I am always taken a bit by surprise when we are nearly at the end of the academic year, it always seems to go by so fast. It is at this point we start looking forward to next year and the changes we are hoping to make.
I am really lucky that one of my roles in school is ECT Induction Tutor. I have seen the huge amount of progress that our current cohort have made over the year. If you reading this as an ECT or you are early in your career, think back to the start of your year in September and think of how far you have come in what is a relatively short period of time. It is important to reflect on this so you can recognise and be proud of the progress you have made.
As an ECT hopefully you have received lots of feedback on how you can improve your practice and have worked to develop this over the year. Inevitably, you will also start looking forward to next year and the changes you want to make. It is tempting to bypass the next couple of weeks and just think about making those changes come September.
I have been meeting with our ECTs and we have been discussing the progress they have made but also on what they need to focus on improving. Following on from feedback their mentors and I have given them and also from their own reflections I have asked them to focus on one key development point that they will work on for the remainder of the year. It may be the bit of advice that maybe they have been trying to work on but they just haven’t quite managed to change …yet. Or if it is not something that has been on-going, it would be a key leverage point, one that would have the biggest impact in their classroom. Some of the development points the ECTs here are focusing on are:
- No hands up– using cold calling, rather than relying on the keen students so you have a clearer picture of understanding in the class. Some have tried to change this but keep reverting to using hands up rather than cold calling.
- Keeping attention– all have worked on their count down, and their explicit instructions around their count downs but some are then speaking without having 100% compliance or they lose attention part way through their explanation and they do not address this.
- Increased used of mini white boards– to increase thinking and participation ratio, so that lots of students are thinking hard. Some still feel nervous about using them in the classrooms, they have not worked out how to distribute them or are concerned about behaviour slipping when they are used.
Rather than wait until September now is the perfect time to make the change. You know your classes really well now; you have built good relationships with them. Now is the time to try or develop your technique, iron out any teething problems. Ask your mentor or another member of staff to visit your lessons and give you feedback so you can adjust your technique. Observe other teachers with this as your only focus. Do this now so that in September you are ready to hit the ground running with this now embedded in your practice.
Even if you don’t manage to quite crack the change you are trying to make at this point, just think about how different next September will be. Whether you are in your first, second or third year, you will have made so much progress over this year, that the start in September will be much smother, (and less terrifying), you will have much better routines, and be much more confident.
By Jody Chan – Research School Associate & ECT Induction Tutor
Class Teaching 