Category Archives: 3.1 Teaching & Learning

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It’s science Jim, but not as we know it!

January 15, 2016 User deactivated Leave a comment

It’s no secret that science was far from my favourite subject at school. While I can remember exploring imaginary worlds in English and laughing with my friends in PE, my memories of science lessons consist of boring teaching and Bunsen burners that we were told not to touch!

My attitudes towards science changed a little as I moved into my role as an early years educator. I was lucky enough to attend a CPD session, held by the Dundee Science Centre, which aimed to encourage practitioners to embrace science with young children. I vividly remember the session, as it involved plenty of wonderfully easy and stimulating activities which we could take and try for ourselves. I came away from the session feeling inspired and confident that I was going to make science a larger part of my children’s experiences.

Throughout my work with pre-schoolers, I feel that I was able to provide inviting and age appropriate experiences which touched on some scientific concepts and ideas. I am now looking forward to being able to explore these areas in more depth as I begin my work with older children.

This week, I attended my first Science input. As an introductory activity; everyone was asked to prepare a short experiment which we shared with a partner. My chosen experiment was to push sharpened pencils through a plastic bag containing water. Rather than causing a horrible, wet mess on the floor (as you might expect) the bag remains water tight. This is because plastic bags are made of polymers which are long chains of molecules. When the pencil pushes through, it simply separates the chain rather than breaking it.

More about this experiment here

In Science (as with many of the curricular areas,) practical activities are extremely beneficial to learning. While chains of molecules could be a difficult concept for children to grasp; presenting the information as an experiment makes it stimulating and engaging, as well as bringing the information into a real world context.

Following the input, we were set a TDT which involves planning a science lesson.

I have chosen to focus on Space, and am using the current show at the Dundee Science Centre (entitled ‘Destination Space’) as a stimulus.

The Experiences and Outcomes relating to this area are:

Planet Earth (continued)
	Early	First	Second	Third	Fourth
SpaceLearners develop their understanding of the Earth’s position within the universe while developing a sense of time and scale. They develop their understanding of how our knowledge of the universe has changed over time and explore ideas of future space exploration and the likelihood of life beyond planet Earth.	I have experienced the wonder of looking at the vastness of the sky, and can recognise the sun, moon and stars and link them to daily patterns of life.SCN 0-06a	By safely observing and recording the sun and moon at various times, I can describe their patterns of movement and changes over time. I can relate these to the length of a day, a month and a year.SCN 1-06a	By observing and researching features of our solar system, I can use simple models to communicate my understanding of size, scale, time and relative motion within it.SCN 2-06a	By using my knowledge of our solar system and the basic needs of living things, I can produce a reasoned argument on the likelihood of life existing elsewhere in the universe.SCN 3-06a	By researching developments used to observe or explore space, I can illustrate how our knowledge of the universe has evolved over time.SCN 4-06a

My SMART Targets:

Specific – I will plan a lesson for a primary 5 class on the topic of space, meeting the criteria for SC2-06a.

Measurable – I will create a 2 A4 page plan

Achievable – I will use the internet and university resources to gather information. I will discuss ideas with classmates and will visit Dundee Science Centre to find out more about the ‘Destination Space’ event.

Relevant – The recent launch of the British astronaut; Tim Peake, has been in the news and it is likely that pupils may have heard about it.

Time bound – I will complete this plan by the end of my 2 week observation block.

Here are some of my initial Space ideas

I hope that through the planning and hypothetical preparation of this lesson, I will develop my own scientific knowledge in this area. It is also a good opportunity for me to practice the planning process which will be a big part of my future career.

1 Prof. Values & Personal Commitment, 1.4 Prof. Commitment, 2.2 Education Systems & Prof. Responsibilities, 3.1 Teaching & Learning, 3.4 Prof. Reflection & Commitment, Contemporary issues, edushare, My educational philosophy

Fat Letters

November 11, 2015 User deactivated 2 Comments

I was shocked to stumble across this article on the TES website. It applies to English Primary Schools but I feel that it is typical of the blame and shame attitude of today’s society.

The article describes how some teachers have been sending home ‘fat letters’ to inform the parents that their child is overweight. However (surprise surprise) this has not been found to be effective and health officials are now calling for it to be stopped.

Now, I’m not arguing that obesity is not an issue within the UK, the statistics clearly show that a large percentage of our children are overweight and this is a real concern for their health. My issue is that, of all the letters that were sent out;

Half (51 per cent) understood its purpose, while 20 per cent had received information as a result of the programme that had been useful in helping their child lose weight. (TES reporter, ‘Fat Letters’, Nov 2015)

This means that half of the families who received this letter did not even know why they were being contacted and even less were prompted to take action from it. In a way, this relates to my earlier post about feedback. It seems to me that these letters are likely to cause feelings of embarrassment, shame and guilt however, the statistics above suggest that they fail to provide the necessary information or guidance to allow the parents and child to tackle the problem.

The article also makes suggestions about more effective ways to approach the obesity issue, including healthy food vouchers and more access to after school clubs.

I feel that although steps have been taken including a focus on ‘Health and Wellbeing’ in Scotland, it is still vital that we as educators place higher importance on teaching children and families about healthy lifestyles and providing opportunities for children to be involved in healthy, active activities. In my opinion, the development out outdoor learning experiences is an extremely valuable tool in fostering a love and enjoyment out exercise. This is embraced within many early years settings however opportunities are less within primary schools. This may be due to time restraints of lack of outdoor environments that are considered suitable.

I hope to be able to encourage and promote this style of learning as I begin my teaching. I have been reading a wonderful book entitled ‘Dirty Teaching’ which is a practical guide to taking your school lessons outside – packed full of really useful advice as well as ways to approach challenges that may arise. I hope that my passion and enthusiasm for outdoor learning will be a positive influence to the children as well as with the teachers and staff that I will be working with.

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Fabulous Feedback

November 1, 2015 User deactivated 4 Comments

What is Feedback all about?

Feedback can be one of the most valuable tools throughout education. That is, if it is done properly! As wonderful as it is to be given a good grade for a piece of work; without feedback pointing to what exactly you did well, the grade has no impact on your future work. On the other hand, if you had issues while carrying out a task; appropriate feedback can help you to realise your mistakes and build on your weaknesses so that you are more likely to succeed next time.

While mulling this over in my head, I watched this TED talk about feedback for teachers. Its focus is on America but has key messages which are international:

The key points that I took from this video are:

No-one can become truly skilled at their role without feedback from others
the best performing countries have formal feedback systems
successful systems involve younger teachers getting a chance to watch master teachers at work
Self evaluation is also a useful form of feedback, as seen in the demonstration of a teacher recording herself in classroom and using it to reflect

The idea of some teachers receiving one word feedback (“Satisfactory”) ties in with my earlier thoughts about a grade being meaningless without explanation. In order for us as teachers to develop and improve, we need to be: encouraged, through identification of our strengths and appreciation of our efforts and also challenged, through suggestions of improvements or introduction to new ways of approaching a problem.

I have been involved in giving and receiving feedback in the past, particularly through my job as Deputy Manager in a nursery. I took part in peer observations, which, unfortunately in my experience, did not work very well. This was because staff were unwilling to be objective and constructively critical about their friends and therefore rarely suggested any areas for improvement, making the observations a pointless exercise. Apart from observations, I also held numerous appraisals and reviews where I was responsible for giving feedback about a member of staff’s work. I often adopted the ‘praise sandwich’ technique where I began with encouragement and identification of the individual’s strengths, then discussed some areas for development and how we could work together to support this. Finally, I finished with more praise and encouragement. I found this to be a reasonably successful technique as staff appeared to leave the meetings feeling positive and motivated.

What does feedback look like within the classroom?

Feedback is not only essential for us as adults, but also for children throughout their learning in schools. Children can be given feedback from their teachers, their parents, and from other pupils and peers. HERE is a lovely post about different forms of peer assessment within the primary classroom. I will be interested to see different approaches and methods in action when I go out onto placement and am excited to use some of these within my own teaching.

One feedback system that I have seen in action is “2 stars and a Wish” where students are told 2 things that are good about a piece of work and one area for development. This system was briefly discussed at one of my inputs and I must admit that I am slightly torn about it. Whereas I appreciate that feedback is vital for pupils, and I like the fact that the 2 stars mean that there is more positive than negative comments; I still feel that teachers need to be very careful. Should there always be areas to improve? is it enough to recognise the accomplishment of one of the previous improvements? I think that the teacher must be very aware of the individual pupil’s personality and needs, as it could result in a child feeling that they are never good enough and potentially giving up.

How do I feel about giving and receiving feedback?

Following an input about peer reviews and feedback, we were asked to comment on our fellow students’ eportfolio posts, ensuring to give constructive praise and criticism which was directly linked with the success criteria. I found giving feedback to be quite challenging. I am very aware that in writing, a comment that was intended to be helpful can come across as critical and so I was careful in my phrasing.

I have not yet received any feedback from other students for this task, however I have had comments from others on some of my earlier posts. I am always excited to see comments as it makes me feel that someone has made a connection with me and my topic. They can also help me to improve the content of my posts in future, for example one comment (from Derek on ‘School Uniforms’) noted that I could include sources for additional reading. I had not thought to do this before but now I try to include links where possible so that any readers can find the information and make up their own mind about issues.

I understand that feedback will be a huge part of my journey to becoming a teacher, and it is a skill which I must continue to work on. In the past I have been guilty of taking criticism slightly personally and having an emotional response. This is not helpful and could actually have a detrimental impact on my personal and professional development. Completing this exercise has helped me to recognise this potential barrier and I hope that gaining this awareness will help me in the future.

1 Prof. Values & Personal Commitment, 1.4 Prof. Commitment, 2 Prof. Knowledge & Understanding, 3.1 Teaching & Learning, 3.4 Prof. Reflection & Commitment, edushare, My educational philosophy, Professional Studies

Learners of our own teaching

October 30, 2015 User deactivated 1 Comment

There is a wonderful quote from Professor John Hattie which states: “The biggest effects on student learning occur when teachers become learners of their own teaching” (cited on Teaching Scotland, 2014). To me, this says that a successful teacher is one who does not stagnate, rather is continuing to grow and develop within their own professional skills. It may be easy to think that once a student has completed their teacher training (whether that be a 4 year degree or an intense PDGE year), then they have learned all that they need to know and must simply go out into the workplace and put their learning into practice. However the reality is quite the opposite, and a teacher must be committed to undertaking continual, career long learning.

This career long learning, ties in with the concept of being an enquiring practitioner. An enquiring practitioner is one who is engaged in the process of continual reading, research and professional learning which has a profound impact on their work. It involves reflection and evaluation of ideas, concepts and theories and consideration of what has worked or not worked when put into practice. There is a challenge to all teachers to be autonomous and rather than accepting all information and advice given to you from ‘the powers that be’, take it upon yourself to find out WHY you are working a certain way.

The below diagram illustrates the many different aspects of being an enquiring practitioner:

This diagram reminded me once again of the many roles and responsibilities of a teacher and made me consider the importance of selecting the right individuals for the job. There is no room for a ‘can’t be bothered’ attitude when it comes to the future of our children!

Enquiry can take place either personally; when a teacher reflects upon their own practice, or collaboratively; where a group work together to investigate a question or problem, bringing their findings and ideas together to create a pool of shared knowledge and a deeper understanding for all involved.

There is a clear connection between practitioner enquiry and CLPL (career long professional learning) as it states on the Education Scotland website: “Career-long professional learning is based on the concept of teachers as enquiring practitioners who engage in deep, rigorous, high impact professional learning…Teachers recognise the need for professional learning to impact on professional practice, the quality of learning and teaching and school improvement” (Education Scotland, Undated). This reinforces the idea that a teacher needs to remain up to date and relevant through continual training and learning.

There are numerous benefits of working as an enquiring practitioner, the most important being that having a wealth of knowledge and shared experience will allow the teacher to provide the highest quality experience and learning for their pupils. Collaborative research and investigation can also help to open new doors for teachers, into areas that they may not have explored before. This can help to maintain enthusiasm and motivation, without becoming ‘stuck in a rut’ of the same routines and practices day-in and day-out.

Despite the many positive aspects, enquiry based working is not without its challenges. One of

these challenges could be that a teacher is not confident in trying new ideas or sharing their findings with their colleagues for fear of being questioned or challenged. This means that their teaching practice may not progress and develop. Another challenge is that “enquiry tends to be ‘situationally unqiue'” (Stoll, 2003 Cited on gtcs.org.uk, Undated). This means that the findings may only apply to one individual situation and it may be difficult to generalise. On the other hand; the skills that are involved in enquiry are general and can begin to develop the teacher into a confident and autonomous individual.

As a student teacher, I feel that my understanding of what it is to be an enquiring practitioner will be a great advantage to me as I can begin to foster the skills and attitudes at this early stage. I have previously been involved in continual learning through my work within nurseries (as CLPL is a requirement of registration with the SSSC). Sadly however, I did not find this a very positive experience because often I was sent on training courses that were not particularly relevant to me. I also found that often the other course attendees were there simply because practitioners were required to be present for a certain number of hours per year, rather than because they are motivated and passionate about their own development. I was always disappointed in the limited amount of training possibilities and was not encouraged to take part in my own, individual learning.

I personally find continual learning and enquiry to be both exciting and challenging. I look forward to working alongside other, like-minded individuals in an environment of mutual passion and interest in the subject at hand. I feel that an attitude of enquiry will spur me to be open to new approaches and ideas while preventing me from ever becoming too ‘comfortable’.

Sources and further reading:

GTCS website: Practitioner Enquiry

Teaching Scotland: The impact of engaging in Practitioner Enquiry

Teaching Scotland: Open your mind to the power of enquiry

Education Scotland: CLPL Key Messages

Reflecting on reflection

October 16, 2015 User deactivated Leave a comment

It is obvious to me that the ability to reflect effectively is essential when it comes to both teaching and learning.

In the past, I may have thought about reflection as being a fairly passive, ‘wishy-washy’ type of exercise. To me it only concerned those who were thinkers and not do-ers, however through reading and research I have turned my view around. REAL reflection is an action!

The act of reflection involves not only thinking about and evaluating what you have read, or what you have done, but also what this means for your future actions.

My research has led me to 3 key theorists regarding reflective learning: Kolb, Schon and Gibbs.

Kolb (1984) devised the reflective cycle (below) which emphasises the continual nature of reflection and how each stage influences the next. This is helpful to me as a learner because I can see how the process of reflection can impact on my ability to absorb information and develop my own ideas. I believe that it will also be very relevant to me as a teacher as the ability to reflect on my approaches and lessons will allow me to identify any areas of weakness, as well as ways in which I can approach them.

Schon (1983) split reflection into 2 categories:

reflecting in action (whilst taking action)
reflecting on action (after the action)

The first type of reflection is one in which a teacher must be very skilled. They must be able to assess the learning that is taking place and the effectiveness for their pupils, while being realistic and flexible enough to make alterations if appropriate. I didn’t realise it until now, but I have used this form of reflection while working within nurseries. Occasionally I would come to the children with a carefully planned activity which had taken me a long time and I was very pleased with. I had clear learning goals and I was adamant that it would work well, however when putting it into practice I found that the children were not engaged. At this point I needed to quickly deduce the reasons that the activity was not working, and make changes.

The Gibbs cycle of reflection (1988) breaks down the steps involved in reflection even further, acting as a useful practical tool which I will use to develop my reflective skills:

I believe that taking a pride in your work involves engaging with active reflection. Teachers are encouraged to engage with Career Long Professional Learning (CLPL) which allows them to remain up to date with new approaches, however without effective reflection these new ideas will not be integrated into current practice meaning that no-one will see the benefit. The GTC standards state that both a student and a fully registered teacher must

reflect and engage in self evaluation using the relevant professional standard;

In order to meet this standard I will continue to develop my own reflection skills through use of this blog as well as in less formal situations such as discussions with peers.

Sources

GTC standards

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/reflecti.htm

https://ctl.curtin.edu.au/teaching_learning_practice/student_centred/reflective.cfm

http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/files/opencetl/file/ecms/web-content/Finlay-(2008)-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf

1 Prof. Values & Personal Commitment, 1.4 Prof. Commitment, 2 Prof. Knowledge & Understanding, 2.2 Education Systems & Prof. Responsibilities, 3. Prof. Skills & Abilities, 3.1 Teaching & Learning, 3.4 Prof. Reflection & Commitment, Contemporary issues, edushare, Professional Studies

Professionalism

October 13, 2015 User deactivated Leave a comment

One of the key messages that I took from this video is that an exceptional teacher is one who is truly passionate about what they do. A passionate individual who takes pride in their job will not be satisfied just doing the bare minimum. They will be dedicated and motivated to continually grow within their own skills and knowledge so that they, in turn, can support others.

Another point which I found interesting was that this video makes comparisons between doctors and teachers. It isn’t common to think of teaching as being as vital as medical care but without a sound education, an individual’s life chances may be severely damaged. In the same way as with doctors; teachers cannot work half-heartedly or even have an ‘off day’ as this could have a potentially irreversible impact on the pupils.

Teamwork is highlighted as an essential element within both professions. I think that a professional needs to be willing to seek and accept help from others as well as providing help and support where needed. It is only through this teamwork and interdisciplinary working that pupils can be given the greatest opportunities throughout their education. A professional teacher cannot be selfish. There is a lovely example of this on the above video where a teacher learns of new methods about teaching maths. Instead of keeping this to herself, perhaps seeing the benefit within her pupils and receiving praise for herself; she shares the information with others. This leads to a team of teachers who are all able to provide superior lessons and teaching to their pupils.

Finally, a professional teacher must strive to keep up to date. The GTC standard for career-long professional learning says that a teacher is:

Committing to lifelong enquiry, learning, professional development and leadership as core aspects of professionalism and collaborative practice

There is continual research and new findings which impact education, however if a teacher does no embrace new ideas then they cannot provide the highest quality of education to their pupils. While working within nurseries, I witnessed a changed from Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to Career Long Professional Learning (CLPL). This emphasises to me the fact that a teacher can never stop their personal learning and development.

This video shows that the idea of being ‘professional’ involves a wide variety of issues.

Miss Catherine Long mentions the teacher’s role within a society. She points out that benchmarking and statistics which are available to anyone who wishes to see them causes added pressures on teachers as they are being compared and valued by their ability to make their pupils pass tests.

Mrs. Nursen Chemmi reinforces the importance of professional, appropriate behavior. Teachers act as role models for their pupils and displaying desirable traits within themselves will reinforce these behaviours within the children. I believe that this does not refer to the classroom only, rather that teachers should conduct themselves in a professional manner in any situation where they are in public. (This connects with my previous post about social media.)

Mrs Colleen Walsh adds that teachers must be non-judgmental. It is not appropriate to treat a child differently according to their home situation. This does not mean that the teacher should be ignorant of the situation or even ignore it; they should instead aim to support every individual child while being mindful of any issues or potential challenges.

Mrs Erin Smith talks about the importance of communication. This is connected with teamwork and interdisciplinary working. She also makes the link between effective communication and relationships, saying that this professional manner will allow teachers to help parents, families and pupils.

3.1 Teaching & Learning, 3.2 Classroom Organisation & Management, Contemporary issues, edushare

Get the children outdoors!

September 23, 2015 User deactivated Leave a comment

While driving home today, I heard a news story about children failing to get enough exercise and the potential dangers of this including cardio-vascular disease and even diabetes.

This got me thinking about the responsibility of schools and teachers with regard to the health and wellbeing of young children. How can children be expected to achieve high academic grades if their health is poor? Some children may not have gardens or outdoor spaces, or have opportunities to join sporting clubs due to money or family situations and therefore it is essential for teachers to plan energetic and outdoor opportunities into school time.

I also started thinking about the types of exercise and energetic learning that is offered to children during school. In my experience, it is fairly limited within PE, sports days and ‘play times’ or breaks.

During my own childhood I was not very sporty and I found organised, competitive games very off putting. As an adult I continue to avoid competitive sport and I am useless at the gym, however I have discovered a love for walking and exploring natural areas such as hills, beaches and forests. As a teacher I hope that I can bring a variety of experiences to the children that will allow them to be active in ways that they all can enjoy. I am very passionate about outdoor learning and feel that, if planned and implemented carefully, this could be used as a helpful tool for instilling a healthy lifestyle from an early age.

Find article “77% of children not getting enough exercise” here

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“He who dares to teach must never cease to learn.” ~ Richard Henry Dann