My 80% teaching had been progressing nicely up until the break and I used that momentum to keep going until the assessment. My living room was like a bomb had hit it, with folders, files and paper all strewn across the floor. My life was sleep, wake up, eat, go to school, teach, home, paperwork, eat (possibly watch Netflix) and sleep. This was pretty much for 8 days straight and only left the house to go to Frankie and Benny's and the cinema. This had led me to the conclusion of not leaving it all to the last minute. Not that I did exactly that but there was still a lot to organise, to ensure everything was covered in my standards and that the final claim was written to highlight my best teaching aspects.
Looking back on the past 5 weeks, a lot was achieved. The teaching was constant, I purchased a stamp to aid with marking, was observed by both the Head and Deputy and someone who interviewed me all those months ago. Things are looking positive heading into my NQT year and I am looking forward to being an NQT who already knows the school layout, ethos, most of the children, who to go to for specific advice and just about anything that comes with working at the same place for a 2nd year.
Week Commencing June 1st
I taught my Year 5 class how to hold a debate. The subject in question was 'Should children be able to choose their own lunch menu?'
I
put the children into pairs and then grouped them either FOR or AGAINST this
argument and in doing so this enabled me to place stronger children with those
who are not so confident in their writing or putting an argument together. What
I did notice was those who are confident at writing may not always be the most
talkative so it gave their partner a chance to open up a conversation and
collaborate together.
On
the second day I gave the class time to write some counter arguments, as this
would give both sides of the argument a chance to strike up a really
interesting debate.
Consequently,
when it did come down to the class being opposite each other with myself as
chair in the middle, the children took to debating quite quickly and were able
to use evidence from the UN Children's Right's Charter to show both why it should and shouldn’t be voted
for. This to me showed that the children were engaged in the learning of how to
debate, had taken on board how to counter argue, and that you can’t just make a
point, you have to have proof to back it up.
I was also busy bringing the children up one at a time or in groups to
discuss their work and the need for them to respond to marking as well as
reflecting on the progress made. I believe it is essential children not only
acknowledge mistakes made and where they need to improve but they need to act
on it sooner rather than later.
Midweek,
our Year 5 and 6 cricket team attended a tournament alongside 16 other teams
from the area and finished a respectable 2nd in their group. Losing
only their 1st match and winning the rest. Once was by 1 run and
that was because the children had realised that the fielding and batting need
to work well together to ensure runs are made but at the same time the
opposition need to be bowled or caught out as many times as possible.
I am proud of the team's spirit and had the winners of our group lost any of
their remaining matches it would have gone down to wickets taken and then runs
scored. More practice is needed to help both the main coach and
myself select players who will work well together and understand the rules
better. The beauty of the tournament was that everyone played at least 4
matches and the team rallied round to ensure all felt great during and
afterwards.
Week Commencing June 8th
On Monday the link from my lead school and main placement came into see how I was doing and I am glad she did because it meant I received
feedback that wasn’t bias towards me becoming a teacher at St Mary’s next year. She said I had planned the lesson well, the
starter was appropriate and ensured prior learning was assessed, getting the
children to model the Roman numerals for the class to visualise was a good idea
because it helped them to remember and my behaviour management was also good.
On Tuesday was Sports Day and
it was a fun event. My class had a couple of children away so one of the teams
had to do everything twice and still won more points. In the teachers race I lost
out again to someone with longer legs. I had been running a lot better recently
and am planning for the Abingdon Marathon in October but Sam (a Year 5 teacher
and only other male teacher) beat me by merely a second.
Introducing a new Science
topic was fun because I used a presentation created by another teacher but changed their pictures to show ones of me growing up. This gave the children a chance to work
out how old I was at each stage and why they thought it. Using a carousel task
in which the children had to write what they thought certain stages of human
life meant (and other key vocab), was a good way to assess how much they know
already.
Week Commencing June 15th
With
it being assessment week it gave me a chance to bring my files to school,
select and print children work to add to them plus include any other documents.
Maths
took place on Monday and Tuesday and used the NFER test papers and it gave both the teacher I share the class with and I to choose
which areas of learning need to be worked on and form the basis of our teaching
until the end of the term. Ratio, prime/square/cube numbers, measurements, and
the use of estimation, have all been highlighted and I will be using square and
cube numbers as part of my final assessment next week.
In
my mentor meeting I spoke to about my placing in Year 2 next year and we discussed the things I would like to do in preparation for it. I
have not had much experience in this age group but am looking forward to a new challenge and one in which I will get to know a
different key stage, be even more familiar with assessing children both
formative and summative, work alongside a different set of teachers, and
hopefully seem more lucrative and experienced for future employees. Not many
men teach in Key Stage 1 and with moderation being a bit part of this crucial
year group, I will become well adept at keeping records of everything to give
evidence at the end of next year.
Week Commencing June 22nd
It finally arrived and was over in a flash. My files were carefully poured over, notes made, questions asked and discussions made. The final assessment was tiring and hopefully the last time anything like that takes place again. Thankfully I had organised my files in such a way with tabs referencing each standard and included a contents page at the front. This made it easier for the assessor to use and for me to talk about when required.
I was given some good advice about next steps and this helped to form the basis of my NQT needs for next year. Being in a different key stage means I do have to adapt quickly but the school are very supportive and had created a 3 week plan starting on the 29th for me to start with observing Year 2 and seeing the end result of that year group, then for last two weeks will be in Year 1 classes to see where the cohort I am to teach are currently at. My class includes some children I taught in Phonics back in autumn and I always get a nice smile or comment from them.
Week Commencing June 29th
Year 2 are going to be 3 form entry for the first time and I will be one of 2 NQTs. The other teacher is a highly experienced and skilled practitioner and I magpied as much as I could in the 4 days I was in her class.
To begin with I was observing her teach and then began to work with small groups and get to known the children and their abilities. In KS1 Topic covers quite a lot of subjects and whilst this will be interesting to see how it all fits in, I am a big believer in cross curricular teaching and this is something that many of my observers have noted I like to do in my lessons. Seaside is the Summer topic and this year they went to Littlehampton where my grandparents live, so hopefully it will be the same next year as I have fond memories there.
The displays are slightly different than that of KS2 and I know that next year the classroom I will be getting is currently the classroom of the children I will take on. This means in my opinion a big change will be needed to both show the children that I am their new teacher and also to show the children that they have grown one year older and therefore a change is also required. Resources will need to be split 3-ways instead of 2 and I am steadily making lists and notes about what I want and where I can source it from.
Finally, today I went to University to receive my QTS certificate, and this was a chance to say hi and bye to people I have seen on many occasions during my time as a trainee teacher. Some I will no doubt see more than others and some probably only during reunions but I have made some firm friendships and despite people saying that teaching is a lonely profession, I believe that friendship doesn't just extend to the staff room but across the whole teaching community.
And there we have it. The final blog post, or is it?....
Thank you for taking the time to read this and any others you may have glanced over. It has been a chance to for me to express myself and allow others to follow me on my new journey.
