There are now (as I write this diary entry) sixteen and a half school days left of the first term (not that anyone is counting!).
I have been told by many staff that this is the hardest term and I would agree with them so far. However, while this term has been difficult, everything is feeling in a better flow since half-term.
I feel tasks that I used to have to think about consciously now come naturally. Decisions in lessons about tasks, timing and behaviour are coming much more naturally too, and I am enjoying teaching
A level chemistry much more than I was when I started back in September.
Overall the teaching feels a little more effortless and, dare I say it, is becoming easier.
This week in school has been quite a quiet one. The dregs of year 10’s controlled assessment are slowly being mopped up for those students that missed lessons and I am about to start marking my share of the group’s work.
I have quite a few end-of-module tests this week and revision in lessons to prepare students for their pre-public exams at the start of December.
The controlled assessment for year 10 caused more stress than I thought it would last week. Trying to get three groups of 30 students to complete all parts of a write up is difficult to say the least. That tied in with students being away ill and for sporting events can really cause a headache.
This is my first time running controlled assessment alone in a classroom. While I had experience helping with the controlled assessment last year I don’t think I appreciated the work that goes into it by teachers behind the scenes (preparing coursework tasks and making sure each student is able to complete each section of the work in just one school week, etc etc).
Next week is the start of the next round of learning walks in school. Progress through the lesson as well as the checking of progress has to be evidenced in student books, which I do in almost every lesson. Student response to teacher feedback also needs to be evident in students’ books (which we use green pens for).
Generally, I try to mark 10 books a day. I always think to myself “10 books doesn’t seem too bad”. A whole class of books seems like a mountainous task, but 10 books at a time is perfectly manageable and doesn’t take too much time.
Last week, I started a course within school that will hopefully train me to be a good coach. Coaching is something that has become really big within the last few years in teaching and it has many applications. I like to think that I use coaching in my lessons to not just give a student the answer, but to encourage them to find answers for themselves.
A quote from the training said: “Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.”
That really rings true with me and is something I strive to do every day. Over the next two sessions, I hope to gain skills such as questioning and teaching techniques that will not only help me in my lessons, but be applicable to the roles I have in the wider school. Specifically, I hope they will help me to coach people in the Behaviour for Learning CPD sessions I am running this year.
Looking forward, I hope to be able to use the coaching skills I gain to help train any potential science/chemistry trainees in the future, when that opportunity arises after my NQT year.
- SecEd’s NQT diarist this year is a teacher of science from a school in the Midlands.