Leo B

NQT year. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE teaching, but with 2 of my classes (the disruptive ones!) I can't help but feel nervous the night before...what if one of the students is suddenly in the mood to start a fight with me, or just flips out and sets fire to his exercise book..? Does the nervousness about "potential student reactions" go away, and will it be replaced with a calm "whatever happens, I know how to deal wih it" attitude?? I want to be calmer but can't seem to unclench...losing the occasional bit of sleep here!

Starting NQT year in September, getting myself organised with the material and the literature (I'm an English teacher.) But really want to start out on the right foot with the students. I don't want to be "pals" - I tried this with one class during my training year and while it was great for about a month, they soon lost all respect for me. Any tips from either students or teachers out there on things to consider / avoid?

I have just qualified as a teacher and will be starting back at school in September as a full-time member of staff. I have the schemes of work for next term, and will probably plan the first few lessons for when I go back, as well as acquainting myself a bit more with the new AQA specs...but this will take about 2-3 days, and I have 4 weeks of holiday. What do teachers normally do over the summer??? Should I feel guilty that I'm just "recharging"? Should I be planning the whole of next term's lessons (I never planned lessons more than a week in advance on my training year.) Help!

Most of the answerers on the religious forums are either believers, or atheists. You learn at school that there is a third option (terrible choice of words, but you know what I mean): agnosticism. But how popular is it? And why (if you are) did you become an agnostic?

Moving there for 9 months in September. What should I visit? Where should I go? Any decent nightlife? Help!

There are 14 lads, 2 boats, with a 5-hour journey to take along a (moderately quiet) stretch of river. There will be plenty of drinking of course but does anyone have any thoughts on other games we could play?? Preferably competitive (one boat against the other - the losers have to down lots of shots when we get to our destination.)

Can anyone suggest things to do, places to go, in this Norfolk town at night? Any decent curry houses? Pub recommendations? Bars? Clubs? Thanks!

Or, the other way round, what's the cheapest dark rum out there (other than supermarket own brand)?

I'm throwing a Hawaiian-themed party and am thinking of serving drinks in half-coconut glasses so will need a minimum of about 40 coconuts. Is there somewhere uber-cheap in London to get these?? Or are most greengrocers the same price?

Has anyone used this service? They say it's £60 to sign up with them and they have hundreds of London properties on their books at reduced rent because there are no agency fees.

Sounds a bit too good to be true IMHO...

Obviously I don't want to give them my details if they're crooked! If you've used them and can verify that they're for real and not some dodgy organisation, that would be great.

Many thanks.

I'm writing a piece on the demiurge and it got me wondering whether gnosticism, with its beliefs in a material world created by an imperfect god and so on, is still alive and kicking in modern day society. Plus: what persuaded you to become a gnostic? And have you gone through gnosis? Was it inspired or did you have to use entheogens?

Lots of questions there, sorry! I'm just basically interested, kind of academically and personally I guess, in what makes you tick.

Does anyone know of a good, authentic Greek deli in London? I live in Soho but am willing to travel...

There's a dance video where a hot girl is playing a waitress (who I think got dumped) in a cafe who gets invited by this hot guy to a racing event. Anyway, she and her friends turn up (in hotpants, looking stunning), watch the race - which he wins (of course) and then in the evening he DJs for everyone and they have a big party...any ideas who the video is by? The girl is slightly latino-looking (tanned, black hair) if that helps...and I think she's in another one of the artist's music videos too.

We're having a Hat-themed party...any ideas for hat games? They could involve alcohol but it's not essential!

We're looking for someone cheap (if possible!) and trustworthy to clean our house (Central London) once a fortnight - anyone have any recommendations?

We have endless zombie, werewolf, alien, mummy, ghost and vampire movies...is it time for another scary creature to step into the spotlight?

Just wondering as there are loads of American sellers on eBay (I live in London) & I don't want to buy any games if they won't work. I wondered if was like DVDs - you know, Region 1, Region 2 etc...

I'm looking for a new (i.e. one that most people won't have heard of) music track to feature on an advert...it must be fresh, cool, and above all fast-paced - preferably building to a kick-**** (guitar?) climax. I'm thinking alternative / indie / rock but am up for any other suggestions.

I'm looking for a decent Italian place in W1 that sells nice olives and salami, little Italian bits and bobs that I can buy for a picnic, that kind of thing. Don't really fancy bog-standard supermarket stuff. Can anyone help?

Has anyone here ever self-published a novel? Do you recommend it? How do you go about getting it done? I've seen a few dodgy-looking publishing outfits on the net - are any of them legit?