TEACHING PRACTICE

A REALISTIC GUIDE

Dr F. Qureshi

Daastan Publishing

First Published in Pakistan by Daastan PVT LTD

House # A-41, Madni Street, Lala Rukh, Wah Cantt, Punjab 47040

www.daastan.com

www.meraqissa.com

Text copyrights ©  Dr. F. Qureshi

Book Design copyright © Dr. F. Qureshi

The moral rights of the writer, illustrator and editor have been asserted.

All rights reserved

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN 978-969-696-686-9

Printed and bound in Pakistan by Pixel Printing Solutions

INTRODUCTION

Why this free e-book?

I am a Science teacher, still teaching at Secondary level with a PhD with postdoctoral experience in Science and a specialisation in Biology at A-level in England, UK. Having done this job for 23 years at an OFSTED (UK School Inspectors) “Good” level on average, with a large number of “Outstanding” lessons through the years.

My aim is to distil my own experience and give personal and informal advice to those who are thinking of entering into teaching, those new to the profession, or even those who have qualified abroad and wish to teach in the UK. It is not meant to be a comprehensive literature trawl or an academic dissertation on teaching; other books serve that purpose very well.

This is an anecdotal, non evidence-based account of important lessons that I have learned in the profession that I love. I want to focus on the simple day-to-day activities as a teacher in simple de-jargonised fashion, wherever possible.

I am humble to have been important in the lives of so many young people. This is dedicated to them. I also dedicate this to my long-suffering wife, Shaheen and my supportive children. I am also dedicating this work to Targeted Individuals worldwide.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE – do give me a review, some constructive feedback wherever possible. This will serve me as your assessment so that I can improve in a second edition if necessary. Thank you.

CONTENTS

Registration of classes

Lesson Planning

Differentiation

Assessment

Discipline

Professionalism

Bibliography

Appendix 1 – Example Lesson Plan

Appendix 2 – Example: Students Lesson Evaluation

Appendix 3 – Student Peer Presentation Evaluation

Appendix 4 – An Example of Differentiation by Task

Appendix 5 – Whiteboard Display for a Lesson

Registration of classes

Tutor Groups

Met with up to 30 new faces in early September, all trying to “suss out” or evaluate the new person in front of the class, it is easy to be a bit overwhelmed. However, I have normally started off by introducing myself and then passing the buck to the children. Prior to the registration lesson, I would dredge up available information on all of the students. For example, I would, as a tutor, wish to know if any of the students had a Special Need, such as Autistic spectrum Disorder (ASD), dyslexia or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and, ideally, create a seating plan that would place all these students at the front of the class, where they would have immediate teacher attention.

It is also vital, in my opinion, to know if any student has a particular allergy and then plan a worst case scenario if the student starts to show allergic symptoms (normally I would place these students in areas to which I, or others, could have quick access to help with treatment).

In addition, is essential for me to have a hard copy of all information in a teacher register. Presumably one with dates and the correct number of teaching periods in a day. The names can be written on the left and then a column assigned for:

• Special Needs information
• Literacy Information
• Medical Information

The rest of the students can be arranged strategically in seats. Where you would suspect some behaviour issues, you can place students in boy/girl/boy/girl arrays. Younger classes at Yr 7 and Yr 8 level tend to respond favourably to these arrangements in my experience (children in the UK start school at 5 years old). Older groups from Yr 9 to Yr 12 can be placed in arrays with two girls separated by two boys, which seems to help cooperative learning. Obviously, in single gender schools, there are different arrangements. I would check with teachers who knew the students to place the potential “troublemakers” into the four corners of the room.

For the most part, you are the first point of adult contact with the students. If the school does not have a pre-planned set of activities for each day of the week, or even if they do, it is important to talk for a short time to each student. You can show that you care about them and identify the jokers in the class to use as suitable foil for your “teacher” jokes.

The teacher jokes don’t have to be funny but they can sure help to break the ice with a new class. My favourite, when teaching electronic structure in the atom, is to tell the joke about the neutron which walks into a bar and orders a drink. When it asks for the bill, the barman looks over and says: “For you mate, no charge!” Instantly the classroom reverberates with groans of apparent pain, but it does lighten up the atmosphere in the room.

Registration Class (Tutor/Form Group)

Encouraging Achievement

In Register/Tutor/Form class one of the main tasks is reading out school announcements. I have found that referring to a “clued-up” student either as a teacher back-up or for information always helps and then you can pretend that you always knew all long. For example, which day the school breaks up for holidays.