And you can call me "Sir"..........

Please forgive me, but today I am going to be mostly........smug. I didn't say anything before now, but yesterday I taught my class for the first time. And, even though I do say so myself, it went rather well!!

Those of you who know me will know that I work as a Teaching Assistant in a Primary School, in a class of 30 5/6 year olds. When my teacher goes out on courses we have various supply teachers in to cover and to be honest, recently they have been a disaster. They spend lots of time asking me what they should be doing, they don't know how to deal with the more " difficult children " and generally seem to disrupt everything. The last time one of these teachers came in I thought " Well, I'm sure I could do better than you" I have always said that I wouldn't cover for my teacher ( unless in an emergency obviously ) - because I'm not a teacher.My Headteacher has tried to weedle me into covering, but I have stood firm But you know, I thought perhaps I'd try, just once, and see how it went.

So, yesterday I took the plunge. Well, my teacher did really. I thought she was pretty brave to trust me with the wee fellas. She did masses of brilliant planning so all I had to do was guide the troops through it and try to prevent a riot. Along with getting them to Assembly, Play and Lunch on time. She'd forewarned the children and they were, apparently, excited!!

My 2 Superstars ( hard homes, difficult lives ) came into the classroom like a couple of African Hunting Dogs on the trail of fresh blood. They worked in a team using the pincer movement to cut me off in my prime. Lucky for me I've tracked a few animals in my time and I wasn't going to let these 2 chaps hunt me down and devour me in the first 5 minutes of class. I faced them head on using the element of surprise and before I knew it they were lying on their backs with their legs in the air. I would have said they were purring, but that wouldn't have gone with my dog theme. Maybe I should have gone with the lion idea ?

Well, I have to say, that my class did me proud. They were absolute stars and I really enjoyed their company. We did counting in 5's and then, after Playtime we talked then wrote about our favourite toys. They were great.

I've learned so much from my teacher and I tried to use it. There's nothing that disarms a child more than praise - and all the fellas around them stop and look and then try to outdo the first one in the "goodness " stakes. I have a whole lot more to learn and I am very glad that my teacher planned everything for me, but for a first attempt I came away with a warm glow - and an invitation to Number 1 Superstar's birthday party!!!