Just Dance!

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My opinions of dance is mixed. When I was at school I always dreaded doing Scottish Country Dance. Mainly because remembering all the moves wasn’t easy. There were so many different dances that we had to learn and I found that really tough. However, I always seemed to remember how to do the Gay Gordons! When taking part in dance I always thought that others in the class would laugh at me if I got the dance move wrong. After a few lessons in dance, I realised that I wasn’t the only one that was making mistakes and that everyone had the same opinion of dance that I did. This made me feel less anxious when taking part in dance and I began to enjoy it more. When it came to doing creative dance, I was in my element! The teacher would play us a number of different songs and the class got to pick what one we wanted to perform to. We all got the opportunity to show the class dance moves that we felt that we could incorporate into our dance routine. I loved this as I was able to show off my creative side. When it came to performing our dance, the school used to take us to a dance festival where we got to see lots of other schools performing. As I loved drama at school I was always really confident when performing and felt that it was very closely linked to drama. The class did our dance to ‘under the sea’ from the film ‘The Little Mermaid’ (my favourite film) so I was so involved I felt that I was even a part of the film!

My experience of dance will help me in delivering the dance curriculum at school as I feel that because I felt anxious about Scottish Country Dancing, It will give me more of an insight as to how the children are feeling about it too. Teaching dance will be a challenge as some children might not have the confidence in dance and performing. If I give the children options of different songs then this might make them feel like they play more of a part in the class and give them the confidence in performing dance. Letting the children pick the music and dance moves that they want to perform might also help overcome this. Some children in the class may be less able to do some of the moves that others in the class will create, So I feel that simplifying dance moves and letting them come up with dance moves will help them overcome any fears they have about taking part in a dance lesson.

My Rules for Talking and Listening

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When doing a language lesson it is important to make sure that the children in the class know that there are rules that they must follow for talking and listening. Below is a list of rules that I would like the children in my class to follow:

Don’t talk over someone when they are trying to speak – If you are talking over someone when they are speaking then you are not listening properly. This rule also applies to the talking inside your head. If you’re thinking intently about what you want to say, you’re not listening to what is being said.
When someone is talking make sure that you remain focused on what it is that they are saying – you’ll likely be showing signs if you are listening. For example, if you make eye contact with someone then it is more likely that you will listen to what they are saying.
If you have any questions about what someone is saying, wait until they have finished what it is they want to say before you speak – If you interrupt someone in mid-sentence then it is likely that they will forget what it is they are saying and become flustered trying to remember. It also shows that you are not really listening to the topic in which they are speaking about.
Always try and take part in discussions – If you are taking part in discussions it shows that you are engaged and have an understanding of the topic that is being discussed.

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.]

ICT Animation

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The first day back at the university was great and much better than expected. After a long Christmas holiday I was dreading coming back to uni and getting back in the way of studying again (mainly because I thought that I had forgotten everything I had learned – This wasn’t the case)

The first day back my first lesson that I had was ICT and we did a lesson about animation. At first we were told to draw a small drawing in a piece of paper in which we would make a flip book animation. My first attempt was not the best as it didn’t really look like my image was moving. We were then told the correct way in which to do this and after my second attempt, my image did look like it was moving. Although this is a good way to explain animation to children in a class, it is also a fun creative activity that the children can do in an art lesson.

The second part of the lesson we used a program called Pivot Animator which is a simple stick figure animation program. We were played the song “Let it go” from the film Frozen as a stimulus for what we would make the stick figure on the screen do. This program is a great way for children to create stories using a stimulus such as a piece of music or even a script. It also is a great way for younger children to engage with technology.

Finally the last part of the lesson we used Zu3d which is again a computer program that children can use for animation. We used Plasticine characters and had to create a story and then go on to produce an animation. Firstly my group set up the first scene and we had to take a series of photos. Then the group had to move the characters slightly and take another series of photos. We had to repeat this process over to create a final animation. It took my group the whole hour of our Tdt time to create roughly a minute of work! This is a great program for children as it lets them get creative using a number of different resources. It can also link to literacy as they can create a story and then produce an animation to go along with it. It can also be interdisciplinary as it can be linked to an art lesson when it comes to creating the Plasticine characters for the animation.

I really enjoyed this lesson and it was a great way to start the new semester! I definitely see myself using these programs either on placements and when I become a fully qualified teacher.

‘Every kid needs a champion’

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After having a lecture on self-esteem, I had gone home and explained to my Mother about what had been discussed in the lecture. As she is a teacher she was very interested in having a discussion about this with me. She explained to me that she had been on course and was shown this video so I went away and watched it myself.

In the self-esteem lecture we were taught that it was alright to make mistakes in the classroom and explain to the children in the class that you had make a mistake. This emphasises to them that it’s okay to make mistakes in life in order to learn. If you show children that you yourself make mistakes then this will show them that everyone in life makes mistakes too and as long as you learn from them then it is okay to make them.

In the video Rita explains that she gave her class a test and that one child missed every single 18 questions out of a possible 20. When she marked this test she said that she put “2+ and a smiley face” on the paper. The child questioned this as they knew that they had failed the test quite badly but Rita then went on to explain that they were “on a roll.” This was a good way in order to praise the child for their effort and not for their achievement which I think is a good way in order for the child to want to better themselves and try harder the next time. This also can help boost their self-esteem and make them not think that because they didn’t achieve the best grade but they tried their hardest on something anyway.

Another way that I felt was a good way to boost the children’s self-esteem in her class was to tell them that she had the best class and that they were to show off to others that they were so good and should “strut” their stuff in the hallways. I feel that this is a good way in order to boost children’s self-esteem as they may not feel great about themselves but she is explaining to them that they are the best which would make them feel more positively about themselves.

Overall I think that Rita Pierson is an inspiration and this video was very interesting for me to watch.

Gender

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After recently watching ‘The Secret life of 4 year olds’ I have noticed that children of this age are well aware of gender and the differences that they face because of their gender, The children were given a task in which there were to be two teams that would take part. The objective of the game was to put a bean bag on their head and, without touching it or holding it, they were to get from one end of the garden to the other without the bean bag falling off. The teacher that took these children for this game chose a captain for each group, one boy and one girl. It was interesting to see that the teams were then quickly divided into a boys and a girls team by the children. Once the game started the girls were adamant on playing by the rules and didn’t want to hold on to the bean bag as they were fully aware of the rules and didn’t want to break them. However, the boys were not concerned for the rules whatsoever. Their objective was to win at any cost. In result of this the girls were slower and more careful with how they moved as they wanted to obey by the rules. Almost every single one of the boys held the bean bag to their head and ran as fast as they could because they were so determined to win.

I found this very interesting how the boys and the girls made a clear choice that they wanted a girls team and a boys team. Which relates back to one of my earlier posts on gender. There is an obvious divide in gender still and boys and girls still do see themselves differently to one another. Also it was interesting to see they way the girls and boys acted in this task given. All of the girls wanted to obey by the rules and the boys were completely focussed on winning that they didn’t care at all about the rules that were in place. I find it extremely interesting how gender had played a part in this task and how differently both genders reacted to the task in hand.

Reflection on the Process of Feedback

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I was really nervous about getting feedback from my peers because I am not extremely confident in my writing yet. When we were given this task to do I wasn’t feeling great about it at all because the thought of other people in my class judging my writing made me feel sick to my stomach. I didn’t really like the idea of people judging me for what I am blogging about. I do enjoy to post things on my blog as I feel that I can get my views across to my peers. For some reason I saw this TDT differently than just posting a blog, I think it’s probably because I knew that people were going to be reading it and making comments on how I need to improve my work. It put into my mind, “why is it not perfect already? What’s wrong with my writing?” Overall, I was extremely nervous about it.

I then recently received my feedback which surprised me a lot. The comments that were made to me were all extremely positive and everyone seemed to like what I had posted. This made me feel great! I was happy to know that I could post a piece of writing on my blog and that people in my class were understanding what I was trying to get across to them. They understood my views on things and had a lot of nice things to say about what I had posted.

However, I then thought about this more. My initial reception to the TDT had changed. At first I really wanted to receive the positive feedback because I was so worried about being judged. I didn’t want to be judged as a person by what I am posting on my blog for university. I then thought about this more and as happy as I was about getting positive feedback, I think I really wanted to points to improve on. There wasn’t really anything that my peers said that I could have improved on which I feel would have benefited me a little more than all of the positive feedback had. I know it is nice to hear that my work is good and that I am doing the right thing, I want to know as well the areas that are maybe not so good.

I think that overall because I don’t really know the people commenting on my blog and they don’t really know me, that giving constructive criticism is a hard thing to achieve. You don’t really want to hurt anyone’s feelings because people take criticism personally when really all it is you are trying to do

What does it mean to be an Enquiring Practitioner?

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What does it mean to be an enquiring practitioner?

Being an enquiring practitioner is important when becoming and being a teacher. It means that we have to be able to work collaboratively and being able to fully commit to working with others. You have to be able to open to new suggestions from your peers and be willing to make changes to teaching and learning styles in which you already have. Making sure that you include all of your pupils within the class and to ensure that all children are able to learn with the teaching style that you have chosen to use. You have to be able to reflect on what you have done in lessons and be open to make changes to things that possibly haven’t worked previously. Being able to be open to suggestion a criticism is key in being an enquiring practitioner as you may have ideas and lessons planned that may not work for some children. Teachers must also make sure that they are sticking to the Curriculum for Excellence.

Being an enquiring practitioner is also important when being a student. In placements we will see so many different teaching styles in which we can adopt if they work or make changes to if you feel that they do not. This will allow us to learn about what kind of teacher that we want to become and will help us to work with our peers in order to succeed.

I think that being an enquring practitioner means that we have to be open to new things and ideas within the classroom, working with our peers in order to achieve and learning new and different teaching styles.

Reflection

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I feel that reflection plays a huge role in teaching. It enables us to progress and possibly change our ways of teaching. Reflecting after lessons is a great way in order to see what you may do differently and what you think is a good way for the pupils of your class to learn. It is also a great way of learning yourself and making changes to the way you learn things.

If there are issues you have had in class, reflection is a good way in order to move on from this. It can help you develop more skills and think about certain things that you need to work on as a teacher and how you can progress and make lessons more interesting and fun for the children in your class.

I reflect on what I have done each day even if it’s just something which isn’t really important. I drove a certain route to university today and it took me longer, maybe there is another route I can take tomorrow in order to avoid traffic and that will get me there quicker. I know that it’s a menial thing but that’s reflection and it is a part of everyday thinking.

I feel that when I start my placements in primary schools I will reflect on what I have learnt and achieved that day and how I can make it better in order for the children to learn more efficiently and to the best of my ability.