Category Archives: edushare

Bloom’s taxonomy

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When scrolling through my Facebook account the other day, this display came up. As we had just had lectures which involved Blooms Taxonomy, this made me intrigued to know more about it and what skills are used in Blooms Taxonomy.

Bloom’s Taxonomy was created in 1956 by the educational psychologist Dr Benjamin Bloom in order to promote higher forms of thinking rather than just remembering facts.( Nwlink, 2015)

There was three domains of educational activities of learning identified, they were:

Cognitive- mental skills (knowledge)

Affective- growth in feelings (attitude or self)

Psychomotor- manual or physical skills

They made the Blooms Taxonomy triangle by working with the cognitive domain. They came to the conclusion of six major categories which are:

  • Knowledge
  • Comprehension
  • Application
  • Analysis
  • Synthesis
  • Evaluation

These are the ones seen on the pyramid:

Also when looking at this classroom display, I was trying to thinking back to the lecture on classroom management. One thing with this display is that it is basically just giving information, its not interactive so I think that it is unlikely the children will engage much into it unless the teacher uses it a lot in their lessons. Overall I’m not sure apart from giving information what this display would be for and whether the children would use it. At first it comes across colourful but after it being there for a while would the children actually engage with it or not. I’m not so sure.

 

References

Image 1:https://www.facebook.com/twinklteachingresources/posts/10153474360515028:0

Nwlink http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html

Image 2: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/

Upstart?

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On the 26th January I went to a talk about a campaign called Upstart. I wasn’t very sure what the talk was going to be about but I thought that I would be able to see what is happening in Scotland with regards to education. I found the talk interesting and it brought up ideas which had never crossed my mind. It challenged ideas that I didn’t think needed challenging, like the age we start school.

Upstart’s aim is to introduce a play based kindergarten stage until the age of 7.  Sue Palmer explained to us that the view of society nowadays is to have children reading and writing by a certain age. However she explains that it isn’t a race and therefore is creating more pressure on children. So she explains that play is the element needed.

Scotland’s starting age for school is 4/5 and this is one of the earliest starting ages in the world. What they have found is that in the education ranking of western nations, the countries which started their children at 7 are more likely to gain better grades. This research and others carried out shows there is little to gain from an early start.

One of the audience members suggested that the starting them earlier makes them ‘burn’ out in their teens. This therefore makes them not want to go to school and they aren’t bothered about attaining. I think this is what I saw when I was at school as no one wanted to be there anymore.

Suzanne Zeedyk said that free play influences these qualities:

  • sensory development
  • creativity
  • emotional experiences
  • thinking ability
  • friendships
  • motoric development
  • sense of self
  • curiosity

She explained that these are what we want children to become with curriculum for excellence. Her thoughts suggested this could be done through play rather than needing to read or write really young.

One of the main points that stood out from me however from Suzanne’s talk was that Patrick Geddes designed kindergartens for children to be out in the garden. A quote from him we were told was ‘By creating we think, by living we learn.’

Although this talk was very thought through and had many reasons for starting at 7, I don’t think I could make a decision just based on that talk, as I would need to consider all possibilities. However I could see the benefits and it definitely gave me a different look out to how children should be taught at certain ages and what would be most beneficial to them. I hope to look into this at a later date so I can see the pros and cons for starting children’s education later.

On this link here is a radio show and at 52 minutes, Sue Palmer talks about the campaign.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06vmzhg

 

 

 

 

Veils!

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In England, Ofsted has now said that if the veil is becoming a problem for teaching then they will make the overall score the school gets lower.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35411518

Although I can see the argument to why they should receive a lower grade, I feel like if it’s effecting the teaching then it isn’t probably just down to the veil. If there is communication problems then to me, I think that this could be to do with the actual teachers communication rather than the veil creating the problem.

Another reason I can see why people may say it’s a problem is that they can’t see their teachers face and so you can’t see the emotions that they may be expressing. Also I always think when someone is speaking it is easier to look at that face because you can look at their lips and also see their emotions to the topic.

Anyhow I believe this could take away someone’s identity. If they believe in something they should be able to express this. It also shows that if there is someone else who is a Muslim in their class, it shows a positive role model for them and for those who may be a minority in the class.

Overall I believe that the veil shouldn’t become a barrier for teaching however taking it away takes away the teacher’s identity. I think this means that it could possibly take away the idea of the children getting to know some of the teachers interests. It also means that the teacher might not connect as much as they want to with the children as part of them isn’t shown.

Reflecting on other’s posts.

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Reading through others posts has really made me consider what to blog about.

I now have realised that personal experience is a good way to give a context for what you believe. As you have this experience you can give more detailed answer and conversation on the topic you pick. I think because you have experience it makes it more personal and you really get the feeling of that person.

I like the way that someone may have seen something on social media and used this to develop a post. This shows using things that we have in daily life and then being able to reflect on this to create a response. I think that things on social media that you read are likely to give you knowledge and help you within this profession as you need to keep up to date with everything and this way you can reflect on these things you read.

The way some people bring theory into their own thoughts and opinions shows that you are reflecting on how the theorists could be correct or not. It allows debate and also means that others can see both points and take their own view. I think linking theory to what you see when on placement could be interesting as it shows whether what theorists say are correct or whether it shows more than one theorists ideas.

Interestingly the way posts aren’t always directed to school but education in general. Adding an idea that education is all around us, children don’t just learn at school. The idea of informal education is also paramount and therefore ideas such as morals are likely to be learnt outside school. These ideas also helps us understand what children are likely to know already and what they may believe. Therefore we should keep this in mind when teaching.

Overall looking at these blogs shows to me what sort of things others have found out about and are considering when becoming teachers. It also has helped me see what I can do to improve my posts.

Dance is serious?

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Whenever I have taken part in dance, I have never taken it seriously. For example when doing a badge with the Brownies that involved dancing and I was asked to run the dance, with which I have no experience dancing, I just made it as funny as I could. This was because I was nervous but I also thought that along with the children I’m probably not the only one outside my comfort zone.

When we did it at school, we had those professionals that went to dance club three times a week, which made the rest of us feel like there wasn’t any point in trying. I remember when making a dance at secondary school with my peers to the song Candy man. It was interesting at how different dances were, some students went all out and you could tell they were dancers but then there was the rest of the class who felt embarrassed. This embarrassment led to us just not taking it seriously and adding in comical moves and genuinely just messing around.

However since the dance workshop I realise that you can make a dance serious, whether you are a first timer or a confident dancer. I think this should be emphasised to the children as not everyone is good at everything but you should always try. I also realised that if you move differently that is classed as dancing and different turns is also. It makes what I felt was embarrassing actually a joyful experience.

Here I have planned a lesson for Dance:

 

CfE outcomes:Inspired by stimuli, express thoughts and feelings through dance. EXA 2-09A

Explore and chose movements to develop my skills and techniques. EXA 2-08a
Learning Intentions:Create dance depending on the mood they are given.

Talk with others and decide on best movements to make the feeling be conveyed.
Success Criteria:Work in groups to discuss what makes a movement look like an emotion.

What movements would they use to convey an emotion.

Find movements that to them symbolise certain feelings.

Creative movements that can the children can explain why it displays that emotion.

 
Assessment Opportunities:The child discussing why their movement conveys a certain emotion.

Using the feeling given and thinking how they might look and feel.

Discussing and challenging others to what they may pick to look like when doing a certain movement.
Learning activities:Game of stations- Have feelings in each corner and when the children go to that corner they should do a movement to them that symbolises that feeling. Each time they go to the same corner they should do different movement.

Put the children into groups and put the groups in the different corners. In these corners put paper and pens and then ask them to write down what they think these movements would look like. Once they have done one get them to move round in their groups.

The children should then go in a corner with their group and make up a short dance piece or some movements which they use to show this. They can move around to different corners when completed.

To finish put different types of music on and depending on how they feel with the music they make a freeze for that music.

Science SMART target

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My SMART target for science is as follows:

S- Research a scientist that is likely to be on TV that the children will watch.

M-Know what science they are interested in and what they have found out and link this to a lesson. Possibly write a lesson plan for this topic.

A-Watch videos and read up on the scientist and experiments they carry out.

R- Link to the Curriculum for Excellence E&O’s. Also see if it is linked to anything in the news or outside community.

T-Before I go on placement.

One scientist that is on children’s TV programmes is Steve Backshall. Steve is interested in the world and what creatures and living things are out there. This means you could focus the lesson on unusual animals, that you don’t see in this country. To prepare for this lesson I would make sure I have watched some of his programmes such as Deadly 60 as then you can begin to explain what this sort of scientist does. Also mini clips of these shows may be worth watching in the lesson to get the children excited and enthused about the topic. This topic would be sorted into the biodiversity and interdependence organiser. I think that if we looked at where these unusual animals live we could think about why they live the. This would link to the SCN 2-01a and SCN 3-01a depending on the detail you went into, considering the children’s stage.

Although they may not be considered a scientist you could possibly use Neil Armstrong. Although, he was an aerospace engineer and therefore you could consider with your class what they would need to develop a good spacecraft. They could then have other curriculum subjects come into this such as art and design and technologies as they could design and make the spacecraft. When designing these however the children will need to know what is different between space and here on earth in order to make these.

Overall I feel if we used a scientist the children were familiar with or had heard of to begin a topic, then they may be more enthusiastic as they know that people actually use science in real life and that they can find out about things just like these scientists.

 

Is teaching a profession and what is it to be a professional videos

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Some people see teaching as a caring profession like a doctor. When asking a doctor what they think helps to be a professional they responded with teamwork. They believe that if you have good communication then it is easier to be a professional. From the second video we see that teachers also say communication helps, I think this is because if everyone speaks in the same way then they expect the same level of professionalism. Another reason for speaking in a professional way to children is that it should rub off and therefore make children more experienced when going into the world.

Many people say that education is where everything starts from and if people don’t get an education or receive a poor one it is seen as a doctor turning his back on a patient. That is why teachers say that people should receive dynamic education where you keep trying for a child to understand something or if something came up in the news they would have that immediately in their lesson the next day. Not only should we teach things that is happening in the news we should keep up with the curriculum and when something changes on that, we should change it in our classrooms.

Not only should we be staying on top of curriculums we should carry on our own professional development by carrying on researching and seeing if any new standards have been put in place. I believe if we do this we aren’t putting our children at a disadvantage and therefore they are learning things that will benefit them in the future and will also help us to keep understanding what is more important to be taught.

What challenges/ opportunities you may be faced with when marrying the personal vs the professional presence on social media?

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Should we just have one account? Or two accounts one for personal aspects and the other for professional side?

The GTCS states that you shouldn’t share any information with a student unless it would be shared in a school setting. This therefore makes you consider who you accept to be friends with online and what information you let everyone see. This might make you contemplate having an account for professional use and one for personal use however if you don’t have the correct privacy settings on,  if a student just typed your name in a search engine they would probably be able to find your personal one too. If you left your privacy settings so that everyone could see what you put on then everyone anywhere can see what you have put on. If there was things that you wouldn’t wish your students or colleagues to see that may call your professionalism into question. Therefore you want to make sure the correct procedures are in place.

When online you could appear to be vulnerable. One reason this could be is because if parents have a complaint and they message you on a social networking site then they could get aggressive and you would have to be careful when replying to the parent so that you reply remembering that you are a professional. If this doesn’t happen then your fitness to teach may come into question. When replying to a parent or anyone related within teaching you should reply with a formal and professional tone as this way the boundaries are maintained and therefore you can’t be accused of anything. Another way could be to make sure you are using an official channel of communication such as work email address, this way it seems more formal and you are more likely to keep the formal, professional tone when speaking to them. To stop parents sending you messages via social messaging you may consider not to add them as friends on your social networking sites. This way if they have to contact you in a professional manner then they may keep to the professional tone that you start contacting them with.

I think that depending on what is on your personal account may depend on whether you want two accounts or just one. If your personal account has lots of pictures of things you do outside of school, which may make your professionalism be questioned, then I would consider either turning off the tags in the photos so that if someone does find you they won’t find the inappropriate pictures or you could also make sure your privacy settings are on so that only some people can find you rather than everyone. However if you kept the one account you would have to be careful with what you put on the site.

Is using social media in the classroom a positive or negative idea?

Using social media in classroom can be very useful as this is what children are used to in day to day life. Therefore I think that it could be seen as a powerful thing to use as technology is likely to keep developing throughout their lifetime so making them literate in the technology they will be using, will be a beneficial for them to possibly to succeed in life.

However there may be problems such as it may become a distraction if they started using the social media for something else than the work. Therefore they may have to have a school account as then there isn’t a distraction between their social life and actual work. Some people may argue that less human interaction occurs however I think that pupils are more likely to interact with each other and ask whether they have seen something on the social media as they could be excited over the process.

Overall I think that using social media in the classroom is a good idea as students are used to using technology outside of school so we should not go back in time when they enter school life. I also think that because it seems exciting as they aren’t just sat writing they are more likely to be enthusiastic and be more involved in the subject.

Why I want to be a teacher.

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The first time I realised I wanted to be a teacher was when I had finished primary school and started helping at the local brownie group. I realised that I enjoyed seeing the girls develop into more confident individuals and because of the positive and enthusiastic teaching the girls received from this you saw them become their own character and seemed to develop. Being a Brownie myself meant that I could see how I developed because of what I learnt at Brownies and became more confident in my life. When I was helping at Brownies I would help with small group tasks and also playing games with the whole group. I also realised that I wanted to be a teacher when I was helping out at my local church group every month and because of the gap in time you saw the children become more independent quite quickly. The older children used to take in turns reading the story and I would see them become better and need less prompting for it. When I had taught something at the Brownie group or at the church group and you saw the children processing it and understanding it, it made you feel like you had done something positive to someone else’s life and therefore they may go help others in some way to do the same thing and the community may benefit from this.

 

The kind of teacher I would like to become is an enthusiastic one so that children are more engaged with the lessons that are being taught. I would like to be an easy to come to teacher so if they had any problems they could come to me to talk about them. I also think I would like to be able to teach the lessons in a fun way so that even if the subject may not be seen as interesting to them they find it interesting in the way that its taught for example playing a game instead of just listening to a teacher about it.

Like in the story Matilda by Roald Dahl I would rather be like Miss Honey than Miss Trunchbull. This is because I wouldn’t want the children to be scared to come ask me any questions or express their own opinions. I also think that they should feel safe when at school regardless of what is happening at home, school should be a safe haven for them. I also think that students should be encouraged in any way they can be as this way they can grow into their own characters rather than exact copies of each other.