Monthly Archives: February 2017

Stress- The Holmes- Rache Inventory Scale

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After having complete the Holmes-Rache Inventory scale I totalled up my score to be 69 over the previous year. This gives the implication that I have a relatively low amount of life change and a low susceptibility to stress-induced health breakdown. I feel quite relaxed about my score and also quite relieved that my stress levels are not too high. At this stage in my life I am relatively happy with how things are going and have minimum stress levels. However,  I feel that there was certain things I am stressed about that didn’t appear in the Holmes- rache inventory test such as the thought of my first year university exams looming over my head. I often over think the idea of these exams and put myself down as I always think the worst in exam situations. By worrying and constantly thinking about this I instantly become stressed and get stressed about being stressed and usually end up a teary mess.

In addition to this, I am constantly stressed about my university, work and social life and maintaining a healthy balance between all three of these. I always find myself tied up and worried that if I don’t spend enough time on one of these aspects I will not only let myself down but other people as well. By keeping up with my university work during the week I usually make time for my family and friends at the weekend and relax during this part of the week. Work is another aspect that I can easily come stressed about as I am constantly forced to complete over time by my boss and I feel they are unaware of the high demand of work my course at university has.

Despite this, there are many combats I do to relieve my stress and try to forget and over come what I am stressed about. My most important combat to stress is listening and talking to my friends and family about my problems and worries. I like to talk about my problems with people who have experienced or experiencing similar problems to myself as we can provide each other with support and advice. I am aware that my friends and family are always there for me in time of need and do there best to support me and make me happy.  I often find myself listening to music while tidying my room or before I go to my bed at night, this allows me to calm down and really think about my worries as well as making me happier. Another combat I use frequently is exercise. I make time to go a walk or go to the gym during the week in between university and work to release my stress by exercising and staying healthy. By exercising I instantly feel better about myself as it allows me to take my mind off my worries in life and focus on keeping myself fit. One stress combat that I use that is almost like a guilty pleasure is online shopping, this takes me mind off things and allows me to treat myself when I a feeling down.

stress

Animation

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For the last two weeks in Digital Technologies we have been focusing and producing animations and movies using the apps iMovie and iStopMotion. The videos were to relate well to our previous input of internet safety and tie in with literacy outcomes in the curriculum for excellence. We worked in groups to come up with a short clip about one or two minutes long to show the impact of online safety and get this message across to the children using these clips. Alongside my partner, we chose to create our video based on the dangers of the world wide site, Facebook. We decided to create a fake profile for a young girl around the same age as what the children in a primary school would be. screen-shot-2017-02-21-at-15-58-42We ensured the profile showed her date of birth, home address, friends, family and of course, her interests such as sailing and ‘finding treasure’. These are all personal information that should never be posted on social media for everyone to see however, this is the way we were going to get across the message of internet safety to our learners. If you are wondering why her favourite hobbies is sailing and finding treasure, that is a good question. By using the app iMovie we used the pirate setting and related the young girls name- ‘Jacalyn Sparrow’ and various other personal information to the theme of pirates. By showing this to young children we felt we would be able to draw their attention to the pirate theme and make it more exciting for them to watch as well as having the important message behind it. Our main message that we created was that social media is a map that leads to peoples lives, just like a map that leads to treasure.We found this extremely beneficial in link with our theme as well as the dangers of posting personal information online.

After having spent one input on this we were ready to publish our short clips to the rest of the class today. My lecturer set the scene as an oscar/premier of movies where we all gathered round the interactive board watching each of the groups videos, I found this extremely interesting and useful to gain ideas from my peers. My class consists of 20 adults as well as my lecturer and can I just say I have never seen so many adults excited over watching movies and eating popcorn ever, we were so captivated! This gave me the realisation that if adults were so excited over this, can you imagine what 20 children would be like! Learning should always be fun, engaging and motivating and I feel this was a perfect lesson example I could have with my learners in the future. Digital Technology embraces children’s minds and helps children become more creative and more willing to be challenged, stepping away from old traditional lessons that is now out of date.

From this input I have learned that animations can be used successfully as part of a literacy lesson. Planning before hand children could use picture story boards to explain a story in their own way following on to making a movie out of it. This is leading on from the old fashion ways of writing down a creative story in your jotter and handing it into the teacher to mark. Learners are increasingly becoming bored of this and are being dampened down as they can’t express their true literacy skills as they find writing too hard. This can also be backed up by a quote made by Younie, S., Leask, M. and Burden, K (eds.) (2014) in ‘Teaching and Learning with ICT in the Primary School’pg 14. “Story telling can engage reluctant learners and those who might find story telling using their own drawings or hand writing challenging.”  I personally agree with this as well as the findings of the Scottish Government Jounral, Literature review on the Impact of Digital Technology on Learning and Teaching, that states that digital technology is becoming more successful in the learning and teaching of literacy and numeracy lessons. This shows that literacy can be expressed through animation and learners who don’t necessarily enjoy the writing and copying from a text book can thrive off the making of a film, learn and provide good quality work this way.

Is Scotland Healthy?

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deepfriedmarsbar

Many people will argue the matter that Scotland is in fact a ‘healthy country’ or an ‘unhealthy country’, people will take into account their own health without looking at the people around them.  From analysing and taking into account the statistics from the Scottish Health Survey I have made generalisations and assumptions based on the question ‘Is Scotland Healthy?’.

Firstly, the Scottish Health Survey proposed the question ‘Would you describe your health as good or very good, bad or very bad?’ From a sample of 4894 adults, 74% of them assessed their health as good and very good with only 8% of them admitting to having a bad or very bad health. Looking at the children statistics out of 1139 children, 95% of children agreed they had a good or very good health and an astounding 1% admitted that they had a bad health. From looking at these statistics I am amazed at the amount of people who have openly admitted to having a healthy diet when Scotland has got such a high mortality rate with a consequence of this being due to peoples health. This does not mean however, that some of these people do not have a good health. Many people in Scotland will have a good healthy lifestyle and likes to exploit that however, I believe some of these people are covering up their bad health.

Mental Health is the first category highlighted in the survey and I feel this is a vital part of a healthy lifestyle. It is agreed that around 1 in 10 adults had two or more symptoms of depression. I personally believe mental health is becoming a huge impact on peoples health in Scotland, many people I know have suffered depression in various ways at some point in their life. 5% of the sample has also admitted to attempting suicide at some point or harming themselves one way or another. Many other issues of health was covered such as child obesity and dental health, they all highlighted in some way this was still happening in Scotland. The support for mental health is forever growing from call lines to help groups in spite of this I still feel mental health is a problem in Scotland that is dampening peoples health.

By looking at the diet of the sample, it highlighted that only 3.2 on average of adults ate the recommended portions of fruit and veg a day and children eating 2.7 portions a day. Another statistic that came to my attention is that over 25% of adults in Scotland in 2013 were classed as obese. In Scotland it is becoming severe issue that every second shop you pass is a take away of some sort with so much of these being fatty foods. Around 34% of children admitted to eating marsbarcakes at least twice a week. This shows that many children follow in the foot steps of their parents, the full family suffer because the parents are unwilling to maintain a healthy diet. It is vital to maintain a healthy diet to avoid suffering from heart diseases and various other health problems. In Scotland it is clear that many peoples diet is very unhealthy.

A final aspect is the lack of exercise in Scotland. The survey shows that 64% of adults claim to meet the recommended weekly guidelines of exercise. I feel that this statistic is a positive one as it shows that more than half of the sample admits to exercising weekly and being active. Although it can be argued that half of the sample is not meeting this guideline which shows that many people are not taking in the recommendations of physical health and this will show on their overall health. Again, along with your diet, it is clear that if your parents lack motivation and are unwilling to exercise it is more than likely that you will follow this and not complete the recommended weekly exercise. I personally feel Scotlands physical health needs to increase because of the lack of people attending for example games hall facilities which are now being closed down and giving less opportunities for children to exercise.

Overall, taking into account all of these statistics I personally feel that if you have been brought up around people who are unwilling to eat healthy or exercise this will pass down the line and ultimately decrease your motivation to become healthy. I think it is fair to state that Scotland is not in fact healthy nor unhealthy.

Do people with disabilities have equal rights in society?

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In Society and Lifestyle module, in todays input through the lecture, seminar and independent tutorial I have gathered and developed my thoughts and questions about people with disabilities and their experiences in society on inclusion and equality. Disability is number two of the nine characteristics protected against discrimination by the Equality Act 2010. I find this topic extremely interesting to read about and how being disabled can cause unfairness, I feel that it is crucial for society to treat everyone the same and give everyone equal opportunities. From looking back at ancient times, the treatment of people with disabilities was horrifying by many people being persecuted or killed just because they had a disability. In todays 21st century it is becoming an increasing matter that we as society must learn to create a new reality and ways of being.

Many people argue the matter that impairments themselves cause the disability by preventing them doing usual day to day activities, however, personally I believe that it is in fact the physical environment that surrounds us that causes magnificent ways of living and problems with those that live with a disability they find restrictions almost everywhere around them. I agree with Mel Ainscow belief that assumptions of people with disabilities are not intellectually developed and that those living with a disability should be moved into the mainstream environment to allow everyone to have fair and equal opportunities in the world.

In addition to this, I find the ‘universal design’ a very crucial and interesting concept that hopefully in years to come will be put in place in several buildings to create an equal and fair environment of use for everyone. This will allow people to treat everyone the same as they don’t have barriers separating the disabled and the privileged.

‘The opportunity of adversity’ a TED TALK video that was filmed in October 2009 by Aimee Mullens who truly believes there is no such thing as ‘normality’. Everyone has their different opinions and attitudes, beliefs, likes and attitudes. Nothing is considered as ‘normal’ as everyone is different. Society must learn to appreciate and value everyone instead of shaming and looking down on people who maybe look different or speak different to everyone else.

I feel that this is a strong topic that I still need to look into further. I feel that as a student and hopefully as an educator in the future I will gather these thoughts and be able to treat all my pupils equally. John Ravis belief is to be able to suit everyone in society we must look at the least advantaged first and consider what and how we would provide for them first. I will do just this in my classroom for an equal class environment for my pupils to earn in.

Keeping everyone SAFE on the web!

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I found todays input extremely interesting however, a bit horrifying and scary. Today, Tuesday 7th February 2017 was World Internet safety day. World Internet safety day is about keeping everyone online safe and ensuring everyone is using the internet in the appropriate ways. This day is also made to raise awareness to not only children but adults as well to learn how to keep their own children safe and secure while exploring the web. As a student teacher, I must be able to educate my learners on this serious topic and have good background knowledge of safety on the internet to be able to give them correct and reasonable information. My lecturer shared a story with us about a young boy called Breck Bednar, who was appallingly murdered by a stranger he was speaking to through social media. This tragic story really touched me and had a huge impact on myself, after this I really felt that I needed to learn and educate the impact the internet really has on society today.

My lecturer provided us with useful resources such as the links to the CEOP ThinkUknow materials which involved huge amounts of information about safety on the internet and how to report any misuse or suspicious behaviour. I feel this resource will come in handy in the future when it comes to lesson planning and the videos will engage children into the lesson and educate them about the use of the internet. In addition to this, I was given materials and links to lesson plans that had already been made up about World Internet Safety Day. These lesson plans were specific to an age group such as 5-7 year olds and 7-11 year olds which I feel the learners will really benefit from as it is targeted at their level. The links also provided us with instructions and prompt cards/questions which can be used when in discussion with the class. A powerpoint was made which included games and quizzes that could be played in the class to try and enlighten the serious topic. I find these resources extremely useful and will definitely take advantage of them in the future when teaching about Internet safety.

In my opinion, Internet Safety is a topic that constantly needs reminding of and the dangers that it can cause to those around us. Many people are still unaware of how dangerous using internet-safetysocial media can be and who the people they are talking to via this actually are. When it comes to children on the internet many of them are still very young and are well unaware of what they are actually doing and who they are speaking to. Society is moving on with the times and technology is forever being advanced. Children now a days have the ability to speak to and write anything about them or other people on the internet. It is up to us and their parents to teach them how to be safe and keep out of danger while on the web.

Religion, Culture, Unchurched Spirituality and Social Problems

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relWith religion being an unfamiliar subject to myself I wasn’t aware of the impact it had on todays society and culture as a whole. In this weeks lecture I learned about ‘unchurched spirituality’ and religion and culture and how they affected each other. In the tutorials we developed into more detail about the three theorists, named Max Weber, Bruce Lincoln and Karl Max who opposed various different views and attitudes to religion and the impact it has on society.

Max weber, one of the three theorists, believes that Christianity (Protestantism) played a significant factor towards the rise of capitalism in the western world which would thrive the work load of people who believed in this religion. Weber named this the ‘Protestant Ethic’. He firmly believed that religion could be an agent for social change and today’s society would revolve around peoples religious beliefs.

However, Carl Marx was against this case and believed the opposite to Weber. Carl Max believed that religion was used to categorise the rich and the poor for the rich to dominate the poor. Marx argued that religion is an illusion and is unnecessary part of today’s society it is a human creation ‘man made’ by god. He believed the religion deluded people into thinking that religion was a ranking that only certain people go to heaven, religion is named by carl marx as the ‘opium of people’ it allows people to think that only the rich can control and many people are left to accept there religious ways.

Bruce Lincoln partly agrees with Carl Marx’s attitude by supporting the idea of religion controlling society through power named as ‘hegemonic struggle’. He strongly believes that people must not accept all religious claims and ideas however, should be aware that they are there. In contrast to this Matt Waggoner believes that religion is a subjective imagination and is a myth and performance. He believes that the existence of religion is in fact a myth that controls power in society and that culture is based on religion.

Overall after further reading of all three theorists it is clear that religion has a very large impact on culture and society. I believe that the attitudes and beliefs of the theorists are in some ways different however, all agree that religion is a social change and impacted on culture as a whole.

In addition to this, I found unchurched spirituality a very interesting topic to consider the way religion can explore different in society especially in western countries. Unchurched spirituality is when people seek the help of spiritual guidance even if they are not associated to a particular religious group.

Furthermore, religion can provide a solution to social problems in todays society however, can be said to provide social goods to people. One solution to a social problem that religion provides is material claims for people in time of need through food, shelter and care of the vulnerable. Secondly, it provides people with claims of community where people feel welcome to talk about their problems with people of similar issues. Thirdly, religion can also protect individuals for their well being and make them feel better as a whole, they may feel more meaningful . On the other hand, religion can also be a cause of social problems by impacting on health as many people refuse to accept medical treatments as it goes against their religion. Another cause may be people will use religion as an act of conflict and promote violence against other religions. Lastly, people may use their religion as an act of kindness to promote their religion and void belief in anything else.

After this weeks lecture I will further my knowledge by completing further reading to develop a real understanding of religion and culture. I have learned that religion will always have some sort of impact on todays society and culture.

Coding- a new way of learning!

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scratchjrAs you can see from my last post in this weeks digital technology class we were learning about coding programs and how these can enhance learning and teaching within schools. To begin with we shared our thought about coding and why this would benefit the learners today. A few benefits we thought about was the ability to code computer programs is an important part of literacy today. Technology is an increasing material being used in literacy children must learn to involve themselves in the technology and become aware of the new programs available to them. A second benefit is when people learn to code they learn strategies for solving problems, designing projects and communicating ideas. Therefore it is clear that coding is a new way of engaging with peoples and building on their learning. Sophie Curtis a writer for The Telegraph believes that digital technology namely coding, develops ranges of skills across the curriculum. I agree with Sophie when she explains that children of a weaker ability or children who don’t have a great set of skills at a certain subject can express themselves using coding. This will have a great advantage on a number of learner’s literacy and numeracy skills and will automatically boost their confidence when they are involved by this. By reading this article I truly feel that this programme will engage learners and give them the best learning experience possible through technology.

We were then introduced to  the programme ‘ScratchJr’ which is a program that enables young children to create their own games and interactive stories. We were given the chance to explore the programme for ourselves. Having never used this programme before I found it very beneficial as it aloud me to create and think about when I could use it and for what subject. I found it rather interesting and addictive as I could make up a lesson on almost anything which shows that pupils could express their knowledge and understanding of certain subjects and topics through this program.

In addition to this, we were then given the chance to create our own set of instructions to support teachers using coding in the classroom. Following on from my last post where I posted the set of  instructions, I created instructions for teachers to use coding when teaching learners to spell and count. I felt these instructions were beneficial as they had clearly marked out stages and had graphics to show exactly how the programme should look.

I found this class very exciting and interesting as it gave me the chance to create my own game first before going on to give an explanation of how other teachers could do it. I feel I would be able to use ScratchJr effectively in a classroom on placement and in the future as a student primary teacher.

I am really looking forward to next weeks class!

Jill