Catching the drifters - update

I wrote here about catching the pupils who were drifting, and the missed opportunities I wanted to avoid.  I wanted to give you an update on how this worked.

What I did - the Challenge
I asked the pupils I had identified from an assessment to stay behind.  I asked them to rate their confidence in German, their concentration levels, and to identify 3 things they could do to boost their confidence and their work.  These were then the targets that they used to assess their progress at the end of each lesson for 2 weeks.  They had a simple sheet to use each lesson, and the sheet also posed the question: "Do I need to do anything differently next lesson?".  I targeted my questioning more sharply, and reminded pupils, and that was all that was needed.

How did it go?
what I would do differently
As usual, I made it too complicated.  I had kept the target sheets, which meant it was too complicated to manage.  Next time, I will get the sheets stuck in their books at the back:  simpler and more discreet.

What really worked
The vast majority of the pupils took it seriously, and most were able to say straight away why they hadn't performed as well ("I didn't revise, Miss"; "I talk too much"; "I don't understand verbs"). Asking them to assess themselves rather than berate them for underperforming in the test proved to be a bridge.

They were noticed
This is the most heart-breaking aspect.  These pupils suddenly felt they were no longer invisible.  They felt empowered, and because they knew they couldn't get away with doing the minimum, many of them upped their game.  Keeping the nature of the intervention positive and encouraging meant that they bought into it.

Re-assessing
I got them to review their position at the end of 3 weeks, and most had made good progress, and crucially, they had gained a "can-do" attitude.  Next week, we have the January exams, and the proof will be be in the pudding

It identified pupils who were actually causes for concern
There were 2 pupils in the group who, on closer inspection, showed more worrying signs of lack of engagement, and more serious problems.  I hope that, by catching them earlier than I would normally, I may be able to put more active interventions in place, and stop the rot...maybe.

Impact for the whole class?
I have noticed an improvement in the atmosphere in the whole class - more focus, a more positive attitude.

From my point of view
I sharpened up my questioning, and I feel I know all of my pupils better.  I think it has improved me as a teacher, and apart from the breaktime I lost at the beginning and the end of the process, there was little extra effort involved.  Lots of impact for little effort.


I haven't worked out how to put documents on a blog yet, so here is the link to the TES