November 2016 – Page 2

Energy

Throughout the past 2 weeks of studying the theme ‘Energy’ some key learning that has stood out to me has been the dependency on fossil fuels, the sustainability and the impact of using them. Global warming is a big issue and therefore we need to find viable alternatives in order to generate electricity, power vehicles and make materials. While thinking of alternative ways to generate electricity we engaged in a debate on the positive and negatives of Wind turbines. This was very useful as it gave us the chance to research and think through each side of the argument, it allowed us to informatively make up our own minds on what we thought about the topic and due to the debate format it prompted some passion on what we were arguing.

We also looked at different ways we could teach energy through many activities such as making our own pinwheels, kites and creating electricity. This was helpful as it showed how we could bring the energy topic to the classroom and make it interesting and practical.

Studying energy has impacted my lifestyle as it has encouraged me to think about alternative energy and what the future could be like with using things like biofuels to help global warming and bring hope for the future.

I am looking forward to being able to further my knowledge on this topic and be able to teach it in the future.

So far, my time at UWS as been very enjoyable. I remember being so nervous and anxious upon starting university as I did not know what to expect. I had so many thoughts going through my head such as: Will i make friends?, What if i cant find the lecture hall and have to walk in late?, Where are the toilets? etc. However, when i arrived there were guides around the university to help me around and make me feel at ease. I was thankful enough to have already known someone upon starting university, as we went to college together, so I didn’t have to worry so much about who to sit with when I walked into the extremely large lecture hall. I found my first day at university very overwhelming and it took me some time to get to grips with how different it was to college and school.

Although, now a few months into university I have never felt more comfortable in my decision to study at UWS. I have met so many lovely people who all share the same interest and passion of becoming a primary teacher, which makes university a little easier as we all want the same end goal and are here to help each other through the course. I quickly realised that I have to be keep on top of things throughout this year in order to ensure that i complete tasks/assessments on time but I know that I will be able to do this if I stay organised and be confident enough to ask for help if I am struggling.

I am over the moon that I am now finally starting my journey to becoming a primary teacher and I look forward to the next four years of completing this journey, well i say that now I might change my mind when all the assessments begin.

Reflections on Placement

Overview The night before on the Sunday I was feeling very apprehensive and anxious for going on the placement on Monday morning. I was worried about what the children and staff would think of me and if I would give off the professional but fun side that I wanted to show them. I was fretting […]

Learning Log- 11th & 18th November

B.A. 2 Learning Log Theme: Energy Key Learning: In the morning lecture we went over questions about the assignment which I feel really helped my understanding of the task. Andrew’s class showed us the importance of electricity in everyday life … Continue reading →

B.A. 2
Learning Log

Theme: Energy

Key Learning:

In the morning lecture we went over questions about the assignment which I feel really helped my understanding of the task.
Andrew’s class showed us the importance of electricity in everyday life and we learned how it works. We learned how to make an electrical circuit and set light to steel wool. Below is a picture of the magnet we made with a battery.

In Louise’s class we researched the pros and cons of wind energy and split into two teams to debate on whether it is a positive or negative thing. Here is a picture of my group’s positive impacts of wind energy:

Impact on my views/lifestyle/practice:

Seeing how an electrical circuit is produced and needed to make energy was very interesting and the solar power car exercise showed just how much power can be given off by the sun and has made me think more about how I could start using different types of energy sources more often. After looking though all the pros and cons of wind power, I feel that it is a good thing and the more windfarms we produce the better!

Areas of interest to explore further/develop: I think that the experiments we did were very good and quite exciting to watch so would like to take them forward as I think a class of primary children would engage well with activities such as those.

18th November:

This weeks activities were very insightful as to how wind power works. We looked at how to make our own wind turbines and kites and how we would do this in the classroom environment. Unfortunately my group’s kite never flew but attached below is a picture of this:

We spoke in the plenary about what the potential complications of these activities could be in the classroom, these are a few that were discussed:

not being able to understand instructions on paper.
one or two children taking over the group and doing all the work themselves.
children finding it easy to not take part because someone else in their group will do their share of the work.
the materials being too hard to work with.

Reflections on Placement

Introduction The week starting 31st October to Friday 4 November I was on a week-long placement at a local primary observing various teachers throughout the school. Through observing teachers from up and down the school I was able to get an insight into the different tasks and challenges that the teachers faced and how to think on your feet when you are … Continue reading Reflections on Placement →

Introduction

The week starting 31st October to Friday 4 November I was on a week-long placement at a local primary observing various teachers throughout the school.

Through observing teachers from up and down the school I was able to get an insight into the different tasks and challenges that the teachers faced and how to think on your feet when you are faced a situation you didn’t expect to be faced with.

I learned a great deal while I was on placement. I learned that no two school days are the same and that no matter how much you prepare for something you need to be able to adapt to the situation you are in.

Area of Strength

I believe that one of my areas of strength is that I am able to speak in front of a large group of people without any major issues. As a result of doing drama at school and outside of school I have grown more comfortable with communicating with a big audience. Throughout the week there were various situations where the teacher would leave the room or would be focusing on another task and I would speak to the class about the task they were doing. I spoke confidently to the class so they knew that even though I wasn’t their teacher they still had to listen to what I was saying.

I believe that being able to communicate with a large group of people is very important especially for a teacher because communicating with your class is at the centre of everything you do as a teacher.

Area for Improvement

After looking back on my week long placement I think an area that needs to improve for me is that I must try and not use any slang terms whilst I am in the classroom. For the majority of the placement I was able to not use any slang terms in the classroom however there would be times where I would lose my concentration and slip up. The pupils would be coming in from their playtime and would say hi to me and I’d accidently respond with ‘awright’ instead of hi. Or I would say ‘naw’ and other terms like that.

Action Plan for Improvement

In order to try and avoid using slang terms in the company of pupils I will involve myself in different situations where I come in contact with pupils. I will go to the after school care where I completed my work experience. This will allow me to not only get feedback from the pupils at the work experience but it will also allow me to try and replicate the situation of being in the classroom and interacting with the pupils.

Conclusion

This placement was very beneficial to me. It reinforced my belief that becoming a primary teacher is the path that I should choose. It also gave me an insight into what it is like being a primary teacher and what sort of challenges a teacher faces every day and how stressful the job can be at times. It allowed me to evaluate what my strengths are and what I needed to do to improve myself. The placement has me looking forward to continue the course and prepare me for the placement I will have next year.

Disasters PDP

Recently we received an input detailing disasters. It covered the different types of disasters, how countries are affected by them and why they happen. The different types of disasters ranged […]

My personal Reflections on Placement

Introduction On the week beginning the 31st of October, I had my week of placement in a local primary school and had the privilege of seeing first hand, the many different challenges that come about when it comes to being a teacher. At the start of the placement I felt very nervous, and was not … Continue reading My personal Reflections on Placement →

Introduction

On the week beginning the 31^st of October, I had my week of placement in a local primary school and had the privilege of seeing first hand, the many different challenges that come about when it comes to being a teacher.

At the start of the placement I felt very nervous, and was not quite sure what to expect as I was getting prepared for the week ahead. But as the days progressed, I began to feel more at ease and could observe the situations which were within the placement tasks that we had been asked to complete. The tasks were useful, as they allowed me to observe real situations within a classroom and gave me a greater understanding of the potential obstacles that I could face later in my career.

One of the most important things that I learnt during my placement week, is that no matter how much you plan for something, you can never plan enough. This showed me that organisation and structure is a key asset when it comes to being a teacher.

Strength

I would say that one of my personal strengths that I discovered more during placement was my variation of pitch and tone when it came to communicating with individuals during the week. I learned that it is necessary to be able to distinguish between communicating with an individual one on one, in a smaller group or when talking to the class. The evidence that I can use to support this idea is that when I spoke to the teacher in private I spoke with a quiet tone and slightly fast pace, whereas when it came to speaking to the pupils in a smaller group I spoke with a much clearer and louder tone and spoke at a much slower pace; to make sure that they understood the activity which was being discussed at the time.

I feel that the way in which you communicate is very important as if you speak too fast for a pupil then they may not understand what is being said. Also, tone can affect the clarity of your speech and thus must be at the right level to help get across the point you are trying to make.

Area for Improvement

Whilst on placement, I learnt that as an individual, my facial expressions are one of the areas that I feel I could work further upon. I noticed this especially when it came to working within smaller groups, during their activities. I felt personally that I was not using enough facial expressions when it came to getting across both positives and negatives, as they tend to help stress points further. I have never been one to portray my personal feelings using expressions well and tend to just say what I feel instead.

Action Plan for Improvement

My personal plan is to try and use more facial expressions with other older individuals and gather their feedback. From there I could transfer the skills that I start to strengthen and put them into practice, with the younger individuals from my coaching back in Glasgow, as it will allow provide me a similar situation to teaching in a classroom (although it may not be quite as intense).

Conclusion

This placement was a real eye-opener into what the world of teaching is like and even though it was stressful at times, it gave me a proper feel of what I will be experiencing in my later career, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time. It allowed me to reflect upon my skills and what I need to further improve upon to advance myself as an academic. I feel that if we had more time than a week, then it would allow us to be able to make further observations and learn more about ourselves, however, I understand that it may be difficult to arrange for more than one week. Overall placement has me excited and ready to continue further into this course and the challenges that may come with it.

10.11.16

General Log Literacy and Numeracy Log Interprofessional Working – Task Two

General Log

Literacy and Numeracy Log

Interprofessional Working – Task Two

Reflections on Placement

I can now look back fondly on my first, all too fleeting placement experience as a trainee primary school teacher. I had approached it with a mixture of obvious excitement but slight trepidation. I was assigned to a primary two … Continue reading →

Reflections on Placement.

On the week beginning the 31st of October I went on my first of many weeks of placement within the BA Education course. I went to a small primary school minutes away from me and learned a lot whilst I was there. I really enjoyed my placement and am looking forward to the next one. … Continue reading “Reflections on Placement.”

Strengths

I realised that I was more confident at interacting with pupils and staff than I thought I would be. I consistently was able to communicate clearly and loudly enough for pupils to hear and understand what I was saying. In addition to this I also made eye contact with who I was communicating with and used positive body language all week. For example I was not sitting with my arms crossed. As I was in every class in the school throughout the week from nursery all the way to primary 7 I realised that I was able to adapt my language to suit the pupil that I was talking to with ease. The staff within the school were all very welcoming and encouraging which gave me more confidence to push myself outside my comfort zone when communicating and approaching the pupils and other members of staff.

Area of Most Progress

The area that I feel I progressed the most in was simply my confidence. At first I thought that children would rather interact with their own teacher who they are used to rather than me but as the week went on I realised that the pupils also valued my opinion and wanted my help as well. In addition to this I noticed at the beginning of the week that I was not really using hand gestures a lot which may have come across as showing that I was not as enthusiastic as I wanted to show. I worked on this throughout the week and by the Friday I felt as though this had significantly improved, and will continue to improve with the more practice that I get.

Areas Requiring Progress

During the week I had to complete two self evaluations. I found this challenging as it was hard to judge what I had done well and what I had not done well as I can not see myself communicating from an outsiders point of view. However the help of the peer evaluation and advice from teachers assured me I was on the right track with my self evaluation. Furthermore, I had a bad habit of asking pupils a question and not giving them enough time to think of an answer, instead giving them another question to help them answer the initial question. I have learned that it is important to allow children to think and give them time as they can not always come up with an answer straight away.

Action Plan

As my next placement is a long time away I want to work on my communication skills in my everyday life so that when the next placement comes around I am more than prepared to go feeling very confident in my communication skills. In order to do so I think my part-time job will come in very handy as it involves serving customers and also being out on the shop floor welcoming customers and interacting with them. I think this will massively increase my communication skills as I will be able to get a lot of practice with a huge range of people. In addition to this I will also get to practice my communication skills with the upcoming situated communication presentation assignment, which will test my skills in front of an audience, something which I do not have a lot of practice in. The previous points mentioned should help me to strive to be a more effective communicator in the future.