Category Archives: 1.2 Integrity

Educational Studies – Culture

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What do you believe to be the important elements in Scottish culture?

The Scottish language
The Scottish people
Kilts and tartan
Scottish symbols and emblems

How do you think they impact on children and education?

Learning about Scottish culture enables children and young people to build a sense of pride in their own identity and understanding of Scotland’s place in an increasing world.
It develops knowledge and understanding of the world and Scotland’s place in it and become better informed and prepared for the challenges and opportunities presented by the world in the 21st century.
By building a sense of their own identity they will become secure in their own beliefs and values and more able to appreciate and respect those with different beliefs and cultures.

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ePortfolio Reflection

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At first I did not see the point in doing an eportfolio. As a result of this I didn’t post regularly and when I did it was only my TDTs that I was posting about. The class were encouraged to read and reflect on other student’s posts. Looking at my fellow student’s posts was an eye opener for me and it made me see how little I was posting. This gave me the kick I was needing. I want to start posting more on my blog about things that I have read, watched and heard about education. Once I read all of the posts made by my fellow students it has really encouraged me to want to post, comment and reflect more on my professional practice. The other students have gone into so much depth and detail about certain things that it has made me want to go on and read more about these subjects. In their posts they have used images and videos which made me more interested in what it was they were writing about. Putting these into their posts made them more eye catching and more likely to read.

Most of the posts that other students have posted are not all TDTs, but were topics in education which they found interesting and has made me go online to gain further knowledge about these topics. They provide a lot of useful information and even topics that I did not know much about myself. They have inspired me to post more and make my blog more interesting by adding visuals and hyperlinks in my posts so that others can look at my blog. I hope that by posting more on my blog about topics that interest me, it will inspire my fellow students to do the same. I also hope that by reading my posts that they will want to research further into the issues that I raised. If other students do this then I hope that they will post comments on my blog which will encourage me to research further.

Drama

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Drama

After watching the drama video about structuring a drama lesson. It is clear how the lesson is structured:

A Drama contract is created
Warm up
Focus
Development
Visualisation
Soundscaping
Bodyscaping
Thought tracking
Evaluation

The drama contract is created with the class to set clear rules that they must follow in the lesson. This is a great way to make sure that all of the children understand what is expected of them. In the video the contract is placed on the wall so that they can has a visual of what they must do. The use the 3 C’s – Communication, cooperation and concentration. This is also a guide for the teacher to see if there are any problems in the class and where the children may have gone wrong and why.

The warm up is a great way in order for the class to prepare themselves for the lesson that they are about to undertake. The warm up gets the mind and the body active and engaged ready for their next task. The teacher can prepare a vocal, concentration or active warm up which is a great way in preparing the children for the drama lesson. It will also make them feel at ease as they will all be undertaking the same tasks and make them feel more confident is participating in drama.

The teachers then created a focus for the class in which they were given a stimulus. In the video the focus was a photograph but it could also be a piece of music, a story or a video. This can be linked to the topic that they are working on in class, for example WW2 or the amazon. This will give the class a better understanding of their topic whilst learning in a fun way. It will also give them a focus as they will generate ideas for the lesson.

They then go on to develop their ideas on the stimulus given, in the video the focus was some photographs which they discussed what they saw and what they thought was happening in each photo and why. This engages discussion amoungst the class, developing ideas and knowledge.

Visualisation is where the teacher will set a scene for the children to visualize giving them more knowledge on the topic that they are looking at. Once all focused, the teacher taps them on the shoulder asking them what they see, hear, smell and feel in this situation created. This also will show the teacher how creative the child is and how engaged they are with the topic.

The next thing the video looks at is the soundscape. They ask all of the children about all of the things that they would hear in the scene that is set for them then going on the create the sounds with the voice or hands. They will ask the children to make suggestions and think about how they would make these sounds.

Bodyscaping which is similar to soundscaping where they ask the children to create something with their body that is in the scene given. This gives them a visual of what they think that the setting would look like and how they would create this scene. The teaching is trying to make the children think creatively but only using their bodies to create the scene.

Once they have done this, the children will put the sounds and the movements all together creating a performance. Then the teacher uses a technique called thought tracking. As the children are creating their scene, the teacher will tap each individual on the shoulder and the child will have to vocalize what their character is feeling. This is a great way to engage the children with the topic that they are covering, giving them more insight in the topic.

Finally, the last thing that they do in this structured lesson is an evaluation. This is where the children can talk about what they have learnt from this drama lesson and what they want to achieve in the next lesson.

This is a great way to structure a drama lesson. If the children are doing a drama lesson on the topic they are learning about in class, it will give them a more creative way in learning about this topic. It is also a great way to get the children to communicate with one another and using their bodies in different ways.

Why teach maths?

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Why teach maths? That is the question. Before the first maths input, I was terrified of maths. I wasn’t good at it at school because I had to work hard to achieve and others around me seemed to be able to do it without any issues. My mum used to always tell me “I wasn’t good at maths, so that’s why you aren’t good at maths either!” I thought that this was true and that I would never be good at maths because my mum wasn’t either. I wanted to prove everyone wrong and when I worked hard in classes and stayed focused, I managed to achieve and gained much more knowledge and understanding of the subject.

There are so many myths about maths which always made fear the subject:

Men are better at maths than women
Maths is not creative
It’s always important to get the right answer
It’s bad to count on your fingers
Some people have a “maths mind” some people don’t
Mathematicians solve problems quickly in their heads
If your parents aren’t good at maths, neither are you

None of these are true. When I was younger, I believed all of these to be true but I now understand that this is not the case:

Researched failed to show any difference between men and women in mathematical ability. Men are reluctant to admit they have problems so they express difficulty with math by saying, “I could do it if I tried.” Women are often too ready to admit inadequacy and say, “I just can’t do maths.”
There are so many ways in which maths can be creative. Making patterns with pictures etc. Maths requires imagination, intellect, intuition, and aesthetic about the rightness of things.
The ability to obtain approximate answer is often more important than getting exact answers. Feeling about the importance of the answer often are a reversion to early school years when arithmetic was taught as a feeling that you were “good” when you got the right answer and “bad” when you did not.
It is not bad at all to count on your fingers. Actually it indicates an understanding of arithmetic, more understanding than if everything were memorized.
People who believe this myth often lack self-confidence in maths.But it is self-confidence that is one of the most important determining factors in mathematical performance.
Solving new problems or learning new material is always difficult and time consuming. The only problems mathematicians do quickly are those they have solved before. Speed is not a measure of ability. It is the result of experience and practice.
This myth is again to do with self-confidence. If your parents tell you that you are not good at maths because they weren’t, then you probably will believe this. However, this will not boost your confidence in maths and will event in you not believing yourself and not engaging with the subject to the best of your ability.

After the first input on maths, I have completely changed my views about teaching maths and how I feel about the subject as a whole. Before the input, I didn’t really see the importance of maths and why we need to engage with it. I now see understand that being able to do maths is extremely important in life and that we use it everyday without even knowing. I set an alarm every morning to get up to go to university and if I wasn’t able to tell the time, I wouldn’t be able to this. Being able to do maths is extremely important in life and is exactly why is should be taught to children.

I was nervous about going into my first placement and having to teach maths but I now can see that maths can be fun and enjoyable. The input has put my mind at ease about maths and has made me feel more confident is teaching this subject to children. When I go out on my placement, I want to find creative and fun ways to do maths to make the subject one that the children actually want to learn.]