October 27, 2015
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Comments Off on The importance of being an enquiring practitioner…
As we learnt today, in Nikki’s input, being an enquiring practitioner is highly regarded within the teaching profession. This is something that I think we should acknowledge as new student teachers. On the GTCS website it states that “Practitioner enquiry is an area of professional learning which was highlighted in Teaching Scotland’s Future (Donaldson, 2011) […] Continue reading
October 27, 2015
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Comments Off on Co-operative Learning: why is it different to group work?
In this mornings lecture, a discussion about co-operative learning cropped up and it make me think about the importance of it in the primary classroom. Co-operative learning is a method of teaching and learning in which students team together to explore a significant question or create a meaningful project. It is a specific kind of […] Continue reading
October 26, 2015
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Comments Off on Attachments
From the minute we begin to develop within the womb, we form attachments. Therefore, to me, this is a vital aspect of our learning. It has since been found that for a sound upbringing a child needs to have some sort of attachment so surely this is a great aspect in a child’s holistic development? […] Continue reading
October 25, 2015
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Comments Off on You can learn from me
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the mental condition resulting in a lack of correct social behaviours and interactions. Currently identified through parental interviews and observational studies, it effects an increasing number of today’s children and can be identified from as young as 2. Although signs can be seen from as early as 1, they are […] Continue reading
October 24, 2015
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Comments Off on ‘I hear of teachers crying on their kitchen floor because of the stress’
This article from tes.com recently popped up on my Facebook news feed. The image that came along with it was a woman sitting on a staircase with her head in her hands. I immediately opened the link to read it. As a budding student teacher, stress is something I do worry a lot about experiencing in […] Continue reading
October 24, 2015
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Comments Off on “normal”
Children come to teachers, on average, at 5 years old. This is just after a big growth spurt, just as they have learnt the right word for that odd looking fruit in tesco, just as they have established that first ‘best friend forever’, just as they can kick that football as far as the park […] Continue reading
October 23, 2015
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Comments Off on Gender Role Stereotyping
I never really experienced a great deal of gender role stereotyping when I was at school, or at least I like to think I didn’t. But a recent input from Jill has led me to think otherwise. Looking back, I remember small things, like being told to line up separately or sit boy-girl. In the […] Continue reading
October 23, 2015
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Comments Off on Stress and teaching
Yesterday it was reported by the BBC that teachers are stressed and being ‘reduced to tears’. I wanted to explore this topic further being a MA1 student studying Education at the University of Dundee. Dr Bousted reported in a TES article teachers were being told “stress is increasingly being regarded as par for the course and […] Continue reading
October 22, 2015
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Comments Off on Inspiration
This video of Joseph Lekuton which was linked within the online unit has filled me with such admiration and has inspired me considerably. Listening to him tell the story of the blind man and the man with no legs was incredible. It made me think and link it to lots of different ideas I have but […] Continue reading
October 22, 2015
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Comments Off on Leanring; Alone or Together?
Benefits of working co-operatively * When working co-operatively in groups it allows multiple ideas and views to be shared openly. This then leads to greater discussions about the topic which means a deeper analysis is normally achieved. People can also find themselves having a view which they never thought about before hand or sticking with their views because they […] Continue reading
October 22, 2015
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Comments Off on Our importance in the Physical Child
We have learnt that we, as teachers, mainly focus on cognitive development due to being conscious of role expectations. However, physical and cognitive functioning are closely linked. However, this factor is not always appreciated with young children. We, as teachers, need to consider all aspects of a child’s development as we look at the children […] Continue reading
October 22, 2015
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Comments Off on What is school really about?
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/22/school-nick-gibb-term-time-holidays Whilst reading through some articles on ‘The Guardian’ website I found something that I thought would be useful to share with you. This article states that ‘Schools Minister Nick Gibb’s lack of flexibility over term-time holidays is not in the interest of children’. The article focuses on the topic of school holidays and whether […] Continue reading
October 22, 2015
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Comments Off on Differences Between Sweden and UK
Photo taken from Google Images – www.ucl.ac.uk A few weeks ago we had an input where we discussed comparative education. We mainly focused on the differences between Sweden and the UK and the different perspectives they had on learning in the early years. The Swedish School system contrasts with the UK school system in so many ways. The first one being […] Continue reading
October 22, 2015
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Comments Off on What challenges/ opportunities you may be faced with when marrying the personal vs the professional presence on social media?
Should we just have one account? Or two accounts one for personal aspects and the other for professional side? The GTCS states that you shouldn’t share any information with a student unless it would be shared in a school setting. This therefore makes you consider who you accept to be friends with online and what information you let […] Continue reading
October 22, 2015
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Comments Off on Changing Education Paradigms
Right from the word go this animation narrated by Sir Ken Robinson was engaging, taking me on the journey through education, diving deep into the errors we have created in the design of our current education system. It never struck me how old fashioned schooling is structured until now. But we must move on from […] Continue reading
October 20, 2015
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Comments Off on Personal and Professional Presence on Social Media
What challenges/opportunities may you be faced with when marrying the personal vs professional presence on social media? There are many factors which may be seen as challenges when trying to find an appropriate balance between personal and professional life with regards to social media. One of the most important challenges for professionals I feel is […] Continue reading
October 20, 2015
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Comments Off on Term-Time holidays. Yes or No?
Yesterday, I woke up to my usual routine of eating my breakfast whilst watching Bill Turnbull and Louise Minchin. They were discussing term-time holidays with Jon Platt who took his 6 year old daughter to Florida on a once in a lifetime family holiday, to which the school charged him £120 for doing so. Refusing to […] Continue reading
October 20, 2015
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Comments Off on What challenges/opportunities you may be faced with when marrying the personal vs the professional presence on social media?How are the challenges/opportunities afforded by social media framed? How will you frame things – positive of deficit viewpoint?
What challenges/opportunities you may be faced with when marrying the personal vs the professional presence on social media? Teachers this day in age have to be very careful about what they write or upload onto the internet. Parents, pupils and collogue all have access to the internet and there are so many different websites you […] Continue reading
October 20, 2015
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Comments Off on Gender – How did my gender affect me as a child?
Well I am a girl, most boys would then say that I had an easier childhood than them when it came to discipline: girls didn’t receive the same punishments, we got away with the things boys didn’t and we were able to be so much more mischievous than them without having to worry about the […] Continue reading
October 19, 2015
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Comments Off on Social Media and the struggle between the Personal and Professional world
Social media is now the main form by which we find out what is happening in the world, it’s the way people share their thoughts, look for guidance or advice from friends, share their ideas and gain creativity or simply find out how to get by in day to day tasks. It has many advantages […] Continue reading
