Jonesieblog

I observed the class of an experienced colleague today, at the invitation of my colleague.  He is very pleased with the way the class is getting on, and wanted me to come in and give the class a boost.

It was fascinating, as always, to observe a lesson, and I was indeed very impressed by how engaged and enthusiastic the youngsters were.

After the lesson, I recalled how, as a probationer, I was frustrated by the fact that some teachers seemed to have excellent behaviour in their classes effortlessly, whilst I had to work hard managing behaviour.

18 years later, I know that the effortlessness I thought I saw was just an illusion.  Experienced teachers are constantly managing the behaviour of their classes – principally by planning interesting, appropriately challenging lessons and by maintaining positive warm relationships with their students, but also by nudging youngsters towards positive behaviour and away from misbehaviour during lessons by the subtle use of body language, tone of voice, humour, praise, chastisement, physical proximity and so on.

For most of us it takes years to develop these skills, and we never stop working on them.  As a probationer it can seem like a massive mountain to climb, but over the course of a career it’s part of what keeps the job interesting!

There isn’t really a moral to this story: it was just a wee bit too long for a tweet

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