Nice Jumper

Yr 10 Math, A5

I’m about ten minutes late for class! The reason being that I thought I had year 8 Music, which is actually the next period. It’s okay though: I get to the class and the kids have seated themselves and are working quietly. I write some instructions on the board: ‘Finish 5.4, 5.5. Review questions 1 – 6.’ Oh-oh, they’ve started to muck around! No time to write, gotta sort this out…

I’m back. It was Andre, he was taking off the edging from around his table. He broke a bit off and used it as a sword to prod others. I stood in front of him and made him put it all back.

Now some girls are playing up, fighting each other. I think they’re doing it for my benefit. One of them, Amber, is always saying hello to me when I see her. She’s very friendly and we get along well. I go over to them and chastise them. I warn Amber I’ll move her if she continues. She smiles, touches my jumper and says, “It feels nice.” Megan, her friend, laughs. I tell her it’s just a woollen jumper and go back to my desk.

Almost all of them are getting restless now. It’s not surprising: the reports are all done and they have work experience next week. There’s not much time left so I give in and let them do what they want. Alenushka (yes, that’s her name!) decides to see what’s going on in the room adjoining this one. She parts the flimsy rollback door and talks to the teacher next door.

Meanwhile, Andre’s fighting with his mate Derek. I tell them both to go outside and sort out their problems. They leave laughing and incredulous. I wonder if I did the right thing.  What if they really start fighting out there? Was I irresponsible? They come back in soon after, it looks like they’ve worked out their problems.

Just enough time for a quick Top 5. Oh, by the way, High Fidelity was on tv the other night, and I watched it again. Such a great flick. It speaks so eloquently to anal, list-making music obsessives like me.

Top 5 Sci Fi books (one per author)

The Dispossessed, Ursula Le Guin
Sirens of Titan – Kurt Vonnegut Jr
Martian Time-Slip – Philip Dick
A Canticle For Leibowitz – Walter Miller Jr
An Alien Heat – Michael Moorcock

I had to make this one per author, otherwise they’d probably all be Ursula Le Guin’s (my favourite author). Not a bad list, for short notice. It’ll do for now.