was the king and they had a daughter. Legend has it that when the baby was born the palace bells rang out. It was tradition that it rang three times for a boy and twice for a girl. She demanded that the bells ring three times for her daughter as she felt that a Princess was just as important as a Prince.’
‘That’s cool,’ Jade said. ‘Girl power!’
‘Indeed.’
‘The Mummy!’ Zeke shouted.
‘Pardon?’
‘The Mummy.’ Tommo repeated as if this would make it clearer.
‘Y’know? With Brendan Frazier?’ Kurt suggested.
I had no idea what they were talking about.
‘Brendan F..?
‘Frazier. The actor.’ Jade said. The bewilderment I was feeling was obviously evident on my face, ‘ The Mummy is a film, it has Amo…, Amona…., that Pharaoh in it.’
‘Amenhotep?’
‘That’s the Geezer!’ she said cheerfully. ‘It’s a cool film.
The rest of the group added their ascent to this and I elected to end the session there, mainly because I had no idea where to go from that point. I needed to take stock and consider my strategy.
‘Ok, guy’s it is two thirty.’
‘Can we go?’ Tommo asked.
‘Ye….’
I never got a chance to finish my sentence before the room was cleared.
‘See you tomorrow,’ I said to the empty desks.
‘So how did it go?’ Stacy asked a little later.
‘To be honest I am not sure. They didn’t kill me at least, so that’s something.’
She laughed and although I was intentionally applying a small amount of dry humour I was not straying too far from my true feelings. I was confused about the session, had it been a success? Or did that even matter as I had now completed one day and only had eleven to go? Yes it mattered, I told myself. Despite everything else I was a professional and I wanted to do a good job.
‘I ended up talking about Nefertiti.’
‘Who?’
Lord above! Was I going to have to repeat the session for Stacy? I was hoping to get some feedback, maybe a little guidance but I had to accept I was the educator here after all.
‘The Egyptian Queen.’
‘Oh right. Blimey how did you get onto that?’
I recounted the session to her and she waited patiently as I concluded my monologue, then she said ‘Sounds like it went really well.’
‘You think?’ I was genuinely surprised. I had survived but “went really well” was perhaps an overstatement.
‘’Yeah, let’s see. They all. ..but one, completed the written work you set?’ I nodded. ‘Do you have any idea how much of an achievement that is? These guys have spent their whole school career avoiding anything that looked remotely like English and Maths. You get nearly all of them to write something first time out, that’s fab!’
‘Then using Nefer-whatshername.’
‘Titi.’
‘Titi, blinding absolutely blinding!’
I assumed this meant “good”, not detrimental to their eyesight, ‘How so?’
‘You made it relevant to them, using her age. That all is not lost just cos you’re sixteen, you could tell by the way they reacted to your story and talked about the film, top stuff Marcus! Course the acid test is gonna be if they come back tomorrow.’
I had not been expecting this, was she just soft soaping me to keep me engaged or did she mean it? She seemed like a very genuine person and it would be gratifying to receive this type of comment in any walk of life. I felt like I had done some good, maybe I could build on it, perhaps…
I stopped myself, there was a risk that I might get too involved and that was pointless, this was short term after all.
‘Do you mind if I check my emails?’
‘Habit?’
‘Sorry?’
‘That’s what you said this morning, habit.’
Oh yeah, of course.’
It was now four thirty, so ten thirty in the USA. I opened up my inbox with a sense of rising expectation; there was nothing new since I had checked this morning. I left it open for as long as I could in the hope something would appear. Stacy walked in, ‘You fit then?’
I quickly shut
‘That’s cool,’ Jade said. ‘Girl power!’
‘Indeed.’
‘The Mummy!’ Zeke shouted.
‘Pardon?’
‘The Mummy.’ Tommo repeated as if this would make it clearer.
‘Y’know? With Brendan Frazier?’ Kurt suggested.
I had no idea what they were talking about.
‘Brendan F..?
‘Frazier. The actor.’ Jade said. The bewilderment I was feeling was obviously evident on my face, ‘ The Mummy is a film, it has Amo…, Amona…., that Pharaoh in it.’
‘Amenhotep?’
‘That’s the Geezer!’ she said cheerfully. ‘It’s a cool film.
The rest of the group added their ascent to this and I elected to end the session there, mainly because I had no idea where to go from that point. I needed to take stock and consider my strategy.
‘Ok, guy’s it is two thirty.’
‘Can we go?’ Tommo asked.
‘Ye….’
I never got a chance to finish my sentence before the room was cleared.
‘See you tomorrow,’ I said to the empty desks.
‘So how did it go?’ Stacy asked a little later.
‘To be honest I am not sure. They didn’t kill me at least, so that’s something.’
She laughed and although I was intentionally applying a small amount of dry humour I was not straying too far from my true feelings. I was confused about the session, had it been a success? Or did that even matter as I had now completed one day and only had eleven to go? Yes it mattered, I told myself. Despite everything else I was a professional and I wanted to do a good job.
‘I ended up talking about Nefertiti.’
‘Who?’
Lord above! Was I going to have to repeat the session for Stacy? I was hoping to get some feedback, maybe a little guidance but I had to accept I was the educator here after all.
‘The Egyptian Queen.’
‘Oh right. Blimey how did you get onto that?’
I recounted the session to her and she waited patiently as I concluded my monologue, then she said ‘Sounds like it went really well.’
‘You think?’ I was genuinely surprised. I had survived but “went really well” was perhaps an overstatement.
‘’Yeah, let’s see. They all. ..but one, completed the written work you set?’ I nodded. ‘Do you have any idea how much of an achievement that is? These guys have spent their whole school career avoiding anything that looked remotely like English and Maths. You get nearly all of them to write something first time out, that’s fab!’
‘Then using Nefer-whatshername.’
‘Titi.’
‘Titi, blinding absolutely blinding!’
I assumed this meant “good”, not detrimental to their eyesight, ‘How so?’
‘You made it relevant to them, using her age. That all is not lost just cos you’re sixteen, you could tell by the way they reacted to your story and talked about the film, top stuff Marcus! Course the acid test is gonna be if they come back tomorrow.’
I had not been expecting this, was she just soft soaping me to keep me engaged or did she mean it? She seemed like a very genuine person and it would be gratifying to receive this type of comment in any walk of life. I felt like I had done some good, maybe I could build on it, perhaps…
I stopped myself, there was a risk that I might get too involved and that was pointless, this was short term after all.
‘Do you mind if I check my emails?’
‘Habit?’
‘Sorry?’
‘That’s what you said this morning, habit.’
Oh yeah, of course.’
It was now four thirty, so ten thirty in the USA. I opened up my inbox with a sense of rising expectation; there was nothing new since I had checked this morning. I left it open for as long as I could in the hope something would appear. Stacy walked in, ‘You fit then?’
I quickly shut
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