terrible at observed lessons

[runningmummy1]

Although I don't think I am an awful teacher, my results are outstanding. My observed lessons are awful in a very career limiting way! I am in a temporary post and although I still love kids and teaching seem to always be doing something wrong. My daughter has begged me to go back to supply, I would happily go back. DH is okay with the idea but deep down wants and needs the security that two secure incomes brings. Should I tough out another 7 years which I need to do for childcare or go to supply and hope for the best! I would love some impartial advice.

Why 7 years!?

This is where is all goes wrong. You can be a good teacher with good results, good feedback from parents and children and your planning/paperwork and books are good, but cock up on observations through fear (of crap, unhinged jobsworth SMT shafting you usually) and then you are on your way out.

If you are a shite teacher-lazy with marking and planning, the parents hate you and the children don't learn anything, but you pull observation lessons out of the bag-you can swing an Outstanding!

Luckily-I suppose 'triangulation' is supposed to remove this happening.

I think it's pretty irrelevent what your teaching is like as long as your books are marked well, your paperwork is clear, the children make good progress and the parents/children are happy. Why does it matter how you teach? especially when being watched by teams of people with clipboards-honestly, that can be terrifying.

If you take away the observations (only doing them if there's a cause for concern) we could probably halve the numbers of SMT in schools and then we'd have loads more money we could spend on pencils and books.

Sorry-that little tirade hasn't helped you, I expect.

What happens in your observed lessons-is it nerves getting the better of you?

7 years because DH works shifts until 11pm and the other career i have in mind is also shift work. The kids will not be old enough to be left alone until that late for years. I need to be off in the holidays too. Yes nerves get the best of me and I plan far to complex lessons. Actually the tirade did help as i feel the same!

You have lost nothing by trying supply. Everyone I know who has done that has loads of work.

Yes progress but also talking too much but not modelling enough

Treat them as a tick box exercise and make sure you get in all the bollocksy buzz words of the minute.
Learning objective-tick
Success criteria
Talk partners
thinking time
show progress within the lesson (so make sure you're teaching them something new that they didn't know before)
mini plenaries
send the more able off first so they're not being held back
self assessment
Lolly sticks
clear behaviour expectations
word banks/interactive topic stuff on the wall for children to use

Have a Smartboard done with all your clips and just whizz through it so you won't foget the important things.

It's about playing the game more than anything else.

Thanks

What are lolly sticks? Clearly that's what's been holding me back.

Sympathies OP. it's a joke, isn't it?

I am good at observations (always get outstanding) but I absolutely hate them and I am usually sick at some point before the lesson. Please note, my books and results are good too, so I don't just pull it out of the bag! For an observation I always:

• make a PPT with key learning points for when my mind goes blank
• make sure we are doing something new
• make sure TA is planned for at each stage of lesson (not always with LA)
• have LO on display (but we have to do this anyway as it is school policy)
• have at least 3 levels of differentiation (also policy)
• set specific times for activities
• never 'plough on' if they aren't getting it

Observations are horrific but I just view them as a 'hoop' to jump through.

And remember that school performance management of teachers is now supposed to look at a triangle of performance - book scrutinies, data/progress over time and lesson observations. So the observation alone doesn't (or shouldn't) have as much weight as used to.

For example I was recently observed, and for various reasons it went somewhat awry and wasn't as good as I'd hoped (progress was considered 'requires improvement', although other areas were deemed good and outstanding). In the past this would have automatically meant an informal capability with 3 further observations in close proximity and a support package, but as the evidence on my book scrutinies and my class data from this years pupil progress meetings so far was all deemed outstanding, and previous observations have all been good or outstanding, nothing more was done (apart from a supportive and helpful chat about the elements of the lesson that could be improved on, which I totally agreed with).

This is the way schools are supposed to be managing it, and it hopefully means that one blip of an observation shouldn't now have the catastrophic result that many people worry so much about.

But I suppose it depends on your school....

I've often fallen into the pitfall of talking too much trying to make sure absolutely everyone understands and the advice I've had and am trying is to at a much earlier point send off anyone who feels confident and who has got it to start their independent work. The ones who need further support / modelling then form my guided group.

It's a weird game, observations. I was once told that my results were excellent, my books excellent, but because one lesson observation wasn't great, maybe the books and the results were wrong! Madness!

We were told to talk for as many minutes as the children's age. 4-5 minutes for reception??!