Category Archives: 1 Prof. Values & Personal Commitment

Cornelia Clark Fort

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STORIES FROM DRAMA: Writing in Role (2 hours)

Choose a character from the past (it doesn’t have to be a famous person). Research that character and the time that they lived. Use the drama convention visualisation to explore what it would be like to be that character. What would they hear? What would they see? Smell? Experience? Write a diary entry in role as your character.

My diary entry is not from a famous person but of someone who may have had a significant role during the time that I have chosen. I have researched into a character called Cornelia Clark Fort who was a WWII civilian flight instructor working in Hawaii.

Woke up at 0605 this morning. Such a restless sleep during the night. I have had constant busy days but today was going to be an early start anyway. Today was the final lesson with my advanced student flying at the controls before he receives his pilot licence.

Something in the air felt strange when I left my room this morning. I took the short 5 minute walk to where the plane was kept at John Rodgers Civilian Airport and met Andrew Smith who is on the final day of training. Such a handsome and confident young man. I’m not sure why he wants to take part in this war but I just have to do my job. We did our usual checks of the plane taking in the khaki green colour of the wings and body, turning the heavy propellers to make sure there was no damage and then testing the controls within the plane. We took off at 0730 this morning and it wasn’t long after that, that we witnessed the bombing of Pearl Harbour. 

I think I was one of the first American’s to witness such a devastating sight. The huge, black, shiny object fell with ease from the fighter plane. We are lucky to be alive ourselves. If I hadn’t taken over the controls as quickly as I did, I simply wouldn’t be writing here. Another plane was on a collision course towards us. I could see the look of panic on Andrew’s face, so I took the controls at the last minute and pulled the plane in the other direction, narrowly avoiding the collision. It was only once we had passed that plan that I had noticed the rising sun insignia on its wing – a Japanese war plane. As I looked out of the plane, there were bombers flying in from all over the place and smoke billowing up towards the sky. Everything was starting to disappear.

I told Andrew that we needed to land back at John Rodgers as quickly as we could. As we did, we were pursued by a Japanese Zero. I’ll never forget those big red marks coming towards us. Andrew and I ran for cover and luckily we survived but as we emerged from where we were, we soon realised that the airport manager had been killed. There was blood all over the place from others who were in the area. I can’t begin to explain the horrific sights I was seeing. Andrew had gone pale in the face and looked terrified. In fact we were both terrified by what was happening. 

I waited most of the day to find out about the other two planes that were bringing back more students but they have not returned. We will never know what happened to them. Everything has been destroyed here. Pearl Harbour has been bombed. We are at war with Japan…

 

I enjoyed writing this diary entry as it made me really think about and try to imagine what it would have been like to have been a female flight instructor who is going to have gone under a lot of criticisim to be where she got to. But also to consider that horrific day that was witnessed by many people who were killed or had disappeared.

This is a great drama convention to use in the classroom as it allows your pupils to consider what it would have been like for someone in that situation. It allows them to think about various different senses and to also consider the period that they are studying. What was it like then? I think you could get a lot of meaningful and well-thought out pieces of work from an exercise like this.

Experiences of Placement

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My first year placement was rather enjoyable. I had an excellent Primary 5 class with a teacher who was more than willing to help whenever I needed it. The school itself was incredibly supportive of everything that I had to complete.

What did I learn?

This placement was definitely a huge learning curve for me. I had 3 goals for this placement which were:

  1. Be confident.
  2. Be a reflective practitioner.
  3. Have effective classroom management.

I believe that my confidence has definitely grown throughout my time on placement. I often find that I doubt my ability and can be extremely critical of the work that I complete. I did start off feeling like what I was completing wasn’t good enough, but through discussions with the class teacher I was able to improve and provide well thought out lesson plans which improved the lesson as a whole.

Reflecting throughout my placement really helped me to concentrate on what I needed to improve upon every day and week. I will admit that I did fall behind with my weekly reflections and some of my lesson evaluations so for the next placement I need to ensure that I am more organised and that I set aside time specifically for evaluation.

Effective classroom management was definitely something that was big for me and was something that I learned so much about during my placement this year. I feel that I was able to create a positive presence and ethos within the classroom but I believe that I should implement behaviour management strategies within my lesson plans as this will help me to stay on top of that throughout the lesson.

However, the biggest realisation for me this placement was the fact that I feel quite confident working with children who have additional support needs, in particular Autistic children. I feel that working with autistic children is something that I’d like to consider for the future.

My placement this year has also helped me to make a choice for my Learning from Life placement in year 2. I thoroughly enjoyed my placement this year and it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my tutor and also the school. The staff were a great support and the pupils are definitely a credit to the school.

Transforming Learning

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“Digital technology can enhance learning and teaching across the curriculum and equip all of our learners with the essential digital skills they need to succeed in life, learning and work.” – Angela Constance, MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning.

The world we live in is surrounded by digital tools and spaces that everyone is consuming and using within everyday life. It is important that, within primary schools, we are improving the access children have to digital technology and enhancing the use of it in our classrooms. From my point of view, I think it is clear that we have a rapidly growing set of digital tools that can be used but the question is, how are we going to use these as educators to enhance the learning spaces we have?

“We define digital literacies as the capabilities which fit someone for living, learning and working in a digital society.” – Jisc

I think it is fair to say we are most definitely seeing children grow up in a digital society: social media has exploded over the years and the resources available to use online has become unlimited. Therefore, it would be wise to think about how to utilise some of these iterms within the modern classroom.

The Scottish Government have taken a major step forward with the development and recognition of the ever advancing digital tools and spaces we have. September of 2015 marked the consultation on the development of the Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland. When it ended in December, Angela Constrance stated: “The Scottish Government will now work with key partners across education and IT to develop a Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland to be published in summer 2016.” 

This is a sign that the government recognise he potentials of digital tools and spaces and realise how important it is to get it embedded within Curriculum for Excellence.

Let’s think about Mozilla. They have a mission statement which is all about allowing everyone to own the Internet. They have a strong belief in web literacy which is the basis of how we are able to “read, write and contribute effectively on the web.”

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Mozilla are a company that believe web literacy is about exploring, building and connecting. Under each heading are a set of skills that were discussed during a consultation and these are the skills that Mozilla believe are the most important ones to be developed.

But, how can we ensure that digital tools and spaces are understood and used effectively to ensure that a COLLEGIATE, COLLABORATIVE and SHARED learning culture is established?

Mozilla Webmaker provides many resources that have the potential to be used within the classroom. However, there are three main tools offered by the company: X-Ray Goggles, Thimble and Webmaker. During our input yesterday we looked at X-Ray Goggles and I believe this a tool that you could easily bring into your teaching and learning.

Teaching: X-Ray Goggles is an excellent resource to use at the beginning of a topic. As a teacher you can remix some web pages to captivate your learners from the start.

Learning:
“There’s no better way to learn the mechanics and culture of the web than by playing around and hacking it in a safe, fun environment.” – Unknown

I completely agree with the quote above. Using X-Ray Goggles is a great way to bring in the learning experience of getting to know how the web really works. Mozilla have brought out a tool that can teach children the mechanics of the web just as they would need taught the mechanics of a car.
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Keep It Short

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Language is a key element of our surrounding culture and it is vital that we get this message across to our pupils. Literacy is one of, if not, the most important subject of Curriculum for Excellence.

I found today’s workshop on writing very interesting and loved this idea of writing a micro story on our Twitter pages. I think this is can be used as an idea for the classroom especially with the upper schools. A lot of children these days are on social media and will have an understanding of how Twitter works.

When we were set the task of writing a “#microstory” on or Twitter, it was clear by the screwed up faces we made at each other that 140 characters was definitely not going to be enough to write anything of interest.

I pondered on this task for quite a while and even did some research into it through Google. I found some very interesting information and also found that some well known authors had tried this out themselves. I quickly realised that it wasn’t going to be as difficult as we all first thought.

So, if you do consider using this as a task within the classroom, I believe it will set a good challenge for the children but I also think it’s good to use for a lesson where you may perhaps be looking at opening sentences. It will provide great practice to your pupils on how to instantly captivate the readers.

It’s always good to try something new and I believe that this could really be something that not only appeals to children through the sense of social media but can enhance the way in which your lessons are delivered and also how the children actively participate in their learning.

My #microstory:

#microstory “Smile!” he shouted, just as the flash exploded hitting our delicate milky skin and making us look rather unflattering. #uodedu

Article from The Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/oct/12/twitter-fiction-140-character-novels

 

Creating Motivation

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What is Motivation?

There are so many ways we could define motivation. The Oxford English Dictionary states that motivation is a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a certain way. It also states that it can be a desire or willingness to do something. In other words, motivation is enthusiasm to do something.

Personally, I believe that motivation is having a drive to do something and to achieve the best possible outcome, and I think that this is something that should be encouraged within the classroom.

Types of Motivation

There are various types of motivation but the most commonly talked about are probably extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.

Extrinsic:

I really liked this example of extrinsic motivation during our lecture today and for me it definitely sums up what it means. Extrinsic motivation is when you are driven by external factors. It is the type of motivation that will make you work for tangible rewards rather than obtaining the reward from the work itself.

Intrinsic:

People are more likely to feel rewarded as a result of the activity that they have completed. The motivation here is not caused by a goal or product and it has a much bigger impact on the person than extrinsic motivation does.

Why Motivate?

Motivation is the key to capturing the attention and curiosity of your pupils. It is a way of encouraging that challenging energy towards their learning and can ultimately provide a much better piece of work than you think.

If you take the approach of deciding to not motivate your pupils and to not be motivated yourself then you are far more likely to witness a more rebellious situation from the class. Work won’t be completed to standards that you set and children will definitely not want to enter the classroom to learn.

Motivation and Your Classroom

I think that it is vital to put across at this point that many will see motivation as something that isn’t all about money, exams and getting results. For some children in your classroom, they may believe that motivation is being able to do something for someone for the better rather than achieving to please yourself.

All teacher’s should enter this profession with the belief that they can change someone’s life for the better. It is something that should give you a warm feeling inside.

“Creativity is as important as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.”

Failure plays a big part within motivation too. If you don’t let the children face the experiences of being wrong then they will stop being creative and motivation will disappear. It’s a good idea to let the children know when you get something wrong too. This only shows that it’s OK to make mistakes and that everyone makes them. “Kids will take a chance. If they don’t know, they’ll have a go. They’re not frightened of being wrong.” (Sir Ken Robinson – Do Schools Kill Creativity). I believe that this is a very valid point and it something that we should always remember as teachers. We shouldn’t let children fear being wrong.

 

Finding My Inner Scientist

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I have wanted to be a primary school teacher from a very young age but there has always been apprehensions about having to include certain subjects within a child’s education. One of these apprehensions is indeed Science.

From what I remember of my primary school years, looking at the Solar System was one of the major topics that we focused on but I believe there wasn’t much else to do with science involved. There would have been various little parts but I agree The Royal Society of Chemistry that there is a lack of science taught within primary schools.

During our input with Richard I realized that I would have to become serious with teaching science in order to help improve how it is implemented within Scottish education. It is a vital part of education and it will encourage a lifelong interest in children. Science is more common when you reach secondary school and I definitely had a liking towards Physics in high school.

In my final year of primary school our school trip took us to Edinburgh where we visited Dynamic Earth. I thought this was extremely fascinating and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was so much to learn about including earning about volcanoes and natural disasters like earthquakes. I think this is a great experience for children and I would love to organize a trip like this for my own class in the future.

SMART Target

SMART-goalsI believe that for someone like me setting a SMART target for a curricular area such as Science is a good idea. It think it will help to clear my apprehension about teaching it and providing a balanced education for my pupils. SMART targets are a great way of helping development and giving people something to work towards.

Specific: I will plan a lesson for a Primary 5 class which will look at Planet Earth, in particular Space, and meet the criteria SCN 2-06a.

Measurable: I will plan a science visit to Dynamic Earth and have a lesson plan (2 A4 pages) sorted for before/after the visit.

Attainable: I will ensure I include discussions with peers within my year and ensure that I do adequate research to help plan for my lesson and develop my knowledge in order to teach the children effectively. I should consider visiting Dynamic Earth myself in order to get a feel of what the place is like and what could be planned throughout the day for the children.

Relevant: Many children like to know about space and the different planets. It will help to gain more knowledge of what they need to know and also what they wish to know. Some may have watched documentaries before or may have some previous knowledge about Space which will help them.

Time Based: I will have completed my research by the end of my observation week on placement.

Science is something that should not be feared and yet I do have fears. I believe that my target above will help me and will provide me with ways to research science in order to better my knowledge to provide the best possible education to my pupils.

 

Professionalism

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Effective or Ineffective?

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What is effective feedback? What are the processes I need to follow? How can this benefit the person receiving the feedback? How can this benefit me?

These, I feel, are questions that you should consider when thinking of peer review. Not only are they questions that you should personally try and connect with, but I believe that they should be questions that continue on with me throughout my career as a teacher.

What is effective feedback?

Well, lets think about what ineffective feedback is. During an input at university, we watched an interesting video that I felt really helped to show us what ineffective feedback is:

Negative feedback can have a significant impact on a person and can really knock their confidence. It can discourage someone from continuing to do something that they may love if they have been given feedback that has not been of any use or has been offensive to them.

Effective feedback is being able to provide critical points that are positive and give support as to what that person could develop and become better at. Effective feedback needs to have a direction and it is also important to try and look at the strengths as well as the points that could be developed.

What are the processes I need to follow?

It is always important to keep feedback relevant to the success criteria. For example, if someone has given a presentation on the history of the Second World War, then it would only make sense to provide most of your feedback on what they have worked on.

You should ensure that you understand exactly what the person is talking about because any information that is missing can make it difficult to form an understanding of what they have worked on.

Be sure to try and give strengths as well as points that could be worked on. I think that is one of my weaknesses when giving feedback. I tend to keep what I believe was good within their work but make them aware of what they need to work on in order to get better. Sometimes it is just enough to say that their work is great and that they should just keep doing what they are doing.

How can this benefit the person giving feedback?

I find that if you are giving feedback on something that you have also been tasked on, then it can really help to develop your understanding of the work further. For example, our TDT was to write a post about practitioner enquiry and then to give feedback on each others posts. This really helped me to see other viewpoints about practitioner enquiry and allowed me to retain more information that I may not have been able to do before hand.

How can this benefit the person receiving the feedback?

Effective feedback can benefit people as it allows them to realize that there are strengths within what they have presented. It allows you to openly listen to what the person giving feedback is telling you and you can decide whether you agree or disagree within your own thoughts. This then allows you to react to the points and improve or you can decide to leave it if you feel that your work is alright.

My thoughts…

I think that it is important to know the difference between effective and ineffective feedback. Although I believe that both giving and receiving feedback is a daunting process, it can really help you to develop you as a person and can make you aware of what you should be confident with and what you should maybe improve.

A classroom environment…

Peer review is something that many pupils will be aware of or become aware of throughout their time in education. It is a process that needs to be taught and practiced correctly within the classroom. It’s important to make children aware that feedback is not just about the negatives and what they should work on. However, it is equally important that as the teacher, you ensure that you are providing effective feedback to help your pupils.

In the words of Education Scotland: “Assessment is for learning.” The only way that pupils can enhance their learning experiences is through engaging with peer review and through being given constructive praise from you as their educator.

The Online World

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Being a Professional in Society Today

It is clear how much the society we live in is changing and adapting to the new technologies that are providing many benefits for loads around the world. Social media has been on the rise since the 1990s with the introduction of SixDegress.com allowing people to connect with family and friends. This networking service lasted for only four years (1997-2001) but it sparked the development of successful services we know today such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

I believe that social media is a very powerful tool that gives us the opportunity to enhance our creativity, share experiences and exchange information within the virtual community. It has become a major part of life and continues to do so as we move through the generations. Social networking sites dominate the communities we live in today and have become widely accessible to many worldwide.

Personal Versus Professional Presence on Social Media

Opportunities:

It is clear that social networking is not for everyone, however, I believe it shouldn’t be seen in a negative way as it is mostly portrayed these days.

Marrying your personal life to the professional side via social media allows people to gather a better understanding about who you are as a person and yet still express and show interesting articles that can relate to your profession. It also gives you the opportunity to form friendships and links that can be used to connect with not only the local but the global teaching community. I believe that is a fundamental part of the teaching profession: creating links.

It wasn’t that long ago that it was difficult to connect with people like we do now. When mobile phones were introduced it did help change the challenge and allowed you to connect with your friends more efficiently. The rise of social media, I believe, has changed the way we see friendship and the way in which we connect with people. It isn’t just about the “inner circle” as people would say, but it is about connecting globally with people that have similar interests as you and being able to form such friendships that can last a lifetime in really help with your professional development.

Challenges:

For me, it can be difficult to trust the information that appears and can make you more skeptical about what you are viewing. I also feel that some content is inappropriate but it seems easily accessible to the younger generations which is quite a worry.

A huge challenge of social media that many argue is privacy. Although there are ways that can change your settings on social networking sites, it is not always guaranteed that they will stay that way. Whether we like it or not, there are people out there who can find methods of obtaining information that we don’t want others to know about.

How will I frame social media within an educational setting?

I believe that social media is a very powerful tool and is something that will only continue to grow within our society. Therefore, I believe that social media is something that should be spoken about with a positive viewpoint but you should always keep make sure they are aware of the risks involved.

The advancement of new technologies and social networking services is contributing to the transformation of education and the way in which people perceive it. However, it is important that we are informed and aware of how such things are used in regards to our professional decisions.

Sometimes it can seem easier to separate your personal life from your professional life, creating new usernames that prevent children from being able to find you because lets face it, they know how to do that. Although I think it’s great to encourage children of the use of new technologies and social networking to a certain extent, thinking about your own perspectives is crucial. For me, keeping the two accounts separate seems easier and safer.

Reflection

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What is reflection?

Reflection allows us to think critically about an event or experience that we were part of. It involves looking at not just what happened but also at our thoughts and feelings when we are evaluating.

For me, reflection is very important within a profession such as teaching because it allows us to improve upon the education that we provide for the children. If we do not reflect and evaluate our ways of teaching then the matter of improving the system for children becomes irrelevant.

Going into such a profession without having a knowledge and understanding of reflection, I believe, is a bizarre thing to do because you will not be able to get better at what you want to provide. Reflection is an integral part of your professional practice not just as a student but as a qualified teacher too.

Reflection is about being able to look at your lesson and consider what went well and what could have been better and acting upon those thoughts. There is no use in reflecting on what you have delivered to your pupils but not improving it in order to provide the best possible learning experiences for children.