This afternoon I ‘taught ‘my first English lesson with 11b3. It is a small group, with a broad ability range. When time permits, I am going to openly share my teaching and learning experiences with this group. In doing so I will use a very simple self-assessment grading system out of ten grading the activity, student performance / commitment and teacher delivery. Of course the student and teacher grade can rarely be greater than the activity grade unless they adapt, re-design and improve it.
New Group
It is hard getting to know a ‘new group’ at the best of times, but this group have barely 9 months left of their GCSE (examined qualification) and are now on their 3rd teacher, (I need to check that). A learning experience that hardly inspires trust and confidence.
I wanted to really get to know the students, so I asked them to complete a ‘Who Am I’ (attached) an interesting looking document I ‘magpied’ from Dan Meyer’s First Day wiki. Now Dan is a Math teacher, hence the shapes, but I simple liked the quirky layout. Notably the students didn’t question the layout, happy to fill in the spaces, rotating the sheet or tilting their heads – whichever was easiest. Word count per student per worksheet – very good. Redesigning worksheet may well be a future teaching experiment.
I am looking forward to reading their responses, equally noting where the students did not respond. For example, after a brief review there were null response for ‘most memorable recent event’ on more than a few replies. What is this telling me? To reiterate, it is important I get to know these students, if I am going to raise their own expectations and aspirations of themselves if I am to impact on their academic attainment. Incidentally the worksheets I used contained with two Americanisms and as it was an English class, asking the students to find the spelling errors / differences was a fun English ending to the exercise. Activity 9/10, Students 7/10, Coach 7/10.
Next the students outlined their role, that of a student. Three small groups created impressive lists with numerous common points.
| Student | Teacher |
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We ended the class with a Nick Vujicici ‘Are you going to finish strong?‘ Youtube video.
I ask my students, now in Year 11, to finish strong. To expect more of themselves, to work hard for a higher grade than they have been predicted. I used Nick Vujicici to explain that for some, its harder than it is for others but finish strong. 11 months from now, these students will be opening their exam results. We will find out then if today’s spark ignited a vein of enthusiasm in them for learning.
I told the students I would publish todays lesson and any of their work that was outstanding. I wonder if any of the students will visit or leave a comment?