So I had a bad day. Not a terrible one just ordinary run-of-the-mill, aaaaaaaah!

I’m feeling the pressure of working in a shared classroom with another teacher. The funny thing is we both just had time with the kids alone. She was away, then I was. Which meant that for 2 blissful days each we got to run lessons exactly how we wanted to. Um, on second thought, maybe that’s not so much funny as connected. Because when we finally got back together today we had to relearn How To Compromise 101. There were a few tense moments. I was like WTF did you do a whole term’s worth of spelling words in one day? She was like WTF are you letting kids read aloud during independent reading time, it’s too noisy. Not that we said these things out loud but you could feel the vibe.

It’s not anyone’s fault that we feel this way. We’re forced to work together in close quarters for a year and it just so happens that we’re not each other’s cup of tea, educationally speaking. (She’s a lovely person and hopefully so am I.)

She likes dead quiet, I don’t mind a bit of chat.

She likes to tell the kids stuff, I like them to investigate stuff for themselves.

She likes the kids to zoosh up their work with pretty patterns in the margins, I prefer them to spend time learning stuff.

She likes to stick to the timetable, I prefer to follow where the kids lead.

The thing is, I’m actually okay about sharing a room with her this year. I hadn’t taught in the classroom before and working with another teacher puts me on the fast track to mastering the biz. I’ve learnt a lot from her and am really grateful for her patience and consideration. On top of which I get to kick back whenever she takes a lesson by herself. But the more time passes the more I feel like the situation is cramping my style.

That’s my Tarot-card-of-the-year for you. The Devil isn’t all about sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. It’s also about submitting yourself to someone or something in order to obtain a thing you value. Sure, one version is submitting to the sting of a needle to get your heroin hit. But it’s also the card of apprenticeship. And I know how lucky I am to be shown the way forward instead of having to work out every single thing by myself.

Still. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Can’t wait to have my own classroom. But that’s the thing, you don’t get to have your cake and eat it too with The Devil card. There’s always a price to pay!