It is good to be back writing my weekly blog! I hope you’ve had a great summer and if you’re teaching you’re feeling confident and prepared for the term ahead.
This week I have been in school since Tuesday having information poured into my brain. We covered a plethora of topics from the essential to the non-essential. In this blog post I’m not going to bore you with the ins and outs of INSET week. I am going to talk about two specific parts that I feel will have the most impact on myself and school life.
The COVID Way
Sitting and reflecting on this week, I wonder if school will ever be the same again. Throughout INSET staff were required to wear a mask and sit two meters apart. This made for a funny scene I’m sure as all the staff were spread throughout the room with their faces covered.
There were so many precautions and safety measures put in place to ensure school was safe, and these went over and above the government requirements. I’m going to make a list of some of the precautions we put in place and provide my own thoughts and exposé.
Disclaimer: The safety of our students is the top priority – in all cases I’m not questioning their necessity in terms of safety. Maybe just in practicality.
1. Bubbles
Each year group has been split into a bubble and given their own section of the school; including stair case, toilets and break area. For KS3 bubbles are broken down even further into classes and will stay in the same classroom for all of their lessons. Due to GCSE options, KS4 will move between their area of classrooms but are bubbled within the year group.
I think this is quite an effective precaution limiting contact between the years. However, you can only control what happens in school. So if someone were to be sick you would be able to keep other sections of the school running. But, you can’t control the intermixing of bubbles as soon as they leave school. This doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. It is impossible to control the intermixing of bubbles outside of school, especially if the student has a brother or sister in another year.
It seems incredibly difficult to cover every angle.
2. The Staggered Day
The staggered day separates KS3 & KS4 into two different time groups. This ensures there is space to socially distance during entry and exit from school and during break. KS4 starts the day at 8:30 and has lunch at 12:45. Where as, KS3 start at 8:50 and has lunch at 11:50.
The staggered day initially takes a while to wrap your head around. You have to be clear on your timetable, where you need to be, where your students are going to be and when your lunch time is. It isn’t as clear as having one time for all years, you always have to be mindful of time.
In terms of effectiveness – as a system I think it will take a while to get used to. But, it enables social distancing & cleaning to happen so therefore becomes a necessity.
3. PPE – Visors & Masks
A controversial point when discussed with other staff. Visors must be worn at all times throughout the day. If social distancing is impossible, like in corridors or if you need to help a student – both you and the student must wear a mask as well. Students don’t have to wear a mask in class, unless the teacher is close. The school I’m in has implemented the strictest measures, and as I understand it, a lot of schools haven’t implemented a policy as strict as this.
This is an interesting one – as a new teacher you want to make a good impression and you don’t quite feel yourself when you’ve got a visor on your head or your face is covered. Also, personally I find them really uncomfortable for an entire day (as I’m sure most do). Personally, I wonder how long this requirement is going to be enforced. I can see it being one of those things staff stop doing relatively quickly.
4. Teachers on the Move
As mentioned KS3 stay in their classrooms throughout the day. KS4 move classrooms along with their teacher.
This will be an interesting change, not only because it requires teachers to be disciplined with their timing. But, it shakes up a lot of the normal routines and strategies teachers employ to gain control and set the standard for their class.
I think by having a clear strategy and routine to deploy, this is easily do-able as long as teachers stick to time. That will be the challenge in my view. I am going to be very conscious of time on my first day.
5. Extra Precautions
A lot of the current teaching practice employed is being altered. It was recommended we don’t circulate the classroom, nor touch students exercise books. If we needed to take in a piece of work, it was suggested we provide a piece of paper. Relationally, I think it will be very difficult trying to establish effective relationships whilst keeping your distance from both other staff and students.
Some of these precautions are going to be difficult to stick to rigidly. If a student needs help, I think most teachers will don a mask and help. Strategies such as whole class gestured feedback to quickly assess understanding will have to be employed.
I guess as a new teacher, I haven’t established a whole set of habits. I can adjust myself quickly to a new regime. Even if it is a lot to take in.
At any rate the new COVID normal in school is going to be a new factor to navigate this year. It adds another layer of complexity to the day. Not only are you wondering how to teach. Now, you’re trying to think about the many restrictions and school policies that define your day. It will certainly be an interesting few weeks adjusting.
First Day Preperations
I’m sure a lot of new teachers think about their teacher persona, how they will manage behaviour and what they’ll be teaching. There’s so much to consider for your first day of teaching. By the end of INSET I had kind of got my head around it. I knew I was teaching on the first day (a double Yr11 period), and had taken a brief browse of the lesson. I also had an idea about the kind of kids in my class.
But the nerves still get to you. You begin to realise the buck stops with you. You’re going to have 30 kids looking at you. You’re expected to know everything, speak confidently, teach them effectively. All of a sudden you go from 0% responsibility – 100% responsibility. You have to remember a million different strategies, techniques, policies, school procedures and keep yourself cool, calm and collected.
It was a big responsibility.
Teacher Persona
Something I have been thinking about a lot, is teacher persona. Teaching is similar to acting, you put on a professional face and hold it throughout the day. You might be strict and assertive as a teacher but quiet and laid back outside of school. You almost get to reinvent yourself to be most useful to your students.
There’s a lot of advice that suggests you start stricter than normal. You have to set expectations and the students need to realise how to behave around you. However other advice proposes a calm and relational persona is most effective. Therefore, you have to figure out how to be relational while managing behaviour.
Personally, I think I’m going to be quick to shut down any behaviour I don’t think is acceptable. On the other hand, I want to intentionally develop positive rapport. Simple things like quickly learning your student’s names and learning needs is important. I also think, being engaging and interested in them will help.
Behaviour Management
Throughout Summer Institute we were provided with a lot of techniques to aid us in behaviour management. Due to COVID a lot of the recommended techniques have to be adapted to meet new procedures. However, lots of the basics remain the same.
Set your expectations quickly and be fair and consistent. That’s all I really have to say on my position towards behaviour management.
What to Teach
I’m very privileged to be part of an academy that provides you with a strong curriculum and resources to support it. Once given access to the long term plans, you could look through the pre-made lessons and adapt them to the needs of your class.
This was interesting for me, considering I had never met my class; I had to pitch it a certain way and use it as a springboard for the next time I plan for them.
The best advice I got was to script each section of the lesson – especially the part that is pivotal to them practising or understand the learning objective.
Be clear on what you want them to know and focus everything towards achieving that.
Recent Comments