Triumphs of the year

[noblegiraffe]

Dear god this is the term that just won’t die.

So what have been your postives this year? Before the summer kicks in and it all becomes a hazy blur.

For me:

1. organised a coach trip that went well (only organised minibus trips before)
2. survived Ofsted
3. presented at INSET
4. got through teaching the worst Y9 group in years with sanity intact
5. taught some lovely kids, and some cheeky but funny ones

2. and 4) for me also, oh and some 5).

I successfully organised a residential in London for 4 days without losing or injuring anyone!!!

I've put on a demonstration lesson for other teachers to watch for their pd.

I've managed to survive teaching bottom set year 11.

I've taught part of the A Level that I've never taught before (some of it I've never come across before and had to teach myself before I could teach the kids), and the kids actually seem to understand most of it!

I've mentored a student teacher who had ended up being pretty good and has secured a job at the school she wanted.

I have enrolled on a course that has got me excited about teaching again. It's nothing particularly amazing, but putting aside time to really think about how to teach rather than getting stuck in the same rut because it's easier.

I haven't resigned, which feels like quite a big deal!

I've completed my NQT year!

Been an HLTA for about about 10 years, part time degree so it has taken about 6 years to get here and be fully qualified.

Nobody died.
They all made progress.
Win.

I have successfully for through my first year with a TLR and can see the difference made beyond my own classroom.

Built a good relationship with a child in my form who is known for being quite a difficult character.

Mentored a student teacher for the first time which was great!

Taught so many lovely kids this year and have become really quite attached to my fairly challenging Y10 group - so much so that I am keeping them in Y11.

It's been a challenging and at times stressful year but I honestly feel like I have learnt so much this year and developed in so many ways.

I am so looking forward to summer though - need a break now and a recharge of batteries!

Blimey MsAwesome well done on organising a residential, that must have been a lot of work! Was it anything to do with maths?

Congratulations on passing your NQT year Caaarrrl! It sounds like it has been a long time coming!

Good job everyone who hasn’t resigned, it does feel like an increasingly small pool of people holding the line.

No noble, nothing to do with maths, it was an enrichment trip during the Easter holidays. We live quite rurally, a long way from any big cities so it's a big deal to go to London. We go to museums, see West end shows, do the touristy things, etc. It's a great trip but it's a huge amount of work, so having run the trip for 4 years in not doing it next year. Nobody else has stepped up, so it's not going ahead next year, which is a shame but I'm trying very hard not to be guilted into continuing.

Carrrrl congratulations on passing your nqt year!!! That's fabulous!

Well done everyone who has survived the year with a few highlights.

I’m just coming to the end of my first year running a L3 course with a group of fantastic 6th formers based in a theatre rather than a school. It’s still government funded, so it still counts, but it was all a bit of a gamble - left School last summer, set up by myself, no idea whether it would work, but it’s been brilliant. Best year of my career ever - I’ve found my teaching mojo again and have loved the autonomy and the fact that I don’t have to do anything that doesn’t have a direct impact on the students and their learning.

Marking has been through the external SV process and I’m putting their first year grades through with almost all distinctions.

I've done some great extra curricular stuff that I'm really proud of.
I've helped an nqt develop and grow in confidence.
Most importantly, I've secured a new job for September which I think I will love!

I resigned!

But it’s all for good reasons and I was terribly sad to leave. Well... I will be when I’ve finished everything. I’ll be in over the Summer!

Looking forward to a bit of breathing space.

Survived a raft of the worst y8/y9/y10 groups known to humanity, managed to lose one or two of them over the year which has got to be a win for the rest of the students.
Had the best ever ( or close enough) y11/13 and had a ball with them, loving biology.
Set up a new extra curricular group with a great nucleus of really keen kids, mostly fab parents and have qualified for nationals.
Made a little progress with a really damaged kid I mentor.
Got to know my new tutor group and they are all fab ( we keep them for the whole 5 years of main school)

I've survived 2 full terms after a year on mat leave and have just about kept on top of things!

Well done Caaarrrl! I have:

1. Taught Y13 for the first time and new syllabus Y12 - like MsAwesomeDragon I had to teach bits to myself before teaching the students!
2. Had a mention and retweets from the MEI on Twitter
3. Had a lovely appraisal from my boss
4. ... It probably sounds naff but I've had no complaints about me from parents either this year!

Not a teacher or a TA but have been heavily involved in the conception and running of a new Thrive unit (Alternative Curriculum). In the first year we have gone from 52 FTE to 27 and from 47 violent incidents to 9. We are a resounding success! (And are now funded for another year...)

Tell you what, I'm knackered though.

Survived a good 6 months of constant observation. Made a resolution to leave if it continues next year. Butting up against cuts in services all the time and dealing with more and more issues that should not be in my remit.

On the plus side, great (honest) progress in class and a great class relationship in a class that came to me fractured after having no permanent teacher for 1.5 years. Some great feedback from parents. Some children really opening up to me.

I have decided to give it a year. That itself is a great step forward! I feel better admitting that teaching is making me unhappy. That said, i know this half term is a dip. Hoping things get better.

I've just passed my NQT too!

And not sworn loud enough for anyone to hear.
AND only had one minor burn in the whole year (of student) (am chemistry btw).

This week I had year 8 groups building wind turbines. A small group of girls from the middle/low ability set knocked the spots off the top set boys and they are VERY proud, and a little bit awesome.

Well done Goldrill!

Congratulations Goldrill and other NQTs who can now take off the training wheels!

Well done Eviltwins, glad your gamble paid off! Must be a relief! Do your students only do drama post-16 or do they do other qualifications elsewhere too?

Got through Ofsted

Had a year 11 student really pull it out the bag this year - they were in danger of seriously going off the rails in year 10 but has worked their socks off and should get 7s in my subject. And I got a lovely thank you card from them.

Survived the worst year 9 student in the school, sadly now excluded for other reasons, but by the end my lessons were the only ones this student wasn't getting parked from and was actually doing some work.

Was phenomenally proud of the amount of year 10s who made prefect. They were the year 7s when I started and I shed a little tear at how they've grown and matured.

As a department we've pulled apart our schemes and made some brave choices based on what is best for the students and not continuing with things just because that's what's always been done.

Kudos to everyone who has survived a hellish class.

thisisonebreath yes it is devastating when you really work with students and they actively want to attend your lessons and then they do something in another part of the school which causes their ultimate demise. Mind you with a couple I have been known to 'give them enough rope'.

noble thanks! Yep - will be cracking open the bubbly next week and celebrating the gamble!

They just do drama - it’s a BTEC Extended Diploma so gives the same number of ucas points as 3 A Levels. I see them all day 4 days per week then they do a self study day the 5th day - no free periods when they’re with me so they get that all in one go. I’ve got 11 this year and a further 16 starting in September!

FE not secondary and we don’t work term time as such but in the last month five people who never ever thought they would succeed have passed Level 2 Functional Maths.
Three of these have small children and say they will now be able to support their Maths learning in a positive way.