Category Archives: edushare

Health and Wellbeing: Relationships

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During our Health and Wellbeing lecture, we were learning about relationships and how important relationships are for children. As our TDT after the lecture, we were asked to watch two videos. One on children’s brain development by Doctor Suzanne Zeedyk and another on the importance of the child’s early years by John Carochan.

In Suzanne Zeedyk’s video, she talks about how human babies are different to other mammals’ babies as they are born prematurely because of the size of their heads. Due to this, this means that their brains aren’t as fully developed as other mammals when born. The brain then develops as the child starts to grow outside of the womb and can be influenced by their surroundings and relationships and therefore means that the first four years of a child’s life are the most important and could influence their future.

In John Carnochan’s video, he talks about how important the first 4 years of a child’s life are and how they can have an impact on their future. In both videos, they talk about how if a child grows up in a threatening environment then the child focused on protecting themselves from the threatening environment and can hinder their development. John Carnochan talks about how children need consistency in their lives, especially during their early years. Children may not always get this consistency or safe environment from their home lives so it is very important for teachers to create this in the classroom so the children can feel safe and comfortable in at least one part of their lives.

After watching these videos, it made me more aware of how much a child’s life at home could influence their future if they don’t have consistency. It made me realise that when I am teaching the classroom, I have to try and create a safe and welcoming environment for the children in case they don’t have a safe place at home so at least they will feel safe in my classroom and will want to come to school.

Professional Development in Semester 1

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As a student teacher, we are constantly asked to reflect on what has happened so far so we can learn from the past and develop into qualified teachers. I have been asked to reflect on my professional development during semester 1 and one moment stood out for me. During semester 1, we were required to do a module called “Working Together” in which we had to work with people from teaching, CLD and social work. As a part of this module, we had to visit an agency to see how they work together with others and our agency happened to be CLD workers within a primary school . Before this visit, I didn’t think that teaching would have much to do with other professions like CLD and social work, however, during and after the visit I realised how important it was to be able to work with other professions.

When on the visit, we talked to two CLD workers and they told us about how much involvement they had with teachers and social workers. This made me realise how important it is for me to be able to work with other professions during my career, even if it can be difficult at times. It is important to put the needs of the child in front of your own opinions of people to make sure the child’s needs are met. When the CLD workers were talking about times when they had to work about other professions and it wasn’t always going as they had planned, it made me feel better about working with other professionals in the future. They talked about scenarios when things didn’t go as they had planned and they had to compromise to get the best results for the child. This made me relax a bit, knowing that if I have to work with other professionals and things don’t happen as planned, I will know that it happens in a lot of scenarios and it takes time to and effort to compromise with others but always works out for the best for the needs of the child in the end.

Reflecting back on the agency visit now, I realise that this visit to the agency has taught me how important it is to be able to work together with other professions and being able to compromise on decisions if it is for the best. I think when I am teaching in schools, I need to keep this in mind to remember that it is always important to put the child first to make sure their needs are met.

First Values Workshop

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Last week, we had our first values workshop. We got separated into four groups and we had to sit around 4 separate tables with a large brown envelope; each envelope with a different number from one to four. Each envelope contained different things such as sheets of paper, paper clips, elastic bands, envelopes, etc. We were then given a task to work as a group to create something that would be useful to a new student at the university. We had 10 minutes to think of an idea before we had to present this idea and were then given a further 10 minutes to create our idea before presenting to the group again.

I was a part of group 1 and in our envelope we had a lot of stationary that would help us with the project, however, looking around at the other groups, you could see that each group had different materials; our group having the most materials and group 4 having the least.

Our group decided to create a “Survival Backpack” for a new student at the university. This backpack would contain a paper timetable, a map of Dalhousie, a diary, a notebook, vouchers and a pencil case. When it was time to present our idea to the group, Derek was very complimentary to our idea and said it was very innovative. However when the other groups were presenting, we could see that they had less resources for the project compared to us and Derek wasn’t as positive with feedback for them, especially for group 4. Although we were very happy about our feedback from Derek for our project, we were confused at the bad feedback that group 4 had got for their idea as they had thought of a good idea for what little resources they had.

After we had created our idea using our resources, we had to present it to the group again and this time Derek would be giving us a mark out of 10 also. As we were group 1 we had to present first. After presenting our idea, Derek gave us a 9/10; which we were extremely happy about. As the other groups continued to present, the marks began to decrease. Group 2 had a similar idea to us as they had similar resources, however, Derek gave them 7/10. Group 3 had less resources again and still created a good project but only received 4/10 and group 4 with the least resources, only received 2/10; even though they created a good idea with the little resources they had. Although my group was extremely happy with our mark, we couldn’t help but feel bad and sympathetic for the other groups for receiving lower marks with just as good projects.

It was soon discovered that Derek had done this on purpose to teach us a lesson that everyone should be treated equally, even if they have less resources as they can still produce something just as good as having a lot of resources. Personally, I think this workshop has taught us all a very valuable lesson that we should try to treat everyone equally, even if some people are less fortunate or disadvantaged than other people. This lesson is something that I shall carry with me throughout my teaching experience and one lesson that I shall not forget.

Why teaching?

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As I was growing up, I was always the older cousin that the younger cousins would turn to at family gatherings as their entertainment for the evening. By being almost a role model for them in this way, it inspired me to consider a career in teaching. As I got older, more opportunities became available for me in the Education world, which further encouraged my interest in teaching.

When I moved to Thailand, it opened many doors for me in Education. It allowed me to gain experience in teaching by going to local Thai schools and teaching the young children how to speak English. During this time in the local Thai schools, it made me realise how much I enjoyed teaching the young children and being able to make a difference in their lives. What made me enjoy teaching so much was the fact that I could help the children develop and learn new skills at such a critical stage in their life. I want to continue this throughout my life by teaching young children and help them to grow and develop and help them to fulfill their potentials.