UWS BA ePDPs – Page 255 – Personal Development Plans of BA(Hons) students of education

Energy PDP

This week we learned about the different forms of energy that sustain our lives from the varying types of renewable energies to fossil fuels. The main focus on the inputs […]

During our energy input, we discussed fossil fuels and the different ways in which we use them in today’s society i.e. coal, oil and gas. Before this input, I was aware of what fossil fuels are but never really thought of how much we rely on them on a day to day basis in terms of our petrol for cars and when we cook our meals etc. It has been predicted that these fuels we depend on so heavily, will not be around forever and are rapidly diminishing. As our lifestyles are changing and becoming more industrialised, we are burning more and more fossil fuels and releasing more fumes into the air, causing global warming. “Temperatures have already increased by nearly 1° in the past 100 years and are projected to rise more quickly over the next hundred years”. As a result of this, we have to find different ways of generating energy in terms of electricity, powering our vehicles and making materials. We spoke about Wave Power Scotland, and the ways in which it is helping to change the way in which we produce our energy. The Scottish Government has set ambitious targets for electricity generation from wave and tidal resources to contribute to its target of securing 100% of Scotland’s electricity requirements from renewable sources by 2020. Following on from this, we had an in class debate about wind energy and if we were for it or against it. Some of the pros that came up during the debate was that it can provide lots of jobs for those who build them and design them etc., it can be a nice addition to the landscape, and most importantly they can produce energy without burning fuel. However, the other side to the debate stated that it can look unpleasant in the landscape and can kill wildlife i.e. birds in the sky etc. During Andrews session, we looked at different activities involving electricity and energy and we discussed ways in which we could use these in the classroom. We followed some notes on circuits and how to light the lightbulb, and we also looked at ways solar power can trigger energy and other resources such as water etc. This was very useful as it isn’t something I was particularly interested in before and I know that if I was to teach this prior to this input, the outcome would not be half as beneficial as it would be now. I also learned that it is important to check your experiments before doing them with the kids. It is necessary to check that everything works and that all the materials are correct in order for your lesson to be successful.

Learning Log: Energy

During the inputs on energy it was good to get a quick refresher on the different types of energy and the different areas within those types that you might focus […]

During the inputs on energy it was good to get a quick refresher on the different types of energy and the different areas within those types that you might focus on within a primary setting. Obviously renewable energy makes a fantastic topic in the primary environment not just because it comes with great opportunities for more hands on learning through school trips to places such as wind farms or as we saw today through getting pupils to create their own examples of wind turbines or anemometers.

From what we were shown in the lectures I can definitely see myself doing a debate with a class in the future on the advantages and disadvantages of a renewable energy source. In case of the workshop we looked into wind power and it worked really well as a way to encourage us to learn more in depth knowledge on wind energy through readings and to then come together with our peers to share our findings before final presenting our research int he form of a debate. This could be a very useful activity to do with pupils as it builds on their note taking skills as the write down key information, gets them to use their negotiation skills to decide who is doing what task and who should present before finally allowing them to use presenting skills and build on their debating skills in a debate at the end of the session. In a class room environment this is also a fantastic way to bring in lots of cross curricular learning as pupils could create posters to display their information create models that would help them demonstrate or understand facts or perhaps write up a report of how they felt the debate went and the pros and cons for each side.

Through the science workshop we were also able to see some very useful and interesting ways to use energy to bring some interesting experiments into the classroom from classic circuit activities to a rather interesting experiment involving an electromagnet. I think pupils would engage very well with these task particularly the problem solving aspect of working with the circuits and while they would enjoy building the correct circuit to get the required result I think they would find equally interesting getting to experiment with the different components.

Final the more practical input on create and building items such as the anemometer was useful as it allowed me to see what problems pupils could encounter when engaging with those sort of task and see how disappointing it could be for them if they spent all that time building a kite and then it wasn’t windy or the straws weren’t strong enough so their creation would just fall apart in the wind. I also allowed me to see some really easy ways of using the topic of energy to bring some really creative and engaging activities into the class room and to allow pupils to have a more meaningful way of gaining measurement and team work skills.

Learning Log- Energy

During last weeks input we had an introduction to energy and the importance of renewable energy. We learned about hydro electric power, solar power and wind power. We had a debate over the whether wind turbines are actually good for the environment. I found this to be very useful for making up my own opinion on wind energy as there were a lot of point that I had not considered before. however I think this type of activity could be quite difficult to do with children because they would get distracted and not stay on task when being told to research the information required.

In today’s input we learned about ways we could teach energy in a practical, hands-on way through various activities. In groups we carried out three different tasks; creating our own anemometer, a kite and a pinwheel. When carrying out these tasks we faced many challenges, such as the straws for the anemometer not being strong enough to stay straight and hold carry the cups, the cups not being durable and splitting when trying to pierce a hole in them, the binbag for kite being to flimsy to cut with scissors etc. These are all thing that you would have to test out before you presented the tasks to children to do themselves.

There were also many teaching implications that would have to be taken into consideration. Many of the tools we used today were sharp and could potentially be quite dangerous if used in the wrong way, therefore the children would have to be given a safety talk before being given the sharp scissors, hack saw, pins, stapler etc. The would also have to be supervised during the activities. It would also be important to allocate specific roles to children, such as a time keeper, a quality checker, a facilitator etc as when we carried out these tasks as a group ourselves there wasn’t always a job for everyone to do, or one person would take charge of everything.

Personally I feel that it is important that children have a good understanding of the importance of renewable energy, as we will soon run out of fossil fuels and must find alternative resources to overcome this issue. Children are the next generation that will be far more greatly affected by this than we will.

Learning Log: Energy

In the energy input of this module, we first learned about the importance of renewable energy. Previous to this input, I was already aware of the rapidly dissipating levels of fossil fuels and also how bad they were for the environment, therefore it is important to have renewable energy. Going through the lecture, I was quite shocked to realise the amount of things that actually contained fossil fuels.

Renewable energy is very important as it allows us to sustain ourselves without using fossil fuels. Examples of this are: solar power, wave power and wind turbines.

We focused on wind turbines and had a debate on the pros and cons of them: it was very interesting but probably not an activity I would carry on in to a classroom setting as I feel that primary children would not be able to work in groups as big as we did.

The practical workshops last week and today were very interesting and provided a good insight of different activities that could be done within a classroom.

I believe that learning about renewable energy is vital for children today as it is going to become increasingly more common in their lifetimes and may one day have to entirely rely on it-so it is important that they understand what it means and how it all works.

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.