Another week is done and dusted which means there is just one week left of placement in second year. In ways I am relieved that I am almost finished as I am exhausted and cannot wait for a lie in. However, I am starting to feel sad about leaving my little class as they are such a delight to be around and teach.
This week had a rough start between being sick and then spilling coke all over my laptop so I had a broken laptop and a messed up head and stomach- not the best start to the week. Unfortunately, I was in no state to go into school on Monday or Tuesday so that was quite a lot of teaching time out the window for me but there was no way I could have delivered effective lessons.
I continued with my reading group this week but with being off for the first two days, we were running slightly behind schedule.I found that some of the children were testing me as they tried to tell me that they had already read the whole book- they had only read half of it on Tuesday. We finished off the book and all pupils completed their worksheet well. They understood what they needed to do and were able to finish it with little help. This shows that the worksheet was at a good level for them. I felt I took no nonsense and managed the group well. On the second day, the children were quite unsettled and found it hard to concentrate and listen when it wasn’t their turn.
There were a lot of disruptions as pupils were being assessed by a college student on their reading level. Two children acted up quite a bit even after several reminders of the rules. I found it quite difficult on Thursday as they were so distracted but I felt I dealt quite well with it by asking those acting up to read a little bit more to engage them. Again, the worksheet was gauged at the right level for the pupils and most children completed it. There were a couple who did not manage to complete it due to being taken out for assessment.
On Wednesday, I did a lesson on writing about a character and related it to The Lighthouse Keeper book series. We looked at the character of Mr Grinling. It was important for me to model what I expected the students to do. I did this by gathering all the students up to the front of the classroom and explaining the worksheet in detail. We considered who Mr Grinling is and what family he has and his physical features. We looked at what he does and where he lives to give a more detailed description of the character. By having a word bank at the bottom of the page and going through these words, I think it helped the children to complete the task and know exactly what they were meant to be doing. The children responded well to this activity and were engaged throughout. They couldn’t wait to share their sentences about Mr Grinling with the rest of the class. I believe it is very important to use topics such as The Lighthouse Keeper across several subject areas as it helps the children to dive deeper into the story and adds an element of enjoyment rather than some plain and simple sums. My main learning point from this lesson was to always put the writing part at the top of a worksheet rather than a drawing part.
On Thursday, I was teaching the children about tally charts. They had touched on the topic before but some pupils weren’t sure about tally charts so I took it right back to the basics. I once again modelled how the children should do their work whilst allowing them to have a go on the whiteboard. I think this is important as many children learn by doing something rather than listening to how we do it. This also helped me to see if they were grasping the concept. The worksheet was all about finding out each pupil’s favourite sandwich and recording our results. I decided it would be chaotic for the children to go round and ask each classmate their favourite sandwich plus the results would likely be inaccurate. Instead, I thought we should take it slow and do it together as a class asking each pupil what their favourite sandwich and ensuring each pupil put the tally mark in the correct row. I felt this worked well as pupils were able to help one another and had to listen to one another. No one ever seemed fed up by the slower pace and no one was left behind. By the end, everyone had completed their tally chart and created their own sandwich out of paper for the class tally chart wall display. My time management was really good with everyone getting the work done in the set time. I felt my behaviour management was good with no children talking over one another and no acting up. I would definitely use this activity again in the future as the children were so engaged and so eager to share their favourite sandwiches. Next time, I would consider using pictures to help those who cannot read as this meant it was harder for them to keep up and they required more support. This was a great link to The Lighthouse Keeper’s Picnic and Lunch stories.
I found it quite funny as Friday was a ‘Break the Rules’ day which involved 6 rules that the children could break for £1 each. The rules were:
- Dye your hair or a wacky hairstyle
- Wear a weird hat
- Wear your pyjamas instead of your school uniform
- Bring in a cuddly toy
- Bring an unhealthy snack for break
- Don’t do your homework
This was a great idea as each class raised about £80 gathering more money than a non-uniform day. As a treat on Friday, during play time the children made sandwiches with me in groups of 4 or 5. This was quite funny as they were making sandwiches in their pyjamas and onesies! They really enjoyed this especially with reading all about Mr Grinling’s lunch and picnic and seeing what my perfect picnic would be. These practical and fun cross curricular activities are a great way to link topic learning and bring it to life. Cross curricular learning provides opportunities to further develop skills and values and creates richer learning opportunities (Centre for Global Learning, undated, p.5). It linked in nicely with our data handling on our favourite sandwiches the day before. There were some odd combinations of sandwiches with chocolate spread and cheese sandwiches and chocolate spread and ham!
The lighthouse craft continued this week for me but unfortunately not for the children as the lighthouses needed to be glued onto the cardboard bases which the children had already painted. This involved me using the glue gun which I had used on many occasions before but unfortunately I experienced the joy of getting burnt by it as the glue dripped off a Pringles tube onto my wrist-ouch!
Recently, I have observed the class teacher using primary movement particularly after break or lunch or when the children are unsettled. These are different body movements which require children to focus and give their full attention if they are to do it right. Interestingly, those children who do it right often yawn. These movements allow children to relax and have been shown to improve handwriting. 5-10 minutes with a dyslexic child improves concentration and helps to calm them. Primary movement is all about replicating the movements of the foetus in the womb. This triggers the integration of retained primary reflexes, which contribute to behavioural, educational and emotional difficulties. At the age of one, the primary reflexes system turns off and our movements are controlled more by thought than by reflex. However, problems arise when the primary reflexes continue after their normal time span. If this continues, there can be problems with neuro-development which in turn may affect educational functioning and has been linked to a diverse range of learning difficulties such as dyslexia (The Learning Clinic, undated). It only takes about 10 minutes each day for 6 months for it to be effective and have a significant impact on a child’s learning and behaviour.
It has been a bit of a weird week with being off for two days and then having the ‘Break the Rules’ day as it has thrown me out of routine slightly. I am looking forward to next week as I hope it will be fun between getting the lighthouses finished and doing some more teaching. I hope it doesn’t go too quickly as I want to enjoy it and know that I will be sad when Friday comes especially with it being a half day. I think I am probably the only person who is disappointed that this week is only 4.5 days long!
References:
Centre for Global Learning (undated) Cross-curricular approaches to global learning: Guidance for primary schools. Available at: http://www.centreforglobaleducation.org/documents/Global_Learning_Cross-Curricular_Document_Primary.pdf (Accessed: 29 April 2018).
The Learning Clinic (undated) Movement Therapy- Primary Movement. Available at: http://www.thelearningclinic.ie/index.php/programs/movement-therapy/ (Accessed: 29 April 2018).
