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Thursday 26 March 2015

What The Teachers Aren't Taught


What The Teachers Aren't Taught

Now, quite obviously, I respect the fact that teachers, in order to become teachers, have to go through years of training, in order to qualify to be a teacher. Unfortunately, in the 3-4, or however many years your training was, You all seem to fail in one aspect. Dynamics of a class.

By dynamics of a class, I mean our status in the class, sort of a "role" or position we've been indirectly assigned. Some, will be the loudmouths, who could talk for England. Some will be the class clowns. Some will just be quiet, knowing they won't be heard over the rest of the commotion.

Unfortunately, the majority of teachers are far from knowledge of even the existence of this, and will automatically assume that loudness is the norm, and the quiet ones just "aren't trying hard enough".

I can assure you, this isn't the case.

I, myself feel I settle in between these three roles, sometimes breaking a joke when given a chance, sometimes just shooting out my opinions when I've had enough of the kids that just think they know it all, just to show them they're not better then me, and that I do have confidence in myself. 

Every. Single. Time. I. Try. I'm. Overlooked.

The teachers are still marvelling at what someone else said, to hear my opinions, which is why I write them down here, so, at least they're acknowledged by someone.

Here, let me put it into a representation. Here's a volume bar.




As you can see, there's absolutely no way you're going to be able to hear anything from the mice, as the motormouths are just far too overpowering. Solution? Turn down the motormouths. Yeah, just tell them to shut up, and hope for the best. You can't just leave it to the mice to pipe up, even if they get to average, they still won't be heard over the deafening volume. 

Next step, is to help the mice to get their confidence up. They're not instantly going to speak up, and get their opinions out there, they'll need help, and support, which it is YOUR job to supply. Encourage them, pick them when they put their hand up in class, include them in debates and discussions, detach yourself from some of the conversations you might have with the motormouths, and strike up one with a mouse.

I'm not saying ignore the motormouths, so that they can become mice, just give an equal amount of attention to the mice, as you do them.






Wednesday 25 March 2015

Turrah Zayn and Jeremy


Turrah Zayn and Jeremy

I'm sure by now the double news of Zayn's decision to leave one direction completely, and Jeremy Clarkson's removal from "Top Gear" has reached you, whether you care or not. If it hasn't, I praise you, and your ability to steer clear of any form of media. 

First, let's talk about Jeremy Clarkson. Early in March 2015, Clarkson was suspended by the BBC for allegedly punching a show producer, after he failed to deliver Clarkson's hot meal. The producer was apparently sent to A&E, with a cut lip, swelling, and dizziness. After an investigation, Clarkson was dropped from the BBC altogether.

Other problems Clarkson has gotten himself in include Racist, Xenophobic and Homophobic behavior, as well as Ableism, and general unacceptable use of bad language.

My question is, why wasn't this disgusting, vile man dumped on his bum 5 years ago? Why should one man be given so many chances? I'm sure he has fans as young as 10 years old, who look up to him, and recognise him as their hero. He doesn't deserve that. People can be put in prison for the things he's done, yet there is actually a petition, that reached 1 million signatures, to get him reinstated.

Why?

Let's put this into a perspective. Imagine Jeremy at a promotional event, for Top Gear. Image loads, and I mean loads, of people, buzzing with excitement just at the thought of seeing Jeremy, and James and Richard. Now, imagine the three of them, greeting fans at the gate.

Imagine Jeremy inspecting people, making sure that they look and act the way he wants. In comes two women, wearing Hijabs.

"I'm sorry ladies, I don't want you to come in here"
With a point of a finger, they're out

Imagine two men, happily strollling into the gate, hand in hand, smiling.

"No, you're not coming in, I don't want two gays in here"
Again, they're rejected.

Imagine a mother, with her child in a wheelchair, having pushed the chair all day around the car park, to bring her child to their favourite show.

"No disabled people are allowed in here"

Obviously, Clarkson has never done this, but I fear, that if we continue to overlook everything that man does, taking it with a pinch of salt, he will believe he can get away with anything. Fame doesn't mean you can do what you want. Bieber learnt the hard way, so should you.

Jeremy Clarkson
Now, onto Zayn. Having previously left the One Direction tour due to stress, and complications with his girlfriend, Perrie, from Little Mix. He has now decided to quit One Direction altogether.

Now, Twitter just went into meltdown. It felt like the apocalypse. Every other tweet on my timeline was a fan claiming they were going to kill themselves if Zayn didn't rejoin 1D.

Pull yourselves together.

We've got real issues in this world, not band breakups. I bet this will get ten times the media coverage that the Germanwings airline crash, that killed 150 people, did.

All in all, Clarkson is basically a git, and its going to take time for the world to recover from the immense loss one direction now face.

#RIPONEDIRECTION (SARCASM)



Tuesday 17 March 2015

Natalia Kills...Her Career



Natalia Kills....her career

Hang on a sec.....slight problem with the title...Natalie Kills never actually had a career, I mean, who is she? Right now, she's only in the spotlight for being a git. Are you deserving of even this fame? Nope.

If you are unfamiliar with who/what I'm talking about now, watch this video:


Yeah, this actually happened on the New Zealand version of the X factor. Contestant Joe Irvine had finished his performance of "cry me a river" and was given this feed back from Willy Moon and Natalia Kills.

I'm sorry, but girl, who are you, to sit there and tell someone you are disgusted to be in the same room as them!? I'm sure your husband was most definitely not the first person to gel his hair back, and wear a suit. You'd complain if he were dressed as a chav, wouldn't you? There's no pleasing some people..

Is it just me, or isn't the whole point of the X factor to copy other people?

With that in mind, here are some of the people Natalia seems to have copied her look from: (I don't claim the majority of these comparisons, they were found on Twitter) 

Mystic Meg
Jesse J
Cleopatra
Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) 
Dora the explorer

Obviously, she is a nastier, less attractive version of all these people, fictional or non fictional. Hopefully, this will be the last we hear of these horrible pieces of work, until they're found living deep in the forest away from any form of civilisation.

Mind you, that would be copying "The Jungle Book"..

Saturday 14 March 2015

Eurovision 2015 - What the hell?

Eurovision - An Overview - UPDATE

By the way, yes, I know I'm a bit of a Eurovision geek, but it's something I enjoy, just let me be happy, Ok!?

Eurovision 2015 fast approaches, prompting every county participating to release their entry. After Conchita Wurst, representing Austria won last year's competition, this year's is to be held in Vienna, the capital of Austria.

If you haven't yet seen the UK entry, I highly recommend you stay clear of any situation or circumstance in which the song could be broadcast to you, considering it is THE worst song ever. And I'll tell you why.

BBC thought this year they'd go for an "electro swing" vibe. Big mistake. What country, in its right mind, would vote for an atrociously cheesy song, that clearly needs a boot up the backside back to the 20's, were it belongs?

We've got about as much chance of winning as Leonardo DiCaprio does at winning an Oscar..

So, cheers BBC! How about next time, you let VIEWERS vote next time, instead of the 90 year olds you probably had on the panel voting with you, then, we might get some real talent...

That will be all.

ADD ON 6/5/15

So, after going back, after a long mental prep, I listened to the ENTIRE song, in order to properly analyse it.

I feel, if they had brought down the electric vibe of the song more, and made the lyrics less cringy, I reckon it could of been ok. The way they've put the synthesizer and violin together hasn't worked either, and it really wouldn't take long for someone to go back and change that, would it?

Perhaps this year, the UK have decided we do not want to host in 2016, and brought out the worst song imaginable (well, other than Josh in 2010, and Sooch in 2007)

Moving on, I believe 3 countries this year have really made good songs. Slovenia, The Netherlands, and Latvia.

I really like the track to the Slovenian song, but not so much the style of vocals, they seen too high for the song to me. 8 points from me!

Latvia's song is literally the coolest song I've ever heard. At the beginning, I really thought it was rubbish, but I listened through the song, and the rhythms really work well together. If I'm being honest though, I do feel a bit jealous, as i've genuinely wanted to write a song like this for years, but have never been able to make it work. 12 points from me!

"Walk along" by The Netherlands is something different from the other entries, as the instruments are not computerised, which makes the song more laid back, and easy on the ears. The vocals are great, and the chorus is catchy. 10 points from me!

To finish with, my top 5 Eurovision entries EVER!

1) Euphoria - Loreen - 2012: Everything about this song is amazing. The track, the vocals, the choreography, and just Loreen in general <3. It could easily be called the best song in Eurovision history. The lyrics are especially beautiful, and have meaning to me, and I love it!

2) Algo Pequeñito - Daniel Diges - 2010: I love the theme of this song, as well as all of the little details put into the choreography and track. Although Jimmy Jumps stage invasion made me laugh whilst watching, respect to the dancers and Daniel for carrying on and ignoring the invasion (the Ragdoll couldn't grab the ballerina's hand at one point as he was in the way!) Amazing live vocals from Daniel too.

 I feel like this song should have come a lot higher than it did in 2010, and whilst we're talking about 2010, I really don't think "satellite" deserved to win, considering the stage choreography and live vocals were so terrible..

3) Diva - Dana International - 1998: I don't know what it is about Dana, but i just love her for her, I think she's amazing! (The stage name Dana international is awesome too!). I think the vocals could of used work, and her microphone turned up, but I especially love the tempo change part of the way through the song as well.

4) Rise Like A Phoenix - Conchita Wurst - 2014 This song is beautiful, as there's so many different meanings to it, so anyone can interpret it how they like. I believe the main message, is that anyone can do/be who/ what they want, you just have to "rise like a Phoenix". The track was beautifully composed, and wasn't Conchita's gown awesome? :D

5) My Slowianie (We Are Slavic) - Donatan and Cleo - 2014 I like the live performance of this song for comedic reasons. (You'll know if you saw it!) As well as this, the presentation of the message in this song is so cleverly conveyed in my opinion.

 It was said on a YouTube video (I take no credit) that it's almost ingenious what they've done. Political voting is a known feature of Eurovision (Countries voting for each other because of government, and voting for neighbouring countries BECAUSE they're neighbours), but what Poland have done, is reached out to that aspect. They've tried to be nationalistic, but in a way that includes more than their own country. Slavic is a term used for people of "Eastern European" decent and origin (Danish, Polish, Russian, to name a few) and in their song, they basically described girls from there to be the best.

 They also did part of the song in English, part of it in Polish, in order to keep with the national vibe, but to reach out to all.

I now leave you with this image:

A moment of hope and unity, as the contest's first transgender winner Dana International, and the first drag winner Conchita Wurst sing "Waterloo" with hands linked.



Tuesday 3 March 2015

Education Today


Education Today

Ok, yes, this is going to be huge rant, I know, I'm already aware of that, I am the author! I've had all of this just stored up for a while now, and considering the events of today, I thought it was a good time to let it go, as I can't hold it back anymore..

I feel that our education system is messed up. Really messed up. I know absolutely everyone says this, but really, it's true. "We are not taught how to think, but what to think" is a rule most teachers strive apon. We are pretty much taught to suffer through the entire education system, and pass our exams with flying colours to get a good job, to meet a great man/woman, get married, and live happily ever after, as pitiful servants to the government. We aren't taught to live our dreams, as cheesy as it sounds, we aren't taught that perhaps some people want to live their lives differently, in a different community with different goals, but nope, to teachers, we're just clones in a factory waiting to be transformed in to more do-good family happy rubbish talkers.

But that doesn't work all the time does it?

Sometimes, I don't believe teachers are actually keeping an eye on the class, they just watch the students "expected" to misbehave (stereotype "bad boys", yuck..). What's the point? For example, German teacher that I don't think I can name, do you not realise the second you leave the room, pencils, pens and rubbers going flying around the room like a potato? And You wonder why no one can concentrate in your class...You've also got the absolute worse people in the class, the "cool kidz". I say this as a nickname to the Starbucks loving, Ugg boot wearing, Zoella fangirls, and the football crazy, foul mouthed "jocks" who think they're something special just because they've already had sex with three girls in the year.

I'm going to tell you now. You're not.

I'm also going to give all you wannabes some advice, if you going to act like this you'd better enjoy the rubbish all your "homies" are going to feed to you, because when you leave school, and get through college, then you're on your own, in the real world. You will be absolutely nothing to nobody. Your friends won't be at your beckon and call, and you'll have to get through life alone, and it will be alone if you keep on acting the way you do now.

In short terms, this means GROW UP.

Of course, I also need to ask the school to fire the clown who's writing the syllabus for our PD (personal development) lessons. Ok, yeah, let's teach recycling and bullying for half a year for the 50th time, which has little impact by now, considering we know absolutely everything there is to know about the topics. Let's not teach anything useful, like how to buy a car, how to set up and manage a bank account, how to buy a property, or anything that will be inevitably needed in the future. Let's not touch on anything to do with LGBT, around the time kids might be finding themselves, and might need help and support surrounding their sexuality, let's fill their minds with useless information, that we neither want to know or need to know. Thanks school!

Teachers these days say that kids are the ones with bad attitudes, however I strongly disagree. A particularly sassy teacher today thought she'd try and call me and others out, claiming "we had other work to do before asking her to mark our books". She isn't the only one who can't deal with the responsibilities of marking students books. My thoughts, are that you shouldn't even have applied for the job if you couldn't keep up with the responsibilities, and you most certainly shouldn't blame your class for your lack of organisation.

The last thing I want to mention, at this point, as I probably will have more to add, is the awful ways this school is spending it's money. They feel the need to replace nearly every interactive whiteboard in the school, when the old ones were perfectly fine, yet don't have the money to employ more staff to control the queue at lunch, or teach classes, so that some classes don't have supply teachers every two lessons. You wouldn't believe the mania of the lunch queue. The main issue is the pushing in, so that the queue looks like an over weight caterpillar, mainly done by the "cool kidz". The queue has gotten to the point where I, for the 20-25 minutes I have to wait in it, just give up on life, and I squash up the queue as much as I can, to make everyone suffer just that little bit more than me. Yeah, that's how sad I get.

So, that's pretty much the reason why I've given up on school. Rant over (for now). I'm going to go and cool off now, goodbye.