Monthly Archives: January 2016

Reflection

By looking at many other people’s posts and blogs it has made me reflect on my own. At the start I was very wary of posting and people seeing my work. I felt embarrassed to post and did not feel confident. Having the various inputs with Derek on developing the blogs really enhanced my confidence to post and make my post public. He really highlighted the fact that by us blogging will develop us professionally which I can really see has. I feel that I have developed my knowledge as I have researched various topics and reflected on them. Also by giving feedback to others as developed me as a professional. By being given feedback as really helped me improve my posts and make changes. However it has also highlighted the strengths I have within my posts.

When looking back on my very first post and the most recent one I have posted I can see a huge difference. I am a lot more reflective in my posts which has meant that they have increased in length. I have started to include literature to influence my opinion and ideas. By reading and expanding my knowledge it has developed me as a professional. I feel that incorporating this reading in my posts has helped me understand it better. I have started to do more than just TDT’s as I feel that by writing about various things that are going on in education and the world really helps you stay engaged with what is happening today. By blogging and reading other’s posts it has developed my use of language and the way I write things.

There are still areas that I would like to improve. By looking at other people’s blogs it has influenced what I would like to eventually achieve in my posts. I would like to be a bit more reflective as I feel I am just starting to get the hang of writing in a reflective way. I would also like to start developing the length of my blogs. In order to do this I will incorporate more reflection, include my experiences and more include more literature. Overall I fell that I have come far from when I first started blogging and it is only going to improve.

Daunting Behaviour Management

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Behaviour management is something that is always on my mind when I think about going out on placement. I have watched many teachers handle behaviour and they seem to deal with it as if it were second nature. Even with teachers given me tips on how to deal with behaviour it has only gave me a bit more confidence. My main worry is that I am not going to be able to control the class or they are not going to listen to me.

To try and improve my confidence before I go out on placement I have read various books and websites. Watkins (2000) stated that there are various strategies to deal with behaviour. When out on placement I have to remember that if a strategy I use doesn’t work there will always been another one, which the teacher will be able to help me with. One thing that Pollard (2014) pointed out was that you need to understand why children may behave in that way. Some children may have learning difficulties so it is important to know that and acknowledge the way their behaviour is dealt with. When out on placement if a behaviour does occur regularly I would speak to me teacher as it may be the case there is a reason for this, and a way of dealing with it. There is a behaviour policy in every school and all schools may be different depending on the type of behaviour that occurs and the area. When going into placement I will get a copy of this and familiarise myself with the procedures and make sure I go by that.

I noticed that all the literature focused on the importance of promoting positive behaviour in the classroom. This was one thing I never really associated with behaviour management. It was also something that I feel is second nature to me, as I feel that every child should be acknowledge for doing something well, trying their best and having good behaviour. There are numerous ways this could be done, for example through verbally saying to the child, handing out stickers or putting points on their chart. Porter (2000) stated that it is important to give pupils positive recognition. She stated that by giving children positive recognition it is highlighting their behaviour to the other children, so they will learn what behaviour is acceptable. She also stated that by giving the children recognition for their behaviour they are more likely to learn the behaviour. Giving children positive recognition is something I will be more aware of out on placement. I will also be more aware of not giving out to little or too much positive recognition.

Behaviour management is something that I will make a goal when going out on placement. I feel by reading it has made be a little more confident. I feel that by observing the teacher, reading the policy and actually teaching the class I will develop and find my feet in terms of behaviour management.

References

Pollard, A (2014) Reflective Teaching in Schools. (4^th ed.) London: Bloomsburry Publishing plc

Porter, L. (2000) Behaviour in Schools: Theory and Practice for Teachers. Australia: Open University Press

Watkins, C. (2000) Managing Classroom Behaviour. London: Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum.

Drama TDT

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As part of our drama workshop we had to watch a video about structuring a drama lesson. The lesson was very interesting to watch and would be a lesson that I would deliver in the primary school. The lesson started of with an agreement. This included the children and the teacher agreeing rules which guides their behaviour. Then a warm-up activity followed which gets the children’s bodies and mind ready. The warm up could included vocal, concentration, team work or getting physically warmed up. After the warm up was complete a stimulus was put on the floor for example photos. This developed the children’s ideas of what they were going to be focussing on. It also allowed them to start thinking creatively. The main lesson would be delivered. It is important to get the children to perform their work as it allows them to feel they have achieved something out of the lesson. It is important that at the end of the lesson you evaluate it. You ask the children what they have done/learned. This allows you to see what the children have understood, learned and plan their next steps.

The benefits of structuring drama this was is that children are able to be creative and use their imagination. It also allows children to warm up at the start which gets them ready for the lesson ahead. Also having the evaluation at the end allows you to identify what the children’s next steps are and if they have met the learning intention. Since no props are used it allows children to use their bodies and voice creatively by experimenting. By introducing a stimulus is allows the children to visualise what the lesson is based on. By structuring drama this way it allows the subject to be used as a cross curricular.

The experiences and outcomes that are being used in this lesson are:

I enjoy creating, choosing and accepting roles, using movement, expression and voice. EXA 1-12a

Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through drama. EXA 1-13a

Scary ICT

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As a child I loved ICT! Going on the computers was always my favourite thing to be asked to do! Now coming to teach ICT in the classroom I get butterflies in my stomach.

After my workshop today I was brought to many of the dangers involved with ICT if you do not teach children the appropriate way to use it. It was highlighted that internet safety needs to be taught to children in order to make sure they know how to use the internet safely and so they know the dangers involved. There are so many resources out there to teach children the correct way to use the internet and social media sites. Before showing the children the various resources out there that they can use I feel that its important to have a lesson on internet safety first.

As much as ICT needs to be used carefully there are so many opportunities to show children what you can all do using the computer and different software. The resources we were showing today over half of them I had never heard of. It really scared me as I thought I was up to date with what is new on the internet. Going forward I am going to have to pay more attention to what new technology schools are introducing and read more about the new technology that is being used today.

Prezi was one of the things I had never heard of before. It is something that I could see being a great resource in the classroom. Prezi is a way of creating eye-catching presentations. It can be used for all age groups within the school. Teachers could use it for the younger children to introduce there letters or animals of the rainforest. For older children it may be used to introduce facts about world war 1. Children can also have access to prezi. This would be for the the older children p3-7. The children could create a presentation to present to the class. This could be as part of a topic they are doing.

Animation

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Animation is something I had never experienced before and since having a workshop on it, it is something I would definitely want to introduce to children. Animation is becoming more popular in schools and I can see why. It is something that would very much appeal to children and they would have a lot of fun creating it.

Children develop many skills through creating animation. For an animation to be successful it is important for the children to work in a team as there are many jobs to be done in the process of the creation. Children develop their creativity skills as they create characters and a story for their animation. Children will develop their social skills as they will be interacting and communicating with other children. Through animation children develop their ICT skills for example as the learn to use the software to create the animation. The children will also be learning how to get a camera to work through a computer. Through animation children develop their knowledge of graphics and digital photography which enhances their ICT Skills. The children will also learn out to create sound to add to their animation.

When googling examples of animations on youtube I was quickly made aware that the animations created contained violence. I was shocked to see this and it is something that would have to be addressed in the classroom if children were to come across this.

The experiences and outcomes I acknowledge for animation was:

I can create, capture and manipulate sounds, text and images to communicate experiences, ideas and information in creative and engaging ways. TCH 1-04b / TCH 2-04b

I explore and experiment with the features and functions of computer technology and I can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts. TCH 1-04a / TCH 2-04a

Maths

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‘Mathematics Explained for Primary School Teachers’ by Haylock was a book recommend by one of my lectures. I read the first three chapters and I found them extremely interesting. I had no idea about the number of teachers that have insecurities about teaching maths. It was made clear that many trainee teachers have anxiety about teaching maths and most of their anxiety was based on their experience of being taught maths. It was stated that in order to come away from this feeling we need to teach children how to understand maths and explain maths to them. This got me thinking about how I was taught at primary school. Maths was never explained to me, I was just taught how to do things and that was it. I believe that in order for children to enjoy and appreciate maths it needs to be explained to them and they need to have an understanding of why they are doing it.

The importance of relating maths to everyday life is extremely beneficial to the children as the children can see what they have learned being put into a different contexts. Maths as a subject is extremely important and every child should learn maths in primary school. Maths contributes to everyday life and without children learning maths they will not be able to: read bus time tables, tell the time, solve problems. Maths contributes to children’s intellectual development and the more that develops the more ready they will be for secondary school. With maths being taught effectively children will enjoy it.

Maths nowadays is taught differently and I feel that it is taught more successfully now. For example more resources are used to help children with their counting, ICT facilities are available, children are given the opportunity to talk about maths to their peers, show me boards are used and maths games are encouraged to teach children. The list of ways in which children can be taught maths is endless.

Maths is linked to other areas of the curriculum and can be taught with other subjects. This allows children to use skills they have to help them in another subject which shows them there skill can be used in a variety of ways. Instead of children learning something and trying to remember it for example the times table. Children are taught to connect the times table to help them understand it better.

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