Monthly Archives: January 2016

Preparation is Key…….

Now that our first placement is looming and apprehension is creeping in more and more each day it is important that I am on the ball with all the areas within my control. After having some experience within a Primary School prior to coming to University in terms of volunteering one afternoon a week I have a very rough idea of how challenging it will be especially now that I will be in charge of group and whole class lessons.

Growing up one phrase that I always heard, regardless of my surroundings was ‘preparation is key’ and that could not be more true for placement. Planning every aspect in the hope to ensure the whole process runs smoothly. As much as every student wants it to run smoothly and be a success in some shape or form the main key of placement is to get an initial taste of professional life as a teacher.

Aside from the placement ROTR tasks, completing prescribed evaluations and being observed and finally assessed, one thing that is important to focus on right from the word go is personal and professional goals. This is something that I am thinking about now and something that I may have to re-evaluate once I meet my class and become aware of the different needs of every individual within the class. There might come the need to base one of my goals around an individual or group that I am responsible for, this will be something that I will have to monitor each week and use my initiative when out on practice.

It is important that I make my goals:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Relevant

Timely

SMART goals for MA1 placement:

(Behaviour) MANAGEMENT

I want to make sure that I go in from day one as a teacher figure and not as someone who the children view as a friend or a ‘soft touch’. You hear tips from professionals in the profession saying “Don’t crack a smile for the first few months” as the pupils need to know that you are in charge and that you have complete control of the class. In my last smaller scale placement at a primary school the children only saw me for a couple of hours an afternoon and I got the sense that they viewed me as not very authoritative and would try and push the boundaries in terms of their behaviour.

I will make sure that I am familiar with the Behaviour Management Policy and the different procedures that the class teacher has in place regarding discipline and equally appraisal. This will ensure there is consistency and hopefully respect from the pupils.

Engage Learners from the start

Regardless of what stage you have at school it is vital to engage the pupils from the offset. I know myself when I was at school you could almost gauge how your teacher was going to deliver a lesson or introduce a new topic, this became slightly tiresome and the ability to stay focused on what was being taught became tedious. I believe if you fail to capture pupils from the start of the lesson you are doing them an injustice regarding their development as learners as they will want to participate and contribute more if they are interested in what is in front of them.

I intend to use my initiative and make a conscious effort to think of creative ways to introduce any lesson that I will be responsible for. Whether this is thinking of new ways to deliver specific areas of the curriculum or getting the children involved as much as I can so that they can become independent learners.

Getting to know each individual

It is a teachers’ responsibility to cater to every individual in their class whether that is something as simple as knowing their names to more extensive aspects such as knowing the best way they learn regarding their learning style. I found one of the most frustrating things growing up was when your teacher simply didn’t know you as a person.

I want to make sure that I know the children’s’ names from the first few days so that it will make my teaching practices run more smoothly and ensures that I am engaging with a range of pupils when posing questions to the class as opposed to sticking with the same children repeatedly. I want to be aware of any additional needs or children that need extra support within my class so that I can cater to their needs or if I need to go away and read up on any extra resources so that I can fully benefit each and every individual I am responsible for.

Tackle Inequality to Achieve Better Outcomes for Individuals

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Colin Miller. Head of Essential Skills and Progression at West Lothian Council says: “We’re finding that girls who are good at maths and science at school tend to go into the care side of things (doctors and nurses) rather than engineering and construction”. ….This could be due to the fact that engineering and construction occupations in this day and age are seen as a male environment as sites and workshops are predominately male.

This was certainly the case when I was at Primary School and even throughout my time at Secondary school. There was a divide present amongst genders and very much so with the subjects in which we studied. After reading an article in the latest ‘Education Scotland’ it was great to see that this issue is being recognised very publicly and that there have been efforts to overcome this stereotypical feeling. West Lothian College which is near to my home town have brought in attempts to get girls more involved and interested in the ‘STEM’ subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths and show them that they have a place in this ‘masculine world’. When I was at school I absolutely loved Physical Education this was due to my passion for being active and keeping fit as well as being involved with a dance club from a very young age. However, this was dampened by the members of my class being predominantly male, I was one of three girls who carried it on until Higher level. However this did not put me off, it made me more determined to show them that there is a place for girls amongst these ‘types’ of subjects.

West Lothian Council have taken it upon themselves to recruit a number of female workers specialising in Engineering and Mathematics to come and teach workshops at the College. This attempt was to highlight to young girls that woman can succeed into such careers and make their mark just as equally as male workers. However, this attempt did not show a large shift in the number of girls entering such career paths it merely showed that it had got more girls talking about it and showing only verbal interest as opposed to fully committing and making that final leap into one of the professions. Another slightly more effective effort adopted by the college has been appointing ambassadors of the ‘STEM’ subjects. These ambassadors continuously undergo talks and lectures about how the teachings of each subject can then be applied in certain professions for example, the use of maths in daily engineering procedures. So just by putting context and relevance behind the teaching of these subjects, that the girls are showing passion for in the first place, has got them thinking of how they could succeed into a career that they once thought was not made for them. These professions suddenly now have purpose and have become very appealing. These efforts have shown great success in the number of girls enrolling in the HNC engineering course as well as open days for such ‘masculine’ subjects being populated mainly by females.

I personally think that the way the curriculum has be set there is no intention for certain areas to be directed at a specific gender. However, due to the old fashioned view which has transported into this day and age, that girls are still very much the stay at home domesticated sex and men are the ‘bread winners’ if you like. I think that this is why there is a great feeling of inequality amongst certain subjects. The effects it can have on young people growing up if they are made to feel like they aren’t intended for a certain subject could be devastating not only for their personal wellbeing but their future career as they could have an unknown niche or talent that will never be discovered.

After reading the efforts of West Lothian College I think there needs to be similar actions taken by other institutions including Primary School as this is when children are most influenced. This ensures that we are supporting every individual in whatever they wish to study or progress into.

‘Let’s get it right for every child’!

Out with the old in with the new……..

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For someone who hasn’t had a lot of experience regarding ‘formal reflection’ in the past I found this whole idea of online blogging a bit daunting. The process of vocalising my thoughts and personal feelings towards a certain subject for all to see was seen as a challenge. I am definitely someone who gathers thoughts in my head and when it comes to putting it down into words I find it slightly uncomfortable. My past blogs on my Eportfolio have seen me sit on the fence and you could say I have adopted a democratic standpoint and went with the general consensus beliefs. However, after reading some of my peers blogs for inspiration I see that they are starting to form very strong independent views which I can only guess will benefit them hugely in their future professional career. They are able to question professional viewpoints and question the world of teaching in terms of why there are certain teaching methods and why some areas of the Curriculum are not as valued as others. It was nice to see the contrast in the posts blogged by peers from topics they liked to ones that they feared. It was reassuring to see that my peers were blogging about topics that they do not feel confident with equally as much as the ones that they feel passionate about as opposed to shying away and becoming complacent.

It was interesting amongst these blogs to also read about topics that go beyond our course, for example one blog I came across was about an issue which is happening down in England regarding children and obesity which is a very common problem all over the United Kingdom. This has spurred me on to really start to engage in reflecting on areas outwith the course for example I love to watch documentaries which could easily relate to problems occurring in the Primary School. I have decided that I am going to make more of an effort to go beyond what is prescribed (TDT tasks and reading tasks) and really make a conscious effort to start forming my own opinion and most importantly writing and reflecting on them afterwards. I have taken it upon myself to buy a notepad which I am going to keep purely for personal reflection. I am going to make an effort to reflect after each input on what were the key points in that lecture/workshop and how do I feel about them. This will hopefully spark more questions in my head and I will be focussed on finding out more by engaging in extra reading and hopefully it will help me come to more of a standpoint which will really mature me as a student.