The Weekly Rot (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

The Weekly Rot tries to represent ordinary teachers. That’s this book’s theme. Most of us are just ordinary teachers, doing the best we can with what we’re given. We laugh a lot of the time. We despair some of the time. We sigh and ask, ‘when’s the next holiday?’ But we love our jobs too, most of the time. My first visit to a staffroom was in Wairio Primary School. Wairio was in Southland. It’s not now because an economic recession closed the little shop and the pub and the public hall and the railway station – and that was all there was in Wairio. The school wasn’t in Wairio. For some reason it was a mile or two down the road. They were miles then, not kilometres. It was a school then too, not a learning institution. Not that we didn’t learn there. We did. But we learnt common sense and spelling and reading and picking up litter and ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and knowing when to say nothing at all. The weekly rot doesn’t like ninnies and ninniness. Ninnies don’t do common sense and ninniness is anything that doesn’t make good sense. Decorative cushions, scented candles, dandelion and raspberry tea infusions and veganism don’t make sense so they cop a bit of flak from time to time. The rot has its heroes (not to be confused with EROs). The Crusaders are the official rugby team of the weekly rot and Ernest Shackleton is the official leader and role model. The Dalai Lama is an inspiration. Patrick O’Brian who wrote the Jack Aubrey series is a source of comfort. Joanne Harris and Joe Bennett were both teachers and are now full time writers. They are supreme heroes. Good kids feature prominently - as they should. The good kids are the gooey icing on the chocolate cake. They’re the citron in the tarte au citron. They’re the raisin in the pain au raisin (and the bratty kids are the pain). Actually, I think the good kids are the cab. merlot in the glass. I recall Warren who had agricultural Marlborough honesty and stubbornness. I recall Linda who couldn’t do Maths and didn’t want to - ever. There was Roger who couldn’t read very well but who understood the value of a sincere smile and the words ‘I’m sorry’. Honesty and friendliness and sincerity all feature prominently in the weekly rot. They’re as wholesome as porridge on a freezing Southland morning which has the same smell as the air outside the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow – just after The Nutcracker. So many adventures, so many good meals, so many sincerely fun people. Such a beautiful job. The weekly rot is a celebration of the teaching job – at least, I hope it is.