4 weeks in...

Hello all,

Friday's here again. That means no lessons tomorrow (it only happens twice a week so it's a VERY wonderful thing). I can halt the planning train and take a bit of time to reflect (and give you a catch up).

I'm over half way through my first placement. This means 4 weeks teaching, which sounds like nothing, but I feel like I've been doing it for months! I learn new things every day, but I'm so busy planning, marking and teaching that I don't really notice it's happening until I stop for a moment. Then I realise how far I've come since my first lesson. Life is good when you think you're getting somewhere.

Now I'm sitting here while Chris is out, drinking a glass of wine, eating cheese and biscuits and just flopping. I've got to start thinking about things non-school; Christmas shopping for one! We've started receiving cards and it's wonderful to hear people's news, but I feel sad and guilty that I don't have the time to reply properly. Maybe I'll catch up at the end of term!

I remembered that I have a mini christmas tree yesterday, so Chris and I put it up, dainty decorations and tiny lights too. It's not the most festive setting I've ever seen, but it's better than nothing.

This post is getting a bit rambly so I'm not to sure how to draw it to a close. Maybe I'll just say that I send you all lots of love, I miss seeing and speaking to you all as much as I would like, and I hope that we will all catch up properly over the festive season.

xxx

Friday feeling?

It's Friday.
So tired.
Can't speak, type, move.
Going to drink tea. Maybe wine. Maybe gin.

x

1 week down - thoughts on the profession.

Six lessons done, and a day without lessons tomorrow! I feel so relieved by the idea that I will not be 'performing' again until Monday. It felt a bit like betrayal, this relief. Why am I putting so much effort into learning these skills if I counting down to the days when I am free to not use them?* Having discussed this matter with other teachers, it's not at all uncommon. It is shocking what a love-hate profession teaching is.

Today I had two classes, each made up of about 25 12/13 year olds, each looking at exactly the same topic. The first lesson involved a lot of voice raising, sighing, fighting against a sea of noise as students chattered and were silly and showed little interest in listening to me or each other. I sat them away from their friends and all they did was turn their chairs around and talk with their backs to me. When they finally left (I kept 8 in over break) I tidied up the chaotic mess that was left behind which included crumpled, torn worksheets and numerous paper aeroplanes.

I wasn't too despondent (I've seen this class with several different experienced teachers in several different subjects, and they caused havoc in over half the lessons) but I was very tired, and desperately seeking solutions so that it didn't happen again.

Then, in the last lesson of the day I taught the second class. They have a reputation as a noisy lot and I thought that by 14:50 they would be ready to riot, but in fact they were almost angelic. Interested, curious, engaging in the subject, getting the most out of the tasks I set them. It was great!

So teaching is full of ups and downs. Classes never do quite what you expect, which is why the job in interesting; it demands that you be dynamic, flexible. But it also means that you can't just drift off for a moment of relaxation mid-lesson. So, however interesting I'm finding it, however much I'm enjoying seeing the kids' reactions and listening to what they have to say, I'm counting down the hours til my next lie in, and the days til the Christmas holidays, and the weeks until I have a 6 week summer stretching out ahead of me. No wonder teachers have such long holidays. They'd never get through otherwise!


*Allow me to point out that although tomorrow will be free of teaching, it will not be workless. It takes me at least 3 hours to plan each lesson at the moment, and another hour or so to prepare resources. I have 6 lessons to prepare for next week, and several uni assignments that I need to start, so it is not a day off!

What should teachers do?

Today I was back in University for the first time in over two weeks. The day progressed in the standard manner: 9-5 seminars on varying topics, including a lot of sharing news and experiences (us students haven't seen each other since our first fledgling attempts at teaching so there was a lot to say).

However, at the end of the day we were asked to do something unusual. We were instructed to go to a lecture, led by the theorist Etienne Wenger, who spoke about his career and research in something called "Community of Practice", a term which, according to wikipedia, "describe[s] a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession. It is in the process of sharing information and experiences in that group that the members learn from each other, and have an opportunity to develop themselves personally and professionally".

He spoke about how a student's interests and sense of identity affect their desire and ability to learn; how, as teachers, if we can present ourselves as inspirational, even aspirational figures, we will have the opportunity to share our knowledge with our pupils, because they will want to gain access to our universe of experience. Am I making sense?

So essentially, if I understood correctly, I should try to make my subject relevant to students, make it something which they can connect to their sense of identity, their image of themselves. They can enjoy reading, because I enjoy reading and am so passionate about it that they think 'Hey, I want to be a part of that'.

The idea was a little controversial. Some students felt that this theory is nothing new - of course we will try to be passionate, inspirational, relevant. Others thought it was not their job to help students "find their identity". We have enough to do: juggling targets, a curriculum, trying to get all 31 students in your Year 9 class to remember to bring their books and to sit down when asked.

The lecture got me thinking about what I am trying to do by becoming a teacher. Am I just going over to the dark side? Making children jump through hoops, forcing irrelevant literature and grammar into one ear, only for it to fall out the other side as they leave the room? Does it matter if they remember the names of the characters in Much Ado About Nothing, as long as they leave my lesson feeling confident and as if I am interested in what they've got to say, whether it be about Shakespeare or the episode of Family Guy they watched last night? Does my main responsibility lie with the subject I love, or the interests of students I'm teaching, or is it somewhere in between?

I'd be really interested to know what you think. What do you remember about teachers who inspired you? Who made a difference to you at school? What is education, anyway?

2000 words, on my desk by Monday morning. Please.

Remember me... ahem

Hello all,

It's been a long time!

I think I'm discovering that PGCE timetables are not so compatible with blogging... but I am going to persevere.

Thanks to nagging readers (esp. Susanna and Noemi) for encouraging me to get back online. Following advice, I'm going to try to get into a routine of writing little and often. Hence this excerpt from recent events:

Taught my first four lessons in secondary school this week. Pupils all left with limbs attached, so not too bad. Have enjoyed it actually, but following one frustrating lesson today I feel I have a lot to learn about behaviour management before it will be as successful as I would like.

Also celebrated my birthday. Chris treated me to a fabulous dinner; he cooked while I planned lessons. Was delicious! I was also treated to surprise cake at work. I was very touched. And thanks to you for all the messages and cards! :D

I'm off now. A bientot. xx

My first lesson and a weekend visitor from Germany

Hello there,

I'm now into my second week at the Primary School in Manchester. It's been great. I actually feel very settled and I'll be sad to leave tomorrow! It's hard to leave in the midst of half-term. I want to see what the kids will catch in their insect traps, know how tall their bean plants will grow and see how their WW2 day goes. They're having an Eid party next week and will all be bringing in food and I'm very sad that I won't be there to see it (and taste a few dishes!).

Today was particularly good. I taught my first every lesson - fancy that! Like a real teacher and everything. Well, sort of... I had the last lesson of the day, an hour long, in which to get 24 boys and girls to think about the lives of world war two evacuees, and write an imaginary evacuee letter home. It went really well. We had some great discussions about words they could use, and what life was like in the country compared to the city. The children then went on to write some great letters! Best of all they were all enthusiastic, if a little chatty and excited by the end of the class. Let say it didn't put me off at all!

For a seasoned teacher, this lesson would just be one of several in a day, nothing special, but for me it feels like a real achievement. I faffed and worried about my plan and my resources. I had a very thoroughly drawn out lesson structure, and thought I might be complicating things so much that I'd get lost in it. I was also feeling nervous about what it would be like standing at the front of the room, with 27 pairs of eyes (there was a teacher, a classroom assistant and another PGCE student in the room too) staring right at me.

I reassured myself, however, that I would have the whole of the previous lesson to set up, because the students would be in the hall doing PE. So after lunch I waiting for my opportunity to print off my plan and get myself well prepared, with all my resources ready before 2:30. However, the clock hour hand reached 2 and the students still hadn't left. They were running so behind, the teacher decided to skip PE. So suddenly my cushion disappeared. I had 5 minutes to get everything ready and read over my plan quickly. So not as calm as I was hoping! But as I said, it all went well in the end, and I'm feeling much more confident for the start of my course next week.

Steffi, me and Chris at Bramall Hall near Manchester

In other news, last weekend, we had our first real visitor! Steffi, a German au pair who I met while working in Paris who is now a student, was visiting London for a week with friends. At the end of her visit she came to stay with us for 3 nights. It was really fun to have a chance to do a bit of tourism together. We went to the Town Hall, the Cathedral, the John Ryland's Library (which is very beautiful) and on Sunday we went to a Tudor house called Bramhall Hall. We learned a lot about Manchester, and talked about the differences in our cultures. I feel I learnt almost as much about Germany as she learned about England. We also treated Steffi to a whirlwind of English cuisine, including sausage and mash, cornish pasties and egg custards, a meal on the Curry Mile, pork pies and Dairy Milk, and finally a Sunday roast with chicken, roast potatoes, vegetables and homemade gravy and bread sauce. A real treat for all of us!

Me humiliating a chicken, dressing it with butter and herbs ready for roasting

We also had two of my cousins Bernie and George over for dinner last week, making boeuf bourguignonne. Bernie is a chef so we were a little concerned about how he'd react to our food but he seemed to like it, and even brought over a brilliant raspberry and white chocolate bread and butter pudding with homemade butterscotch sauce. Yum.

All this talking about food is making me really hungry! Luckily I'm sitting in front of a cake which I have baked for Chris because it's his birthday today. Shhh, don't tell him though! He doesn't know anything about it. Hopefully he's cycling home now though, so he won't have a chance to find out about it by reading my blog! If he doesn't get home soon I'm going to have to eat it myself anyway... Unfortunately it is one of the ugliest cakes I've every baked, otherwise I'd have included a photo.

Anyway, I hope you're all well. Please leave me a comment to let me know how September is treating you! xx

Back to School

Today I spent the day with a year 6 class in a primary school in Moss Side, Manchester, where I will be helping out and observing for the next two weeks. I can happily and wholehearted refute recent irresponsible comments made by the Shadow Home Secretary. These 11 year olds showed no evidence of being involved in urban warfare. There were no bullet wounds, and not even a hint of a Baltimore accent. They were bright and enthusiastic kids who could probably do without thoughtless politicians labelling them and their home environment by comparing Moss Side to The Wire.

Anyway! Primary school seems to have got a lot more sophisticated since I was there. I got to witness a "Shake Up, Wake Up" assembly, when a dance troop of pupils performed to a song called "Show your national colours". It was really upbeat and the rest of the school got to join in at the end. Next came an hour of numeracy, a break, then 95 minutes of SFA (Success For All - today, conflict resolution and emotional vocabulary. It felt a bit like group therapy...). Lunch followed, then a brief spell of handwriting, which involved an programme on the smartboard that included videos of people leading hand warm up exercises! Next came science, when the students had to plan an experiment, including how to make it a fair test! Did we even discuss the concept of a fair test at primary school?? Finally there was circle time, which involved a couple of rounds of wink-murder, with some very dramatic death performances.

Generally it was all very enjoyable, although it was a bit awkward at lunchtime in the staffroom. No one seemed at all curious about who I was or what I was doing there, and although I tried to start conversations with them about the school, or their class, no one really seemed to want to chat. Hopefully this will improve with time. If not, I'm going to start bringing a book...

Will keep you posted on whether I have to resort to that or not!