damned thing. I worry about people who cannot take a vaccine and are therefore vulnerable.

Today, I was able to go to my backyard and hang out washing for the first time in three weeks (feeling weak and sick necessitated the use of the dryer during my bout of ‘rona). It felt good. It also tuckered me out somewhat, but I’m slowly getting stronger.

Moving on to my practicum placement: I loved it! I had some ‘moments’, but I learned from them and have been perfecting my classroom management skills. I really enjoyed the classroom discussions wherein I explained Blackstone’s principle in judicial matters when contextualised to the breakdown of society in Lord of the Flies with Year Eight and the themes in 12 Angry Men with Year Ten. Other highlights included:

1.     .  Using Shakespearean insults to teach Year Seven the difference between ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ (the poetry we studied had archaic language).

2.       Playing Kiss to the Year Tens to demonstrate how judiciously placed trochaic words can make a piece, whether it be a song or modernist poetry, really pop.

3.     .  Explaining the ‘empty wine skin’ in Journey of the Magi was the equivalent of an empty goon bag (I think ‘goon bag’ is a funny term).

4.        Explaining Piggy in The Lord of the Flies is the deuteragonist to Ralph’s protagonist and Jack’s antagonist (I don’t get to use ‘deuteragonist’ in a sentence often enough)

But the main highlight for me during my placement was the realisation that not only am I capable of teaching a class, I am also really going to enjoy it. For the most part, anyway.

Before I go, can I just say this to the people criticising the Finnish prime minister for dancing with friends at a party: UNCLENCH A LITTLE, ALREADY! For the love of God, the woman is thirty-six years old. I’d do the same if I were thirty-six. Some say it’s not a good look. Our last prime minister secretly awarded himself multiple portfolios. That look is so bad it would offend thine eyes (I also told the Year Sevens ‘thine’ goes before a noun starting with a vowel, a well as being the equivalent of ‘yours’).