TLA e-bulletin

Welcome back, wonderful colleagues! It's that time again when we enjoy new students, cosy evenings, Goose Fair and the promise of fireworks!

In this bulletin we have items on a veritable smorgasbord of topics including the hugely successful TeachMeet held last term (thank you so much to all of you who attended and contributed!), tips from one of our fabulous lecturers to help those teaching from different locations, and a great piece on the value of Action Learning Sets. We hope you enjoy reading it!

As always, if you'd like to contribute a piece for the next edition, please get in touch with us @TLAcentral or on tlc@centralnottingham.ac.uk and we'd love to feature you.

I recently read a Secret Teacher article posted by the Guardian. The article was by a teacher that, despite still feeling inspired to teach and still ultimately loving education, felt his motivation and spirit for the job was slowly but surely being undermined by an acute atmosphere and environment of negativity generated by his fellow team members and peers.

Teaching is a Sisyphean task. We spend the whole year pushing the students to the top of that hill, helping them to realise their own potential only to find ourselves back at the bottom, getting ready to start that long journey back up. It’s ever revolving. We work in a very pressured and demanding environment. Sometimes it feels like we are lambasted from every possible direction. There is pressure to achieve the very best results. Students test us at every opportunity. It is so easy to simply allow ourselves to believe that teaching is a ‘lose-lose’ world.

This time of year is exciting and invigorating; fresh students with fresh attitudes by the score. But it can also be a tough time where we see the year, and all its mountains to climb, laid out ahead of us.

Rather than allow ourselves to sink into a fug of despair, let’s try and help each other over the obstacles that will appear in due course. Teaching is a team effort, we need to help and support each other.

Last academic year, an Action Learning Set was set up in my area. It was an opportunity, as a team, to discuss the myriad problems and issues thrown up by students and staff alike. The Action Learning Set sought to create an environment that was safe and comfortable for everyone to air their concerns, upsets, disgruntlements and more.

It wasn’t a moaning session though. The Action Learning Set allowed team members to share their coping strategies. To share with others what has helped them through the tough times. It was hugely beneficial to our team and I believe that it could be for the whole college.

They don’t take much to set up. Just send a quick email out to your team mates sharing a time and a place. Ask for a few suggestions for topics to get the ball rolling (ours ranged from assessing student work, dealing with challenging behaviour, managing expectations from CMs and others) and then just show up and get chatting.

We are a team, and when one of us does well, we feel it as a team. We stand together and share the success that a successful and supportive team has achieved. That said when we are down, when the challenges are too many and we feel under equipped to deal with it all, our sometimes understandable negativity can affect the whole team and create an environment that reinforces the bad and ignores the good.

Moan, whinge, complain… but do it constructively. We always tell our students to ask for help when they are struggling. We need to do the same within our teams. I promise you, it will feel great to share. You never know, you may end up discussing how fantastic things are!

Rob Stevens

Contact us via owl, pigeon or...

Email: tlc@centralnottingham.ac.uk
Website: https://staff.centralnottingham.ac.uk/departments/teaching-learning-assessment
Location: Y204, Beeston Campus
Phone: 0115 884 2304
Twitter: @TLAcentral

As young people grow and become more independent, it is not unusual for them to take risks, explore new things and push boundaries. These years are often a time when young people will be searching for answers to questions about identity, faith and belonging, as well as looking for adventure and excitement. This can mean that they are particularly vulnerable to extremist groups, who may claim to offer answers, as well as identity and a strong social network. Given they know young people are vulnerable, extremist groups often target them using the internet and social media to spread their ideology. There have been a number of tragic examples nationally and locally where young people have been misled by extremist groups, with some travelling to Syria and others becoming involved in hate crimes against minority groups.

As a member of staff, you have a vital responsibility to safeguard the people in your care. Often you will notice behavioural changes in students before their peers or even their parents. You also play a hugely important role in helping build the resilience of students against all forms of harm, and preparing them for life beyond College.

This link will find information to help you understand your Prevent responsibilities and know where to turn for support.

https://staff.centralnottingham.ac.uk/safeguarding

We visited our Beeston site Library recently to speak with Maxine, Senior Library Assistant, about the many and varied teaching resources available to staff IN ADDITION TO resources such as books, magazines and technical equipment. Here's what we found out:

What kind of teaching and learning resources are available in our libraries?

We have all sorts of games, puzzles and activities to help make learning Maths and English fun:

Dominoes - Prefix, Vowell, Apostrophe etc

Analogy puzzles

Spelling games

Signs and Symbols Lotto

Fraction/Percent/Decimal towers to build

Clocks and timers

Money Lotto

Addendum – a multi-level mental maths card game suitable for Key Stages 1, 2 and 3

How many of our libraries have these kinds of Teaching and Learning Resources sections?

Four of our Libraries have Teaching and Learning Resources: Beeston, Arthur Mee, Clifton and Maid Marian Way (Highfields is the only site without them).

How can staff access these resources? Can they borrow them like they would a book?

Yes it’s as easy as borrowing a book - just choose what you want then take it to the Help Desk where it will be issued to you. All the resources are available to borrow for three weeks, but of course you can renew them if you haven’t finished with them.

Can staff request resources to be bought in? If so, what kind of resources could they request?

We’re open to suggestions! We really value input from tutors to ensure all our Library resources are up to date and relevant. Please let us know if there is anything you think would be valuable and we will do our best to get it.

What's your favourite item? Which item do you think would create a buzz in the classroom?

One of my favourite items is a Fraction Burger – a foam burger made up of layers of tomato, lettuce, cheese etc, with each layer being cut into fractions. I think it’s visually attractive and a fun way for students to learn about fractions.