Reflections on the 1st week back

So, back at school for a week now and it is amazing how quickly the summer holiday becomes a memory. I do feel that it does take me a few days to really feel as if I am back at my best. In more fanciful moments I like to compare myself to a Premier League footballer who only really hits their best form by early October (this is probably the only thing I will ever have in common with a Premier League footballer however).

We started with 2 INSET days which, I have to admit, I found deeply frustrating.  There was far too much sitting and listening and information-giving.  It did however demonstrate how rubbish the lecture is as a teaching technique.  After 15 minutes I had lost concentration and felt swamped by the sheer amount of information I was being expected to process and I found myself daydreaming, looking out of the window and, I have to admit, playing on my phone.  I was also frustrated at the loss of 2 whole days of training opportunities.  There was no training done - instead it was planning and preparation.  This time is necessary but did we need so much?  Could we have had some input into something new and exciting to try during the term ahead?

Wednesday to Friday were by far the best days of the week because they were days when I was teaching.  Overall the groups seem pretty good so far.  They have reacted very well to the new technology ideas in particular.  Several students have signed up to follow the Humanities faculty on Twitter and my new Year 10  group are gradually finding their way onto edmodo.  Hopefully by the end of next week there will be a lot more kids using it.  Most pleasing of all was seeing more teachers and faculties using plannerlive - Science and English have posted homework on there this week.  I am really pleased about that - it may be that this will be a revolution from below.  If enough of us keep having a go with new technology by the time the School Leadership Team get round to discussing which new technologies they want to use it will be too late - they will already be embedded in the school because the best teachers are using it and large numbers of students are using it regularly.

So my New school year's resolutions are not doing too badly after just 1 week.  New technology is being used - I also recorded a 5-minute summary of the Treaty of Versailles on Audioboo and posted it on twitter and edmodo for Year 10.  You can hear it on http://audioboo.fm/boos/463103-the-treaty-of-versailles. I have tried really hard not to get wound up by the stuff I can't change - even on Monday and Tuesday.  This week I am going to try really hard to learn 5 kids names each lesson.  Even my room has stayed tidy - which my tutor group are finding very unnerving. --- and I have blogged again.

Hope this week is a good one.


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