Manor Green

Today we spent the day at Manor Green School for special needs children. Having spent a year working with an autistic child I was expecting the inevitable shock to be softened by the little experience I already had with SEN pupils. It did not soften anything; it only set me up for a sucker punch.

My initial reactions to the fantastic facilities were tainted by the pity I couldn't help feeling for the children there. As we were shown around the school and into different classrooms I couldn't help but find it hard to look at the range of disabilities these children had.

However as the day continued and we spent time with a class in a maths lesson; having lunch, playing football on the play ground and seeing a snapshot of their afternoon's lessons I began to realize that the pupils were extremely happy. That they were in the best place for them, with everything suited to their needs. I began to enjoy the afternoon lessons as the pupils did.

My focus then shifted to the teacher and staff's role. With classes not larger than 10 pupils with at least 3 members of staff in as well the support available was fantastic. I also realized that the teacher was not only having to manage people in terms of their pupils but also in terms of the support staff in the room. As the Deputy Head pointed out to us earlier in the day this must be very daunting for someone new to teaching such as a GTP or NQT.

The level of differentiation needed for a class also became very apparent. Within one mixed ability class you could need to differentiate on 10 different levels. We saw a class split into two groups; the lower ability and the higher ability. We later discovered that within that 'higher' group of 6 pupils their were at least two other sub-groups. As the teacher we were working with observed; she may not have a lot of marking to do but that time is certainly replaced with lots of time planning and differentiating.

The experience was fantastic and well worth doing; despite my  negative impressions early on and has certainly put a lot of things in perspective for me.

10F

I have taken the form group several times but always with their form tutor (that they have been with since year 7) in the room and many of them are in my year 10 English class. Today a cover teacher was in the room (as their usual form tutor is away for a week on a trip) and I saw an obvious change in their behaviour. Instead of working or reading silently whilst I moved around the room and signed planners; there was a low level buzz around the room which constantly required some kind of response from me in quietig them down. I am fully aware that they are are just trying to push the boundaries and I am happy to set my standards high at this time to establish myself.
We  have PSHE last lesson today which is a perfect opportunity for me to work at this again; especially as one of my targets from my observation with Claire Murray is behaviour management (and I would suggest the squashing of low level stuff is very similar to what she saw in that observed lesson).

RBWM Observation 1

After my first observation by Claire Murray and having had the weekend to write up my reflections I have to conclude that I am pleased with the lesson

My 8X4 (learning support) group are quite challenging; with lots of characters in the group. However it is with this group that I feel I have made the most progress and have learnt the most, so it seemed fitting that I would be observed with them.

Through my work with this class I have learnt not to assume anything about their level and prior learning; it has also taught me to cover all my bases and leave nothing to chance. The more structure the lesson has; with each section building on the last, leading onto the next the more chance the lesson has in being successful and the pupils reaching the learning objectives.

As for the observation I felt the majority of the pupils met the learning objectives and the lesson was successful, although there were one or two features that I felt I could have improved and it was especially pleasing for me that Claire Murray picked up on the same things. This told me that my understanding of what I could do to improve the pupils learning was fairly accurate and I feel this is essential for me to become a better teacher.

The two main targets I have taken from the observation are to make my modelling of what I would like from the pupils clearer because this will directly affect their ability to achieve the learning objectives and to be more forceful with my behavior management even if the pupils are working towards the learning objectives; maintaining high standards.

Year 8 Strategy

In the year 8 learning support group I am teaching there is one particular pupil that both their class teacher and I are having problems with. She is very young emotionally and develops attachments to certain members of staff (this was the case with her and a female member of staff last year).

In our lessons, this pupil's behavior has been mixed. She has been very good and engaging in the lessons well, wishing to contribute and get involved. However rather more recently her impact on lessons has been a lot more negative; claiming she does not have her homework when it is in her bag or book, ripping up replacement sheets given to her, arguing with other pupils and tossing her bag into the corner of the room in front of both of us teachers. In the lesson I taught on Monday she was taken out and spoken to by both myself and the class teacher. It significantly impacted the lesson and meant that the part of the lesson with the most lesson was only touched upon for a few minutes rather than fully explored. This is something both the class teacher and I are looking to address as soon as possible.

It has been decided that as soon as she does anything that draws attention to herself in a negative way she will be sent from the room to work from a text book for the rest of the lesson. There won't be any kind of argument or discussion about it, if she disappears from where she is working the on call member of senior leadership  team will be called. Each time she is sent out she will continue with to work from the same text book from where she left off on the previous occasion she was sent out. There are 15 other members of the class whose learning is being affected by her behavior and this has to stop.
The other side of the coin is that we praise her positive behavior and actions; for her to learn that she has to earn the attention she wants from positive and good aspects of lessons.

After checking with her head of year and form tutor; I told this pupil about the new plan in the morning the day before our next lesson. I did this so that it would have enough time to to sink in and for her to understand it rather than only minutes before the lesson. Especially as our next lesson was their speaking and listening assessment and we not only needed a lack of disruption but wanted her to be in the lesson as well.

The first lesson we had the strategy in place it worked as a deterrent and did not have to be used. However it is essential that we have the text book etc ready just in case for future lessons. 

Presentations and Lesson Planning

Today was our first assignments/presentations for the GTTP course. Hopefully it went well, but the results and feedback will come later. Today was interesting to see peoples different styles and was good to see how other people approached the same (albeit broad) question as I did.

However, probably the most important thing that I will take away from the session today to do with lesson planning. Just because something suits my learning or teaching style, it might not work for my learners. This is something I will do my best to remember, just because I like teaching a something a certain way; it doesn't mean its the best way for my pupils. A simple way to find out if its working is to just ask them...

First Lesson- 8X4

I taught my first lesson this afternoon. Having planned a starter it was pointed out to me by the class's main teacher that I had actually planned a lesson, with starter, main task and plenary.

I have realised that if what the class is doing is of value and the class are getting a lot from it then adapting your plan to continue with it. I was wary of time but as the girls were really engaged with the tasks so I we stayed with it and I was pleased with what they produced.

After the lesson I debriefed with the main class teacher who gave me some great feedback which is of real use and will certainly be applied in the future. I think the main thing I will take from the feedback I was given is that I shouldn't rush to get my instructions out and get on with the lesson. It could have maybe benefited from establishing myself by waiting for silence before giving my instructions, this would have set the tone more and shown "who's boss".

All in all very pleasing first lesson and lots to work on going forward!

Starter 8X4

In the lesson we are going to be looking at using evidence when debating. I am planning the starter for the lesson and my main issue is the pitch of the task. It is a learning support group, who are full of ideas and always willing to contribute, however I really want it to be a task they can engage with and for this I want them to be able to take ownership and have their own input.

I think the key is to start them 'talking' as early as possible.

9X3 English Lesson- Blogging

C.L uses english department laptops with class, alowing them to blog thier views on which response from a previous lessons was the best and why (in terms of using lanmguage analysis).

This allows him to see the comments that are being made by the pairs instantly and see the progress being made. It is a lot easier to do it this way than speaking to every pupil or reading every pupils prep-books. It is also more engaging and different for the pupils. Something I should look to include in my own lessons?

14 Sep 2012

Busy but productive day, finishing with an observation of the AST in our department teaching a yr 7 class. The lesson itself was okay, last lesson on a Friday is never easy for anyone. However it was the brief conversation with the teacher afterwards that was the most interesting. He explained that he would rather spend time trying to break the bad habits of the girls had developed at their previous schools and instill the way of talking and learning that he and Newlands support than take his lesson further. He made sure the class were successful with what he thought was a fairly simple task -each person throwing out an denotation of a picture projected on the board, in order quickly and loudly- after they had been fairly poor at it. He sacrificed the latter part of the lesson to make sure they got it right and developed some of those skills. He also started to introduce the idea of a safe learning environment by allowing them to pass if they did not have a response, this is important because I have noticed that girls in the school have a large fear of being wrong or not knowing the answer, they need to learn that it is okay to be wrong and that they can learn from this.

Weeks 1&2

Having completed a couple of days of week 1 and nearly a full second week at my lead school Newlands Girls' School, I am very pleased with both the school and department. The school aims to achieve highly and the English department has a fantastic dynamic to it, as well as being very welcoming and supportive.

The lessons I have observed this week have been very beneficial, watching different styles of teaching (of which the department has many, each with its own positives and negatives) and starting to understand what style or kind of teacher I would like to be.

The most interesting thing I have noticed or have become aware of is the school's and the English departments attitudes towards the idea of 'talk'. Instead of spoon feeding the girls information for them to commit to memory, actually getting the pupils to think for themselves and discuss ideas between them. This should develop learning and thinking skills which will really be important higher up the school. It would seem people have it the wrong way round, its not about the how much the teacher can teach, its about how much the pupils can learn.