The end of the beginning

The end of week 1

So, this week has felt like a bit of an eternity. On top of regular planning, teaching, meetings, marking etc. my wisdom teeth decided it was a great idea to become so infected I could barely move. Yay. Now on two types of antibiotic and more painkillers than you can shake a stick at, I am trying to recover, and continue to stay on top of work! 

Worst part of the week

Is a drama lesson that we planned to have with two year 11 classes. I teamed up with Miss E to introduce the theatre space to our year 11 class. Mistake no. 1 was deciding this would be a good idea, but we ploughed through. We registered the class in English and walked to the theatre, only to discover that we were unable to get into it! I had to stand around with 40 year 11s, whilst our lovely TA went to find someone to open the door. In future, I will check the morning of my theatre lessons that the space is fully accessible for when I need it. I will also try to get a key for the outside door and have an emergency game up my sleeve for the boys if a problem should arise again. This unfortunately meant that the boys were springing off the walls before we even entered the space. 

We finally got them sat down and handed out the theatre 'rules'. I talked through these (with constant Low Level Disruption) and asked the boys to prepare to step into the space. Some of the young men decided it was funny to create a square as I had asked them to make a circle, this elongated the time it took to settle and further disrupted the class. I will remember to praise those following instructions before I attend those that do not. I will ignore a lack of instructions as long as possible so as not to give attention to the behaviour. 

We settled on making two separate circles and discussing the families of Romeo and Juliet. We covered why the families hated each other and how they fought and insulted one another. Making clear the difference between Baz Luhrmanns interpretation and Shakespeares original text. This is where I made my biggest mistake. I told the boys what we would achieve by the end of the lesson. A slo-motion fight. On the word 'fight', all hell broke loose. I blew my emergency whistle and asked those who were following instructions to sit down. This meant I could break up and settle the few students who were not following instructions. Unfortunately this took a long period of time. To avoid this is the future, I will not inform the students of what we will achieve by the end of the lesson. Instead, i will take small steps to cover only as much as they need to know to complete the next step. 

At this point, I decided to focus my attention on those students who wished to participate. I spoke very quietly and asked those students who wished to learn to come forward. I demo-ed and then we practiced slo-motion punches forward into the air for several minutes, after which each of the students picked a partner and practiced slo-motion fighting with them. I walked around the space offering guidance and tips for those who were participating correctly and monitored the bad behaviour of individuals as it cropped up. This left the particularly naughty students at the edges of the room being ignored, and so soon after, some of them joined the group. 

Although not completely successful at the end of the session, I have identified students who must be monitored closely during drama lessons and reminded myself that praise and not feeding bad behaviour is key. This is made slightly difficult by some students (whose behaviour is so bad it puts others at risk) however, I am sure this will be overcome in time. 

Best part of the week

Is another drama lesson, this time my year 9's. Once again I registered the class upstairs and we walked to the theatre, this time getting straight in (as the room had already been unlocked for the previous class). I stopped the students outside the theatre and quietly gave them instructions to sit quietly in the stalls filling up from the front. One student refused to follow instructions properly and so I sat him separately to the rest of the group. Although he fussed at first, he settled once I started talking. I will remember that by quietly holding him back and politely asking him to complete my instructions he responded quickly. 

I explained the rules quickly and all the students followed my instruction to enter the space. I ensured I kept my voice calm and controlled. Our first game was to count from 1-20 without talking over each other. The students found this too difficult, and so I reduced the number from 20 to 10. The students kept trying to discuss tactics and so I reminded them that this would cause anticipation and frustration. I then asked them to lay on their stomachs and close their eyes. This reduced the chatter and helped focus. We eventually hit 10. I will use this game in class to help focus the group if I feel they are being too disruptive or excitable. 

We moved on to a visualisation task. I asked the students to walk around the room. I practiced the whistle and all students stopped. I praised them for this and asked them to ensure they were in a space away from others. I then asked them to lay down where they were and close their eyes. I told a story of about a beach, I walked around the room and did not change my calm and slow voice if asking students to stop talking or close their eyes etc. as I spoke. Even though I did not use names, all LLD stopped during the story. 

At the end of the lesson I asked students why we had done this type of activity. The students understood that they behaviour in other lessons had been excitable and too loud. We discussed how the activities could be applied to the lesson (eg. before bursting out in speech, count down from 3 in your head slowly and calmly and see if you still want to do it.) I will reflect on this again as a starter in my next lesson with them. I was impressed by their new found focus and whilst I understand that this will not last into next week. I have something I can remind them of as my expectation for the future. 

Things to remember

• Praise is key.
• Ignoring bad behaviour where possible will stop feeding the attention.
• Small steps - even in instruction.
• Not advertising a telling off.
• Differentiating tasks mid-way through can be more successful than sticking to the original plan.
• Calm voice, closed eyed and visualisation and a way into focus.
• Reflection of expectations constantly. 

Quote of the Day

One good teacher in a lifetime may sometimes
change a delinquent into a solid citizen.

Philip Wylie

Day 1 in 'The Office'

Day 1

Ok, so even though today is the first official day I can get in, I think I'm one of the only people here. Miss E, the other, lovely NQT, has also been in. Which has been great as we've been able to help each other a lot and keep each calm in terms of getting to grips with our new classrooms etc. I have stuck up loads of posters and English-y displays all around my room and have finally finished sorting through the previous teachers resources so I have (a bit of) an idea of stuff I could work with already.

What are you teaching?

I have; after a long and difficult time sifting through paperwork and reading a great deal, decided (mostly) on what I will be teaching for this first term. Below is a list of the classes I have and the first topic we will be covering:

• Year 7: Top Set (9 lessons per fortnight) Novels - The Hobbit
• Year 7: SEN group (1 lesson per fortnight) Experience and Understanding through drama. 
• Year 8: Tutor Group. 
• Year 9: Mid Set (9 lessons per fortnight) Novels - Stone Cold
• Year 10: Mid/Low Set (9 lessons per fortnight) Unit 1 GCSE - Of Mice and Men (yay...)
• Year 11: Low Set (8 lessons per fortnight) Unit 1 GCSE - Romeo and Juliet compared to Cultural Heritage Poems from the AQA Anthology. 
• Year 10: iGCSE group (1 lesson per fortnight) - Pass...

I will also be taking on a KS3 and separate KS4 drama group and will be teaching a year 8 group their drama lessons. So as you can see, I'm a busy bunny at the moment! What with writing lesson plans, organising possible clubs and settling into a new school - I really have my hands full! 

To do list:

• Write up lesson plans for first few days and collate resources. 
• Finish overview of GCSE MTPs for this HT.
• Plan for and advertise drama groups. 
• Get set up on SIMs at my school so I can access data asap (already spoken to ICT so fingers crossed for a speedy set-up)
• Keep smiling!

Quote of the day:

What office is there which involves more responsibility, which requires more qualifications, and which ought, therefore, to be more honorable than teaching?

Harriet Martineau