Thursday 6 May 2021

Positive Songs For Negative Times #53: Breaking Point?


The above tweet, which has gone viral over the past week, pretty much explains why things are quieter than normal around here at the moment.

I can't begin to tell you the farce of this year's predicted grades situation - particularly the last minute expectations that have been dropped on teachers everywhere, for things which would only ever have been truly possible if we'd been able to plan and prepare for them from the start of the year.

And as usual, nobody wants to take responsibility. Or give you a straight answer. Even the people setting the agenda obfuscate wildly and pass the buck when asked direct questions about interpreting the meaning of the rules that they have set down.

Every year, my job becomes more stressful. This latest episode though... it's enough to break me.

And don't even start me on the management response...


Here's another song from that Harald Thune album, The Bouncebackability of Humans, which is about the only thing keeping me going at the moment... the idea that I might one day bounce back.

Listening to this, you can see why Kris Kristofferson is a fan. It's a bleak tale of a drunken overreaction to a situation ("I hit the wrong man!") followed by bitter recriminations ("I'm a waste of space, I'm a god-damn dog..."). At least someone's having a worse day that me...

 

7 comments:

  1. The desperation is palpable. Take care of yourself, friend.

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  2. Sorry to hear how awful it is - Of course, not cancelled, this really important task just reassigned to already overworked teachers. I'm on the other side and have just submitted my assessments to my course tutor. Hope we don't break her.

    As Brian said, take care of yourself. Should have dropped by earlier as I name-dropped you over at my place today - Now thinking my petty moans are a bit flimsy compared to those of you who are in education right now..

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  3. I'm in the same boat Rol- with some extra, very stressful and divisive specifics that have made the last few months intolerable. A little bit of light appeared in the middle of last week. I know it all sounds very cryptic but there's a load of stuff I'm not going to put in public at the moment. But feeling like quitting has been common.

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  4. Well, I don't like to moan, but...

    Adam, I always think of you when I write these posts. I hope the light gets brighter for you.

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  5. I can only repeat what others have said - take care of yourself Rol and don't let the barstewards grind you down.

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  6. Stay strong Rol
    There are better days ahead

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  7. Just want to echo all that has been said above. Thinking of you and all your over-worked fellow teachers... can only keep hoping for some kind of positive change.

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