Term 1… Blink and You’ll Miss it! [Part One]

So…. I have started this post at least four times over the past couple of months, but things just kept getting in the way! School related stuff, like planning, marking etc; socialising (I actually maintained my social life this term to an extent! I know, shock!); and most importantly spending time with my better half… we have now moved in together and are relishing every moment. This has also been amplified by the sheer exhaustion that is definitely more of a personality trait than a feeling!

I have decided to write two blog posts about the first term. This first one is going to be about strategies I have put in place that have worked for me this term, and the second one will be more focused on my classes and teaching and learning.

The first thing I would like to state is not only have I made it through my first term as an NQT, but I have loved (nearly) every second of it! After having a significant amount of low points (well hidden) last year, I was completely anxious about starting in September – mainly because the move from PGCE to NQT means a complete shift in responsibility and suddenly I was acutely aware that all these students will be dependant on me and me alone! I am still waiting for that overwhelming moment where I am consumed with doubt, stress or failure – it hasn’t hit yet and I am calling that a win!

One of the main things to help me this year, is to make sure I am prioritising myself. It is so much easier working on my time and not having to wait for another teacher to hear my ideas – if I want to go off the scheme of work slightly then I do! I have been giving myself the equivalent of two days off a week minimum. As much as I could live and breathe teaching, I am very aware that that is not healthy – it is necessary to have a life outside of school! One of my lovely colleagues has invited me down to the yard on Tuesdays after school, and it has been so therapeutic being able to spend some time around horses – something that I have not done for a very long time! Having something booked in every week as helped me focus and get my work done, so I don’t miss out on the fun!

Using the shared resources more is something that has also been ridiculously helpful. My planning time has been halved – there were so many boxes to tick last year, it often felt like all I was doing was ‘reinventing the wheel’ – even though that is what we were told not to do! I have contributed the odd idea to the department, but in using what is already there, I have saved myself a lot of valuable time. Marking has also taken up less time. I have managed to work out what I am marking and when so that I don’t have a lot to do in one go – I have even left myself with none for the half term which is a complete blessing.

But, finally, the main thing that has been helping me is the support I have around me. As mentioned earlier, I have recently moved in with my partner and he has gone above and beyond to make sure that I have a stress free life… well as stress free as it can be! He is so good to me and I am very fortunate… I know that he is definitely value added to my mental wellbeing staying in the positive! The other big support system is the school I am at, specifically the fantastic English department. I have got a lot of amazing friends in some brilliant teachers, that have let me observe them, shared resources with me and above all, let me know that everything I am feeling is normal! It is normal to have a class that drive you insane, it is normal to get annoyed by teenagers, it is normal to feel overwhelmed at times, it is normal to have to scrap your original lesson because the students aren’t making progress. They always have something positive to say to me and I will be forever grateful for their help both now and in my first placement.

Finished reading

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories – Ken Liu

Jack the Ripper – Paul Rigg & John Bennett

Macbeth – William Shakespeare

This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor – Adam Kay

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeymoon

The Testaments – Margaret Atwood

Cracking India – Bapsi Sidhwa

Week 27: Kindness

Introduction

Kindness. It goes a long way. I have grown up smothered in it and I know first-hand what a difference it can make. I am a massive advocate for bringing a tiny ray of sunshine into someone’s gloomy day; just one moment of brightness has the potential to change someone’s life around.

I learned this from my paternal grandparents. Like myself, they were secondary teachers, as well as being Methodist missionaries. Their lives revolved around making the world a better place, bringing this light into people’s lives and consistently putting other people first. They were retired by the time I came into their lives, but I can imagine the sort of teachers they were. On my bad days I think of them, I think of the difference they must have made in hundreds of thousands of students’ lives between them and I know that this is in my blood. I want to be like them.

This week has been a great week for me. Because I have been putting other people first, putting kindness first. There are a few people (both friends and students!) in my life that are going through a tough time (understatement – you know who you are!) and it completely breaks my heart. However, in putting these other people first and giving up a bit of my ‘busy’ schedule to show how much I care for and about them, and doing my best to make a difference in their lives, no matter how small, I have found that I have become quicker at lesson planning – particular now I am planning in reverse and keeping it more focused around lesson objectives and outcomes.

I am so happy to say (and with two weeks left of placement 3 I’m hoping it stays this way!) that I am feeling the best I have felt in years both mentally and emotionally. I am genuinely proud of myself and the progress I have made – doing it the Duncalfe way!

So, if this is as far as you read (and I won’t blame you if this is the case… I’m clearly in a rambly mood!), make sure you sprinkle a bit of kindness in your day – it can really make a difference to both your life and the people around you. This is something we all need to remember – especially with the news about New Zealand this morning. My heart still belongs in that country, and it is broken to hear that such devastation has hit Christchurch again.

Anyway, now that’s off my chest, I will go through my week as usual!

Cutest moment with a year 9 student!

Its moments like this that make everything worth it. One of my lovely year 9s mentioned last week that she had read ‘Red Queen’ by Victoria Aveyard, and she said she enjoyed it just as much as the Hunger Games… I was sold!! I just mentioned in passing that I’d add it to my ‘books to read’ list and she said she would let me borrow it. I didn’t think anything of it and, honestly, totally forgot about it!

Tuesday’s lesson came around, and this student hung around after the rest of the class had gone. She rummaged around in her bag for a bit, I asked her if she was ok and then she pulled the novel out of her bag with a shy smile on her face. My heart melted. She was so excited for me to read it. She even said to me “Don’t rush it. I know you’re really busy and reading lots of other books too!”

MY HEART COULD BURST. This is one of the sweetest things anyone has done for me – let alone a student. I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.

9Y3 First drafts

I was extremely proud of my 9Y3 class this week! As (I think) I have mentioned before, I decided to take more of a coursework-y approach to the travel writing unit with 9Y3. When I did this unit of work with my other year 9 groups last term, it couldn’t have gone better and nearly all of them met or surpassed their target grade. So, after speaking with my AT, I decided to try something completely different – and I figured I may not have a chance to do this kind of drafting and redrafting when I have my own classes (hopefully!) next year.

This idea of coursework was lost on the majority of the class – they are reluctant to edit their own work, often struggling to pin point what they have done well, let alone what they could improve!! However, I believe they have come around to the idea – particularly after saying they may jump up one or even two grades after editing their work!

The majority of them finished their first drafts on Thursday, and there were even a few keen beans who wanted to do more at home! I started marking them today… and I have to say… the progress made from the last paragraph I marked (just over a week ago) is phenomenal already! I am very excited to see what they will be producing!

10X5 absolutely crushing Animal Farm!

It’s clearly the week of feeling proud of my students this week. My bottom set year 10 classes are showing a fantastic understanding of Animal Farm. I have taken to do ‘team challenge’ plenaries (they love a bit of competition) and they have been flourishing. Some of them have even started quoting from the text already!

Language A-level

I’ve sandwiched this part in with the good parts of the week, hiding the not so good amongst the great to lessen the blow. I mean, it’s not that bad, but it is definitely more than the recurring little niggling thought it started out as.

So, my university tutor is coming to observe me with my 12 language class. This is totally fine. Totally fine, except I still haven’t taken them for a whole lesson. Totally fine, except not all of these students want to be here (thanks to the ‘you must stay in education until your 18 rule’). Totally fine, except I am 110% terrified.

Now, it may not seem like a big deal. On the whole, they are a well-behaved class and I have really enjoyed teaching them when I have team taught a lesson. However, the amount I am required to know suddenly shoots up. I have always loved English language – I definitely would not have graduated with the grade I did if I did not do language. So why then…. Why why why does my brain decided to regularly fail me. I KNOW WHAT THESE TERMS MEAN. Why do they disappear from my head when I need them to be fresh.

I guess it is partly because my priorities lie with the year 9s and 10s. I see them (pretty much) for all their lessons, whereas I only see each a-level class around twice a week. Therefore, I often find it lower down on my priority list.

But anyway, I’ve spoken to the class teacher I share the class with. We have a plan in place. It’s just a waiting game now. I’ll take the whole lesson with them – for the first time – next week. So, I’m just praying that it goes well and gives me a confidence boost!

Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Feminism, Marxism and Psychoanalysis!!!!

Contrasting my previous point, I have found that I am loving teaching a-level English literature – and I was completely sure that I would not enjoy Coleridge one bit!

This week I took my two lessons to go through the mammoth ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’; I quite enjoy the poem myself and (after reading York notes along side it) found it relatively easy to understand – particularly in comparison to some of his other poems! As my feedback was to use a range of different activities with the 6^thformers, I made sure I meticulously planned a range of different activities with them.

I was then told 5 out of 10 would be on a school trip! Slightly annoying, but not the end of the world!

I decided to keep my plan similar (I won’t go into the details – just included group work then creative consolidation), however, I ended up completely changing this as 4 out of the 5 students weren’t sure about the poem (I’ll bet a couple didn’t even attempt reading it!). I ended up literally talking through the poem with the students – and it felt fantastic. They went from not having a clue to coming up with remarkable suggestions that I hadn’t thought of in the space of just under an hour. It was a lesson where I could see definite progress had been made, and the students were very thankful for me to have helped them out with it!

The following lesson I had them on my own for the first time and, annoyingly, the lesson went perfectly! Exactly as I wanted it to go! Obviously there are still many things I need to improve on, especially stretching and challenging, but, by the end of the lesson, the students had adopted different critical points of view (feminist, Marxist and psychoanalysis) and used them to talk through ideas and themes in the poems, then seamlessly linking it altogether with An Ideal Husband. I don’t see them next week, but in my last week I will definitely make it my aim to ensure I am including way more challenging moments to ensure I have covered enough for the students to get the top grades!

#reimaginediary

Finally, I wanted to end by talking about the reimagine diary project I started last weekend. I have loved keeping a daily diary – especially as I have been using Mayfly Sound(click to go to their website!). Now, don’t get me wrong, I love writing! But it is ridiculously time consuming. With Mayfly, you capture your voice recording and link it to different pictures of mayflies – so you can listen back to the recording when you scan the picture. Very simple, but very effective; saves a lot of time too! I love it!

Currently Reading:

Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Red Queen – Victoria Aveyard

Animal Farm – George Orwell

Week 9 – What a week!

Introduction

I’m not going to lie, this has been the longest most intense week. My placement school got the call from Ofsted Monday morning, which led to panic stations all around and, even though I wasn’t directly affected, I think I subconsciously picked up on everyone else’s stress. I also helped my AT with a poetry workshop ran by Black Artists on the move… which was also fairly stressful, some of the reasons I will note below. Then, to top it all off, I had my comfort blanket (my AT!) taken off me on Thursday, as she was off sick. I have so many different emotions and thoughts running through my head, I feel like this blog post may end up being fairly rambly… bear with me, I may say something of use or interest somewhere!

Ofsted

I have avoided Ofsted for the whole decade I have worked in childcare, unintentionally already having a day off in place when they have come in to the settings I worked at. One of my friends even informed me that I narrowly missed Ofsted at the primary school I was placed at – her daughter attends that school.

Monday morning.

The end of period 3.

The gossip started.

“Have you heard, they’ve had the call”

“What call?”

“Ofsted are in. For 2 days!”

Long story short, the main gist of it was, (I mean I think this was the main gist, I am getting my information from a wide variety of sources!) that they wanted to do an in-depth inspection due to the 2017 results. They focused on the disadvantaged kids and high ability kids. They have made a decision, and we do not know what it is yet – that will take up to 15 working days to come through. We did have a feedback session about it Wednesday morning, but I am unable to share anything as it was strictly confidential. However, I will definitely post the result in the blog after I find out!

Despite the stress it caused my colleagues, I actually feel as this couldn’t have come at a better time in my career. I got to witness first-hand the impact Ofsted has on the English department as well as the whole school. There were some teachers that have been qualified for longer than 4 years and still never encountered an Ofsted inspection, so I feel fortunate to have been able to witness this.

Despite this, after getting an email saying that Ofsted have spoken to the university to say they are getting the second half of their inspections, I really hope that they will not be coming to my placement school to look at the Bristol uni NQTs there!

Black Artists on the Move

On Wednesday we had a poetry workshop run by the CEO of Black Artists on the Move, Akulah Agbami and, as she kept what she was going to do a mystery from everyone, we had literally no idea what to expect! All that we knew was that there would be 2 workshops for 2 different sets of year 8s, handpicked by their teachers, and then there would be a showcase period 5 – a chance for them to show their work to their peers.

Speaking to one of my tutees, who is also in my year 8 English class, she expressed how concerned she was about speaking in front of everybody. I can totally empathise! I would have completely hated that at her age. I reassured her and said that if she honestly felt that strongly about it, she wouldn’t have to do it.

In the first session, she asked the students questions to warm them up, before taking key points and writing them up to create a class poem. To emphasise the fact that poems don’t have to rhyme, and that repetition is a key point in poetry, she randomly decided that they would say each line a certain amount of times. The end result was pretty cool and, eventually, the kids seemed to be actually engaging and enjoying themselves.

They were then given three different scaffolds to base their poems on. A lot of the students wrote some really beautiful poems and were inspired by what they were asked to write. However, I feel like the better poems digressed from the scaffold a bit, so I feel it would’ve been better if they were given as a suggestion rather than being told to work that way.

At the end of the first workshop, the kids were told they would be sharing their poems in the showcase and, naturally, they were reluctant to come forward and the initial few volunteers took a little coaxing to come forward. Akulah seemed adamant that everyone should be proud of themselves and show their poems to each other, so much so that when the bell rang, she let the volunteers go and asked the others to stay behind to see if they would change their minds.

The next session was much the same, they made another group poem and the same kind of process took place. Although this group seemed more confident, they were still pretty reluctant to do the showcase.

The showcase ended up being a shorter workshop, asking the kids to write a poem in response to a Fairtrade video, and one of the kids in my English class won the prize for the best poem! I was very proud. Then the students had a mini-assembly on the impact of poetry and then some of the workshop students bravely read out their poems to the rest of the year.

This was an interesting day, being able to see the students outside the classroom was great, as well as being able to see some of the work of students I do not teach. On the whole, I feel as if they enjoyed themselves – although one student said defensively ‘miss told me it was going to be fun!’ – so maybe it wasn’t for all the students!

Supply in the Room

Unfortunately, my AT, who has been suffering all week, was too unwell to come into school Thursday, which meant that a supply teacher would be covering her lessons. Initially, we discussed whether or not I would be happy to still take the lesson, as Jo had set cover work, and, me being me, I smugly said I would be happy to still take the class, as they are such a lovely group, as long as it was alright with everyone else.

The head of English agreed with me, saying that it would actually be more beneficial for me to save face in the class by continuing with them, as I have fully taken over this class. I was to teach sonnet 18 to them, focusing on the structure of sonnets, and I was fairly excited about this as I absolutely love Shakespeare’s sonnets.

I’m not totally naïve, I did expect the class to act differently without my AT there as well, I just thought that they would try it on and then go back to normal when they realise, I am running the class as normal. And, to give them credit where credit’s due, they weren’t that bad either… they just wouldn’t shut up! All they seemed to do was talk talk talk. It was driving me up the wall to be perfectly honest! I gave out a few RtL warnings and they settled a bit, but every time I had to sort something out (technology was not my friend today… never thought I would be that teacher!) they would just start whispering again… and those whispers got louder and louder.

Like it wasn’t the end of the world, and the supply said that I did a great job (even if she kept her face completely emotionless throughout the whole lesson). It was just disheartening to go from feeling like their teacher, to feeling like an outsider again.

Ready to Learn

Luckily my AT was back on Friday’s lesson, and it was a library lesson too – basically just doing crowd control! We agreed that I needed to make myself known as an adult in charge and, due to this, I would really crack down on behaviour in this lesson. The rules are simple in the library – work in silence and work hard!

One kid in particular, I’m going to call him Harry*, for no reason other than I love Harry Potter and I can’t use his real name in this post, is regularly and consistently off task and chatting away to anyone who is remotely close to him, distracting both them and himself. He gets a warning almost every English lesson – from either my AT or myself – and has been sent to RtL twice before.

I don’t want to tell the kids off. I get that it can be boring or it’s just generally hard to maintain concentration for large periods of time – I am horrific at procrastination myself and I’m over a decade older than them. I gave him an informal warning before giving him a RtL warning, willing him to just do the right thing (next library lesson I’m going to make sure he is sitting away from people who will engage with him!).

I then had another discussion with my AT, and again we agreed that I should be the one to send anyone to isolation if they are not following the rules (by this point there were a few more names on the RTL warning list). With a few minutes to go before the end of the lesson, AT had begun to tell them about homework expectations, as I was unsure about what they needed to do. I was keeping an eye on all of them, as they were spread out around the library, and Harry* started laughing and speaking to another kid, who was stifling a giggle but not responding to him. I quietly went over to him, said that he had had a few warnings and that he was still talking over AT, being rude and that he had to pack up his things and go to isolation.

Naturally, he did not take this well and stomped off to pack up his things. I repeated that he was not ready to learn etc. and also that I had given him extra chances and he was still talking when he wasn’t supposed to be.

I can’t help but feel slightly guilty – to me, it feels irrational to send a child to isolation just for talking. I know that is the point in RtL – cutting down on low-level disruptive behaviour – and I am also confident in my decision – I had given Harry* amples of warnings on top of the official warnings, in both this lesson and previous lessons. I also get that just giving a warning and not sending them to isolation defeats the object of RtL, but I still feel for Harry*.

Later on, AT informed me that she had received an email from Harry*’s mum, asking why a ‘cover’ teacher had sent him to isolation. AT replied saying that I was a trainee teacher and would be taking the class for the next month – hopefully nothing more comes of this!

A View from the Bridge – Beginning of Act Two

On a lighter note now, as I’m sure those of you who have read AVFTB are aware, the beginning of act two has Rodolpho and Catherine having sexual intercourse for the first time, and Eddie catching them just at the end.

Reading this with year 9s, 13-14 year olds, proved to be highly amusing. This play covers many mature themes, and I am very proud of them for being able to understand and apply them in their writing. Now, the reason I am writing about this week is to thank the teacher I was working with for letting me team teach this session, as I would not have bene able to compose myself as she did!

So, after blowing their minds by telling them that the fact that Rodolpho and Catherine were in the bedroom together, and that Catherine had to ‘adjust her dress’ after coming out of the bedroom, implied that they had engaged in sexual intercourse (a good three quarters of the class were unaware of this), the teacher asked them to compare how Catherine is feeling after being caught by her uncle as opposed to how she should feel after losing her virginity with someone she loves deeply. A few students said she should feel happy etc, but one student said that she would feel ‘sticky’.

LUCKILY, a handful of people heard (I didn’t!), and the teacher kept her composure beautifully, telling him that that was inappropriate and giving him an RtL warning (the poor boy looked a bit confused as to why it was inappropriate) and she moved the class swiftly on and eventually everyone forgot about it (or just ignored it!).

The main reason I am bringing this up is that I had literally just read the scene with them, and passed over to the teacher to set the writing task, as I wouldn’t be with them in the lesson they will write it in, and it got me thinking – how would I deal with a situation like that?

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a slightly immature sense of humour, and yes, I definitely find things like that hilarious. Therefore, I feel like I have to start practicing maintaining a straight face for circumstances like this – any tips would be gratefully received! (side note – I did manage to keep a straight face when the class were roused by Eddie kissing Catherine and then kissing Rodolpho! So hopefully all is not lost!)

Teaching Targets

Last Week’s Targets:

Examples: Still need to work on this to know exactly what I want to do!
I’m confident on the majority of the names of the year 9s now, there are still a few I’m unsure on but the seating plan I have made really helps!
Subject knowledge: This will be an ongoing target as there is a lot of stuff coming up that I’m not 100% sure on!

This Week’s Targets:

Examples & subject knowledge – to keep adding to my subject knowledge and to attempt to make my examples as relevant and useful as possible.
Questioning: One of the teachers, who observed me this week, suggested that I mix up my questioning techniques in order to stretch each pupil to their maximum potential. One interesting thing she was telling me about was think time – not giving praise straight away so that the students build on their responses independently.

Currently Reading:

Contemporary Poetry: Poets and Poetry since 1990 – Ian Brinton

I gave up reading the theory, as I feel like my time is better used elsewhere at the moment, as I am not actually teaching contemporary poetry as of yet. I’m not sure if it was because I wasn’t in the right mindset when I was reading it or what, but I wasn’t overly enamoured by the majority of the poetry. However, it did reignite my love for Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry – The World’s Wife was one of the first anthologies I fell in love with, and also I stumbled across the poem Prac Crit by Anthony Wilson. I have not come across this poem before, as I can remember, and it is a poem about analysing poetry – I love it!

The Importance of Being Earnest – Oscar Wilde

Although this is the next play I will read, I have not had time to start it as of yet.

Mrs Dalloway – Virginia Woolf

I am totally aware I am taking an embarrassingly long time to read this novel and, honestly, I do feel this is because I am not feeling overly engaged by the text. I want to love it – I really do! I’ve heard so many fantastic things about it from a range of people, but I just can’t get into it. I appreciate that it is written beautifully, but the story isn’t gripping me, so if anyone can recommend me a Woolf book to change my opinion it would be most appreciated!

Dark Woods – Steve Voake

I have been wanting to read some of Voake’s novels since he came into university to talk to us. This one was on the top of the pile in the YA fiction library we have at uni, so I thought I would give it a go! I’ve only read a couple of chapters… and the chapters are a couple of pages long (I’m not so good at reading before I go to sleep anymore!) but so far so good!

Exiting Nirvana: A Daughter’s Life with Autism – Clara Claiborne Park

I bought this as I came across it on blackboard when researching autism for my assignment. It is a memoir about Clara’s autistic daughter Jessy, and her life as an adult. I am enjoying it so far… but again, finding the time to just read is proving difficult!