Category Archives: 3. Prof. Skills & Abilities

Making Thinking Visible tdt

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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.

 

A Memorable Learning Experience

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Reflecting on my time at school, I have had various memorable learning experiences in and out-with the classroom environment. One which I remember particularly well, was the way in which we were introduced to our new class topic – “The Bermuda Triangle. “

We entered the classroom after interval, to an audio playing on the loud speakers. Initially, I was very confused with what I was hearing, but as the audio continued facts began to arise and I started to make connections.

Despite the recording being muffled, I managed to decipher a conversation between a group of people. One man was feeding back to another on their whereabouts and how they had mysteriously been brought off course.  They were miles away from their planned route for no apparent reason and were beginning to become increasingly panicked as things started to go wrong with their controls. The language used and the dialogue unfolding made me think it was a conversation between people in the cockpit of an airplane and ground control staff.

I was immediately engaged in the lesson without the teacher having to say a thing. The audio came to an abrupt ending and there was an eerie ringing sound coming from one end of the line. Ground control repeatedly asked for any sort of response from the cockpit but they received nothing. This left us all completely engrossed and wanting to know more. After asking the teacher to re-play the clip, we discussed its’ content and our thoughts collectively as a class. Following this we were introduced to our new topic and my assumptions were confirmed as we were told this was in fact a real-life cockpit recording, taken just before Flight 19 crashed into the North Atlantic Ocean. The teacher then went onto discuss how we were going to be studying and investigating “The Bermuda Triangle.”

For me, this was a memorable and valuable learning experience as I was immediately engaged. The clip acted as a provocation and allowed me to embark on enquiry within the classroom. As a result of this I became actively involved in my own learning. Furthermore, it stimulated my curiosity and triggered my ability to make connections. Reflecting on this experience has made me realise the importance of provocation within the classroom. This is therefore something I would like to draw upon in future placements.

Enhancing our Performance Skills

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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

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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.

 

 

Improving our ePortfolios

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Today’s tdt gave us all the chance to spend some time reading through our peers posts and reflecting on our own. From this I have become motivated to keep my own blog up to date and not only engage with the tdt tasks but write posts on other areas that may interest me.

Scrolling down my blog I have realised that at the beginning I was consistently writing blog posts but as the semester came to an end my focus shifted onto assignments and the VIVA. I think it is incredibly important to create a happy medium. We must engage with the ePortfolios on a regular basis but putting our full attention solely on them is not the best idea.

I have always been interested in looking at other people’s blog posts for a number of reasons. Reading other people’s posts can often spur on ideas and can result in improving our own writing. We can learn a lot by comparing our writing with others. Everyone takes on a blog post in different ways and by reading one another’s we can pick up on this and develop hints and tips which we can put to practice.

One of the many things I picked up on today was that many of my peers include pictures, links and references to further reading within their blogs which is something I want to adopt. By doing this I hope it will make my blog user friendly and attract more attention.

Today has also motivated me to become more involved with my peers posts and comment on the blogs I read. I have realised that the number of blogs I’ve read does not match up with the number of times I’ve left comments which is something I want to change. One of the main purposes edushare provides is enabling us to interact with one another’s posts. I firmly believe that if we do not follow this through we will be missing out no an opportunity to enhance our practice.

Professionalism Wordle

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Feedback

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In my opinion feedback is an incredibly beneficial tool that if used well can work to everyone’s advantage. It is a two-way street which benefits both the receiver and the giver. Feedback is not only used in the classroom but it is used in day to day life.

We must all use feedback effectively!

I personally enjoyed giving and receiving feedback on the enquiring practitioner tutor directed task. I was able to learn where my strengths were within my post and also discover what I could alter to improve it. Along with this, reading others posts led to me gaining a deeper understanding on the topic area which has been very beneficial.

I am not an expert on giving feedback so initially I didn’t know where to start. I wanted to be useful to every writer and not only highlight areas of their post that were strong but also illuminate areas that could be developed. Feedback is only useful when it is honest. I did find it hard to tell people how they could improve their writing as lots of the posts I read were well-written. When this was the case I suggested other points the writer could bring up which also made me think about how to improve my own.

Throughout university we will all be given feedback in order to improve. This feedback will continue through our placement as we will learn how to improve our teaching styles and how to deal with situations in the correct way.

Feedback is essential within the teaching profession. We will need to provide not only positive but also constructive feedback to our pupils so they can develop their learning. Although it is important to give your thoughts on weaker areas of pupils work, we must also remember to give them praise where it is due as this will in turn build their self-esteem. This will then motivate pupils to do even better in their next piece of work as well as push them to achieve other set goals.

To conclude I believe that feedback is essential both as a student and qualified teacher.

What it means to be an enquiring practitioner

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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.

Reflection

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Reflection is a key element in anyone’s learning. We can actively reflect on our actions and how we handled things but we also will often do it subliminally and judge ourselves or begin to then focus where we can then improve.

Effective reflection allows us to breakdown a situation and analyse how we coped and handled each of the aspects within it. For example, I feel like I developed a good way of coping with exams throughout my senior years in high-school. After sitting my first ever two preliminary exams in third year I gained an appreciation for the pressure and desire to do well that I felt. I then went on to establish a method in which I could handle this pressure so I could achieve my best. I did this through trial and error, reflecting after each exam and finding an understanding of how I best coped. I would study hard and discuss with my peers and in the end I would succeed. I personally feel that I have therefore made effective use of reflection in relation to my own learning.

As a teacher I feel I would be able to stress the importance of reflection to my pupils; explaining that the one of the best ways to learn is to learn from our mistakes. Children should be encouraged to always try and if they fail then they must be helped to understand where they went wrong and then try again after reflecting. This can be applied in so many different ways be it behaviour in the class room and developing an understanding of right and wrong, completing tasks and solving problems, class tests and resits if required and ultimately primary education as a whole.

I remember leaving primary school but I feel like it was only in my high school education that I reflected upon it. It was then that I understood what I had learned and how ready I felt to move on. I feel like I can do that again now as I reflect over my high school education and begin the process of becoming a fully qualified teacher.

Reflection is something we all do whether we notice or not. The process is a vital part of everyone’s learning as it is incredibly important to be conscious of the fact that things can go wrong and there is always room for improvement. Reflection not only highlights to us where we can improve but it can help us learn from experiences.  It has many purposes but ultimately we reflect so that we can develop our understandings and learn.

My basic academic skills

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I personally think it is important to have an understanding of your own academic skills – in other words know where your strengths and weaknesses lie. Throughout my education I have always tried to improve on areas that I am less stable in. It is sometimes hard to work this way as we all want enjoy studying things that we excel in and therefore it can be a battle with yourself to work on the things you are less able in. I have always been fairly able in both English and Mathematics but my downfall was the sciences. By being able to pin point this as an area of improvement I was able to slowly but surely become better at the subject.

I think that everyone believes they have a sound understanding of what their skills and abilities are but as the online learning units highlight it is not just about subjects, there is much more to it. By working my way through these modules I have learnt a great deal about myself and the way I learn. I was able to illuminate skills that I excel in such as organisation but also highlight areas of improvement such as effectively using technology. Furthermore by reading sections of ‘The Study Skills Book’ by McMillan, K. and Weyers, J. on topic areas as punctuation and sentence structure I have been able to refresh my memory on these easily forgettable areas.

I have found working through the online modules and reading ‘The Study Skills Book’ incredibly useful in helping me have an understanding of my academic abilities and will no doubt refer back to these throughout the course.