Let's reflect

Hi team !
- it only took me about 45 minutes to get into my blog ( couldn't remember my password ! Must make a note of it somewhere ....... ) Hope you like the photos - I was amazed when I managed to put them onto the blog !
I look forward to reading your comments !

Here is a bit of a reflection on my OTL today ( that's Observation of Teaching and Learning for those of you who are abbreviationed out after today's session !)

I felt very nervous and quite stressed - about the teaching side but also about the paperwork side : Had I completed the Learners' ILPs in a satisfactory way ? Had I diagnosed their level properly ? Had I set measurable, attainable and recordable goals - and were they reaching them ? Had I recorded their progress and achievement well-enough ? Did I have evidence to back that up ? Did I have a Group Learning Goal sheet , a Course Information sheet , a scheme of work , ( which showed it had been updated ), lesson plans showing differentiation and that showed I was responding to learner's needs and that the learners were leading the learning ? What about a class profile ? A set of lesson materials for the observer ? So much to remember ! Would the learners get there on time , would they respond to the lesson well ? So many things out of my control !

Mr M ( the observer ) was very nice when he arrived - I felt I should offer him a cup of coffee or something - but remembered this was not a social visit .. ! He asked me a tricky question - how many sessions would the learners have in a year ? I vaguely remembered the number 36 - and eventually managed to tell him they had 36 weeks with two sessions a week ( didn't try to multiply that myself as my maths is not good - hoped he'd be able to work that out himself ! ) He seemed happy and settled himself down at the back of the room. The learners began to arrive and I felt more at ease - just chatting with them as normal and setting them their first task . They were great - they all arrived on time , and nine out of eleven of them turned up ! They all ignored Mr M and did everything I asked them to do really well ! They responded really well to the lesson , which was all about expressing obligation ( must ) or lack of obligation ( don't have to ) in the context of the workplace. It was a lovely atmosphere - I nearly forgot about Mr M myself, until I wanted to do some pairwork - and realised I had an odd number .. mmm... but then another learner arrived - yes , very late , but perfect timing for the pairwork ! The rest of the lesson went really well. I sent the learners for their break, then had a feedback session with Mr M - who was very nice and encouraging , gave me lots of positive feedback and some suggestions on how I could use my resources more effectively to save myself some work - he is going to organise some CPD for this later in the year. So it all turned out ok in the end - I got a satisfactory/good mark - phew ! I have learnt so much by going through this process ( glad it will be two years before the next one though ! ) and I look forward to learning more about how I can save myself time by using my resources more effectively.What will I do next time ? Try not to get so stressed, make sure all my paperwork is in place at an earlier stage , ASK if I am not sure about anything ( I can be a bit self-sufficient , and I am quite isolated at Swarthmore at the moment - I only bump into other staff at the photocopier occasionally )
It's definitely time for a cup of tea and some chocolate now though!
I'll be back !


That's better ....
Just wanted to mention also that whilst doing my homework for the course over last weekend ( before my OTL ) I read the report on Barriers to Language Learning and felt completely inadequate and quite emotional about the diverse needs of ESOL learners - how much they need and deserve an excellent standard of teaching , which caters for their different learning styles and particular needs, and how difficult that is to do especially in a class with a very spiky profile. My learning curve has been almost vertical - especially since September, but I still have so much to learn !

Jackie