| hey everyone... it's the first week of school for most people around here.. today was my first day with pupils... i didn't come home and cry, so i figured that's a good sign, but there is still plenty of time left in the week...
how is everyone else's first week/days going?? |
|
My first day with my OWN year 7 form group...they're soooooo cute. The other teachers keep warning me that I should be evil mean to them, but I just can't. I'll probably pay for it later. Our school has also started a new program called "Openning Minds" and I'm to teach my form content from this program 12 out of 14 scheduled periods AND someone else is doing the lesson planning. Sounds like it SHOULD be easy, but I've already found run into a few snags with it (as there will be with a new system)... Otherwise, much easier start this year. Positively though, I have a much simplier schedule this year with fewer shared classes. Looking forward to it.
PS...I celebrated last night because I got the GCSE results for my year 11s. I had been SOOOO worried I wasn't doing it correctly all last year (not keeping pace/not covering correct material), but I had most student meet their targets and even had a handful shoot one or two grades above their targets! I was dancing jigs! ;-) |
|
| I just finished my first week of classes in the UK, I knew it would be different, but this is just really different! I don't enjoy the GCSE coursework for English, its a lot of pressure and not a lot of actual concrete things to do. The other classes I have at KS3 and KS5 aren't bad because its very here is our course of study do these things (and you just add bits you think will make it better or take out things you don't like). The school is HUGE with two different sites, so students ask where they need to go and I have no idea because I can literally find my clasroom, a few other English classrooms (some of the cupboards that house our supplies) and the staff room and thats it! I have a mobile classroom that is pretty old and yucky, but at least I'm not traveling around like other teachers (I think they were being really nice to all the new staff by doing that) I am one of 3 NQT's in the department, but the only overseas trained one, there are a few more in other departments. The staff are really nice and helpful and there is alot of support from the school, I have one terrible year 10 mixed ability group and they are just basically mean, complaining that they can't understand me (actually they just talk over me)and being generally rude since they know I don't really know if they are being inapproriate since I don't know slang and what not. So the senior management at the school do come in after you ask them to see that your getting support during difficult classes and just pop in to say hi and address some school policies (they may focus on dress code one day, etc). Overall my classes are really nice but it is hard work to learn the new curriculum. Hope to hear how others are doing! |
|
hey jess...
it really is different... i kind of agree with the gcse stuff... at least it has a bit more structure though... i'm doing a year group from 7-11, as well as 4 other preps.. it's a bit nutty... but, it was expected, sorta... having said that, i really still feel like a chicken with her head cut off right now... partly from trying to figure out the school, partly from trying to figire out what to plan (when they pretty much say, do what what you want, it's like huh? where the heck do i even start?) how's the planning going for you? how many classes are you having to prep for?? |
|
| Hey Jess, yeah the curriculum differences are a bit hard to deal with, being able to choose what I do in the US wouldn't have been bad, I know the general things each group do, where as here, I don't! So I try to take from others what I can, and plenty of people bring me things by, but its not always something that I can work with or really understand. I have 10 preps I guess you'd say, 1 year 7 top group, 2 year 8 English's one mixed ability one top, 2 year 8 drama's one mixed one top, 1 year 9 top, 2 year 10's 1 top one mixed, 1 year 11 mixed, 1 year 12 they seem above average but not like whoa totally awesome! and then a weird little year 11 that hasn't been explained to me yet! I'm supposed to find some teachers to observe this week, I really want to see how the other teachers handle the mixed ability groups. I've given one detention so far today with my year 10 for swearing and kept two classes back for mini-detentions during breaks. We have an interdepartment referral system where if someone is constantly distrubing your lesson you send them to a teacher who has a 6th form and the student can sit there and complete work. Keep me updated on how everything is going at your school! |
|
|
