Skip to main content

πŸ“ Weekly Report #22

I've been on two job interviews this week, unfortunately both unsuccessful, but it had me thinking about interview lessons.

I'd like to think I am confident in my ability to teach my classes and am confident in my own subject knowledge. However when in an interview lesson, the habits and culture you have grown over time with your classes are gone. Any reputation you have gained in your school is instantly gone. You don't have the prior knowledge of each student. You may not even have the same technology you would normally use. You are back to being a novice. I am unsure how beneficial these interviews lessons are and that actually would we be better off seeing a number of lessons over time? It would allow the school to identify trends in your teaching, the habits and routines you have in place and the relationships you build up. 

Obviously I understand that in reality this is very difficult to actually do. I do think though that the interviewing school must take this into consideration especially if you have candidates both from outside the school and internal. The internal candidate will obviously be at an initial advantage. 

πŸ”Š Listen:
Ali Abdaal speaking with his life coach. They discuss common questions coaches use: What do you want to achieve? What do you need to avoid? What will be your first action? And then asking why each time to delve deeper. It gives a useful framework to start coaching yourself. Have a listen here

πŸ”Š Listen:
PiXL purposeful disagreement from the wright brothers. It is important to have members of your team that challenge your thinking rather than just follow and age with everything you say. It ensures ideas are fully classified and justified before being introduced. Listen to the story here

πŸ”Š Listen:
Adam Boxer on Mr Barton Maths podcast. This is a great listen, full of insight, not just if you are a Maths or Science teacher. Listen to it here


πŸ“š Read:
James Clear providing a reminder that even creativity takes practice and embracing your failures to continually improve is the best way to make progress. Read it here


Popular posts from this blog

Literacy in Maths

I'm a Maths teacher, I teach numbers. Why is Literacy so important for me? Well….here's why: "Literacy is fundamental for success in school and later life. Students who cannot read, write and communicate effectively are highly unlikely to access the challenging academic curriculum in secondary school and are more likely to have poor educational outcomes across all subjects." (Link 3)  Unfortunately there are a lot of Maths teachers who believe (wrongly) that literacy is a thing that the English department do. They see it as a tick box for observations. Rather than being an essential component of students being able to learn maths.  -  So what does it look like in Maths? Answer the question: Blindle 4x + 6 Are you able to do it?  This is the challenge a lot of students face in Mathematics. Subject specific vocabulary can seem really confusing to a lot of students. Understanding what a keyword is asking of students is often the hardest part of a question and can hold s...

England v Wales: Who teaches Maths better?

England V Wales: Who teaches Maths better? Times are changing in Wales, there is a new Curriculum focus and in Maths there are 5 proficiencies that the government want to see. Here's my take as a new HOD crossing the border from England. The Welsh government have overhauled the curriculum and not just in Maths. They have identified key statements of what matters and laid out principles for progressing in each subject.  Maths in every country is the same though surely.... Well yes... we still focus on Number, Algebra, Geometry and Statistics. But also no....in Wales it is mandatory to use their 5 proficiencies to progress students in Maths. This isn't an explicit thing in England. The 5 proficiencies are: conceptual understanding, fluency, logical thinking, strategic competence and communication with symbols Lots of big words. But if you dive deeper into the detail that the Welsh government provides on each of them it is no different to what the NCETM in England recommend with t...

Finish the day with an empty inbox

Most people use their email inbox incorrectly. It isn't a to do list, it isn't a calendar, it isn't a filing cabinet. Here's how I use my inbox and finish every day with 0 emails! Firstly we need to rethink how we send emails: 1. Ideally speak in person. No email sent, no email to reply to. 2. If you are sending a quick message or asking a small question, especially within your department/team you could make use of instant messaging e.g. Microsoft teams, WhatsApp, Google chats etc I think Adam Boxer uses this in his department. 3. If you have to send an email, make sure you only send it to those who need to see it, no whole school emails or CCing lots of people. 4. Include as much information as possible. Make it so that you shouldn't need to receive a reply or if you do it is only one email. Tell them what they need to do, by when and what finished looks like, be specific. If arranging meetings, give a range of times to meet up and have the other person decide what...