Torture = Pressure + Confusion

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Everything about teaching in this school confuses me. Staff briefings include statements like the following:

"The science department is being audited the week after half term, so be ready." What does that mean?
"All books need to be marked by the end of this week." Marked? How do I mark them?
"Students' levels should be entered into the computer by Monday. Base it on their assessment." What are levels? How do I enter them into the computer? What assessment?
"PM interviews will be conducted on Monday, 3 November." What are PM interviews?
"SATS have been scrapped, so we'll have individual department asssments at the end of the year for year 9." What does that mean?
"Year 11 will take some of their GCSE during late November, so be ready." GCSE? How do I get ready for that?

You might be thinking, Of course I don't know what all that stuff means. I don't teach at that school. But honestly, I don't know what the hell all that stuff is either! The terms don't make sense. I don't know what I have to do for each of those things.

The kids don't get grades, I've learned. Their work gets "marked" which means I just read it and write down comments about what they did well and how they can improved. (As if the kids give a damn.)

So the science department is being audited in a couple of weeks, which means that some dude is coming to check out the school and look at the students' work and grades to make all is running smoothly. There's a ton of pressure for us to "be ready." Have great lessons planned. Have all student work marked. Have assessments entered into the computer.

I feel so pressured to perform, but the trouble is.....I don't know how to do any of it!

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