Integrated Arts – Music and Visual Arts (Week 10)
Week 10
Integrated Arts – Music and Visual Arts (Week 10)
Personal Development Plans of BA(Hons) students of education
Integrated Arts – Music and Visual Arts (Week 10)
Integrated Arts – Music and Visual Arts (Week 10)
Integrated Arts – Music (Week 9). This week a local Ayrshire Primary school joined us in the performance studio. Each child in the class plays a string instrument and […]
Integrated Arts – Music (Week 9). This week a local Ayrshire Primary school joined us in the performance studio. Each child in the class plays a string instrument and […]
I have just finished my first two week placement block during my time in the BA programme at UWS. Having spent most of last year in a Primary 1 class it was amazing to get back into the classroom and working with children again. This year I was in a small multi-composite school with 2 […]
I have just finished my first two week placement block during my time in the BA programme at UWS. Having spent most of last year in a Primary 1 class it was amazing to get back into the classroom and working with children again. This year I was in a small multi-composite school with 2 classes, one of Primary 1-4’s and the other with Primary 5-7’s.
Prior to placement I was unsure how I would feel about teaching in a multi-compsite class as I imagined this would be a lot more difficult than having a class all of the same ages however I absolutely loved it. There were varying abilities within the classroom however with there only being 9 children in Class 2 the different abilities in the classroom were able to be so well catered to. In an average class of 20-30 children, they would all be in the same year group, however the range of abilities would be just as vast with a higher pupil to teacher ratio.
Having experienced a small window of time within this village school, the range of activities the children can partake in is incredible and the sense of community and family in the school is amazing. Every member of staff worked so well together and really cared for each child, their wellbeing and their successes. The school had a community kitchen which the children cooked a new recipe in each week, this was so great to see the school introducing a love of cooking to the children and providing them with a life skill.
I have learned so much from my time in placement and it has given me so many great ideas that I hope one day I can carry out in my own classroom. As well as ideas for the future it has also given me an insight into particular areas of strength and areas for improvement in my own practice.
I believe a strength I have is quickly building up a rapport with each child. This is so vital as if children have a good relationship with you the will learn so much more from you and enjoy working and learning alongside you. I really enjoy getting to know each child, their strengths, areas for developments, likes and dislikes and using this to alter my own practice. Some people often forget that children at Primary are still so young an need to be nurtured and form positive relationships with staff within the school.
Although I really enjoyed working with the older children this did make me aware of an area of personal development. As some of the mathematics was at a much higher level I first had to understand this before I could explain it to the children. A few times I found myself getting stuck when trying to explain different maths aspects to the children as I didn’t have a good enough understanding in the first place in order to then simplify this and explain in necessary depth to the children to ensure they understood. I spoke with the class teacher about this and in mathematics at university we spend time each week going through various maths concepts and so I am confident that with putting extra work into my mathematics by the time I am next working with older children I will ensure I have the relevant knowledge to be confident helping every group of children with their mathematics.
Placement was an extremely beneficial and enlightening experience. I really enjoyed the two weeks and have managed to identify many areas of strengths and development needs. I have then had the opportunity to reflect on all areas of placement and have identified areas in which I have progressed the most in and those requiring more […]
Placement was an extremely beneficial and enlightening experience. I really enjoyed the two weeks and have managed to identify many areas of strengths and development needs. I have then had the opportunity to reflect on all areas of placement and have identified areas in which I have progressed the most in and those requiring more progress.
One strength I identified throughout my two weeks on placement was I speak at an adequate volume. I can quickly identify an appropriate volume for the situation I am in; whether this be a whole class lesson or working with a small group of children in a whole school open area. I could also successfully alter the volume I was speaking at to suit the situation. One thing however, before I spoke in a whole class situation I was nervous and had to force myself to make the initial ‘noise’ to get the attention of the class.
The area in which I feel I progressed the most was with my confidence. I was extremely nervous, yet excited, before placement. On the first day, I was quieter than I intended to be. I then decided to ‘fake’ my confidence; this strategy was successful as by the end of week 1 I had spoken to most of the teachers in the staff room and had spoken to many pupils in an authoritative way when required.
An area I need to further progress in is varying my pitch and tone. This would make my voice more interesting to listen to. I can improve this by recording my voice and analysing my pitch and tone. By identifying areas in which I could alter my pitch and tone, I will make my voice more interesting.
During placement, I interacted with colleagues in the classroom and staffroom, supported learning in classes, demonstrated effective communication and completed four numeracy and four literacy tasks as well as two self-evaluations and a peer feedback.
Overall, placement was an extremely beneficial, interesting and enjoyable experience and I am looking forward to next year.
Placement was an inspiring experience and enhanced my understanding of how a classroom environment works daily. Before starting placement, I was really excited and looking forward to new experiences as I love being in the school setting. Having seen the school’s website before starting my placement, gave me an idea of what the school ethic …
Placement was an inspiring experience and enhanced my understanding of how a classroom environment works daily. Before starting placement, I was really excited and looking forward to new experiences as I love being in the school setting. Having seen the school’s website before starting my placement, gave me an idea of what the school ethic would be like. The website was very informative and interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the children and the staff in the school.
I was based in a Primary 2 class with my peer for the two weeks of placement, this was beneficial as I got to know the teacher and the children really well. I have had previous experience in a Primary 1 class and found it very interesting seeing the next stage up.
I quickly got into the daily routine of the class. The class teacher was in school around 8.15am every morning to prepare for the day ahead. Every Monday morning the teachers had a meeting with the headteacher for 15 minutes before the school day started at 9am.
Throughout the placement I observed many numeracy lessons. The teacher used a variety of songs that children sung along to, this helped portray the lesson content. The teacher constructed the end of the numeracy lesson with activity based learning, there were directed tasks that children could carry out through play to consolidate learning. The directed tasks included; using fake money and adding it together to make up a certain sum of money; shoe laces that numbers could be threaded on to make a calculation or number pattern (odd/even); numeracy jigsaw; and laptops with ‘sumdog’ and ‘education city’. The children all participated in the directed tasks and were engrossed throughout the activities.
In Primary 2, I perceived numerous, assorted literacy lessons throughout the two weeks. At the start of every week children would get a new list of spelling words. The first week was ‘ff’ words and the second week was ‘ll’ words. As a class the children sound out the word phonetically and then say it 3 times fully – this assists the children’s understanding of how the word forms. The children copy 3 of the spelling words directed by the teacher in their homework jotter and writes them again at home – this is done Monday to Wednesday. The children have a spelling test every Friday and peer assess each other after the test is complete. Children were introduced to a dictionary for the first time, this was a very interesting lesson to observe and the children understood how the dictionary worked, they demonstrated this through tasks directed by the teacher.
The Primary 2 pupils had PE once a week. It was a fantastic opportunity to observe how another teacher dealt with the same class. The children loved being active and releasing energy.
The subject of French is covered orally in Primary 1 to Primary 3. Primary 2 have covered days of the week, and numbers 1 to 10. They have just started to learn the months of the year. The subject French was presented by using songs. The teacher regularly used ‘très bien’ and other French phrases throughout the French lesson and other lessons therefore carrying French across the curriculum.
Overall, the teacher of Primary 2 was very helpful and assisted myself and my partner in anything possible. I feel I supported the learning taking place in class to my best ability and demonstrated effective communication skills. My experience in the staffroom was lovely and interactive, the staff are all very welcoming and interested to hear about our course at UWS. I feel I adapted to the school and smooth running of it and became very comfortable with my surroundings after the first day. I have extremely enjoyed my placement at the school, and will take all my experiences and observations into my future practice. The primary school, staff and my partner have all been very reassuring and supportive. Having more experience in a Primary School has made me realise that I truly want to pursue a career as as Primary Teacher.
The initial prospect of stepping out of my front door for the first time as ‘Miss Baxter’ seemed a daunting, yet exciting one. Having moved to Scotland in 2015 from a privatised, secondary girl’s academy near Liverpool; to a mixed, … Continue reading →
The initial prospect of stepping out of my front door for the first time as ‘Miss Baxter’ seemed a daunting, yet exciting one. Having moved to Scotland in 2015 from a privatised, secondary girl’s academy near Liverpool; to a mixed, high-performing and prestigious school in East Renfrewshire, gave me a small taste of what the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) had to offer. Having gained the vast majority of my primary school experiences within English primary schools, I felt as though it was my duty as an aspiring primary school teacher, to research and educate myself fully on what the CfE entailed within a junior school. To do this, I sought out information within the Education Scotland website and other similar government pages in order to grasp a firm understanding of the aims and features of the CfE before I set off into a school.
My first week was spent working closely with a primary 2 class, observing and shadowing the class teacher; but also, being fortunate enough to take groups of the class to either assist with tasks, reinforce a topic or support children with reading. One of my initial tasks was completing the ‘Burt’ reading test with half of the class- my placement partner would later complete the other half of the class. The reading test was especially interesting as it allowed me to see the vast range of abilities within a single classroom that the teacher must consider. Within this particular class, the mean reading age results showed as 6 years 6 months whereas the mode of the results showed a 5-year gap- the largest age being 10.11 and the youngest being 5.11. This is a large age gap of 5 years and catering for every child’s needs, whilst challenging them to the best of their individual ability can also be a challenge to teaching staff across all subject matter.
The class were studying the topic of pirates which they were extremely excited for, the teacher began the topic by inviting the pupils to write on a small black flag using a white crayon, what they already know but also what they would like to find out. I thought that this was a lovely way of encouraging children from an early age to consider taking charge of the direction of their own learning, but also promoting children to be inquisitive and ask questions within the classroom. This fortunately relates back to Hargie Owen’s literature about skilled interpersonal communication in which he states that students may only ask approximately 2 questions an hour. This therefore provides evidence that questions are something that need to be encouraged within our classrooms. This is something my assigned teacher was highlighting to her pupils in a fun, enjoyable and anxiety-free way.
One of my favourite experiences within the Pirate topic was assisting the class with their letter writing task; this was because it allowed me to see how children explored a theme using their imaginations and how enthusiastic they were doing so. In order to support the pupils with this task I would prompt them; for example, in the form of asking questions or suggesting an idea, resulting in an idea from the student- almost like a ‘lightbulb’ moment. As a teacher, seeing this for the first time is highly rewarding and satisfying- it is as though you have helped that pupil achieve and grow that little bit more. A development need for myself within the topic of writing, literacy and reading- involving the aspect of communication would be that a primary 2 student asked me if I was “speaking another language” because of my slight ‘scouse’ accent. Realising the student had a misunderstanding of the difference of language, dialect and accent; I explained where I came from, the difference of language and accent but also considered the way in which I talk- specifically my accent. I also considered how that can be a distraction to many students as they may not have heard my accent before, thus for this to not be such an issue I need to pronounce my words more clearly.
During my second week of placement, we were transferred to a P6 class. I was nervous and had some anxiety about having to adapt so quickly to an older age group, especially because myself and many of the students are apart of the same generation I was afraid of establishing the same level of respect generated by the primary 2 class. I was also afraid of not being able to adapt my language and behaviour to suit the new audience. Once in the class I found that adapting to suit the older age group was not as big as an issue as I originally anticipated however, I found establishing respect with the older students was difficult. For example one student discovered my first name and continually called me it despite being asked not to, another student called me a derogatory word during a maths activity which acted as an almost setback for me as it really effected my confidence and caused a lot of anxiety for the remaining duration of the placement. This was an almost test of my resilience, I learnt that by showing the smallest bit of nervousness or anxiety in front of students in some cases can lead children to notice this and act on that in a negative way. This is where the importance of body language comes in, positive body language may lead people and students to believe that confidence is there even when it is not.
Although there was a minor setback in maths, it was also something I thoroughly enjoyed as I was able to see the clear link between theory and practice. For example, in university studying mental methods to then enter the school and see it actually happening really reinforces everything experienced. In primary 2 they labelled the partitioning strategy “Hulk breaks apart” and there is an image of Hulk- however, the P6’s know this strategy as the partitioning strategy. I also found it interesting to see how children chose and found their own strategies and helping them find one that suits them.
Reading and literature- particularly children’s literature- has always interested me and therefore I enjoyed organising and leading a reading lesson. The book we were studying was ‘the twits’ by Roald Dahl in which the children appeared to be deeply involved, laughing along when reading and showing a great understanding of the novel. I primarily established this by asking one child to explain what they can remember happening in the novel so far, every child asked appeared to be very enthusiastically explaining when being asked. Whilst reading I would pause every couple of pages and ask another child to recap what has happened so far so that they can show that they understand the novel, putting it into their own words. Roald Dahl tends to use different sized fonts in his books, capital letters where they are not supposed to be and made up words. Each time one would appear I would pause and ask the group if they had spotted anything unusual, and I found it so interesting to hear the student’s responses on why they think Roald Dahl has given a word a particular trait and what that may represent- for example; “HUGTIGHT glue”- I would ask the group questions such as; what images does this word conjure up in your head? Why do you think Roald Dahl chose this word? Why has he put the word in capital letters? Each child would have a different response and interpretation of the text which they found exciting to analyse; the children also began to bounce ideas off each other coming up with new theories and suggestions.
Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed my first school placement; being made to feel welcome by staff and students in a fantastic school with a lovely atmosphere and environment. I have learnt so much from not only the staff but the pupils, not just teaching-wise but also about myself; my strengths and weaknesses. These past two weeks have really been an eyeopener for what is to come over the next 4 years and beyond; I could not be more excited about developing and growing into the teacher that I aspire to be.
A dyslexia task for dyslexia week being completed by P2 students.
The not-quite-finished yet pirate display.
A pirate ship picture, created by a P2.
Hand signals for the teacher to see when a child may be struggling or has a strategy for the number problem.
Part of P2 mental methods.
Part of P2 mental methods.
Overall throughout my experience on placement I really enjoyed it. It was a different experience from what I have had in schools before as before I would have been taken as a spare pair of hands in the role of … Continue reading →
Overall throughout my experience on placement I really enjoyed it. It was a different experience from what I have had in schools before as before I would have been taken as a spare pair of hands in the role of a classroom assistant and I felt that the children respected me more knowing that I was training to be a teacher. It felt as if I was more responsible being a student teacher than when I was a practitioner during my HNC in college. On my first week of placement I was in a primary seven class and on my second week I was in a primary two class. Working from the two ends of the school gave me an experience working within two extremely different environments were there are two different teaching techniques and reward systems.
During my first year placement I felt that it was mostly having to sit at the side of the class and watch teachers and how they teach I think it would be a better idea if the “observing” was more interactive and as a student in first year you are able to plan activities for the children. I planned activities during my HNC at college and I felt that the children really enjoyed being able to work with a new person. Throughout placement I asked if I was able to plan an activity as I felt I was sitting at the side to often and I wanted to become more involved and practice teaching in front of a small group. I took an activity for time and also a listening/concentration activity on my last day. This was effective for me personally because I was able to plan an activity for a small group similar to what the teacher was doing with the rest of the children in the class. The children seemed to enjoy the activities because they were telling me that it was fun and they were excited when they had another activity in the afternoon.
Generally I think overall placement was a fun experience that I was learning everyday. I was learning what I need to improve on and I was learning about the different ways that teachers from two different sides of the school teach. I learned that I should always ask teachers about different things so that I keep myself right and not go by others words. I also learned that maths can be interactive through song and also some games that other teachers may not play with children in a classroom environment. I also learned a little bit more on activities to use for listening and talking through literacy. Finally I learned that teaching and strategies have to be different and you have to be adaptable to the environment that you are in because one year you could be in a primary 1 class then the next in a primary 7 class and the way you approach teaching to 4-5 year old’s is different to the way you approach teaching to 10-11 year old’s. To have a trial at this was beneficial to me as I had to adapt as quick as a week to the different environments. This will be a big learning curve for me to take on within the next 3 years during my placement time.
Working in a school on placement for two weeks has shown me that Primary Teaching is definitely what I want to do as a career. I wish that my placement lasted longer. I am excited to see what future placements bring and what else I will learn from them.
In this weeks music seminar we were given a fantastic opportunity to learn how to play a string instrument. A group of pupils from a school in Ayrshire came to teach us all how to play a string instrument. These pupils were part of a string project, the only school in Scotland, where they are … Continue reading “Integrated Arts- Micro Teaching”
In this weeks music seminar we were given a fantastic opportunity to learn how to play a string instrument. A group of pupils from a school in Ayrshire came to teach us all how to play a string instrument. These pupils were part of a string project, the only school in Scotland, where they are given the chance to learn a string instrument from primary 4 to primary 7. They are given the opportunity to take part in a 45 minute music session in school every week where they learn how to use their string instrument and how to progress with it. A project like this helps children to develop so many skills such as team working, confidence, self-esteem, creativity and many more. This ties in with the Curriculum for Excellence in aiding children to become a successful learner, confident individual, responsible citizen and an effective contributor (Curriculum for Excellence, 2004).
During the lesson, we were shown the correct way to hold a string instrument, how to hold the bow, learning notes and the two different ways of playing: pizzicato and spiccato. We were all told to partner up with a pupil and their instrument and so I was given the violin. I have never played the violin before so i was slightly nervous before the class began. I think the violin looks like such a beautiful instrument and after playing it i realized it also had such an incredible, soft sound to it.
We also got to play a range of games to help with the technique of holding the bow in the correct position. These games were a lot of fun and is a great way of teaching beginners all about the bow and the balance you need whilst holding it.
Overall, this input was so much fun and a great learning experience. It was so interesting and enjoyable having pupils in to teach us instead of the other way about. It was an excellent opportunity to be able to be taught the basics of learning how to play the violin and i thoroughly enjoyed it. I think the string project should be introduced into many more schools around Scotland, as i think its a brilliant initiative that many children would benefit from as they are able learn and develop a range of skills in order for them to flourish into young individuals.
This weeks drama workshop focused on micro teaching. Prior to this lesson, we had to get into groups and create our own lesson plan focusing on a story that involved the drama conventions we had been learning and then teach this to the class. Our lesson should be around 15-20 minutes long and everyone in the class had to get involved. This task was quite challenging especially in the time aspect. It was hard for our team to all work together when we all have different schedules and the time we had to do create the lesson wasn’t very long. However, we managed to make it work by each team member taking a different convention and fitting it into the story in a way in which we can teach and explain to the class. From creating the lesson i developed a range of skills such as: time management, team working, organisational skills, creativity and research skills.
I was very nervous for when it came to teaching the lesson and found the thought of it all quite daunting. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t come across as patronizing as they weren’t a primary class, they were a class of students similar ages to me, if not older. In the end, it wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be it was actually a lot of fun. Each member of the team took a part to say and presented it very well. We got some great feedback mainly about how it was really good that we came up with our own story instead of taking an original storybook. We were all very happy with this feedback as this was something that we were originally worried about as we were unsure about how people would take to a made up story. Although in the end it was very effective and it meant that each group had their own idea of where the story could go and how it could end.
We also had to take part in the other students micro teaching task. I think I am starting to become a little bit more confident in performing, however I still get very shy and nervous but I am trying to overcome this fear as I want to have fun and be able to implement enjoyable lessons like this into the classroom.
I think this micro teaching lesson was so interesting and was a very effective, fun task for us all to take part in. It was a great opportunity to see how we can implement these conventions into a lesson plan and how we would carry them out in the classroom. From doing a task like this, you develop a range of skills and learn a lot from the people around you. This can be an important lesson for children as they can learn a lot from working with other children and can develop a variety of skills that might not always develop when being taught by a teacher.
References:
Education Scotland, (2017). What is Curriculum for Excellence. [Online] [Available: https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/What%20is%20Curriculum%20for%20Excellence?] [Accessed: 13th November 2017]
During my two week placement I got to explore all areas within a primary school from P1-P6, this giving me great knowledge and experience of working with children of all ages, and I was able to identify a range of different teacher qualities and styles. The main class that I spent most of my placement […]
During my two week placement I got to explore all areas within a primary school from P1-P6, this giving me great knowledge and experience of working with children of all ages, and I was able to identify a range of different teacher qualities and styles. The main class that I spent most of my placement time at however was one of three primary five classes and with the teacher being newly qualified she was able to help me to the highest degree possible, this making my time at the school very enjoyable. Due to spending a lot of time with this particular class I gained a great bond with all the children and the teacher, this being something I very much had in mind before going out to placement as I think it is very important to be in a happy, friendly environment to get the best outcome from an experience like this.
The different classes that I went in for one hour per day mainly all focused on mathematics and literacy activities, because of this I found it very easy to fill in the work which was required to be done when out on placement. I also found it very rewarding to complete both peer observations and self-evaluations as it was great to see the improvements I made from the first week to the second as I was able to change things that I was doing that I wasn’t fully happy with. However, a main strength that I found I had on placement was that when speaking to the children I was able able to be heard and seen, this being a very important aspect of communication as this leads on to other positive aspects of both verbal and non-verbal skills.
The school’s enthusiasm and interest in the children was great to see and they work with many external agencies to try and make sure the children within the school get the best education and childhood that they possibly can. They work closely with a woman who tackles attendance and children coming into school late, this was very interesting to see as previously I had never known any other school to work with an agency to try and combat this issue. The children also had an area for the children to go to if they were feeling down or wanted someone to talk to, this really opened by eyes to the caring nature that is within primary schools to ensure children always have someone to talk to.
Overall, my first placement was a great experience which I thoroughly enjoyed, due to the warm and welcoming nature of both the children and all staff members, and how the general feel of the school was great to be within. I am also pleased with how well I got on as an individual and how much the children looked up to me as a professional. Due to this I am even more excited about becoming a primary school teacher and the future placements I have to come.
I have just finished a 2 week placement in a Primary School and I loved it. It was so nice to be in a classroom environment and get the expereince to work with the children and staff in the school. I learned so much in the 2 weeks. I learned about what teaching involves, how … Continue reading Placement Experience →
I have just finished a 2 week placement in a Primary School and I loved it. It was so nice to be in a classroom environment and get the expereince to work with the children and staff in the school. I learned so much in the 2 weeks. I learned about what teaching involves, how to reflect on my practice and about how to work with children who are challenging.
I went for a pre placement vistit before I started so this helped me to feel more at ease once on placement as I knew my way around the school and had already met the teacher and children I would be working with. I was in a Primary 1 class for the whole placement.
While on placement I was able to get a glimpse into what being a teacher really entails. It definetly isn’t an easy job. The class teacher was in the school at 7 most mornings to prepare resources, put up wall displays and prepare for the school day. All the staff had to attend staff meetings and have regular meetings about planning with the headteacher. While I was there they also had parents nights and one of the teachers had to prepare and present a maths presentation at another Primary School. Seeing this has shown me how much work and time teachers have to put in to their job. There is alot more to it than most people would think.
As I was in a Primary 1 class both weeks I did struggle a bit to complete all the placement tasks. This is because the children were in the early stages of developing their reading and writing skills and in maths were working on recognising and ordering numbers and simple addition. Me and the class teacher talked through my tasks and she did her best to make sure the class showed evidence of everything I needed. The class teacher asked me to plan, prepare and deliver 2 activities with groups of children to show bibliographic knowledge and to incorporate real life experiences into maths. The planning and delivery of these activities helped me to feel more confident and they allowed me to practice teaching with a small group of children.
All the children in the Primary 1 class were lovely but there was some challenging behaviour. In the class there were 2 children with additional support needs whose behaviour was sometimes disruptive and inappropriate. This lead other children in the class to join in with this behaviour. From observing the class teacher I saw lots of strategies to try and stop this unwanted behaviour. I did my best to use this strategies with these children as well to keep the message consistent.
Through placement I was constantly reflecting on my practice, in particular my communication skills. I was aware of my verbal and non verbal communication and the effects these have on the children. I recieved feedback about my communication and I will use this to help me to continue to develop my skills.
Overall I had a fantastic time on placement. I was very lucky to be placed in a brilliant school where all the staff and children made me feel welcome and part of the school. I will use of the skills and knowledge I have learned during this epereince to help me to achieve my goal of becoming a teacher.
Glow Blogs uses cookies to enhance your experience on our service. By using this service or closing this message you consent to our use of those cookies. Please read our Cookie Policy.