Week 22: Groundhog Day

Here's my latest weekly reflection on teaching GCSE English in alternative provision in FE.

But first, a quick re-cap: I teach twelve 90-minute GCSE English lessons every week to six groups of high-needs pre- and post-16-year-olds in our FE college. We use the AQA English Language exam board, and each term we alternate between focusing on fiction and non-fiction. This term, I'm reviewing how to tackle Paper Two (the non-fiction paper).

I've empowered my learners this year to co-curate the curriculum with me: back in September, I offered them a range of possible topics and texts and each class voted on which ones they wanted us to use together. Usually this has meant that, at any given time, I'm juggling different content with different groups. This term, however, the stars aligned and all six groups are using the same topic (alcohol consumption) as we review the skills needed for Paper Two.

It seemed to me that repeating the same content with each group would make my life simpler, but in fact, my brain doesn't like it at all: I feel like I am Bill Murray's character in Groundhog Day. This week I have been waking up in a nightmarish FE loop, where everyday is the same: same lesson objectives, same learning plan, same lesson content, same text extracts, same exam questions, same example answers. I know that my colleagues repeat their content with all their groups, all the time, but I'm not used to doing this, and I'm craving some variety. I'm finding it harder to remember the progress of each group, and I can feel my motivation, concentration and enthusiasm slipping through my fingers like sand.

Conversely, my learners have seemed more engaged because they chose the topic, and it's something they can relate to. True, they have struggled with the 19th century extract (as expected), but they've been able to approach the exam-style questions and, as always, I've provided scaffolding to those that require it. I've noticed more students writing independently, without waiting for me to do a model paragraph, which has been very encouraging.

We have two teaching weeks left, before we enter two weeks of mock assessments that will end the term. At this time of year my brain always jumps ahead - I feel as if I'm already starting to think about the pre-exam revision sessions, and wondering how I'm going to reassure, inspire and help my learners to get ready for the exams.