Schools in UK vs US

So things aren't entirely different between us. I feel like I might be annoying my colleagues with my endless workings out of the things that aren't quite the same, but for the most part, I think, children are the same everywhere. I have a delightful form, 7T, which is like a homeroom. I also have them for several classes during the week. The 2 classes which everyone said would be full of little horrors... because they are a lot of learning disabled students, are actually my 2 best classes. They forget things, but so do all 7th graders, so I don't feel bad reminding them.

Teachers are very strict here and for the most part, so far, I've seen the students respecting the teachers. One main difference is that in America, if a student fails, they don't get to pass to the next level of class. That doesn't necessarily happen here, despite all the testing.

Also, in America, you have a degree in something and you are specialized in it and you teach only those classes, by law. I can teach almost anything in the humanities here, which is odd, since I'm not studied in History, Geography, Religion, or Personal and Social Development... so... I feel a bit odd. It was explained to me that they think of you first as teachers and secondly as a specialist. I don't know if I agree either way, I think you have to balance it.

The other difference, they are very big on behavior management and they have an awesome system that manages the behavior of their students. You have to keep up on it, but everything is noted, and rewarded or punished. So far, it seems really interesting.

The other thing I noticed is that children are very polite here and say please and thank you, they call everyone Miss or Sir and try to do their best, so far... Even children I don't know say hi to me and tell me to have a nice day on my way out. This seems amazing to me. It is simply delightful. I don't know what kind of situations they go home to, but in school, they are in a polite home. It's wonderful so far. I think, perhaps, the main issue in the UK, or at least in my area, is that professionalism is so pressed that when parents go home, it's release time and there is a big disconnect between home life and work/social life.

I had a bunch of the teachers laughing today doing a span of American accents, from Jersey to NY, Southern, Boston, Californian, etc. It was fun. They seem to think that Americans all sound the same whereas English accents differ depending on where you are from. I tried to show them that it is the same in the US. It was fun.

Well I have some work to do and dinner to make. It's been fun so far.

Cheers!