If you read my previous blog entry on teaching the Cambridge iGCSE, you will know that I refused to pass judgement until the results came in. Well, they're in.
The background:
This year I taught a set of 32 Y11 A*- B target students who took AQA Language and Literature, a set of 16 Y11 C/D borderline students who started AQA in Y10, but changed to iGCSE in Y11, and 2 Y10 sets of 16 students with targets of C/D who did early entry iGCSE this year too.
Yes, I struggled to get my head around that too - thank you timetable gods!
What it did do, however, is put me in a position to look at the 2 exams side by side and draw some fairly interesting conclusions (at least I think they are interesting, feel free to disagree!)
My 'top' set did reasonably well on AQA, but the top grades were fewer than I had predicted. Overall, I am a bit disappointed as I was hopeful they would do much better. A handful got Cs which, in my opinion, does not reflect their ability. Basically, our Language CA was moderated down by 4 marks across the board for every student over a C. I have not read the report, but our marks have never been changed before and it obviously looks a bit suspicious to me. I may be wrong, but it is a less obvious way of manipulating the pass rate than changing exam boundaries. The Literature CA grades were unchanged...
So to iGCSE. Here the results were great. In Y11, bearing in mind these students had failed miserably AQA English and iGCSE Core earlier in the year, they nearly all passed iGCSE Extended. There were even 3 B grades!
In Y10, the results were less spectacular. There were more passes than I had predicted though, but only a handful in each group. Pleasing for me, it was those particularly hardworking students who got it early and the others have hopefully learned a valuable lesson. Honestly, I never felt they were ready to do it, the vast majority are the kind of kids who need to feel the pressure of the clock ticking in Y11 to motivate them. Those who got Cs are probably capable of Bs next year, so I'm not sure they gained much either, apart from maybe a confidence boost.
Conclusions:
IGCSE is easier for the majority of students. The students who got Bs are proof of that. They are nowhere near the quality of the Bs from AQA, or even the C grades from my top set either. Students who failed AQA English passed iGCSE comfortably. It is particularly good for students who are sparky but have done nothing for 5 years and feel the fear at the last minute. The reading exam is something you can train them to do like monkeys. The results would also suggest that it is easier to get a C on the Extended paper than on the Core.
Another advantage of iGCSE is for SEN students. One particular student I taught was very hardworking, but all the extra time in the world was not going to help him pass an exam. He was able to do the coursework option, take his time, use IT, redraft. He finally got his C after getting a B on that unit, and it was my favourite result of yesterday.
And, of course, the Speaking and Listening was also very useful for several students in boosting their grade. However, I would also say it probably caused a significant problem for just as many. How we go about teaching this aspect is something we have to look at very carefully next year. They don't get multiple chances to do it, reflect and improve like AQA used to allow, and it shows.
Personally, I am left feeling dissatisfied with the whole thing. Just like last year, I feel there are students who have grades they don't deserve (both higher and lower) down to the exam they took. Our entry requirement for A Level study is a B at GCSE. There are students who have that from iGCSE who have that now, but are in no way prepared for the demands of A level; iGCSE does not encourage independence in any way shape or form. They don't have to read anything longer than 5 paragraphs for a start!
I realise my job is to get students good grades, and improve their life chances, but my reason for teaching is to foster a love of reading, writing, discussion and critical thinking. I want students to leave with skills, not just grades. Teaching the iGCSE exam is DULL. The texts they use are awful - the whole exam is very old-fashioned.
With another 3 groups taking it next year, I am not feeling terribly inspired by it.
Thank God they still have to do Literature... although, of course, they don't have to pass.
Friday, 23 August 2013
Monday, 1 July 2013
A special day
It's very easy to forget that our students have personal lives, just as they forget we have one too. Today I'm glad I remembered.
Let's call him Sam. A bright, sparky chap, but one who is lazy and prefers to talk rather than write; will find distractions rather than concentrate. Today he was lost in a daydream that just struck me as a little out of character. I left him alone to wake up for a few minutes (it was Period 1 after all) but then waded in.
'Are you alright, Sam?'
'Yeah, Miss.'
'Well, it's just you haven't done any work yet, what's the problem?'
Expecting the usual don't understand/ don't know what to do excuse, I was quite surprised with the, 'I lost someone, Miss', that I actually got.
So I told him how sorry I was, and then I told him about my stress bucket philosophy: I find it extremely useful to have a school bucket and a home bucket. When crappy things are happening at home, I don't let them add to my school stress bucket. When crappy things are happening at school, I don't let them add to my home stress bucket. If you just have one bucket, it has a habit of over-flowing.
Sam nodded and then said, 'She died of breast cancer'.
I was floored momentarily, but managed to regroup. This is something I can relate to. One of my best friends died at the age of 33 from cancer. It started as breast cancer, but spread to her liver, lungs and brain. She was a (brilliant) Head of Year at the school I still work at.
'Do you see that tree out there?' I asked, pointing out of the window, ' Well that was planted in memory of one of my friends who died of cancer. It was the point at which my home and school buckets were very hard to keep separate, but I managed to keep it together.'
He nodded, so I carried on.
'And one of the things that held me together is that I believe in immortality. I'm not religious, but I do believe that everyone you meet has an effect on you. What they say and do lives on in you; your memories of them in a way make them immortal. If they affect you and you affect someone else, then they kind of go on living.'
He continued to look at me solemnly.
'I guess all you can do is make them proud. It's one of the reasons I'm a teacher. I think that you can pass on all the amazing things other people have taught you.'
He didn't say anything, but he picked up his pen and wrote for the whole of the rest of the lesson. He even wanted to stay on to finish his work at break.
Today was one of my best days ever as a teacher.
Let's call him Sam. A bright, sparky chap, but one who is lazy and prefers to talk rather than write; will find distractions rather than concentrate. Today he was lost in a daydream that just struck me as a little out of character. I left him alone to wake up for a few minutes (it was Period 1 after all) but then waded in.
'Are you alright, Sam?'
'Yeah, Miss.'
'Well, it's just you haven't done any work yet, what's the problem?'
Expecting the usual don't understand/ don't know what to do excuse, I was quite surprised with the, 'I lost someone, Miss', that I actually got.
So I told him how sorry I was, and then I told him about my stress bucket philosophy: I find it extremely useful to have a school bucket and a home bucket. When crappy things are happening at home, I don't let them add to my school stress bucket. When crappy things are happening at school, I don't let them add to my home stress bucket. If you just have one bucket, it has a habit of over-flowing.
Sam nodded and then said, 'She died of breast cancer'.
I was floored momentarily, but managed to regroup. This is something I can relate to. One of my best friends died at the age of 33 from cancer. It started as breast cancer, but spread to her liver, lungs and brain. She was a (brilliant) Head of Year at the school I still work at.
'Do you see that tree out there?' I asked, pointing out of the window, ' Well that was planted in memory of one of my friends who died of cancer. It was the point at which my home and school buckets were very hard to keep separate, but I managed to keep it together.'
He nodded, so I carried on.
'And one of the things that held me together is that I believe in immortality. I'm not religious, but I do believe that everyone you meet has an effect on you. What they say and do lives on in you; your memories of them in a way make them immortal. If they affect you and you affect someone else, then they kind of go on living.'
He continued to look at me solemnly.
'I guess all you can do is make them proud. It's one of the reasons I'm a teacher. I think that you can pass on all the amazing things other people have taught you.'
He didn't say anything, but he picked up his pen and wrote for the whole of the rest of the lesson. He even wanted to stay on to finish his work at break.
Today was one of my best days ever as a teacher.
Saturday, 18 May 2013
iGCSE -decide for yourself
Job done. Breathe.
Yesterday saw the last exam for the Cambridge iGCSE and the completion of a huge shift in focus this year for our English Department.
We really struggled to find help and advice from people who had done the exam before, so I thought this might prove helpful to those considering the move.
Firstly, your most important question answered:
Yes, the Cambridge English (First Language) iGCSE does count in your A*-C figures.
Second question:
Yes, you do have to do Literature as well, but it does not have to be the same board and they don't have to pass. We stuck with AQA for Lit. this year.
The course has slightly confusing options, but goes like this:
Speaking and Listening: Presentation and Discussion
Reading exam: Core (like Foundation) or Extended (like Higher)
Writing exam (same for everyone) OR 3 pieces of coursework.
As I understand it, iGCSE will have Speaking and Listening as a component until 2015 despite the changes to normal GCSE English.
SPEAKING and LISTENING
Students have to give a 4 minute presentation on a topic of their choice. This is followed by a discussion which leads on from their presentation for 5-6 minutes.
PROS:
Most of our kids are confident speakers (opinionated!) and have always done well on S&L. It is also a skill employers really value. Removing it from GCSE (especially mid-course) is stupid and unfair. The assessment is one to one, not in front of a class, which helps those of a nervous disposition.
CONS:
All the students need to be recorded (which does not help those of a nervous disposition). You need to allow 15 mins per student. Do the maths. If you are entering 200 students, then that is 50 hours. Then you need to allow time for moderation if more than one person does it. Also allow for those who forget to turn up, those who 'forget', those who are sick, and those who are 'sick'. Oh yeah... and breaks for the interviewer! Someone really needs to be off timetable for around 3 weeks to be able to do it. We had one teacher and our trusty Faculty Support doing it over a fortnight. The cover also has to be a consideration, and you will need your whole school behind you as kids will be out of other subjects. Basically, it is not an aspect of the course designed to make life easy for large centres.
It is also extremely stressful for those leading it. For one thing, they will be having discussions about everything important to teenagers from football to divorce, from football to knife crime, and from football to eating disorders. Seriously, some of the discussions were quite upsetting, one even ended in tears.
READING EXAM (with a few marks for writing)
We have entered students for both the Core paper and the Extended.
CORE
They tell you the Core paper has 2 questions, based on reading non-fiction style texts, but it is actually a series of lots of short questions worth a couple of marks each (1a, 1b, 1c, etc.). It is a doddle. The skill level required does not go above inference and most of it is retrieval. They have to summarise too, a skill we had not ever taught before, but not exactly a challenging one. It is capped at a C. There is no analysis or comparison required.
EXTENDED
Oddly, the Extended paper may be even easier to pass than the Core! There are 3 questions based on 2 texts. For the first one they have to read Text A
and rewrite it from a different perspective. The second asks you about Language in two paragraphs of Text A (but you can just do a PEE chart, not paragraphs) and the last one asks you to summarise part of Text A and Text B. Again, no comparison required. It covers the range A*-E.
PROS:
If teaching hoop jumping is your thing then this exam is your dream come true.
CONS:
Our middle ability really struggled to finish the paper in 2 hours, something I found very surprising. Some of the vocabulary in the texts is very challenging, but then they can always choose something else to write about if they don't understand something!
The pass mark on both papers has been very low in previous years. 34 out of 50 would get you an A. My AQA D graders have been getting Bs in mocks. I don't see how that can be maintained with the number of schools shifting over to iGCSE if the pass rate has to be maintained nationally. I fully expect another shift in the grade boundaries this year. There was a 10 mark shift overall in November.
WRITING EXAM (with a few marks for reading)
The same for everyone. Question 1 asks students to read the source material and convert it into something else (very similar to Qu 1 on the Extended paper). Question 2 is one from a choice of 6 - two argumentative / discursive, two descriptive, two narrative.
PROS:
Students are given the information and ideas for their writing in Qu 1. They do not have to be particularly interesting, creative or have any general knowledge. For Qu 2 there is no specific form or audience given, so they can't make mistakes there.
CONS:
We got scripts back and clearly this paper is marked negatively. EVERY mistake was circled. Your students need to be VERY accurate writers to do well on this paper. No comma splices, fragments, rogue apostrophes or spelling mistakes!
COURSEWORK
They have to complete 3 pieces of writing - one informative / persuasive piece, one narrative / descriptive, and one in response to an article they have read.
PROS:
It's coursework, you know the benefits: they can redraft it (once), they can word process it, and they can check their spelling and grammar. If you do the coursework before the exam entries are done, you can put any students with incomplete or substandard folders in for the exam instead (no, you can't enter them for both).
CONS:
The standard required for a pass is very high. Much higher than for the exam as they take into consideration that students have access to IT and should proofread their work.
The proof of the pudding...
Well, we won't know if this was the right decision until August. What we found from November was that, compared to AQA (and for our students), the S&L is of a similar standard, the Reading component is a LOT easier, the Writing component is a LOT harder.
A typical AQA C/D grade student got C/D in the S&L, a C on the Core paper, and a D/E on the writing. But we did do it with only a 4 week run up! Hopefully this time they will be better prepared (plus they are doing the Extended paper in the hope that better reading marks will make up for the inaccuracies in their writing).
So, should you go for it?
I'm very much still on the fence. It still has S&L, which is important. I like the focus on accurate writing, despite our students struggling with it. I really don't like the extremely narrow range of reading (and skills) required.
Have you also noticed there is no requirement for analytical essay writing? You may want to consider how that will prepare your students for the demands of A level.
Finally, a lover of Literature, I hate to see it get such a raw deal. Students will only study prose fiction, poetry and drama (including Shakespeare) when they do Literature. Whilst we still have the ridiculous loophole that you don't have to pass it, just be entered, some students will not even be taught the set texts. As long as they write a paragraph for cwk, and turn up to the exams and write their name, it validates their English qualification. If you are under pressure to improve English, then sacrificing Literature is one way to go about it, but that is surely going to leave a nasty taste in most English teachers' mouths.
Yesterday saw the last exam for the Cambridge iGCSE and the completion of a huge shift in focus this year for our English Department.
We really struggled to find help and advice from people who had done the exam before, so I thought this might prove helpful to those considering the move.
Firstly, your most important question answered:
Yes, the Cambridge English (First Language) iGCSE does count in your A*-C figures.
Second question:
Yes, you do have to do Literature as well, but it does not have to be the same board and they don't have to pass. We stuck with AQA for Lit. this year.
The course has slightly confusing options, but goes like this:
Speaking and Listening: Presentation and Discussion
Reading exam: Core (like Foundation) or Extended (like Higher)
Writing exam (same for everyone) OR 3 pieces of coursework.
As I understand it, iGCSE will have Speaking and Listening as a component until 2015 despite the changes to normal GCSE English.
SPEAKING and LISTENING
Students have to give a 4 minute presentation on a topic of their choice. This is followed by a discussion which leads on from their presentation for 5-6 minutes.
PROS:
Most of our kids are confident speakers (opinionated!) and have always done well on S&L. It is also a skill employers really value. Removing it from GCSE (especially mid-course) is stupid and unfair. The assessment is one to one, not in front of a class, which helps those of a nervous disposition.
CONS:
All the students need to be recorded (which does not help those of a nervous disposition). You need to allow 15 mins per student. Do the maths. If you are entering 200 students, then that is 50 hours. Then you need to allow time for moderation if more than one person does it. Also allow for those who forget to turn up, those who 'forget', those who are sick, and those who are 'sick'. Oh yeah... and breaks for the interviewer! Someone really needs to be off timetable for around 3 weeks to be able to do it. We had one teacher and our trusty Faculty Support doing it over a fortnight. The cover also has to be a consideration, and you will need your whole school behind you as kids will be out of other subjects. Basically, it is not an aspect of the course designed to make life easy for large centres.
It is also extremely stressful for those leading it. For one thing, they will be having discussions about everything important to teenagers from football to divorce, from football to knife crime, and from football to eating disorders. Seriously, some of the discussions were quite upsetting, one even ended in tears.
READING EXAM (with a few marks for writing)
We have entered students for both the Core paper and the Extended.
CORE
They tell you the Core paper has 2 questions, based on reading non-fiction style texts, but it is actually a series of lots of short questions worth a couple of marks each (1a, 1b, 1c, etc.). It is a doddle. The skill level required does not go above inference and most of it is retrieval. They have to summarise too, a skill we had not ever taught before, but not exactly a challenging one. It is capped at a C. There is no analysis or comparison required.
EXTENDED
Oddly, the Extended paper may be even easier to pass than the Core! There are 3 questions based on 2 texts. For the first one they have to read Text A
and rewrite it from a different perspective. The second asks you about Language in two paragraphs of Text A (but you can just do a PEE chart, not paragraphs) and the last one asks you to summarise part of Text A and Text B. Again, no comparison required. It covers the range A*-E.
PROS:
If teaching hoop jumping is your thing then this exam is your dream come true.
CONS:
Our middle ability really struggled to finish the paper in 2 hours, something I found very surprising. Some of the vocabulary in the texts is very challenging, but then they can always choose something else to write about if they don't understand something!
The pass mark on both papers has been very low in previous years. 34 out of 50 would get you an A. My AQA D graders have been getting Bs in mocks. I don't see how that can be maintained with the number of schools shifting over to iGCSE if the pass rate has to be maintained nationally. I fully expect another shift in the grade boundaries this year. There was a 10 mark shift overall in November.
WRITING EXAM (with a few marks for reading)
The same for everyone. Question 1 asks students to read the source material and convert it into something else (very similar to Qu 1 on the Extended paper). Question 2 is one from a choice of 6 - two argumentative / discursive, two descriptive, two narrative.
PROS:
Students are given the information and ideas for their writing in Qu 1. They do not have to be particularly interesting, creative or have any general knowledge. For Qu 2 there is no specific form or audience given, so they can't make mistakes there.
CONS:
We got scripts back and clearly this paper is marked negatively. EVERY mistake was circled. Your students need to be VERY accurate writers to do well on this paper. No comma splices, fragments, rogue apostrophes or spelling mistakes!
COURSEWORK
They have to complete 3 pieces of writing - one informative / persuasive piece, one narrative / descriptive, and one in response to an article they have read.
PROS:
It's coursework, you know the benefits: they can redraft it (once), they can word process it, and they can check their spelling and grammar. If you do the coursework before the exam entries are done, you can put any students with incomplete or substandard folders in for the exam instead (no, you can't enter them for both).
CONS:
The standard required for a pass is very high. Much higher than for the exam as they take into consideration that students have access to IT and should proofread their work.
The proof of the pudding...
Well, we won't know if this was the right decision until August. What we found from November was that, compared to AQA (and for our students), the S&L is of a similar standard, the Reading component is a LOT easier, the Writing component is a LOT harder.
A typical AQA C/D grade student got C/D in the S&L, a C on the Core paper, and a D/E on the writing. But we did do it with only a 4 week run up! Hopefully this time they will be better prepared (plus they are doing the Extended paper in the hope that better reading marks will make up for the inaccuracies in their writing).
So, should you go for it?
I'm very much still on the fence. It still has S&L, which is important. I like the focus on accurate writing, despite our students struggling with it. I really don't like the extremely narrow range of reading (and skills) required.
Have you also noticed there is no requirement for analytical essay writing? You may want to consider how that will prepare your students for the demands of A level.
Finally, a lover of Literature, I hate to see it get such a raw deal. Students will only study prose fiction, poetry and drama (including Shakespeare) when they do Literature. Whilst we still have the ridiculous loophole that you don't have to pass it, just be entered, some students will not even be taught the set texts. As long as they write a paragraph for cwk, and turn up to the exams and write their name, it validates their English qualification. If you are under pressure to improve English, then sacrificing Literature is one way to go about it, but that is surely going to leave a nasty taste in most English teachers' mouths.
Monday, 31 December 2012
12 Highlights of the old year and 13 aims for the new one
Although I feel like making a list of things I'd rather leave behind in 2012 (a rotten year in many ways), I'm going to join in and do the healthier approach and stick to the good...
1. RSC Courtyard Theatre
My version of 'As You Like It' was chosen to be part of the RSC Open Stages regional Showcase. As it was several months after the original run, not all the original cast were available, so I also got to do 'All the world's a stage' at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford too, filling in for Jaques. With a little stretch of the imagination I can now say I've acted and directed for the RSC!
2. Pride and Prejudice
The first event inspired me to audition for the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham, and I was cast as Charlotte Lucas in 'Pride and Prejudice'. The whole cast was just lovely and it is great to have a hobby completely separate to teaching with energetic and creative people. It also means we have been to the theatre a couple of times a month this year. No longer can I moan about going to the theatre more often!
3. Holidays at half-term
Normally half-term is saved for what I term 'Human MOT' - dentist, hairdresser, eye test, etc. This year we went to Lanzarote in October and lay in the sun. I think it was the only thing that got me through to Christmas. Definitely going for a dose of sun same time next year.
4. I lost my Grandad this year
The low point of the year. However, the stories of his teaching days at the funeral were very special to me. He was a firm believer in being a personality in the classroom and, as far as I am concerned, he was stand-up comedy's biggest loss. Deadpan Lancastrian wit in bucket loads. My favourite anecdote had to be about the briefcase he carried every day with him to school. Outwardly the image of the consummate professional, but actually it contained nothing except 3 perfectly packed pipes, wrapped up and ready for smoking - one at break, one at lunch and one after school.
5. Having a form again
After a couple of years without one, I actually asked for a form again this year. I really missed it and was sick of people saying, 'It's all right for you, you don't have a form' and the like. Working with a form is a privilege. Without one I didn't feel part of the school - you miss out on messages, you get tagged on to challenge days as a spare part and, most importantly, you miss working with kids on a very different level.
My form are already very special to me. They are not an easy bunch as they are Y11 and underachieving G&T students. In one term we've had an overdose, dangerous sexual activity, cyber bullying (and the more upfront, in your face kind), harassment of staff, a stunt involving an aerosol and a Bunsen burner and I could go on... But they have also made me very proud. We have gone from being the self-proclaimed 'reject form' to getting fully involved in baking cakes for CIN, collecting food for the homeless and creating a life sized advent fireplace with acts of kindness to be done on each day. I have also had the privilege of one students showing me photos of his Grandad the day before his funeral. One of the most important conversations I've had this year.
6. Cats
We did the bad thing last year and got cats for Christmas. So much more humour and lots of extra cuddles now.
7. Ofsted
So glad they came at last. I hate the ever-increasing pressure when you know they are due. The general feeling in the staffroom was, 'Bring it on!' But, as an AST, you are under enormous pressure to get an 'Outstanding' judgement. There has been much talk of how the Ofsted criteria has changed. I just did what I know works. In fact, I did a version of a lesson I did last time they came which was judged 'outstanding' and it got the same this time around too.
8. Working outside of the Department
One aspect of my job that has really developed this year is working outside of English. I redesigned the observation lesson plan last year (so that progress is at the core of it) and that meant doing joint planning and CPD with departments and colleagues across the school. Since September, several colleagues I have worked with have moved to Good and that is a a great feeling. Although most of the credit should go to @charlhere for 97% of lessons observed by Ofsted as 'Good' or 'Outstanding', I like to think I contributed in part too.
9. Olympics
No list of 2012 would be complete without a mention of the Olympics. I loved it. A fortnight of drama, tension and screaming at the telly like a nutter!
10. Twitter
So many people doing this have already mentioned Twitter. I like to be original, but can't here. Starting a blog and getting positive feedback, trialling SOLO and Marginal Gains, moral support when Ofsted descended, ending up on the Tweachers map - all little highlights in their own way. It has been said so many times but it really is the best CPD I have ever had. There are so many inspirational people on here who deserve thanks, that I'm not going to list them but you can always look at who I'm following!
11. Good food, good books and good friends.
And finally (well done for sticking with it)...
12. My boyfriend
Who is the highlight of my year.
(Thankfully much shorter) aims for the coming year:
1. Lose the stone
About 4 years ago I lost 2 1/2 stone. Over the last year, I've put about a stone back on (I blame points 11 and 12 above).
2. Spend more time with friends/family
Not waiting until holidays to get around to doing this!
3. Blog
I was doing this once a week, need to get back to at least once a fortnight.
4. Work more with other teachers
This makes me happy. Never stop learning. Via Twitter, or in my school it keeps the job interesting. Would like to meet some of the people I follow in person this year.
5. Survive GCSE fiasco
I'm currently teaching 4 GCSE groups who all do their GCSE English this year. They are not all doing the same GCSE though. Two are doing iGCSE with cwk, one is doing iGCSE with exam and AQA English and the last is doing AQA English Language and Literature!
6. Holidays
I love travel and having a trip to look forward to me keeps me sane.
7. Stop imagining, start doing (and finishing)
8. Remodel my lounge
I'm an English teacher. I have books. My boyfriend is doing an English degree. He has books. We don't have space. The idea is to turn the unused room at the front of the house into a library. Then we'll need a conservatory, billiard room, lead piping and a candlestick (see point 7).
9. Art projects
I need to rediscover my artistic side. The spare room is filled with (unfinished) arts and crafts.
10. Get on top of marking
There must be a way. Before the holiday I was faced with the equivalent of 200 essays that needed marking. I have a tendency to wait until I have a complete set and then mark it in one long sitting. This might be a habit that needs breaking.
11. Avoid doing graded observations
One of the things I think is really important in the AST role is that observations are developmental, rather than judgemental. My favourite compliment this year was from a colleague who requested an observation. She said, 'With you it's not like you're being judged. It's more like advice from a friend'. I've worked hard to establish that feeling and I'm worried that the minute I am made to grade lessons, colleagues will be reluctant to invite me in to their classrooms.
12. Do an MA
I've found one that combines my love of teaching and Shakespeare. Just not sure I can find the time!
13. Make more 'Feel good Friday' phone-calls
Every Friday, pick a student who has particularly impressed you that week and phone home. The responses are priceless (especially from those parents who usually only get bad news from school). It is a brilliant way to start the weekend and I don't do it nearly often enough.
1. RSC Courtyard Theatre
My version of 'As You Like It' was chosen to be part of the RSC Open Stages regional Showcase. As it was several months after the original run, not all the original cast were available, so I also got to do 'All the world's a stage' at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford too, filling in for Jaques. With a little stretch of the imagination I can now say I've acted and directed for the RSC!
2. Pride and Prejudice
The first event inspired me to audition for the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham, and I was cast as Charlotte Lucas in 'Pride and Prejudice'. The whole cast was just lovely and it is great to have a hobby completely separate to teaching with energetic and creative people. It also means we have been to the theatre a couple of times a month this year. No longer can I moan about going to the theatre more often!
3. Holidays at half-term
Normally half-term is saved for what I term 'Human MOT' - dentist, hairdresser, eye test, etc. This year we went to Lanzarote in October and lay in the sun. I think it was the only thing that got me through to Christmas. Definitely going for a dose of sun same time next year.
4. I lost my Grandad this year
The low point of the year. However, the stories of his teaching days at the funeral were very special to me. He was a firm believer in being a personality in the classroom and, as far as I am concerned, he was stand-up comedy's biggest loss. Deadpan Lancastrian wit in bucket loads. My favourite anecdote had to be about the briefcase he carried every day with him to school. Outwardly the image of the consummate professional, but actually it contained nothing except 3 perfectly packed pipes, wrapped up and ready for smoking - one at break, one at lunch and one after school.
5. Having a form again
After a couple of years without one, I actually asked for a form again this year. I really missed it and was sick of people saying, 'It's all right for you, you don't have a form' and the like. Working with a form is a privilege. Without one I didn't feel part of the school - you miss out on messages, you get tagged on to challenge days as a spare part and, most importantly, you miss working with kids on a very different level.
My form are already very special to me. They are not an easy bunch as they are Y11 and underachieving G&T students. In one term we've had an overdose, dangerous sexual activity, cyber bullying (and the more upfront, in your face kind), harassment of staff, a stunt involving an aerosol and a Bunsen burner and I could go on... But they have also made me very proud. We have gone from being the self-proclaimed 'reject form' to getting fully involved in baking cakes for CIN, collecting food for the homeless and creating a life sized advent fireplace with acts of kindness to be done on each day. I have also had the privilege of one students showing me photos of his Grandad the day before his funeral. One of the most important conversations I've had this year.
6. Cats
We did the bad thing last year and got cats for Christmas. So much more humour and lots of extra cuddles now.
7. Ofsted
So glad they came at last. I hate the ever-increasing pressure when you know they are due. The general feeling in the staffroom was, 'Bring it on!' But, as an AST, you are under enormous pressure to get an 'Outstanding' judgement. There has been much talk of how the Ofsted criteria has changed. I just did what I know works. In fact, I did a version of a lesson I did last time they came which was judged 'outstanding' and it got the same this time around too.
8. Working outside of the Department
One aspect of my job that has really developed this year is working outside of English. I redesigned the observation lesson plan last year (so that progress is at the core of it) and that meant doing joint planning and CPD with departments and colleagues across the school. Since September, several colleagues I have worked with have moved to Good and that is a a great feeling. Although most of the credit should go to @charlhere for 97% of lessons observed by Ofsted as 'Good' or 'Outstanding', I like to think I contributed in part too.
9. Olympics
No list of 2012 would be complete without a mention of the Olympics. I loved it. A fortnight of drama, tension and screaming at the telly like a nutter!
10. Twitter
So many people doing this have already mentioned Twitter. I like to be original, but can't here. Starting a blog and getting positive feedback, trialling SOLO and Marginal Gains, moral support when Ofsted descended, ending up on the Tweachers map - all little highlights in their own way. It has been said so many times but it really is the best CPD I have ever had. There are so many inspirational people on here who deserve thanks, that I'm not going to list them but you can always look at who I'm following!
11. Good food, good books and good friends.
And finally (well done for sticking with it)...
12. My boyfriend
Who is the highlight of my year.
(Thankfully much shorter) aims for the coming year:
1. Lose the stone
About 4 years ago I lost 2 1/2 stone. Over the last year, I've put about a stone back on (I blame points 11 and 12 above).
2. Spend more time with friends/family
Not waiting until holidays to get around to doing this!
3. Blog
I was doing this once a week, need to get back to at least once a fortnight.
4. Work more with other teachers
This makes me happy. Never stop learning. Via Twitter, or in my school it keeps the job interesting. Would like to meet some of the people I follow in person this year.
5. Survive GCSE fiasco
I'm currently teaching 4 GCSE groups who all do their GCSE English this year. They are not all doing the same GCSE though. Two are doing iGCSE with cwk, one is doing iGCSE with exam and AQA English and the last is doing AQA English Language and Literature!
6. Holidays
I love travel and having a trip to look forward to me keeps me sane.
7. Stop imagining, start doing (and finishing)
8. Remodel my lounge
I'm an English teacher. I have books. My boyfriend is doing an English degree. He has books. We don't have space. The idea is to turn the unused room at the front of the house into a library. Then we'll need a conservatory, billiard room, lead piping and a candlestick (see point 7).
9. Art projects
I need to rediscover my artistic side. The spare room is filled with (unfinished) arts and crafts.
10. Get on top of marking
There must be a way. Before the holiday I was faced with the equivalent of 200 essays that needed marking. I have a tendency to wait until I have a complete set and then mark it in one long sitting. This might be a habit that needs breaking.
11. Avoid doing graded observations
One of the things I think is really important in the AST role is that observations are developmental, rather than judgemental. My favourite compliment this year was from a colleague who requested an observation. She said, 'With you it's not like you're being judged. It's more like advice from a friend'. I've worked hard to establish that feeling and I'm worried that the minute I am made to grade lessons, colleagues will be reluctant to invite me in to their classrooms.
12. Do an MA
I've found one that combines my love of teaching and Shakespeare. Just not sure I can find the time!
13. Make more 'Feel good Friday' phone-calls
Every Friday, pick a student who has particularly impressed you that week and phone home. The responses are priceless (especially from those parents who usually only get bad news from school). It is a brilliant way to start the weekend and I don't do it nearly often enough.
Sunday, 11 November 2012
Marginal Marking Gains
This is a follow up to a previous blog on Marginal Gains, so if you haven't read that one, you can find it here.
After looking at the marking criteria for the King Lear essay, and adding a few other things I find useful like SOLO and 'golden quotations', we created this:
The natural successor to this lesson was inspired by my love of felt-tips. Banking on all of Y13 actually doing their homework for the first time in over a year, it was a bit of a gamble, but one that miraculously paid off. However, my shock at every one of them completing their assignment was short lived. Predictably, despite their initial enthusiasm and contributions to the idea of marginal gains in the first place, when I asked if anyone had actually used the wheel to plan/check/improve their essay, the answer was a resounding...
So, the task was to peer assess using the wheels. Sometimes peer assessment can lack focus, here it really did not. Not only did they enjoy this (few students can resist the lure of multicoloured ink) but the responses were really perceptive. The idea is dead simple: using the colours of the wheel for your feedback, highlight strengths and write marginal gains targets on a partner's work.
After swapping essays a couple of times, students then had to act on the feedback in green pen. This is a whole-school policy designed to show students responding to feedback and showing progress. It too is a really simple tweak and works very well at every level, creating a clear learning dialogue between students and teacher (or student and student in this case).
Of course, one of the advantages of well directed peer assessment is that as a teacher you don't have to mark it yourself, and yet the students are still making progress. In this case, it was very clear to students where their strengths lay and where improvements were needed.
So much marking is very time consuming and then not acted upon. Frequently you find yourself writing the same thing on essay after essay (year after year). Well, another slight adjustment you can make to ensure students are acting on your feedback is not marking the actual essays themselves. If you jot down the comments, questions and targets on a separate piece of paper then you don't have to repeat anything. When you have finished marking, you give the essays back along with the feedback and the students have to work out which bits of feedback belong to each essay.
Gains all round. Teacher does less work, students do more. Students engage with the feedback and also get far more feedback than you would write on one essay because they are reading everyone's feedback, not just their own.
After looking at the marking criteria for the King Lear essay, and adding a few other things I find useful like SOLO and 'golden quotations', we created this:
The natural successor to this lesson was inspired by my love of felt-tips. Banking on all of Y13 actually doing their homework for the first time in over a year, it was a bit of a gamble, but one that miraculously paid off. However, my shock at every one of them completing their assignment was short lived. Predictably, despite their initial enthusiasm and contributions to the idea of marginal gains in the first place, when I asked if anyone had actually used the wheel to plan/check/improve their essay, the answer was a resounding...
So, the task was to peer assess using the wheels. Sometimes peer assessment can lack focus, here it really did not. Not only did they enjoy this (few students can resist the lure of multicoloured ink) but the responses were really perceptive. The idea is dead simple: using the colours of the wheel for your feedback, highlight strengths and write marginal gains targets on a partner's work.
After swapping essays a couple of times, students then had to act on the feedback in green pen. This is a whole-school policy designed to show students responding to feedback and showing progress. It too is a really simple tweak and works very well at every level, creating a clear learning dialogue between students and teacher (or student and student in this case).
Of course, one of the advantages of well directed peer assessment is that as a teacher you don't have to mark it yourself, and yet the students are still making progress. In this case, it was very clear to students where their strengths lay and where improvements were needed.
So much marking is very time consuming and then not acted upon. Frequently you find yourself writing the same thing on essay after essay (year after year). Well, another slight adjustment you can make to ensure students are acting on your feedback is not marking the actual essays themselves. If you jot down the comments, questions and targets on a separate piece of paper then you don't have to repeat anything. When you have finished marking, you give the essays back along with the feedback and the students have to work out which bits of feedback belong to each essay.
Gains all round. Teacher does less work, students do more. Students engage with the feedback and also get far more feedback than you would write on one essay because they are reading everyone's feedback, not just their own.
Sunday, 14 October 2012
Batman and Robin CPD
Last year, I was given responsibility for CPD in English. Now we are lucky, every Wednesday afternoon, the students go home early and we have CPD from 2pm. This means there is an opportunity to use lots of different approaches to staff development. By far my favourite from last year was what we called 'Batman and Robin'.
My biggest problem with CPD is that, usually, you spend your time being lectured to and staring at a PowerPoint you are quite capable of going away and reading yourself. The irony smacks you over the head. Someone comes to speak to you about engaging students and they use a PowerPoint. Someone talks to you about group work and you are sat in rows. Someone talks to you about the value of talk in the classroom... they talk AT you.
The second problem I have is the 'one size fits all' approach. Having the enthusiastic NQT Maths teacher sat with the 30 year seen-it-all-before from the History department doesn't really seem to make the best sense to me most of the time.
We know that students learn best when they understand the point in an activity, they have some control over what they are doing and they can become masters of their own progress. Teachers are no different. This is where 'Batman and Robin' comes in.
The idea is that everyone in the department becomes a 'Batman'. Their strengths in a particular area are highlighted and then someone else, who would like to develop that area, volunteers to be the 'Robin'. They work together for about a four week period investigating, peer observing, researching, etc. At the end, they have a CPD slot of about 30 mins to teach the rest of the department. The areas chosen were things like: starts of lessons, using IT, showing progress, using AfL, teacher talk, differentiation and questioning.
This works extremely well. People feel good about being recognised for their talents. Here, everyone is. This in turn means you are more likely to volunteer to be a Robin to learn from someone else. Because you can choose the area, it tends to be one you think is important to for you to develop and, therefore, something you are motivated towards doing. In this case, nearly everyone volunteered to be a Robin in an area that directly related to targets from their PM observations. Finally, because there is the responsibility of feeding back to the rest of the department, the need to produce something of quality is also a driving force.
My favourite thing about it was that, rather than being talked at, nearly all the feedback sessions were based around modelling techniques and strategies you could take away and use the next day in the classroom. Because you get a chance to see them in action, you are much more likely to go away and use them. My measure of really good CPD.
My biggest problem with CPD is that, usually, you spend your time being lectured to and staring at a PowerPoint you are quite capable of going away and reading yourself. The irony smacks you over the head. Someone comes to speak to you about engaging students and they use a PowerPoint. Someone talks to you about group work and you are sat in rows. Someone talks to you about the value of talk in the classroom... they talk AT you.
The second problem I have is the 'one size fits all' approach. Having the enthusiastic NQT Maths teacher sat with the 30 year seen-it-all-before from the History department doesn't really seem to make the best sense to me most of the time.
We know that students learn best when they understand the point in an activity, they have some control over what they are doing and they can become masters of their own progress. Teachers are no different. This is where 'Batman and Robin' comes in.
The idea is that everyone in the department becomes a 'Batman'. Their strengths in a particular area are highlighted and then someone else, who would like to develop that area, volunteers to be the 'Robin'. They work together for about a four week period investigating, peer observing, researching, etc. At the end, they have a CPD slot of about 30 mins to teach the rest of the department. The areas chosen were things like: starts of lessons, using IT, showing progress, using AfL, teacher talk, differentiation and questioning.
This works extremely well. People feel good about being recognised for their talents. Here, everyone is. This in turn means you are more likely to volunteer to be a Robin to learn from someone else. Because you can choose the area, it tends to be one you think is important to for you to develop and, therefore, something you are motivated towards doing. In this case, nearly everyone volunteered to be a Robin in an area that directly related to targets from their PM observations. Finally, because there is the responsibility of feeding back to the rest of the department, the need to produce something of quality is also a driving force.
My favourite thing about it was that, rather than being talked at, nearly all the feedback sessions were based around modelling techniques and strategies you could take away and use the next day in the classroom. Because you get a chance to see them in action, you are much more likely to go away and use them. My measure of really good CPD.
Sunday, 23 September 2012
Motivating underachieving boys
Tackling underachieving boys head on for the last 14 weeks of their time in Year 11 was not a prospect that filled me with joy, in fact I actually had nightmares about it. However, not one to back down from a challenge, I decided to have a serious think about how I was going to approach this group. Clearly, things were not working for them as it was, and more of the same was going to have no effect whatsoever.
The group was carefully selected. It had to be students who we thought had the chance to pass based on coursework and what we knew of their ability, but were underachieving by a grade or more from their mock exam or had failed early entry in November. I ended up with 16 boys: mostly disaffected, three on the verge of permanent exclusion and, all bar Ashley, a foot bigger than me.
The first thing I did was to let them know they were the most important group in the school, that they were my priority and that their achievement made a difference (they took some convincing). Self-esteem was rock bottom, so I then organised the group into 4 teams. Points would be awarded at the end of every lesson for things like homework, attending revision sessions, impressive answers to questions, and most crucially, work of a C grade standard and above. The winning team received a prize each week and the best student got a positive Friday phone call home and their name in a big star at the front of the room.
I was a bit nervous about this approach at first, but after Week 1, when Dwayne won, a group huddled around the board.
‘We don’t like that miss.’
‘What?’
‘Dwayne's name in a big star.’
‘What you going to do about it then?’
The answer was obvious and over whole 14 week period, 10 of the 16 won student of the week without (very much) fixing.
The other crucial thing was to introduce a zero tolerance approach. I work in a pretty average comprehensive, so behaviour can be challenging, but students are rarely aggressive towards staff. We have a 'Discipline for Learning' system which works on a series of warnings and consequences. I sold it along the lines of: ‘I’m not wasting time giving out warnings; if you are using up my energy to tell you off, instead of letting me teach then you’ll be out of the door.’ A few lessons in, Joe decided to push the boundaries, attention seeking and answering back -out he went immediately. The look of shock on his face was a picture, but the effect on the others was astonishing. They knew I was serious, and throughout the whole 14 weeks, I only gave 3 warnings total. This was one of the most astonishing things about the lessons, before the group was put together, I would have expected only 3 warnings per lesson to have been an achievement!
Perhaps part of this might have been down to a shift in attitude I had to make too. Approximately half the group were from a black African, or black Afro-Caribbean background. Before I started teaching the group, I did some research on teaching strategies specifically aimed at boys, and black boys in particular. Lots of the advice I found was basically what I consider to be good teaching anyway: a range of activities, competition (with themselves as much as each other), some visual and kinaesthetic approaches, clear time limits, clear success criteria and clear sanctions and rewards.
However, one thing I read really stuck with me from Dr Jawanza Kunjufu. Apparently, one of the reasons for black students frequently getting into trouble for low-level disruption comes from the way families communicate at home. It is not infrequent for families from Afro-Caribbean families in particular to speak at the same time in conversation. This means they develop the skill to process and understand many voices at the same time.
This really struck home. I have a teacher-habit of asking students to repeat what has just been said if I think someone isn't listening. Just the other day, Dwayne had managed to repeat it back word for word, despite having another conversation at the same time. My middle-class, white expectations were that if you are listening, you can't talk at the same time. In my world it was good manners too. The classroom can't function if everyone shouts out and talks at once, so not seeing that kind of behaviour as deliberate disruption, bad manners, or defiance is quite difficult. But the minute I was able to understand my values are not necessarily shared, I was able to react to and handle this behaviour much more successfully.
The impact of my change of mindset, competition and rewards they really valued improved behaviour no end, but my concern was still that I had to get as many of these boys to pass as possible. I went back to the exam and basically took the questions apart. Lessons involved short bursts of activity following a very similar format:
• Focus on one question type.
• What does it mean?
• How do you answer it?
• Write a model answer together.
• Identify the key words to use in an answer linked to a C/B grade.
• Same question type, different text, timed answer in silence.
They responded brilliantly to this focused routine and the marks began to climb. Every week, after we had done a section of the exam, I showed them how their improvement was affecting their overall grade and where they still needed to focus using a traffic light system on a spreadsheet.
The other aspect of lessons which they really enjoyed was taking over control of the display. I gave them the entire back wall of the room to turn onto a learning display.
They had to co-operate as a class and in their groups. Nothing could go on the wall until the value of it had been explained and the group agreed it was worthy of display. They decided that the focus had to be the language, vocabulary and structure of answers and then set about finding their own examples. One group even decided to write their own D and C grade answers from scratch and then annotate them showing the differences.
Far from being the group I had nightmares about, they became the group I really looked forward to teaching.
The proof of the pudding, however, is in the eating. What you really want to know is whether it had any impact on results. Well, it would be lovely to have a fairytale ending where they all got C grades, and I had a film made about me, but there is only so much you can do in 14 weeks. I am really proud of the fact that my bunch of underachievers all improved significantly from their November exams, all got a D grade or above, 7 got their C grade (another 2 missing it by less than 5 marks), 7 achieved their UQ and 1 exceeded it by a level.
Perhaps the closest I've come to an 'O Captain! My Captain!' moment was when several came back to see me to say thank you :)
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