Planning and organising

Teach30

As the new school year begins I would love to get advice and tips on planning and how to be more organised!

It is my first year doing my own plans and schemes as I finally have my own hours. Im obviously delighted but at the same time slightly overwhelmed as I am unsure exactly how much detail is needed. Currently I have an outline yearly plan and I am also typing up weekly plans and writing a more detailed daily plan for each group. Hopefully this will be sufficient for any inspections even if it is very time consuming.

I try my best to do as much work in school but sometimes it is just easier and quieter to get work done at home. If anyone has any other tips and ideas on organisation I would love to know them!

spurious

Try, as much as you can, to leave work at work. You will crucify yourself.

highly1111

Agree with Spurious.

Also, you'll find (hopefully) that your colleagues will be more than willing to help you out. You may have inherited some schemes of work or alternatively, there will be a template that you can follow. Schemes of work should definitely already be in place. I know you want to make your own mark on things but you can update the SOW as time goes on. You don't need to worry about them all now as otherwise the workload would be unthinkable and very stressful. Concentrate on your teaching classes for the moment. For practical tips, I give weekly LC questions to my 6th years once a week and I always make sure its due the day before I have a few free classes, this means that I know I'll have time to correct it. Same with tests. Do some peer teaching and depending on your subject, you may be able to check homework without correcting it and then take up their copies once a week to correct. Finally, avoid the staff room when you've free classes. The 35/40 minutes will vanish and you'll have nothing done. Take the free classes to correct and prepare!

Alex Meier

spurious wrote: »

Try, as much as you can, to leave work at work. You will crucify yourself.

I have only four free classes a week due to having to do unpaid Haddington Road hours.

It's impossible to prepare 33 classes per week effectively from that.

So inevitably work is done at home.

highly1111

Alex Meier wrote: »

I have only four free classes a week due to having to do unpaid Haddington Road hours.

It's impossible to prepare 33 classes per week effectively from that.

So inevitably work is done at home.

Yes, but do your work in school - don't take it home. Stay later after classes in school. Just advice though!

2011abc

Traditionally qualified teachers regarded individual class plans as a baptism of fire for student teachers in an otherwise fairly relaxed year .Turning the HDip into a two year course is a farcical attempt at money saving and live register reduction not to mention keeping teaching out of hands of ordinary decent working class people who might be less inclined to indoctrinate students for FG You can be damn sure the clowns who are trying to turn teaching into a 'lifelong "Dip" ' are not 'career' classroom teachers and wouldn't last two years at it

maynooth_rules

What precisely should a teacher have done in case of a drive by in this regard. I get bogged down in planning and generally work a hell of a lot better when I have written down a one sentence objective in my teaching journal for future lessons. Im assuming there is much more I should be doing or have on record??

Mardy Bum

maynooth_rules wrote: »

What precisely should a teacher have done in case of a drive by in this regard. I get bogged down in planning and generally work a hell of a lot better when I have written down a one sentence objective in my teaching journal for future lessons. Im assuming there is much more I should be doing or have on record??

You don't need a written lesson plan for a drive by.

A very good lesson follows something like the following
Learning objectives
Literacy/numeracy
Class hook

Present
Model
Group work
Etc

Reflect
AfL
Have students say the objectives.