Category Archives: 3. Prof. Skills & Abilities

Going on trips in social studies

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This morning myself and my friend took a trip to the RRS Discovery Boat Dundee. I went there with two aims in mind; to learn more about the history of Dundee and to evaluate what it would be like to take a class there.

As a child, I remember visiting the Discovery Boat multiple times however I had absolutely no idea about the history behind it. I was amazed to learn about the journeys the boat has been on and really liked the way the exhibition led you through time from construction, to the first expedition, it’s life after the expedition and how it came back to Dundee today. The exhibition was extremely informative and described many aspects relating to the boat and its expeditions such as what they ate during the expedition, the conditions in Antarctica and the types of studies they carried out there. All of these subtopics had my teacher mind spinning and I began to consider what a topic based around the Discovery Boat would involve. I feel this topic has links with many other subject areas and therefore could easily be covered over a whole term. This fits in with the Interdisciplinary Learning Approach discussed in Curriculum for Excellence Briefing 4; “Learning in different subject or curricular areas is used to explore a theme.” (Scottish Government, 2012).

Examples of possible cross-curricular links:

  • History – Dundee’s role in ship making and what other ways we used/use the river.
  • – What type of food and clothes they had back then. (SOC 1-02a, SOC 2- 03a)
  • Geography – The path the discovery took to reach Antarctica, the climate in Antarctica and how it is being impacted by global warming ( SOC 2- 08a, SOC 2- 12a, SOC 2-14a)
  • Technology and Design – The construction of the boat (TCH 2-09a, TCH 2-10a)
  • Literacy – Writing diary entries about what it was like to be on the boat (ENG 2-27a)
  • Skills – researching, note taking, comparing and contrasting, reflecting, presenting.

(Scottish Government, 2009)

As mentioned, I previously knew little about the RRS Discovery, therefore, it was not until I had been through the whole exhibition and engaged with the resources that I felt I had a full understanding of what it was all about.  On reflection, this made me realise that without previous knowledge the children may not be able to piece the story together themselves and might not get as much out of the experience. Therefore, I think the visit would be best to come during the topic rather than at the beginning. This will allow the teacher to give the pupils some background knowledge on the topic and gather what the pupils would like to learn more on. Pickford, Gardner and Jackson (2013) call this a deductive approach to fieldwork, where pupils make predictions and generate thoughts about the topic which are then answered during the fieldwork. Whilst at the visitor’s centre, I came across a book which tells the tale of the Discovery Boat and its journey. I think this would be a good way to introduce the topic to the pupils as hopefully the story would spark curiosity, imagination and inspiration while giving some background knowledge.

I then moved onto thinking about what activities I would plan for pupils during the visit. Some reading, such as Hoodless (2008) discusses giving pupils free range to explore the museum how they like. However, I felt there was a lot of information in the museum and if pupils were not focused, they may not get the most out of it. I thought of splitting the class into ‘specialist explorer groups’ where each group would have a specific area to research. Pupils would then report their information back to the class once back at school. Turner – Bisset (2005) discuss that this literacy aspect may put pressure on pupils and take the fun out of a visit. They suggest allowing pupils to record their information in various formats such as pictures, videos and sound clips. This is something I would definitely take into consideration.

Along with this, I feel it would be beneficial for pupils to do a personal piece of work when they returned to school too. This could involve pupils putting themselves in an explorer’s shoes and reflecting on how they think they would feel. I found the experience very moving and inspiring therefore I think this would work well.

Finally, I considered the risks of the trip. Firstly, if you were an inner-city school you may walk to the centre. This would involve crossing and walking along some very busy roads. Therefore, the need for high vis vests, what adult- pupil ratio is required and the route would need to be pre-investigated. Although, if pupils were to be getting a bus to the centre, the road outside is still very busy. This may be something I would discuss with pupils before getting off the bus. Once indoors the centre is very enclosed with fences around the whole outdoor area. This is good as it would stop pupils wandering off. The centre is also small meaning it is easier to keep an eye on pupils.

Overall my visit to the Discovery Boat was very beneficial for me as a teacher. I learned a lot about the city I live in and how the 18/1900’s was a period of ground-breaking expeditions to Antarctica; a place people back then knew so little about. This will really help my own professional knowledge. I also learned how to conduct a pre-visit and evaluate places.  I considered when is best to carry out a trip, what activities are suitable and what risks need to be considered.

While walking around the exhibition I also had myself in a leaner’s shoes. I found going to the Discovery a very exciting experience, much like how I felt whenever I went on a school trip as a child. The exhibition included lots of interactive pieces and appealed to lots of learning styles, for example the 4D Cinema. The exhibition was laid out in such a way that felt like you were part of the expedition through dressing up and handling equipment. Due to this array of hands-on learning I can see how this would help consolidate knowledge learned in the classroom.

Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to speak to the education officers at the centre however the website details the variety of resources the centre can offer for schools (Dundee Heritage Trust, 2018). This is something I would definitely draw upon as it may bring in more child aimed experiences and the staff will be able to give pupils more in-depth subject knowledge.

References

Global Citizenship

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Today we had our first lecture on the third part of Social Studies ‘People in Society, Economy and Business’ and focussed on the idea of what it is to be a ‘Global Citizen’.

To me, a global citizen is someone who is aware how their actions can impact other people and holds the values of respect and diversity.

As an activity we watched a clip from the Paddington movie where you see Paddington meeting the Brown family for the first time. We were then to pick a theme from this scene and develop an activity you could use in the classroom. Paddington has found himself homeless and is sitting in the train station wondering his next move when the Brown family get off their train. Mr Brown makes assumptions about Paddington straight away and says things such as ‘stranger danger’, ‘keep your eyes down’ ,’ he’s probably selling something’ and is not happy when his wife goes back to approach Paddington. He then continues to be hostile towards Paddington as he explain how he came to be homeless. Therefore I choose to look at the theme of making judgements and ignorance.

I brainstormed the various ways we can make judgements in society. For example about: homeless people, refugees, people of different nationalities and race, criminals, celebrities and politicians. I then began to think about why we may hold these judgements, for example influence from the media and our family. My activity idea involved presenting pupils with a photo of different people in society and get them to write down the words that come to mind. As a class we would then discuss, challenge and begin to explain where these ideas have come from. The main outcome of the lesson would be to encourage pupils to be critcal about what they are told by the media and other people in their lives before making up their own opinion with he values of respect and diversity in mind.

I took this further at home by watching a Ted talk about something called the ‘Ignorance Project’ conducted by GapMinder. The project conducted studies on peoples answers to stereotypical questions and then analysed why people were giving the stereotypical answers. They discussed how all we see on the news is the bad and we forget that the majority of the society/people/the world are not experiencing this ‘bad’. They suggested the way to lessen these judgements is to teach positively, that the ‘bad’ is getting better. For example poverty levels have reduced, defences against natural disasters are increasing and that refugees bring valuable skills.

Ted Talk: https://www.gapminder.org/ignorance/ (Accessed 1/10/18).

Overall I found this lesson extremely motivating and helpful. I feel I have benefitted as learner by taking a minute to challenge the judgements I may personally make which will in-turn positively impact my professional values. While I have also developed an understand of how to teach a Global Citizenship lesson and have gathered some useful resources for this.

 

 

Lesson Planning

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Today in Social Subjects we were asked to use a current news story as a stimulus for creating a lesson. It was for a primary 7 class and the lesson could be anywhere in a series of lessons, it did not have to be the first one.

I choose a news story that discussed the effects our rubbish was having on turtles and created a lesson around recycling. You can see the lesson plan I made here:

We then presented our lesson plan to other members of the class. I found this activity extremely useful and learnt many things from it. Firstly it introduced to me the idea of using a news story as stimulus. I can see how this would give the children a context to their learning and show them it is meaningful and current.

Secondly,  after discussions with my tutor and peers it was brought up that many aspects of my lesson plan were teacher initiated/led. For example, instead of the teacher telling the pupils ways in which our rubbish can impact the environment; I should be letting the pupils research this themselves. We continued to talk about how it can be extremely beneficial for pupils learning as it allows them to develop many skills such as note taking, team work and evaluating sources. Another benefit is that it cuts down teacher workload and time can be spent on other things.

I feel like I now have a new perspective on lesson planning and will ensure that after planning I critically reflect my lesson plans and consider if things can be done differently.

 

The Child’s Voice

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In this weeks lecture we looked at the child’s voice in the classroom, how this can be incorporated and the advantages of this.

Arguments for encouraging children’s voice in the classroom. 

  • Stimulates development of skills ( accountability, resilience , confidence, turn taking, debating )
  • Children can bring in their personal experiences, making the learning more relevant to them
  • Children can be ‘co-teachers’ and can help other children understand concepts using ‘child’s language’
  • This also benefits the ‘co-teacher’ as by talking through a concept it will help consolidate it in their own learning
  • Children can steer direction of learning, which in turn increases motivation
  • Can add knowledge the teacher didn’t know
  • Shows the child that their voice is valued which can be vital in relation to child welfare issues

(Catling, 2014)

How can we encourage children’s voice? 

  • Involve them in planning of new topics
  • Set up projects or clubs and make them leaders and decision makers
  • Help them develop a critical eye and skills on forming arguments
  • Organise debates
  • Organise ‘co- teaching’

(Cartling, 2014)

Arguments against children’s voice in the classroom (with solutions)

  • Not all children are able to articulate their voice – Give them other ways to be heard, eg drawing, acting etc.
  • Puts unnecessary pressure and stress on the child, especially with decision making – ensure that participation is voluntary.
  • Could develop a lack of respect for parents, teachers, elders – ensure that rules are in place for these discussion times.

(UNICEF, n.d)

How does a teacher’s educational philosophy influence the implementation of approaches that encourage children’s voice? 

  • Teachers can struggle with giving away full control as they feel it is their job, however if the child does not feel their voice is not actually going to make a difference they will lose motivation to contribute again. Therefore it is not enough to just listen to the child, we must allow them to steer decisions too.
  • It is part of teachers philosophy to be the educator, however in order to get the most out of the child’s voice we must sometimes be ‘co- learners’ and learn with the child.
  • As teachers we are so busy and sometimes go for the quickest method of learning. However, so much more can be learnt for example during classroom discussions.

(Cartling, 2014)

If I am honest I have never put much thought into the role of children’s voice in the classroom, however now I feel I have a much greater understand of the benefits and how I can implement this in my practice.

References

  • Cartling, S (2014) ‘ Giving younger children voice in primary geography: empowering pedagogy – a personal perspective’, International Research in Geographical and Environment Education, 23(4), pp. 350-372.
  • UNICEF (n.d) Every Childs Right To Be Heard. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/french/adolescence/files/Every_Childs_Right_to_be_Heard.pdf (Accessed 18/09/18)

 

 

 

Pre- Visit placement day

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The day started early with a 6am alarm however I was far too excited to care! After a cold walk and a short bus ride I was finally there and it all suddenly became very real. The school was nothing like I’d ever experienced before; it was old and massive (3 stories to be exact). Much bigger than my small village primary!!

I was greeted at the door by a lovely teacher who took me up to my class. As I was early I occupied myself by completing some of the tasks I had to do. I started by drawing a sketch of the classroom laughing at the silly table names and reading the amazing wall displays. I soon began to wonder where my teacher was when I was greeted by the head teacher. He explained to me that my teacher Mrs M was off today and she was very sorry she wouldnt get to meet me.

Despite this the day went on and the class headed to ICT where i got to meet Mr B the ITC specialist and was shown the moring routine of register, lunches and travel tracker. I observed the class throughout the lesson identifying the different charcters. After break the class had maths where I got to meet yet another teacher and new teaching techniques. Mental maths stations were set up and I began to go around the groups getting to know the children and their abilities. Next was PE and a 3rd new teacher Mrs H who gave me some helpful tips for controlling childrens excitement in the gym hall. I got involved by judging the final gymnastics presentations and the time flew by! Finally it was the last lesson of the day and of course another new teacher!!

When the bell rang at 3.15pm I could not belive how fast the day had went. However there was one important task left. The class explained to the cover teacher that every day 2 pupils are chosen for star of the day and recive stickers on their charts but there was a problem. No one teacher had observed the class for the whole day….apart from me. I was given the role of choosing the 2 stars and it was so exciting to be given that responsibility.

Overall despite not getting to meet my class teacher I still feel happy to have gotten the opportunity to meet and observe many differnt teachers. And of course my class! Now all I need to do is learn their 30 names…

Reflecting on semester 1

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Being the first year to complete the ‘Values; self, society and the professions’ module I feel I have been put in a strong position to undertake my first professional placement in April. Previous to this I feel I was very naïve to the impact values had on education. Values are at the heart of every decision we make and therefore teachers must hold and demonstrate good values in order for the pupils to develop these too.

The module went on to highlight the relationship between your personal and your professional values suggesting within teaching they are both very similar. Professional values are at the heart of the SPR therefore I knew it would be vital for me to establish my values before my first placement. This was my first step towards becoming a reflective practitioner.

Finding your values involves deep reflection on many aspects of your life including your; upbringing, friends, religion and so on. To add to this your values are also constantly changing with every new experience.

After establishing my values I found reflection was going to be fundamental if I were to succeed as a teacher. Teachers must also become Life Long Learners who constantly reflect and evaluate their practice in order to improve. Teaching is not a practice you can simply master and be done with. It is ever changing and therefore you must also constantly strive to develop.

During my placement I will begin to experience a new form of reflection where others (my class teacher and tutor) will also be reflecting on and evaluating my practice. This will bring me many challenges and benefits such learning to cope with constructive criticism while ensuring I take every piece of advice on board. However, despite this, I can’t wait to get started!

Dance… love it or hate it?

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Friday mornings dance workshop gave me a whole new perspective on the subject I once did anything to avoid. I have no previous experience of dance and always thought it was not for me. This, combined with the fear of making a fool of myself left me ‘hating it’ throughout my childhood.

However, after Friday’s workshop I began to realise I can no longer be the child scared of making a fool of themselves. I need to be an adult; A teacher that inspires children with full confidence in the subject. The workshop highlighted to me the importance of this subject in the curriculum. I believe if dance had been part of the curriculum when I was in primary school this would have given me the chance to try it and learn some basics.  By the time it became part of the curriculum when I was in secondary school many children had thrived in outside school dance clubs and I still had no experience. This has motivated as a future teacher to give every child a chance to try out dancing and inspire them continue it into later life.

But why bother you may ask?

After doing some reading on the ‘Get Scotland Dancing’ campaign and the Curriculam For Excellence Subject outcomes and experiences I have found dance is a huge part of Scotlands culture and brings in many important aspects of a child’s development. First, it helps the child develop their creativity through choreographing and demonstrating their feelings and ideas through a different media. Second, it is a very good and fun activity that can help towards children reaching their 60 minutes of physical activity a day. Finally, dance is a very social activity that builds on teamwork, cooperation and friendship all of which are very important for good mental wellbeing.

This new information got me motivated and inspired to teach dance in a successful and exciting way to all children. However, I am obviously facing some challenges due to my lack of experience. Therefore I am going to make a professional commitment to improving my knowledge of dance and my ability to teach it.  I plan on doing this through more reading, watching dance performances and fully participating in the dance workshops. I thoroughly enjoy physical activity therefore I know I can do this in order to make me a better teacher in the future.

 

 

Personal and Professional Values and Commitment- online unit 3

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This task asked me to look at my own personal values and how they motivated me to choose this career path.

Questions like this are never easy for me……having to look beneath my first response I give when people ask me ‘why do you want to be a teacher?’. However, I see the importance in understanding my values before I enter my first professional practice.

I guess my first and core value is quality; in all aspects of life. However, in relation to teaching I believe (and so do the Human Rights) that everyone has the right to a good education regardless of their background. Therefore, I knew that this would be one of my core values in the classroom; that I would strive to ensure no child would be subject to stereotypes within education. However, when I began to look at this deeper I realised I couldn’t treat every child equally otherwise those disadvantaged would still be below others. This brings me onto my second value, the importance of equity. I realise now this is what really motivated me to become a teacher. Equality is all good and well in many situations but when you look at education equity is what is important. Equality in the classroom is vital to ensure individual’s abilities are not under estimated due to their race, gender, religion or social background etc. However, when looking at the way you educate children methods cannot all be the same. This would not be giving each child an equal chance to achieve. Here’s an example; teaching an English lesson exactly the same to every child is equality but not taking into consideration those in the class whose first language is not English means these children do not have a fair chance at achieving what the rest will. I want to ensure that throughout my career I stick by my value of equity and not only does every child have an equal opportunity to be educated but that all children have a truly equal chance to achieve. The picture below describes these concepts well…

Equality Versus Equity

There are also other values that I see as fundamental to me personally and in my professional career such as honesty, openness, wisdom and team work. Each of these are vital in teaching and I know my values and skill set will be exercised in this profession unlike others. Finally, the value sharing is very important to me; the sharing of knowledge.

Described above are my personal values yet it has been shown these can all be used in a professional setting. As I consider this more I am finding that within teaching there is a very thin line between personal and professional values. Obvious personal values such as religious views or stereotypical beliefs cannot be discussed within the classroom however the GTCS Standards For Registration outline the core values in teaching and much of these are personal. They include: Social justice, Integrity, Trust and Respect and Professional Commitment. This demonstrates that personal values are extremely important within teaching and I must continue to reflect on my own throughout my studies and career.

Moving on from this the final task brought everything together and asked me to look back on my weaker skills I identified in unit 1. I was then asked to make a personal commitment to developing these marking the beginning of my CPD (Continual Professional Development).

My commitment is to develop my academic skills mainly my reflective writing, spelling and punctuation skills. I plan on doing this by reading continuously especially reflective pieces and essay writing skills books. I look forward to re- evaluating this a year from now and making another commitment.

Reflection- Online unit 2

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Reflection can mean many things and can be used in a variety of different ways. Today I will be discussing the types of reflection I will be using during my academic study and professional practice.

First of all, I’d like to clear something up… ..simply describing the situation/event IS NOT REFLECTION. Reflection involves looking at an experience and considering what you learnt from it. Here are some examples:

Independently one way in which everyone uses reflection is by considering the success or failure of your actions for example reflecting on a lesson you planned for your class. You will do this by calling upon your own experiences, emotions and beliefs related to the situation. You will then be able to note what went well, what you achieved and what you didn’t. However, it is vital you also look at things from others points of view to come up with the best next step. This leads me onto the next form of reflection…reflecting together.

Reflecting together can be in two forms. It can involve working together by comparing your beliefs to come up with a joint solution. You would do this by having a discussion with your class on what needed improving about the lesson. This allows you to gain new ideas and learn from the experience. It can also mean reflecting on feedback you have received. For example, looking at the feedback you were given on your last essay and thinking about how you can improve for your next one. This type of reflection also allows us to learn and in some cases, challenge our existing beliefs when hearing others opinions.

Both types of reflection result in a learning experience that can be put into practice in future (for example your next essay), you will then reflect again on this new situation and so the cycle continues. This then demonstrates that one of the best ways to learn is to constantly reflect on your practices.

Summary of why we should reflect –

·        Build theory from observations

·        Continually self-develop even if things are working fine

·        Help solve problems/ gain new ideas

·        Learn from mistakes/ challenge existing assumptions

·       To take control of your own learning

Top tips for reflection-

·        Do it immediately after the event

·        Reflect again after a couple of days

·        Ensure you look at the situation from different view points

·       Think about how your learning will affect your future practice

Overall this activity has helped me understand the importance of reflection and the different ways I can do it. I am keen to get into a good habit of reflection as I know it will be key in my future career therefore I will continue to work on my blog to develop my skills.

Following on from this the final task asked me to reflect on my understanding of various academic skills including: Punctuation; Spelling; Grammar and Shaping of text. The required reading (The Study Skills Book) gave me an insight into my strengths and weaknesses in these different areas. I have concluded that my strengths lie in shaping of a text and grammar whereas I am weaker in areas such as spelling and punctuation. I feel confident in paragraphing and sentence structure which will be useful for my academic writing. However I struggle with complex and less frequent punctuation along with uncommon spelling of words.  After reflecting on this I understand the importance of these skills for my academic study and my future Career therefore I will continue to develop these. I plan on doing this by practicing the Online Literacy Assessment – an online test the university created for students-  and using The Study Skills Book to revise the areas I am weaker in.

I will post soon about the effect this has had on my OLA score!

Managing and Engaging with my learning – online unit 1

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Todays post is about how I plan on taking control of my own learning.

First I completed a task which asked me to look at what helps and what hinders my learning. I was then asked to write about I planned on using this information to make my studying practices more effective. Here is what I came up with…

What helps my learning? How can I utilise this?
Discussing with others ·        Meet with peers on my course out with class

·        Participate in online discussions
Planning ·        Plan when I will complete homework tasks

·        Set goals on completing reading
Organisation ·        Organising my notes into categories eg modules
Revision ·        Go over key terms and definitions until I  remember them
Using a variety of materials Use…

·        Books, Websites, Articles and videos
Visual aids ·        Use Flashcards
Experience ·        Learn and reflect on my practice

 

What hinders my learning? How can I address this factor?
Distractions ·    Study in a place with minimal distractions, eg alone
Long periods of study ·     Take regular breaks
Not being given examples ·     Take time after lectures to put facts into real life situations
Social priorities ·     Make time for study and social priorities
Fatigue ·      Having a good sleeping pattern and sticking to it
Obstacles ·       Ensuring I ask for help when I am struggling

The final part of the task asked me to reflect on the benefits of Active Learning and Co-operative Working.

I feel it would be good to start with an small description of the kind of things active learning entails. Opposite from passive learning, active learning involves engaging with your materials and sources. This could be done by re-writing your notes after a lecture into a way that makes more sense to you. For example dividing them into categories or linking them with real life examples. By doing this you are able to think about the subject in depth with more time than you would in during a lecture and add information. This is an obvious benefit of active learning as by the end of it you are left with a larger and more in depth set of notes which will be useful in assignment writing. Another way to actively learn is to describe you topic to another person. By doing this you are consolidating your knowledge and committing it to memory in a way that is simple enough to describe to others and therefore easy enough to remember. A final example of active learning asking yourself questions as you study or re-write notes. This allows you to analyse and evaluate your notes while making conclusions or comparisons again providing you with a more in depth understanding of the topic.

Moving onto co-operative working I have chosen 4 main benefits –  In a group task setting working together allows higher standards to be produced. This is because each person only has to focus on one area of the task rather than trying to complete it all. There is also benefits to working co-operatively in a discussion setting. By working together and discussing knowledge everyone in the group is able to learn new things and hear others opinions. This is particularly helpful when you are struggling with a certain area as there is usually always someone that can help. Another benefit is by passing on your knowledge to others in your group you are also consolidating your own knowledge. I believe if you are able to explain it to someone else this shows you understand it. Finally not only does working co-operatively provide a wider range of knowledge it also provides a collection of different skills.

I feel this activity has helped me understand how I can improve my study skills and has also introduced me to new methods I will begin to use.

Now to start unit 2……Wish me luck