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Other staff can help... even inadvertantly!
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OK, so I didn't post much at the end of week 1. I'm wary of
identifying children, staff and the school so I'll try and cherry pick
events and report them further down the line and in a random order!
One
little event I'd like to mention was when I took a new class of first
years. The teacher in the room next to mine is known for being quite...
loud when he gets annoyed. My class were starting to get a little
restless and I was verging on asking for a little more attention and
less chatter when the wall behind me seemed about to cave in due to the
severity of the sound waves battering into them.
I don't know what
one of the kids next door had done, but Mr X wasn't happy about it and
was making his displeasure known very much to the victim and to the
entire corridor (as well as, most likely, the floor above).
The
first years all stopped talking and stared at the wall. I'd stopped as
well.
Then I told them, "I get that angry as well. Do not let me
get that far. Does anyone want to have me shout at them like that?"
Cue
a small forest of 11-12 year old heads rapidly being shaken. And all
without having to raise my own voice!
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8:15am? And I've not even started yet!
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I checked the times for the probationer meeting a day or so
beforehand and panicked when I saw that it ran from 8:15am to 4:30pm. I
was expecting something nice and relaxed like 10:00-14:00. Ah well.
The venue was a football stadium, surprisingly badly signposted.
Thank Winterberg (Google him) for GPS! The meeting and talks themselves
didn't kick off till after 9:00, but the day went surprisingly quickly.
The breaks and lunch were great for meeting other probationers (and the
food was pretty good, as well), while the handful of lectures were
well-received.
Two of last year's probationers gave a brief talk towards the end of
the day and I think settled a few nerves.
Overall despite the long day, definitely worth the trip in. I've met
all of the other probationers from my school for the first time as I was
on holiday when the initial meeting was scheduled back in June. In
fact, I've already agreed with one of them that we will organise a class
trip somewhere at some point during our time at school. We may come to
regret that decision...
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Before term even starts...
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A quick introduction - I'm a Computing teacher (well, NQT) about to
undertake my probationary year. Part of me is bouncing with
anticipation, part of me is freaking out.
Today I paid a visit to my school for the first time where I met the
teacher I'd be taking over from. A quick trip around gave me an idea of
the resources I had, a chat told me about my classes for next year and
some introductions to other staff made me feel welcome.
On the downside, I'm one of many probationers who'll find themselves
skipping between classrooms and sharing classes with other members of
staff. This is a bit of a shame - I'd hoped to have my own "territory"
which I could decorate and become familiar with, but such is the luck of
the draw.
Just speaking to my predecessor helped put my mind at ease about the
upcoming year and was definitely worth the journey in. The only downside
is that I now have high expectations regarding the rest of the staff!