(Title from Prologue of Romeo and Juliet)
So I have missed a few weeks since a lot has happened during this time. I have moved house and the workload has increased drastically. The great thing is that work is going well.
My S1 class are charming as ever. We finished reading Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson together and took some basic notes to let the pupils get used to studying a text. Book projects were completed and I have to say, I was totally overwhelmed by the immense amount of work and effort that went into them. They happened to be due on the day that I moved house and one pupil had actually painted a canvas with a poem that he had written stuck to the middle. He handed it to me with the rest of his book project and said 'Miss, I made this part of my book project so that you can hang it up in your new house.' Quite honestly, I nearly burst into tears I was so moved with his kind gesture. I have the canvas hanging up on my desk at work as a daily reminder of how lovely my class is.
After a long process, my S3 class have finally finished their reading of Witch Child by Celia Rees. They have worked hard and we did watch Pocahontas in class the week before the October break as a reward for their hard work. It relates to the early settlers destroying the Native American lands which we have been studying with Witch Child. Over the next week, we will be planning essays and getting them out of the way so that we can make a start on 'Romeo and Juliet'. I feel that I have learned a lot about the way that I teach texts since teaching Witch Child. I need to include a wider variety of tasks for the pupils so that it doesn't 'scunner' them as they say. I want to make Romeo and Juliet fun so that pupils enjoy it as much as I do. The last couple of weeks, I feel like I have bonded a lot more with this class. This may be partially due to the fact that we are all in the same exhausted boat with Witch Child and feel it should be done ASAP.
I feel like I have finally made a proper break through with my S5 class. We had a lesson on boundaries and explained that there were rules that had to be followed in order for the class to work. With the responsibilities, there are rewards for those who follow the rules. The pupils chose their own rewards and have so far chosen to watch a movie for one period a week. We finally got through 'Sailmaker' which is a Scottish Set Text for National 4 and 5. This is a text I must say that I struggled a lot with. There was just no possible way to make it fun or exciting. The pupils found the text dry and difficult. We have now moved on to study media which is really exciting for me. I have been really throwing myself in to learning all about teaching media and the techniques that are used in films and media texts. The pupils are really getting involved with this and we have started studying The Shawshank Redemption which as you can imagine has gone down a treat! I am really excited about it and I think the pupils are becoming much more engaged as it is something that they can really relate to and understand.
So at the moment, I am going back to my duvet and re-reading Romeo and Juliet whilst creating a study guide before my S3 get their hands on it next week!
Miss.
Thursday 6 November 2014
Saturday 27 September 2014
Books, Stories and Telling Tales
Getting in the car to drive to work on Monday morning and as the sharp coldness hacked my breath, I wondered: 'Do Monday mornings ever get better? Will they always be that dread-filled nauseous challenge?'
This week was always going to be a long one, right from that Monday morning drive to work, I knew that for sure. It was confirmed by 7:30 when I got to work and realised not only was there no milk for a cuppa, the person who was on milk duty this week was away on a school trip for 4 days. So my week started with a peppermint tea. First period on a Monday, I have non-contact time so it's nice to get in and organised as much as possible. I was able to finish off some S1 marking and get the resources I needed photocopied.
Then came S4. This is a class that I am just not sure about if I am honest. They are all lovely but a lot of them have a troubled background or are going through a lot at home. I see this class three times per week and shared them with another teacher the other two periods. However, the other teacher has now left and I am on my maximum amount of class contact time so the class is put out for a cover teacher twice per week. This is a lot of change for these pupils and I get that they are starting to feel a little bit unloved and perhaps resentful. A lot of them do not have a lot of stability at home and look to school to provide a solid routine of security for them. Come Tuesday, the class were becoming a bit more cheeky and less willing to work and whilst obviously, I can't allow them to get away with that, I had to bear in mind that they probably felt like they were being passed from pillar to post and a little bit unwanted. There was a lot going on in the class on Tuesday when they came to English, the dynamics were a little different and there seemed to be a lot of disruption and very little motivation to work. This class are a relatively low-ability class who require a lot of individual support. For one boy with Asperger's, it was all too much and he had to get up and leave the class because it was just too disrupted for him. After Tuesday's lesson when a disclosure was made about something, I ended up having to take matters to senior management to resolve the issue. I didn't see the class again until Friday morning but they were much more settled and I managed to get them to do a reasonable amount of work so this was a much more positive lesson for all involved.
My S3 class are the same as always, keen to learn but too chatty. I wouldn't mind the constant chatter at every opportunity that arises IF it was about the task that they were set. While I get on well with this class and I enjoy the big characters in the class, the constant low-level disruption gets very tiring and in many ways is actually worse than the bigger incidents. At least if something major happens, it is dealt with and then we move on. With the small stuff, there is nothing that can really be done without facing the risk of losing your voice from constantly repeating phrases like 'Ok, everybody stop talking' or (my personal favourite) 'There is nobody in here that needs to be talking, everyone has a task to get on with.' By midweek, I decided that I would have a chat to the whole class about the importance of paying attention and not talking at times they shouldn't be. Thus far, it hasn't worked. I will try out something else on Monday and see if that works. By Friday, I must say, the class had settled a lot except one poor girl who just couldn't stop crying because her boyfriend had dumped her. I definitely don't miss being a teenager.
A lot of classroom management and presence it trial and error because what works for one teacher won't work for another. This is even true on a class to class basis. It's all fine and well if sending one pupil out of an S1 class works in settling the rest of that class but for an S5 class, it may have no effect at all. The balance has to be right and this is something that I have really learned this week.
S1, I have to be honest, got themselves in a lot of trouble this week. At the start of term, I explained to them that we would be in a different classroom every period. I asked them to get out their timetables and write the room numbers on them for each day that they are in English. So now 6 weeks in when I have pupils 10, 15 and on one occasion 20 minutes late to class with the excuse 'I didn't know what room we were in', I get extremely annoyed. I can see the changes in this class since the day they walked in terrified at joining a new school. A few of them have become very confident and overpowering in the sense that they make inappropriate remarks or snigger to each other when another person gives an answer. It can be frustrating and it is something that I have been trying my best to pick them up on. Give them their due, they do listen once I ask them to stop. The other issue in the class is one pupil who refuses to listen to a word I say and then, once everyone else has started working, he asks what he is supposed to do. An example: We are reading Treasure Island (an abridged version for younger pupils) together, we have read up to chapter 7 in the novel over the past 2 weeks. We have also made notes and answered questions on each chapter. Imagine my frustration when yesterday, said pupil puts his hand up and asks 'Miss, who is Jim Hawkins?' (lead character of the story, been in it since the first sentence of the book). I quite honestly could have screamed. The more annoying thing is that the reason he asked this is one of two options: 1. He really hasn't been listening the whole time or 2. He thinks he is funny and asks obvious questions to get a laugh from his peers. I am going for the latter. This is just one example, there are several.
S5 this week has been a different experience than even I could have expected. The pupils who had been put to other classrooms to work last week seemed desperate to feel like they could be part of the class again. I allowed them back with the warning that they would be sent elsewhere at the first sign of disruption. They tested this Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and true to my word, I sent them to other rooms. On Thursday, not one pupil was sent out, everyone managed to get the work done that I had set and I was really happy. Hopefully it lasts!! (I did have another weeper in this class too this week, also a result of boyfriend drama!)
Thursday saw the first meeting of the staff book club that I have started so I have started to compile a list of book suggestions for the coming weeks/months. I have also been thinking of a school blog page so that those who can't make the meetings can comment freely on the discussion too.
This week for me has not so much been about teaching but more about meetings about teaching. I had a meeting on Wednesday morning, Wednesday night, Thursday afternoon, Thursday night and then Friday afternoon. It has been exhausting and I have literally wanted to crawl straight to bed as soon as I get home from school each day. The meeting on Friday is one I have to mention though.
Probationer teachers have to show that they are doing continual professional development throughout the year (as do other teachers, but there is more focus during probation). As a result, my local authority provides a programme of carious development opportunities throughout the year. This week, my half day Friday was non-existant again because I had to attend a CPD course on Positive Behaviour Strategies run by a local school who caters for young people with severe emotional, social and/or behavioural issues that mean they cannot function as part of mainstream schooling. Before I arrived, I had heard of the school and the stories that come from there but I had never actually seen it before. The doors to every room inside were locked and a staff member had to unlock the toilet door to allow one of the other probationers to use it. It turns out, the doors only open from the inside, not the outside without a key. This is not to keep pupils locked in but to stop them accessing or disrupting other lessons should they end up leaving their own class for whatever reason. The head teacher along with another member of staff greeted all of the local probationers and invited us to have tea and coffee then we listened to them about what some of the roots are to behaviour issues in the classroom. What actually causes pupils to behave or act in the way that they do at times. It was fascinating to consider that most pupils only act out in the places where they have boundaries and feel secure. When they lack those boundaries and that security at home, the only other place that they can act in certain ways is in school.
We spoke about how to handle certain situations and put forward our own strategies, shared with the group and then were given lots of tips from the staff at the school. This was definitely the most valuable educational seminar that I have been to and I feel it was even more beneficial than a lot of the lectures on the same subject that were delivered at university. In fact, after I left that campus yesterday afternoon, I genuinely felt like I would love to teach there one day. I feel it is more of a calling for me than mainstream schooling. The attitudes and spirit there were just amazingly awe-inspiring.
Miss.
This week was always going to be a long one, right from that Monday morning drive to work, I knew that for sure. It was confirmed by 7:30 when I got to work and realised not only was there no milk for a cuppa, the person who was on milk duty this week was away on a school trip for 4 days. So my week started with a peppermint tea. First period on a Monday, I have non-contact time so it's nice to get in and organised as much as possible. I was able to finish off some S1 marking and get the resources I needed photocopied.
Then came S4. This is a class that I am just not sure about if I am honest. They are all lovely but a lot of them have a troubled background or are going through a lot at home. I see this class three times per week and shared them with another teacher the other two periods. However, the other teacher has now left and I am on my maximum amount of class contact time so the class is put out for a cover teacher twice per week. This is a lot of change for these pupils and I get that they are starting to feel a little bit unloved and perhaps resentful. A lot of them do not have a lot of stability at home and look to school to provide a solid routine of security for them. Come Tuesday, the class were becoming a bit more cheeky and less willing to work and whilst obviously, I can't allow them to get away with that, I had to bear in mind that they probably felt like they were being passed from pillar to post and a little bit unwanted. There was a lot going on in the class on Tuesday when they came to English, the dynamics were a little different and there seemed to be a lot of disruption and very little motivation to work. This class are a relatively low-ability class who require a lot of individual support. For one boy with Asperger's, it was all too much and he had to get up and leave the class because it was just too disrupted for him. After Tuesday's lesson when a disclosure was made about something, I ended up having to take matters to senior management to resolve the issue. I didn't see the class again until Friday morning but they were much more settled and I managed to get them to do a reasonable amount of work so this was a much more positive lesson for all involved.
My S3 class are the same as always, keen to learn but too chatty. I wouldn't mind the constant chatter at every opportunity that arises IF it was about the task that they were set. While I get on well with this class and I enjoy the big characters in the class, the constant low-level disruption gets very tiring and in many ways is actually worse than the bigger incidents. At least if something major happens, it is dealt with and then we move on. With the small stuff, there is nothing that can really be done without facing the risk of losing your voice from constantly repeating phrases like 'Ok, everybody stop talking' or (my personal favourite) 'There is nobody in here that needs to be talking, everyone has a task to get on with.' By midweek, I decided that I would have a chat to the whole class about the importance of paying attention and not talking at times they shouldn't be. Thus far, it hasn't worked. I will try out something else on Monday and see if that works. By Friday, I must say, the class had settled a lot except one poor girl who just couldn't stop crying because her boyfriend had dumped her. I definitely don't miss being a teenager.
A lot of classroom management and presence it trial and error because what works for one teacher won't work for another. This is even true on a class to class basis. It's all fine and well if sending one pupil out of an S1 class works in settling the rest of that class but for an S5 class, it may have no effect at all. The balance has to be right and this is something that I have really learned this week.
S1, I have to be honest, got themselves in a lot of trouble this week. At the start of term, I explained to them that we would be in a different classroom every period. I asked them to get out their timetables and write the room numbers on them for each day that they are in English. So now 6 weeks in when I have pupils 10, 15 and on one occasion 20 minutes late to class with the excuse 'I didn't know what room we were in', I get extremely annoyed. I can see the changes in this class since the day they walked in terrified at joining a new school. A few of them have become very confident and overpowering in the sense that they make inappropriate remarks or snigger to each other when another person gives an answer. It can be frustrating and it is something that I have been trying my best to pick them up on. Give them their due, they do listen once I ask them to stop. The other issue in the class is one pupil who refuses to listen to a word I say and then, once everyone else has started working, he asks what he is supposed to do. An example: We are reading Treasure Island (an abridged version for younger pupils) together, we have read up to chapter 7 in the novel over the past 2 weeks. We have also made notes and answered questions on each chapter. Imagine my frustration when yesterday, said pupil puts his hand up and asks 'Miss, who is Jim Hawkins?' (lead character of the story, been in it since the first sentence of the book). I quite honestly could have screamed. The more annoying thing is that the reason he asked this is one of two options: 1. He really hasn't been listening the whole time or 2. He thinks he is funny and asks obvious questions to get a laugh from his peers. I am going for the latter. This is just one example, there are several.
S5 this week has been a different experience than even I could have expected. The pupils who had been put to other classrooms to work last week seemed desperate to feel like they could be part of the class again. I allowed them back with the warning that they would be sent elsewhere at the first sign of disruption. They tested this Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and true to my word, I sent them to other rooms. On Thursday, not one pupil was sent out, everyone managed to get the work done that I had set and I was really happy. Hopefully it lasts!! (I did have another weeper in this class too this week, also a result of boyfriend drama!)
Thursday saw the first meeting of the staff book club that I have started so I have started to compile a list of book suggestions for the coming weeks/months. I have also been thinking of a school blog page so that those who can't make the meetings can comment freely on the discussion too.
This week for me has not so much been about teaching but more about meetings about teaching. I had a meeting on Wednesday morning, Wednesday night, Thursday afternoon, Thursday night and then Friday afternoon. It has been exhausting and I have literally wanted to crawl straight to bed as soon as I get home from school each day. The meeting on Friday is one I have to mention though.
Probationer teachers have to show that they are doing continual professional development throughout the year (as do other teachers, but there is more focus during probation). As a result, my local authority provides a programme of carious development opportunities throughout the year. This week, my half day Friday was non-existant again because I had to attend a CPD course on Positive Behaviour Strategies run by a local school who caters for young people with severe emotional, social and/or behavioural issues that mean they cannot function as part of mainstream schooling. Before I arrived, I had heard of the school and the stories that come from there but I had never actually seen it before. The doors to every room inside were locked and a staff member had to unlock the toilet door to allow one of the other probationers to use it. It turns out, the doors only open from the inside, not the outside without a key. This is not to keep pupils locked in but to stop them accessing or disrupting other lessons should they end up leaving their own class for whatever reason. The head teacher along with another member of staff greeted all of the local probationers and invited us to have tea and coffee then we listened to them about what some of the roots are to behaviour issues in the classroom. What actually causes pupils to behave or act in the way that they do at times. It was fascinating to consider that most pupils only act out in the places where they have boundaries and feel secure. When they lack those boundaries and that security at home, the only other place that they can act in certain ways is in school.
We spoke about how to handle certain situations and put forward our own strategies, shared with the group and then were given lots of tips from the staff at the school. This was definitely the most valuable educational seminar that I have been to and I feel it was even more beneficial than a lot of the lectures on the same subject that were delivered at university. In fact, after I left that campus yesterday afternoon, I genuinely felt like I would love to teach there one day. I feel it is more of a calling for me than mainstream schooling. The attitudes and spirit there were just amazingly awe-inspiring.
Miss.
Friday 19 September 2014
Pupils 'At Grass'
Excerpt from 'At Grass' by Philip Larkin
The eye can hardly pick them out
From the cold shade they shelter in,
Till wind distresses tail and main;
Then one crops grass, and moves about
- The other seeming to look on -
And stands anonymous again
As many of you have seen over my previous posts, I have a challenging S5 class. With my time (and energy) consumed mostly behaviour management, it is nigh on impossible to teach the other pupils in the class and deliver the education that they have the right to receive. This week, I made the decision to be proactive in order to allow the other pupils the best education that I could give them.
Luckily, this week was shortened by a local holiday on Monday and an in-service day on Tuesday meaning pupils were only in Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday arrived and I knew that it would bring with it some interesting tales from the long weekend and some sleepy pupils.
S3 was the first class to walk through my door and we continued to read 'Witch Child' the pupils are getting more involved in it. I love that they all want to discuss it now and are asking about what happens later in the book. I tried a new technique with this class on Wednesday and asked them to read in small groups then discuss the chapters they had read. It was interesting to see the confidence of some pupils and to push the others to get involved. They were a bit excitable but overall it worked really well and we got a lot done. So much so that we read as a class all period on Thursday!! To add to the pieces of work we have done in addition to the novel, today I had the pupils write a letter from the point of view of a puritan or witch on the ship that the protagonist was on. They got involved thinking of common puritan names. This was a fun activity but it also involved testing their knowledge of the book because the brief was to include details and experiences that had happened in the novel.
The S2 class that I only see once a week was my next class and they were eager to get started on our new adventure - poetry. 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' by Alfred Lord Tennyson to be more precise. It was one of the first poetry ventures that I attempted as a student teacher and I absolutely adore it. We set it off with a short history of the Crimean War (cue pupils laughing at my TERRIBLE sense of geographical locations of most countries!) and a reminder of poetry techniques: alliteration, assonance, enjambement, similies, metaphors, onomatopoeia etc. A poor pupil offered a sample 'metaphor': "A stitch in time saves nine" - I tried to explain it is an idiom but then there was mass confusion. Anyway, we started to annotate the poem and the pupils got really involved and were enjoying learning all about it. While this class can be challenging with low level disruption, they were a real joy to teach this week and I am really growing a little soft spot for them.
Now to my S5 and the never-ending stomach eating nerves that consume me when I even so much as think of this class. Wednesday and a double period last thing is always interesting. I booked the computer suite in the library in order to allow pupils a chance to finish various drafts of their personal reflective essays. All was going fine until a certain group of pupils refused to do any work whatsoever and were looking up quad bikes on the internet. Having given three clear warnings, eventually they did the task that they were asked to do. For the second period, I took them back to class where the same group of pupils were continuing to be disruptive, unsettling and were answering back. The worst culprit I decided to send to the head of department to sit in her class until the end of the period and work there instead of disrupting my other pupils. As I have mentioned before, I have an amazingly supportive head of department who immediately came through and read the riot act to the whole class. She explained to them that she was paying for a full time teacher for a small class and that they should appreciate that.
So this is where my 'At Grass' link comes in. 'At Grass' is a poem about horses being sent to grass as a way to describe them being put in a field to do nothing. The S5 pupil being sent out was forced to retire from the position of power that he felt he was entitled to within my class. Cue struggle of other dominant males attempting to take over his position. The next day, I removed all of the 5 boys from my class who had been part of the disruptive group the previous day. I sent them all to the other classrooms before the lesson started giving them textbook work to do. It is funny that just as a horse at grass does very little except stand around all day, so these pupils also did no work and just sat refusing to do anything at all. Without these boys, the rest of the class were visibly more at ease, more involved and more confident in the classroom. The whole learning environment was fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed our lesson together! Not only that, a few of my colleagues popped in and out for various reasons and afterwards commented on the more relaxed and yet more productive learning that was happening for all of the pupils.
I hope to start again with these pupils on Monday morning and I am fully prepared to give them another chance but this week I have my strong head on and I refuse to allow those pupils to bring down my confidence. I know in my heart that my lessons were good with them gone this week which means it is them, not me or a lack of ability, who are ruining the lessons.
Miss.
The eye can hardly pick them out
From the cold shade they shelter in,
Till wind distresses tail and main;
Then one crops grass, and moves about
- The other seeming to look on -
And stands anonymous again
As many of you have seen over my previous posts, I have a challenging S5 class. With my time (and energy) consumed mostly behaviour management, it is nigh on impossible to teach the other pupils in the class and deliver the education that they have the right to receive. This week, I made the decision to be proactive in order to allow the other pupils the best education that I could give them.
Luckily, this week was shortened by a local holiday on Monday and an in-service day on Tuesday meaning pupils were only in Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday arrived and I knew that it would bring with it some interesting tales from the long weekend and some sleepy pupils.
S3 was the first class to walk through my door and we continued to read 'Witch Child' the pupils are getting more involved in it. I love that they all want to discuss it now and are asking about what happens later in the book. I tried a new technique with this class on Wednesday and asked them to read in small groups then discuss the chapters they had read. It was interesting to see the confidence of some pupils and to push the others to get involved. They were a bit excitable but overall it worked really well and we got a lot done. So much so that we read as a class all period on Thursday!! To add to the pieces of work we have done in addition to the novel, today I had the pupils write a letter from the point of view of a puritan or witch on the ship that the protagonist was on. They got involved thinking of common puritan names. This was a fun activity but it also involved testing their knowledge of the book because the brief was to include details and experiences that had happened in the novel.
The S2 class that I only see once a week was my next class and they were eager to get started on our new adventure - poetry. 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' by Alfred Lord Tennyson to be more precise. It was one of the first poetry ventures that I attempted as a student teacher and I absolutely adore it. We set it off with a short history of the Crimean War (cue pupils laughing at my TERRIBLE sense of geographical locations of most countries!) and a reminder of poetry techniques: alliteration, assonance, enjambement, similies, metaphors, onomatopoeia etc. A poor pupil offered a sample 'metaphor': "A stitch in time saves nine" - I tried to explain it is an idiom but then there was mass confusion. Anyway, we started to annotate the poem and the pupils got really involved and were enjoying learning all about it. While this class can be challenging with low level disruption, they were a real joy to teach this week and I am really growing a little soft spot for them.
Now to my S5 and the never-ending stomach eating nerves that consume me when I even so much as think of this class. Wednesday and a double period last thing is always interesting. I booked the computer suite in the library in order to allow pupils a chance to finish various drafts of their personal reflective essays. All was going fine until a certain group of pupils refused to do any work whatsoever and were looking up quad bikes on the internet. Having given three clear warnings, eventually they did the task that they were asked to do. For the second period, I took them back to class where the same group of pupils were continuing to be disruptive, unsettling and were answering back. The worst culprit I decided to send to the head of department to sit in her class until the end of the period and work there instead of disrupting my other pupils. As I have mentioned before, I have an amazingly supportive head of department who immediately came through and read the riot act to the whole class. She explained to them that she was paying for a full time teacher for a small class and that they should appreciate that.
So this is where my 'At Grass' link comes in. 'At Grass' is a poem about horses being sent to grass as a way to describe them being put in a field to do nothing. The S5 pupil being sent out was forced to retire from the position of power that he felt he was entitled to within my class. Cue struggle of other dominant males attempting to take over his position. The next day, I removed all of the 5 boys from my class who had been part of the disruptive group the previous day. I sent them all to the other classrooms before the lesson started giving them textbook work to do. It is funny that just as a horse at grass does very little except stand around all day, so these pupils also did no work and just sat refusing to do anything at all. Without these boys, the rest of the class were visibly more at ease, more involved and more confident in the classroom. The whole learning environment was fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed our lesson together! Not only that, a few of my colleagues popped in and out for various reasons and afterwards commented on the more relaxed and yet more productive learning that was happening for all of the pupils.
I hope to start again with these pupils on Monday morning and I am fully prepared to give them another chance but this week I have my strong head on and I refuse to allow those pupils to bring down my confidence. I know in my heart that my lessons were good with them gone this week which means it is them, not me or a lack of ability, who are ruining the lessons.
Miss.
Friday 12 September 2014
Hello...is it tea your looking for?
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of toast and tea
T.S. Eliot
How is it that tea solves a world of problems? Every drop of warm tea is like the sweetest nectar in a world full of stress. It's the medicine that solves illness that can't be solved with anything else in the same way as tea can solve it. The most valuable lesson that I have learned this week: when things seem difficult and overwhelming, sit down with a nice cuppa, re-evaluate and take 10 minutes to remind yourself that things are never as bad as they seem.
This week has not been without it's fair share of dramas, melt downs and cups of remedial tea. Having started off a bright and early Monday morning filled with a resolve to be more positive, to enjoy even the more difficult classes, I very quickly realised that this was not going to work for me this week.
Having spent the last too many weeks working on 'All About Me' projects with my S1 class, I felt it was time for a change and decided a short novel was the way to go. Having consulted with other colleagues, I chose an abridged version of 'Treasure Island' by Robert Louis Stevenson. Cue several requests to watch 'Pirates of the Caribbean', my horrific attempts at pirate voices and some very excited first years. Their enthusiasm really is adorable! The way that they genuinely believe that their teachers know everything and the sheer innocence of some of the comments that they make never ceases to amaze me.
Much as the S1 class is enthusiastic about work and reading, I am sad that a rift has developed within the class. No longer do they depend on one another to feel safe and secure as they journey through their school days, already there are primary school friendships breaking, the mean girls group forming, the group that just gets on with everyone and then the poor floating souls who don't belong to any of these groups and who are starting to withdraw into themselves. Before becoming a teacher, I always thought girls were the worst for this however, now I can see a real mean side to boys that I hadn't noticed during my own school days. The snide, mocking remarks and the pulling faces to each other when talking about another class member were things that I was shocked about this week. As a result of this, I ended up having to talk to certain class members to remind them the standard of behaviour I expect in my class. On a more positive note, I got nearly a full class set of homework from them - booklets with pictures that told me all about themselves.
S3 are doing away fine and still reading 'Witch Child'. Although I have to admit, it's the girls in this class who can be a bit unnerving. The constant reminders that my classroom is NOT a beauty parlour for them to do their make up drives me INSANE but also don't exactly go down well. The eye rolling and tuts actually make me laugh now.
This week I have been assigned a new class, an S4. They have just finished a short drama by Willy Russell, 'Our Day Out'. They are an extremely small class with a lot of challenges at home and in school. The first time I met them, I thought they would be a real handful however, as time goes on, I have grown to really appreciate them and look forward to going to teach them each day. They started off as a challenge but after building up a good rapport using a bit of banter, I have managed (however temporarily) to get them on side.
Now for S5. The time of every day that fills me dread. In fairness, that's not entirely true. There are some real gems in that class who work hard even if they find it difficult in class to achieve the grades that they deserve. Then there are the others. The ones who refuse to sit still or do ANY work, the ones who act up and refuse to listen to a word that I say. The thing I have to remind myself of every day is that more often than not, it is not that these pupils don't want to do the work and achieve their grades, often it's a frustration that they are acting on in order to cover up their lack of ability, they mask it with bad behaviour, cheek and chaos.
This week has been a difficult one for me. I am setting down new boundaries and ground rules this week and re-evaluating a lot of my teaching techniques over this long weekend. I have left school today feeling like I am inferior, lacking ability and like I am completely out of my depth. Each and every day I genuinely have no idea how I would manage without several cups of tea and the support from my friends, partner and the rest of the department.
Miss.
Sunday 7 September 2014
A Study of Reading Habits
'A Study of Reading Habits' by Philip Larkin
When getting my nose in a book
Cured most things short of school,
It was worth ruining my eyes
To know I could still keep cool,
And deal out the old right hook
To dirty dogs twice my size.
Later, with inch-thick specs,
Evil was just my lark:
Me and my cloak and fangs
Had ripping times in the dark.
The women I clubbed with sex!
I broke them up like meringues.
Don't read much now: the dude
Who lets the girl down before
The hero arrives, the chap
Who's yellow and keeps the store
Seem far too familiar. Get stewed:
Books are a load of crap.
Sunday afternoon and I sit writing a variety of lesson plans, ideas and book lists. I feel that in a world where technology prevails (I am as guilty as the next person!), books and stories are often forgotten. Harking back to my own childhood when it was a struggle for my parents to get me to stop reading, I feel a deep down sense of sadness that very few children and young adults have that connection to books and literature anymore.
At the start of the year, I was given responsibility by my head of department for two things (apart from teaching my classes obviously!) - creating stronger links between the department and the school library and developing a sustainable way in which we could measure the levels of literacy engagement especially in boys. Stereotypically, boys read less than girls and tend to opt more for non-fiction books if they do choose to read. That is where my brain set to work. Below I will post a lesson idea that I tried with my S1 class prior to engaging with the book projects I am currently running.
Book Project Lesson 1:
Each pupil receives a post-it note or a ballot style paper.
Ask the class as a whole whether or not they like reading. They should respond yes/no on their paper.
Below they should write a reason why they have said yes or no.
The next question is: What STOPS you or puts you off reading?
Each pupil should give at least 1 response.
They then stick their answers on the board/wall or post them in the ballot box.
Take time to sort through the responses divide them to a yes wall and a no wall. Ask pupils to help solve the problems that their peers are up against when it comes to reading.
Sample Responses and Answers from my own class:
Q1. I can't find a book I like
A: OK, have a think about subjects that interest you and make a list of them. When we go to the library, look for books that are about the subjects on your list and pick one that you think fits well with your interests.
Q2. When I read, sometimes I get distracted and lose the line I am reading so end up reading the same thing over and over.
A: Use a bookmark or ruler to underline the line you are reading and move it down each time you get to the next line.
Q3. Sometimes I fall asleep if I am reading in bed and often I lose what page I am on.
A. Use a bookmark to keep your place.
These answers seem straightforward to some but to others, they are revolutionary. My S1 class came up with a wide variety of issues and in week 1 when I did the survey of who enjoyed reading etc., only a very small minority admitted that they read for pleasure outwith school books. This only made me more determined to help my pupils engage in reading and enjoying books. So I decided that a book project would be the best idea.
The book project's first mission was to solve at least some of the issues that pupils had come up with during our survey. As a class, we set to making bookmarks that would double up as tools to underline the part of the page they were reading. I gave pupils a small amount of class time to do this and then set it as homework for the end of the week. I must say I was completely overwhelmed at the effort that the majority had went to - they were FABULOUS!
The next part of the project was a display to summarise their books for the parent's information evening. Each pupil made a book cover complete with a scene from their book and a blurb on the back. Sparkles, scissors, glue and felt tips everywhere resulted in more amazing pieces of work from the pupils and they had thoroughly enjoyed the artistic side to it too.
The week before the October holidays start, each pupil must hand in 6 pieces of work which will be amalgamated into a project about the book they are reading. They must choose one task from each section of the project sheet that I created focusing on different aspects of books and reading with each section. Mood, theme, setting, response, character and style are all included with a multitude of tasks to choose from under each. After 3 weeks of teaching and allowing them all 5 minutes per lesson to read their books while I take the register and set up etc. I asked the pupils again: 'Who is enjoying reading now?' The most amazing feeling in the world was when every single hand went up in the class.
On that note, I see a book challenge to name the 10 books that have left their mark on your life and felt it an apt way to end this post:
1. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte (the most underrated and amazing of the sisters)
2. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley (started my love of the Gothic)
3. The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
4. We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson
5. The Shining - Stephen King
6. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
7. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
8. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
9. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
10. Looking for Alaska - John Green
The list is endless and really I could probably post 50 books that have had an influence on me in some way or the other. Please feel free to comment with your 10 books too.
More on the book projects in the posts to come
Miss.
When getting my nose in a book
Cured most things short of school,
It was worth ruining my eyes
To know I could still keep cool,
And deal out the old right hook
To dirty dogs twice my size.
Later, with inch-thick specs,
Evil was just my lark:
Me and my cloak and fangs
Had ripping times in the dark.
The women I clubbed with sex!
I broke them up like meringues.
Don't read much now: the dude
Who lets the girl down before
The hero arrives, the chap
Who's yellow and keeps the store
Seem far too familiar. Get stewed:
Books are a load of crap.
Sunday afternoon and I sit writing a variety of lesson plans, ideas and book lists. I feel that in a world where technology prevails (I am as guilty as the next person!), books and stories are often forgotten. Harking back to my own childhood when it was a struggle for my parents to get me to stop reading, I feel a deep down sense of sadness that very few children and young adults have that connection to books and literature anymore.
At the start of the year, I was given responsibility by my head of department for two things (apart from teaching my classes obviously!) - creating stronger links between the department and the school library and developing a sustainable way in which we could measure the levels of literacy engagement especially in boys. Stereotypically, boys read less than girls and tend to opt more for non-fiction books if they do choose to read. That is where my brain set to work. Below I will post a lesson idea that I tried with my S1 class prior to engaging with the book projects I am currently running.
Book Project Lesson 1:
Each pupil receives a post-it note or a ballot style paper.
Ask the class as a whole whether or not they like reading. They should respond yes/no on their paper.
Below they should write a reason why they have said yes or no.
The next question is: What STOPS you or puts you off reading?
Each pupil should give at least 1 response.
They then stick their answers on the board/wall or post them in the ballot box.
Take time to sort through the responses divide them to a yes wall and a no wall. Ask pupils to help solve the problems that their peers are up against when it comes to reading.
Sample Responses and Answers from my own class:
Q1. I can't find a book I like
A: OK, have a think about subjects that interest you and make a list of them. When we go to the library, look for books that are about the subjects on your list and pick one that you think fits well with your interests.
Q2. When I read, sometimes I get distracted and lose the line I am reading so end up reading the same thing over and over.
A: Use a bookmark or ruler to underline the line you are reading and move it down each time you get to the next line.
Q3. Sometimes I fall asleep if I am reading in bed and often I lose what page I am on.
A. Use a bookmark to keep your place.
These answers seem straightforward to some but to others, they are revolutionary. My S1 class came up with a wide variety of issues and in week 1 when I did the survey of who enjoyed reading etc., only a very small minority admitted that they read for pleasure outwith school books. This only made me more determined to help my pupils engage in reading and enjoying books. So I decided that a book project would be the best idea.
The book project's first mission was to solve at least some of the issues that pupils had come up with during our survey. As a class, we set to making bookmarks that would double up as tools to underline the part of the page they were reading. I gave pupils a small amount of class time to do this and then set it as homework for the end of the week. I must say I was completely overwhelmed at the effort that the majority had went to - they were FABULOUS!
The next part of the project was a display to summarise their books for the parent's information evening. Each pupil made a book cover complete with a scene from their book and a blurb on the back. Sparkles, scissors, glue and felt tips everywhere resulted in more amazing pieces of work from the pupils and they had thoroughly enjoyed the artistic side to it too.
The week before the October holidays start, each pupil must hand in 6 pieces of work which will be amalgamated into a project about the book they are reading. They must choose one task from each section of the project sheet that I created focusing on different aspects of books and reading with each section. Mood, theme, setting, response, character and style are all included with a multitude of tasks to choose from under each. After 3 weeks of teaching and allowing them all 5 minutes per lesson to read their books while I take the register and set up etc. I asked the pupils again: 'Who is enjoying reading now?' The most amazing feeling in the world was when every single hand went up in the class.
On that note, I see a book challenge to name the 10 books that have left their mark on your life and felt it an apt way to end this post:
1. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte (the most underrated and amazing of the sisters)
2. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley (started my love of the Gothic)
3. The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
4. We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson
5. The Shining - Stephen King
6. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
7. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
8. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
9. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
10. Looking for Alaska - John Green
The list is endless and really I could probably post 50 books that have had an influence on me in some way or the other. Please feel free to comment with your 10 books too.
More on the book projects in the posts to come
Miss.
Friday 5 September 2014
Becoming Miss - Weeks 1 and 2
As a new probationer teacher, there are two ways of looking at life: 1. Drowning or 2. Frantically paddling water in the hope that you can stay afloat.
This is something that I have learned over the first two weeks of my probation year as an English teacher in Scotland. Having studied at university and finally achieving a combined honours degree in English with Secondary Education, I was ablaze with excitement at the prospect of starting in my new school for a whole year.
The first day in school was a nice way to ease myself in to the 6am starts, the drive to work and the ever present exhaustion that comes hand in hand with being a teacher (especially in the first few years!). It was a staff in-service day meaning no pupils and an excellent chance to meet all of my new colleagues. Whilst valuable, and I was entirely grateful to have my teaching week shortened by a day, I found the day gradually becoming more and more tedious as it wore on. Unavoidable admin, meetings, updates on school targets etc. are perhaps interesting to a select few but alas, I am not one of those few. I left after my first day feeling enthused, tired and absolutely terrified at the same time. The other members of the English department were extremely supportive and welcoming straight away which did make everything easier!
So down to the nitty gritty and the interesting stuff - my first day as a real teacher. Littered with assemblies, emotions and new names to learn, it did fly in and to be honest it was more a matter of surviving and getting through that first day. I met my wonderful S1 class (11-12 year olds) who were probably even more terrified than me seeing as they were used to the mollycoddling, one class, one teacher system of primary school. Straight away I felt like I bonded with that class, I grasped their trust from the off and they seemed to be very eager to make the most of being in English. Next came my S3 class (13-14 year olds) who are top set and very high ability. Admittedly, they were unsure of me initially and probably still are a little bit but they are a lovely class filled with big personalities and whilst not always eager, they are easily motivated and love to be pushed. My S5 class are the most challenging and that first day was absolutely TERRIFYING when I walked into the S5 class. It was the one I had most dreaded but gradually, it is becoming the most rewarding whilst still being extremely challenging.
An incident with a member of my S5 class during week one which resulted in an exclusion and my first nervous break down of the term. I went home in floods of tears, filled with negativity, and to be honest doubting not only my ability as a teacher but also whether teaching was actually the career for me. I was devastated but soon realised that I could not and, more importantly, WOULD NOT allow one pupil to make me feel like that.
Week two was a little easier and ended on a much happier note than week one. I introduced a reading/book project to my S1 class allowing them 5 minutes reading at the start of each lesson with 6 set tasks based on their books that are due in within the next six weeks. I allowed them to do the first two tasks in class and the results were fantastic which warranted a display being put up at the S1 parents information evening. My S1 class are fantastic, whilst they are a mixed ability class at the moment, it is fun and challenging to create differentiated lessons for each day. This is the class that brightens up my day no matter what time I see them in the day as they always start up a little bit of a sing song as they leave the room (ranges from 'Twinkle Twinkle' to the charts and songs from the movie 'Frozen' - their choice!)
My S3 class and I were slowly building the trust that is required to allow a classroom to work. I decided that the book that would challenge and interest them most to start off would be 'Witch Child' by Celia Rees. Whilst they were initially reluctant to admit that they actually are enjoying it, they now come in everyday asking 'Miss, can we read the book today?'. Often I haven't the heart to quash their enthusiasm and tell them up front that we will be looking at the writer's techniques and imagery and not actually reading further into the book. Instead I placate them with the likes of: 'We'll need to see how quickly you manage the first half of the lesson' or 'It depends if we get the rest of the to do list finished today'. This is probably the most difficult part of teaching that class because I too would much rather be reading on in the book than studying the literary techniques.
Over the past two weeks, I have experienced a wider range of emotions than I could ever have imagined. I have felt happy, proud, sad, terrified, disappointed and worthless all in the space of an hour. The daily emotional roller coaster is exhausting at times and it definitely does not help the stress levels. The first two weeks have been a matter of building mutual respect with my classes, ensuring pupils feel welcomed and safe in my environment and setting down some basic rules so that the pupils know exactly where they stand. This has involved questioning myself and my abilities every single minute of the day. The self-doubt and the negativity all stems from my absolute determination and dream to give every pupil who walks through the door into one of my classes the best chance to succeed in English and in life.
Weekends are extremely important and I have so far avoided bringing work home over the weekend by being super organised with my free time throughout the working week. This is my target for the foreseeable future however, I know that this will not always be possible.
Wishes of the week: Be less tired! Avoid sarcasm when unnecessary.
Highlights of the week: S1 - creating beautiful bookmarks and book covers, S3 - Engaging my class in a book that they are enjoying, S5 - two particular pupils who have broken down their barriers with pieces of personal writing handed in EARLY and showing some amazing potential.
More next week,
Miss.
This is something that I have learned over the first two weeks of my probation year as an English teacher in Scotland. Having studied at university and finally achieving a combined honours degree in English with Secondary Education, I was ablaze with excitement at the prospect of starting in my new school for a whole year.
The first day in school was a nice way to ease myself in to the 6am starts, the drive to work and the ever present exhaustion that comes hand in hand with being a teacher (especially in the first few years!). It was a staff in-service day meaning no pupils and an excellent chance to meet all of my new colleagues. Whilst valuable, and I was entirely grateful to have my teaching week shortened by a day, I found the day gradually becoming more and more tedious as it wore on. Unavoidable admin, meetings, updates on school targets etc. are perhaps interesting to a select few but alas, I am not one of those few. I left after my first day feeling enthused, tired and absolutely terrified at the same time. The other members of the English department were extremely supportive and welcoming straight away which did make everything easier!
So down to the nitty gritty and the interesting stuff - my first day as a real teacher. Littered with assemblies, emotions and new names to learn, it did fly in and to be honest it was more a matter of surviving and getting through that first day. I met my wonderful S1 class (11-12 year olds) who were probably even more terrified than me seeing as they were used to the mollycoddling, one class, one teacher system of primary school. Straight away I felt like I bonded with that class, I grasped their trust from the off and they seemed to be very eager to make the most of being in English. Next came my S3 class (13-14 year olds) who are top set and very high ability. Admittedly, they were unsure of me initially and probably still are a little bit but they are a lovely class filled with big personalities and whilst not always eager, they are easily motivated and love to be pushed. My S5 class are the most challenging and that first day was absolutely TERRIFYING when I walked into the S5 class. It was the one I had most dreaded but gradually, it is becoming the most rewarding whilst still being extremely challenging.
An incident with a member of my S5 class during week one which resulted in an exclusion and my first nervous break down of the term. I went home in floods of tears, filled with negativity, and to be honest doubting not only my ability as a teacher but also whether teaching was actually the career for me. I was devastated but soon realised that I could not and, more importantly, WOULD NOT allow one pupil to make me feel like that.
Week two was a little easier and ended on a much happier note than week one. I introduced a reading/book project to my S1 class allowing them 5 minutes reading at the start of each lesson with 6 set tasks based on their books that are due in within the next six weeks. I allowed them to do the first two tasks in class and the results were fantastic which warranted a display being put up at the S1 parents information evening. My S1 class are fantastic, whilst they are a mixed ability class at the moment, it is fun and challenging to create differentiated lessons for each day. This is the class that brightens up my day no matter what time I see them in the day as they always start up a little bit of a sing song as they leave the room (ranges from 'Twinkle Twinkle' to the charts and songs from the movie 'Frozen' - their choice!)
My S3 class and I were slowly building the trust that is required to allow a classroom to work. I decided that the book that would challenge and interest them most to start off would be 'Witch Child' by Celia Rees. Whilst they were initially reluctant to admit that they actually are enjoying it, they now come in everyday asking 'Miss, can we read the book today?'. Often I haven't the heart to quash their enthusiasm and tell them up front that we will be looking at the writer's techniques and imagery and not actually reading further into the book. Instead I placate them with the likes of: 'We'll need to see how quickly you manage the first half of the lesson' or 'It depends if we get the rest of the to do list finished today'. This is probably the most difficult part of teaching that class because I too would much rather be reading on in the book than studying the literary techniques.
Over the past two weeks, I have experienced a wider range of emotions than I could ever have imagined. I have felt happy, proud, sad, terrified, disappointed and worthless all in the space of an hour. The daily emotional roller coaster is exhausting at times and it definitely does not help the stress levels. The first two weeks have been a matter of building mutual respect with my classes, ensuring pupils feel welcomed and safe in my environment and setting down some basic rules so that the pupils know exactly where they stand. This has involved questioning myself and my abilities every single minute of the day. The self-doubt and the negativity all stems from my absolute determination and dream to give every pupil who walks through the door into one of my classes the best chance to succeed in English and in life.
Weekends are extremely important and I have so far avoided bringing work home over the weekend by being super organised with my free time throughout the working week. This is my target for the foreseeable future however, I know that this will not always be possible.
Wishes of the week: Be less tired! Avoid sarcasm when unnecessary.
Highlights of the week: S1 - creating beautiful bookmarks and book covers, S3 - Engaging my class in a book that they are enjoying, S5 - two particular pupils who have broken down their barriers with pieces of personal writing handed in EARLY and showing some amazing potential.
More next week,
Miss.
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