I’m trying to get my blogging organised and so have printed a list of my ‘tags’; that’s the topics I write about in my posts – if you go into Balancing Act they’re on a list on the right-hand side underneath the latest poll and adverts.
There must be a reason why the tag for this current post is mentioned as many times as it is (and I don’t mean just that I couldn’t get the spelling right)
Clearly it’s on my mind and on the blog more than it should be. A clear case of work-life inequality.
In a meeting today, the phrase “now that Year 11 have gone” was mentioned far too many times to be healthy. Why don’t we ever learn that it doesn’t really get any easier, it’s just a different type of hard!
Only a few days until half-term …………
Following up on Majid’s comment here, in answer to this question I went the whole cliche and mentioned building up respect.
Teachers start by showing respect for pupils by planning fantastic lessons, showing an interest in individual pupil’s progress and spending time outside of lessons working with kids.
Pupils then want to work hard and behave well because the teacher’s shown respect and the pupil is beginning to respect the teacher.
Wonderful, utopian pupil teacher relationships! BUT actually workable, if we allow teachers the time to plan the fantastic lessons and have the time (and energy) to spend time outside of lessons working on individual projects.
Have your Year 11 left yet?? Ours go on Thursday (they think it’s Friday).
It’s that time of year again – have we really done all we can do or is a small part of us wishing we had another fortnight?
Before then they’ve got a Maths immersion Day, exams briefing, a Religious Studies Exam (preceded by an RS immersion morning), a Leavers service and for some of them a rude awakening in the form of a letter telling their parents that we’d like them to stay on for another two weeks. Those lucky few are our borderline pupils who are still in serious danger of not getting 5 A* – C grades. I’ve never before encountered immersion days in the form we have them. Groups of pupils or a whole year group off-timetable to work with subject specific staff. Having a Maths one this late has annoyed quite a few other subjects, the RS one is more understandable – they come in in the morning, have some last minute guidance and then, with the memories of the morning still fresh in their mind, sit the exam. The Maths one is more panic mode really as the thought of our 5 A*-C with English and Maths levels falling from 63% in 2006 to 55 last year and now to possibly as low as 37% is not one that we can live with. I am feeling quite sick at the thought of my input into Key Stage 4 intervention coming to nothing, not to mention the fact that these last minute additions is stopping me from getting on with all the other jobs that I have to do (finalising options and the whole school timetable to name but two).
Well, I’ll spend all day Monday teaching Maths and then dealing with indignant pupils asking why they’re so special that they have to say on at school?