PGCE - Current Students Thread

From my experience, the schools where support isn't so good, or there are less opportunities to see good practice, are not necessarily "failing" schools.

In a "failing" school, there's often a lot of pressure to improve, lots of CPD opportunities as they're trying to improve the teaching, and generally teachers being encouraged/forced to tick all of the Ofsted boxes which are the same things you're expected to do as a trainee.

I did one of my placements in a school which had previously been rated "Good", but hadn't been inspected for ages, and when it did (during my placement) was downgraded to "Requires Improvement". This was where complacency had set in (not across the board, but more than in other schools I've been in) because they knew the school didn't have major problems (kids generally behaved OK, learnt stuff, and achieved what was expected of them) so there was no push to improve things.

That said, observations/performance management/checking up on people can go way too far though, and from things I've read on other forums this is definitely the case in some schools. My other placement school had constant "learning walks" and "drop-ins" as well as formal observations because they were pushing to be "Outstanding", so teachers were very nervous. And as I've previously said, it's just not possible to teach those kinds of lessons all the time on a full timetable.

Reply 2586

Original post by bethanyrae

Just finished my first block placement. Crazy to think in 6 weeks I've gone from never teaching to 50% teacher! Got 2s on all my observations (were graded 1-6) so I'm really happy with that.

Start my serial visits in a new school Wednesday but we still haven't been told where that is. Eek. Counting down the days till Christmas. My first break! Didn't even get a day off at half term

Congratulations! The pace is so fast isn't it :smile:

make sure you rest well at xmas!

Original post by Steveluis10

Another week down. 4 more weeks to go until a break (12 school days)

I feel like I'm making progress week by week but also finding things frustrating at times like having to spoon feed so much to my classes because they're often lazy and need me to tell them the date and title a hundred times despite it being on the board, give them pens despite me telling them it's not acceptable to come without one every time.

The main issue I'm having is trying to make lessons effective in such a short space of time - by the time my class has everything they need in place to get started, do a starter activity, give me feedback, then look at my modelling and examples for the main activity there's only about 20 minutes left to get writing, peer assess, have a plenary with feedback and set homework. I feel like if I cut out my modelling then the class will have trouble getting started though and then the whole lesson is askew.

I've got slightly more fun activities planned for next week so I'm hoping they run a bit smoother and are a bit more engaging for the whole lesson.

So far I've been observed and graded 4 times and got 2b for each one (at our institution we're graded 1,2a,2b,3 or 4.) so I know I'm doing ok but want to try and get a 2a some time soon.

I don't mind the school I'm in but definitely wouldn't want to work there, the kids have a poor work ethic a lot of the time, the school itself is way too big and a lot of the staff are cynical and play political games.

Just about getting a good first review in a few weeks time then having that break to recharge my batteries and prepare for a bigger timetable and in school every day instead of 3 days a week.

Is this secondary? I would say I'm putting up the date and title and I'm not going to tell anybody what it is after now, because you are all capable of reading it yourselves. And then just stick to it. They will soon give up asking as it sounds like they are just doing it to delay the time they actually have to work.

As for the timing thing it us a very hard thing to get... Lessons always take ages at first. When I first started teaching phonics I only had time for revisit and review and kept missing the actual teaching, it took so long to settle them and get through something. But as I became more confident with behaviour management this improved, and my teacher said to constantly remind myself while teaching what was the important thing in the lesson- the new content. So try and make the starter adaptable so it can be shortened, and if you're running over cut it short and move on as the main task and ensuring it's going ok (plenary/ies) are more important. But anyway you will get quicker and quicker naturally as you go through the year so don't panic! :smile:

Good luck!

Oh and also ask other teachers in the school what they do about pens. Some sort of sanction fore repeatedly forgetting or reward for remembering always or maybe having to write in pencil or something? See what the other teachers do about it and what works for them.

Xxx

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Reply 2587

myrtille

I'd second that about the pens - I've taken to lending pencils instead of pens because a lot of them aren't keen on writing in pencil so they often manage to borrow a pen from someone else instead.

I'm also trying to keep a record of pupils turning up without their exercise book and if it happens repeatedly, issuing detentions. On Wednesday, 6 pupils in one class didn't have their book. I wrote names down and the following day 5 of them had sorted it out, so I only had to do one detention.

Reply 2588

outlaw-torn

Trying manically to organise my folder because my uni mentor is observing me on Tuesday.

I hate these medium term plans. I really should have done them at the beginning of the placement.. it's even more difficult simply because my department doesn't have a proper scheme of work. I'm slowly getting there :frown:

Reply 2589

I don't have medium term plans or a scheme of work per say - I just know what topic my classes are to learn every half term as they have an assessment at the end of every half term based on the topics studied. I'm planning my lessons week by week but some overlap.

Kpwxx - yeah, secondary English.

Reply 2590

MitMilch

I'm so rubbish at lesson planning, I've only got one more week left at school and I just worry I'm going to royally muck up in that time. I want to give the pupils an interesting lesson but I still have no clue how to differentiate properly with worksheets or activities! I can't wait until I get the timings right, haha.

Reply 2591

Original post by MitMilch

I'm so rubbish at lesson planning, I've only got one more week left at school and I just worry I'm going to royally muck up in that time. I want to give the pupils an interesting lesson but I still have no clue how to differentiate properly with worksheets or activities! I can't wait until I get the timings right, haha.

Have you tried using specific pupils as models?

So think of what you want them to learn and choose an activity to achieve that. Then choose an example pupil who you think may struggle in this area of learning... do you think they will be able to access the task? What do you think the outcome would be if you gave them that task?

If you think they will meet the objective and be able to access then great, you have considered them and that's fine. If you think they need an adjustment to access then make it. If you think they will be able to access it but will get something different out of it then perhaps you could use differentiated learning objectives... I like an ALL MOST SOME model (ALL pupils will do this etc). It's nice as you can be clear that the ALL is an absolute minimum for their learning, and you can push certain pupils to give you the SOME objective.

Then do the same for a pupil who you think will excel in that area of learning... what will they get out of this task? Can they have a higher outcome? If not then think of an extension activity for them.

Just remember, you don't have to differentiate by task. It is perfectly fine for all pupils to have the same task if you differentiate by outcome/your expectations of them instead. In fact I personally much prefer this type of differentiation as it is inclusive and flexible for the pupils who may surprise you. But of course it's hard to always plan for it and sometimes different tasks feel more appropriate, especially if you have a big range of abilities in the class!

Does any of that make sense? Lol.

xxx

Reply 2592

Really good post KPW

I have been worried about differentiation too but when you put it like that it makes it much clearer - I have been using the All, Most, Some model you speak of in my lesson planning but I guess I need to consider the actual outcomes more.

Reply 2593

Original post by Steveluis10

Really good post KPW

I have been worried about differentiation too but when you put it like that it makes it much clearer - I have been using the All, Most, Some model you speak of in my lesson planning but I guess I need to consider the actual outcomes more.

Aw shucks, thanks!

I make it sound so much easier in writing lol. I'm still learning lots as an NQT!

But differentiation is, as all the elements are, something you get used to. I remember when I first started my KS1 placement after Early years (where it's so child-led that differentiation is almost all by outcome, you just provide the different resources/adult support) I sat there like WHAT DO I DO?! regarding differentiation. I found it hard to plan what they would need. But as I got to know the class more and practised it got easier and easier. It was easy to go "hmmm well x and y will struggle with this bit of the task so I can do this for them...". And I also learnt little tricks like getting children to choose the task or the input based on their confidence. For maths and literacy in the KS1 class I was in we never had 'groups' like some schools do. It was all about the individuals, so we'd say x, y, z, and j are gonna do this activity (just scribble names on the plan); I found that much easier as you keep in mind the reality of the children and you can really personalise it as children will vary vastly even within a subject.

xxx

Reply 2594

Shelly_x

I'm still not nailing this... I feel like I should be perfect or at least making progress but I don't think my mentor/host teacher thinks I am at all! Had a good lesson last wednesday and completely overran on my lesson today, making the same mistakes as last monday (which was awful!). Can just see all the optimism she had for me draining away now... I hope it doesn't go back to being accused of not being proactive and positive enough.

Reply 2595

sunfowers01

16

I'm back to struggling. Had a good run, but I've lost it. Got so much going round in my head.

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Reply 2596

Had a bit of a wobble today at Uni - we had a lecture about our first review point which is in 2 weeks and it just looks scary! My mentor doesn't exactly know our Uni's systems too well so this looks like it's going to be a bit of a nightmare to complete with her. I haven't finished sorting my evidence file yet, I have a lesson with a year 10 class for the first time on Thursday but can't plan it until tomorrow night as the teacher wants to see where they're up to first. I just couldn't focus at Uni so skipped the afternoon lectures and did some Christmas shopping instead! First time I've missed anything since starting. Felt like I needed a bit of time out.

Reply 2597

outlaw-torn

Anyone have any tips for quietening a class down? (secondary)

Been told by my uni mentor to avoid 'shh'-ing, which is something I do.

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Reply 2598

Original post by outlaw-torn

Anyone have any tips for quietening a class down? (secondary)

Been told by my uni mentor to avoid 'shh'-ing, which is something I do.

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My year 8s can be noisy and at first I was shouting over them which is the worst thing to do - they continue regardless and know you've lost control.

Going shh Is probably not the way to go either, it may work for year 7 or a slightly less noisy bunch but ultimately you're not going to command them to be quiet by doing that.

What I've found that really works is if it's just a few making noise and not the whole class, ask for everyone to face you (everyone look this way) if a few still aren't doing it say 'I'm still waiting for a few people' and pretty soon they'll realise it's them and then face you like everyone else.

I never talk over them now, I just fold my arms and look at them. This usually works quite well too and because I have this class right before lunch the threat of them missing some of it really works also.

There's probably a lot more ways you can try though like alarms on the whiteboard and little gimmicks but for me the ones I've suggested usually do the job.

Reply 2599