Category Archives: 2 Prof. Knowledge & Understanding

Making Thinking Visible tdt

As you read the Social Studies Principles and Practice paper, note down anything you find particularly interesting, important or insightful. When you have finished reading, choose the three things which stand out to you the most.

  • For one, choose a colour that best represents or captures the essence of that idea.
  • For another, choose a symbol that best represents or captures the essence of that idea.
  • For the third, choose an image that best represents or captures the essence of that idea.

Be creative and prepare to share at our first 3CM11 Social Studies input.

Colour 

“Responsible citizens” – I think this is important as it refers to one of the  Image result for green paint splatter                                         four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence. By teaching children social studies, it enables them to develop a deeper understanding of geography, history and modern studies therefore, giving them the chance to have their say on world issues and become responsible citizens. I think green best reflects this point as it symbolises the environment in which we live in. By becoming responsible citizens, children show commitment to participating responsibly in political, economic, social and cultural life. They will be able to make informed choices and decisions which will enable them to evaluate environmental issues and take care of their planet.

 

Culture

Symbol

“Developing an understanding of their own values, beliefs and cultures and those of others” – I think this symbol captures the essence of this idea as the handprint represents the pupils own beliefs, cultures and values and the various flags inside represent the beliefs, cultures and values of others. I think this is an important point to highlight within the principles and practice document because to successfully learn the beliefs, cultures and values of others it is important for pupils to have an understanding of their own.

 

That's some physics education right thereImage 

“Learning outdoors” – I think this is an important phrase to address   within the principles and practice document as learning outside the classroom benefits students’ understanding of society, nature and the world through concrete experiences. By using outdoor learning in social studies, it enables teachers to train students as active members of society. By getting out into the local community it makes learning more relevant and encourages learning through play and experimentation. I think this image best represents this key point as it shows children’s willingness to investigate the outdoors.

 

Enhancing our Performance Skills

Drama conventions are vital everyday tools that we as teachers must work into our drama lessons. They enable us to improve drama skills such as story telling and character development along with giving children the chance to become involved in their own learning.

There is a list of drama conventions that we can adopt within our drama lessons including: Conscience Alley, Freeze Frame, Hot-seating, Improvisation, Mantle-of-the-expert, Mime, Sculpting, Soundscape, Still Image, Teacher in Role, Thought Tracking and Visualisation. I am going to focus on three.

Miming is a drama convention that has been used for decades. There are many types of mime but the main being when an actor tells a story without the use of voice. When adopting this drama convention actors make use of gestures, movements and facial expressions. There are several games and exercises revolving around miming which we as teachers can include in our drama lessons. An example of one is the game Chain Mime. In order to play this the class must be split into groups of 4 or 5. They will then be numbered and every pupil apart from the number ones will leave the classroom. Whilst they are away the teacher can then give the number ones an action to mime. Once they are happy with the mime they have to act out number twos will be called in to watch and guess what their classmate is doing and then be able to recreate it. The chain will continue as number threes enter the room and watch. Talking is not allowed and each pupil must mime exactly what they have observed. The mime could be anything from riding a horse to eating hot food! There are no limits! This is a great drama convention to use within lessons as it enables pupils to work together without using their voices.

Freeze Frame is another drama convention that can be  used within lessons. With freeze frame the action in a play or particular scene is frozen as if it was a still image. This can be done at a specific time within the scene in order to enhance it and draw the audiences attention to the importance of this moment. This also allows the audience time to appreciate what is going on within the play.A freeze frame can be used to portray things like a memory, a dream or a wish in addition to also displaying emotions such as happiness, anger or jealousy.

A final drama convention that teachers can use is Soundscape. This is when a series of sounds are made to enhance an action or a mood within a drama. Children can be split into groups and one person can be assigned the role of a conductor and the rest of the group may act as the orchestra. The group can create a picture of different sounds relating to a specific setting, action or mood for example cooking in a kitchen or being in a jungle. The conductor can control the pace, pitch and how loud the group are by simple arm movements.

 

 

 

Dealing with Maths Anxiety

Throughout my time in primary and secondary education my opinion of maths changed frequently. This depended on the topic, the teacher, the homework and exams. I feel like many people have gone through the same mindset as me. Having a secondary teacher as a mother resulted in maths being drilled into my brain from the start of secondary school. My mother sat for hours each week helping me improve my maths. At the time this completely put me off of maths as I was getting bored with the repetitive nature of the subject. Looking back on it now I could not be more grateful for the time my mother spent with me as it worked. Although maths didn’t immediately come naturally to me by spending time on it my capability in the subject improved significantly as reflected in my standard grade and higher results.

Maths anxiety is something that is very prevalent in education today. At the beginning of my education maths did create some sort of anxiety for me and continued to at some points of my further education. However by doing my best to improve and consolidate on this topic my maths anxiety was eradicated. I can’t say I’m an expert in maths but I can truthfully say I began to enjoy it. By revising hard and successfully attaining a high grade in my higher maths this has given me a positive attitude towards the subject.

I think that as a teacher it is incredibly important to show a positive attitude towards the subject and treat it with equal importance compared to other subjects. If teachers show a lack of interest in a subject area this could influence the children into adopting the same view.  Furthermore teachers must do their best to make maths interesting. Many hold the view that maths is not a practical subject but that is simply a myth. There are many activities that teachers can prepare which make maths interactive and fun.

Maths should not be something that teachers or pupils should feel anxious about. Everyone has different capabilities within the subject which is the same with any subject. Our job as teachers is to accommodate every individuals needs and also work hard to ensure we are confident within the subject area. Furthermore it is vital that we show enthusiasm and try our best to make our maths lessons interactive and fun in order to eradicate maths anxiety.

 

 

Professionalism Wordle

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What it means to be an enquiring practitioner

Fulfilling the role of an enquiring practitioner is a key aspect of teaching. Becoming an efficient practitioner means we must become proactive and investigate all aspects of our profession. This includes constant learning on the job – for example some teachers who are successful enquiring practitioners may research topics such as teaching techniques and adapt their own to facilitate the best learning possible.

Not only must we continue to learn but it is vital that we are reflective and evaluate our own practice. Reflecting on lessons is important as you will be able to pin-point areas of improvement. Although it may be hard teachers must be open to change – the profession is ever changing and an effective enquiring practitioner will be able to notice this.

Being an enquiring practitioner furthermore means that we should work collaboratively with our colleagues. This will benefit your progression as support will be provided by other staff and you will be able to obtain advice and seek guidance as well as give it where necessary. Teachers can work together as enquiring practitioners to ensure they are keeping to the Curriculum for Excellence.

Becoming an enquiring practitioner does not start when you are a fully qualified teacher, it is equally as important as a student. On placements we will be expected to be open to new things, adapt teaching styles and work collaboratively with staff which is all part of being an enquiring practitioner.

I personally believe that in order to become a successful teacher these processes above are vital from the student teacher stage to your last day in the profession. Being an enquiring practitioner means that we need to make use of the processes of evaluation, working collaboratively and enquiry.

Research into brain development

Research into brain development has come a long way since it began as shown below via the use of a timeline:

4000 BC – Sumerian records show first writing on the brain in the world.

2500 BC – The Egyptians come to believe that the heart is more important than the brain and as a result discard it through the process of mummification.

450 BC – Alcmaeon was an early Greek physician who was the first to use anatomic dissection of animals as a basis for his theories. He concluded from his experiments that the brain is the central organ of sensation and thought which opposed the idea of the Egyptians.

 335 BC – Aristotle came to the same conclusion that the heart is the main organ of thought and sensation and that the brain is simply a “radiator designed to cool it.” He also firmly believes in the fact that the basis of thought cannot be found within the body. He then began to look into short-term memory and long-term memory and how they differ.

1664 – Thomas Wills a professor from Oxford wrote the worlds first monograph on brain autonomy and physiology. His book highlights that the cerebral hemispheres (which make up 70% of the human brain) determine thought and action. He then states that these are completely different from any other parts of the bbrain and control basic motor skills. He is first to introduce words which are now associated with the brain such as: lobe, corpus striatum and neurology.

1848 – Phineas Gage was a railroad worker who was at work when an explosion occurred and caused an iron rod to pierce the frontal lobe of his brain. Despite surviving there were significant changes to his mood and behavior. It was then suggested by researchers that the vital parts of the personality reside in the frontal lobe. It was this that saw the introduction of the lobotomy procedure which consisted of removing portions of the frontal lobe in order to hopefully cure mental illness and depression.

1869 – Sir Francis Galton came to the conclusion that intelligence was an inherited trait and high levels of intellectual achievement are passed down generations through genetics. He wrote about this idea in his book the ‘Hereditary Genius.’

1875 – Wilhem Windt set up the first lab which researched human behavior. He then carried out a study regarding attention and the sensory process.

1905 – Alfred Binet was a French psychologist and completely disagreed with Galton’s use of sensory discrimination to explain intelligence. He believed that an individual’s intelligence could be detected from processes such as memory, comprehension, attention, memory and imagination. Binet along with Theadore Simon then proceeded to make a scale of intelligence which was published in 1905.

1911- A British neuroscientist, Henry Head publishes ‘Studies in Neurology’ which focused on spatial awareness.

1929 – The first human electroencephalograph was carried out by Hans Berger. This was used to measure the record of the electrical activity in the human brain.

1950 – An American neuropsychologist Karl Spencer Lashley carried out an experiment with rats to attempt to reveal neural components of memory which he named engrams. From his findings he concluded that there is no definitive area for memory in the brain.

 1974 – M.E Phelps, E.J Hoffman and M.M TER Pogossian created the world’s first Positron Emission Topography (PET) scanner. The function of this machine was to provide visual information about the activity of the brain.

1987 – Prozac is introduced to and becomes a treatment for depression.

1990 – US President George Bush declares this decade as the ‘Decade of the Brain’

1997- Stanley B. Prusiner wins Nobel Prize for his discovery of a new genre of infectious agents called prions. This research went onto help provide important insights into researching illnesses such as dementia specifically Alzheimer’s.

2000 – Arvid Carlsson, Paul Greengard and Eric Kandel were awarded the Nobel Prize for their findings relating to signal transduction in the nervous system.

2014 – John O’Keefe, Edvard Moser, and May-Britt Moser share the Nobel Prize for their research into cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain