The broom cupboard 3 - for briefly stranded republicans

[TheHoneyBadger]

First in tops up the gin supplies and turns on the tea urn.

can’t see it is more difficult than sitting them alphabetically to learn names?

It just helps with recall if you can tie a name to a position without having to look at a seating plan. Like if you’re marking and you think ‘Josh Westbrook, ok he sits at the back, yep, got him’. And especially when you’re handing out exercise books and have two kids with the same name.

Like I said, once I learn names in that seating plan, I mix it up.

I change seating plans quite regularly. Particularly when we weren’t (aren’t?) moving around the class, I move the back to the front a lot.

Basically, and crudely, I really just want them to fuck off and let me get on with my job. I really resent the time wasting and bollocks that just gets in the way of me getting on with what really needs to be done

Preach!
Applies to the DforE as well especially Gav the colossal waste of space

Been in to school this morning - usual chaos. Evidence of money being spent on fripperies to make the place look nice so if we run out of glue sticks in December I shall be pointing that out nicely not nicely.

With ks3 who we teach in form groups I sometimes just start with the form tutors seating plan (bar tweaking for sen if they haven't) and see how that goes then come up with the one I want after getting to know them better.

I also like changing the seating plan every now and then just to keep them on their toes and to let them know yes I am aware that you're sitting there talking/distracting so and so/not doing enough work even if I've chosen not to make a big deal of it and disrupt others learning during lessons. It's funny how just a change of seating plan can be like a reset.

Maths can be fun though Noble because it's like puzzles and it may take a while to get there but when you do get there there's a lovely ah I've got it now! moment. I quite enjoyed maths when I was doing supply because it was quite roll up your sleeves and get stuck in, there must be a way to work this out type challenge and once I'd remembered/clicked I could be nipping round the room helping others to 'get it'. Alternatively once I found a child who 'got it' and could explain to me then we could go round helping the others. I was in no way good at it but would get stuck in and be usefulish and appreciated that the objective was clear even if I was foggy on method.

Glad you've got a supportive HT DM. I've never seen anything like it since that first placement and it was so effective. No going home and saying ah yeah they're lying, I didn't do anything, she had a go at me for nothing blah blah - the whole conversation has been had in a timely, all parties 'present' open manner.

@noblegiraffe

can’t see it is more difficult than sitting them alphabetically to learn names?

It just helps with recall if you can tie a name to a position without having to look at a seating plan. Like if you’re marking and you think ‘Josh Westbrook, ok he sits at the back, yep, got him’. And especially when you’re handing out exercise books and have two kids with the same name.

Like I said, once I learn names in that seating plan, I mix it up.

I change seating plans quite regularly. Particularly when we weren’t (aren’t?) moving around the class, I move the back to the front a lot.

Yes I kept the kids in the same rows but rotated the rows every Monday so back to front and everyone back a row. Felt like the fairest way to give attention/support them!

I only say about alphabetical because a student in my form when in Y7 ended up sat between two particularly difficult students who were really really mean to her and it turned out she hated every minute of every lesson except the one they hadn’t been sat alphabetically in when it all came to a massive head. So every year now we ask teachers to generate a plan, randomly if they want, but not to do alphabetical otherwise there will be one child probably having the worst first half term ever.

I mean I have taught for over twenty years but her face and everything when it all came out is one of those awful things that has stuck with me! I just carry my printed seating plan around the room with me and being core can learn the names of those I teach usually within first few weeks.

Not a hope in hell I could do that when I taught all of KS3 ICT many years ago - they were lucky if I knew their names by the end of three year without some mistakes!

Not sure that made sense - having taught for over 20 years it’s only been really awful once is what I was trying to say!!!

For Y7s I like to give them an ordering task such as girls v boys who can get into height order the fastest without talking. Then seat them according to the order (tallest at the back!) then move them when I want. Gives a quick insight into the characters of the class.

Oh I do that early in the first week too - get yourself into height order without speaking. Interesting.

I know you will understand ‘born’ that in Computing or ICT, if you tell a student where something is, they won’t remember it the next lesson but if you help them find it/work out themselves, they do, so for some tasks at least, CLT examples aren’t appropriate in my opinion.

In ICT and Computing I used to give direct instruction in the basics, would together with them model what to do to get started, set an open ended brief (or they might set their own) and let them get on with it. Inevitably they taught each other better than I would have.
My Y7 groups did a year-long project which they partially managed themselves, setting homework, deadlines and so on. I appreciate you can’t do this in many subjects!

Just been talking to DH about his seating plans (aren’t we fun!?) and he says he lets them sit where they want first leason the moves after a couple of weeks but he then reminded me he is Science and sees them about 4 times a week so by third week or so, he knows them better but with just one hour a week in my subject, it would take me over near to the end if the Christmas term to have just as many lessons, so he told me not to sweat it too much that and he only teaches private school girls lucky thing

My A level students weren’t allowed to ask for help until they had written down

-What they were trying to do
-Why they were trying to do it
-What they thought had gone wrong
-How they’d tried to fix it
-Why that didn’t work
-Something else they might try

By the time they’d done that, they mostly realised either what had gone wrong and how to fix it or that it was the wrong thing to do in the first place.

I didn't do alphabetical because I have clusters and not rows. And I have spread the characters throughout so they're not all together. Everyone else is randomly distributed until I get to know them better.

@borntobequiet

My A level students weren’t allowed to ask for help until they had written down

-What they were trying to do
-Why they were trying to do it
-What they thought had gone wrong
-How they’d tried to fix it
-Why that didn’t work
-Something else they might try

By the time they’d done that, they mostly realised either what had gone wrong and how to fix it or that it was the wrong thing to do in the first place.

I think that approach might work in many areas of life born!

neu.org.uk/press-releases/sage-schools-reopening?utm_campaign=Social+Media&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=Organic+Social&utm_content=Make+schools+safe%2CPress+Release&fbclid=IwAR1xf9aJrACLSof6RjE0w6CO_j2Lc6zlAkg_LQsXxYxbD6-7Y3Ky26fbz48
NEU asking Where is Gav, among other things...
Link to SAGE statement on schools reopening at bottom, off to read....

Been reporting on it too. Report written 11 Aug, says gov should plan then for the high cases which we’ll see in Sept - Oct!

Beeb, even, and here’s the link
www.bbc.com/news/health-58357021

I think that approach might work in many areas of life born!

Yes, I used to tell them, however tedious you might think this is, it’s a good preparation for the rest of your life.

The actual, v short and with interesting graphs, report:

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1013533/S1355_SPI-M-O_Consensus_Statement.pdf

Scotland reports 6,000 cases with 14.5% positivity

Ooh, just off to my 'if the government were honest' thread in health with that link. The BBC now also a doom monger apparently.

Whatever did happen tot he press conferences?

Everyone is a doom monger, unless they are saying what people want to hear.

I think the lack of press conferences says it all piggy.

Also this :

*The DfE is to stop publishing the Covid absence figures on a weekly basis, and will instead publish “a fortnightly summary” starting from 21 September.

James Bowen, director of policy at the National Association of Head Teachers, said there “seems to be no clear justification or rationale” for the change. The DfE said the decision was made by its chief statistician and reflected “user need”*

They are on holiday. Same as covid.

All the “users” would want more detail, not less!!