September 27, 2018
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Comments Off on The Art of Tessellation
When Jonathan first said the word “tessellation”, I immediately thought what on earth is he on about?! Yet, following this lecture I now understand that tessellation is something that surrounds us. Tessellation is the arrangement of identical shapes that fit together perfectly to create a pattern. These shapes have to fit precisely beside one another, […] Continue reading
September 25, 2018
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Comments Off on Why Discovering Maths?
Throughout my school life, I’ve had a very mixed experience with mathematics. My earliest memories of maths are from primary school. They consist of the class teacher sitting us down on the carpet, teaching us a concept, and being told to complete the coinciding pages in our TeeJay Maths textbooks. Although this was a repetitive […] Continue reading
September 22, 2018
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Comments Off on Reflection on IDL
The past few inputs we have had within this module have been about interdisciplinary learning, what it involves and how it is used in the classroom. “The curriculum should include space for learning beyond subject boundaries, so that children and young people can make connections between different areas of learning. Interdisciplinary studies, based upon groupings […] Continue reading
September 19, 2018
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Comments Off on Geographical Mapping🗺
In our lecture today we learnt about using maps with children and how it develops new skills and knowledge of their local and global surroundings. You should use maps with children as maps are a way of communicating information about a specific place, they give children the support to interact with an environment they can […] Continue reading
September 18, 2018
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Comments Off on Interdisciplinary Learning: A Reflection from my Childhood
Today we got an introductory lecture to our ‘Developing Effective Teaching and Learning‘ module. The module aims to explore and show us how subjects can take learning beyond it’s barriers and involve Interdisciplinary Learning (IDL) – making connections between different areas of the curriculum. It’s all about making appropriate links and showing these to the […] Continue reading
September 17, 2018
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Comments Off on Effective Learning and Teaching: What Does it Look Like?
Everyone can remember certain things from primary school, whether it be a single lesson or a full topic, but why do we remember them? We remember them because they were fun. I don’t remember learning how to subtract one number from another, other than I had a Heinemann workbook to help me. What I do remember […] Continue reading
September 16, 2018
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Comments Off on What was the most pleasant learning experience from my time at school?
TDT: Developing Effectiveness in Teaching and Learning During my time in high school I struggled with finding my passion in certain subjects throughout my A- Levels. After I decided to resit a year at school with an array of completely random subjects (Psychology, Philosophy, Media Studies and Music), I found my passion grow for each […] Continue reading
September 13, 2018
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Comments Off on ‘What made you want to teach?’
‘What made you want to teach?’ I get asked this question many times, and yet the answers are endless. There are so many reasons why I want to work with children and stem out into the world of collaborative teaching. However, my desire to become a primary teacher was first ignited when I was a young […] Continue reading
September 13, 2018
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Comments Off on To teach or not to teach?
During my years at school I quickly realised that teachers had a large impact on my school experience. One teacher in particular inspired me, during my primary years, to want to teach children. She always encouraged me to do my best and reach my full potential, which showed me the type of teacher I aspire […] Continue reading
September 4, 2018
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Comments Off on PYP and CfE – similarities and differences
The Primary Years Programme (PYP) of the IB has a lot of similarities in terms of encouraging self-reliant learning as CfE. There are some slight differences in curricular areas however. The PYP curricular areas are as follows: Language Mathematics Science Social Studies Arts Personal, Social, and Physical Education These curricular areas seem to be a […] Continue reading
September 3, 2018
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Comments Off on The IB Learner Profile attributes and the four capacities of CfE
The Scottish Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) has four main capacities, which are as follows: Successful Learners – encouraging students to reach their highest possible standards of personal achievement by being open to new ways of thinking/learning, and to be motivated and enthusiastic about their own learning. Successful Learners are able to use communication, literacy, numeracy […] Continue reading
May 8, 2018
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Comments Off on End of Placement Review
April 24, 2018
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Comments Off on 4 weeks down, 2 to go!
I found myself in shock the other day as I sat down and counted how many days of placement I had completed and how many I had left. The time is going by in a flash. This week has given me experience and understanding of more elements of teaching. I have been given the responsibility […] Continue reading
April 15, 2018
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Comments Off on Early Years at ISS + Exploring the Reggio Emilia Approach
It has been documented heavily that the early stages of childhood have a massive impact on the future capabilities of an individual as the biggest brain developments happen (French, 2007). So much so, that many educational institutes have invested massive amounts of time and money in making sure that children’s introductions to education is both […] Continue reading
March 21, 2018
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Comments Off on LfL – Section 1: Identification of Learning Opportunities
I will be learning constantly throughout this placement. For example; I will be constantly updating my knowledge of science, especially animals and plants as well as handling animals, cleaning them out, feeding them and taking general care of the animals. I will be constantly learning from the staff and teachers around me taking from them […] Continue reading
February 27, 2018
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Comments Off on LfL – Section 1
This post contains the information needed in section 1 of the portfolio. This section of the Learning from Life portfolio should be completed prior to going on placement, which will allow a strong basis for continual reflection points during the placement. Audit of Skills Rating of skills (1=Not very developed; 3= very developed) Skills and […] Continue reading
February 19, 2018
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Comments Off on Evolutionary Experiences
My learning experience (so far) has been examined under a microscope, with the results below. You’ll also learn a little on behaviour (but only if you are eager to)! When a word in a dictionary ‘spots’ a new reader: Hello, my name is Floccinaucinihilipilification.Nice to meet you – what’s yours? The reaction when the reader … Continue reading “Evolutionary Experiences” Continue reading
February 9, 2018
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Comments Off on Management and Organisation in the Classroom
Organisation and Management: Having tables of 4 or 6 helps avoid noise during the lessons. I would also make sure children get to sit with people they get along with, but if it becomes too chatty it is good to mix the groups to ensure children are focussed and so that they also get a …
Continue reading “Management and Organisation in the Classroom”
February 5, 2018
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Comments Off on RME, it is not just about religion
“What have you learned during the RME inputs?” When faced with this question I was not 100% certain what I had learnt, until I had todays input. It’s all about the child’s understanding behind religions and their personal journey to find that. I realised this today after getting to see and touch artefacts related to […] Continue reading
February 3, 2018
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Comments Off on Providing a Structure to Eliminate Fear – The Drama Lesson
Drama is one of the curricular areas in which many teachers fear teaching. They don’t want to take the risk that if they bring their class onto the school stage, chaos will erupt, and behavioural management becomes more difficult to implement than ever before. With these assumptions, I ask how are we to encourage children […] Continue reading
