9R3

This post will most likely sound disgustingly patronising, but it really is not meant to be.

As I approach the end of my time at George Farmer, I'm starting to feel little pangs of sorrow over the pupils that I'm leaving, particularly my bottom set Year 9s.

Ironically, 9R3 was the group that gave me the most hassle when I first started teaching. I was forever dishing out detentions; writing yellow slips; sending numerous reprobates to Ben (Head of English). As a class, they rarely displayed acceptable behaviour, let alone good. However, I was more exasperated by the fact that they simply could not undertake--to any degree of success--what I considered to be rather simple and straightforward tasks. After some reflection, I realised that the problem was me: I was expecting far too much from them in terms of what they are capable of academically; consistent, limited achievement inevitably produces poor behaviour. Thus, I had to modify my teaching methods: this involved breaking tasks down into smaller steps and providing much greater scaffolding around the tasks.

Several months down the line, and I can truly say that I feel proud of the pupils in 9R3; they have made such great progress in terms of their attitude towards work, their achievements and their behaviour. I have started to raise my expectations again, as I know that they can, indeed, carry out more challenging tasks if the provisions are in place. This morning, I put them into groups of three to prepare for a speaking and listening assessment. Six months ago, group work was not an option. Today, though, they worked sensibly, co-operatively and successfully on a task that I know was pushing them a little beyond their boundaries.

This class has gone from being my four-times-a-week-horror-story to being my favourite. I know that I will probably forget their names as soon as I stop teaching them; I know they will probably bitch about me to their new teacher (they claim to be upset that I am leaving, but teeagers are fickle). I don't for one minute think they've become angels; neither do I attribute any of their achievements solely down to myself, as I still have a lot to learn as a teacher. However, I do think that we've all grown: class and teacher alike.

I am really glad that I had the opportunity to teach 9R3 this year.