Well, the holidays are but a distance dream and a vague memory at once. Two weeks into the new term and it's time to knuckle down, discipline yourself and get working. That's the teachers accounted for but what of the pupils - the first week back was almost bliss, last week getting tougher and by the end of today I was ready for internal combustion. There really is nothing like a group of 20 something 3rd years refusing to settle to get the adrenaline going and make you call into the question your feeling of content with your career choice. I remain convinced that a schoolchild of any age, perhaps with the exception of the less able 1st years, can smell the blood of an NQT from 20 paces down a packed corrider and can then home in on any insecurities and make the kill, its uncanny. How many times can you say SHUT UP in a lesson (without actually muttering those particluar words lest we scar or upset the little darlings) before it takes effect? To compound my misery today (last period of all times) all of the usual suspects were either off or had appointments and had to leave after 15mins (why bother turning up?) so it was a smaller and generally more reserved bunch I had in front of me - I thought. The most infuriating part is that despite the battle for supremacy in leading the discussion the class actually got through a fair chunk of work - so was the lesson a success or failure? I never really felt totally in control of the room but there was learning occurring. Ah the paradox of teaching/performing crowd control last thing in the day - the graveyard shift indeed.