Tag: Uncategorized

This topic was over a two week period. In the first week we visited two farms to learn about how interdependence is a factor affecting farm life. In the second […]

Disasters

In the world today we are constantly up dated about natural disasters happening all around the world and therefore we have first hand knowledge as soon as a disaster occurs.

 

There are two types of disasters in the world, natural and man-made. Something is only classed as a disaster if human society is impacted. There will be

• Social damage
• Material damage
• Loss of life

 

Natural disasters consist of;

• Hurricanes
• Earthquakes
• Volcanic eruptions
• Tsunamis
• Floods
• Disease epidemics

Therefore disasters can have a serious impact on the world by possible global warming, urbanisation and land use. These can all be interrelated for example an earthquake can cause a tsunami, floods can cause hygienic problems and then lead to epidemic of disease.

 

After the lectures on disasters I now realise the importance of politics and how they influence the preparation and response received before or after a disaster. The responses are at three levels, local, national and international. The government has a big responsibility to keep their country safe, for example building houses that are earthquake proof or building flood defense barriers and having a national disaster plan in place so that citizens know the protocol to follow. The problem on the political side is having a government that sees protecting its country from disasters as a priority it also depends on the amount of funding a government has and if there is corruption in the government. We looked at two case studies or japan and Haiti. The contrast was stark; Japan is well prepared for a disaster, unlike Haiti, which is a developing country, which has less money, fewer resources and therefore is less prepared for natural disasters. Furthermore these developing countries seem to rely on international help. Rich thriving countries still do have their fair share of natural disasters but they are more prepared with their evacuation plans and get help from other countries quicker. They have good rebuilding of their infrastructures and work will with their communities and international partners to get back to normality.

 

Furthermore the role of international organisations is key to helping the disaster relief but there are also many NGO’s for example save the children and the Red Cross. These organisations are unbiased, politically neutral and prioritise humanitarian needs. They do an amazing job to help humanity after a disaster.

 

Within the classroom, I feel as a teacher it is important that the children know about disasters but the questions is how far do we go? The school could be involved in fundraising if it was a more local disaster like a flooding in southern England. It is good to look at both global and local viewpoints but as a teacher I am very aware that I would have to sensor the images that I use so not to upset the children. Natural disasters bring in many curricular links.

‘I can describe the physical process of a natural disaster and discuss its impact on people and the landscape. SOC 2-07b

 

I feel using some of the drama conventions that I have learned I could put the children into the feet of a victim of these disasters and help them understand what they feel like. Also linking it to being an emergency working, a survivor or a charity working and looking at the disaster from their perspective and discussing them.

 

In the second workshop we did another carousel-based activity in our groups, where we worked round different activities linking with natural disasters. I found that one in particular about making your own volcanic eruption would be a great activity to do in a class in the upper school. Thus developing the children’s enquiry and investigative skills.

 

I’m starting to feel more confident if I had to teach disasters if I were to teach it in the middle to upper schools. I feel the lecturers have provided me with lots of ideas and resources that I could take with me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In today’s lecture the many concentration was ‘Dance in Education’. Throughout the lecture we spoke about all the things associated with drama in education such as how drama should be a confidence builder, enjoyable, remove fears and not just be about actors. Participation in drama is key Baldwin states that there is value in teachers experiencing drama as participation in order to better understand it as a learner (Baldwin 2009).

Today’s drama lesson was an opportunity for our peers to lead a drama lesson in a micro teaching activity. The first group focus for the drama was the story of ‘The Grufflo’. The first drama convention we were introduced to was role on wall, were we had to write how we feel about each character on the outside of the picture and on the inside how each character feels about themselves. The next drama convention we looked at was Vox Pop and Teacher in Role for this we had to pretend we were a forest creature and were asked questions about the story so far. We then all took part in a Freeze Frame were we acted out a community meet about what we will do about the Grufflo. Then we moved onto a Thought Tunnel were we all said one word to describe how we feel about the grufflo. Finally after hearing the full story we then moved onto a Fastforward about how we would welcome the grufflo and what we should do about the mouse.

The second group focus was on the story of ‘The 3 little pigs’ as this is a well-known story everyone knew. The first drama convention this group introduced to us was Teacher in Role were each group had to discuss what they would do about the wolf. Within my group we came up with the idea of creating a trap and use the bigger numbers as there is only one wolf. The next drama convention we looked at was Flashback we had to think of why the wolf acts the way he does and act this out to our peers. Hot seating was the next drama convention looked at where the full section had the opportunity to ask to the wolf about why he acts the way he does by blowing down the little pigs houses. The last drama convention was a Though Tunnel about how we felt about the wolf before then how we felt after the asking questions.

In the music workshop again was a micro teaching lesson as there was pupils from Greenmill Primary School came into the university to teach us how to play string instruments. The instrument I was working with was the cello were the pupils taught us different techniques about how to play the instrument such as plucking and bowing. The pupils allowed us to play each instrument using the different techniques they taught us to simple songs and rhythms.

Both workshops linked to each other as it was a micro teaching lesson. In the drama lesson we were taught by our fellow peers and in the drama lesson taught by the primary pupils of Greenmil Primary. This would be a useful lesson ideas to let pupils lead their own learning.

Reference:

Baldwin, P (2009) School Improvement Through Drama A Creative whole class, whole school approach Network Continuum

 

Climate change is a topic that is very current in our lives today as people are beginning to debate whether it is a natural occurring process of our planet or if it is a more man-made process due to effects such as the industrial revolution causing decades of greenhouse gas emissions.  Having read the Climate … Continue reading “Climate Change – Directed Study Task”

This week Diarmuid presented us with the opportunity to explore the Children’s Art Archive This included work from children from all over the U.K. It was laid out into early, first and second level examples.

At early level, (McAuliffe, 2007) states that children tend to move their whole arm to create art as well as stabbing like motions. This piece is what looks to be a child’s interpretation of a rainforest. You can see the while arm movements in the trunk of the tree, and I must admit that I was blown away with the creativity and standard of the work.

 This first level piece is also of a high standard; however, it looks like part of a teacher-lead activity and not as spontaneous or creative. It is at a much higher level of detail and the attention to this detail is overwhelming. This could have been part of a topic related IDL.

This second level artwork definitely looks like topic related IDL. At this stage, children become aware of artists and their styles and become more critical of their own abilities and inhibitions. This is referred to as the ‘gang stage’ (McAuliffe, 2007). I really like how this particular piece tells a story of what the child imagines pre-historic times was like.

Overall this lesson provided me with an insight into children’s art and how to handle and not assess – but to appreciate it, and to display it with pride.

 McAuliffe, D (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 3-11 (ed). London: Continuum.

This week was our first week in Integrated Arts.
 
In art, we were asked to note down our experiences with the arts – both negative and positive. Our lecturer taught us about how when children scribble, it is art. If children are creating art to show us how they see the world, it is important that we take care and interest and engage with their art (McAuliffe, 2007).

During Music, we were learning about Music Appreciation. To start off, we listened to five sound bites and we were then asked to write down how they made us feel. Bloomfield & Childs (2000) suggests that art gives us a chance to all appreciate the arts individually. This was the first time I feel like I really understood this concept. In the classroom, this concept could be introduced to children in a very similar way.

Our next activity was to listen to a longer piece of music and create a storyboard of what we thought was happening. The music was the Tin Soldier from Disney’s Fantasia. What was interesting is that although each group had different ideas, we all had similar themes. In a classroom situation, this would be a great stimulus for imaginative writing and would also cover music E’s & O’s too!

 

Bloomfield, A and Childs, J (2000) Teaching Integrated Arts in the Primary School. Oxon: David Fulton Publishers.

McAuliffe, D (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 3-11 (ed). London: Continuum.

 

 

Interdependence is the way in which two living things depend on each other to grow and remain healthy. There are three main components on interdependence;

• Economics
• Social
• Environmental

The economic takes in the global markets and financial institutions. The social takes in the media advertising and cultural integration. The environment needs to look beyond the local area and look at our global responsibilities that everyone has a job to maintain the web of life. Interdependence has an effect on the food supply and food chains, plant and animal breeding and crop protection and animal welfare. Furthermore it affects symbiosis, social behaviours and there is the fear of extinction with the threats due to biodiversity.

An example of interdependence problems that has been going on for years is the pollution in the ocean. This affects the water due to the chemicals which end up in the water because of the pollution and therefore the plants take on these chemicals and the fish eat these plants and then we eat the fish therefore causing harm to the ocean, the fish and to us. In the classroom you could  make an interdependence cycle where the children have to fit the flashcard with words or picture in the correct place in the cycle, thus reinforcing interdependence. An infant class could do this with pictures only. It could be differentiated in middle school with flashcards and explanations and upper school they could make their own cycles. I myself am now aware of the pollution can be caused in the ocean due the task I completed in my group. I was shocked and disgusted at the pollution that even I am involved with the things I through out.

When on work experience I was in a P2 class and they were doing a topic on interdependence, they had to go out with me to the school grounds and look for all sorts of mini beasts. We brought these back to the classroom and discussed how the fox – mouse – spider – fly – grass and how it was all interrelated through interdependence. I was actually amazed at how the children grasped the concept.

Research using the computers would be a good way of letting children find out about endangered animals and how in some countries large animals are killed for example an elephant being killed for their tusks and there is a chance of extinction if this continues.

This section also looked at two different types of farms and how this related to the economical factors of interdependence to maintain these farms, which I have previously discussed in my independent study task which can be found on my previous blogs.

Climate change is an up-to-date topic that is frequently discussed on the news. In the lecture we discussed the effects that climate change is having on our world today and it is a topic that I feel should be discussed in school, as we need to look after our planet now rather than when its too late and the climate has been completely damaged. Climate change is the average weather at a given time or point over a long period. If the climate doesn’t stay the same it can be called climate change.

Evidence for climate change is collected by weather recordings, ice cores, rocks and fossils and analyses of pollen and trees. There are several significant dangers of climate change;

• Desertification
• Damage from flooding – crops or house damage
• Sea level changes
• Sea defences under more stress
• Flooding of low lying costal areas

Climate change is effecting our weather and therefore the British farming industry is suffering by producing poor quality crops which the farmers have a problem selling and even  in some areas the crops are completely damaged due to flooding. We have seen a lot of flooding in the past couple of years in the UK and more recently the hurricane Irma that has destroyed hundreds of homes and killing many many people in Florida and the Caribbean.

In the first workshop we researched and worked collaboratively in a group. We had to research the effects climate change would have on a family living in the Borders of Scotland. We had to present our work to the rest of our peers and each group member had to contribute. I think this would be a good activity to use in the middle or upper school as the children could use the researching, ICT skills or produce a poster full of information to present to the rest of the class. This task really made me think about the impact of climate change on family life, it was very interesting to hear about the other groups and one group  had a family in Indian to research and it made me imagine  what that family had to suffer because of climate change. In the second workshop, it was a carousel of activities that we had to work around in groups. This was an excellent means by which we covered several different areas and we all got to participate in it all relating to climate change.

The government in the UK is very involved in climate change and are looking for many ways to reduce it.The climate change Scotland act 2009 is trying to reduce admissions of dangerous gasses by at least 80%. These targets have to be met by 2050. There is also the greenhouse effect to considered, many scientists believe that due to a build up of greenhouse gasses around the world that heat becomes trapped inside the earth’s atmosphere and therefore it results in an increase of the world’s temperature  and is called global warming. Furthermore I have learned about the ozone layer which is meant to protect the earth for harmful ultra violet rays, however the ozone layer is becoming thinner and more or the harmful rays are reaching the earth. These are all areas that children need to be aware of and learn about as it has an impact on the environment and their lives. I now have a better understanding of how to tackle climate change and the impact that climate change has on the world and me. I now feel more confident about helping the children to understand about climate change and activities I could use with them in the class.