This time, I am posting a video blog!
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Last term, I was lucky enough to have time to observe my mentor teaching. She teaches GCSE Maths - like me. This gave me an opportunity to see how someone approaches the same topics with their own style. Boy, did it shake things up a bit for me!
Now, firstly, let me tell you that we, in GCSE Maths, are constrained... Our lesson plan, topics, and learning objectives are all set, centrally by the GCSE maths team.
We cannot, as teacher, devise the curriculum independently. Though we are invited to use our own style when teaching it.
This is both a boon and a drawback.
The boon? Well, we can work across all campuses as a team, each week our learners are following the centrally set topics and we all know where they should be. We can share best practise, materials and support each other. Internal exams are set regularly, based on topics they will have already been taught. This all makes sense.
The drawback? The lesson plans and learner objectives are set cross-campus, cross-faculty. So a faculty like mine - Lifeskills, whose students are almost all dealing with learning challenges, will be following the same lessons as those students who do not have such challenges. Their learning objectives in each lesson will be the same. This means I find it difficult to cover all of the lesson materials in a week.
Imagine my glee, then, when I sat at the back of my Mentor's GCSE Maths class and soaked up her approach to this challenge.
I want to focus on one particular aspect of the lesson, as I experienced it: atmosphere.
The class consisted of 9 learners; all male. One has ASD; a few of the others had had issues with learning before. The first thing I noticed, was how quiet they all were. The teacher held their attention and did not suffer any interruptions or any students fiddling with their phones. There was very little "banter" but some learners did answer questions she posed to the class as a whole.
This was in stark contrast to my groups. I normally have between 13 and 20 students, pretty much all of whom have some form of learning challenge. My classes are not total chaos, however, are definitely more noisy, with chatting and banter during the worksheet sessions and, often, during the lesson if commenting on my topic or asking a question. I have had issues with learners scrolling through their phones. The energy levels are much higher than that of the observed lesson.
So - which is the better approach? I have given this a lot of thought. I have to say, I like the energy when my learners are finding my maths lessons funny or interesting. I like the energy when they come up with new ideas and shout them out. I like the energy when one student helps another student to understand something.
Conclusion: I like high energy classes.
To underline this point, at the end of the Summer term of 2020/2021, I organised a Maths Festival with planning using a lot of maths, but the last day of term was the actual festival, with the Conga, music, food and games.
But, does this mean my lessons are better?
What about the students? What do they like? Am I doing my ASD and anxious learners a disservice by allowing this kind of mood and atmosphere in my lessons?
Do they all want to go to Glastonbury / Las Vegas / Alton Towers / The Moon to learn about Maths?
I know I do - which is why I developed my materials like this!
This is why I took so long mulling over the experience of observing my mentor. In fact, I had taught one of her learners last year, myself, and he was "Mr Banter Extraordinaire" in my class. He loved to talk at the start and during lessons and always brought a smile to our faces. In this, observed, lesson he was completely silent but for one comment about the behaviour of the teacher - though I cannot remember what the comment was.
I am thinking about two things;
WHY do I like "high energy" lessons?
How can I be sure my learners like them, too?
Why do I like High Energy Lessons?
This boils down to these feelings; I actually feel like someone is enjoying my lesson, I feel like someone is listening, I feel they are being creative, I feel I am engaging learners who normally think Maths is totally dull and boring, and all of this energises me.
How can I be sure my learners like them, too?
I have had learners come to me and say they like my approach. I have heard students from last year (who I am teaching science this year) speak to others saying they like my lessons because they are fun and interesting. But these are generally learners who are more confident or extrovert.
So - deep breath. I really need to find out what everyone thinks.
Be Brave, Sue, and Ask
I have decided to ask all of my students. I have set up a quiz to ask every one of my current cohort what they think of my lessons. This will give me a true picture which I can use to move on. I have added some questions which might also identify whether they are more extrovert or less, and some other questions about how they like the classroom to be - generally.
Watch this space!
This Quiz
If you are interested - here is an easy-to-read list of the questions and potential answers in that quiz:
I was listening to a radio interview this morning. We are still, currently, enduring a wave of Covid, courtesy of the Omicron variant. This is beginning to overwhelm NHS Trust hospitals in the North West of England.
During the interview, the health professional said,
"What we say matters. Language matters. We need sober, accurate information. So instead of "Riding the Wave" of this variant, we should tell people: the NHS cannot provide the level of service it would like to at the moment. There will be longer waits and we are sorry. Sometimes you may be asked to get a relative to drive you to the hospital, if that is possible, rather than wait for an ambulance. Language matters, and we need to speak to people honestly and clearly about the reality."
This reminded me of an article highlighted by my PGCE tutor about how outdated behaviour terms need to be left in the past; https://www.tes.com/magazine/archived/5-behaviour-terms-we-need-leave-past.
This illustrates how, in education, too, what we say matters. Behavioural terms that are out-of-date relate, directly, to approaches and mindsets that are, themselves, no longer used, and for good reason.
I work in the Lifeskills faculty at Activate Learning, Banbury FE College. Our students are most likely to be with us because of issues with school, such as behaviour, often the result of health, learning or emotional needs which were not fully understood or supported. Our faculty specialises in providing this support.
So if someone talks about "low level", "challenging" or "attention-seeking" behaviour, that often misses the point - the cause of the behaviour. At a CPD course, yesterday, we were discussing behaviours which may indicate the presence of trauma. The tutor said "behaviour is communication - we just need to understand what it is they are trying to communicate".
As someone relatively new to education, this made a lot of sense to me. I am - by training and profession, primarily a science and maths practitioner. I am fond of logic, and cause and effect. Unexpected behaviour can throw you off-guard, but if you see it as a form of communication, it provides a route into understanding the student better, providing support, and maybe even identifying an underling problem for which expert additional support can be rallied.
The student may be suffering from anxiety, but perhaps their behaviour may be a sign of other pressures such as radicalisation, abuse, or trauma? A conversation may help to clarify what is bothering them.
Importantly, using the lens of the student, imagine the difference, between having your behaviour "managed" and being supported? You are being respected. You are not being treated as a "naughty child".
This will serve to build trust and self-worth, which are both very positive emotions to move forward with learning.
At Activate Learning, we have a Learning Philosophy which consists of the triad of emotions, brain and motivation. With your emotions in the right place, you are more likely to be motivated to learn.
Supporting learners, to be the best they can be, must, surely, be the primary goal of any teacher, whatever their subject. Understanding what a certain behaviour is communicating to us is a skill that we do not all possess, but we can see it as a trigger for a conversation with the student.
So, in teaching, what we say matters. A lot. It may result in moving the student from a negative path to one where the student has much better life chances and outcomes. And that really matters.
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