TM4T The Admin Game - For Use in Initial Teacher Training and NQT Inset

Using the Admin Game for ITT and Inset

Firstly, it is worth emphasizing - at the risk of statin' the bleedin' obvious - that this exercise is not valuable or suitable for anyone who has travelled beyond their NQT year. It is essentially a beginners' training exercise in adminstration tasks - albeit a very challenging beginners' exercise - suitable for ITT and selective Inset. More  experienced teachers have quite enough real-life waffle and admin nonsense to deal with, without burdening them with a simulated version.

It is also worth emphasizing that this exercise was developed as a moderated assessment task. This means that it was NOT intended to be done by teacher-learners on their own. It works best if the exercise is overseen independently by an experienced teacher, who can assess and comment on the performance of those who carry out the exercise, and lead discussion on the issues raised. There is extensive supporting material to enable this. In the spirit of TM4T, all this supporting material is free, but in order to discourage peeking-at-the-answers, we have not posted the feedback guide and learning-points on the website. Please contact us and we'll e-mail you download details.

Similarly, this exercise is well-suited to classroom delivery, rather than online training; if you want to print out the material, destroying forests as you do so, then - again - just e-mail us and we'll send you dowload-access links. You also have permissive license to tailor this exercise (it is pretty scary in its entirety); but please do not remove or compromise the TM4T branding.

What You Need

To carry out this exercise online, you need one PC per person; preferably a desktop computer or a device with a large enough screen to read 11pt Ariel text. Each learner must be able to download a spreadsheet and enter details of their actions in that spreadsheet.

You may want to allow 10-15 minutes for introduction and preparation before the exercise starts.

55 minutes should be allocated for this exercise itself. Learners should work independently and completion time will vary significantly.

The instructor should download and read the Instructor's Notes and Recommended Outcome spreadsheet before the exercise. The instructor may optionally give guidance on some key time management techniques before the exercise starts; this will encourage completion within the 55 minute time period, but may constrain the learning experience.

Note that the instructor's materials are not generally available on the website - use the Contact Us link on our Home Page; we will e-mail you download details. All of our material is free, and we will not use your e-mail address for any commercial or promotional purpose.

To continue to the exercise itself, click here.