Full disclosure: I'm struggling with my new class.
September is always hard, no matter where you work or what year group you teach. This year, I am finding it harder than usual for a variety of reasons.
One reason is that I have a mixed 1/2 class and the Year 1 children just are not interested in phonics (I mean, phonics schemes are pretty dull tbf), maths, or in sitting and listening. They have their own agendas and are paying little attention to me. I will be trying to deal with one dysregulated child while 4 other children start running around the classroom at top speed, hitting each other with things. Teachers: we've all been there.
The other lunch time I was sitting in the staffroom feeling daunted at the prospect of another afternoon (tired children, neurodivergent children who are completely done by the afternoon, etc etc). I was due to run a Mantle of the Expert session, but I just didn't think I could summon up the energy.
Then I reminded myself. Mantle is engaging. Mantle is interesting. Mantle is purposeful. Mantle is the one part of the week during which I don't have to remind children of carpet manners, or to listen, because.... they are interested.
Forgive me for sounding my age, but I miss the days when teachers had the freedom to make teaching interesting and (whisper it)... fun. The days before phonics schemes, maths schemes and powerpoint-heavy teaching. I used to have the freedom to make my lessons much more interesting - we played games, a lot. We didn't stare at powerpoints or recite stem sentences.
Forgive me for sounding my age, but I miss the days when teachers had the freedom to make teaching interesting and (whisper it)... fun. The days before phonics schemes, maths schemes and powerpoint-heavy teaching. I used to have the freedom to make my lessons much more interesting - we played games, a lot. We didn't stare at powerpoints or recite stem sentences.
Now, I really notice the difference in behaviour between those lessons where I can teach the way I feel is right, and all the rest. And Mantle of the Expert never fails to engage this class.
So, anyway, I decided to go ahead with the Mantle session and this is what happened.
Context:
The children have become a team of bear keepers who have set up a bear sanctuary (see A Move Up Mantle for the first steps - I repeated these steps at the start of the academic year). So far, they have a spectacled bear (Paddington), a black bear and a panda bear in the sanctuary. My creativity has been challenged as I try to come up with different ways to use the conventions in order to introduce new bears to the sanctuary.
This time, I chose to use AI. I try not to, as a rule, but I needed a very specific image -
The children have become a team of bear keepers who have set up a bear sanctuary (see A Move Up Mantle for the first steps - I repeated these steps at the start of the academic year). So far, they have a spectacled bear (Paddington), a black bear and a panda bear in the sanctuary. My creativity has been challenged as I try to come up with different ways to use the conventions in order to introduce new bears to the sanctuary.
This time, I chose to use AI. I try not to, as a rule, but I needed a very specific image -
The team received an urgent email from the local police department, containing this image. They had many, many ideas about the clues they could see: they thought it must be a bear because of the paws and the berry carnage on the floor. Someone mentioned a tiger, and another child disagreed because tigers eat meat and this creature had clearly targeted the berry aisle. They spent a while talking about the implications of all of this, and then I said: Is the bear still there?
This moved us on to searching for the bear. The children were given a map, showing the location of several clues. We stepped into the story and I walked them through the clues using chalk on the playground: a large bear print, some brown fur caught on a hedge, a large area of flattened grass in a field and a half-eaten fish in the river. The children caught onto these clues, excitedly infering what they meant about the bear ('I know it's a brown bear because of the fur', 'Oh, I thought it was a polar bear but it can't be').
Finally we reached a tree and I represented the bear, fast asleep. My aim is to talk to the children about hibernation and brown bears needing to eat a lot before they sleep. In the moment, the children, though I had my eyes closed, crept quietly around me and whispered about what to do.
This moved us on to searching for the bear. The children were given a map, showing the location of several clues. We stepped into the story and I walked them through the clues using chalk on the playground: a large bear print, some brown fur caught on a hedge, a large area of flattened grass in a field and a half-eaten fish in the river. The children caught onto these clues, excitedly infering what they meant about the bear ('I know it's a brown bear because of the fur', 'Oh, I thought it was a polar bear but it can't be').
Finally we reached a tree and I represented the bear, fast asleep. My aim is to talk to the children about hibernation and brown bears needing to eat a lot before they sleep. In the moment, the children, though I had my eyes closed, crept quietly around me and whispered about what to do.
Not a 'behaviour management' problem in sight.
So - moral of the story. Keep Mantling, even when you just don't think you have the required energy.
So - moral of the story. Keep Mantling, even when you just don't think you have the required energy.
Go to https://mantleoftheexpert.com/ to find out more about this way of teaching.
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