Monday 10 August 2015

Up the ante...

I've been reflecting recently about the sheer differences I'm seeing in myself and my teaching. Not just since I started teaching but how I teach. For reasons beyond my current control I've been plodding along trying to stay true to myself, my beliefs in who I want to be as a teacher and as a person and equally as important, keeping my head above water while pretending to be consistent when really I'm still chewing on a lot of different things.

The whole idea of being consistent has put me on the back foot - at least until I figured out that I was missing structure and focus - which I provided for myself. I now have a more clearer head now that I can visually see my senior students success, am verbalising my next steps and conferencing with my students to discuss their next steps too and am focussing on a more organised system for collecting and curating student's completed work.

The problem I originally had was space. Or lack thereof. I now have a sweet filing system and marking system that I've put into place so that I can ensure I'm focussed and organised. If you'd been in my class you'd see my 'organised chaos' that is my desk. I actually can't deal with sitting at a desk by myself, by the wall, isolated from the students. I much rather sit with my students, mark and help as we go.

Another issue is that of the 20 minute Interlead sessions on a Thursday. Originally I thought it was great. And it is. Well it could be. The problem being that you don't know if anyone has read it. It's nice to get feedback, feedforward and a critique on your thoughts. With Blogger - at least there is the data analytics available to see how many people looked at it. The dashboard is more user friendly. It's also frustrating because when I'm given allocated time - I can't just switch on my reflective thoughts. Like I've said in previous posts - I tend to ruminate and then post when there is enough built up. The real problem though is that it feels like one of those blog challenges that I'm just incredibly terrible at. I love writing. Inherently find intrinsic motivation to write, purge my thoughts and find clarity.
So that's part of the reason why I've been slack recently.

Also I have been busy... academic tracking sheets, marking, conferencing, attending and presenting at conferences and just recently, a weekend trip with my little sister and 120 other people who also won the Jetstar flight of the Flightless Kiwis to Queenstown. I've found time for me, time for others and now my focus is back on my students - like it nearly always is.

There are a range of things that I need to tighten up. Planning, updating Evolving at Heights, maintaining communication with parents, building stronger relationships with each and every student particularly the less vocal ones and ensuring that I have a clear focus with BYOD and next steps forward.

The reality though is that I'm tired, cold and feel like I've lost inspiration. Maybe I need to read through my blog...

Anyway... that's me for now.

Looking forward to seeing the continued journey with #edblognz and the RSS feed :)

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