Teacher's Habits

This blog has been neglected! The shame! Well, I have a fairly decent excuse. I have been settling back in to the teaching routine. I love it! There is something truly brilliant about waking up everyday and heading off to the classroom. I learn more from those I teach than I will ever manage to impart to them, but such is life. All of a sudden I want to read again, and learn and write. My energy levels are back at super high and I wake up early, even if I go to bed late. There is a little robin in a tree outside my bedroom and he starts to sing at about 4.30am, I always hear him. He keeps it up until I am walking out the door near 7ish. I get up and start mooching around about 5.30am, taking my time over my cup of tea. I love to listen to his sing song. It makes a great start to the day.

Going back has triggered some funny habits and accidents these last two weeks. Things that I haven't done for years have suddenly become 'the norm' again. Also, I have observed that the RE Office and Department I am working for now has many of the characteristics of the RE Office and Department I used to work for, and of the RE Office and Departments I have 'temp-ed' in over the years. This has led me to believe that all RE teachers are cut from the same cloth. There are distinct personality traits to an RE teacher. Observing them again has made me laugh. So far, I have concluded that RE Teachers:

1.) Cannot keep a hold of their keys
2.) Never have their glasses, whether they are short sighted or long sighted, to be able to see the thing they want to look at at the correct moment in time.
3.) Have either no pen, or a pencil case full of those belonging to others.
4.) Seem to wear purple - a lot.
5.) "File" by piling things precariously all around a room.
6.) Get flustered by computers, especially in front of a class (this includes me, and I KNOW I am computer literate)
7.) Always carry a cup of tea or coffee, which is usually cold.
8.) Will get distracted by the tiniest tangent in a discussion
9.) Can never find a Bible in a classroom which is full of them.
10.) Only have a vague grasp of what their timetable is, even if they have been teaching it since the beginning of term.

RE Offices contain

1.) A filing cabinet which is empty, except for biscuits and chocolate. The real filing is on the floor - see above.
2.) An irreligious calendar - usually filled with scribbles which say 'E's BIRTHDAY!' rather than anything work related. Important school dates will be in a pile of paper somewhere.
3.) Various holy pictures, but all under books and papers, very few on the wall.
4.) Boxes and boxes of tissues
5.) Tea, coffee, a kettle, mugs, but rarely milk and never spoons.
6.) Piles of paper that no one has moved in years
7.) Bizarre post it notes that say things like, 'Find Religious Experience'
8.) More bottles of perfume and scarves than the department could ever have use for.
9.) Vestments, altar cloths, etc in a cupboard or hanging in a corner -normally looking old.
10.) Very cosy chairs and the heating turned up to tropical.

Is this how you remember your RE teachers? Their offices? I am sure this strange breed of people has not changed in generations.......