Writing with my students – My reflections on another brilliant idea from Twitter.

If, like me you are planning revision lessons for Yr 11 next week then please allow me to share with you a really successful strategy that I think has lots of potential for all years and all subjects, but also generated good results from students in revision lessons.

 

This lesson was based on an idea I got from Twitter, a random tweet on #pedagoofriday that caught my eye and became a really successful set of lessons.  Here are my reflections on it.

 

As a subject that relies on a written exam I have been trialling a new idea I saw on Twitter that is really easy, needs minimal effort but increases students awareness of exam technique, writing skills and boosts their confidence at a stressful time!

 

And all you need to do is write with them.

 

The idea is that you plan the students some exam based written work as half of your lesson and instead of you just sitting in the room watching them, you answer the question too, with them. It may sound odd but I trialled this last week and when I had time to reflect on the lessons and their results, I got very excited at where this could go. (And no, I don’t have a life!)

 

From the top my lesson looked like this –

 

I allowed the sudents to choose a question from a past paper that will take between 15-20mins, for us its either a 6m or 12mark question. (In my exam students get one minute per mark) A disengaged student chose a 12m question on Divorce.

 

All students and myself did the test in silence and I timed it on the projector, alongside my answer whilst I was writing. (I did feel the pressure!) I did this on a word doc from my laptop, ipads are much better if you have one.

 

At the end of the test I projected my final answer to the class and got the students to critique my answer and score it using the mark scheme. Students had to justify their critical analysis of my essay and the mark given and then suggest ways I could improve it.

 

Students then gave me their work to mark whilst they did an independent revision activity so they could have immediate feedback.

 

I mark their work, any blatant copying does not receive marks, and return it to them before the bell.

 

My reflections on the lesson are:-

 

Choose your classes wisely!! If you have a class that would mock you mercilessly for any mistake you might make then don’t do it! I chose two small classes that I was happy to fail miserably in (and I did the first lesson big time!) and for them to see me do it and tell me where I went wrong.

 

Allow the students to choose the questions; this avoids you having more of a head start then you do already!

 

Be humble. I made the most common mistake of my students on my first attempt and waffled like a Theology graduate possessed by the devil! I ran out of time and didn’t make a C grade. It was not on pupose I can assure you, but made me realise that I didn’t really know what I am putting my students through each lesson. Never mind the fact that I am just one of the subjects they are working this hard in!

 

Project your answer immediately after the test has been done to avoid distractions, I chose to project it whilst I was writing with my weakest students and it did help them choose more mature language but it did distract them as they were reading it for too long. The stronger students need the challenge of going it alone but project immediately to avoid the conversation having time to change in their relief to finish.

 

Thank them!! Students who critique your work need to be thanked for being brave enough to analyse the teachers work! And from experience it is harder then you think!

 

Enjoy it, I laughed a lot in the lesson and then marked their work and saw that the results from the class who saw what I was writing were better then expected and no one copied me. It did work as an incentive for my students with weaker literacy skills and with more time (I wish I’d seen it sooner) I believe it would make a big impact. The students would start to adopt the language I use in my writing as they saw it more often. Especially helpful with definitions of key words.

 

Have a go! You lose nothing, except perhaps a small amount of professional pride and some social standing with the kids!! This opportunity really allowed me to see what I had forgotten about GCSE’s but also it boosted their confidence as they had beaten me and knew why and how I had gone wrong, it also built resilience in weaker students as they saw me losing it/struggling/doing it too, they had no reason to give up as I was ‘with’ them. It was very empowering for the students to get to mark my work instead of the other way around. It also highlighted to some how much easier it is if they are succinct and adhere to the framework I set out for them.

 

So, if you’ve got to this point, thanks so much for reading this far, I hope I haven’t waffled, but apparently It’s a weakness!  I’ll definitely be doing it again as the look on their faces when I gave them their papers back with feedback and lots of praise told me it was a bit of a winner, even if it is “only RE”!

 

 

Walking in their shoes – How progress is made in my classroom.

I have reflected all month and my new post for #Blogsync is about progress and how it is made in my classroom. It’s all about shoes….

1.  

    

    

   I am a lover of shoes, I love the way I feel in different pairs of them and how I can express elements of my personality through carefully chosen footwear. I don’t indulge too often, but I know I have passed on my love of shoes to my three beautiful daughters and I gain as much enjoyment from sharing their purchases as I do my own.

    

   But what has this to do about progress in my classroom? Well…..

    

   Progress is not always something that you can add to a mark book or quantify in letters and numbers and this is the progress that excites me the most.

   In my classroom I have a shelf of shoes, It contains gorgeous heels, flippers, an army boot thrown out from a nearby Garrison and promptly put in the boot of my car, flats, trainers….

    These are donated shoes from people who have journeyed with me in my classroom, students and teachers alike. It is extending and I ask my students to consider donating a pair of their own shoes if they feel that at any time during our lessons they have walked in someone else’s shoes.  Taken from an idea by Roman Krznaric’s empathy museum, I began to consider that progress was real progress when learning was made through someone else’s context; when real insight was created through our lessons and the students could put themselves in someone else’s shoes (occasionally this meant literally!) and then tell me what they thought on a particular topic/issue.  

    

   As part of the GCSE OCR Ethics syllabus, students must do exactly that; what does a Catholic believe about animal testing? How would a Protestant react to a pregnant teen wanting an abortion? What does a Christian soldier feel like in combat knowing he “shalt not kill”?  It is this type of progress I want to see in my classroom and why shoes figure quite highly in my efforts with student progression.

    

   Walking in someone else’s shoes takes skill, but first and foremost knowledge. This comes first and is the core part of my weekly hour with them, progress can be felt but also assessed with this foundation and the skill comes after through discussion, sharing stories, supposing, projecting and predicting what will come next. My students have facts but lack experience; they are but young, so I use mine and that of my vast friendship groups and others personal experiences to share with them what the world is about. My aim is to watch them progress to the point where judgement is reserved until the knowledge is gained, the minds widen and become open vessels. Progress is reached when students can wear the shoes and walk the path of another human being and say, “this is what it is like to be ……, this is what they believe”. Or, “I think it must be really difficult to be this person, I am lucky it’s not me”

    

   Walking in someone else’s shoes emits an empathy that is irresistible to other humans; we can communicate on a level that allows us to listen and truly hear what is being said, we learn from those around us and it is more then just facts, it is their world, their feelings, their hopes and dreams and it is precious and to be respected. Empathetic people are successful future leaders and communicators, but also husbands, mothers, friends. 

    

   Alongside this being fostered in my classroom for the sake of their GCSE results it is an aspect of humanity that is required to form strong and resilient relationships and this progress lends itself to all subjects. When I hear from my colleagues in English that Romeo has ‘Agape’ for Juliet my heart sings and I am again excited by the spread of the progress that has been made in my little room, I am encouraged that I add a value to their lives that I never link to value added, ever.

    

   Please don’t get me wrong; I am a teacher and I use data, formative and summative assessment for my students, I mark their work and give them feedback, I plan my lessons, I assess their abilities inline with the examiners requirements, I self assess, peer assess, write together, mark together, but, in my classroom, where it is normal to talk for an hour, to sit on the floor and look at a picture and work how what we feel and where those feelings come from, where we can pull down a pair of shoes from the shelf, put them on and try to tell the class how it feels to be us…

    

   Progress is made that can’t be analysed on a spreadsheet, minds are opened and opinions are changed, students characters grow in front of me as they challenge their thinking head on. And at all times respect is given, the challenge of their journeys is acknowledged, because this progress is earned the hard way. 

    

   This progress is built through walking, and you need great shoes for walking.

    

   

    

    

   This post is for Aprils #Blogsync – How progress is made in my classroom. http://blogsync.edutronic.net/

    

    

After reflection, a few changes and some additions.

thehumanteacher

I am sitting in a classroom at 4.30pm supervising extra study for a Yr11 student; my Yr 9 daughter is opposite me doing her English homework on Macbeth. I have been awake for 12 hours, I have made 6 breakfasts, 6 lunches, I have made a batch of flapjacks for an illegal Yr 7 cake sale in class today as part of my marathon fundraising. I have taught 4 classes, set up a justgiving account, completed a job application form, covering letter, disclosure form and sent it off. I have amended my Yr 10 reports and, after a snotty e-mail from a colleague, amended another colleagues Yr 10 reports too. I have changed the system in support of one colleague and bemoaned the system in support of another. I have tutored my SEN student for Science GCSE (I teach RE!) and stood out in the cold eating a salad for…

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Why we leave the profession in the first 5 years.

I am sitting in a classroom at 4.30pm supervising extra study for a Yr11 student; my Yr 9 daughter is opposite me doing her English homework on Macbeth. I have been awake for 12 hours, I have made 6 breakfasts, 6 lunches, I have made a batch of flapjacks for an illegal Yr 7 cake sale in class today as part of my marathon fundraising. I have taught 4 classes, set up a justgiving account, completed a job application form, covering letter, disclosure form and sent it off. I have amended my Yr 10 reports and, after a snotty e-mail from a colleague, amended another colleagues Yr 10 reports too. I have changed the system in support of one colleague and bemoaned the system in support of another. I have tutored my SEN student for Science GCSE (I teach RE!) and stood out in the cold eating a salad for lunch (It seemed the best option given that it was snowing) whilst doing lunch duty where I play the game ‘nick the nicotine’. I have printed off far too much students work for those kids who don’t have printers or internet access, I have marked some books, planned Thursdays classes and sorted out my groups for our Deep Learning Day on Wednesday.  I have planned a meal for my kids tonight and one for me and my partner that fits in with our diet. I have chatted to hundreds of students about the concert I took my daughter to last night and linked student to student in the name of community. I have dried socks and shoes on radiators and found lost PE bags, I have lent my jacket to a student and bought one student a roll after his brother lost both their dinner monies. I have initiated a display with the reprographics man and had a cup of coffee with colleagues. I have caught up on Twitter links from my DH and done some more work on my MLDP course. 

It is 3.40pm and my day is nowhere near over, at some point in my day, if I am lucky and my own children are not hugely demanding tonight, someone might just consider me. My well being may just be talked about, inquired after, soothed, reflected upon, advised in some capacity and my emotional ‘well’ may be replenished…just a bit, just enough to get me through tomorrow.

I am a happy teacher, I am a teacher who thrives on my work, the thrill of pedagogy and the constant opportunity to improve, trial, create motivates me hugely and I adore what I do. I am lucky, so lucky and so humble because I am reflective and self aware and I know why I love my work so much.  I  know why I can cope with my workload and my other commitments.  

I am given time and opportunity to reflect, inspire and be inspired, I am encouraged and challenged and pushed with respect and my best interests at the heart of those who know me well enough to know what I can take.  I have strong relationships with my colleagues and I know when to withdraw from those people that make me feel anything less than positive. As is my right.  I am cared about and in turn I care. I am in a school where my well being is considered and this is why I stay being a teacher. This is why others, who don’t have what I have, leave the profession. I was almost one of them.

In my training year no one ever told me about how I should take care of myself or balance my workload; the only advice I got was to have one night off a week. I remember thinking that as a mother who hadn’t slept for a decade a ‘night off’ was never going to happen, even for the graduates free of responsibility, a night off was scary, we would fall behind and drown in the murky quagmire of our workloads and never get the illusive ‘outstanding’ with Ofsted. I knew I had to learn to cope and prioritise, being a parent highlights those needs quite quickly, but I had to go back to school to do it.

I went to evening classes and studied a course on counselling skills; I trained myself to be more resilient, self aware and reflective. Through a journal and with expert help I learnt to get to know me. I became a better communicator and realised how important it was to really listen to someone and be listened to; it was my eureka moment and changed my whole outlook on life and what I could expect from it.  I did this course during my training year; I wanted to be the teacher I never had, a good teacher, a strong teacher a memorable teacher. I wanted, like so many trainees, to make a difference and I invested in that desire.  My training year was hell, I was a mother of three very young children and had no support, I could cope with the workload but couldn’t cope with the lack of support from my placement school. I can honestly say that throughout the whole year I had no one to talk to, no one to listen to me.  I was too busy to seek someone out and as long as I was working no one cared if I was there or not.

For me, well being is everything that underpins and supports our work, we are emotionally drained minute by minute as teachers, by their very nature children take everything they can from us and what they give back is rarely planned and intended in comparison to what we give.  Well being is the difference between a resilient, brave and confident teacher and one who finds life staggering behind them whilst they hurtle through the days never reflecting and losing the opportunity to learn from their actions.

I now work in a school that looks after me, I am cared about and others are too, even if they don’t realise it. If I am feeling wary, fragile, uncertain, I can go to someone and say how I feel and someone will listen to me, actively listen to me. Can we all say that? Does it sound a bit too touchy/feely? Does it sound like something you don’t have time for?  If your day is like mine above then at some point soon you too will need someone to talk to, and what will make you resilient will be having someone there at the time when you need them.

As leaders in any capacity how many of us offer ‘a chat’ to our colleagues, how often do we get ‘a chat’ offered to us? How many of us know how to actively listen to someone and turn a conversation around to someone else’s benefit? Can you listen without interrupting? Can you make a conversation with someone all about them? can you manipulate a conversation to empower and embolden someone to find the answers and solutions to their problems all by themselves through reflection and support?  This is real well being and the absence of this in a school, in whatever form, makes me sad, but also makes me wary. As trainers and leaders this fundamental part of our practice is necessary to securing the successful recruitment of future teachers and leaders. We have to take ‘care’ of our staff, we have to listen and support and ensure that every day like the one above – and lets face it, the rest of the week will be pretty much the same – is coped with and enjoyed at some level

I left teaching after my training year; I spent time at home with my young family and used my newly gained qualification to home educate them and give them back something of the mum they had lost though my year of hell. I used my counselling skills to put my house in order and make solid plans that would support me and my family in the future; they didn’t involve teaching in high school. I studied some more and lived my life, I dealt with tragedies and loss, happiness and new beginnings, I started running and ran several marathons and joined a running club that supported me and mirrored the needs of leaders to care and build resilience and determination. Crucially, through it all. I kept a reflective diary.  

One day I decided that I needed more security, I looked at what I could do (Having had a varied career history) and what I wanted to do, I looked at my growing family and the role model I wanted to be. I reflected and asked myself what would make me proud and what would make my children proud of me, what walk could I walk successfully and achieve highly in.  The voice in my head said teaching.

I joined a supply agency with a determination to do things differently; to supply until I found a school worthy of me, one that fed my interests and would support me holistically. A school that would enhance my life, not drain it away.

I found one. I found a great leader.

In whatever form it takes, staff well being is vital from the very start of our careers and all the way through it, regardless of position. Those on reduced timetables and with more opportunities need to be seeking out ways of improving this for everyone, no ifs or buts. We need to nourish our staff, we need to support and refill their emotional wells as quickly as they are being emptied. Its not all touchy feely, its the responsibility that comes with leadership and working with human beings. It’s the emotional intelligence we need to own and foster in others to ensure strong and successful working relationships that are mutually dedicated to fostering success in other peoples children.

This job is not a 9-5er; it is not a job we leave behind at the end of the day, its never ending, on going, relentless and so therefore needs support and well being alongside it.

I love my vocation….it is not a ‘job’. I love the place where I am at now in my life. I have well being and I worked hard to achieve it. If you want a strong, resilient workforce then invest in well being for your school too, not everyone will travel a road like mine but while the challenges of life seek out all of us at some time or another then the need will always be there. If not, then we can expect more teachers to leave the profession in the first five years, many industries offer far more lucrative options that include every evening off and the weekends too. Is 13 weeks holiday a year that big a deal when for many your soul hangs in the balance? Clearly not.

Just think what we could achieve with a staff of empowered, self directed, confident, adventurous, brave and resilient teachers…..just imagine.  

The MLDP, Social Media & Me.

Ok, I am starting my very first blog, in response to being publicly asked by @mrlockyer at PedagooLondon! And because I have a few things to share with the world of education.

 My initial aim for this blog is to use it as the foci of my MLDP dissertation; this will provide evidence of how my growing leadership skills can ‘Close The Gap’ in attainment in a variety of areas. Rather than use the blog to showcase best practice in one particular area I want to showcase the use of social media and its potential in ‘closing the gap’ for all students in my school in any number of ways.  For me, leadership is vast; I have read many blogs and online courses that highlight the numerous dimensions a good leader should have and for many of them I simply agree.  The MLDP is about enhancing my role as a ML and directing my teams efforts towards improving student attainment through a variety of ways, but also the impact ML’s have in school and the areas where they can really make progressive steps to whole school success.  This blog will highlight those ways and how social media, via Twitter, will aid this process.  What I would like to have at the end of this course is a comprehensive guide to all the best practice that is out there; how it has helped ‘Close The Gap’ in my context and be a live document that anyone can read and take from. It will be a ‘gift’ to all the members on my course and hopefully a tool that can bring about change of any value to any number of people.

After the course is done it will simply become my blog! For sharing what I have with whoever would like to read it!

The blog will remain public; measure and accountability is vital and I am happy for people to comment and act as a critical friend! I intend to reflect and feedback on all comments.

So, about me, I work in an 11-16 Academy in Suffolk; I teach RE, Sociology and supervise a group of Year 7 students who are teaching me ICT! I applied to do the MLDP as an interested and motivated teacher who aspired to be a Head of Year; by the time the course started I was Acting Head of my department due to serious and long term staff illness and thrown in at the deep end was an understatement!

During this initial period of great change for me I decided that there were two things that needed to be preserved in our two-man dept; one was the enthusiasm and respect that the students have for our subject, two of us teach all of KS3 & 4 and all students do a half course GCSE in Yrs 10 & 11.  The students know its a half course and despite it being inessential for many, we have worked hard at maintaining positive relationships and this needed to be maintained.

My other priority was my relationship with my colleague; at the heart of all we do there is a deep regard for our profession, a deep respect and admiration for each other and a huge motivation for improvement for the benefit of the real young people that sit in our very real classrooms.  At no point was I prepared for her to return to a Dept that was anything less then how she left it, and if I could, it would be better.  This would enable her to take back a Dept that was easier to manage as she recovered and returned to full health.

I will blog another time about my two priorities; mostly because when it comes to our profession I believe they are vital to the success of any teacher and any school.

Back to the blog; I am a newbie on the Social Media scene but a highly engaged and motivated newbie nonetheless!  I have approached the ‘Tweaching’ world with hunger and the honest and generous sharing of all things CPD is simply stunning!  I can honestly say that I am beyond impressed, hugely motivated and ready to commit to the online and real-life opportunities this social medium is going to offer us all.  Are you up for the challenge too?

I attended what is called in the Tweaching world, a Teachmeet at Walthamstowe Academy on February 28th 2013. This was my first real life foray into shared CPD with people who up til then had simply been Twitter handles and @hashtags! The event was a massive success, streamed live on Twitter and recorded and shared online for all to see.  I was in awe, truly amazed at the willingness of people to share good practice and the distance they were happy to travel to do it. And why?

 – Collaboration of shared and valued expertise is lacking for a lot of people in their own schools and professional lives.

 – Controlling our own growth

 – Respect for the everyday classroom practice we all participate in and having that acknowledged.

 – Mutual respect for the long forgotten idea that teachers are the people best placed to make real differences to students lives/

 – Innovative leaders, fuelling that change, can support and grow success through collaboration with teachers.  

Big things to reflect on here and the list is not exhaustive by any means, but it is where I start from and I am hooked on the journey and believe it can work for me and with me to make me a better teacher and leader.

I attended an event called @PedagooLondon on March 2nd 2013; hot on the heels of Teachmeet London I wanted to experience more.  A Saturday, the Insititute of London, I had the privilege of meeting some very awesome people who are paving the way for social media to be a medium of reform.

 

 

These guys and many others sent me home from an amazing day with strategies and ideas I implemented the very next day. Sites and schemes for other departments in my school, reflections for my own practice and that of others (student teachers). Real, teacher and student enhancing offerings and no money changed hands! It beat the course I’d done in London three weeks previous (and the school had paid £300 for inc travel expenses!) by a country mile and strong connections for the future. (Mr Lockyer is currently advising me on an application for a potential post. (Will keep you posted!) And is also very funny!

This social media thing is big, I wonder if it is indeed bigger then those enveloped in it actually see.  If you research the work of the @Heads_roundtable there is a palpable air of progression within and the networking participants are spread out and pursuing real reform – serious alternatives to government policy changes and education systems that affect our kids and our staff.  Admirable work ethic whatever your view of it is.

For lesson planning and inspiration it has to be @headguruteacher Tom Sherrington; Head of King Edward Grammar School in Chelmsford, Essex. This man is ensuring good practice is easier to access then some may think and the schools impressive history of action research is validating and inspiring.

There are others…..many others and I will lead you to these and the gifts that they bring as I progress with the blog. All are open to being followed and their blogs being read and used to enhance your own teaching and leading practice…why would anyone say no?!  I will also inform you of the real life changes this process creates as I go; my own style of leadership and my own variation of ‘closing the gap’.