Now that took me back…having someone sitting in my ‘class’ watching me teach. That has not happened for a good few years (accept when I was observed working with the PGDE(S) maths students just before Christmas). It was different though being observed by someone who does not know me on a personal or professional level.
I spent an inordinate amount of time preparing for the input making sure that the lecture flowed, made sense, did what I wanted it to do plus incorporated the use of resources to keep the students motivated and engaged. They probably did not know what had hit them!
Comfortingly though as soon as the students walked into the lecture theatre they made lots of ‘ooow’ noises when asked to take multiple choice cards plus a whiteboard and pen – know thy audience – they have always reacted well to the whiteboards in particular and today was no exception – a good start.
The initial YouTube clip seemed to have the desired effect and there was a buzz around the room when the majority of the group ended up on the smiley face. Perhaps on reflection though it may have been an ideal opportunity to delve into some of the mathematics behind the clip rather than taking a superficial look at the activity being related to probability – something to consider for next year; alternatively maybe come back to it at the end once the students have had an opportunity to consider the progression/skills of chance and uncertainty and be able to appreciate how to use it as a stimulus. I have already re-titled the slide ‘Chance or Certainty?’ which I think adds another dimension to what the clips represent. So doubly good start!
Admission time…I totally forgot to print off the multiple choice card slide, which I had wanted to display on the visualiser so that I did not have to keep reminding the students what each letter represented – note to self, go back to putting a resources slide on the PowerPoint to keep track of things I need!
The next few slides with their activities and interactive and discursive opportunities worked well but the main strategy which helped enormously at this point in the input was that I have started to learn more of the students’ names providing me with the opportunity to engage more specifically with them. I tried not to use this in a threatening way but boy did it make everyone sit up a little more! As I see the MA2 students for a significant number of inputs this is going to be a priority for me for next year and in fact I am already making in-roads to learning the names of the MA1s. This hadn’t actually been a priority for Semester 1 as with teaching the 180 PGDE(P) students there was no way I could remember everyone’s name. Also there had been no need to learn names up until this semester as I had not really taught an entire cohort of students in a lecture situation and was able to use my table names and number cards to ensure participation in the workshops. Working in a lecture theatre environment has been a steep learning curve as it is so unlike a classroom teaching environment. Saying this it has really spurred me on to think about and investigate ways to ‘make’ people interact with me, although this is still a work in progress.
So, returning to why today was different from my observation before Christmas. It was potentially because there were more students today and I have not built up as close a relationship with them as I have with my PGDE(S) mathematicians and therefore am not as relaxed working with them? As hinted at earlier perhaps it is the difference in my relationship with the two observers. I was more nervous today and perhaps need to reflect a little bit more about why that was. However, it is amazing how once you get started your instincts and experience kick in and eventually you forget that there is someone there, watching.
The one thing that I have really loved about coming to the University is that I am again experiencing that buzz you get from planning interesting activities and seeing them work (or not!) and taking chances and trying things out. Although my job as a senior leader in a school was rewarding and challenging I came into teaching to teach and that is what I am doing again and I love it!
Every day is a learning day, folks! Every day!
