Taking over a class

throwawayquery

I have changed the username for this one. I have been assigned extra exam classes this year. This is not common in my school. We usually take the same gang from Year 1 to Year 3 and Year 5 to Year 6 and if there are 2 history classes, both history teachers have Year 5s unless they have English. I suspect students have complained about the original teacher and she has been demoted for want of a better expression. It will be blatantly obvious when I take over both of her exam classes as well as my own and she has extra Year 1 students. I work well with the other teacher and can't see any shortcomings in her work.I also think she would have told me if she was in poor health or had personal issues which might require her getting an easier timetable. It looks like a bit of a smear campaign by strong students has gotten out of hand. This happens every so often and actually happened to me a number of years ago and I remember how hurt I was, although my class wasn't taken from me. Should I just turn up on day 1 and say nothing? Do I ask her for a list of work she has done? I don't want to ask the students especially if I am right and they complained about her. Maybe I am over thinking this one??

janes1234

throwawayquery wrote:

I have changed the username for this one. I have been assigned extra exam classes this year. This is not common in my school. We usually take the same gang from Year 1 to Year 3 and Year 5 to Year 6 and if there are 2 history classes, both history teachers have Year 5s unless they have English. I suspect students have complained about the original teacher and she has been demoted for want of a better expression. It will be blatantly obvious when I take over both of her exam classes as well as my own and she has extra Year 1 students. I work well with the other teacher and can't see any shortcomings in her work.I also think she would have told me if she was in poor health or had personal issues which might require her getting an easier timetable. It looks like a bit of a smear campaign by strong students has gotten out of hand. This happens every so often and actually happened to me a number of years ago and I remember how hurt I was, although my class wasn't taken from me. Should I just turn up on day 1 and say nothing? Do I ask her for a list of work she has done? I don't want to ask the students especially if I am right and they complained about her. Maybe I am over thinking this one??

Hmm its up to you but maybe you could politely ask students what they covered last year. I wouldn't accept any smart comments about said teacher. You need to know what is to be covered. I personally wouldn't ask teacher but that's just me.

evolving_doors

ya you might end up wrecking your head guessing.
Any guff from the students then lock it down pronto. That stuff is poison if the students tell younger students thay they got rid of a teacher , then it enters into folklore and it isnt long before parents and students start feeding campaigns (unless of course the teacher was dire!). Going by your own account though it appears that the teacher knows their stuff and gets them through(maybe come 'back with this if they start airing opinions).
You never know though , sometimes teachers do request a break from exam pressure, esp if theyve other private stuff going on. Sometimes though I think a 1st yr messy group can be more taxing than exam years who have their heads down.

If that class are a bit lippy about a teacher then get them to teach a small topic in front of the class.

rainbowtrout

Just keep it professional. It's not your fault they are on your timetable. Just say to the teacher 'I've got 6A history on my timetable this year which is a bit of a surprise, I was just wondering what topics you covered with them last year?' and leave it at that.

Maybe things have happened exactly as you've described, maybe there's another reason. No point bringing it into the conversation, if it's the former, it will only make the teacher feel worse.

rainbowtrout

Gebgbegb wrote: »

ya you might end up wrecking your head guessing.
Any guff from the students then lock it down pronto. That stuff is poison if the students tell younger students thay they got rid of a teacher , then it enters into folklore and it isnt long before parents and students start feeding campaigns (unless of course the teacher was dire!). Going by your own account though it appears that the teacher knows their stuff and gets them through(maybe come 'back with this if they start airing opinions).
You never know though , sometimes teachers do request a break from exam pressure, esp if theyve other private stuff going on. Sometimes though I think a 1st yr messy group can be more taxing than exam years who have their heads down.

If that class are a bit lippy about a teacher then get them to teach a small topic in front of the class.

I agree with this. The teacher might have some health issues they haven't discussed with anyone on staff and know that they'll be in and out on a long term basis and rather than let their exam class suffer (because ongoing absence is the first thing leaving certs will start whinging about) they may have suggested that it be taken off their timetable for the year.

Maybe the teacher is pregnant and while a class is not normally taken off a timetable for a maternity leave, maybe they agreed to it to allow for some continuity and not have a sub coming in late in the year to a leaving cert class.

RealJohn

rainbowtrout wrote: »

Just keep it professional. It's not your fault they are on your timetable. Just say to the teacher 'I've got 6A history on my timetable this year which is a bit of a surprise, I was just wondering what topics you covered with them last year?' and leave it at that.

Maybe things have happened exactly as you've described, maybe there's another reason. No point bringing it into the conversation, if it's the former, it will only make the teacher feel worse.

This is exactly right. Sometimes classes are reassigned. You don't know why it happened and it isn't really any of your business. Of course you ask the teacher what they covered. Asking the students is just giving one or two bad apples an opportunity to criticise, if there was something to criticise, while simultaneously telling your colleague that you don't trust her to have covered the material properly. You're both professionals so you should act like this is nothing out of the ordinary.

throwawayquery

I had a phone call from said colleague. She is happy with the situation so all is well! I just remembered how horrible it felt when a small number of students took against me and tried to get rid of me and hated to think someone else was going through the same. Now to plan how to cope with 50 projects! A mod can close the thread if they wish.

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