Ever wondered what it’s like to be a supply teacher? This is the book for you! Artist and illustrator Guy Newmountain, a time-served teacher at the chalk-face for 25 years and a familiar sight to thousands of pupils across the spectrum from nursery to sixth form, tells a succession of school-related anecdotes with a healthy dose of self-deprecating humour. Some are hysterically funny and a few sad; others heart-stopping and deadly serious…Guy even bares his soul regarding personal heartbreak and professional mistakes that others can learn from. An evocative snapshot of real life, every word, even the title – spoken by a tiny infant – is true. A powerful insight into how varied an experience supply teaching can be, the book covers both pros and cons of the vocation, as the author relates a host of unpredictable situations encountered – good and bad – offering a tantalising, honest and refreshing window onto a largely hidden world…
Guy Newmountain, aptly described by a former college tutor as a ‘funnyology’, is a man who steadfastly resists categorisation. Artist, illustrator, animator and occasional DJ, he is, most notably, a teacher who has worked in over 100 different schools across the entire age range; with a breadth of experience rare in the profession. A guilty cola drinker with a fascination for contemporary fonts, TV title sequences, pioneering music videos and retro sci-fi, he swims a mile each weekday, grapples with a life-size Dalek and Wurlitzer jukebox and is rarely seen far from a black Labrador Retriever.
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11 reviews
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Sparkling stories from the front of the class. A selection of amusing, poignant, and sometimes terrifically painful accounts held within the snapshots of one man's life.
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An extremely well-written, engaging, and realistic account of Guy Newmountain's recent experiences in over 100 Leicester schools, this book is both humorous and painful. It is divided into short chapters each illustrated by one of Guy's designs.
Although supply teaching is anathema to the majority of teachers because of its unpredictable nature and lack of ongoing stable relationships with students, Guy, an Artist and Graphics teacher chose this path because he saw it as his only alternative to the reams of bureaucracy demanded of him and all our teachers by the present Government's policies. He has taught across the age range from 4 years old to Sixth formers, many pupils from diverse local communities, some starting school with very little English yet he shows an extraordinary ability to be instantaneously creative and attentive to each pupil. He is particularly compassionate towards those who do not fit the "norm" He has an in-depth knowledge of pop music and popular culture which often enables him to get onto the adolescent wavelength. His sense of fun and ability to perform roles endeared him to younger children and he sometimes overheard children pointing him out to a parent as“My favorite teacher”
Much of the book appears to be a reflection on his inner thoughts and feelings, as well as on his educational principles and past behavior over 20 years; perhaps a cathartic way of expiating some uncomfortable events and learning from them.
It is also a critique of the current supply teacher system. Guy is highly critical of the profit-making motives driving the supply teacher agencies who would often give an inexperienced young teacher work in preference to him because her hourly rate of pay was considerably less than his. Educational criteria related to suitability for the post did not appear to be a consideration.
Val Simanowitz(ex-teacher)
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I enjoyed reading this book. It is wonderfully written with excellent illustrations. Thought-provoking, amusing and sometimes painful. Guy gives an honest account of his personal experiences, the rewards and drawbacks of supply teaching.
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