Teach Middle East Magazine September 2014 Issue 1 Vol. 2 | Page 12

Vox Pop

P E R S P E
What do you do when meeting a new class at
the beginning of the school year?

EDUCATORS

John Duggan,

Hayette Zeghib,

Kate McMillan,

At the start of the school year
I make sure that students feel
welcome and ask them what they
did during the holidays. Then, we go
through the rules and expectations
in Physical Education. In doing so, the
students are made aware of what
is expected of them throughout the
school year.

At the beginning of the year, I plan
interactive games and activities
to informally assess my students. We
usually play auditory and word games
where we listen to stories and then
discuss settings and key words. Some
children feel happy to tell us about their
summer holidays. The older students
may write a paragraph to tell us what
they did during the holidays.

I start with an activity. I use a ball
of string and place the students
in a circle, saying one interesting
fact about myself. I then toss the ball
of string across the circle, passing it
around until everyone has spoken. I
then throw in a balloon, which we all
have to keep aloft without touching.
This helps students to understand that
we are all connected. Our class web
represents how connected we are in
working together to achieve amazing
things!

Natalie Morris,

Aly Wolstanholme,

Wejdan Kassem,

I usually try to learn about my
new class from the people who
know them best – their families or keyworkers! Therefore, I arrange to visit
them at home, where they are most
comfortable or go and visit them in their
nursery. This helps me to understand
what they enjoy doing and what
provision I can offer to make them
excited about coming to school.

At the start of the year, it’s really
important to get to know the
children and their interests. Through
finding out what motivates them, I
can build activities into future lessons
that maximise engagement. I also do
teamwork activities designed to get
the children to know each other and
gel in their new class.

I allow the students to talk to each
other so that they get to know
each other. I tell them about how I
enjoyed my vacation and then ask
them to write about the same topic. I
design a like/dislike questionnaire about
the school facilities and activities so I
know what attracts them. I also create
a Procedure Board which displays our
classroom rules and agreements.

Head of Physical Education

SEN Arabic Specialist

Foundation Stage Leader

10

September 2014

Year 2 Class Teacher

Class Time

Inclusion Manager

Shadow Arabic Leader