My UWS Journey

I feel like the luckiest person to be part of the BA Honours Course at UWS. Becoming a primary school teacher has been my goal for as long as I can remember! The first few weeks have gone by in a flash but I have enjoyed every minute of it so far (I might not […]

I feel like the luckiest person to be part of the BA Honours Course at UWS. Becoming a primary school teacher has been my goal for as long as I can remember!

The first few weeks have gone by in a flash but I have enjoyed every minute of it so far (I might not be saying this when exam time creeps up). I have created this blog to document my journey at UWS, however since I have never blogged before I am a little hesitant of what I am meant to be doing, but I am sure over time this will become second nature to me.

I feel fortunate to have some classroom based experience. I have worked as a classroom assistant in a number of Ayrshire primary schools which gave me a greater appreciation of the rewards and the challenges primary teachers encounter on a daily basis.

I am not naturally ‘brainy’ and I have taken a scenic route to be here. Last academic year, I worked two jobs, studied an HNC in Social Sciences and did a night course in Higher English and achieved an A in both courses. This was not easy and it was as stressful as it sounds! However, I work hard at everything I set my mind to and when I have an end goal I will do everything possible to get to where I need to be.

As I have mentioned, academia does not come naturally to me but I feel the practical skills I have gained so far and the dedicated person I am will reduce some of the stresses I will face during my time at UWS.

Week 3

Integrated Arts – Learning in and Through The Arts – Week 3 Throughout this weeks lecture and seminar inputs we were presented with the unknown or art and music. Visual Art […]

Week 2

Integrated Arts – Introduction to Child Development Within Arts (Week 2). Week 2 In this weeks Integrated Arts module, we analysed ‘Introduction to Child Development Within Arts’. For this to be […]

My first few weeks at UWS

During the first couple of weeks at UWS I have been enjoying starting all the different classes that are incorporated within my course. Beforehand, I was the most confident about starting literacy, as English was my favourite subject at school; therefore I felt like this module was where I could contribute to a high degree and share a lot of knowledge within. Overall I was most nervous about starting Spanish as I have never studied it before, therefore I was hesitant as to what level of difficulty this particular module would be like. However, after looking at all the course handbooks for each module I quickly realised the courses are all set out nicely and easy to follow, this allowed me to look ahead and see what was going to be covered within the next few weeks. Being able to do this put me at ease as the unknown of what each module would be like was the issue that was worrying me the most.

However, as I am onto my fourth week I am finding all my modules equally understandable and enjoyable. I am feeling a lot more confident about Spanish as I have realised all the people in my class are also beginners to the subject, therefore we are all in the same position and learning together. Although literacy was the module I felt most confident about beginning, I have realised every module is preparing me for all the different aspects of becoming a primary teacher, so although I am still confident in literacy, I am also feeling more confident in all the other modules as well. Due to all of this, in the future going onto my second, third and fourth year of the course I will remind myself that there is no point in feeling anxious over modules that I haven’t even explored yet, as by the end of the year they could end up being the module I find most enjoyable overall.

Reflecting on life at UWS

After getting over the shock and excitement of receiving my Mathematics exam results at the end of August, the thought of coming to university became more real and daunting. Having been out of education for ten years, and becoming a wife and mother, I was anxious but ready to take the next step in my life and do something for myself that would effectively better not only me but my family also. Becoming a primary educator has been an innate desire of mine since early secondary school. I am thankful for the opportunities I have been given to allow myself to get to the position I am in today, currently submersed in university life by making my first blog post on campus in UWS Ayr library.

Having successfully completed a SWAP course ay Ayr college in the last academic year, I felt prepared to a certain extent that I would be confident with handling and analysing texts and other types of work, and getting on with the task at hand efficiently. However, since starting university properly (after induction week) I have felt slightly overwhelmed at the volume of academic reading to be completed. As a visual learner I find having the texts in physical form to highlight and note take to help me absorb and make sense of the information I am taking in.

Since having my first Spanish class on Friday of last week, the thoughts and feelings I had before going there were not the same as the ones I had after leaving. I felt it was very fast paced and didn’t have a lot of opportunity to go over phrases and words. However, I am hoping that a lot of my independent study and use of other resources will pull my confidence levels up from the ground.

Overall, I would say my experience at UWS so far has met with the expectations I had, albeit the workload and amount of reading is slightly more than what I first expected we would have in BA1. However, I feel to be an effective educator these are important skills and passions to possess when influencing younger minds and setting them up to be effective lifelong learners.

Sustainable Development Study Task 1

Sustainable development independent study task I live in North Ayrshire in a town called Kilwinning. Kilwinning is about 21 miles from Glasgow. The 2001 Census recorded the town as having a population of 15,908. My family and I have lived here every since I was born, so for 18 years. Within the town there … Continue reading Sustainable Development Study Task 1 →

Sustainable development independent study task

I live in North Ayrshire in a town called Kilwinning. Kilwinning is about 21 miles from Glasgow. The 2001 Census recorded the town as having a population of 15,908. My family and I have lived here every since I was born, so for 18 years. Within the town there are 6 primary schools, one academy and one collage. There are also many churches and leisure centres such as Kilwinning sports club. Very recently there was a restaurant built which is doing very well and is a personal favourite of our family. In the town there is a doctors surgery, lots of shops and cafes and hairdressers. Where I live there are a lot of modern houses with streets safe for children to play as a lot of families live around this area. There is a lot of greenery around where I live, and not too far from me is a park with a place for children to play and events such as fireworks night is held there. In Kilwinning there is a train station and many bus stops, which makes traveling to different places such as Glasgow, Ayr or Kilmarnock easy enough to complete.

A way to investigate urban environments with a primary 5 class could be organising a trip around their town to find out places they have never been before. Taking a map and using it to help navigate their way around the town. Writing a list of things they would like to see and check listing them off as they go. Recording their finding maybe by taking photographs and writing about their experience back in class.

Chapter Five Pages 117-153 of Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice by Owen Hargie

Throughout this chapter it is highlighted that questions are highly important for human interactions. In fact, when individuals are asked to have conversations without asking questions people find it hard to facilitate this request (Hargie, 2011). In terms of child … Continue reading →

In terms of child development, it is highlighted throughout this chapter, it is very important that children ask questions; however in a setting such as a classroom, as found by Tizard et al (1983), children are more likely to ask questions at home rather than in a classroom, as they have a fear that their questions will be received negatively by their peers (Hargie, 2011). Although I agree with this to some extent, in my experience I wouldn’t ask questions because I was shy, and therefore couldn’t find the right words to form the question. In addition, in a class setting a child may feel stressed when they are asked a question as they know the teacher knows the correct answer, and therefore there is an anxiety about being wrong (Hargie, 2011), which can affect a child’s learning long-term. Furthermore Dillon (1982) found that teachers asked about two questions a minute and a class of children asked an average two questions every hour (Hargie, 2011), which further backs up Tizard’s claims.

Questions are not asked simply to receive more information. They are more complex than that. They can be asked to maintain control of an interaction or to express an interest in the respondent (Hargie, 2011). In addition to there being many reasons why people ask questions there is also many types of questions, some of these include: closed questions, recall questions and process questions (Hargie, 2011). All these examples serve a different purpose and gain different information. Recall questions serve the purpose of gaining information that the respondent already knows such as, “Where were you born?”. Process questions serve the purpose of allowing the individual to give things such as opinions and evaluations (Hargie, 2011).

Overall by reading this text my knowledge of questions in human interaction has deepened, as I have never thought about how important they are for every day life. In addition, when I am in practice I will ensure that when a child responds to a question I ask I will further their knowledge (if possible) rather than just moving on after a brief answer is given, which was found in a study carried out by Smith et al. (2006) (Hargie, 2011).

Reference List

Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5^th ed. London: Routledge.

Integrated Arts Week 3

In todays music workshop we were introduced to Figurenotes. This is a simpler way of reading music for those who struggle reading notation. ‘It is a simple and clear system designed to demystify the first steps of learning music. There is no ‘dots or squiggles’ to be learned, just to simple concepts of matching and … Continue reading Integrated Arts Week 3 →

Different shapes are used for each octave these consist of crosses, squares, circles and triangles. For each note name there is a different colour, for instance all C notes would be Red, all D notes would be brown and so on. This way of learning music is a visual aid for pupils. I myself used this in high school when learning piano for both my national 5 and higher exam as I struggled to read notation due to being dyslexic.

In the Visual arts workshop we all made paint brushes out of different materials and textures.

A music lesson idea I thought on would be to create or play a piece of music with visual aids such as the figurenotes system. Therefore, pupils are grasping their own understanding of this material.

As an art lesson it could be to make paint brushes also as this will help pupils used different means of materials / resources to create the final product. This will eventually help in other areas of the curriculum as it helps with pencil grip/control.

Drake Music Scotland (2010) Introducing Figurenotes

In the Visual arts workshop we all made paint brushes out of different materials and textures.

A music lesson idea I thought on would be to create or play a piece of music with visual aids such as the figurenotes system. Therefore, pupils are grasping their own understanding of this material.

Drake Music Scotland (2010) Introducing Figurenotes

Urban Environment

Greenock In the west coast of Scotland lies Greenock, a historic industrial town by the Firth of Clyde, 25 miles west of Glasgow. Greenock holds prominent maritime history as one of the busiest shipping ports in Scotland. Greenock has a population of around 45,000 which has declined over the past 50 years from around 80,000, … Continue reading Urban Environment →

Greenock

In the west coast of Scotland lies Greenock, a historic industrial town by the Firth of Clyde, 25 miles west of Glasgow. Greenock holds prominent maritime history as one of the busiest shipping ports in Scotland.

Greenock has a population of around 45,000 which has declined over the past 50 years from around 80,000, Greenock was once a bustling industrial area. Even though I am originally from its neighbouring town Gourock, Greenock has always been the heart of my urban environment.

Whilst Greenock has ‘re-branded’ as Riverside Inverclyde. The purpose of this re-generation is to create new modern homes, and leisure facilities across Greenock whilst opening and developing green spaces for communities to use.The Greenock Cut is an aqueduct which is one of the top 50 walks in Scotland, offering panoramic views of the Clyde. The walk has a visitor centre which includes an interactive exhibition and coffee shop. Other viewpoints over the Clyde can be found at the town’s Esplanade, where visitors can overlook Gourock and the Tail of the Bank, and at Lyle Hill where a beacon sits which celebrates the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth and is still lit on special occasions. Every year, my secondary school Clydeview Academy would take part in a sponsored walk of Greenock Cut to raise funds for our school, such as the school football team, PE equipment, a defibrillator, etc.

Public transport in Greenock is well varied. With two ferries running several times a day, and three train stations which provide a frequent daily service to Glasgow Central. Local transport is solely based around a local bus service, whilst taxi services are more busy and easy to use during the weekend. Greenock is also located directly at the end of the M8 motorway and takes around 30-50 minutes to travel the Glasgow City Centre depending on traffic. An interesting fact of our Town is its the birthplace of Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer James Watt who improved on Thomas Newcomen’s 1712 steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1781, which was fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world. The people of Greenock are very proud of having such a historical figure from its town we have many buildings, streets, bars, etc named after Watt.

Greenock can also struggle a great deal in snowy weather due to around 60% of Greenock being built on hillsides.

There are several entertainment facilities located in Greenock, including a theater and several leisure centers. Located just two miles from Greenock in Gourock is one of two remaining outdoor swimming pools in Scotland. There are also several libraries and community centers located in different burghs of Greenock, there are also twelve primary schools located within Greenock.

Greenock’s employment is primarily made up of the public-sector field. Local supermarkets make up the clear majority of private-sector workers. Generally, most of the other employment within Greenock is made up of small local businesses.

Greenock has two areas which are protected from peri-urbanisation. These two areas located within the Clyde Estuary are specifically intended to protect an influx of redshanks during winter months. There are also 52 Local Nature Conservation Sites in Greenock.

According to the website ‘Air Quality in Scotland’, Greenock has a ‘Low’ air pollution rating of only 3. This is perhaps due to the lack of industrial buildings which produce high emissions

Investigating Urban Environment with a primary 5 class

Having researched my urban environment for myself, I am keen to relate it to primary teaching and showing pupils more about where they live.

I can investigate a Scottish historical theme to discover how past events or the actions of individuals or groups have shaped Scottish society. SOC 2-03a

I feel Greenock is a perfect example for this outcome as they is so much history about its industry and economy, in particular shipbuilding, sugar and wool manufacturing which they could do research of their own and find out if any family members were once involved in these industries. Another idea is finding out how historical figures such as James Watt shaped Greenock.

Having explored the ways journeys can be made, I can consider the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of transport, discussing their impact on the environment. SOC 2-09a

A fairly simple but effective investigation to find out the advantages and disadvantages is taking the children out of the class environment and letting them see for themselves the effects that transport would have an effect on the environment. They could do this by smelling their surroundings to notice the pollution, or ask them once they leave school to smell the pollution of the cars picking up pupils.

References

Air Quality in Scotland (2017). Latest Pollution Map. [Online]. Available: www.scottishairquality.co.uk [Accessed: 21 September 2017].

Visit Scotland (2017). Greenock. [Online}. Available: https://www.visitscotland.com/info/towns-villages/greenock-p237421 [Accessed 21 September]