It was mentioned to me in passing the week before last, but after a visit from a senior member of staff on Friday, it's all but confirmed that I'll be taking part in the Improving Teachers Programme. It's a six-session course that runs over 6 weeks and is apparently aimed at members of staff who consistently receive satisfactory with elements of good in their observations and aims to develop their skills to deliver consistently 'good' lessons.
I don't like telling people that I consistently get 'satisfactory with elements of good' (sorry, requires improvement, not satisfactory) in my observations. It makes me feel a bit rubbish despite me knowing that I am not, so I always seem to say 'my observations are graded satisfactory, but over a year, I get good results' to make myself feel better. In fairness, I do. A remark of a pupil who came to me with an F on modular with 4 months to go came back as a C on Thursday.
I don't feel like a teacher who 'requires improvement' (of course I do, but I don't think I deserve a title with that negativity), but I am very excited to be involved in the sessions.
The idea is that the four of us from the school who are attending will then roll this out to the rest of the staff in CPD sessions, followed by involvement in the Outstanding Teachers Programme (another programme, aimed at developing 'good' teachers into 'outstanding' teachers).
The sessions run throughout October and November and are based around these headings:
#1: Introduction to Teaching and Learning
#2: Starters and Plenaries
#3: Assessment
#4: Questioning
#5: Differentiation
#6: Final Plenary Session
Each session also has a 'post session task' and require dialogue with a school-based coach/mentor.
I will be posting blogs on the matter as I go, not only as it will be part of my process, but also because I hope that others can gain from this as much as I can.
First session: October 1st. Can't wait.
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Good on you for going into it with open arms.
ReplyDeleteThe wording, as you know, is daft. All teachers, no matter what stage they're at, are *improving*. In fact, I'd go as far as to say you're not outstanding if you're not improving.
Hope you enjoy the course.