First Half Term at ITT

I haven’t written this for some time because I’ve been otherwise engaged at the weekends. Everything at school is ticking along nicely though. Instead of me rambling on, here are some handily structured, itemised points of what’s been going on:

Visiting Tutor observation.

I had my visiting tutor observation, as in, a tutor from another school came to see me deliver a lesson. The overall lesson got a GOOD and I was sort of pleased with that, but it does mean that every lesson from here on in has to be GOOD or better because taking a step back will really dint my self esteem and other people’s confidence in me. Our training provider was going on the other day about how they want 80% of their trainees to be OUTSTANDING this year but I wonder if that’s a bit of a curse, to be labelled OUTSTANDING before you’ve even done your NQT year. I mean, anyone that employs you, is going to expect you to be THE BEST, in short OUTSTANDING. It’s high expectations, it’s pressure. I wondered if it wouldn’t be better to be labelled GOOD before your NQT, be employed on that basis and then dazzle your new head by producing OUSTANDING lessons. Similarly with this, my first visiting tutor observation, next time, my visiting tutor is going to expect something of equal standard. What if I can’t produce it? What if that was it? I’d have much preferred to get IMPROVEMENT REQUIRED on my first one and then slowly climb the stair to GOOD, instead of being thrust on the precarious GOOD landing and told I had to stay there or climb higher, in my big clunky, ITT shoes. To my delight, I did get IMPROVEMENT REQUIRED on my overall teaching practice; though this grade came from just me talking and no actual evidence. My visiting tutor was all “do you do this?” and I’d say “sort of, like this or like that” and she made a little note. There was no science behind it, so I have no faith that that’s an accurate grade, even though it’s the one I want. It’s laughable really because one of my targets from that discussion was to forge a good relationship with a boy in class who I find troublesome; that kid wasn’t even in class for the visiting tutor to witness. She only knew about him because I mentioned him in the discussion. If I’d have kept my mouth shut or said “oh no, everything is perfect”, would I have got a GOOD in my overall teaching practice? That’s what I mean about there being no science behind it. That overall grade seemed totally based on my own perceptions and assessments; in which case, I’m forever going to be an IMPROVEMENT REQUIRED. What a stupid title for grade 3 anyway. Even OUTSTANDING teachers require improvements. Even the best teacher in the entire world can do something to be that little bit better. Everyone requires improvement. Grade 3 should be SATISFACTORY or AVERAGE. REQUIRES IMPROVEMENT implies there are some people who don’t. So, what was I saying? Oh yes, actual lesson was GOOD, and this makes me nervous for the future because I have set expectations high. Overall teaching practice REQUIRES IMPROVEMENT and this makes me confused because it was basically my own assessment and my own assessment of myself will never improve.

Why my lesson was GOOD:

Just for all you wannabe teachers out there, reasons why my lesson got a GOOD grade: Pros =  good use of technology (kids had iPads and QR codes), good rapport with children, clear learning intention and success criteria, well organised in terms of resources, good diffrentiation. Cons = during the research part of the task, I could have been clearer for the lower ability pupils, as they were just let loose on the internet really, stop saying ‘two minutes left’ and then giving kids five minutes. Be exact or shut your mouth.