jayney78 Posted May 13, 2013 Posted May 13, 2013 Hi All, Don't really know if this is the right place to post this. I feel extremely frustrated in my job at the moment. I teach 1 1/2 days in a Reception class and feel that I'm not doing it justice. The teacher I share with uses a topic based approach (which is also quite formal, literacy and numeracy every day!) and basically re-uses planning year on year on year! I'm very keen to plan activities that are more led by the children's interests and needs but just don't know how to do this in the short time I'm in school. On a Thursday afternoon I come in at lunch-time straight into teaching P.E. and then I do circle time after afternoon play. Friday is mine to plan and do whatever I want. Recently I've tended to base the day round a story linked vaguely with the half-termly topic and then we spend the day doing a range of different activities around that story. However I'm concerned that the week doesn't flow for the children from the other teacher to me, I also worry that I'm not planning to the children's interests. Any advice would be greatly received as I want to do the best job I can, even in the short time I'm there and at the moment I feel like I'm floundering!
Guest LornaW Posted May 13, 2013 Posted May 13, 2013 Jayney78 it doesn't sound ideal and as you say rather formal. Do you meet with you job share? When I had job share staff they would meet once a week to plan the next week. I don't have an answer I am sorry to say but I am sure someone will come along and give you advice but really you do need to meet, share and plan together if you can. LornaW
Guest Posted May 13, 2013 Posted May 13, 2013 Having taught 1 day a week in reception in the past I know where you are coming from. My situation was similar to yours in that there really wasn't much of an opportunity to plan together ( teacher was AST and wasn't there when I was covering) I only taught the 1 day and worked elsewhere the rest of the week so couldn't meet on another day. We used to have a phone conversation once a week and handover book but that was it. I was given problem solving, psche and UW science slant to cover in my day however I wanted and often thought it was too formal and my day was discreet rather than building on what the other teacher was doing. Sorry but I havn't an answer unless you can get together to plan. Have you tried to plan with the children about what they would like to do on your day the following week? Deb
catma Posted May 14, 2013 Posted May 14, 2013 Is it job share or cover - I think there is a distinction between the 2. I had 2 days out of class as DHT and was covered. However it was still "my" class as in I was the permanent teacher, did all the reports, parents meetings etc etc etc and although we did meet to discuss it, the planning was mine for the week and I expected it to be, well, covered! My cover teacher was very capable and we had similar styles so I was happy, but I would have wanted things done the way I wanted as I had the responsibility for it all. I think a job share on the other hand is more about 2 people actually completing 1 job sharing the employment status (conditions of employment/salary etc) so I suppose there is an expectation that they teach and deliver harmoniously. Cx 1
jayney78 Posted May 14, 2013 Author Posted May 14, 2013 Thanks all for comments, Catma, it's a bit of both, the thursday afternoon is her PPA time so I'm doing cover then but Friday is my day and the other teacher is off. We do have thursdays after school to pass on information and plan together but as she tends to use previous years planning - that is her comfort zone and she is not happy to change things. She also does her planning for the following week on that thursday afternoon when I'm teaching and emails it to me over the weekend. I try and little things have changed. If I were to talk to the children about what they would like to do the following Friday, would it matter that there was a week between. I've been trying different ways of doing things for the past two years and I haven't come to a conclusion of what works best.
Guest Posted May 14, 2013 Posted May 14, 2013 Hi. I think job sharing is a very underestimated role as I find we both do the equivalent of 2 teachers work f/t ! I share a 0.6 (0.1 because of my nqt status) and we take turns to plan each week - one week on, one week off. I get all plans sent to me so I can see what I will be teaching and vice versa. We are a very formal set up - specific 'lessons' everyday. I think generic plans can be adapted to your personal style of teaching and don't underestimate that your style will be of benefit to your class. I've found that you need to loose a few battles to win the war so to speak - you probably job share for a reason and I think you have to take the pro's and con's of the situation. As long as you maintain a professional relationship and the children are making progress then you are doing a good job. I don't like 'sharing' my class either but I want part-time so that's that.
catma Posted May 14, 2013 Posted May 14, 2013 Once when I was working with a parallel class but in the same space we agreed the learning outcomes we were working towards and then we delivered them in our own way - we arrived at the same place but by different and unique to us routes. If you could work something like that it might help??
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