(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.
