Preparing for September...

Hello all,

Regardless of whether you have been teaching for two years, ten years, or thirty-five years, everyone began as an NQT. What I love about teaching, and continually remind myself about teaching, is that there is always something new to learn. The idea that everyone starts as a nervous, apprehensive but excited NQT comforts me approaching September. With the NQT nerves it is easy to forget I have already been teaching for a number of months, and have qualified with outstanding status! My training year has flown by, and I am constantly being told my NQT year will go even quicker!

I am starting a full-time Drama teacher position in early September in West Sussex. Alongside moving three hours way from home, I will also be working in a new school, with new colleagues and new pupils. And the names...so many new names to learn! It's a good job us Drama teachers have a large variety of silly, fun games to get them remembered! Generally, I am excited - excited about moving, excited about my new school and excited about learning even more about teaching. I've started to make classroom displays, activity cards and looking into new, engaging schemes of work. I like to make resources as colourful and engaging as possible, to be used by both students and staff alike. Whether they aid the learning of a lesson, provide means for a starter/main activity, or help plenarise the learning at the end of the session, I really enjoy creating and using my own resources.

Here are some simple activity cards that I have created, that can be teacher-selected activities, pupil-selected activiies or knowledge testers.

I have also selected a range of posters to display in my classroom to create a positive, caring environment. I believe that pupils should feel included within the classroom, and have stimulating material around them. They should feel involved and encouraged to progress, but at the same time listened to when a challenge seems that little bit too hard. With a recent rise in mental health discussions, I think it is vital that as teachers we are human (I will touch on this in another blog soon about nuture in the classroom). This is why I particuarly liked the 'iceberg image', explaining to pupils that success can derive from tough experiences and that we must process and reflect upon these. I also chose the adjectives used to describe someone's voice, with voice skills too readily being forgotten in Drama or an aspect of performing that is often only associated with high performing pupils. It allows pupils to expand their vocabulary which is helpful across the curriculum whilst helping them justfify their characterisation through verbal and written explanation. When pupils' eyes wander, which they inevitably do sometimes, I want them to be drawn to subject-specific materials, offering them a chance to learn (even when they are distracted!)... well we can try!

The important analysis of success.

A fantastic poster to expand pupils' vocabularly and ability to discuss use of voice in performance.

Whilst I will take a much needed break this summer, a lot of time will be spent preparing for new schemes of work, consolidating my knowledge of my new school's rules and routines and thinking about the teacher that I want to bring to the position. The idea of having my own classroom is very exciting, and I hope to create a stable, stimualting and progressive environment for all.

If anyone has any tips for approaching an NQT year, please comment below or tweet @MissBDrama19.

Thank you for reading my first post, look out for more entries soon!

Miss B :)