My year 7 classes are mostly lovely and I enjoy getting to start from scratch with them. I feel like we are making good progress though more consolidation time would be good. One of my classes has very tricky students in it and one in particular has really tried my patience. There is a lot going on with him and they are waiting for formal diagnosis of some variation of ASD. In the meantime we should really have a teaching assistant but there simply aren't enough to go around. Realistically, we all try to keep him in the lessons as long as possible but it inevitably ends with senior management being called to remove him. I think I've managed about three lessons this half term where he wasn't sent out. It's a tragic situation and very difficult to manage so that his needs are met as well as teaching 29 other students. My year 7s were wonderful in the last week because they were very happy to watch some videos about German Christmas markets and then do crafts while listening to music! Super relaxed for me and good to get some time to just chat with them in smaller groups.
My year 8s can be tricky to get to listen but we manage to get along just fine. I have a top band class in this year group and they are a real delight. It's nice to have at least one lesson where you know most of them will have done their homework, will have remembered what you taught last week, and don't need reminding to be quiet. We have some great lessons and they could give some of my year 11s a run for their money when it comes to speaking German!
Year 9 is a difficult year and my class can sometimes be extremely chatty and off task. This is made more difficult by the fact I see them last on a Wednesday. But, I've been adapting my teaching style and they have mostly done well in the assessments this term. I also feel like I am building better relationships with them so this will hopefully help. My tutor group on the other hand, continue to give me grief. I often dread seeing them in the afternoon and am always stoked when we have assembly! As individuals they are mostly pretty good, but the grouping of boys is a terrible combination. The relationship building is not going as well as I would like and will require some thinking about next term to see if something can be done. I'm hoping it will also get better with time.
My year 10s are coming along nicely and I feel that we have a really good relationship going. Some are a little disheartened by their target grades at the moment - I find it rather bad that we give them target grades below a pass mark. They are actually indicators of their current work level and therefore shouldn't be called "target" grades in my opinion. I've tried this conversation with the class and most accept that they can always improve, but a couple of my girls are in a right strop about it. Hopefully they come back after the holidays with a better attitude!
The difficult year 11 class are perhaps slightly better in their attitude towards me, but their work ethic is still atrocious. Hopefully a set of bad mock exam grades will change things but I think that may be optimistic thinking. It was rather depressing to mark one of their writing exams and have the score come out at 0. 😣 Well, I just keep making sure I am doing my job and giving them every opportunity to succeed and then accept that it is their decision not to take advantage.
My colleagues continue to be wonderful and I am really enjoying that aspect of work. The German teachers got together last week for an early Christmas celebration with sausages, chips, mulled wine made with a Feuerzangenbowle (sugar is soaked in alcohol and then set alight to drip into the wine below), and Lebkuchen. It's nice to have a group of people I like to hang out with outside of school as well as at work!
Now, I'm in Germany for a week over Christmas and am glad to be finally relaxing!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.