Category Archives: edushare

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.

 

A Memorable Learning Experience

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

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.

 

 

Improving our ePortfolios

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.

Reflection on the GTCS Standards for Provisional Registration

Link to Standards: http://www.gtcs.org.uk/web/files/the-standards/standards-for-registration-1212.pdf

The standards in Section 1 within the documentation in the link above is split into four categories:

  1. Social Justice
  2. Integrity
  3. Trust & Respect
  4. Professional Commitment

Despite each section being briefly summarised by bullet points in this documentation our workshop last week encouraged us to expand on these to fully understand the meaning behind each category.

Social Justice:

  • This section highlights how we should look at social backgrounds, different cultures and gender and try and achieve equality for all. As professionals we must not only implement equality but we should also promote this idea to our pupils. By making children aware of the importance of equality now we have more of a chance of having an inequality free world in the future.
  • Sustainability is also mentioned in this section. As teachers we must make a conscious effort to raise awareness of the importance of sustainability. This could include planning lessons on areas such as recycling and renewable energy in order to educate pupils on this topic.
  • Discrimination comes under this term too. This means that teachers should not be seen to be discriminating against any pupil in their class. If any sort of discrimination occurs between pupils it must be dealt with straight away.
  • Pupils need to be made aware of diversity under this area of the standards. Pupils need to understand that within society there are different groups of people. No one person is the same. It is important we explain this in an appropriate way in order to meet the standards.
  • An important aspect of this section is being able to teach in an unbiased manner. There are many controversial issues that may come up when teaching in the classroom but teachers must be neutral and explain all sides of the story. We want to enable pupils to create their own views and opinions without being influenced by their teacher.
  • This section also touches on how we must make children aware of the rights and responsibilities they hold. This may also include looking at the role they take in their local community and how they can improve this.

Integrity

  • “Demonstrating openness, honesty, courage and wisdom” is one of the bullet points under this heading. I think it is important to look at each word individually to cage what they mean in this context.

– Openness: It is vital that teachers make themselves approachable which will in turn hopefully eliminate pupils feeling intimidated. Teachers are not only there to teach but we are here to support pupils. Many may want to talk about issues that they feel they cannot bring up with their own family so being approachable will mean pupils feel comfortable with confiding in you.

– Honesty: This is key within teaching. Not is it only important to be honest with pupils and colleagues but it is also important to be honest with yourself. If a lesson clearly isn’t working and pupils are struggling you must admit to yourself that the way you taught the subject initially possibly isn’t right for your pupils. Going back to the drawing board and changing your outlook on the topic may be necessary but first we must be honest with ourselves and admit that we may have made the wrong decision.

– Courage: This means that we must stand up for what we believe in and not be intimidated by others opinions if we do not agree with them. Courage is important in teaching as it is easy to just go along with the crowd but if you feel something needs to be done, for example if a pupil needs more support and you feel like you cannot solely provide this you must speak up. Have confidence in your opinions.

– Wisdom: In my opinion wisdom is based around experience. It is my job to build my wisdom as I gain more experience in the profession. Although I may not be able to help the fact that I don’t have a great deal of experience in the classroom compared to others I can develop my knowledge by studying. Being knowledgeable on the curriculum and teaching styles will lead to greater wisdom. Furthermore it is vital to have a good sense of judgement.

  • We must critically examine our own beliefs under this heading. We need to question whether they are solid beliefs and whether there is a better approach that we need to adopt. We must also look at school values and whether they are efficient or whether they need to be altered. We need to constantly asses these areas to ensure we are doing the best for our classes.

Trust and Respect

  • The main focus of this section is implementing mutual respect between pupils and teachers.  This is vital when creating a positive working environment. The same can be said with colleagues. Working well with staff will set a good example to the children.
  • This section highlights how it is important to set boundaries within a classroom – some things are not appropriate to say or do in this environment and pupils must be aware of this. Teachers must state what is appropriate behaviour within the classroom so that pupils respect the rules.
  • Manners also come into play within this section. It is important that teachers implement manners from an early age. By using please and thank you this will show children how to respect one another which is a key lifeskill they must learn.
  • Safety must also be looked at. This may involve bringing up the issue of bullying and taking any forms of it that may arise seriously. As teachers we must also be aware of the physical boundaries within the classroom and continue to act professionally whatever the circumstance. Safety also includes openly talking about issues such as mental health and reporting any cases or signs you have seen that may suggest a pupil is suffering from health problems like this.

Personal Commitment

  • This section focuses on engagement. We must engage with pupils staff and extra-curricular activities. Enthusiasm must be shown in all areas of the curriculum and treat each area with the same amount of importance.
  • We must work as one with all the members of staff by supporting one another and treating each other with mutual respect. When working collaboratively we must put the child at the core and establish what is best for them.
  • We must commit ourselves to the whole profession, not just the educational part. Teaching isn’t simply about educating pupils, it is also about doing our best to shape them into good people. Teaching is about going the extra mile and not just doing the bare minimum.
  • We must be open to new opportunities and experiences that will enhance our professional development. We must be willing to learn throughout our profession and not stop simply because you gain your qualification.
  • We must furthermore be able to keep a good standard of professionalism in our leadership roles throughout our whole career. This involves: being on time, having plans for class, dress code, professional conduct, always being organised…

Overall I really enjoyed looking into the GTCS Standards for Provisional Registration in deeper context. At times it was hard to get my head around what each point meant but by taking my time and working through each one I was able to gain a deeper understanding of everything. I think it is important to constantly refer back to these during the next 4 years and after I qualify in order to become the best teacher I can be.

Professionalism Wordle

Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 15.41.17

Feedback

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.

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

 

 

Reflection

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.