September 18th 2008
“Good morning Alan. Thanks for meeting me.”
“That’s OK Ian.”
“We’ll meet every week at this time throughout the year.”
“Every week?”
“Yes. Just to find out how things are going. You can ask me any questions you’ve got and I’ll need to make sure all the paperwork is in place.”
“The full hour every week? There’s quite a lot of work to do at the moment.”
“Well. Let’s arrange to meet at this time every week and we’ll see if we need the full hour. How have you found your first week at Ashborough? You sound busy.”
“Yes, there’s a lot to do. I’ve been busy planning over the holiday and the first few lessons have gone really well. The kids are great. They really like me and they’re very well behaved.”
“Behaviour was a concern for you?”
“Not really. I knew they’d be OK as long as they had a good teacher who knew what he was doing.”
“How does it compare with your old job?”
“In the city? This is much easier. It’s just lovely to be working with kids who are so eager to learn. This doesn’t feel like a real job at all and it’s just great I’m being paid for it. I know this is the right decision for me. Eighteen years working in the city was real pressure – here it’s just delightful. The department are great; I really like the Principal and you’ve got a great set up here.”
“So no problems then?”
“No it’s brilliant.”
“And you’re training at the University on Friday”
“Yes, but I don’t see the point really. I’d rather be spending the time preparing lessons. I can see that there may be one or two sessions that might be useful but every Friday seems like overkill really.”
“I understand how you feel. It’s just that we don’t have any choice in the matter. It’s all part of the Graduate Teacher Programme. Following the programme pays your salary and it’s a great way for you to get a professional qualification.”
“Yeah. OK. I get it. Can I show you this problem I set my class yesterday. There’s this tree in a back garden and….”
October 2nd 2008
“Good morning Alan.”
“Hi Ian. Are you OK?”
“Yes fine thanks. Overworked and underpaid as usual. More important, how are you? How has this week been?”
“Good thanks. Really good. I really love it here.”
“That’s good. Any problems?”
“No. Everything’s going really well.”
“I enjoyed spending ten minutes popping in to your class yesterday.”
“They’re lovely aren’t they? They really seem to have taken to me. I did worry that with all these GCSE classes in a Sixth Form College, they may have a low self-image. I mean, they’re all studying a levels in Art and Music and Media Studies and Photography and other things and yet they’re forced to re-take their Maths GCSE. To be honest, I did worry that they may not be motivated very much but they’re all really hard working.”
“There was a girl at the back….”
“Susannah. Oh yes. Lovely girl. Working really well.”
“How’s she getting on?”
“Well, to be honest, she’s not very bright. Lovely girl. Works really hard. Perfectly behaved but she doesn’t really get it. Can’t do any of the homework assignments.”
“She doesn’t do any homework?”
“No, well she can’t. She tries very hard at home but she can’t do a single question. I went through the homework with her in class and she understood it OK but I can’t see her getting a grade C. She’s no trouble, though”
“How long is she spending on her homework at home, do you know?”
“Three hours. She told me she spent three hours and her Dad couldn’t help her either.”
“Has she come to the support sessions?”
“No, there’s no need. I’ll help her in class.”
“I think she should be going to the support sessions.”
Silence and an expressionless look from Alan.
“And she really should be able to do some of the homework. What’s her name? Susannah…?”
Ian looked at a list he had brought to the meeting.
“…Jones?”
“I think so,” said Alan.
“Well, it says here that she got a grade D at her last school so all of this should be revision for her.”
“She’s never done this work before. She told me.”
“Well, Alan, if you don’t mind, please can you tell her that she should start the assignment on the day that you set it and, when she gets stuck, she should go to the support sessions. Please can you tell her when they are…….”
“She knows already.”
“….and if she turns up again without homework, please can you contact her parents.”
“I don’t see the point. She’s no trouble. She’s perfectly behaved and I’m going through the work with her in class”
“What about the other students?”
“They’re OK.”
“Are they all completing the assignments?”
“Some are. A couple of them did every question and Paul got every question right.”
Ian waited a few seconds and composed himself.
“What you should be aiming for is for every student handing in correct answers to every question. These assignments aren’t difficult and they need to be working hard to understand how to do them. They’re very probably used to not understanding stuff at their school and it being OK to not do homework. Almost certainly, all of these students can get a grade C in their GCSE if their attitude to learning changes. We need to break the pattern of their attitude, otherwise they’re just going to repeat Year 11 and get another grade D or E.”
“Susannah Jones is never going to get a grade C, Ian.”
“How do you know?”
“She’s not clever enough.”
“Well, let’s see, shall we. Can you make that a target for this week please – to make sure Susannah Jones makes full use of the support session if she gets stuck.”
“You’re the boss.”
“The thing is, Alan, you must make sure you give all students an equal amount of your time. If you’re spending fifteen minutes with one student, what are the rest doing?”
“They’re working on the task I gave them.”
“And do they need any help?”
“No, they’re great. Very well behaved. There’s a lovely low murmur of hard work in the class. I have to say, it’s not like I imagined. I thought I would be having to stop fights and spend all my time controlling the class.”
Ian got his diary out.
“I need to arrange a formal lesson observation. When would be a good time for me to come in and watch you teach for a full hour? “
“Well, come in next Wednesday and see that same class. I’m going to be teaching equations. I’ve got this great idea……”
October 9th 2008
“Good morning Alan.”
“Hi Ian. What are we talking about today?”
“I thought we might discuss yesterday’s lesson. How did you feel about it.”
“I thought it was good. The kids learned a lot. They were very well behaved and they got some good work done. What did you think?”
“Yes. There were some very good things happening there.”
“Thank you. What else do you want to talk about because I’ve got some marking that needs doing.”
“I would like you to always keep this hour completely free so we can talk about things properly.”
“Of course. It’s just that I haven’t got any questions or anything.”
“Well, if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk a bit more about yesterday’s lesson.”
“Sure. Yes. Of course. I thought we’d done that.”
“Well, as I said, there were some good things to see. I’ll talk about the things that were good and then maybe we can discuss areas for improvement.”
“Sure”
Ian referred to some extensive notes that he had brought to the meeting.
“You have very secure subject knowledge. You know the material and….”
“Ian, it’s not hard. We were just solving simple equations!”
“…and the students recognise that you are an expert. You are very sympathetic. When the students are not sure, they are confident that they can ask you for help and you will not poke fun at them for not understanding. Also…”
“I would never poke fun at a kid for not understanding something.”
“Point three is that your board work was clear. Your writing on the board is neat and the students can easily follow it. You know all the students’ names and you use them a lot. The students know that you know them and care about them.”
“They’re a lovely class.”
“Number five is that the students were quiet when you were explaining the work. Point six is that it’s good to see you walking round the class giving help when the students ask for it.”
“I thought you were supposed to do that.”
“You are and that’s why I’m including it in the good features I saw. I also saw that you had marked the latest assignment and given it back to them. You’re obviously working very hard with your marking.”
“I am.”
“I liked the fact that you were using the feedback you got from students to stop the whole class and explain one clear misconception when a number of students were dividing and then subtracting when it should have been the other way round.”
Alan was frowning and looking a bit disgruntled. Ian ignored this and carried on. He had ten good features that he wanted to discuss before he launched into the negatives.
“The ninth good thing I liked was your demeanour when you were talking to the class. You are an imposing figure in the classroom and the students know that you are in charge. Having a good presence is really important. Finally, the students like you. It’s clear from the way that they talk to you that they regard you as a professional friend who is going to help them progress to that grade C.”
“I’ve got a feeling that you’re now going to pull my lesson to pieces.”
“No. Not at all. That’s ten genuine good features of the lesson I liked. Yes there are some things I’d like to discuss and maybe set some targets but don’t forget that I’ve said ten things that I like.”
“So there’s good things and targets. Why don’t you just say good things and bad things?”
“Because I’d like a genuine discussion.”
Silence from Alan.
“I spent a bit of time observing Susannah, especially while you were teaching. Did you know she spent almost ten minutes texting on her mobile phone.”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Sorry Alan but she was. She was multi-tasking – texting someone else and trying to listen to you teach at the same time.”
“OK. You’re the boss. Was anyone else not listening?”
“Well I have to say that most of the students weren’t engaged with the learning.”
“What does that mean?”
“You were giving a very clear explanation of how to solve all sorts of equations but…”
“I thought that was what a teacher was supposed to do.”
“…but good learning takes place when the students take part. You ask them questions and they answer. Asking good questions is the key to good teaching. For most of your teaching you were lecturing.”
“Can you give me an example”
“OK. When you take a number away from both sides of an equation, instead of telling them that you have to take away, why not ask them what the opposite of adding is?”
“Well, it’s not ‘opposite’, it’s ‘inverse’”
“That’s true but you need to make the learning accessible to them. You need to use language that the students will understand.”
“OK. I should ask more questions. Got it.”
“You should also try to watch Hilary teach some lessons because she’s great with the mini-whiteboards where every student writes down an answer and holds it up on the board for her to see if they understand.”
“OK. Can you set that up for me.”
“Of course.”
“Anything else?”
“I still don’t think you’re addressing the issue of students not completing assignments. I asked Susannah if she was going to the support sessions and she didn’t know anything about them.”
“So now you’re checking up on me.”
“That’s my job. The Graduate Teacher Programme is about you learning how to teach under my supervision. I did ask you last week to tell her.”
“I thought you just suggested it. I didn’t think it was appropriate so I didn’t tell her.”
“Well, this is why we should be setting written targets. Your targets are 1) to ensure that all students are giving you 100% of their attention whilst you are talking 2) to watch Hilary teach and use the mini whiteboards yourself and 3) to let every student in all of your four classes know about the support sessions. I’ve written them down. Please ensure you meet these targets by October 23rd.”
Ian gave Alan two copies of these three targets. Alan signed them both and gave one back to Ian.
“OK You’re the boss.”
October 16th 2008
Ian was very frustrated when he left the meeting the following week. It’s not as if Alan was a bad teacher: he cared about the students, he explained his work clearly and he was working hard to prepare lessons and mark work. It was just that he had brought with him an arrogance, an assumption that he would be a great teacher and wouldn’t need to change. He had been in a well-paid job in the City prior to embarking on the Graduate Teacher Programme and his intentions were noble but he didn’t understand that there was a craft to learn before he could fulfil his undoubted potential to become a really good teacher. Being highly intelligent wasn’t enough. It was ironic that he was teaching only GCSE classes in a Sixth Form College and no A level, but that had been agreed between the two of them before the course started.
Alan’s phrase “You’re the boss” was really started to annoy Ian. The hidden subtext was, to Ian’s mind, that Alan didn’t agree with what Ian was saying but that Alan was going to do as he was told. What it did was stop any further discussion which meant that Alan simply wasn’t going to change his mind whereas Ian felt that these meetings were there for Alan to learn what good teachers did. Use of “You’re the boss” whenever there was a disagreement meant that Alan’s views were entrenched.
In today’s meeting, Alan said that he had watched Hilary use the mini whiteboards and he was very impressed although he didn’t feel their use matched his style; however, he would try and use them this week. Alan said that he had told his classes about the support sessions. What was, to Ian’s mind, more predictable, was Alan complaining about behaviour.
“I did what you said and insisted that the class listen when I was teaching. I started asking individual students questions about what I had just said and a number of them got stroppy with me accusing me of being in a bad mood. Also, none of them had any idea of what I had been teaching them. I think you may have been right; their attention wasn’t 100%”
Of course he was bloody right.
October 23rd 2008
Another week went by and Ian watched another lesson. Not the same group this time. Alan had made an effort in all three target areas. He used the mini whiteboards well – it’s just that the students were not used to listening to what he was talking about so there was very little response. This also led to a bad tempered atmosphere in the class as Alan was aware that the students were not learning a lot. One or two students were texting or chatting to each other but Alan quickly dealt with this although the students didn’t like it. One of the students said
“I used to think you were cool but you’re just like all my other Maths teachers really.”
This was quite hurtful but a natural consequence of Alan letting a slack atmosphere develop at the start of the course. It was going to take a big effort on Alan’s behalf to get things back to where he wanted them to be.
In the debrief Ian praised Alan.
“Thanks for taking on board the advice I gave you about getting the students’ attention.”
“You’re the boss.”
“How do you think the lesson went?”
“It was rubbish. They didn’t know anything. All of my classes are getting like that. It wasn’t like this at the start; they were much better behaved.”
“I think your expectations are higher now.”
Silence from Alan.
“I think that you are now very aware about who is engaged in the learning and who isn’t and you’re trying to do something about it. You need to change these students’ attitudes towards Mathematics and you’re challenging their passive behaviour. This won’t be easy for them; it certainly isn’t easy for you.”
“That makes sense.”
Ah! Eureka! “That makes sense” means that Alan had listened to Ian and changed his mind! Brilliant! Much better than “You’re the boss.”
Music to Ian’s ears was the conversation just towards the end of the meeting.
“So, one week to go before half term Alan. Have you got any plans for your week’s holiday?”
“No. I’m going to catch up with my sleep. I’ve never felt so exhausted in my life.”
“What, even when you were working in the City? I thought that would have been much more tiring.”
“Yes I thought it would have been easier here but I desperately need that week’s holiday. People from outside teaching have no idea how tiring the job is.”
Maybe there was hope for Alan after all.
May 7th 2009
“Good morning Alan”
“Hi Ian”
“Our last meeting.”
“Yes, I’ve just had my last lesson.”
“How do you feel?”
“OK.”
Silence.
“Well, better than OK really, “ Alan continued. “I actually feel…..exhilarated, fulfilled, excited.”
“Sounds good. It’s been quite a year”
“Thanks Alan.”
“For what?”
“Well, everything really. I was a bit of an idiot when I started. I thought I knew everything. I didn’t think I had anything to learn. I had no idea what was involved. I’ve learned a lot. So thanks for everything you did. I don’t think my boss last year would have been quite so patient. You’ve helped me learn a lot.”
“It’s been a journey. You’ve learned a lot about yourself.”
“Not all of it has been very good.”
“You never stop learning in this job Alan.”
“I got a card from Susannah.”
“Wow! Brilliant!”
“Look. She made me a card.”
Ian looked at the card. There was a very good caricature of Alan on the front and the word ‘Thanks’. Inside there was a simple message. “Thank you. All my other Maths teachers gave up on me. You didn’t.”
“Good morning Alan. Thanks for meeting me.”
“That’s OK Ian.”
“We’ll meet every week at this time throughout the year.”
“Every week?”
“Yes. Just to find out how things are going. You can ask me any questions you’ve got and I’ll need to make sure all the paperwork is in place.”
“The full hour every week? There’s quite a lot of work to do at the moment.”
“Well. Let’s arrange to meet at this time every week and we’ll see if we need the full hour. How have you found your first week at Ashborough? You sound busy.”
“Yes, there’s a lot to do. I’ve been busy planning over the holiday and the first few lessons have gone really well. The kids are great. They really like me and they’re very well behaved.”
“Behaviour was a concern for you?”
“Not really. I knew they’d be OK as long as they had a good teacher who knew what he was doing.”
“How does it compare with your old job?”
“In the city? This is much easier. It’s just lovely to be working with kids who are so eager to learn. This doesn’t feel like a real job at all and it’s just great I’m being paid for it. I know this is the right decision for me. Eighteen years working in the city was real pressure – here it’s just delightful. The department are great; I really like the Principal and you’ve got a great set up here.”
“So no problems then?”
“No it’s brilliant.”
“And you’re training at the University on Friday”
“Yes, but I don’t see the point really. I’d rather be spending the time preparing lessons. I can see that there may be one or two sessions that might be useful but every Friday seems like overkill really.”
“I understand how you feel. It’s just that we don’t have any choice in the matter. It’s all part of the Graduate Teacher Programme. Following the programme pays your salary and it’s a great way for you to get a professional qualification.”
“Yeah. OK. I get it. Can I show you this problem I set my class yesterday. There’s this tree in a back garden and….”
October 2nd 2008
“Good morning Alan.”
“Hi Ian. Are you OK?”
“Yes fine thanks. Overworked and underpaid as usual. More important, how are you? How has this week been?”
“Good thanks. Really good. I really love it here.”
“That’s good. Any problems?”
“No. Everything’s going really well.”
“I enjoyed spending ten minutes popping in to your class yesterday.”
“They’re lovely aren’t they? They really seem to have taken to me. I did worry that with all these GCSE classes in a Sixth Form College, they may have a low self-image. I mean, they’re all studying a levels in Art and Music and Media Studies and Photography and other things and yet they’re forced to re-take their Maths GCSE. To be honest, I did worry that they may not be motivated very much but they’re all really hard working.”
“There was a girl at the back….”
“Susannah. Oh yes. Lovely girl. Working really well.”
“How’s she getting on?”
“Well, to be honest, she’s not very bright. Lovely girl. Works really hard. Perfectly behaved but she doesn’t really get it. Can’t do any of the homework assignments.”
“She doesn’t do any homework?”
“No, well she can’t. She tries very hard at home but she can’t do a single question. I went through the homework with her in class and she understood it OK but I can’t see her getting a grade C. She’s no trouble, though”
“How long is she spending on her homework at home, do you know?”
“Three hours. She told me she spent three hours and her Dad couldn’t help her either.”
“Has she come to the support sessions?”
“No, there’s no need. I’ll help her in class.”
“I think she should be going to the support sessions.”
Silence and an expressionless look from Alan.
“And she really should be able to do some of the homework. What’s her name? Susannah…?”
Ian looked at a list he had brought to the meeting.
“…Jones?”
“I think so,” said Alan.
“Well, it says here that she got a grade D at her last school so all of this should be revision for her.”
“She’s never done this work before. She told me.”
“Well, Alan, if you don’t mind, please can you tell her that she should start the assignment on the day that you set it and, when she gets stuck, she should go to the support sessions. Please can you tell her when they are…….”
“She knows already.”
“….and if she turns up again without homework, please can you contact her parents.”
“I don’t see the point. She’s no trouble. She’s perfectly behaved and I’m going through the work with her in class”
“What about the other students?”
“They’re OK.”
“Are they all completing the assignments?”
“Some are. A couple of them did every question and Paul got every question right.”
Ian waited a few seconds and composed himself.
“What you should be aiming for is for every student handing in correct answers to every question. These assignments aren’t difficult and they need to be working hard to understand how to do them. They’re very probably used to not understanding stuff at their school and it being OK to not do homework. Almost certainly, all of these students can get a grade C in their GCSE if their attitude to learning changes. We need to break the pattern of their attitude, otherwise they’re just going to repeat Year 11 and get another grade D or E.”
“Susannah Jones is never going to get a grade C, Ian.”
“How do you know?”
“She’s not clever enough.”
“Well, let’s see, shall we. Can you make that a target for this week please – to make sure Susannah Jones makes full use of the support session if she gets stuck.”
“You’re the boss.”
“The thing is, Alan, you must make sure you give all students an equal amount of your time. If you’re spending fifteen minutes with one student, what are the rest doing?”
“They’re working on the task I gave them.”
“And do they need any help?”
“No, they’re great. Very well behaved. There’s a lovely low murmur of hard work in the class. I have to say, it’s not like I imagined. I thought I would be having to stop fights and spend all my time controlling the class.”
Ian got his diary out.
“I need to arrange a formal lesson observation. When would be a good time for me to come in and watch you teach for a full hour? “
“Well, come in next Wednesday and see that same class. I’m going to be teaching equations. I’ve got this great idea……”
October 9th 2008
“Good morning Alan.”
“Hi Ian. What are we talking about today?”
“I thought we might discuss yesterday’s lesson. How did you feel about it.”
“I thought it was good. The kids learned a lot. They were very well behaved and they got some good work done. What did you think?”
“Yes. There were some very good things happening there.”
“Thank you. What else do you want to talk about because I’ve got some marking that needs doing.”
“I would like you to always keep this hour completely free so we can talk about things properly.”
“Of course. It’s just that I haven’t got any questions or anything.”
“Well, if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk a bit more about yesterday’s lesson.”
“Sure. Yes. Of course. I thought we’d done that.”
“Well, as I said, there were some good things to see. I’ll talk about the things that were good and then maybe we can discuss areas for improvement.”
“Sure”
Ian referred to some extensive notes that he had brought to the meeting.
“You have very secure subject knowledge. You know the material and….”
“Ian, it’s not hard. We were just solving simple equations!”
“…and the students recognise that you are an expert. You are very sympathetic. When the students are not sure, they are confident that they can ask you for help and you will not poke fun at them for not understanding. Also…”
“I would never poke fun at a kid for not understanding something.”
“Point three is that your board work was clear. Your writing on the board is neat and the students can easily follow it. You know all the students’ names and you use them a lot. The students know that you know them and care about them.”
“They’re a lovely class.”
“Number five is that the students were quiet when you were explaining the work. Point six is that it’s good to see you walking round the class giving help when the students ask for it.”
“I thought you were supposed to do that.”
“You are and that’s why I’m including it in the good features I saw. I also saw that you had marked the latest assignment and given it back to them. You’re obviously working very hard with your marking.”
“I am.”
“I liked the fact that you were using the feedback you got from students to stop the whole class and explain one clear misconception when a number of students were dividing and then subtracting when it should have been the other way round.”
Alan was frowning and looking a bit disgruntled. Ian ignored this and carried on. He had ten good features that he wanted to discuss before he launched into the negatives.
“The ninth good thing I liked was your demeanour when you were talking to the class. You are an imposing figure in the classroom and the students know that you are in charge. Having a good presence is really important. Finally, the students like you. It’s clear from the way that they talk to you that they regard you as a professional friend who is going to help them progress to that grade C.”
“I’ve got a feeling that you’re now going to pull my lesson to pieces.”
“No. Not at all. That’s ten genuine good features of the lesson I liked. Yes there are some things I’d like to discuss and maybe set some targets but don’t forget that I’ve said ten things that I like.”
“So there’s good things and targets. Why don’t you just say good things and bad things?”
“Because I’d like a genuine discussion.”
Silence from Alan.
“I spent a bit of time observing Susannah, especially while you were teaching. Did you know she spent almost ten minutes texting on her mobile phone.”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Sorry Alan but she was. She was multi-tasking – texting someone else and trying to listen to you teach at the same time.”
“OK. You’re the boss. Was anyone else not listening?”
“Well I have to say that most of the students weren’t engaged with the learning.”
“What does that mean?”
“You were giving a very clear explanation of how to solve all sorts of equations but…”
“I thought that was what a teacher was supposed to do.”
“…but good learning takes place when the students take part. You ask them questions and they answer. Asking good questions is the key to good teaching. For most of your teaching you were lecturing.”
“Can you give me an example”
“OK. When you take a number away from both sides of an equation, instead of telling them that you have to take away, why not ask them what the opposite of adding is?”
“Well, it’s not ‘opposite’, it’s ‘inverse’”
“That’s true but you need to make the learning accessible to them. You need to use language that the students will understand.”
“OK. I should ask more questions. Got it.”
“You should also try to watch Hilary teach some lessons because she’s great with the mini-whiteboards where every student writes down an answer and holds it up on the board for her to see if they understand.”
“OK. Can you set that up for me.”
“Of course.”
“Anything else?”
“I still don’t think you’re addressing the issue of students not completing assignments. I asked Susannah if she was going to the support sessions and she didn’t know anything about them.”
“So now you’re checking up on me.”
“That’s my job. The Graduate Teacher Programme is about you learning how to teach under my supervision. I did ask you last week to tell her.”
“I thought you just suggested it. I didn’t think it was appropriate so I didn’t tell her.”
“Well, this is why we should be setting written targets. Your targets are 1) to ensure that all students are giving you 100% of their attention whilst you are talking 2) to watch Hilary teach and use the mini whiteboards yourself and 3) to let every student in all of your four classes know about the support sessions. I’ve written them down. Please ensure you meet these targets by October 23rd.”
Ian gave Alan two copies of these three targets. Alan signed them both and gave one back to Ian.
“OK You’re the boss.”
October 16th 2008
Ian was very frustrated when he left the meeting the following week. It’s not as if Alan was a bad teacher: he cared about the students, he explained his work clearly and he was working hard to prepare lessons and mark work. It was just that he had brought with him an arrogance, an assumption that he would be a great teacher and wouldn’t need to change. He had been in a well-paid job in the City prior to embarking on the Graduate Teacher Programme and his intentions were noble but he didn’t understand that there was a craft to learn before he could fulfil his undoubted potential to become a really good teacher. Being highly intelligent wasn’t enough. It was ironic that he was teaching only GCSE classes in a Sixth Form College and no A level, but that had been agreed between the two of them before the course started.
Alan’s phrase “You’re the boss” was really started to annoy Ian. The hidden subtext was, to Ian’s mind, that Alan didn’t agree with what Ian was saying but that Alan was going to do as he was told. What it did was stop any further discussion which meant that Alan simply wasn’t going to change his mind whereas Ian felt that these meetings were there for Alan to learn what good teachers did. Use of “You’re the boss” whenever there was a disagreement meant that Alan’s views were entrenched.
In today’s meeting, Alan said that he had watched Hilary use the mini whiteboards and he was very impressed although he didn’t feel their use matched his style; however, he would try and use them this week. Alan said that he had told his classes about the support sessions. What was, to Ian’s mind, more predictable, was Alan complaining about behaviour.
“I did what you said and insisted that the class listen when I was teaching. I started asking individual students questions about what I had just said and a number of them got stroppy with me accusing me of being in a bad mood. Also, none of them had any idea of what I had been teaching them. I think you may have been right; their attention wasn’t 100%”
Of course he was bloody right.
October 23rd 2008
Another week went by and Ian watched another lesson. Not the same group this time. Alan had made an effort in all three target areas. He used the mini whiteboards well – it’s just that the students were not used to listening to what he was talking about so there was very little response. This also led to a bad tempered atmosphere in the class as Alan was aware that the students were not learning a lot. One or two students were texting or chatting to each other but Alan quickly dealt with this although the students didn’t like it. One of the students said
“I used to think you were cool but you’re just like all my other Maths teachers really.”
This was quite hurtful but a natural consequence of Alan letting a slack atmosphere develop at the start of the course. It was going to take a big effort on Alan’s behalf to get things back to where he wanted them to be.
In the debrief Ian praised Alan.
“Thanks for taking on board the advice I gave you about getting the students’ attention.”
“You’re the boss.”
“How do you think the lesson went?”
“It was rubbish. They didn’t know anything. All of my classes are getting like that. It wasn’t like this at the start; they were much better behaved.”
“I think your expectations are higher now.”
Silence from Alan.
“I think that you are now very aware about who is engaged in the learning and who isn’t and you’re trying to do something about it. You need to change these students’ attitudes towards Mathematics and you’re challenging their passive behaviour. This won’t be easy for them; it certainly isn’t easy for you.”
“That makes sense.”
Ah! Eureka! “That makes sense” means that Alan had listened to Ian and changed his mind! Brilliant! Much better than “You’re the boss.”
Music to Ian’s ears was the conversation just towards the end of the meeting.
“So, one week to go before half term Alan. Have you got any plans for your week’s holiday?”
“No. I’m going to catch up with my sleep. I’ve never felt so exhausted in my life.”
“What, even when you were working in the City? I thought that would have been much more tiring.”
“Yes I thought it would have been easier here but I desperately need that week’s holiday. People from outside teaching have no idea how tiring the job is.”
Maybe there was hope for Alan after all.
May 7th 2009
“Good morning Alan”
“Hi Ian”
“Our last meeting.”
“Yes, I’ve just had my last lesson.”
“How do you feel?”
“OK.”
Silence.
“Well, better than OK really, “ Alan continued. “I actually feel…..exhilarated, fulfilled, excited.”
“Sounds good. It’s been quite a year”
“Thanks Alan.”
“For what?”
“Well, everything really. I was a bit of an idiot when I started. I thought I knew everything. I didn’t think I had anything to learn. I had no idea what was involved. I’ve learned a lot. So thanks for everything you did. I don’t think my boss last year would have been quite so patient. You’ve helped me learn a lot.”
“It’s been a journey. You’ve learned a lot about yourself.”
“Not all of it has been very good.”
“You never stop learning in this job Alan.”
“I got a card from Susannah.”
“Wow! Brilliant!”
“Look. She made me a card.”
Ian looked at the card. There was a very good caricature of Alan on the front and the word ‘Thanks’. Inside there was a simple message. “Thank you. All my other Maths teachers gave up on me. You didn’t.”
