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*YOU* are Sepp Blatter
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[please note that all references to Mr Blatter are in a light-hearted manner in reference to moderately recent media speculation. In the word of Have I Got News For You: "allegedly"]
When running peer assessment, it's common for the class to give a few "bonus" marks to their friends. I recently got a class to criticise each other's computer presentations and give them each a mark out of five. Of course, I also wanted to ensure that the genuinely best pieces of work bubbled to the top.
Using SurveyMonkey I drafted a quick questionnaire which allowed each pupil to give a mark to everyone else in the class after they'd seen all the presentations. The software collates the results and gives an average for each piece of work. There was no surprise to see that the boys dominated the marks as the class is roughly a 25/75 split favouring the male gender.
So I fudged them. A couple of percentiles here, a swapped digit there, a quick re-sort of the Excel spreadsheet and *voila* the top three made their way to the top of the list. Also, the bottom handful who'd not received very good marks at all found themselves far closer to the rest of the pack, although still in positions justified by their efforts.
In other words - it's my class, they're my rules and I'll adjust them so that the team I want to win gets the prize. I *am* Sepp Blatter (allegedly).
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Think of those coming next...
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It may not be the case for all of you, but my position is being filled by another probationer next year. Even if this isn't what's happening to your role as the year comes to a close, have a thought for whoever is taking over your classes if you're not being kept on.
Remember what it was like the first time you took that fourth form, not knowing who was being quiet because they were shy, and who was quiet because they were secretly plotting how to blow up the lab and blame it on someone else? Who would hand in one A-grade assignment after another simply by being provided with the syllabus and a handful of notes, and who would need sat over constantly to get so much as their name on a piece of paper?
Think how much easier things could have been if someone had given you a register, a seating plan (so you could recognise faces straight away and ensure they were sat where they were meant to be) and a quick rundown of who/what to look out for.
Now, spend an hour or so doing just that for the person filling your shoes, boots, high heels, loafers, etc. With a bit of luck and some karma, this may come back to you in kind!
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I'm doing it all wrong!
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A comment I overheard between two pupils this morning made me realise I had been concentrating my efforts in all the wrong places if I want my classes to like me as a teacher.
They were examining their new timetables and comparing staff when I heard the following comment:
"She's great - her room always smells dead nice."
So there you have it. If you want to be a success with your pupils, forget all those silly teaching methods, varied lesson plans and rewards schemes. Just get some (non-allergenic) perfumes in there!
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All change
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I'm finding this all very bizarre.
I was taught mostly in England. At the end of the year we left and when we came back, we were in the year above. Not so north of the border. It seems common practice to elevate the pupils a year at the end of the year before. This means organising resources, timetables and so forth during term time.
It also means a barrage of "are we getting you next year?" questions from S1 and S2!
The thing is, I know I'm not going to be at this school after the summer but I don't want to let this fact out to the pupils. So the S3 class I'll get from next week will be mine for less than a month before I have to archive and mothball their work for another teacher to take over after summer, without letting the pupils know that this will be the case.
But why not let them know? Well anyone who's covered a class will know the answer to this. If the class are aware you're only there for a short while, they're less likely to make any sustained effort to behave or work hard. Why bother? They'll be starting afresh wish some other person anyway.
Having said that, it's quite heartening to hear so many of my S1 and S2 pupils asking if they'll have me next year and hoping they do. I can only assume I'm doing something right.
Or perhaps I'm just too soft on them!