8/2/2013- Support Staff

One of my targets that came from an observation from Richard Long was to try and deploy support staff more effectively. 

So  before Friday's lesson with 7Y3 (period 5), I made sure I had an opportunity to speak with the teaching assistant that was going to be with us in the lesson. In this conversation I outlined the purpose of the lessons and what I wanted to get from each task, gave her a plan, explained where I would be focusing and what I would like her to do whilst I am doing this.

The plan was for me to work with the lowest ability group while the teaching assistant moved around the other groups making sure that they were on task and were applying the success criteria (that the pupils themselves had come up with). However I was very aware that whilst I was working with the weaker girls that several of the groups were not as focused as I would have liked; with in some cases all the members of the group pretty much leaving it up to one person. This could have been combated by each member of the group being assigned a role; making sure they had something to do and be focused. However I did feel that the girls could have been given more of a nudge to complete the task. I was particularly disappointed with the highest ability group who were very silly (even more than usual for period 5 on a Friday and a non uniform day) and had the most potential to complete the task or be stretched. Neither of which I think really happened. 

Perhaps if I had made a much bigger fuss about the teaching assistant's role and empowered her more there would have been more focus from the groups as she moved around the room. This particular teaching assistant has a very good relationship with many of the pupils and could possibly been sterner with them. I think a combination of these things could have lead to a fantastic lesson. The lesson itself wasn't bad and the pupils showed from the starter their knowledge of the things we have covered this term and the second half of the lesson was designed for them to apply this knowledge which was only done to a certain level which I feel could have been raised if circumstances were slightly different. However Richard Long who was observing had some positive things to say and some interesting things for me too look at after the lesson. 

Week 19

Having had a slow start to the term for a number of reasons (APP tests etc and being off ill for a week) I had not been observed as much as I might have expected to; which lead to my mentor asking the staff I share classes with to observe me for all lessons.

This lead to a tough but hugely rewarding week. I taught in front of two new teachers for the first time in the space of a week. This was fantastic because not only did both have a wealth of experience (both having been mentors to trainee students before) and both focusing on different things as was their own independent styles.

There were things that I was doing (for instance different levels of differentiation) that I didn't even realise I was doing; they were just things I had developed and done quite naturally. Some other positives were my questioning skills. These were something that had become a target for me to work on a lot earlier in the year and it was fantastic to hear that both of these teachers felt that they were a real strength of mine.

They also asked some interesting questions; how could I prove or how did I know that the pupils had learnt or met the learning objectives. Although there is an element of AFL going on through out the lesson, quite often verbally it can be necessary to pair that with the pupils applying that in written form.
I also realised that I need to be a lot more focused on my the outcomes for the lesson; quite often I would approach a lesson with a lot to cover or some definite outcomes and some things that I would like to introduce to the pupils/get them thinking about. However this can detract from the overall objectives being met and with lower ability pupils or younger classes can be distracting/confusing. Is it better to introduce a number of skills at a basic level or to solidify and be certain of the learning for fewer things?