Finally! A good day! What a looooong time coming!
Wow, overdoing the old exclamations there. So teaching is the perfect forum for me to indulge in my manic depressive tendencies. I was super hyper today after minimal sleep and a slightly generous amount of vino at dinner last night, and thus the day went swimmingly. Actually, I think it was because I decided today to be positive, rather than a whiny old witch, and it worked!
I remember singing as I was walking into school and then humming my way through the day - I swear singing sometimes makes you happy.
But also, things were good because I had my internal formal observation with Y11 today, and despite one boy putting his head on the desk and one girl almost in tears (because of some unknown reason - it wasn't me!) I got 2s and 1s all the way through the form (2 means good, 1 means outstanding). The feedback session was really good and I was really pleased with how it all went. I have to work on implementing the behaviour policy (not giving a formal warning to a deserving kid dropped me from a 1 to a 2 in the classroom management section) and also on really breaking down how to get each mark in an exam question for the kids. These are good targets for me, I can do that for sure.
What I was most pleased about was how my observer said that I had the most positive classroom style she'd seen in the school since she'd started the observations. In fact, she said she took a leaf out of my book and tried praising her Y8s for good things instead of telling off the naughty ones, and that this worked a treat! I got points for my relationship with the kids and my enthusiasm for teaching too (hahaha, if only she'd read the blog!)
Anyway the fact that I was so chirpy today could be partly attributed to this lesson, but given that I didn't get the feedback till the end of the day, other things must've contributed too. My Y8s were really good during their notoriously awful Thursday period 4. I took them to the computer room and they did well, so I think I'll try and take them again next week. Naughty S was much better behaved, and crazy D is in the LSU from next week, so we'll have a bit of respite there. Was free period 5 and did some sweeping up of the kids that had walked out of lessons (this happens quite a lot, kids storming out). Was chuffed that I'd managed to persuade an angry Y10 back into her class - it's nice when your reasoning and persuasion skills get the kids to do the right thing.
And finally, had the Leadership Discovery Day twilight tonight. Lots of stuff to take in, all about opportunities and skills and knowledge and experience etc. in the "leadership journey" we'll be going through. Hated all the TF jargon/lingo, it's so Americanised and management-consultancy, and obvy the thought of having to do lots more work is a bit of a turn-off, but secretly I think I'm quite excited about all the things we could potentially do next year. More on this soon, when I've read through all the paraphenalia. Crucially, we only had to do 90 mins tonight - the rest of the TFers had to do an 8 hour day of it last Sat!
So, in conclusion, I think today shows that a positive mind is a strong tool. And also that everyone needs some positive praise now and then. Teaching can feel like a thankless job but I've been reminded there's light at the end of the tunnel - sometimes it's a looooong tunnel though!
Wow, overdoing the old exclamations there. So teaching is the perfect forum for me to indulge in my manic depressive tendencies. I was super hyper today after minimal sleep and a slightly generous amount of vino at dinner last night, and thus the day went swimmingly. Actually, I think it was because I decided today to be positive, rather than a whiny old witch, and it worked!
I remember singing as I was walking into school and then humming my way through the day - I swear singing sometimes makes you happy.
But also, things were good because I had my internal formal observation with Y11 today, and despite one boy putting his head on the desk and one girl almost in tears (because of some unknown reason - it wasn't me!) I got 2s and 1s all the way through the form (2 means good, 1 means outstanding). The feedback session was really good and I was really pleased with how it all went. I have to work on implementing the behaviour policy (not giving a formal warning to a deserving kid dropped me from a 1 to a 2 in the classroom management section) and also on really breaking down how to get each mark in an exam question for the kids. These are good targets for me, I can do that for sure.
What I was most pleased about was how my observer said that I had the most positive classroom style she'd seen in the school since she'd started the observations. In fact, she said she took a leaf out of my book and tried praising her Y8s for good things instead of telling off the naughty ones, and that this worked a treat! I got points for my relationship with the kids and my enthusiasm for teaching too (hahaha, if only she'd read the blog!)
Anyway the fact that I was so chirpy today could be partly attributed to this lesson, but given that I didn't get the feedback till the end of the day, other things must've contributed too. My Y8s were really good during their notoriously awful Thursday period 4. I took them to the computer room and they did well, so I think I'll try and take them again next week. Naughty S was much better behaved, and crazy D is in the LSU from next week, so we'll have a bit of respite there. Was free period 5 and did some sweeping up of the kids that had walked out of lessons (this happens quite a lot, kids storming out). Was chuffed that I'd managed to persuade an angry Y10 back into her class - it's nice when your reasoning and persuasion skills get the kids to do the right thing.
And finally, had the Leadership Discovery Day twilight tonight. Lots of stuff to take in, all about opportunities and skills and knowledge and experience etc. in the "leadership journey" we'll be going through. Hated all the TF jargon/lingo, it's so Americanised and management-consultancy, and obvy the thought of having to do lots more work is a bit of a turn-off, but secretly I think I'm quite excited about all the things we could potentially do next year. More on this soon, when I've read through all the paraphenalia. Crucially, we only had to do 90 mins tonight - the rest of the TFers had to do an 8 hour day of it last Sat!
So, in conclusion, I think today shows that a positive mind is a strong tool. And also that everyone needs some positive praise now and then. Teaching can feel like a thankless job but I've been reminded there's light at the end of the tunnel - sometimes it's a looooong tunnel though!
