It's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it...

Duty here is very different to that expected of a teacher in the UK. Break time doesn't have the same function and isn't for teachers, so there isn't any break duty. Neither is there bus duty.

Instead, once every seven days (because that's how the timetable rotates), during a free lesson, teachers are assigned a location to monitor. I struck lucky and got bathroom duty.

Bathroom duty consists of sitting at a table opposite the male and female student toilets (bathrooms here) with a clipboard, a clock and a pencil. Students who need to use the toilet must get their subject teacher to sign their 'passport' - a card which shows why they are out of lessons and for how long - and it is the job of the teacher on duty to sign when they leave the toilet, noting the time. Students must also fill in the form on the clipboard. Only one student is allowed in the toilet at a time. The system clearly works here and has helped to eliminate smoking in the building.

As an interesting aside, the watch today was set according to the 24 hour clock, when usually it's not. The vast majority of students, even those of high ability, struggled to ascertain what the time was when faced with '13.23', or whatever. Some took guesses, "That's twenty three minutes past two, right?" and others just asked me. One student even offered to alter the settings on the watch! I've heard that this may be because there aren't any 24 hour clocks at the middle school but I'd not encountered students trying to tell the time this way before.

I've certainly got to know a lot more students doing this duty! As mine falls last lesson of the day, I get a frequent flow (excuse the pun) of students - twenty eight in today's lesson. It does, however, mean that I can't really multitask!