Categories: uncategorized
Date: 18 October 2004 23:02:14
The best bit of teacher training I ever received, this was. They don't have to like you - they just have to respect you. And I can tell you my year six class certainly don't like me very much at the moment. Nevertheless, they learnt more today than they have done since September - and not all of that was just Maths, either.
I read the riot act at the start of the lesson. Not getting cross, just stating the facts as I saw them and how I intended to deal with them. Four hardworking little individuals I moved out into another part of the caravan so I could concentrate on my ten main troublemakers and seat them singly round the classroom, with a space alongside for an adult to sit if necessary. Ooooooh, they loved that ;)
I established the rules:
No talking. At all. About anything. Not without putting your hand up first and getting permission.
No getting up out of your seat, even to borrow a rubber. Not without first getting permission from a member of staff.
No turning round in your seat to talk to the person behind - pointless doing so, really, seeing as they're not allowed to talk to you.
And here's the cracker -
Every time I had to stop the lesson - even mid sentence -because people were talking over me or gazing out of the window or messing about or refusing to listen or do any work - I just stopped talking and silently started the stopwatch. As soon as they realised and became quiet and looked my way, I stopped it. Conveniently the lesson is just before break so guess what we did with the four minutes and 46 seconds they had wasted of my lesson time.......
Ooooooh, she's mean, that woman. She's mean.
Pity my poor Tiddles, however, who came home from school with maths homework and a steely determination not to be able to do it.