Please se me

Stardate 6 march 2009-03-06

Full and empty

The 2 lessons today were both totally opposites. The morning session for the first time was completely fully the evening session almost completely empty. The emptiness of the evening session can be explained by the fact there was a large crash on the motorway causing it to be shut .So most people either got stuck and came home or saw it on the news and thought I’ll give it a miss. I suppose it’s like my earlier snow day discussion. The morning session was hectic and I’m not sure I have a solution to this. I really seem to get the run around, learners all have individual problems they need assistance with but some days I think it’s the nature of the beast people need help when they need it. I reflected on a better system but short of a ticket machine where u take a number and wait your turn I doubt there is one. The evening lesson presents a challenge in itself with me and four learners in some ways it’s ideal as I can provide the kind of individual attention I would have liked to in the mornings session but then u run into the problem of not letting learners find their own way. The inspector suggest I should let learners fail whist I do understand this reasoning I like to, let’s say split the difference and suggest possible results to certain methods. Oh I get to meet ofsted as a learner next week that should be interesting, i just missed being ofsteded the last time they came around I think I was lucky they would have stuffed and mounted me as an example of how not to do it. Would this have been my fault well no I can only play the game if I have been shown that it needs to be played a certain way to succeed. I refuse to be nervous tomorrow during the meeting it doesn’t really have a bearing on me how it goes, I intend to be positive and complimentary about the course. I have found it useful as it has lifted the sense of “is this what I’m supposed to be doing?” Am I doing this right? I now feel that I don’t have to agree with the methods or philosophy but if I just do it as I have been instructed I will be considered competent. My students always learned, now I seem to be teaching them correctly and they still seem to learn so who am I to argue. We have had a range of teachers teaching us, each has presented the course a different way they were all competent open and honest. The first was very IT savvy this appealed to the nerd in me, the second was very knowledgeable and presented in a down to earth relaxed method. The third perhaps a mixture of the 2 uses elements of each but crucially for me is willing to look at an incomplete assignment and say either this is complete bollox or no this is along the correct lines just expand this or do that, which I personally find helpful as I have never been entirely sure from assignment to assignment if I completely misunderstood the question or not. This has for me reduced the pressure and help me gain confidence along the way, rather than let me feel I’m about to fail at the last hurdle. Moments in education make a lasting mark. In primary school an assignment was handed back with a red line swept through each page and the words “please see me” at the end this teacher fucked up my confidence for years with a single half arsed comment, I shall be better than her. My current teacher is.