A Game of Consequences

So, I've got a group of Year 10s who have a Controlled Assessment to complete. They are bright, targeted mostly Bs with a couple of As and Cs in the mix. We've been looking at different stories and analysing effective techniques, and today my aim was to push that deeper into their own writing and reflection.

Inspired by @redgierob and his Literacy Shed Story Starters, and @Learningspy's Slow Writing task (http://learningspy.co.uk/2012/05/12/how-to-improve-writing/), the lesson went thus:

I placed A4 sheets of paper around the room, each containing only the first line of a story. The pupils had two minutes to read them all before standing at one. I then issued an instruction: they were to only write the next sentence of the story, and that had to be a complex sentence. Cue inevitable discussion about different types of sentence. The pupils had to really think about this one, before we moved on.


Once they had written their first, they moved onto a second sheet: here, the instruction was to begin with an adverb. On their next sheet, three simple sentences all under four words long. The next sentence had to contain some character point or detail, and be a compound sentence; and so on. I gave them 90 seconds thinking time at each sheet before asking them to commit to paper, which felt like a really long time, but they could have actually taken longer, as the task became more complex the longer the stories became.

After a lot of pondering, some clarification over sentence types and some discussion over clues in the text, the pupils then chose one final story for themselves. This sheet was the one they evaluated, wrote feedback on and discussed as groups and then as a class.

The lesson finished with them then taking the principles they had learned this lesson and writing the opening for their story.

All in all, it was an interesting lesson which threw up some surprising discussions about genre, immersing the reader and when writing needs to be tight or loose. Hopefully the pupils' work will improve as a result!

Ofsteady Now

 

Some progress over a short time I learned from Ofsted

Personal reflections of my experience and things I learned which may or may not be useful. In a nutshell: every inspection is different, and each individual’s experience is unique. I don’t speak on behalf of my school or colleagues or anyone else; but this is what I learned…

Keep in mind the ‘What If’ beforehand

We knew they could come in any time thanks to a letter from last year informing us the earliest time they would come. Ofsted has been a looming cloud over the horizon for the past year. In the back of everyone’s minds has been the ‘What If’ scenario. With only one evening’s notice in the new Framework, there isn’t much you can do—so what if they come tomorrow? What can you do? More importantly, what can’t you change in such a short amount of time…and therefore, what needs changing now?

Progress Over Time can’t be made up the night before

With much of our in-school, and Partnership Schools training, being about showing progress within a short lesson episode, my main concern this year has been Progress Over Time, which has far more of a focus in the Framework. I had felt up to date with my marking this year, but had two sets to mark in the one evening, which got in the way of planning. We are changing our marking policy this year, but I’m acutely aware that I don’t mark as well as I could, and I don’t allow pupils to spend enough time reflecting on my marking, meaning that my books are full of comments from me and not enough from them. Progress Over Time can’t be fabricated, and my own approach to marking and assessment will be at the core of my planning right from the start of the next academic year.

Ensure consistency of marking and assessment

Linked to the last point, this has been a whole-school improvement issue for us, but becomes more highlighted when Ofsted are looming. Can you change this the night before? No. Ideally, everyone in school should be following a consistent approach to marking and feedback, but let’s be honest; many of us aren’t consistent in our own approach to marking, let alone within our departments or wider school. Those inspectors will be interested in the books in your classroom, but they may be far more interested in the books on your shelf.

Show yourself at your best; it’s not time to try anything new

I put together a playlist for Ofsted which I played in the House in the morning—the pupils got the message when Eye Of The Tiger was on its third play before assembly started. My message to the pupils in assembly was simple: we don’t pretend we are something we are not, we simply show the best of who we are. Our pupils did, on the whole, step up and show themselves at their best, and the same message is true for staff as well. It’s not time to try anything new.

Stay up late, by all means, but don’t torture yourself

I had two lessons the first day (my lightest day) but they were both lessons I wouldn’t want anywhere near an inspector: a Year 11 cross-curricular extra Maths/English/coursework group who are different and unpredictable every fortnight and so impossible to plan, and a Year 11 Media group who had two days to get their missing coursework completed. It was the worst time of year for an inspection, as it resulted in me thinking about how to show the inspector progress rather than them getting their work completed into their folders. I spent far too much time worrying about this problem and thinking up scenarios to show how challenging students can make progress when working independently. I’m an experienced and good teacher, and yet when Ofsted called I became a self-doubting wreck, questioning my own ability and preparing dozens of unnecessary resources just in case scenario X, Y or Z happened or if pupil B wasn’t in the mood to do as I had asked.

In hindsight, utter foolishness. The siege mentality created a sense of camaraderie amongst the staff, but it should only go so far. I hardly slept for two nights mainly because I have high standards for myself; I know plenty of staff who practically killed themselves. Seriously, it’s not worth the torture.

Consider the Ofsted buzzwords

The temporary and unhelpful nature of Ofsted buzzwords aside, there are certain things which crop up in Ofsted documents or reports with regularity. Without wishing to debate the ideas and concepts themselves, it is useful to keep in mind some of the following: pace (this doesn’t mean quick tasks or quick talking, but pace of learning and the pace that students are pushed), questioning, differentiation (especially the brighter end), stretch and challenge, expectations, assessment (checking learning), and how the needs of the group inform the planning of the learning. After the first day the inspectors had identified areas they wished to see more of in lessons on Day Two, and this information enabled staff the following day to make these things more obvious to inspectors.

Remember ‘evidence of planning’ is required; this isn’t the school internal inspection

We have a new lesson planning document this year which is two sides long and follows the usual pro forma: page one contains information about the class, and page two the learning activities etc. Useful for our Department Review process and important to allow an observer to get to know the group they are observing. However, not what Ofsted require. By all means it can be helpful to document in detail such information, but our inspectors didn’t ask for any lesson pro forma. I tried, for the first time, the Five Minute Lesson Plan (thanks to @TeacherToolkit) and found it very useful to scribble on. Maybe I should have done what other staff did and follow the school’s policy…but what worked for me worked for me. I guess what I’m saying is: do whatever suits you and doesn’t take you time you should be spending actually planning.

You’re not a number, but a jigsaw piece

As a Pastoral Middle Leader currently seconded to SLT, I was told by the Head that I would be interviewed by the inspectors at the end of Day One. I got myself all prepped and ready for my interview, only to be told that I wasn’t required. I was relieved, to say the least, but in the back of my mind there was a sneaking disappointment I wasn’t able to use all that I had prepared.

But I wasn’t observed during Day One either, which meant another day of intense lesson preparation and even more intense teaching in Day Two. Each lesson began with the same thirty second pep talk of expectations to the class to make sure they knew what an inspector may be looking for if they were to enter. I didn’t stop all morning, my pupils were excellent and I was exhausted with constantly keeping an eye on the door.

But I wasn’t seen. And I wasn’t seen in the afternoon either. The lack of sleep, the stress, the effort, the energy…and I had no influence at all over the outcome. I’m only one jigsaw piece. That jigsaw piece may be outstanding or requiring improvement, but each of us are only one jigsaw piece and part of the whole. Ofsted’s judgements would never have been influenced solely by me, and yet during those two days I felt as if the whole world relied upon my performance alone. I’m not a number, yet over those two days all I was obsessed about was a number given by someone who doesn’t know me which never came to fruition.

All the years-long preparation comes down to two days, or two minutes. In the inspection, my role was not to wave a magic wand, but only to do my job to the best of my ability.

And that is all—because that is all my job EVER is.

 

A short bit of Pedagoo

 Inspired by #pedagoofriday, here is my most recent contribution. This week I entertained some Year 6s from nearby primaries. I have the group for the afternoon sessions with the objective being to train them somewhat into becoming journalists before we all put together a newsletter for a forthcoming Community Day.

Simply, the afternoon had the following format:

The group arrived and I introduced myself and the Year 10s who are helping out. We were due to speak to a fellow English teacher about her experiences in journalism, but when we got down to her classroom the site was not what we expected!

In the middle of the room lay the body of Miss Ellis! The look on the faces of the pupils was fantastic. There followed some discussion about how, as journalists, we should report this matter and what kind of things a journalist does. It was quickly established that we would need to work with the facts and speak to people to answer the four basic questions: who was she? What happened? Where did it happen? How did it happen?

I'd cued up some staff to help. The class broke into three teams. One returned to the crime scene to think about what photos are required; one team visited a friend of the victim who wanted to gossip but also had some valuable information about who she was; and the final team visited a co-worker who saw someone acting suspiciously before the crime. The teams went off to find this information before returning to the classroom to discuss the facts so far.

Another member of staff was cued to enter as the class were preparing their articles and considering what information was still required. This staff member delivered some information from the police and the class shared what they knew in return. They still were desperate to speculate, but had to keep reminding themselves that this was not their job.

The session ended with them selecting some good photographs and writing up their articles in teams. A short session such as this one worked, but already we are talking about how we can expand on this basic idea in the future and bring the Science department in for some forensics work.

I know staff in other schools who have done similar crime projects in the past, but this was my first time. It was surprisingly simple, yet completely engaging for the pupils and I look forward to expanding it further across a range of lessons in the future!

 

PS It was the chocolate killer wot did it.

What I'm thankful for

It's half term and I'm glad of the break; I need a week to catch up on the marking, planning and admin that I have allowed to build up over the past few weeks. I'm also hoping to be able to relax a bit as well, and maybe even have some fun. I may even get time to do some Thinking.

It's also been the first week of Lent. Now, I'm not the kind of person to give something up. I always find excuses. Instead, I often try and convince myself in some loose, hug-a-tree type of way that it's better to take something up instead. Something positive. Something useful.

Hmm.

A friend posted that this Lent he is going to be Not Busy. I wish that could be the case, but the next seven weeks are the busiest of the school calendar. Instead, then I should change my approach to that busyness.

I'm taking up being thankful for Lent.

It's harder than it sounds. I've found over the last few days I've had to rethink my approach to problems. At times I've even had to pause and ponder what I can be thankful for. It's been an exceptionally busy week and it's not been an easy one either. But so far it's working.

So here are some things I've been thankful for this week:

My amazing wife and family. I should be thankful all the time for them. Particularly this week as my wife generously postponed Valentines Day to the weekend to allow me to spend all hours working over the past few days.
I'm thankful for the fantastic pupils, especially the amazing year 8s, who gave up their time to enthusiastically film and edit a short film for a competition they are entering. The creativity of the 8s, the enthusiasm of the 9s, and the assuredness and confidence of the 10s and 12s made me proud thIs week.
I'm thankful that when we had a break-in this week, only physical objects were stolen, and I'm thankful there will hopefully be no lasting damage.
I'm thankful for all those lads who pulled together and helped out this week when things were tough.
I'm thankful for the opportunity to discuss alcoholism with year 10 and how maturely they dealt with some of the tragic things we discussed.
I'm thankful I knew a colleague whose funeral was this week and I'm thankful that even when I haven't got the answers, Someone Else looks out for us.
I'm thankful for a visit to my refurbished classroom, still a long way from completion, but looking brilliant...I'll be even more thankful if no pupils make it scruffy!

And I'm thankful for half term.

House Matters

Pastoral roles are changing in schools. Maybe the discussion of non-teaching pastoral leaders is for another day, but today I’d like to share the relatively-rare system which is at the core of all we do in my school.

I teach in an all boys comprehensive in Coventry. We’re a good school but pretty much straight down the middle in most criteria, with boys coming from challenging areas, affluent areas and all across the city. We do some things really well, have challenges which all similar schools have, and challenges which are unique to us due to our set up. We’re also one of the oldest built comprehensive schools in the country, constructed in the 1950s. More and more schools are recognising the importance of the House system and are reintroducing it; for us, it never went away, and as a result, it retains a special feel.

Our Houses all exist in separate buildings. These buildings each contain a House room, lockers and cloakroom, staffroom, toilet block and office. Students go to their Houses before school, at break time, eat their lunch in there with the House staff, and return there after school if necessary. Each House contains one group from each year, and so there are about 130 pupils in each House. There are weekly Inter-House competitions after school and House points allocated and trophies awarded. Boys belong to a House and this sense of belonging remains with them for life. It’s a House, because it’s a family.

I have the privilege of being a Househead. I have a team of tutors and we meet daily. The students have a full House assembly twice a week, three tutor registration sessions, four afternoon formal full House registrations, and a year-based SLT Assembly. I, or the team, address the House ten times a week and the students and staff spend up to two hours a day in the House.

That’s a huge amount of potential face to face contact between staff and pupils and leads to the underpinning ethos of the school, which is all about the importance of relationship, loyalty and respect. It’s hard work—non-contact time is precious and break and lunch is usually spent surrounded by pupils—but in terms of setting the standard, the House system simply works.

My job description calls me a ‘Learning Leader’, and this has been a fundamental shift in focus over the last few years. My role is not to discipline (although this happens); my primary function is not to reconcile or advocate or find solutions (although these are major parts of the job). My role is to place learning and achievement at the heart of all we do, and pass on the understanding that everything has an impact on the learning community.

Every time I stand in front of the House I am reminded what a precious role we have as teachers. The importance of setting standards, of role modelling, of presenting to students the possibilities that there is more to life than their experiences; the ability to start the day off positively, the opportunity there is to inspire young people...how much the House matters.

In all the battles of everyday classroom teaching and pastoral leadership it is easy to lose sight of what we’re in it for: because we love teaching, and we love seeing lives changing. And let’s be honest—if it was simple, we wouldn’t enjoy it as much would we?

My New Year's Resolutions

I love holidays. I especially love two-week holidays. And I love Christmas, where it is delightfully busy. Two days before term begins, and I'm almost through my marking (just one more set to go) and now it's just the small matter of planning which needs doing. Ah, holidays.

Right now I am full of new term/new year optimism. And so I don't forget (because we all know what the run up to Easter is like in terms of stress levels), here are my Teaching 2013 Resolutions:

1.  Keep on top of marking. This could be my every-holiday resolution. I know how important it is to mark accurately, consistently and constructively, yet it remains the thorn in my side. Maybe my resolution should be to 'enjoy marking'?!

2. Make Learning, not Work, the focus in my classroom. As tough as this is when getting coursework completed, I've got to be all about The Learning.

3. Keep up The Fun. I am guilty of becoming proper grumpy sometimes, but I shouldn't forget that laughter is such an important and underused tool in the classroom.

4. Become more Lazy. Thanks to Jim Smith (@thelazyteacher), I'm going back into term full of Lazy ideas. I've been using some for the past term, and now is the time to get even lazier.

5. Figure out what makes my classroom different, and what makes learning in my classroom a unique experience, and focus on making that more important that ever.

That's five, and I think that's enough. I could have written down dozens more (probably about questioning, objectives, networking, CPD...) but these are vague and varied enough to give me plenty to work through. And four of the above are definitely worth blogging about as they go!

Happy New Year!

Going Somewhere

I’ve been a Twitter user for a couple of years now, but it is only in the last couple of months that I have begun to change the way I use it. Recently I’ve been making more and more connections in the education community, reading and being inspired by fellow Tweachers and writers who have a great deal of interesting things to say.

I don’t feel like I have much to say, but I am nearly getting there.

In fact, being inspired by all these brilliant teachers actually made me feel more and more inadequate. I feel just an observer to these really interesting conversations going on; that I have nothing to add.

Yet more and more I feel the only way add something is to get involved, to give it a go. I know I am joining (am already part of) a dynamic community who have a great deal to say about life and learning.

So what do I have to say? I teach in a pretty much unique secondary school in a pretty much unique role which I love. I’m willing to give things a go and I’m interested in what works in what can be a challenging setting.

My hope is that this will be a platform for others to have a voice—former students as well as current ones—and that together we may journey and discover things about ourselves. Above all, I hope these ramblings may be interesting, entertaining and hopefully inspiring to others who are like minded.

And you never know; maybe I'll get somewhere.