Coming soon New and improved and hopefully keeping up this year

Trying to do too much

I have just spent a fun hour or so writing on the class blog , but have really neglected this one.
I feel sometimes like I am writing for nobody, I know the children are looking at the class blog though and quite a few are now posting bits and pieces , its just a case of getting them into the habit. I guess that is why I need to keep up the habit on my own blog as well .Even if no one is reading .. yet ;-)

Having gone through a round of observations and facing the last week of term after a lovely week away with the children, I am thinking about what it is I need to work on as a teacher.
I think that my main obstacle is that I try to fit too much in, or I expect the children to complete more work than they are capable of in a session.
This leads to reams of unfinished work( the timetable is ridiculously tight at times and now PE is squeeezing out even more of that).This in turn leads to frustration both on mine and the children's part.I hate that feeling of incompletion( is that a word ha ha )
My current class are a bit slower to complete work than previous classes I have taught. They are pretty chatty and its sometimes hard to keep them on task ( another thing for me to work on ). I think I expect a lot of them, but often feel disappointed and I shouldn't do .

When I was a trainee teacher I used to fret over the unit plans for maths and worry that I hadn't covered what was on the plan( it was 2 years until someone told me that I didn't have to do everything!)

I think where I am now is that I still carry this fear of them not presenting it all in their books . Does that mean no learning is taking place? I don't think so . My ex pupils have all gone on to achieve just as much as their peers in the other class who had books stuffed to the brim full of written work and worksheets.

I'm not saying one is right and the other not, I am just sharing my own personal thoughts and trying to make sense of what is important to me as a teacher.
As a subject leader I still feel that I haven't been able to make a signifiant impact. I lack the confidence to just do it. I have lots of ideas , but again which to choose. Maybe I should just do something and then see what happens.

Ok that's got all that off my chest

Back from Sunny Bournemouth

I am back to the land of the living and back to school tomorrow!
So will hopefully be blogging on here properly again this week
In the meantime
check out our class blog! I am amazed at the amount one child has written about our trip

Residential reckoning

So tomorrow I head off for my first residential trip with my year 6 children.
We are off to Bournemouth for a week , which is both exciting and a little daunting. I haven't been involved in any planning or organsining so I don't know what to expect.

It has been a very busy couple of weeks , have had lesson observations last week .I was a little disappointed in how I did. Too ambitious i guess , tried to fit too much into one lesson! , but the powers that be think I am good, so that is ok.I am my own worst critic, ( like to get in there before anyone else does).

I really need to decide on my focus for my course , It is definitely writing , but just how to make it better! well that is the big question isn't it! I did deliver some staff training about working to small targets so I guess i will bring some of that in. Maybe I should work on that today.

One of my favourite things about last week was my MYSTery club. I handp[icked 6 boys ( low self esteem but with good potential) sent them a secret letter to meet in the ICT room on Friday lunchtime. I was waiting there in the darkened room with the Myst game ready to roll. We had a lot of fun and I look forward to continuing with this when i get back.

I realise this is just a series of slightly connected thoughts, but I am not sure anyone even reads this ;-) . It's good to get things off one's chest though and start the week clear headed and ready to face a new week.

So Bournemouth , I am looking forward to getting the kids to blog for a purpose. will be taking the laptop with me and hooking it up at night so we can communicate back home. They haven't quite got the hang of this blogging lark, but then neither have I ;-)

Shout of order

A hard day today.

Found it difficult to capture the classes full attention.Maybe I was just disorganised after being off for a couple of days. Maybe I'm still not well ( I know I'm not the face ache has started again)
But I shouted...
I hate shouting; yet I still did it...The class stopped and I got their full attention , but there has to be a better way! I have tied all the praise . but when you can't be heard by those you need to hear you I'm not sure what else to do..

I know there is not a quick fix and I know my class are not good at transitions, my uncertainty allows them to take advantage at times..

Early night I think and then awake to a new day and a fresh start

Raising boy's achievment

Have been recovering today so that has lent itself to lots of time to think.
I am wondering how to ensure that my class achieves their ful potential in all subjects , but particularly writing.
What I find really difficult is that there are so many initiatives and resources that I get distracted by them all and end up thinking too much and cosequently do nothing.
Now is the time to take action..
I definitely want to do something with Myst , but am wondering whether to fisrt introduce it to a small group of my boys who are really lacking confidence , giving them the heads up on the rest of the class.
I'd also like to feed in the use of the blog and some comic book creation ( wish we had comic life)

So I think I might invite a few of my boys along to a secret lunchtime club, with some treats ! and go from there . Any comments would be much appreciated

Twitter ye lots

I joined twitter a little while ago and at first didn't quite get it. I saw it as a version of facebook or instant messaging where you could chat or whatever. The main people I had on it were friends , who I generally communicated with using different means anyway. eg forums, or facebook.

Having been to the Bett show this weekend and more specifically Teachmeet2010 I have now realised a whole new world of possibilty for twitter as a tool to help me develop as a teacher.

I am now posting on twitter regularly. still not tons to offer myself , but having watched the presenters at Teachmeet I have now a whole list of people I am following who are posting up links, thoughts and ideas.

It's all quite exciting and rejuvenating in a way . An escape from the tedium of paperwork and assesment and the day to day thinks that can bog you down.

I am full of new enthusiasm for the class blog although I know that it will take time before the children take ownership.If I think about it,I didn't get twitter at first. The children will make their own discovery . I just have to keep it ticking over for when they do ;-)