How about a Haiku?

I can't believe it's so long since I last blogged!! Maybe I should try it more regularly, or maybe once in a blue moon is just enough for everybody!

Anyway, in one of my few moments of creativity this term, I came upon an idea which turned out to be a winner.

I discovered that it was National Poetry day earlier in October and decided to mark the occasion with my Y10 and 11 classes by writing Haikus. A Haiku is a 3 line poem that has 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second line and 5 in the last line (or atleast, that's what Google told me). Obviously, with the serious business of Controlled Assessments to learn off by heart to ensure GCSE grades are on or above target, we couldn't spend a whole lesson on this, neither do I think a whole lesson needs to be spent on this. However it did work really well as a starter.

After giving them their topic (descriptions for Y10 and holidays for Y11....guess our current CA topics are!) and reminding them what a Haiku was, the mini whiteboards came out and they began work. I can honestly say that I have rarely seen them work so hard! You could feel the cogs turning as they counted syllables while trying to get it all to make sense. They joy when they had finished their Haiku....that quickly turned to despair when I'd point out "don't forget, you say the "e" in German" and they had to try a different way of getting in their 5 syllables...

Needless to say, when they all did manage to get their Haiku completed, they were very proud of what they achieved and were keen for me to Tweet them on our school MFL account, which naturally I did.

Here is a link to our Twitter account, you'll be able to find all of the Y10 Haiku on descriptions (you won't have to scroll down far to find them).

@stmichaelsmfl

Active Learning - Follow Me Cards

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This is a hot topic at our school at the moment, since Ofsted told us that there were too many "passive learners".  In fact, Active Learning was the topic of our INSET on Tuesday.

Fortunately, I am a huge fan of Active Learning. I hate that feeling (and I have it way too often) when I'm doing an activity and I'm aware that only about 5 of the class are actually working hard, whilst the rest just sit back and let them.  I try to build in as much active learning as I can (although I'm sure some of my pupils would disagree) and luckily, Languages has loads of activities that we do as a matter of course, which are classes as "active learning".

Going back to the INSET on Tuesday, I think you can measure the success of any training session by what you can take away and use immediately.  Tuesday was one of those occasions.

I am an enormous fan of the TARSIA software, which I was introduced to by Clare Seccombe who has blogged about it here for example, and often use it for creating Dominoes and Jigsaws to introduce new language and to get pupils acquiring and using new language independently. I've also created "Human Dominoes"  sets, although both times have been a disaster (I think I must be doing something wrong).  I'd never, however, used the Follow Me cards as they *should* have been used, preferring instead to use them to create sets of dominoes or questions and answers.  On Tuesday our AHT responsible for Teaching and Learning explained how she used the Follow Me cards in Maths and I decided to have a go on Wednesday morning as follows:

I created a set of (larger than normal) dominoes as normal, with French phrases to match to English, with a variety of known language, cognate rich text and new structures.

Instead of asking pupils to to match them together on table, pupils had to stand up and read out their French phrase, then the person with the corresponding English phrase on it would stand up and say their English meaning, followed by their French phrase and so on...

It worked really well! All pupils spoke some French, all listening to and read some French and they all had to concentrate to make sure that they stood up for the correct phrases. What's more, they wanted to do it again and beat their original time...and wanted to make sure I did it with my other class to see who was the quickest!! AND they want to do it again another lesson!

I've done it with 3 different classes so far and it has been successful...it took me an age to think up 20+ phrases that were on topic, but it was worth it and I've got them now for other years!

ps. You can download Tarsia here (go on, it's great!)

Experimenting with Google Apps for Education

This half-term I am experimenting.  For some time now my school has had Google Apps for Education which we use for email and document sharing between staff and also between staff and pupils.  I have to say that, despite a few little inconveniences, I like the system. I like that I can be sent work from pupils and correct it there and then without having to download it, correct it, do a new email and upload it again. I also like the ease with which I can contact staff and pupils alike both on my computer and from my beloved smart phone - not everyone's cup of tea I know but I do turn if off in the holidays and if I'm away at weekends (because that happens all the time!). I love that me and my team can use it for storing our mark books and we can access it at work and at home very easily.  I don't like that I can't make my writing go vertical in a spreadsheet - not essential, I know but nonetheless I would like to be able to do that. I also don't like that formatting documents is sometimes a bit hit and miss. Again, not huge but a niggle even so.

However, all that aside I recently became curious about Google Sites.  A recent addition to the Google Apps for Education suite, I believe.

So, like I said, this half term I will experiment. I like experimenting. Education is all about learning and I believe that doesn't just apply to to the pupils, I enjoy learning how to do new things, it's all part of the fun. I, like many others I am sure, am working on an Olympics project.  I have been particularly inspired by Eleanor Abrahams and her project which can be found here and is amazing. Therefore my Y9 class will work on that over the next 5 weeks and be encouraged to take responsibility for some of their own learning.  I've created a Google Site, nothing flash, just based on a template provided by Google (always important to use whatever help you can get when starting out on something) but I do like it. I've been able to integrate a specially created Google Calendar so that my pupils know when everything is due.  I've also been able to integrate a medal table, using a Google spreadsheet bar chart (I was particularly proud of that achievement, teaching ICT for a year did teach me something after all!) which I update weekly, according to how each group are working and then for each part of the project there is a page with the task instructions and links that pupils can use for research as homework.

None of this is rocket science I know and I also know that wikis and blogs can do similar things, however for specific projects with specific classes I think this could really help bring on independence.  I shall report back later in the term on how well (or badly) it's going!

European eTwinning Conference Berlin 2012

Berlin 2012, a set on Flickr.

I had a wonderful time at the European eTwinning Conference in Berlin this weekend.

When I received the invitation to Berlin 2012 I was overjoyed, as Berlin is my most favourite place ever, so I awaited the conference with great excitement. As ever, eTwinning did not disappoint.The theme of the conference was "eTwinning Teams" focusing on the importance of working with others both near and far to have successful collaborations.

Inspirational speeches and workshops, combined with great company of old friends and new  meant that conference will stay in my memory for a long time.  I particularly enjoyed being able to exercise my linguistic skills, listening to speeches in French, German and Spanish and also going to a workshop in German on the role of SLT in international projects which I truly enjoyed.

I really enjoyed Anne Looney's Keynote Speech which was fun and interactive with a serious message at the same time. The eTwinning Prizes provided much needed inspiration for me, leaving me with many ideas for future projects.  Saturday was filled with workshops giving me ideas on how to involve more people in my school in eTwinning and how to overcome obstacles that could be in the way of getting more people involved, getting SLT on board with international projects in terms of support and involvement and finally a nice workshop where various eTwinning shared their experiences and projects.  This was really nice to see the what other people across Europe were doing in terms of eTwinning.

Other highlights of the weekend included a coach tour of Berlin with the most brilliant tour guide, who was as hilariously funny as he was knowledgeable, as visit to the Irish Pub in the Europa Center, a visit to the Havana Salsa club and of course to top it all off arriving at Berlin Schoenefeld Airport just after Jedward!

All in all a great time was had by everyone.  Thank you, eTwinning.

ps I'm even starting to learn how to use Flickr after all this time!

For a more detailed look at the speeches and workshops, along with links to resources you can read the UK eTwinning NSS blog about the conference here

Presenting Vocabulary

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I'm always on the look out for new ways to introduce new vocabulary, as I find standing at the front presenting it to a class, with them repeating it extremely tedious and such hard work. Therefore, when I saw Chris Fuller ask about interesting ways to introduce vocabulary earlier this week, I followed the replies with interest.

Firstly, I was glad to see that many ideas that were suggested were things that I already do - nice to be reassured that you're not rubbish by seeing other teachers, who are fantastic using them!

Secondly, I was reminded of some things I that I have done in the past and forgotten about.

Thirdly there were some new ideas that I'd never even thought of.

One of those ideas was a vocabulary treasure hunt, suggested by @germanprof. At first I thought it would take ages to organise and could lead to chaos. However, as Friday last lesson with 33 Year 9s approached the idea suddenly became more appealing. We're doing directions at the moment. Stimulating, I know (personally, I blame the Head of Department) and, having covered the "basics" earlier in the week, I wanted to extend their knowledge. As we all know standing up and presenting stuff to a (large) class last thing on a Friday is never an easy task so I was thinking of getting them to match up new vocab with the tried  and tested line drawing. Having done that last week, and the week before...and the week before I thought they might be a little sick of that by now and my mind was drawn to the treasure hunt idea that someone had suggested to Chris Fuller earlier in the week. At the end of the day it is still the matching up vocabulary idea but a bit more engaging and active.

I gave the pupils 13 new phrases in English on a worksheet. Then I stuck round the room the corresponding French meanings. Most had at least 1 word they already know in it or cognates. (With the exception of allez jusqu'au pont and allez aux feux). Pupils were then given time to work their way around the room, matching the meanings. Cue chaos, so I thought. I have to admit I worried that all 33 would try crowding round the same phrase to find it's meaning. (I did tell them not to do this!).

The result was amazing. All were engaged (except for when they had to go to the phrases stuck on the window where they got a little distracted by the football match on the astro-turf) and all did it much more quickly than I anticipated. I was particularly impressed with those who split into teams and arranged to split the task to be more efficient.

By the end of the lesson all had acquired and used successfully the new vocabulary plus they hadn't had me constantly nagging at them to be quiet and listen to me.

I suppose there is sometimes a worry that pupils won't know how to say new vocabulary presented like this, however with the current push to focus on spelling pattern, phonics etc..., I don't see this as too much of an issue. After the treasure hunt we did check that pupils had the correct meaning and I asked pupils to say in French what they had found and there were very few pronunciation problems, as they already know how to pronounce those tricky sounds.

Other activities I like for presenting vocab are quiz,quiz, trade and running dictations. However I am always on the look out for new and interesting ways to present vocabulary so I await the results of Chris' research with great anticipation.

All of this also reminds me of how amazing Twitter is because I would never had moved away from my PowerPoint flashcards had it not been for the amazingness and wonderfulness of the #mfltwitterati and Dawn who suggested the treasure hunt...and several other ideas I'm going to in the coming weeks!

If you would like to find out more about the other suggestions that Chris Fuller has or have some interesting ways of introducing vocabulary that you would like to share, go to Chris' newly created Google Doc on introducing new material without delivering from the front.

Education Blog Awards

I received a Tweet this morning from@chrisrat asking me whether I know this blog had been nominated for Blog of the Year in the Education Blog Awards.

I have to admit that it hadn't even occurred to me to even look on the site as I never thought I would be nominated.

I'm amazed and very flattered that anyone would nominate me, so thank you whoever you are :)

Thank you also to everyone who stops by and reads. I'm always surprised that people find my ramblings interesting...and sometimes wonder whether I should even write half the things I do!!

Finally, of course, I would like to ask that, if you find this blog interesting and enjoy reading please take a second and vote for it... :)

Linoit vs Wallwisher

I am a keen advocate of Wallwisher as it it an excellent tool for pupils to use both inside and outside of the classroom both for collaborative work and showing me what they have learned and enjoyed. However, since September I haev found it to be more and more unreliable, particularly in the early evening when most of my pupils would be doing homework (I hope). I therefore stopped giving Wallwwisher activities as homework for some time.

Feeling that my pupils were missing out on an opportunity to share their work quickly and easily I set about finding an alternative. Someone from my Twitter PLN (I'm afraid I can't remember who now, sorry!) suggested I try Linoit. I did and found it really user friendly too. I have used it a few times recently both with pupils as plenaries/homework and for crowdsourcing ideas for a CPD session I ran on Web tools to use in MFL.

How do the two tools compare? Well, I really like Wallwisher as I can set moderation, which I like to do if setting homework (cough...wasn't working ealier!!)...it means that all of the pupils don't just then copy the first person's piece of work as I can moderate it all once the homework deadline has passed, it also means if anythere inappropriate were to be posted it wouldn't appear at all. Linoit on the other hand doesn't appear to have a moderation feature (unless I'm missing something). Therefore, I'm loath to set it for homework. I love it in class for plenaries etc..., but am not sure whether it would be quite as good for homeowords.  However, I do really like that you can lovely brighly coloured stickies on Linoit and also easily add images. There also seems to be more space

Whichever tool I decided to go for, one thing is for sure...my pupils really like both and love that they can give me feedback...or just say "hi"!!

What do you think?

Have you used either?

Have you used both?

Have you discovered a good way to moderate Linoit?

Let me know...and maybe we can learn together!

 

Controlled Assessment - an interesting idea!

 

When the GCSE Exam for MFL was reviewed and changed, someone in their wisdom decided to invent something wonderful called "Controlled Assessment".

Designed to move away from Coursework, which was open to "interpretation", Controlled Assessment was supposed to give teachers and pupils more control I suppose, and also take away pressure of the final all or nothing exam (particularly the Speaking Exam). In MFL Controlled Assessment accounts for 60% of the final grade; 30% for writing over 2 pieces and 30% for speaking over 2 pieces.

I have to admit, when I first heard about Controlled Assessment, I thought it was a wonderful idea. I had it clear in my head how I would teach the GCSE and how I would make sure my pupils performed well at their CA...then the complications began...

Pupils were allowed a 40 plan or prompt sheet or...call it what you like, really. Good idea thought I, naïvely. Then it started.

Some exam boards allowed pictures, some didn't.

Some discussed conjugated verbs...were they or weren't they allowed for some they were, for some they weren't.

Then there was the moving of the goal posts half way through the course.

Then there was the changing of job half way through the course, thus changing exam boards and a whole new approach to CA, quite different from what I had imagined.

This is all alongside the poor, almost forgotten about, GCSE pupils who are being subjected to Controlled Assessments and Modular exams every other week of their KS4, stressed out permanently and actually not gaining much in terms of linguistic skill...in languages at any rate. We find ourselved teaching to the test more than ever and what's more, wasting valuable lesson time in the preparation of CA tasks, where we are not allowed to have any input so just supervising while the more diligent pupil prepares but several see it as an opportunity to catch up on the latest gossip.

Over the last few weeks I have been engulfed in the delight that is Controlled Assessment with my Year 11 classes and all I seem to have spent the time doing was apologising! Apologising for not being able to help, apologising for the way the exam is structured, apologising that I'm not prepared to bend the rules, apologising for apologising... I even spent one lesson reading the teachers' guidance for CA out to my Y11 so that they knew I wasn't a big bad (Lang)witch who made up the fact she couldn't help and couldn't correct what they were doing now.

I have heard that there is a plan to go back to the final all or nothing exams and that these Controlled Assessments are on their way out as quickly as they arrived. I have also heard some people (not many) praise CA and others saying that a final exam is the best way forward. I'm not sure I'm the best person to make judgements on how Languages should be tested but I do know that anything is better than what we have now...isn't it?

Time to have your say

[caption id="attachment_506" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Image: healingdream / FreeDigitalPhotos.net"][/caption]

On Thursday, Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, announced the review of the Primary and Secondary National Curriculum in England. The Department for Education, apparently, wants our opinions and evidence about the National Curriculum...so now its our chance to give our views through the Call for Evidence.

Whether they decide to listen to us or not, I think it's still important that we give our views, as teachers, parents, students...infact anyone who has an interested in the education of our future generations, it maybe our only chance!

If you wish to contibute you can do so by following this link. You can do it either online, or download it as a word document and fill in a hard copy instead. I've already started mine and have found I have some pretty strong views, not only about my own subject buy also about every other subject on the curriculum! I just keep typing everywhere I can that I believe MFL should be statutory at Primary Level and that I would like Languages for All at KS4 but not  necessarily GCSE Languages for all! Maybe they'll get the message...eventually...

The end of an era

Yesterday was the end of an important chapter in my life.

Eight years ago, whilst looking for a teaching job with less hours, it was suggested to me that, maybe instead of reducing my hours I should apply to be Head of German/2nd in Area at Ian Ramsey C of E School in Stockton. "OK", I thought...after all it was much closer to home and the school I attended where I gained my passion for Languages. I applied and was successful so started in the following January.

I've certainly had my ups and downs and highs and lows over the last 71/2 years. I went from 2nd in Area to 2 days a week for 2 years after Dan was born and enjoyed that, although I found sharing all of my classes very difficult and when a full-time member of the department was promoted elsewhere I offered to return to work full-time. After some to-ing and fro-ing it was agreed that I would and was thrown in at the deep end  with a difficult timetable and finding out (by accidenet) the day before term started I was to inherit a Year 8 Tutor Group. However, having got over the initial hurdles I achieved and "outstanding" in our OfSted Inspection and began blogging and Tweeting.

Since then my career has gone from strength to strength with, with me having the opportunity to speak at various locations on a range of topics becoming a Links into Languages trainer this year. At work I compiled our (succesfull) International School Award portfolio last year and have set up many international projects and even had the opportunity to teach ICT this year (heehee). Over the last 3 years I also became very fond of my surprise Tutor Group!

Earlier this year I applied for and was appointed to a new post which begins in September, so yesterday ended 8 years of my life...in fact more like 14 years if we include the 5 years I spend there as a pupils and the 5 years that my sister spent there too (she's 2 years younger than me). I was very sad to leave yesterday as I have made some great friends who I will be friends with for many years to come, I was given loads of support and guidance by some very special people who I feel very priviledged to have worked with and I got to work with some fantastic pupils-mainly from my Tutor Group.

So, whilst I look forward with anticipation and excitement to the challenges of my new post as Head of Languages at St. Michael's RC School in Billingham I also want to say thank you to all those who made my time at Ian Ramsey such an unforgettable experience.

Holidays and High Hopes

The Zen Fountain in Les Rosiers-sur-Loire

Where did the holidays go? It seems like no time at all since the summer holidays were approaching too slowly and now they're over.

What wonderful times I had with my family. We went to France for two weeks and seemed to travel the full width of the country. Spending a week in the Loire Valley, 3 days in Disneyland Resort Paris (to give it it's full name) and then 4 days in a tiny little village on the French/German border called Liederschiedt visiting a friend. It certainly was action packed a lots of fun. Best of all I and my family got to speak lots of French and I discovered that my 7 year old really is a budding linguist, able to work out the meaning of signs and words with far more ease than many pupils I teach. It was so amazing watching her use all of the clues that I tell my pupils to use, without me even having to tell her. Also fascinating was the friendship that developed between my two children (7 and 4) and my friend's two (4 and 2 1/2). My children speak next to no German or French and Heike's children speak mainly German and often French. Despite the language barrier all four children played really well together and there were tears shed upon our departure.

Naturally, we had our usual visit to Eastbourne to visit my sister and watch the airshow. We saw the Red Arrows an all of the days we attended the event and enjoyed many other thrilling displays.
After that work seemed inevitable and I began to contemplate the year ahead of me. Where am I going? What am I doing (and why)?
There are some exciting things happening this year - none less so than the fact that I am to teach ICT for 6hrs a fortnight to Y7, Y8 and Y9. In order to do this I am going to have to learn how do use some applications quite quickly. Can't wait! In particular it will be interesting to see my job from the perspective of another subject area. How do they teach in ICT? Is it really different from teaching MFL? In addition ICT is taught in Tutor Groups throughout KS3, whereas MFL is taught in sets from Christmas of Y7, what will that be like? I already like teaching ICT before I've even had one class, as I already have all of the lessons and resources!
Added to that I have acquired a "new" job title, that of "International School Co-ordinator". Basically it means I just continue doing what I'm doing already. Continuing with that theme, we will re-apply for a Comenius Grant, after failing to gain funding last year. I'm currently trying to organise a preparation visit for January which will be entertaining! Also we have an all new French exchange with a school in Caussade near Toulouse.
As far as my MFL teaching is concerned, I have to admit to feeling a little stale, so I want to focus on injecting some enthusiasm into things. Naturally I'll continue to use ICT to motivate pupils and also lead some staff CPD within the department to encourage colleagues to follow suit. I'm also going to do some work on Phonics with my classes. After seeing Rachel Hawkes speak at Grasping the Nettle and being in touch with Suzi Bewell, I've bought a Jolly Phonics French book and a lovely Frieze and am going to spend time focusing on pronunciation with many of my pupils.
So not much then, in the year ahead. It should keep me out of trouble anyway!

New Year's Resolutions

Does anybody else find that New Year's Resolutions can be quite depressing by the middle of February whey they find that they've not managed to keep up their demanding list of Resolutions made on the 1st January? I think I remember last year hearing that some date in February is the most depressing day of the year for several reasons, one of which is that fact that by that date most people have usually given up on the New Year's Resolutions.

This time last year, I remember writing a blog post about my resolutions for 2008 and feeling really positive about the fact that, having them written down here it would make it easier to keep...ha, ha, ha.

What were they? I can't remember, something about weight no doubt, and something else about confidence, oh and a new job I believe. Well, I suppose I lost a bit of weight and gained a little more confidence and as for the job, well...let's just I have a "new perspective" now.

What about this year? Well, I decided that, in order to avoid being too disappointed in myself by February, I'm not having any this year. I'm just going to take each new challenge as is comes, which is currently being able to to see properly with both eyes.

Have you made any New Year's Resolutions? Where will you be at the end of 2009? (Hopefully I'll be lying on a beach somewhere not having to think about work, as I will have won the lottery...)

Blocked, blacklisted, access denied!

I appreciate and understand the need for filters on school computers, I really, really do BUT it still proves to be one of the most frustrating things about my job and winds me up no end. It's not so much actual filters that bother me, it's the "wise person" who, somewhere (probably in an office), has taken it upon themselves to decide what is acceptable and what isn't acceptable for me to use with my pupils and also the, apparent randomness with which this is done.
I'm writing this after a number of weeks discovering how randomly our blacklisted and none blacklisted seem to have been set. After the Isle of Wight Conference, I decided to rediscover my love of Voicethread. As I blogged about in a previous post, I used it earlier this year with a groups of Gifted and Talented pupils as an experiment, and I thought that after Jo Rhys-Jones' session at the Show and Tell I'd have another go at it. WRONG! Suddenly, with no warning, this site has been blacklisted! Why? How? Why is it so evil that it's going to corrupt the minds of my pupils? (After is didn't, previously!) It also seems that it's been put on that list that the technicians seem unable to unblock (that's the one labelled "numpty nonentity wants unblocking so unimportant", in case anyone was unsure), as I've requested that it be unblocked several times to no avail :o(
It therefore seems unbelievable to me that Facebook is available (but then a member of SLT wanted that unblocking, so that went onto a different list entitled "important person wants unblocking so must do it immediately").
In addition to this, the blocking seems to be done in such a haphazard way! Thinking about venturing more into video, I signed up for a 12 second TV and wondered about investigating Seesmic. Of course, I naturally pressumed that they too would be blacklisted (as they are in other schools I know of) but decided to try it out, just the same. Imagine my surprise when they weren't!!! I just don't get it!
Next I discovered the BBC Learning Zone Broadband Class Clips...great resource, ideal for use in a computer suite. Put the kids on, get them to watch and listen and answer questions, using it for Listening but a bit more interesting. Great idea but...WRONG. Kids could get onto the page where the video was BUT couldn't view the evil, malicious video about a German day at school...heaven forbid that pupils learning MFL could do something that might stir up some enthusiasm for the subject.
How do "they" decided what is to be blacklisted and what isn't? Why aren't those awful translation websites blocked that they all go on and think will be their ticket to perfect French / German / Spanish etc...? Why can they still get onto music sites / game sites etc, etc...but I can't let them use websites that are of real educational value?
As I said at the beginning of this post, I understand the need for filters, I really do but what I don't understand is the haphazard way that websites are filtered. Is this a local phenomenan or is it more widespread? All I want to know is either that it's going to be blocked because it's a certain type of site or it's not going to be blocked. I don't want to feel that I'm playing some kind of guessing game trying to work out what to put my energy into investigating at home on an evening, before going into to work to try it and find I've wasted my time (with 44 teaching hrs out of 50 a fortnight, I don't really ave the time to "play" at work). It's the kind of thing which is beginning to sap my enthusiasm at the moment...but heyho, it's nearly Christmas and maybe Santa will bring me a whole load of unblocked websites for Christmas this year.

A very busy week

I think the the next few days will be full of blog posts from me, as I seem to have done so much in a very short space of time. I've done so much, met so many people and had such a great time that I really don't know where to begin. I think maybe, I'll just go for it and apologise in advance for poor spelling and typing (no surprises there, then) and some rather mixed up time-lines. In no particular order I'm intending to blog about:

• my all new Ning that I set up last Wednesday and changed the name of yesterday
• the Isle of Wight Conference (of course)...hopefully individual posts about various aspects and how much I learnt etc..
• a chance encounter with a trainee life coach (aahhh...bet no-one expected that one - least of all me!)
• going to train MFL PGCE students at Durham University last week and the hazards that brought with it.

So, I'm now going to go and get busy...I even have emails to answer, somewhere!

A year of full-time work!

As we approach the final 3 days of this academic year at our school, I'm thinking about the successes (and failures) of my first year back at work full-time.
Back in September I set out on my first full year of work in 3 1/2 years after a maternity leave of 8 months, followed by 2 years of working 2 days a week. It must be said that I was starting with very little confidence in my abilities as a teacher due to a number of things that had happened in the previous 3 years. However, I had high hopes and high expectations with blogging and eTwinning projects to work on and trips to organise.
On reflection - and I've said this to several people along the way - this has been the hardest year of my teaching career! I think I had forgotten how little time main-scale teachers get for preparation having been on management points since 1998, therefore I took on too many other things to do at the same time as get back into teaching. My "wonderful" timetable also didn't help matters it must be said, however really I want to focus mainly on the positives rather than the negatives.
The year began well, with a Yr 9 class who couldn't remain in their seats for longer that 3 minutes without fighting / shouting etc... Now this might make our school sound a bit like a zoo, I'd like to poing out that it most certainly is not, this class had just had a very poor experience the previous year due to staff absence and therefore had become extremely disaffected (not surprisingly). Things didn't get much better, when in October it was announced that OfSted were coming and I seem to remember going home in tears that night, telling my husband that I might as well give up there and then, if they came to see this particular class!!! However, I persevered, only complaining a little bit about them and never demanding extra help (in fact I lost the classroom assistant when one boy left to go to another school) and trying to make my lessons as kinaesthetic and interactive as possible (also having happy and sad faces on the board to put names under...sad= detention, happy= merit) and I think I emerged victorious. The class can now talk about what they're going to do on holiday and where they're going to go...even better they listen to me in silence and I can even allow myself to let my guard down a little and have a bit of "banter". I think they have actually become my favourite class (but, sshh don't tell anyone...specially not them!)
OfSted did arrive and (fortunately) didn't come to see my Yr 9 class, the lovely man came to see me with my lovely Yr 7 class. I'd planned something quite normal really and the class fussed as only Yr 7s could. He stayed for 30 mins and left telling that it was excellent. I was amazed and even more astounded when my Headteacher told me the next day that he'd heard that my lesson was "exemplary" (unheard of in Langwitch land). Suddenly I began to wonder whether I could really teach after all!
In addition I ran a workshop on a CPD Day on Podcasting that staff enjoyed and also went to my husband's school to do the same thing and they loved it too. I never believed I could have done that in September!
I made it to Christmas and, after a disasterous Christmas party where everyone I arranged to go with didn't turn up and I was left with a goup of people I hardly knew, the first term was over.
The New Year arrived with no dramas, except we did get a new Head of Area which was a big change and it took us all (or maybe just me) a while to get used to a new regime. In February we had our LEA CPD Day where I was enthused by plans for the new KS3 Curriculum. In additition I ran a workshop on eTwinning which was received well. Our eTwinning project with France went from strength to strength with use gaining National Quality Awards in France and the UK and our History Project loomed upon the horizon with concerns of a lack of interest from certain quarters! It was around this time I had my "melt-down" and since then things have generally gone up hill.
Easter came and went and the Dutch finally arrived. I think it was actually one of the high points of the year. It was exhausting but fantastic to see how much the pupils got out of it. We can't wait to go there in October! I think the time from the middle of April until 3 weeks ago has bee the busiest time at work I've had with even weekends taken up with school stuff. I did, however get a lovely trip to the Netherlands minus pupils to plan for the Dutch leg of the project that we're doing. Orals came and went then of course the IWB challenge that really stretched my abilities with the ActivStudio but really developped my skills and contributed to making my lessons better.
Next came the Cologne trip which, despite several reservations, went well and I think all thoroughly enjoyed it. I know I certainly get to know some colleagues much better and that's always nice on a trip. Of course we were also short-listed for the National eTwinning Award, which me being me, wasn't enough but I am trying to feel proud of the achievement.
Well, there we are that just about covers it. I'm going to gloss over the last 5 weeks because to be perfectly honest I've been having a nightmare! I think the adrenalin drop and sheer exhaustion of the end of the school year have just got to me and I've been on an all time low. I think my colleagues (and friends) think I've gone mad! All I've done for the whole time is whinge and moan, complain and cry (at work and at home). Nothing anyone has said or done has help improve my state of mind and I feel like a right misery guts. All, I am sure down to lack of energy! I know that I am ususally a valued member of the MFL Area...but try telling me that at the moment and I would laugh loudly and tell you not to be so stupid! I look forward to a good rest a great holiday and starting all over in September with renewed vigour and enthusiasm.
Challenges for next year? Plenty: developing blogs in French and German to be (hopefully) administered by Heads of those Languages, working on eTwinning Projects with Germany (and Poland and Hungary) and with another Polish school (and French and Swedish) to hopefully lead to a Comenius Project plus something in the pipeline in French too. In addition, doing some digital video, video-conferencing and developing the MFL area of our VLE...and of course doing some Primary Spanish plus a much improved timetable.
I didn't know one could pack so much into a year of work but there we go. I do have much more confidence in my teaching abilities and I'm still standing (just) but don't know how many friends I still have after my 5 weeks of tantrums!