Lesson Obs: The Post-Mortem

Twitter! I salute you! Thank you for all your advice and encouragement leading up to 'Lesson Obs' day.  This time I did not work myself into an anxiety riddled ball of terrified nausea. That in itself is a win as far as I'm concerned.

This is a 'post-mortem' combining the feedback and my own reflections of the lesson.

What went well?

• The class were INCREDIBLY good, even the most rogueish and gobby did not put a foot out of line so my relationship with the class was praised
• The lesson was rigorously (that's for you Goveasaurus-Rex) planned with creative ideas and resources
• Pupils could identify what their target grade for creative writing looks like
• Most, (but not all) were engaged with the learning.
• It was obvious that learning did take place
• Assessment of learning in lesson was evident
• Pupils could assess their own learning via traffic lights postcard at end of the lesson
• Subject knowledge is clearly very good
• Literacy strategies e.g. 'How do you THINK you spell it?' when asked how to spell a word in the lesson
• Teacher interventions encouraged pupils ot think for themselves rather than merely provide answers
• Pupils could work indepedently of me
• The pupil friendly and focused sentence of the SPAG part of Mark Scheme was praised - useful and focused
• Ideas within lesson were creative e.g. use of the word cloud and sound effects

Even Better if?

•   I talked less - nerves, nerves, nerves. This had a detrimental effect on the pace of the lesson, thus stopping it from getting a 'Good' overall.
•  'Missed opportunity' with 'Help My Sentences are Dull' starter - I could have shared a pupil's  'What a good one looks like' - and discussed why it was good and then 'add, challenge, change' using pupils suggestion.  This was a good idea and a fair point - agreed.
• My Q&A was too brief when discussing the exemplar A, B and C - (I knew this!) and could have developed using higher order questionning better and focusing back onto the mark scheme I provided much more clearly. 
• Too long spent explaining things which confused rather than aided the pupils - lack of clarity - fair point again, down to nerves mainly.
• Too many resources or they were not told well enough how they could use them
• Now this is funny - TOO MUCH MARKING in the exercise books. I've been told to mark less!

Targets are therefore focusing on:

• Improving pace
• Making sure clarity of instructions is clear - under pressure that is - so I talk less.
• And....I can't remember the others. Will add at a later date!

Overall grading; RI with Good features; which is how I assessed myself once the post Lesson Obs adrenaline had faded away.  The assessment and feedback was both useful and fair, therefore I am obviously disappointed at not being all 'Good' but neither am I beating myself up about it.

The class, who contain some of the most tricky characters in year 10 could not have been nicer. I owe them chocolate in tomorrows lesson. Fact.

During the afternoon lessons my rather lovely 6th formers were also very kind and patient as I explained why my brain was a little scrambled. I explained what a lesson observation was about, how we are graded and how much I struggle with them due to nerves and they were understanding and sympathetic! They coped very well with my addled questionning in the lesson. Lovely kids.

One of the funniest moments in their lesson, whilst we were discussing representations of teens and their age group was from a lovely lad, J who is also on the autism spectrum.  He has always been middle aged, even whilst in Year 11, he was a middle aged man in a 16 year old's body.  He said, 'Well Miss, I am anything but a typical teenager.'  We had a chuckle as we all knew he was right!

Thinking allowed (geddit?)

There have been many tweets and blogs about lesson observations recently, most memorable @cazzypot's from yesterday which provoked an extraordinary number of tweets and @Joe_Kirby who has collated a range of negative experiences of the lesson observation process, in which I was rather chuffed that my 'Under the Microscope' blog was referred to.  Last year I really went through the mill (#clicheklaxon) with lesson observations, but EVENTUALLY came out with a 'Good' before the year came to an end (thank you Year 13 Language and Literature class, you were just awesome).

Frankly, I would prefer to put myselt through THIS:

Can you find me? Where's Gwennie??

than go through the whole lesson observation process. For those of you who want to know:  this is the 'Tough Guy Nettle Warrior' assault course. 10 miles of running, schlepping, clambering, crawling and scraping over and under a range of obstacles. I have done it twice and the only thing that did not hurt the day after was my face (no hyperbole here folks, move along now).

In this post, or series of posts I shall once again expose myself, much like the first time I donned a bikini in the local swimming pool at the grand old age of, well mid-30s, my pale Welsh flesh causing snow-blindness to the poor life guards as I teetered my way into the pool.

My lesson observation is on Thursday Period 2, and here, folks, is draft 1 of my lesson plan.  I have not sat with the Ofsted observation criteria next to me, I have planned what I think is an appropriate lesson for my pupils that IS focused on specific elements of the CA marking crieria of SPAG and sentence structures which I have identified as a weakness in the group as a whole. I think if we can nail this, as a class, their target grades are achievable.

The pupils have been given their target grades, which are based on the old 3 levels of progress chestnut. Underneath this I asked them to write the grade they would LIKE to get, allowing them to disagree with it and, thankfully, show some ambition.  Those targeted with a B wanted an A, the C targets wanted a B. There was one girl whose target was a D, so I told her to ignore it and write down that she wanted a C. This I hope, is going some way to instill a positive ethos in the class. Not bad for a set 3 who barely had any proper teaching in Year 9 to the sad and regrettable illness of a much loved colleague.

So, here is my draft lesson plan as I have written it. I am aiming for at least a 'Good' as the pressure of trying to attain the holy grail of 'Outstanding' would send me back into the dark pits of anxiety and self-sabotage due to nerves. 

This is my school's lesson planning proforma for observations. The observers will be looking for progress in both halves of the hour lesson, and yes @learningspy 'All, Most, Some' is included...which I can never work out how to word effectively.

The parts I am not sure about are in italics...

- LESSON PLAN THE EXTRA SMILE

 

 

Teacher	GNE	Date	17/10/13	Period	2
Class	10EN4	No. of students	16	No. of G&T	N/A
Ability range	TG A-D	No. with statements	N/A	No. of EAL	3
No. with IEP	TO DO!	No. of FSM	7	No. of PP	8

 

Learning intention - where are we going?   (Re-word?? – How to intro’ to pupils?)

To be able to identify grammatical features of descriptive writing that match my target grade SO THAT We can set achievable targets for our own writing

To be able to adapt a range of model sentence structures to my own writing SO THAT We can write a paragraph that shows features of my target grade

 

 

Success criteria – how will we know when we've got there?  - Struggle with this bit, will leave for now

·   ALL

 

·   MOST

 

·   SOME

 

Identified intervention students	JD and AK – out of lesson Friday in which we were planning writing. Model plan to be provided during lesson + direct teacher intervention to aid with planning BP and PP and poss AK on report cards. Refer to during lesson CM, NH and SM work quietly, but stop when stuck, not asking for help. Direct teacher intervention required to keep on task – try a ‘to do list’ with tick boxed for students this lesson? KDW suggest post-it notes for monitoring NO TA in with this class TO DATE – pupils taught in a more didactic ‘traditional’ fashion, am encouraging collaborative work via peer marking and ‘peer critique’
Hook (engagement)	Meta- starter to introduce LO’s in pupil friendly way: This lesson focuses on writing interesting descriptive sentences – what have you learned already that will help you in this lesson? 3 things (Helps gauge skill level for this group at start of lesson)	Differentiation strategies/Use of other adults in the room
Setting the scene	Hand out exemplars of A, B, C grade CA work, first paragraph only. Writing to describe from previous pupils at our school.   Here I EITHER give them grade descriptors for ABC focusing on SPAG and accuracy OR pupils decide success criteria based on what they see. UNDECIDED   KDW advice: What grade and why? Post it notes - initial thoughts - mark scheme - re-judge. Use PPBP to assess pupils understanding of difference between different grades.   After reviewing model paragraphs pupils assess a)       I can do…..x2 things b)       I need to do….x2 things to achieve TG – use for plenary	Remind students of a) target grades in books and b) grades they preferred to achieve so resources targeted at them.     Use PPBP OR ‘Little Miss Naughty’ toy as prop to increase participation in questioning and develop extended answers to Qs.
Activate (main learning activities)   Reminder to show progress in both half hours of lesson.	Hand out ‘sentence keys’ (laminates containing a range of different sentence structures.)  Involve students in working out how these can be used, adapted and applied to own writing.  Model using the 2 adjectives sentence key – focusing on a person from a film still – what do they need to keep? What do they need to alter to adapt model for THAT person? Class to make suggestions, teacher responds to suggestions. Pupils choose diff sentence key then try adapting on own.  (Use mini-whiteboards?) Hinge Q – who thinks they’ve done it successfully? Address any misconceptions here. Main task – write a descriptive paragraph focusing on one area of your film still. Write at least 7 sentences (too many? Too little?) each sentence has a different structure using a different ‘sentence key’ – Use timer from ‘classtools.net’? 12 mins? (Enough time?) Review success of task  Peer mark– Have they met initial task criteria? 7 sentences each of a different structure.  Yes/No? Why?	Alternative resource for C target grade pupils – ‘slow writing cards’ with a range of different instructions as to how to begin different sentences.   Literacy mats – to use for peer marking re. accuracy of SPAG     Teacher intervenes with NH and CM to keep on task. Also monitor BP and AK for progress. Better way of keeping them on task? Post it notes for encouragement - communication with pupils - un-obtrusive  KDW advice     Poss’ provide  ‘word banks’ using wordle – adjectives and verbs.   'Resource bank/station' needed' Strategies if 'dip' in lesson 1. Write best sentence on post it, make a paper plane, send it to someone else to share 2.  Word bombs - include this in your sentence.
Consolidate	High-light BEST sentences and WORST/Least successful. WWW about best sentence EBI for worst sentence.  (ref to grade descriptors again?) Re-draft least successful sentences based on advice given. Review start of lesson/Exit ticket: I can still do x2 I can now do x2 I need to do x2 KDW advice - traffic lights at end	Teacher focus on NH, CM and SM – ‘to do list’ for these pupils?
Learn to learn opportunities	Peer marking Responding to peer feedback AfL re. using SPAG element of mark scheme Model writing from pupils their own age and from own school
Home Learning	Worksheet focusing on sentence structures to consolidate basic grammar accuracy needed to achieve target grade.  Due Thurs next week.
Literacy/Numeracy Cross Curricular opportunities	Lesson focuses on a) developing a range of sentence structures in own writing b) work is peer marked for accuracy and hitting target grade criteria.    Numeracy – not really applicable to this lesson???
Health & Safety Assessment	HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW

 

Now, dear Twitter and blogging colleagues - over to you. I would very much like your feedback in the comments section on this blog (rather than tweets). I would rather not have a mauling as I have no nails left to chew off, so kind, fair, specific would be marvellous!

BIG thank you to @KDWScience for a phone chat with some really great advice about how to tweak this plan.

 

Da iawn diolch. :-)


Update 15th October 2013

Firstly, thanks to all the useful advice I've had via the blog comments, direct messages and emails that have helped me clarify my thinking and produce something that in don't believe is 'pants'. 

After a particularly trying day at work, in which it was one of our yr 11 boy's funerals today. For reasons I can't and don't want to go into, there was a catastrophe chain of events that made the afternoon lessons akin to wading through trickle. 

Emergency Costa Latte and chocolate orange Battenburg thing consumed, I was homeward bound to complete the lesson observation plan.  This has involved a great deal of faffing, tweaking, re-thinking and head-scratching.

So, here is what I'm going to call my 'final draft' of my lesson plan for Thursday's observation. If I'd admitted to how much time I'd spent on this, you'd probably choke on your hob nob, but I reckon you could have a good guess.

LESSON PLAN THE EXTRA SMILE

 

 

Teacher	GNE	Date	17/10/13	Period	2
Class	10EN4	No. of students	16	No. of G&T	N/A
Ability range	TG A-D	No. with statements	N/A	No. of EAL	3
No. with IEP	11	No. of FSM	7	No. of PP	8

 

Learning intention - where are we going?  

 

To be able to apply a range of sentence structures to my own writing SO THAT We can write an opening  paragraph that shows features of my target grade success criteria

 

Success criteria – how will we know when we've got there?

·   ALL C – Will be able to write sentences of varied length and type, avoiding repetitive starts and over use of ‘and’ ‘so’ and ‘because’.

·                  Identified the success criteria for their target grade re. sentences

·                  Experimented with vocabulary, even if not always successfully so

 

·   MOST  B – As with C plus using more challenging criteria to construct sentences such as higher level connectives and more challenging language features e.g. metaphor

 

·   SOME  A As with B with a greater challenge provided for sentence construction e.g. higher level connectives, and more challenging language features such as personification and using present participle verbs at the start of a sentence.

 

Identified intervention students	JD and AK – out of lesson Friday in which we were planning writing. Model plan to be provided during lesson + direct teacher intervention to aid with planning BP and PP and poss AK on report cards. Refer to during lesson CM, NH and SM work quietly, but stop when stuck, not asking for help. Direct teacher intervention required to keep on task – try a ‘to do list’ with tick boxed for students this lesson? NO TA in with this class TO DATE – pupils taught in a more didactic ‘traditional’ fashion, am encouraging collaborative work via peer marking and ‘peer critique’ Class did have lots of cover and supply teachers in Year 9.
Hook (engagement)	‘Help! My sentences are BORING!’ 3 sentences that are grammatically correct but dull, each could apply to the film still they have chosen. Pupils choose relevant sentence Re-write using given instruction on card Share outcomes – verbally or on post-its	Differentiation strategies/Use of other adults in the room   Card difficulty given according to target grade ‘Word cloud’ as a vocabulary bank with useful definitions on reverse.   Soundtrack ‘Theme from The Exorcist’ on entry/while working
Setting the scene	Hand out exemplars of A, B, C grade CA work, first paragraph only. Writing to describe from previous pupils at our school.   Pupils decide which they think is A, B and C giving specific reasons. Show pupil friendly version of sentence and SPAG criteria, do they need to review initial thoughts? Can they justify grade better?   After reviewing model paragraphs pupils assess a)       I able to…..x2 things b)       I need to do….x2 things to achieve TG – use for plenary OR use traffic lights – depending on time. Traffic lights more efficient.	Remind students of a) target grades in books and b) grades they preferred to achieve so resources targeted at them.     Use PPBP OR ‘Little Miss Naughty’ toy as prop to increase participation in questioning and develop extended answers to Qs.     Post-it notes as an unobtrusive way to keep pupils on task.
Activate (main learning activities)   Reminder to show progress in both half hours of lesson.	Hand out main task and targeted success criteria for target grades.  E.g. 7  sentence paragraph – Cs ‘rules’ are: n       You can only use ‘and’ twice n        Use a simile  OR alliteration at least once n        Use a 3  word sentence (anywhere) in your paragraph n        Use at least 3 words from the ‘Word cloud’ Bs and A target grades each have more challenging 'rules' to follow Points attached to each bullet point to motivate.     Use timer from classtools.net – 12 minutes Pupils read through own work, choose best sentence, encourage to share with constructive peer comments.	Soundtrack for extra stimuli – Rainstorm and generic eerie sounds. Provide ‘slow writing cards’ with a range of different instructions as to how to begin and write different sentences.   ‘Help’ stations on spare desks to include: Literacy mats, punctuation, connective pyramids   Writing ‘rules’ are specifically targeted at each pupil’s target grade.     Teacher intervenes with NH and CM to keep on task. Also monitor BP and AK for progress. – Use post-it notes to give instruction, encouragement unobtrusively.
Consolidate	Review success of task  Peer mark – pairs have been assigned – Have they met initial task criteria?  E.g. 7 sentences each of a different structure.  Yes/No? Note down WWW and EBIs  referring to initial rules Add up how many points they achieved - where did they lose points? Why?   4. Pupils double tick peer’s best sentence, underline least successful – note in margins why? Review start of lesson/Exit ticket: I can now do: I would like to learn how to: I need to do:       Provide homework	Focus on same pupils, using post it notes, to keep on task.       Alternative plenary using traffic lights – more efficient. Depends on how well lesson runs.
Learn to learn opportunities	Peer marking Responding to peer feedback AfL re. using SPAG element of mark scheme Model writing from pupils their own age and from own school
Home Learning	Provide 6 more ‘boring’ sentences for the pupils to re-draft for homework.  Due next lesson (Friday).
Literacy/Numeracy Cross Curricular opportunities	Lesson focuses on a) developing a range of sentence structures in own writing b) work is peer marked for accuracy and hitting target grade criteria.  I   Numeracy – part of instructions for tasks/success criteria involves specific numbers, basic numeracy skill used in the writing and peer marking. Points used for motivation – simple addition needed to add up score.
Health & Safety Assessment	HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW

 

I was still faffing with this as I posted. NO. MORE. FAFFING. DONE. FIN. It is now in the lap of the Gods.

Thank you once again for taking the time to look. Please feel free to add yet more kind, fair and specific comments.