Is there anybody here?

Yes, there is, despite the lack of recent postings. The reasons are too boring to go into but include being busy (yeah, right, I never accepted that as an excuse when I was running a business, why should I get away with it?) and technology failure. I've also got a crit, sorry, Tutor Assisted Visit on Monday and need to plan for that as well as make a stab at some of the portfolio tasks for this placement before then. However, there will be some stuff coming up shortly.... I've got the notes, just haven't put fingertips to keypad yet.

So, all of you out there in readerland (and my stat counter suggests an unlikely number of return visitors), do come back again in a few days or so.

One week down

Not a great deal to report, partly because I've not done as much teaching as I might have liked: class teachers wanting to finish off units of work before handing over, S5/6 off on study leave as they do their prelims. The lessons I have taught have been pretty good though, in my humble opinion of course. Love the school though. Great atmosphere, well-behaved pupils. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule but not that many I've spotted. Now trying to get my head round how I can do the research for my APD....

What's the big idea for maths education?

The truth is.... there is no big idea. Just David Cameron launching another publicity stunt.

Apparently Vorderman's brief is to make maths education "more cheerful and populist". Exactly what that means, I do not pretend to know. But if all the world's educators-of-educators have never thought to explore this area, well, I'd be very surprised. Vorderman's great at mental arithmetic. Precisely how she could contribute meaningfully to this topic is beyond me. But what do I know? I'm only a maths teacher.....

Induction day done

In the second placment school for the first time today. Like a good little pupil I remembered to bring in a copy of the Portfolio tasks for the second term so that I could begin thinking about them....

First impressions: good. Despite the school's size, the atmosphere was calm and most classes were quiet and on task. The noisiest class was S3, which came as no surprise after the experiences of last term. By and large the pupils looked, well, just like any other bunch of high school pupils I've ever seen. I'm not sure how much I'm going to be able to say about Portfolio Task 11, which asks me to compare and contrast the pupils at each of my two placement schools. They dress alike, they talk alike. Given that the building interiors are near as dammit identical, the classes look pretty much interchangeable. Maybe that's today's first lesson: pupils are pupils wherever you go.

I enjoyed the day and am looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into teaching again. What slightly took me aback was how much "observation" I seem to be expected to do.... I was kind of expecting (hoping, even) to be thrown in at the deep end. I felt as if I was much further outside the circle of trust teaching-wise than I thought I ought to be. Don't they know I've done some of this before? I wonder if this is a common feeling. It's not great for one's confidence and self-esteem, that's for sure.

On a more positive note, Im in a department where at least in the S1/2 programme, they already have included the Curriculum for Excellence draft outcomes (though they are not explicitly linked to individual elements of the course yet), the programmes of work are more widely defined than by text book chapters and exercises, active learning is practised (at least by some teachers) and I might even be able to get access to the computer network.

Time to dust this blog off again I suppose

Back to school Monday, if only for an induction day, then for six weeks straight the following week. So I'd better get back into the habit of reflection. I'm a bit nervous about getting back into the classroom - I finished up the last placement feeling pretty confident but that all seems like so long ago. I've certainly got a few more ideas about what I want to do this time round and will definitely make an attempt to be more assertive right from the start: making out that I own the classroom from Day 1 rather than acting like I'm just borrowing it for a while....

Off topic ...... but quite funny

I occasionally look at the paths people have taken to get to these pages. Today, I discover, I had a hit from Kansas City. More oddly, the hit came via Google. And I really don't expect to feature very high up Google's listing. Hell, I don't expect to feature at all.

But apparently, if you go to Google and type in "how to find a school i'm a minority at", you'll find this blog in 5th place. Because of this post. Weird huh?

That's it

Assignment 1 is all but done. Big thanks to J for all her help with proofreading.

Final read through tomorrow and tart it up for submission.... you know, checking I've got the right line spacing, making sure the references is compliant (what is actually being tested here? My teaching skills? Ability to muster a logical argument? Nooooooo... whether or not I can follow some arcane set of rules for referencing. Sorry. Just a little bugbear of mine).

On a lighter note... we have to submit a copy electronically so it can be checked for plagiarism. Please do. I'm more than happy with that. But does anyone ever check the electronic copy against the paper version? Or could I submit a random string of text to be run through the plagiarism-checker? It's very tempting....... Just my warped sense of humour I guess.

Oh and happy new year everybody!