Start of term checklist

1. Seating plan

Number 1 activity as soon as you have a class list and you know the layout of the room, is to craft a seating plan. Behaviour comes from students knowing who is pilot of the plane, captain of the ship etc. You get the idea. If you do not do this simple task you will be teaching in a café. Hard choices now, easy life later.  You can always relax this end of term, or mix it up.  I worked with an amazing and inspiring teacher colleague who moved students round every single lesson. Reserve the right to move students at a moment’s notice. If student know you have the power / authority to do this they will be OK with it further down the line.

2. Kit / gear

Make sure week 1 you are handing out all the kit / gear for the lessons ahead, depending on your context.  Keep some back for late joiners to the school / college or those who were on a cheeky last minute first week in September cheap family holiday. You may need to leave some blank spaces in your carefully crafted seating plan for this occurrence too.   I had a late joiner one year to a very small teaching space and her desk meant she was eyeball to eyeball with me every lesson. I got lucky, she was a great student and particularly brilliant, as it turned out, at handing out notes and worksheets.

3. Expectations

Set this out at the start of every lesson for the first half term. That way you catch everyone including Bob who has had Torremolinos flu and not joined the group until the end of September. Your expectations might vary.  Here is a front slide from some of my early lessons at college. Works OK in school too just adjust your AI image to suit. Don’t be tempted to skip this part, as soon as you do standards will drop. Keep reinforcing this message each lesson. The next teacher may have different standards, but these are yours in your room.

First slide of all PPTS for the first six weeks in all subjects.

4. Lifelong learning – part of a journey

Develop activities at the start that show that business is for life not just for pub quizzes.  That there is money to be made, that being an entrepreneur can be even cooler than a premier league footballer (other ‘unobtainium’* careers to suit).  Spark ideas, encourage curiosity and celebrate all those who wish to pursue business as a career.  After all every single student will be going into a business of some kind, even if they are freelance writers. *From Avatar

5. Preferred ways of learning

Ask, ask and keep asking. How do they like to learn?  We teach that business needs to find the wants and needs of customers and then deliver them (market research).  So this is what we should do in every lesson. Exit tickets can help with this, or an online poll if you suddenly knit an extra 2 hours at the weekend to make one. Ask and then deliver. Feedback is important so ask for it, students will be more on board if they feel they have had a hand in shaping the lesson. They are experts having sat in 100s of lessons with other teachers over the years. By the time they reach you at KS4 they really know their onions and what they like and don't like.

6. Quizzes / prizes

Start of term get students into the habit of reading the business news (even on an app) and create a weekly quiz around it.  I got it down to 7 minutes to make a weekly Kahoot. The first few weeks I give extraordinarily large prizes (like a KitKat chunky) make sure you have some Halal / Kosher alternatives or you will be unwittingly excluding some of your students.  After that I have a prize box and smaller items go in there. After a while a prize is a prize and the size is immaterial. You can keep a log of the top 3 on the podium, but generally I don’t as I like the randomness of who wins.  Some students in computer rooms may have the news open as a side bar while playing and do quick research – good for them – they will need to find work arounds in life.

7. Input output

I like to draw a circle.  Divide into 3 (peace sign style). A/B in one segment, C/D in another and E in the last one.  We discuss gently as a group what tasks weekly should be carried out to attain the grades in the chart.  They ideas come from your students, they know what to do, what they should be doing, but this is a valuable reminder.  I pinched this idea from an outgoing HOD who had 30+ years at the chalkface and he explained at length its merits as a start-of-term activity, none of which I can remember for this blog.  However, rest assured it is a good exercise and it stays with your students for the duration.

The Input / Output Diagram

8. Positive socials

Year 12 / 13 get them talking about positive socials.  I was part of a writing team recently and to be interviewed for that they looked at my socials.  Lots of companies now are stating this in the job adverts .  They are not just looking at socials but looking to see everything that students post and do.  Draw a line on the floor (imaginary) and say grandly (with a hand flourish if you want to add something extra) and say “it starts today”. Give examples of good socials and explain if they start a business upon leaving school in just 2 years success may beckon, and customers may dig back into their postings but won’t usually go further than 2 years. So there is still time to build a positive profile. "Less pictures of you holding a maccies and racing round in your mates GT86, more photos of you helping out at the local food bank."

9. Less scrolling more learning

Also try and get your business students (Years 10 upwards) to commit to one hour a day off the social platforms and onto reading / Ted talks / revision apps / news sites.  Anything that will move them forwards. At the end of the year most will have reverted back to doom scrolling (and freely admit it) but some may venture that they have changed their habits and learnt something. As an example: I had a student that wanted to work in Spain after sixth form and started teaching himself Spanish. He used his doom scroll time to learn a new skill.

10. Ditch the silent classroom

Try not to aspire for the silent classroom.  I love some hubbub.  Get discussions going, on task chatter, then just circulate.  Great for ideas that springboard from one to another. I do generally ask for hands up unless its sixth form and then its more of a meeting feel with students chipping in to build on ideas.  They have generally learned to self-regulate in terms of interruptions by year 12. This allows creativity to happen. It also gives some contrast when you have some timed essays which do require silence. they know they will be able to talk freely afterwards and it makes the whole transition a lot smoother. Build this in to your lesson plan if you are being observed.

I hope these ideas were useful

Sarah Hilton has taught business for 25+ years and been a GCSE and A level examiner for 20+ years. She is still currently teaching, but also finds time to run the resources website Revisionstation. She has a PGCE in Secondary Business Education and a degree in business.