My 50th post

When students reach the point when they are choosing their options for further study - when only English, maths and science are compulsory - my subject suffers tremendously. In other words, hardly anybody picks it. This pains me because I have come to admit to myself that, as a teacher, I must shoulder some of the resonsibility. And I have decided that it is partly due to the fact that my lessons, and my delivery of these lessons, have not been sufficiently interesting and engaging. This is a hard pill to swallow and it has taken me a long time to come round to this way of thinking. I genuinely believe that I am a very good, organised, likeable, harsh-but-fair sort of teacher who gets on well with and manages to educate all but the really horrible kids, and even some of those. However, I am not the finished article and I know that I am still learning my trade, a trade that is constantly evolving.


One of my main flaws is that, to date, I have allowed myself to be wrongly directed by other, more senior and supposedly more experienced members of staff. I am referring specifically to people who also teach my subject. Mr HOD is the most obvious example: As a twenty year man, he displays no flexibility whatsoever and I often wonder how he manages to relate to the kids, particularly when he usually has trouble being social with the other adults in the staff room. I have therefore made a strong decision to distance myself almost completely from the prescriptive curriculum. I am keen to break from the rigidity that binds me, including abandoning the dreaded textbooks that have, sadly, often served as my crutch. My students are able to use wonderful technology such as interactive whiteboards, the internet, mp3 players and mobile 'phones. As am I. The problem is that I do not do so often enough. In my opinion, these devices can and should be used very frequently in the classroom, assuming that the boundaries are clear and the educational benefits are evident. I intend to move towards a more ICT-based way of teaching as a means to re-engage my students.


In recent lessons, as a prelude to this shift in method, I have discussed the aforementioned ideas with each of my classes. The prospect of change has been well-received, even by the crazies in my most challenging class. They all seem to be as excited as I am.


Over the next few weeks I hope to start using more hardware and more software in my lessons, including asking for homework to be e-mailed to me in advance of class rather than handing out books and sheets of paper. When used for the appropriate reasons, i-pods and mobiles will hopefully become as much a part of my lessons as exercise books and pens. All of this will of course require a lot of hard work and effort on my part but I am keen to push ahead with things. Mistakes will undoubtedly be made. Some things will work and some things will not. I must not be daunted by the fluidity of my job. I must try harder.