Do you ever get the feeling that some people are just trying to test you? This is the way I felt after a lesson today. All I wanted to do was become the big blue explosion. I want to rip, and roar and rage. I’m glad I didn’t.

When teachers “explode”, students do not seem to receive the desired effect. They seem to find it funny, to have pressed the teachers buttons, and watched them go off like a rocket.

So far, I have not had my fuse lit in this way! I am able to be calm, but sometime being calm is not the way to resolve a situation. Sometimes action is needed.

This is my action:

I am going to spend a day shadowing one of my target classes, I am going to see them with their form tutor, see them in lessons, I am even going to go with them for P.E.

Perhaps the fact that my action is to try and gain perspective, and not to explode and pick up the pieces.

Perhaps this will give me the insight to work better with these students, and also let them work better with me.

Target: Gain perspective of student behaviour in a variety of lessons and surroundings.

Tags: behaviourmanagement, perspective, explosions

Popularity: 1% [?]

There is a difference, you know. Between saying something, meaning something and doing something.

I have tried this with my classes, saying the rule, explaining the rule, then punishing for the rule.

The thing is, it is not having the desired effect. The innocent students become quieter, worried that they may be tarnished with the brush of discipline. The challenging students flaunt the rules, and have no care for the consequences. They are happy to wait outside the classroom to be chastised, or kept back for 30 minutes after school, for their actions.

This just isn’t working. I don’t feel comfortable ruling with fear. I want students to WANT to work. I want work to not SEEM like work. I want 1 hour to FEEL like 5 minutes. I want time to have no meaning and for learning to be TRANSPARENT.

I want a lot, but I receive attitudes that do not befit age or status in a classroom.

My only solution for this predicament? Back to basics.

1. Clear expectations
2. Short Interesting Tasks
3. Easily Achievable Outcomes

For the next week I going to make  a conscience effort to “chunk” the learning as much as possible. Long periods of unstructured class-time does not reflect in high quality work output.

Tags: classroom, management, behaviour, tasks, timing, expectations

Popularity: 2% [?]

Do you ever get the feeling that what are doing is just not right? I don’t mean in a “I just ran over a cat” kind of way. I mean in a “I’m not sure that this is the best way to do this” kind of way.

This is how I feel about the work I am doing with one particular class. They have to evaluate a variety of web graphics. Students have to:

“..collect and display examples of graphics from at least two different websites, describe their purpose and be able to comment on the positive and negative aspects of these graphics.”

Now this is were I get unstuck, does that mean:

1) Collect 2 graphics & evaluate them

or

2) Collect a variety of graphics (Plural) from 2 website.

• That is collect examples of logos, advertising banners, navigation bars and buttons
• Compare these graphics between the 2 websites

The more I think about this the more I think that it should be the 2nd. The problem I mis-read this and took it to mean the 1st. Ah.

Now what should I do? Do I ignore it and hope it goes away, shamelessly blaming the students for the low marks at the end of the unit? Thats the sign of a poor teacher and a weak individual.

Or do I do the right thing, and spend time correcting this work, focusing on getting the comparison between 2 websites of a high quality with a focus on reviewing the positive and negative aspects of the graphics?

I know which one I have to do. And I am not the kind of person to ignore a problem until it is too large to solve.

The only problems with making mistakes is having the time resolve them. Time is in short supply, but necessary to sort this kind of issue out.

Even though mistakes like this can make you feel foolish, I feel better for resolving it and feel that I have really learnt from the experience.

Rule 1: Read the Spec repeatedly.
Rule 2: Get someone else to explain it back to you.
Rule 3: Keep checking the spec.

Tags: mistakes, teacher training, trainee, resolving problems

Popularity: 2% [?]

As usual in times of pressure, this blog suffers. Whether it be assignment deadlines, file inspections or copious amounts of planning, evaluating and marking to complete, poor old neu-thinking suffers. One thing that has been causing me problems of late is Twitter.

Twitter seems to have become so useful, that now, it isn’t actually useful anymore. It has stepped over the edge and is now a distraction. One of many things that I use to occupy my time between waking and sleeping, desperately trying not to do those things  that I know I should do. Like, planning, evaluating lessons and marking. I now more then ever need discipline to keep away from Twitter.

It also stops me blogging here, the place where I really need to spend more time posting. I end up distilling my thoughts down to 140 characters or less, when really I should be extending these thoughts to help me learn.

Such a shame. Twitter was just too good.

Tags: twitter, not twitter

Popularity: 3% [?]

This has been on my mind for a few good weeks now:

Tags: Behaviour, classroom, management, issues

Popularity: 5% [?]