I am so glad this week is over. Yippee for weekends.

I still feel vaguely fuzzy and dizzy - I am thinking this is because my ears feel blocked and are somehow messing up my sense of balance? Either that or I have some dread disease.

This morning's maths lesson was bizarre - the teacher was busy with something else and was ignoring the class, so they went completely Lord of the Flies. The kids passed the time by throwing things, yelling, and attempting to strangle one another. I was horrified. This particular teacher is counting the days to retirement and has clearly given up; pretty sad, and very unfair on those children who actually do want to learn. Well, thinking about it, unfair on all the children.

It is very awkward for me in these situations. If I intervene, the teacher would be outraged, because, after all, it is his classroom and he'd perceive it as undermining his authority. And it's doubtful whether the kids would listen to me anyway - they know I'm there to help particular pupils, not as a general supervisor type person. But seeing such bad classroom practice drives me crazy.

Today was particularly frustrating; since the teacher hadn't even told the kids what to do, I couldn't follow my usual policy of helping my pupil quietly at the back of the class while the usual suspects run amok. Normally, the two of us manage to get a lot done even if the teacher is having a can't-be-bothered day. But today - nope. The lesson was a complete waste of time for all concerned.

However, I console myself with the thought that there must be a novel somewhere in this lot.

Bobs and I are going to walk down to the movie theatre (or, as they call it here, the cinema, pronounced cinemah) to see The DaVinci Code in a few minutes. It seems to have got universally crappy reviews but I don't care, I'm in the mood for something entertaining and mindless.