Hey,
It’s finally the Christmas holidays and I am so glad to have got here.
Sometimes I describe how I find teaching a little bit like how you would ride a segway. Constantly feeling like I’m falling forward but the machine below me keeps me upright. And then the end of term comes, the battery runs out, and BAM! Face first into bed.
I’ve been pretty open over the last few months about how hard I’ve found this particular term, mainly for my own personal reasons which have meant that any other things happening out of the norm have thrown me further than they usually would have. It has been so tough, and honestly, I’ve found it hard to push through that and teach engaging lessons where I am at my best. I am hoping that will come back next term.
So today I just want to keep it quite concise so that we can all have a break for the holidays. Here are some What Went Well’s of the term, and some EBI’s teaching-practice-wise as I look to 2024.
WWW (What Went Well)
So many GCSE performances were captured! Despite having more than double the number of students in my year 11 class this year as I did last year, I have been way more on it with the capture of performance coursework. It is going to make next term so much easier!
I gained experience in giving feedback to an ITT student that we had working with our department. I was going to be more involved with this process alongside a university course this year but it was not to be in the end, so this opportunity that arose itself differently was a great way to help someone else reflect on practice while being able to look introspectively at my own almost constantly.
The creative arts faculty at school feels more tight-knit than it did previously. Maybe it’s because we are all returning staff this year and we just know each other a little better I’m not sure. But I have worked more seamlessly with even more colleagues this term than I have in the past.
There were some great moments of just brilliant group music making in class which students still talk about. Now and then I have been giving a whole class the same sheet from Little Kids Rock and we put together an arrangement in a lesson. It is great practice for all of them and allows me to see how their instrument/vocal practice is developing. To finish off this term we did a cracking cover of As It Was by Harry Styles.
2 crazy impressive concerts which I talked about last week. The standard was just out of this world. It makes me super proud of our students and what they can achieve!
Just the notion of getting through a grueling 8-week term as it gets darker, gloomier, and wetter is an achievement in itself. The best thing we can do for students is be there, and I’ve at very least, managed to be there all term.
EBI (Even Better If)
I need to be doing more review into classroom expectations lesson by lesson. All of my classes felt in a really good spot at the start of the term as they were drilled into the protocol in my classroom. But it seemed to be that somewhere I focussed more on getting through content than continually reinforcing these practices with students. Ironically, if I had spent the time embedding these, I would have gotten through more content.
There have been occasions where I have just needed a cooler head under stressful situations. These have been small but I have noted some times where I could have reacted better to situations in and out of class.
Going into next term I want to make sure that revision for my year 11s and year 13s is really targeted. I am going to get into the data from mocks and also just my notes on students to work out what the best support I can offer is. Sometimes I have been a victim of just going through the motions of revision lessons where there was a better use of time.
So, like I said before. Just a short one today with some mini WWWs and EBIs for the last 8 weeks. No extra bits at the bottom today as I’m going to go and begin the Christmas eating ritual.
I’m very excited to see what the next term brings.
Thanks for reading.
Joe.