Friday 

I start off the morning's kids class with a Mr Bean video lesson. It involves watching two episodes of Mr Bean (fills an hour just nicely) and then the kids tell me whether it was good or not. Listen chum, while they keep telling me it's good, I'll keep on giving the punters what they want.

I'm then left with two hours to kill before my next lesson and have no alternative but to mingle with my colleagues in the teachers room. Our teachers room is no different to any other I guess - there's a selection of coffee mugs, 'world's greatest lover', 'If you had it last night smile' you get the picture. Next to them there's the communal spoon, which is caked in dried coffee powder, coffee mate and sugar. That's about all as regards the comforts and luxuries department. 

In the academic department of the teachers room, there's a battered old sofa which literally thousands of people have farted into, and half a dozen ergonomically challenged armchairs. There's a bookcase full of textbooks written by Oxford University professors, with titles like 'English Grammar - Full on', and 'Grammar and more Grammar - the non-illustrated version' There's a crossword game with half the pieces missing and a trivial pursuit with all the answers marked on the cards with a cheap biro. We have a hanging file index where teachers can put ideas for activities, and things that worked well in their lesson. It currently contains a paperclip, a discount coupon for happy meals at Burger King and an old lottery ticket.

This time spent idly in the teachers room does give me the chance to meet up with some of my teaching colleagues. Thursday is a busy day and most of the staff are present in one form or another.