Final thoughts on Trinity Cert.TESOL

This afternoon we had our final moderation at the Openshaw Campus. Studying for the Trinity Cert. TESOL at The Manchester College has been a mixed experience, with generally high standards of teaching and tuition interspersed with some instances of shocking incomptence. I've learned a lot, though some of the most useful learning has been through repeated contact with the wheezing administrative organs of the College, rather than through the classes. A few thoughts:

• Lesson plans: idealism and realism. The course demanded precisely-timed lesson plans from students. Minute-by-minute timings were presented as standard practice. In reality, the detail within the plans was far greater than any full-time teacher could be expected to produce, and certainly not six or seven times a day. The course sets up new teachers with unrealistic expectations about their capacity to plan in such minute detail.

Moving from Whalley Range to Catford

View Larger Map

Whalley Range - Urmston - Whalley Range - Urmston - Whalley Range - Catford - Whalley Range. total distance: 429 miles; total driving time, as estimated by Google: 8 hours, 59 mins. Quite a drive to do in 24 hours. Well done Laura. As Tracy would say, "It's a shame you can't drive Dave."

Lewis and Ange's Wedding

photo by the lovely Jordanna over at Coterie Photos - check out the link for more. they're great!

Lewis and Ange were married in Wellingborough, and then had their reception at Tur Langton Manor in Leicestershire. As you can see from Jordanna's brilliant photo above, and others at this juicy little taster page, we had a brilliant day. Laura and I hung out with Chris and Flora for most of the day, which was brilliant.

The highlight of the day for me - happy joining together of two of my dearest friends excepted, natch - was a pizza oven for those evening munchies. Tasty!

Lewis's Stag

For occasions like this one, when a picture is worth more than a thousand words, I prefer to direct you to the images and let you draw your own conclusions. (WARNING: Some images NSFW)

It's not every day...

...that you find a genuine autographed copy of the Bible! And in a hotel room drawer too. Who'd have thought it?

It's been a while, hasn't it?

It sure has - and so much has happened since I last caught up with you all. What kind of thing? Well how about:

• Quitting my job - part one, part two, epilogue
• Joining the gym, losing 21-ish lbs
• Visiting the Tower of London - it's awesome!
• My sister's had a baby, a healthy girl called Baden Rose
• Finding out about JET - I'm in!
• Having an inpromptu Parsonage reunion
• Deciding to move to London for July

And that's just for the start of things, really. Busy busy busy. It's cheating I know, but I'll be backdating a few posts to fill in the gaps, and back-linking this post to them retrospectively.

And it's the end of things too. A kind of end at least. My last bullet point is the clue: no more Manchester. So no more DTRMCR? Well, let's see...

The Big Giveaway - part 1

I'm leaving Manchester at the end of June. In my six-and-a-half years here, I've accumulated lots of things that I can't take with me on the plane to Japan. Do you want any of it?

Manchester Bucket List.

Have you ever seen a film called The Bucket List? It stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, and it is one of the biggest piles of stinking shit to ever by passed by the bowels of Hollywood. Two great actors, one steaming turd of a film. It's a shame because the basic premise – making a list of things that you want to do before you kick the eponymous bucket, and then doing them – is strong. In seven weeks, Laura and I are leaving Manchester. Here's what's on our list so far:-

• Eat at Bem Brasil
• Ride the Manchester Big Wheel
• Entertain Robbie and Rachel
• Drink at the Briton's Protection
• Walk in the Peak District
• Eat at El Rincon de Rafa
• Entertain Tracy and Andy
• Drink at the Peveril of the Peak
• Eat at Kim by the Sea

Yes, that's right my keen-eyed friends, it is mostly based on eating and drinking. But it's by no means finished yet. If you were leaving Manchester in a few weeks, what would you consider unmissable? C-c-c-comment away!

Mere Sands Wood.