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.