Two weeks into the Summer Holiday and I'm having serious withdrawal symptons from teaching. I'm already preparing myself for next year by sorting out lesson plans and resources. I've looked through some plans I'd done when I first started teaching and am absolutely terrified that I was going into the classroom with such things. They're so detailed that they're completely unusable, the font's barely legible - I use good ol' verdana these days - and include phrases like: hopefully the pupils should understand the work at this point and be happy. Hopefully! I might as well being writing on the board 'by the end of this lesson you might be able to add and subtract fraction, I hope' as the learning objective.

I've also thinking about how I can improve in the classroom. I've come up with a worringly long list - what have I been up to these past two years?

Still even if I'm bored I seem unable to escape my pupils. Last week one year eight tried adding me as a friend on Facebook. This is one of three categories of people I reject. Some people you reject because you have no idea who they are, some people you remember as being dickheads so have no interest in being friends with them, in such cases it's really quite satisfying. So far two pupils have attempted to add me and in such cases I feel a little bad because it's not done out of malice.

I've had several school based dreams, one featuring a bunch of year nines crammed into a Renault Espace, another featured a teacher at school. In the dream she looked like the head teacher but in real life she doesn't. Perhaps she was in disguise.

Last Saturday I was at a wedding. I swear I'd taught a girl there on one of my teaching practices. I couldn't be sure as it was two years ago and I couldn't exactly stare at her and figure it out. What could I say if her Dad asked what I was looking at. I think the phrase 'I was imagining your daughter dressed as a Catholic Schoolgirl' comes under the category of things no one should ever say.

Yesterday I was actually in the town where I teach. It was a slightly unusual experience. I came across - and avoided - some departing year elevens who are known 'characters'. Ten steps later and I had a year eight waving at me. Later I came across a Science teacher and an ICT engineer - predictably in the pub. I also saw one of my year nines spitting on the floor. Clearly we've taught him to be a well-rounded individual.

So even if I'm off school, I'm still very much caught up in it all. Whether I want to be or not.