Aodonis STOPGAP TEACHING

Economic Management – Students as Numbers

Supply teaching has some benefits including being able to work close to home.  Yesterday I was asked if I can go to a school that is 20 minutes walk away from home. I have been to said school many times.

For me, the school is run more like a business which sadly is sometimes necessary for these tough financial years in education as schools become more financially astute and then become a school only worried about value for money than the value in education.

Many schools are like this in London but the passion of the teaching staff is strong enough that they try and make the lessons enjoyable and insightful. Having been to the school several times I find out that over half of the staff are veterans of over ten years.

Many of these teachers are becoming more stressed out due to the increasing demands and stagnant wages that they are my heroes, sacrificing their time for very little gain. 

I get to the school around 08:15 in the morning, I do this for two reasons, firstly because I show enthusiasm for the school and thus hope they hire me again, and also because I have learned that it gives me more time to prepare the lesson for the incoming students.

I proceed to sign in at the front desk, this process involves asking for my DBS number or criminal background check, photo ID, and personal contact details including phone number and email address. Schools in London often have security doors and as I will discuss in the future, procedures are in place in case of armed intruders.

I am often but not always given a laptop, a plan left behind of what the class is doing, and where to find it. If I can talk to the teacher who may be doing training or other school work then I ask about the SEN students and if they have a personal teaching assistant and if there are many EAL because these students will need extra help but also if they are bored or cannot interact with the other students they can act up in the class. 

A lot of teachers won’t understand this unless they ask. I find out also if I have a TA to help me with the aforementioned students because the dynamics within the classroom will be difficult to manage if I have many of either group because I cannot dedicate the extra time to help them.

I start up the SIMS application to do the register, the class comes in at 8:45 and does silent reading after hanging up their jackets.

At 9 I do register and introduce myself and some of my rules such as making sure the class says please and thank you, putting their hand up to ask questions, and listening when others talk. I inform the students of this due to experience in the London primary districts.

I introduce myself to the TA whom I have met before and we have a good working relationship and understanding.

I start with times tables at 9 am from 6-8 multiplications and start a competition of who can do it the fastest amongst the table groups, children can be fiercely competitive and sometimes blame others for the slightest mistakes but thankfully these students don’t do this.

We do this until 10:07, I declare a winner and congratulate everyone. I get the students who are the best behaved in the class ready for break time and then everyone is lined up in line order.

My TA brings them to the playground at 10:15 and I get ready for Reading Comprehension at 10:35.  The kids are back in class and after some high energy, I allow them 2 minutes to get some water and go to the toilet. 

Any who don’t use please and thank you will remember the next time. We have a handout of a book called The Ice Palace, the students are to read the text and answer the following questions based on ability level.

Many resources come from a website called Twinkl that I find hit and miss as sometimes the content is boring. I help the EAL and SEN students because the other students will have less trouble doing this work as they are used to this method.

One student is constantly running around the classroom and then leaving entirely so I have to enforce discipline, I follow the classroom’s program, verbal warning followed by a demotion on their behavior chart.

The student likes joking around which I try to understand but when they stop the class I confront the student and tell them that they will miss 5 minutes of break time, this stops them in their tracks, some will rebel and some will simply not care.

The student acts silly again five minutes later after telling me after a period of forced crying that they will stop. I escalate and remove all of their breaks. I follow the guidelines of the class, I NEVER raise my voice even though sometimes I want to, it never makes anything better.

At 11:55 The students get ready to go to lunch, I try and ask the student misbehaving if there is a reason they are acting up because sometimes it is something they are reacting to, they stay silent but do apologize, I explain why I need their attention and that if they behave themselves after lunch I will scrap their time penalty of at late break.

12:00 the students are taken to lunch by a staff member from the kitchens and I eat lunch for about 10-15 minutes.

I then catch up on any marking I need to do as this is part of the job and helps me identify which students need more help.

13:00 The students return and I do the register again as some students may arrive late and others go home sick or have family events. I put on BBC Newsround and this settles the students down ready for the afternoon.

Subjects determined to be important are done in the morning as students are most alert during this time. 13:15 We start RE and today the students will find out about Sikhism, here is the chance for the students get to practice their oracy and listening as I ask a series of questions on why they think that Sikhs do the things they do. 

We discuss ethics and the benefits of being a Sikh. The students also do a small worksheet putting sequences into order. 14:15 A small break in the class, they can read or draw because it is raining outside.

14:30 We do some indoor IT on laptops about using all the fingers when typing, we do this for 45 minutes. Some children struggle but all enjoy the activity as the program called Purple Mash also includes games when they have finished.

15:15, the class gets ready for home putting on jackets and getting water bottles and bags, some have an after-school club so they stay within the classroom, and we play a 5-minute game of Pictionary which is always popular.

15:30 My TA takes the children down the path for the parents, I help because they know the parents and my role is to make sure only those students who are called are meeting the TA.

15:45 Those students whose parents or guardians have not arrived are moved to the main hall and given somewhere to sit down until they arrive and the adults are called. The students at the afterschool club are escorted to the class and then I go back to my classroom to gather my school laptop and my lunch bag.

16:00 I leave to go home, an average day but an enjoyable one. It honestly went very fast and I’m able to admit I am slightly tired. 

Many of your days in supply will be like today, you will struggle with time management. 

I will be honest and say that one of my weaknesses is behaviour management, I really loathe having to discipline children, especially when they act out of pure boredom alone.

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