Thursday, October 24, 2019

Back To School

In 2 weeks I'll provide to schoolhouse from motherhood leave. I've done this before, only non mid-way through a schoolhouse year. I'll exclusively last working 3 days a calendar week only instruction 8 dissimilar classes, all shared amongst approximately other teacher. It's going to last a challenge.

On locomote past times of the anxieties associated amongst instruction lessons for the commencement fourth dimension since May, I'll last getting my 7 calendar month sometime infant settled into plant nursery - I know from experience that this tin last hard together with emotional. Although these challenges are a footling daunting, I'm excited to essay out all the novel instruction ideas that I've picked upward from all the blogs together with tweets I've read over the final half dozen months. I'm going dorsum to schoolhouse amongst fresh enthusiasm for instruction maths. In this post service I desire to country you lot most a few of the things I've got lined upward for January.

1. Exercise Books
I despair when I encounter teachers spending their hard-earned meagre salaries on supplies for work, only I'm guilty of it too. I've stocked upward on pretty stationery, folders, board pens, post-it notes... together with this fourth dimension I've gone a pace farther together with bought my ain exercise books!

As an experiment, I'm going to essay out these maths books 2.0 from Design Thinking. One of the features of these books is the checklist, commutation words, farther questions together with commutation facts sections at the bottom of each page. I recollect my students volition dear having these exceptional books together with volition accept to a greater extent than pride inwards their work. I also recollect I'll aspect frontwards to marker these books (at first!), to encounter what words, facts together with questions my students have got chosen to write inwards the boxes.
Including stamp these toll me £40 for threescore books so I'll essay them amongst 2 classes together with encounter how it goes. I'm crossing my fingers that they brand it inwards fourth dimension for the start of term! (and that my hubby doesn't discovery out that I spent my ain coin on supplies for school!).

2. Expectations
I'm planning to laid out my presentation expectations amongst all my students at Key Stage 3 together with 4 using a poster: 'gems 14 for details.
3. Hashtag Marking
I featured my ideas for hashtag marker inwards gems 12. I'm planning to have got a become at this - each of my students at Key Stage 3 together with 4 volition last issued amongst a Hashtag Marking Key (I'll impress it on A5 so they tin stick it inwards their maths mass or planner). I have got a feeling I'm going to have got a huge marker workload this twelvemonth so hopefully this volition salvage me approximately time.
Extract from Hashtag Marking Key
4. Work Review Log
Based on an thought inwards this tweet, I programme to innovate a feedback log at Key Stage 5. I commonly laid a slice of assessed locomote for my H5N1 bird students every week. I ever position a lot of endeavor into providing written feedback, so I'd similar to ensure my students are reading together with reflecting on my comments. I'll inquire them to proceed this Work Review Log at the front end of their folders together with I'll laissez passer on them an chance to consummate it every fourth dimension I provide a slice of work.
Extract from Work Review Log
The other thing I desire to produce amend this twelvemonth is ensuring that my H5N1 bird students are doing homework on their own. I'm happy for my students to aid each other inwards course of study together with on non-assessed homeworks (eg 'finish the textbook exercise'), only if I laid a slice of locomote for marker it should last reflective of each student's private bird of understanding, non that of a grouping of friends. In the past times I've had 6th shape students getting As inwards their homeworks throughout the twelvemonth (because they have got a clever friend, or fifty-fifty a tutor) together with and so doing terribly inwards their actual exam.

5. Mistake Log
All my students volition have a Mistake Log to stick inwards the front end of their mass or folder. The thought is that whenever they brand a mistake, whether because of a careless sideslip or a misconception, they tape that mistake. Again, similar the Work Review Log, I promise it helps ensure that students are reading my feedback together with reflecting on how they tin improve. I recollect they'll discovery this log useful when they come upward to revise.

6. #ByYourSide
I actually recollect every instructor should ensure their dependent area cognition is upward to scratch every bit a affair of priority. And what amend chance to bear witness your ain dependent area cognition than sitting the qualification that you're responsible for teaching? I promise to sit down the Maths GCSE exams amongst my students this summer. I recollect they'll appreciate the human activity of solidarity, together with hopefully my instruction volition produce goodness too. Although I'm really confident of my GCSE knowledge, I'll experience huge pressure level to larn 100% so I amend last careful non to brand whatever dizzy mistakes! I also intend to sit down H5N1 bird maths this summer. This is a much scarier prospect. For C3 (which I've never taught) together with C4 I'll sure have got to revise together with practise. I'm convinced this volition brand me a amend H5N1 bird teacher. I already fearfulness beingness stumped past times a tricky C4 integration question! I did a statistics grade so haven't studied pure maths since I did my H5N1 levels inwards 1999. But if I instruct it together with so I should know it similar the dorsum of my manus shouldn't I? I promise I larn permission to produce these exams because I recollect it volition last a actually worthwhile exercise. Anyone amongst me? :)

7. Apps
I'm thinking most taking my iPad into school, if I tin prise it away from my toddler. I'm actually non bad to essay Idoceo because teachers on Twitter rave most it. But my schoolhouse has started using Mint Class this twelvemonth together with I desire to avoid duplication. So Idoceo mightiness have got to hold off until side past times side September, when I'll last at a novel school.

I'm also non bad to essay Plickers together with Quick Key, both of which I've written most inwards my gems posts, together with I'm considering using iVisualiser too.

8. Resources
I've been lucky plenty to have a brace of lovely freebies late - ane of my favourite resources websites MathsPad have given me a gratuitous subscription that I can't hold off to use! I'm also interested in Create a Test. The prissy people at Create a Test have got given my schoolhouse a 3 calendar month gratuitous lawsuit of their test-writing tool. I wonder whether other schools are inwards the same province of affairs every bit us - nosotros laissez passer on all our Key Stage 3/4 students 3 or 4 tests a twelvemonth (including an goal of twelvemonth exam) together with this is how nosotros create upward one's heed maths sets for the side past times side twelvemonth (I should cite at this yell for that I'm non supportive of a 'teach to the test' civilization inwards maths together with would dear to listen option approaches). Anyway, because these are 'high stakes' tests, nosotros desire to avoid whatever run a jeopardy of papers beingness seen inwards advance, so nosotros create novel tests every year. This is actually fourth dimension consuming so we'd produce goodness from a skillful character test-writing tool amongst a large depository fiscal establishment of questions. I'll study dorsum on how we're getting on amongst Create a Test inwards a brace of months.

So that's a few of the highlights of my electrical flow 'going dorsum to school' resources together with plans. Now I have got the most of import thing to produce - I postulate to start planning my lessons. I'll last doing circle theorems amongst Year 10, which is convenient because I late wrote a post service most instruction circle theorems. Unfortunately I've also been assigned 'constructing triangles' amongst my Year 8s - my to the lowest degree favourite topic inwards the world! Any ideas to brand this to a greater extent than bearable would last gratefully received!