Health and Wellbeing Reflection

After our session on health and wellbeing we were asked to watch and reflect on two videos.

The first being a documentary on hidden sugars and the detrimental effects it can have on your health. I think this is something really important for practitioners to understand as it can be easy to encourage children to eat or drink the wrong things if we don’t know where these hidden sugars are. I think that as teachers we also have a responsibility to offer a conflicting argument to what the food industry is brainwashing children. Especially since it is not all about obesity, a child can appar to be of perfect health whilst sugar is slowly having a devastating effect on them. As a nation we tend to be quite ignorant of this. A comment was made in the documentary about sugar being the tobacco of today. I personally found this extremely frightening. to think that in half a century we could look back at our sugar habits in the same way we view smoking habits now. Something needs to change.

We were also asked to watch Suzanne Zeedyk’s video. Which explores the lasting effects children’s relationships and experiences can have on their brains. She considered the idea that if a child is used to living in an abusive home their brain will always be looking for the next threat. This has a lasting effect because when they are in school for example, their brains still continue to constantly look out for the next threat. Which leaves little thinking space for actually learning and concentrating. As practitioners we need to be extremely aware of how much home relationships influence the behaviours of young children. We must be able to adapt to each child’s needs and consider every child’s circumstances. Children must have a wide range of experiences, this will depend on how they react to the environment they’re in. As teachers we must be aware that each child’s attention span will be different and for a multitude of reasons so we must be able to differentiate our lessons appropriately. perhaps the most important message I took from this video was purely to be mindful of the fact that as a teacher, I could be the first friendly face a child sees each day.

Racism Reflection and the Sociological Imagination

Sipping away at a cup of coffee is an action that seems fairly irrelevant in our daily lives, however I was led to believe that this couldn’t be further from the truth when I attended a lecture last week about exercising our sociological imagination. Doing so encourages us to read between the lines and think more deeply about seemingly meaningless events.

I very quickly realised that a lot of my life revolves around coffee! There is not much I enjoy more than sitting in a quiet coffee shop enjoying a flat white either with friends or just watching the world go by. Also the fact that I work in a speciality coffee shop that has been recognised in the ‘Scottish Independant Coffee Guide’. It is extremely interesting to observe the ‘art’, if you like, of coffee drinking. People come to us to start their day, or to catch up with friends or family, or to simply “wake them up!”. The point I am trying to make here is that everything we do has much deeper meaning than meets the eye, our actions start a chain reaction of events. I think this is something important to remember when discussing the issues of racism and patriarchy.

Whilst sometimes we may joke about these issues and believe that it means no harm I think it is important to understand the lasting effect this type of behaviour can have.

I personally found the lecture on Tuesday extremely interesting and thought provoking. I suppose that’s because the idea that one person could discriminate against another purely because they are different to themselves is something I find truly fascinating, yet completely baffling.

Aspects of racism and patriarchy are unfortunately embedded deep in the foundations of society, making them exceedingly difficult to eradicate. However, I believe that education is key to breaking down the walls of both racism and patriarchy that have been built by generations past.

In my future career as a primary school teacher I understand that I hold a huge responsibility to display a positive attitude that is accepting of all and treats individuals equally. Especially as children’s young minds are extremely impressionable and are in the process of forming opinions that can last a lifetime.

It is my hope that with the right education we can change how people think in terms of racism and patriarchy, maybe in doing so we will one day see a world without such discrimination.

Getting to know me- Why Teaching?

I’m not going to lie and say that teaching is something I have always seen myself doing, or have wanted to do since I was little. It didn’t even occur to me that a career in teaching might be the one for me until the end of 5th year when I decided to explore my options and arrange work experience in my local primary school. From this point on I had no doubt in my mind that I wanted to become a teacher and my passion for education has been ever-growing.

Completing eight months of work experience in my local primary school confirmed that achieving a successful career in teaching was to become my biggest ambition. It allowed me to recognize the many challenges of teaching, but also gain confidence as I overcame those challenges with the support and guidance of the teachers I was working with.

I was lucky enough to have a very positive school experience and I strongly believe that the relationships I developed with my teachers and my peers have massively helped shape the person I am today. My memories of primary school are one’s I look back on very fondly and it is definitely an aspiration of mine to recreate that for the next generation of children.

I’ve always loved the idea of school being a bit of a ‘safe haven’, a nurturing environment where children can find security and enjoyment no matter their circumstances at home. Also a place where they can express themselves free of judgement. To be a part of providing that environment and relief for a struggling child is something I would take great pride in. I want to strive to create a classroom environment where children feel that the well-being is looked after as well as their education.

Welcome to your WordPress eportfolio

Welcome to your ePortfolio. This is where you will document and share your professional thoughts and experiences over the course of your study at the University of Dundee and beyond that when you begin teaching. You have the control over what you want to make public and what you would rather keep on a password protected page.

The ePortfolio in the form of this WordPress blog allows you to pull in material from other digital sources:

You can pull in a YouTube video:

You can pull in a Soundcloud audio track:

You can upload an image or pull one in from Flickr or any other image sharing site.

Teacher, Lorraine Lapthorne conducts her class in the Grade Two room at the Drouin State School, Drouin, Victoria

You can just about pull in anything that you think will add substance and depth to your writing.

 

 

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