Failing is Not a Bad Thing

June 30, 2014 By Leave a Comment

As teachers we understand that not every child will be able to solve a problem the first time or will be able to take in all the information in the lesson. However, a lot of pressure can be put on the child to do so, therefore, we often overlook the process of learning and only focus on the results.

stepsSociety has persuaded our psyche to have a deep rooted fear of “failure.” This way of thinking impacts us from childhood through to adulthood. Children who struggle with learning often have low self confidence and feel like they are “failing” most of the time.

This can often lead to boredom and disruptive behaviour in class.

We need to emphasize that fast learners are not always the best learners. Children learn in many different ways and we as teachers have to ensure that we are using as many methods as possible to assist the whole class. This can be a difficult job but positive feedback is a great way to build children’s confidence in learning.

Teachers also need to educate children that “failing” is part of learning. Failing can aid our learning as through the process of elimination we can find the right answer. It also builds our determination and encourages us to expand our thought process that can aid us with future tasks.

If you love teaching and are looking for a supply teaching position in and around the area of London, Red Box Teachers has a huge range of different options available for substitute teachers and teaching assistants.

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Teachers’ Pay linked to Performance in Bristol Schools

June 26, 2014 By Leave a Comment

[redbox] school news blog

Schools in Bristol have announced that from September 2014, newly-qualified teachers will have their pay linked directly to classroom performance. To an extent teacher’s pay will depend on the performance and growth of their pupils.

Many parents and teachers are in favour of this, particularly those who feel they go the extra mile when it comes to teaching their classes, and why shouldn’t they be? It is thought that this will be a direct incentive for teachers to put more effort into improving pupil’s willingness to learn performance in examinations.

On the other hand, this new system could drive NQTs to teach outside of Bristol as the criteria for pay may be inconsistent. In addition, the new system could also see a reduction of teachers willing to teach at tougher schools as performance of the pupils and their engagement may not be as good as other schools.

However, how easy is this system to implement? How would the efforts of the teacher and the pupil’s growth be measured objectively? Will this be a reliable and valid system? Would this be putting more pressure on pupils as they would be partly responsible for their teacher’s pay? It is not black and white when it comes to the education of children. Certain examples are as follows:

teacher pay perf

“If a pupil does well in an examination subject is this the result of the work done by his or her Year 11 subject teacher or his or her primary school teachers who taught the pupil literacy and numeracy? Which teacher should get the credit for examination success?”

 

Quotation taken from article: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Plan-link-teacher-s-pay-pupils-results-branded/story-21210185-detail/story.html

Plus there is also the issue of how to measure a pupil’s ‘level of success’. An individual may feel that they have made substantial progress over the year; however they may still be falling slightly short of the ‘average’ performance level for their year.

Red Box Teachers is always on hand to provide great opportunities for supply teachers and teaching assistants in and around London. What are your thoughts on this new scheme? What do you think this means for teachers in Bristol schools? Let us know in the comments or tell us on Facebook!

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Be Engaging and Exciting

June 23, 2014 By Leave a Comment

At Red Box Teachers we understand how important education is to our children. Children can often resent going to school and hold this resentment throughout their adult education. Therefore, we need to ensure that school is a supportive and fun environment to learn in from the beginning.

fun learningAll children learn at different rates so teachers need to ensure that each level of learning is clear, exciting and engaging. We can often remember more information if we link it to an interesting memory or if we have actively engaged in that memory of learning.

Using a variety of different activities will help you to understand how each child learns and it will also break up the day into more interesting and engaging sections. Try to include stimuli that the children can relate to e.g. a cool cartoon character or a character from a famous book. Creating a story with your lessons lead the children down an action packed journey of fun and learning.

Remember it is not just the end result that counts!

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Gove Punishes Parents

June 17, 2014 By Leave a Comment

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Education secretary Michael Gove has announced that he will be imposing punishments for parents whose children fail to show their teachers the proper level of respect. The Minister insists that mums and dads must take the necessary responsibility for their child’s behaviour in regards to respect towards teachers, the willingness to learn and even turning up to school.

scoldIt is Mr Gove’s belief that parents who believe it should be the job of the teachers to educate and raise their children, without installing a sense of respect for their teachers in children, will find themselves on a self-destructive path of stubborn children who are unwilling to learn.

While it is important to ensure that children attend school and express a willingness to learn, perhaps penalising the parents is not the best way to go about this. Some suggest that time spent penalising parents for making sure their kids turn up at school could be better spent having personal 1 to 1 sessions with the children themselves, to learn how they view school and how to better their experience of school as a whole. It is the case of the carrot and the stick so to speak.

With a number of qualified substitute teachers and teaching assistants, whether you require a long term position or a short term position, Red Box Teachers have a variety of different teaching positions in and around London, suited to fit your qualifications!

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