Warning: Massive amounts of Edu-babble ahead...

Sorry that it has been a few days since I have posted anything, I’ve started actually having some things to do here besides recovering from jet lag and swilling drinks in the back garden, although I have done plenty of that. Tried a Pimms and Lemonade-which is a very British drink-delicious-look for Pimms in the US if you can. I am glad to be on the edge of the country here, it is so beautiful and very close.

I finally have gotten my “timetable” which is my teaching schedule for this year. I will post a chart of it but it is so complicated that it will take a lot of explanation to read it. I can’t remember if I explained this before so, sorry if I have. In science, maths, and English, each grade level is broken into five tracked groups (1-5) based on abilities. These little groups travel with each other to most of their classes for all subjects. So, if you are in a group called 7-1, that means that you are in the highest level of Year 7 while 7-5 means the lowest track. Big surprises, the kids in the lower tracks are learning English while they learn all of their other subjects. But, apparently, there is classroom support of some kind to help the kids in the lower section although I am not sure what that looks like.

Okay, so when I got my timetable, I noticed that for some groups, I only have them once per week. I thought this was a mistake. However, it is not a mistake, and a few sections I will actually share with another teacher. Whichever teacher has the kids for the most sections is the lead teacher and tells the second teacher what to teach during that one class period per week. I don’t have any groups that are solely mine for year seven. I have two groups that I will see one time per week, and another that I will see two times. Because they only have four science lessons per week, with the 2/2 split, we will each just teacher 2 different topics within the unit so that we can plan our own lessons and then one of us will give the assessments.

For Years 8, 9, 10, and 11, I have all of my own sections. Although, for one period per week, my Year 9 kids have a different teacher but I will still plan that lesson. My Head of Science (who is 26 and only a fourth year teacher but seems completely awesome already!) said that for those split classes I can either give a full lesson plan to the teacher of just tell them what info I want covered and they can do what they’d like to cover it. Since I am a total control freak, we’ll have to see how it goes. To me, that will feel like having a substitute teacher once per week.

So, realistically, I think that I am going to be doing about 5 or 6 unit plans. We have to rotate the units we teach among the grade levels so that we all have access to the supplies. Speaking of supplies, this is the best news I’ve heard all year. There are two science lab assistants and in order to have a lab set up, all I have to do is give them a copy of the lab and they set the whole thing up! WHAT? How amazing! So I won’t have to fret about ordering things and making late night grocery store trips the night before a lab. Considering how quickly the changeover is between classes, (no passing period actually booked into the schedule) set-up would be a huge issue otherwise.

Below is my time schedule. I am also a “Form Tutor” which means I have an advisory group for Year 12 students.

Time/Class	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Check-in 8:50-9:10	Advisory 12	Advisory 12	Advisory 12	Advisory 12	Advisory 12
Class 1 9:10-10:00	7-1	Year 12- special class	11-2	10-5	7-5
Class 2 10:00-10:50	8-3	9-1	7-2	8-3	OFF
Break 10:50-11:10	Break	Break	Break	Break	Break
Class 3 11:10-12:00	8-3	10-5	11-2	10-5	9-1
Class 4 12:00-12:50	11-2	11-2	7-2	11-2	10-5
Lunch 12:50-1:25	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
Class 5 1:30-2:20	8-3	9-1	OFF	7-2	10-5
Class 6 2:20-3:10	9-2	OFF	7-2	OFF	9-1
Advisory 3:10-3:20	Advisory 12	Advisory 12	Advisory 12	Advisory 12	Advisory 12

For each unit, there are standards and assessments already made. And, to be helpful to new people, there are actually weekly breakdowns of what to teach specifically and links to worksheets, labs, videos, power points, etc. From what I understand, my only requirements are to make sure that I cover the information and have the kids take the already available assessments. There are lab/hands-on assessments and a paper/pencil test for each unit. In the sections that I don’t have to share, I have complete autonomy over how I teach things as long as everything relates to the assessment. For most classes, I have 24 class periods to finish a unit. I was pretty much panicking before yesterday that I was going to practically have a teaching script but I think that it won’t be too bad!

Don’t get me wrong, this is a lot of planning, but I am going to try to lay out each unit all at once using the principles of backwards design like I’ve been taught. We are expected to have objectives on the board for every lesson and I have a white-board and projector hanging from the ceiling. The nice thing is that because they already have things figured out for me, if I am stumped in my own planning, I can always use something someone has already developed. Or, if I develop something new, it gets added to the resources for everyone.

Last night I made my thinking strategies posters with my British spelling- synthesising instead of synthesizing- and there is a laminator (with someone else to do it for me too, just like my darling Ava!) so at least I’ve got that going for me, which is nice. I also don’t have to worry about copies- the science assistants will just get whatever I need made for me. The assistant thing is great when you consider how much will go in to the actual teaching and planning here, I would have to live at school to set up for that many different things.

So, the rest of this week, I am going to be spending planning and poster-making. I have to make posters of the “big ideas” of science. When I have to teach units that are seemingly unconnected, it becomes extra important to relate them all to the “big ideas” so that the kids can actually see some connections between them! I have a fair amount of wall space for posters. I will try to take some pictures of my classroom today. I have TWO WALLS OF WINDOWS, which is amazing! I’ve never had more than a sliver of a window! I think they will become de facto poster walls too.

On Thursday, I am going to meet Anna, my roommate, in London after work for happy hour so I can at least do something fun this week before I have to go back to work on Monday next week. On a non-school note, yesterday I took the dogs for a walk with my neighbor and we tromped through the English woods (dark dark dark) and on the edges of fields. I was introduced to a lovely plant called “stinging nettles” which burns your skin to touch it. I’ll be wearing pants from now on! Oh, I should say trousers instead of pants because “pants” means underwear here so I would sound pretty ridiculous to say I only go hiking in pants! J