I have a lesson with a Year 9 group last lesson on a Friday. Normally they are quite a good group when I have them earlier in the week, however Friday is a different story!
I felt last Friday's lesson went quite poorly; the students were generally off task, behaviour was poor and noise levels were not conducive to learning. I had spent ages the night before planning this lesson, so was quite frustrated as a result.
Having discussed it with the teacher observing me; we both agreed the lesson was a bit dull (or words to that effect). I had got quite frustrated and as a result wasn't enjoying teaching the lesson-this clearly showed. Also, the activities were quite similar and again, possibly on the dull side considering it is almost the weekend!
With what had gone on, I had a good think about how to plan today's lesson: I decided to make Friday afternoon's more fun! I varied up the activities, I had the students out of their seats and moving around the room, I got the louder students to come up to the front of the class and use their exuberance in a more positive manner. I had intended to seem more warm towards the lesson in general but I must say this came naturally as a result of the flow of the lesson. A much better last lesson of the week as a result!
Friday, 16 March 2012
Thursday, 15 March 2012
Reflections for this week.
At the end of last week I felt little progress had been made at my time during SGS. I am finding low level chatter is a problem in some lessons and particularly still being unfamiliar with names is meaning immediate resolution isn't as easy any direct as what I have experienced previously at TLA.
In my lesson today, the year 8's started off very noisy and clearly not in the right frame of mind for working. I waited patiently for silence and to begin the lesson...but it didn't happen. I decided to take them all back outside the classroom and start again. I said very little to them at this point but think the picture on my face was expressive enough! From then on the pupils were far more responsive to me; the lesson had very few interruptions and I felt for the first time with this group that we both had got something worthwhile out of the lesson.
Another issue I have encountered is time management within lessons and flexibility. On Wednesday I had done a review of an examination question the Year 10's sat the previous week. Needless to say the results were far from outstanding. My mentor had asked If I would spend half the lesson doing reviews and demonstrating model answers and the second half starting the next sequence of lesson. Let's say the timings didn't follow the intentions. In terms of getting the correction material covered, that was fine, but it took nearly three quarters of the lesson as opposed to half. Abiding by my mentors advice I moved straight into the next part of the lesson. Reflecting upon this, it clearly wasn't enough time to introduce the aspects of the next lesson and set a substantial homework based upon it. With hindsight I can say that we could have touched upon ideas of the next topic and generated ideas, particularly linking in knowledge from their correction work. As a result I suspect we will be reviewing the homework a little more rigorously then planned!
Bearing this in mind I intended to pay more attention to these factors (time keeping and flexibility) in my next lesson with my mentor. With another year 8 class I had a clear path of what needed to be done when and how much time it should take. I gave clear instructions as to how much time I was giving them and constantly referred to the time throughout the lesson; these little strategies certainly improved the flow of the lesson and students concentration improved accordingly. 15minutes from the end, some students began finishing the work- I did have some extension work provided but decided to change my plan of action: I asked a question to the class based upon the work they have just done and created a mini debate. The students enjoyed this change of activity and were very keen to share their views.
I will definitely be a bit more flexible in my approach from now on.
Saturday, 10 March 2012
Year 10 SGS pupil shadow 09.03.12
Yesterday I shadowed a Year 10 pupil whom I teach, from Registration up to lunch. I had shadowed a year 9 pupil before the half term but these were two very contrasting pupils! My mentor had set me the task as she had noticed a fair deal of change in this pupil over the past few months. I was informed that this pupil was a bright lad but was gradually beginning to fall behind and not fulfill his potential.
Registration: Pupil on time. Sits at the back of the class with a group of lads with his hoody up. Admittedly it is cold in this room but this seems a little odd!? Friday is diary checking day, the pupil asks to leave the room and a few minutes later comes back with his diary. It's hard to pick out anything of relevance at this stage due to the nature of the session. As everyone leaves registration I notice the pupil take the long way round to his next lesson.
Spanish: A few pupils are already lined up ready for lesson. The pupil I am shadowing arrives slightly later but just before the teacher settles everyone down. The pupil sits at the front and is incredibly quiet. I would say well behaved but he doesn't appear to be that engaged, proactive nor participating. One question is directed at him towards the start of the lesson and he produces an answer. That aside, he is very quiet and displays no behavioural or attention seeking issues.
Chemistry: The atmosphere within this lesson is immediately very different. (The pupils had received their modular results the day before and as a result weren't having an overly normal/ productive lesson.) The lesson appeared more chaotic, louder and had less of a focus. The pupil I was observing mirrored the environment: he was chatty, off task and showed little productivity. The class task was given out at 10.08am, He did not even attempt it until 10.25am. He showed little focus in this lesson, comments made included: "I don't know this", "Never seen this before" and comments of this nature. Instructions were clearly on the board but he displayed no initiative or drive. However, later he declares he was unhappy with his results and wanted at least A, B, B. He clearly has high aspirations but what is he doing to achieve these?
English: This lesson was after break. His attitude mirrored that of what I had seen in the previous lesson, although the lesson was planned much tighter, so really had no reason to be. He was sat at the back of the class and continuously swung on his chair or lent against the wall for the whole lesson. To me, this appeared like he was ill prepared from the very start and had made his decision about the extent of his learning very early on. Throughout the lesson he was part of the low level chatter coming from the rear of the class, often whilst the teacher was talking too. He did show good promise at times and even raised his hand a few times to read out answers or verbally peer assess others contributions.However, his general concentration was poor and he is distracted very easily.
Sports science: In this lesson the class reviewed the test they had sat in the previous lesson. The pupil sat at a table at the back of the class on his own. Their was some small level chatting between pupils but the pupil I was shadowing was like a completely different person; he requested a text book from the teacher so he could amend his mistake, he put his hand up a number of times for further guidance and stayed well clear of any distractions or mischief- It was like seeing a completely different pupil. In this lesson it was clear that he thoroughly enjoyed the subject. He wanted to improve and it was clear that he enjoyed the praise he received from the teacher.
During this lesson he spoke to me about why I had been in all his lessons so far; I had not told him I was shadowing him as I wanted this to be as real an experience as possible. I informed him that I wanted to watch a variety of year 10 lessons and then subtly asked him about how his lessons were going. He is fully aware of the distractions he encounters and in some cases, he creates them himself. It is evident that he is a bright lad but is too frequently caught up in something other than learning, be it his fault or someone else's. If there is an opportunity for him to misbehave then generally he will take it, although this wasn't the case during Sports science. He responds well to praise and responsibility but is very quick to loose focus should he not be attended to in that respect. From our discussion, it is clear that he wants to do well but ultimately that is down to how he conducts himself.
Registration: Pupil on time. Sits at the back of the class with a group of lads with his hoody up. Admittedly it is cold in this room but this seems a little odd!? Friday is diary checking day, the pupil asks to leave the room and a few minutes later comes back with his diary. It's hard to pick out anything of relevance at this stage due to the nature of the session. As everyone leaves registration I notice the pupil take the long way round to his next lesson.
Spanish: A few pupils are already lined up ready for lesson. The pupil I am shadowing arrives slightly later but just before the teacher settles everyone down. The pupil sits at the front and is incredibly quiet. I would say well behaved but he doesn't appear to be that engaged, proactive nor participating. One question is directed at him towards the start of the lesson and he produces an answer. That aside, he is very quiet and displays no behavioural or attention seeking issues.
Chemistry: The atmosphere within this lesson is immediately very different. (The pupils had received their modular results the day before and as a result weren't having an overly normal/ productive lesson.) The lesson appeared more chaotic, louder and had less of a focus. The pupil I was observing mirrored the environment: he was chatty, off task and showed little productivity. The class task was given out at 10.08am, He did not even attempt it until 10.25am. He showed little focus in this lesson, comments made included: "I don't know this", "Never seen this before" and comments of this nature. Instructions were clearly on the board but he displayed no initiative or drive. However, later he declares he was unhappy with his results and wanted at least A, B, B. He clearly has high aspirations but what is he doing to achieve these?
English: This lesson was after break. His attitude mirrored that of what I had seen in the previous lesson, although the lesson was planned much tighter, so really had no reason to be. He was sat at the back of the class and continuously swung on his chair or lent against the wall for the whole lesson. To me, this appeared like he was ill prepared from the very start and had made his decision about the extent of his learning very early on. Throughout the lesson he was part of the low level chatter coming from the rear of the class, often whilst the teacher was talking too. He did show good promise at times and even raised his hand a few times to read out answers or verbally peer assess others contributions.However, his general concentration was poor and he is distracted very easily.
Sports science: In this lesson the class reviewed the test they had sat in the previous lesson. The pupil sat at a table at the back of the class on his own. Their was some small level chatting between pupils but the pupil I was shadowing was like a completely different person; he requested a text book from the teacher so he could amend his mistake, he put his hand up a number of times for further guidance and stayed well clear of any distractions or mischief- It was like seeing a completely different pupil. In this lesson it was clear that he thoroughly enjoyed the subject. He wanted to improve and it was clear that he enjoyed the praise he received from the teacher.
During this lesson he spoke to me about why I had been in all his lessons so far; I had not told him I was shadowing him as I wanted this to be as real an experience as possible. I informed him that I wanted to watch a variety of year 10 lessons and then subtly asked him about how his lessons were going. He is fully aware of the distractions he encounters and in some cases, he creates them himself. It is evident that he is a bright lad but is too frequently caught up in something other than learning, be it his fault or someone else's. If there is an opportunity for him to misbehave then generally he will take it, although this wasn't the case during Sports science. He responds well to praise and responsibility but is very quick to loose focus should he not be attended to in that respect. From our discussion, it is clear that he wants to do well but ultimately that is down to how he conducts himself.
Week 3 of teaching at SGS. 7W Geography
I very much enjoy teaching this year group due to it being the only chance I get to teach Human Geography at SGS. My main interests lie within this sub division of Geography, so I always feel more at ease in terms of planning and delivering these lessons and also the subsequent questioning I set upon the class. However, the downside of this is that I am happy to bounce questions around the classroom, which at times may be too challenging for some- the G+T pupils however appear to enjoy this.
I have seen this class twice this week. At times I feel they are trying to challenge me and push boundaries a little. I am normally fairly firm with them but not knowing all of their names makes it a bit difficult to instantly challenge a pupil with the same impact that I am used to at my main placement.
The lesson I had with them on Wednesday went quite smoothly, the downside was that I didn't feel the higher ability students were challenged so much, this can result in some restlessness-often quite infectious!
The lesson I had with them on Thursday was in hindsight, pitched too high. The more gifted students really got to grips with the task quite quickly. The lesser ability pupils seemed to skirt around the main focus of the task and not comprehend what was required of them. Again, being off task is a recipe for further distraction.!!
I didn't think differentiation would be as big an issue at a grammar school but it seems I am going to have to pay more attention at either pushing the G+T or breaking the work down further for the weaker students. This is applicable across all age ranges and is something I will have to put more thought into next week. Pitching lessons at the right level is obviously a skill that comes with knowing your students very well, something I am yet to achieve at SGS.
I have seen this class twice this week. At times I feel they are trying to challenge me and push boundaries a little. I am normally fairly firm with them but not knowing all of their names makes it a bit difficult to instantly challenge a pupil with the same impact that I am used to at my main placement.
The lesson I had with them on Wednesday went quite smoothly, the downside was that I didn't feel the higher ability students were challenged so much, this can result in some restlessness-often quite infectious!
The lesson I had with them on Thursday was in hindsight, pitched too high. The more gifted students really got to grips with the task quite quickly. The lesser ability pupils seemed to skirt around the main focus of the task and not comprehend what was required of them. Again, being off task is a recipe for further distraction.!!
I didn't think differentiation would be as big an issue at a grammar school but it seems I am going to have to pay more attention at either pushing the G+T or breaking the work down further for the weaker students. This is applicable across all age ranges and is something I will have to put more thought into next week. Pitching lessons at the right level is obviously a skill that comes with knowing your students very well, something I am yet to achieve at SGS.
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