I saw this quote outside, what will eventually become, my classroom:
A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes Mohandas Gandhi
For the week I spent with my new school I attempted to think I was a teacher. The fact I was unexpectedly asked to teach some lessons helped. I arrived to find the current teacher showing the class words such as “metamorphosis” and “antidisestablishmentarianism’. Note to self: improve my vocabulary over the summer, it’s the only way I can uphold my honorificabilitudinitatibus.
I sat with my new class in a circle and realised they were more nervous of me than I of them. The first game I played “Can I guess the right child from the names on the register?” went down ridiculously well. I used to be a stand-up comedian and I only wish I’d had such easy audiences.
There were a few more unexpected moments. A child I rewarded for being the only member of the class stood quietly in line, turned out to be a selective mute. I also discovered how often I ‘ummm’ between sentences, as each time it provoked a response from a child called ‘Om’.
The class teacher forewarned me of one girl who steals everything that’s not nailed down. A 7-year-old kleptomaniac, although she looked so innocent I prefer to use kleptoenthusiast. Another child described an alien as looking like a ‘junkie’. She had a point but it left me stuck for something to say. I was relieved to discover she’d actually said ‘jumpy’.
My voice remained intact , which was a great relief as I never want to have to teach algebra through the medium of mime ever again and I even met some of the parents during parents evening. I was helped throughout by a teaching assistant who had been at the school so long she had taught some of the parents present. All in all, a worthwhile exercise with nothing yet to justify the panic I’ve been suppressing since gaining the job.
I have been leafing through notes taken from my PGCE course, in preparation for September. I found a number of doodles some of which I thought I would share. This has also been my hundredth post. Enjoy the summer, Tim x
I'm not sure of the lesson in which I drew this but it suggests I wanted to be somewhere else.
R.E. lesson - God flashes the world.
My fear of the 'Research Informed Teaching' lesson
Gnome Envy
The day we discovered Ofsted inspectors really exist.
A fly slide
A game of cricket invaded by a giant multi-coloured bulldog clip...?
