alexnye.com - My blog

11th November 2011

Having a really great time teaching at St. Mungo's High School at the moment, three days a week, teaching English, which is just perfect as it leaves me time for author visits and writing.

The kids at this school are amazingly polite, considerate, kind, thoughtful... and I've realised how much I love teaching English. I want the kids to do well in their standard grades and Higher, because they need it in life, and also because it's so much easier to grasp than they think. It's just a question of confidence.

Wednesday was very eventful. On the way to school my car starting making loud clanking or clonking noises, and the steering column (is that the technical term?) felt weird. This was exactly how I described to man on end of phone at Direct Line, who was not overly impressed at my lack of knowledge. I like my car, it gets me from A to B, but I mainly just hoover the inside of it, dust the dashboard and hope for the best. This is the second time in recent months that my car has had to be towed away from a school car park, having konked out just at school gates. (The first time was because I put unleaded into a diesel tank... What can I say? I was stressed, and I'm artistic. Mistakes happen!).

So I had to multi-task, teach my lovely Higher students Jekyll & Hyde, at the same time as keeping an eye out for recovery lorry. Then had to dash out to liaise with such a nice man from a local garage who realised I was not that great with cars, and put me straight completely, let me off the £4.00 excess and then started to discuss Jekyll & Hyde with me. He said we all have an inner monster, "I'm sure you do too," he said. "Oh yes," I said politely. "I definitely do," thinking of my teenage son and strategies for coping with him in the past, which have involved a bit of Jekyll & Hyde transformation at times.

Car was towed away. Jekyll & Hyde Higher class was resumed, and pupils were full of understanding and helpful directions to train station for on my way home. However, got a lift instead. It was one of those days when everyone I came across seemed to be so helpful and kind. Restores your faith in humanity.

Later my husband rang to say that he'd seen my car being towed in Stirling, and saw the driver looking lost. Directed him to garage. "How do you...?" the man said. "It's my wife's car," he shouted through the traffic. The man laughed loudly, and my little car was taken away to its hospital for motor cars. Neatly hoovered on the inside, but dangerously wonky for driving.

The Jekyll & Hyde teaching is definitely sitting well with finishing my DARKER ENDS novel. The two activities compliment each other. I was also a judge for the Kids Lit Quiz on Tues, which just so happened to be at St. Mungo's High School where I'm teaching anyway, so that was convenient. Also bumped into two old friends from Boness Academy filing in with their motley row of pupils.

28th October 2011

Visited Torbain Primary School yesterday in Fife. The Librarian, staff and pupils made me very welcome - the school had a lovely positive atmosphere, and although it's a deprived area, the parents are hugely supportive of the school and encourage their kids to read and buy books. I was really touched. The pupils were delightful, very eager. Attended their after school Book Club (set up just recently by their school librarian), and was interviewed for RadioWaves by the pupils. Their questions were really intelligent. Dead impressed.

One thing I always find upsetting though - saw on front page of TES magazine an emotive photo of a typical teenager in a hoodie, face obscured - and the headline 'Looked-after young people still not getting access to an education.' Words to that effect. Education is the key to everything, even though people sometimes want to rubbish it, and it really bothers me that so many young people are misssing out on this. It's a crime that there are children, young people, who haven't got the hope and security that they should have. By the way, until I became a teacher I didn't realise that 'looked-after' in effect means 'being in care.'