To review the end of a session and identify areas for improvement

Aim

To review the end of a session and identify areas for improvement.

Evidence and reflection

Reflect back on a session you taught recently in the light of the following questions.

• Did you give early warning of the end of the session?
• Did you give clear instructions for tidying up resources/packing away?
• Did you reinforce those instructions and monitor the packing away?
• Did you take opportunities to reinforce the educational achievements, efforts and progress made?
• Did you take opportunities to build up the sense of the class as a community?
• Did you praise the students for what they did well?
• Did you provide for an ordered exit from the room?
• How might you respond differently in future?

Extension

You could very usefully ask a mentor or an experienced colleague to observe your session and offer specific comments. Before you do, highlight the particular issues on which you want feedback. This might also be a good moment to do some reading about the principles of class management.

More in this chapter

• To understand student behaviour in our classroom circumstances
• To explore and understand a school's policies and practices with regard to behaviour management
• To review the repertoire of strategies for managing behaviour which we typically use
• To consider strategies appropriate to managing different behavioural challenges
• To investigate one's classroom management skills
• To pre-empt general misbehaviour and to reduce incidents of inappropriate behaviour
• To evaluate the beginning of a session and to consider areas for improvement
• To monitor periods of transition in your own teaching
• To monitor responses to a classroom crisis
• To consider your view of disruptive behaviour
• To record incidents of ongoing 'problem' behaviour
• To analyse and reflect on your management of specific behaviour
• To consider the range of sanctions operating in your school
• To reflect on classroom management and discipline