There is a time for everything on the earth... for things to start and to end, for being raised up and facing trials, for standing still and moving on...change is universal and we face it all the time.
As we come to the end of 2009 I wish all of you a fab New Year and hope that 2010 is a year of breakthroughs, blessings and good times. That the victories outnumber the challenges and that the opportunities come thick and fast opening doors that will lead to recognition and reward.
Happy New Year!
Thursday 31 December 2009
Wednesday 30 December 2009
when opportunity knocks...
dont knock it...its not the knocking thats the problem...its the patience needed to wait for the knocking to start, or the things that get in the way of opening the door before it stops.
Tuesday 15 December 2009
Follow the yellow brick road...
We are putting on the Wiz this year as the school musical and many hours of hard work have gone in from staff and students since early in 09 to get to the point of first night.
Whilst standing backstage and looking out onto the production the other day it reinforced to me how talented the students we work with are. We don't give them the credit they deserve and due to our leaderships desire to purely be the best school in ...wherever... we are so quick to criticise, pick out fault and nag. All we do is destroy the creative spark that is attempting to come out because we don't want to take the time to let it.
The league table drives the direction of the school and ultimately its staff - yet we are supposed to be non-competitive!
Its about time we let the students we teach 'follow the yellow brick road' of creativity without the 'winged monkeys' of conformity and results taking them away from ultimately seeing the 'emerald city of success'...too much????
Lets not stifle that which is natural...nuff said
Whilst standing backstage and looking out onto the production the other day it reinforced to me how talented the students we work with are. We don't give them the credit they deserve and due to our leaderships desire to purely be the best school in ...wherever... we are so quick to criticise, pick out fault and nag. All we do is destroy the creative spark that is attempting to come out because we don't want to take the time to let it.
The league table drives the direction of the school and ultimately its staff - yet we are supposed to be non-competitive!
Its about time we let the students we teach 'follow the yellow brick road' of creativity without the 'winged monkeys' of conformity and results taking them away from ultimately seeing the 'emerald city of success'...too much????
Lets not stifle that which is natural...nuff said
Thursday 10 December 2009
A catalyst for discussion...
I have been working with my Yr10 Humanities class on the topic of Conflict and we were working through the section on the Northern Ireland crisis. It was about 10 minutes in when I realised they had no idea about this!!! Suddenly feeling old I explained in detail about what happened and showed them a video highlighting the main events of the conflict. They sat silently afterwards and then one voice said 'Gosh it was so bad over there.'
This triggered a discussion around the video for the remainder of the lesson (3 part lesson out the window...HOORAY!) which was incredible.
Next lesson I set them a GCSE question which included an example question based around a conflict they had studied...amazing answers.
Take time to listen...give them the chance to speak
This triggered a discussion around the video for the remainder of the lesson (3 part lesson out the window...HOORAY!) which was incredible.
Next lesson I set them a GCSE question which included an example question based around a conflict they had studied...amazing answers.
Take time to listen...give them the chance to speak
Wednesday 9 December 2009
Vocal appreciation
As with any school we have an agenda to allow students to voice their opinions whether that be in terms of focus groups, feedback, student council etc...
So I thought how about their opinion on you as a teacher? Dangerous territory, flying without Union backing on this one!
When its structured well it works. When its not...it really doesn't! I remember a teacher in my faculty a few years ago holding some Yr11's back and asking 'What do you think of my lessons? Be honest' ... they were honest, she was literally destroyed by it.
Its not only the structure, its the relationship you have with the students. If you pick a class where there are behavioural issues then feedback will be, well interesting.
When I have done this its been very casual and laid back environment with no pressure being applied. You can use many methods. I have used discussion, feedback box and then response to the points by me next lesson, feedback sheets, red/yellow/green ranking based on a criteria designed by the students and agreed by me - to name a few.
Each time I have found out the same thing - students are very good at highlighting your areas of complacency. They love the variation of lessons so if you settle into a routine because its easy they will pick up on that.
The important thing is you feedback - whether that's verbally or through making changes - so they realise their view is valued and being listened to.
Its risky, you're vulnerable...but its worth it, as the only ones who see you teach day in and day out are those in front of you.
So I thought how about their opinion on you as a teacher? Dangerous territory, flying without Union backing on this one!
When its structured well it works. When its not...it really doesn't! I remember a teacher in my faculty a few years ago holding some Yr11's back and asking 'What do you think of my lessons? Be honest' ... they were honest, she was literally destroyed by it.
Its not only the structure, its the relationship you have with the students. If you pick a class where there are behavioural issues then feedback will be, well interesting.
When I have done this its been very casual and laid back environment with no pressure being applied. You can use many methods. I have used discussion, feedback box and then response to the points by me next lesson, feedback sheets, red/yellow/green ranking based on a criteria designed by the students and agreed by me - to name a few.
Each time I have found out the same thing - students are very good at highlighting your areas of complacency. They love the variation of lessons so if you settle into a routine because its easy they will pick up on that.
The important thing is you feedback - whether that's verbally or through making changes - so they realise their view is valued and being listened to.
Its risky, you're vulnerable...but its worth it, as the only ones who see you teach day in and day out are those in front of you.
Tuesday 8 December 2009
Punching above their weight...
Had a year 8 class this week who often are fairly lethargic so I thought I would raise the bar for them. They are set 1 and the range is level 5-6 in terms of end of KS3 FFT targets. We are looking at rivers and flooding at the moment so I started with a question on the board from a higher GCSE paper which we discussed and thought about how we would answer it and the type of information they would need to include.
They then had 20 minutes with a GCSE textbook to make a note of any information they felt was important in terms of answering the question. After this data collection time they then had 20 minutes to complete the question in class under exam conditions.
Final plenary - feedback as to what they thought. Many felt they had answered the question well because they had taken time to prepare for it and were confident of success and getting near their target grade. Lots of positive discussion.
I then told them that they had done a GCSE Higher paper question and there was a moment of silence before one of the lads said 'Hmmm, wasnt that bad really!'
I have looked over a lot of the answers and those students I have spent time reading are above their target grade.
Its all about taking a moment and giving them time...
They then had 20 minutes with a GCSE textbook to make a note of any information they felt was important in terms of answering the question. After this data collection time they then had 20 minutes to complete the question in class under exam conditions.
Final plenary - feedback as to what they thought. Many felt they had answered the question well because they had taken time to prepare for it and were confident of success and getting near their target grade. Lots of positive discussion.
I then told them that they had done a GCSE Higher paper question and there was a moment of silence before one of the lads said 'Hmmm, wasnt that bad really!'
I have looked over a lot of the answers and those students I have spent time reading are above their target grade.
Its all about taking a moment and giving them time...
Friday 4 December 2009
Moving on up...
Dont worry not going to sing...
The more I have moved through this week the more I have begun to realise who to lean on and who to walk away from. Support comes from those who care but also those who know you and what you can achieve...the problem comes when those in positions dont know either!!!
Time to push on, move on up and look for the opportunities that are missed by us not being in the right frame of mind to take them.
Tomorrow is a brand new day...:)
The more I have moved through this week the more I have begun to realise who to lean on and who to walk away from. Support comes from those who care but also those who know you and what you can achieve...the problem comes when those in positions dont know either!!!
Time to push on, move on up and look for the opportunities that are missed by us not being in the right frame of mind to take them.
Tomorrow is a brand new day...:)
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