Category Archives: edushare

TDT Health and Wellbeing Relationships

With watching the videos suggested in the Health and Wellbeing lecture, it has been brought to my attention that babies are born prematurely in their development, unlike other mammals and animals. This is due to the vaginal canal being too narrow to give birth to a fully formed head. As the baby is brought up, many different factors can affect and influence its development. Unfortunately, every child may not have a significant person in their life who they can trust and rely on to make a safe and nurturing environment at home. This is where teachers and other adults can become the significant other who they can trust and feel safe around. It is essential in the role of a primary and nursery practitioner to be caring, nurturing and understanding.

Not one family is the same and the ‘Ideal’ family with a mum, dad and children is not the general norm nowadays. This does not mean that a single parent cannot raise their child the same as an ‘ideal family’ or step parent family. The problems start to occur when there is violence and potentially domestic violence in the families which can affect the babies, toddlers and children’s development. Suzanne Zeedyk, a lecturer in phycology at Dundee University explains how there is a stress hormone which may be over produced in the brain if violence is present in their home setting. This can create a barrier in children’s minds where they are setting up barriers to protect themselves in other settings. This can be apparent if a child is coming into school and is not able to concentrate or sit still as they are not used to the calm and reassuring atmosphere which a classroom should have.

Interestingly, I was not aware of the science behind this and it has broadened my thinking to behavioural management and techniques which may work with some children and not with others. An example of this is shouting in the classroom. If the teacher is shouting at the children, they may be used to this at home and put up their barriers and not feel safe with this teacher. After a lecture in voice control in the classroom, it is clear that the teacher should not be shouting in the class and vary their voice according to the situation. Shouting can be a signal for the children to turn off and not actually listen to any of the instructions from the teacher resulting in no response and a teacher with a sore voice. An authoritative voice tone is appropriate if the children are not responding but this is developed through practice and on the job training. It is also shown that even just smiling can create a safe atmosphere in your classroom. Happy teacher, Happy Class!

Overall, I am very interested in this theory and will definitely make me think deeper. Relationships between the class and class teacher are essential and the more positive the better. Allowing time for all children and ensuring they all feel safe in the school environment will be an essential job for me as a training professional teacher and eventually in the role with my own class.

Dance in the Primary School

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With very little experience in teaching or partaking in dance, this was a daunting experience. With only an hour class to start off, it was interesting how similar to PE dance is as there had to be a warm up and cool down then the main activity. Actually taking part in a lesson that would be taught to the children it turned out to be good fun, even if it was embarrassing! It was clear to me after having this hour tutorial and also reading the suggested document:

(http://www.creativescotland.com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/26149/GSDLitReviewv2.pdf)

which looked at the improvement and importance of creative dance relating to the commonwealth games and many other factors, I felt slightly less scared.

I am very passionate about ceilidh dancing and feel that this is an important part of being a child in primary school in Scotland. This is one genre of dance and there are hundreds more including examples such as; Irish, Jazz, African, Street and Contemporary. The general idea of introducing more dance to the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) allows for children to be expressive and creative but can also improve their health, mental health, physical health and emotional health. All of these areas are crucial when looking into the wellbeing of children and if dance can benefit these then it is an excellent tool for teachers to use.

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Teaching dance opens it up to some children who cannot afford private dance classes which can be very expensive. Off course, there will be children who are very excited and engaged in the dance lesson but there will also be many who don’t enjoy it as much. The role of the teacher in this circumstance is to encourage enthusiasm and be a good role model with showing little embarrassment and having fun. Dance allows for personal expression and also group working, coordination, fitness and enjoyment.

As I am not very confident in teaching dance I feel it would be very important to have a well researched and planned out lesson so there is less likely to be hiccups. Having music organised and allowing the children to help with the decision of what music they would like to dance too. Challenges I will have to overcome is being shy and embarrassed about dancing in front of people which I think will come with experience. To develop professionally I think I would benefit from watching dance teachers teaching classes and also in schools. So to improve myself I think I should speak to dance teachers and ask if I could potentially observe their class and potentially take part in dancing myself.

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Animation – Fantastic engaging tutorial

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After having lecture after lecture introducing us to the different curriculum areas as well as the pedagogical unit (all very important and informative I must add) I was excited to have a hands-on workshop in ICT. During the two hour tutorial, I was able to be creative and work within a group as well as individually to create different animations. Starting with flip art using just paper and a pen we brought to life a person or a snowman or flowers depending where our imaginations took us. Then onto the computers with PIVOT making very simple diagrams come to life using frames etc. All tasks were progressive and could be used with a primary group over several classes. Unfortunately, in schools, the time in an ICT suite is normally very limited.

The lecturer took the role of the teacher explaining the different parts of the animation task adding in music and using behavioural techniques whilst in an ICT suite. An example of a behavioural technique was if anyone touched their mouse while the teacher was talking then all computer screens go off.

The final part of the animation included plasticine models, backgrounds, mic’s and group work to make an animation linked to a subject area. This included adding a title screen, music, credits at the end and creating a story for the characters in the middle. This could be done over several different lessons and use many areas of the curriculum for excellence. Art could be used for creating the backgrounds and plasticine models and Language and literacy for the story line which the children could write and practice themselves.

Working as a group is also very beneficial for the children as this happens from early years right through life. Also using their imagination and enhancing their ICT skills will set them in good stead for future in school and also further education.

The animation my group put together used plasticine characters of three sheep, a tree, Farmer

M and a wolf. The title, Three Little Sheep relates to The Three Little pigs as the farmer scares the wolf away to protect his sheep. Adding sheep noises and a victory song at the end to celebrate getting rid of the wolf. Hopefully, the below file works and you can see our final animation.

On reflection, it is clear from the short animation that the background sound effects the quality of the animation. This could be potentially addressed with the use of small groups working with a classroom support or teaching assistant or whole class is quite during recordings of sound. This could work well with children who are interested in ICT and I think with the new technologies constantly changing it is important to create lessons to get the children’s attention.

ICT to enhance learning is the Experience and outcome in Technologies, which highlights the children’s progression through the stages.

Back to University after a months break

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During the December break I have been working hard to save some money to pay for university next year. Working 8-12 hrs daily was stimulating and doing different jobs has kept me going for the past month. Quite a shock to the system having to get back to uni with over an hrs drive there and back where I was driving 5 minutes to my work.

Very interesting lectures today with the introduction to Teaching Across the Curriculum with Curriculum for Excellence, Numeracy, Mathematics, Literacy, Language, Science and Technologies. I am thoroughly looking forward to specific lectures on these subjects with the lecturers who are very passionate about their chosen field.

With placement in the next couple of months, I am very optimistic about going into the classroom again on placement and I am excited to have a local school close to where I live. Having looked online at the school’s website, I have observed that it is a newly built school like many in the Angus area.

Looking forward to a busy semester with lots of positive learning and starting reading from day 1!

First attempt at the NOMA

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Maths assessment …. brain goes into overdrive, it has been over 6 years since I have been in school and even longer since primary school. First I attempt the example questions and surprisingly I understand a lot. I have to research some too as I have forgotten different areas of maths such as area of a triangle or qualitative/quantitive data. Very simple maths but as I will be teaching it in the near future it is important that I understand how to work out the answer from a learning point of view for children.

I have completed the examples so I go onto complete the test and I am surprised to get 80% which was 48/60. There is room for improvement which I will work on during the term up to Christmas.

Why do I want to become a Primary Teacher?

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I have been a chef for the last 5 years and now I decided was my time to live my dream and become a Primary Teacher. I worked hard throughout school to get the my grades and also do lots of work experience but unfortunately was unsuccessful in all 5 University choices at the time. I decided to do something completely different to gain valuable life experience which I think is essential.

Throughout my education and working life I have gained many valuable skills which are all key to the success of becoming a teacher. Communication is key in university and also teaching as there are many different people who you have to speak to throughout the course and when entering into the profession. I feel that I have gained this while working in many different places as a chef and also doing work experience in schools and with Rainbows and Brownies. Image result for rainbows and brownies

Time management is also very important and I have had to work hard at this throughout my chef career as it requires careful planning and precision to ensure that all tasks are completed in the allotted time. This will help me in my future career as being a teacher requires excellent time management and planning to ensure lessons are ready for classes and ensuring the pupils are busy throughout the day.

All the transferable skills which I possess; time management, leadership, communication and organisation can all be developed, university and personal study will help with this. I am very interested in professional development and feel that with there being so many changes in teaching it will keep me interested and learning at all times.

Being very passionate about teaching and learning I feel that I can pass this onto the children and make them want to learn too. It is essential to engage the children in their learning. Different schools can vary from composite to small classes to very large classes and very mixed ability it is important that all children are included and engaged in their lessons.

I now feel that I am ready to progress in my life and looking forward to becoming a teacher in the next 4 years and seeing the changes in education in the coming years.