Teachers - your thoughts on this? (Essay help!)

[badgermonkey]

I'm planning an essay for my Master's course, and I want to write about the barrage of new initiatives that teachers face and how we have to adapt every time. I'll be looking at the last 20 years or so, since the start of the National Curriculum, I think, and I want particularly to comment on ideas that have been brought in with great fanfare and dropped later on, especially if they've been disproven or shown not to work (ahem, Brain Gym...). I'll also be writing about new schemes that are coming into play at the moment, like APP and topic-based learning.

I've been teaching 7 years and I can think of quite a few things myself, like the Lit + Num Strategies, learning styles, peer assessment, and, obviously, SATs, but I would really welcome examples from other people. I'm a secondary English teacher so often 'experimented' on with new ideas but I don't really get to see what goes on at Primary level. Any examples or opinions gratefully accepted!

you aren't my sister are you? (although her whinge list target areas would be largely centered on the science curriculum -

i think i'll send her this thread...

what is APP

Lol!

Travel plans! 5 people working on turning those down in our local council offices!!

Rainbow bloody Road

Phonics EVERY day (TG we're getting Read Write Inc, at least won't have to plan 5 days 36 weeks a year!)

Meetings for parents explaining how we teach / parent power

Isn't Sarah B a big fan of MN??!!

One-to-one tuition initiative in English and Maths - ten one hour long sessions allocated to students who will most benefit. Can't see it lasting as a lot of schools do it within timetabled hours and students miss other lessons. Lots of money allocated for it for next year as well apparently though.

APP is 'assessing pupils' progress'. There are sheets that you highlight to find levels. Aren't you filling in screeds of them for maths, eng, sci, reading...? Thought everyone was.

Which reminds me...
Pivats! (I like pivats, though)

great thread!

and ah yes the threshold... and the 3 spine points that just disappeared once we had all made mega big folders of evidence to get through it...
and now if youre UPS3 you have to prove your 'sustained and significant' contribution every year..

Enterprise audits - a mahoosive audit of how every subject in school covered 'enterprise' (whatever the fuck that is) and then we had to have a poster in our rooms where we wrote the lesson's enterprise objectives. Cos the kids really want to know the enterprise objective when they are doing poetry don't they? Barking.

Quite like APPs. Better than KS3 SATs in any case.

i have never app ed

i mark books though?

I love the enterprise objectives! Because everything you do in school must be connected to "the world of work" - as if working for 40 years once you've left school isn't enough, you have to be bombarded with corporate bullshit while you're at school as well.

Su - that's cos you're not Geog

lol
badger
you are not a convert then

And the Who Wants to be a Millionaire stuff old hat! Now everyone's doing "Poetry X Factor" or "Strictly Come Grammar" etc etc

oh sob
i am OLD HAT.

I know someone who keeps going on about doing mathlionnaire on teh smartboard. Doesn't appeal

old hat was taken
hence

PMSL 'Strictly Come Grammar!'

Every single school talent show these days is called '(Insert name of school)'s Got Talent'

i know
god and " learning is fun"

pshaw - altough ds1s shcool could do with a bit of FUN IN his lessons

Have we had financial education?

There is a never ending deluge of psd programmes

Anything involving Theatre in Education or worse, people from local radio coming in is also always dire. Ours stood in front of y10, said "yeah, we know you're all having sex" (as three-quarters of them squirmed and suddenly felt really inadequate) and blew up condoms and threw them round the room, meaning the loudest, daftest lads got a chance to play the clown with them and everyone in the room with an IQ of over 100 wished they were in Maths instead of watching that patronising rubbish.

We invited a major bank in to give their financial education chat. Don't do it, was garbage.

They are all exactly like Legs Akimbo off League of Gentleman aren't they? Always remember the one where they said to a room full of 15 year olds 'Hands up who's gay?'

All encapsulated under ECM, isn't it, supported by SEAL/citizenship/PSHE..... and, it seems (after googling it for more info (!)) the Enterprise Audit (wish I had one of those!).

I just thought of.....

COMMUNITY COHESION!! What a pile of horseshit. Global and national diversity, faith, etc, etc. How can you explain 'faith' to a 6 year old who hasn't even stepped foot in a church?