Lots of people have emailed me recently to ask about the book. The title is 'It's Your Time You're Wasting' which strained my punctuation abilities to their limits.
It's the story of a year at St. Thickchilds (actually I wasn't allowed to call my school St. Thickchilds in the book, I had to change it to St. Jude's) mixed in with my views on the current problems in education and proposed solutions.
Some of the stories will make you laugh, others will make you angry and one or two might even make you cry. I don't hold back; my own faults are there for all to see as well as those of others. My views are robust and often controversial. Characters from the book occasionally appear in this blog, although none of the material does.
It should be in the shops on September 4th to cheer you up (or finish you off) as the new school year begins. You can order it from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0955285402/202-5994207-5735839?v=glance&n=266239 and they may deliver it earlier.
I will do a post where you can submit reviews and anyone who spots a spelling mistake or grammatical error will receive a free subscription to 'The Quarterwit'.
10 comments:
If it's half as good as the blog then it's money well spent! Good on you.
Do you give any clues as to where in the country you teach?
Or any clues as to what subject you teach?
It's not English, is it? :-)
Fear not, Mr C. You can blame your publishers and/or editor for any mistakes, be they spelling or grammar. After all, it's their job to ensure your manuscript is up to scratch!
Nevertheless, I shall be reading with an eagle eye...
Ah, but how can we obtain signed copies of the eagerly awaited book ?
You should link to Shuggy, a teacher from Glasgow who also has 'issues' with his Senior Management Team.
He does have a regrettable tendency to write about history and politics, but his "coalface" stuff is spot-on.
http://modies.blogspot.com/2005/11/skool-discipline-everythings-ok.html
Mr Chalk, surely the name of the school should be spelt this way, St.Thikkczyldes (the z is silent) because the school was named after the great czech educator Hilda St. Thikkczylde? I believe she was the one who first introduced disciplineless discipline and punishmentless punishments. Another radical change she made was to take all the power from the teacher and give it to the pupils, oh, sorry, I think that was the government.
I think I may have scored a subscription - I received a copy for review (I'm in Australia), and it jumps from page 90 to page 155. It meanders on until page 170-odd (no copy in front of me), then takes a nostalgic trip back to page 95, whereupon it begins again.
The book itself seems fine, but I sincerely hope the copy I have is not the version slated for general release.
Just finished this book and thought it was both funny and sad in equal measures! Funny, because of the numerous anecdotes which made me laugh out loud whilst reading but also sad because it confirms my own experiences and doesn't bode well for the future of education in our country. I never made it into teaching (Maths funnily enough!) - I got out before qualifying, having seen more than enough on teaching practice to realise I would be wasting my time and did not have the strength of character to put up with endless constant battles day in/day out. I can definitely relate to the sentiments expressed as I hold many of these myself! I just thank god that I was able to be educated at a time when respect, discipline and good behaviour meant something! Ought to be compulsory reading for any Government minister!
manchester. not a judgement. just a fact. don't worry. in the South we're following closely on your coat tails. Grim er land.
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