So here it is, "Merry Christmas"... and that's one term down and two to go. I'm shattered, but in a good way trust me.
The school production took up the great majority of the final few weeks - lessons were fit around rehearsals, although the sequence on "The Charge of the Light Brigade" that I'd been working on was squeezed in a fair bit (along with a few maths lessons on negative numbers to be sure that the children had met their targets for the term) with the odd ICT lesson on posters and presentations.
It's so hard to know what to say, here. The situation has changed so much since I started, that I'm not totally sure which way is up any more. I'm petrified at the thought of qualifying, yet desperately concerned that I'll never be ready and so won't pass muster when it comes to assessment time. (This was mitigated to some extent when my mentor assured me that he still wasn't convinced he'd ever be ready by the half-term in the summer term of his PGCE training).
This has been a wonderful first term - the school is excellent, the staff supportive and helpful and the children... well, most of the time they're lovely, too.
Now, next term, I just have to get my head around all of the paperwork hoops through which I need to jump in order to qualify! Wish me luck... eep.
Thursday, December 21
Thursday, December 7
The force is strong in this one...
Just a quick post (by way of a slight brag) as I had a cracking literacy lesson today... we're in the midst of a sequence on "The Charge of the Light Brigade" as an example of narrative poetry and I'm taking the class through creating a summary of the poem, so that they get a feel for what the story behind the poem actually is.
We got to the point where "theirs not to make reply/theirs not to reason why/theirs but to do and die" and I was trying to explain the whole "do or die" concept... and struggling a little... when I was struck by a rather odd thought... taking a deep breath I tentatively asked "who remembers that part in the second Star Wars film (episode 5) on Dagoba in the swamp with Luke and Yoda" and went on to talk about when Yoda basically says "don't try... do or do not" - and it worked! Pretty much everybody knew what I was talking about (with the exception, perhaps of my class teacher, who was rapidly reconsidering all the nice things she'd ever written about me) and we moved on.
But I finished the day on a complete high - not only had I managed to explain the poem to them, but I'd done it using Yoda! I even threw in a (lame) Yoda impression (always one to push my luck) when getting them to put their books away at the end... it was also well received.
*sigh*
We got to the point where "theirs not to make reply/theirs not to reason why/theirs but to do and die" and I was trying to explain the whole "do or die" concept... and struggling a little... when I was struck by a rather odd thought... taking a deep breath I tentatively asked "who remembers that part in the second Star Wars film (episode 5) on Dagoba in the swamp with Luke and Yoda" and went on to talk about when Yoda basically says "don't try... do or do not" - and it worked! Pretty much everybody knew what I was talking about (with the exception, perhaps of my class teacher, who was rapidly reconsidering all the nice things she'd ever written about me) and we moved on.
But I finished the day on a complete high - not only had I managed to explain the poem to them, but I'd done it using Yoda! I even threw in a (lame) Yoda impression (always one to push my luck) when getting them to put their books away at the end... it was also well received.
*sigh*
Thursday, November 30
Book Review - How Children Learn
As a kind of sequel to "How Children Learn", John Holt's "How Children Learn" is another wonderful reminder of how children are, by nature, learning machines. They want to learn. They live to learn. All we have to do is be careful not to drum it out of them in school.
Again, an annotated collection of memos and journal entries, this takes us through a later period of Holt's life - after he's had much more experience running a scheme to assist parents in home-schooling their children - but no less fascinating. Again, Holt reminds us that children do wasnt to learn but that the worst we can do is to try and force that education on them - letting them elect to learn is the best way. Admittedly, this doesn't always fit in a school setting (I'm reminded of a pupil of mine who keeps wanting to read her book during lessons in which she thinks she's already suitably qualified) but nevertheless it's a wonderful read and inspirational, to boot.
Again, read it.
Again, an annotated collection of memos and journal entries, this takes us through a later period of Holt's life - after he's had much more experience running a scheme to assist parents in home-schooling their children - but no less fascinating. Again, Holt reminds us that children do wasnt to learn but that the worst we can do is to try and force that education on them - letting them elect to learn is the best way. Admittedly, this doesn't always fit in a school setting (I'm reminded of a pupil of mine who keeps wanting to read her book during lessons in which she thinks she's already suitably qualified) but nevertheless it's a wonderful read and inspirational, to boot.
Again, read it.
Friday, November 24
Mad (well, QTS) skillz
So, after a full week (for me, that is... taught 4 lessons over the week - it'll be 6 next week) in school, I went and sat my QTS skills test. These are the only tests per se that I'll have to sit to qualify as a teacher and... well... frankly I felt almost insulted!
The three tests can only be booked at hourly intervals, the numeracy test is 48 minutes, the literacy 44 minutes and the ICT 35 minutes. Ultimately I walked out with 3 passes after about an hour.
*sigh*
The week in school went well, thankfully. I took my first literacy lesson (*gulp*) - two more next week - and survived. Literacy is the subject I feel most scared about - it's just such a "wide open" subject to teach... I just have to keep remembering to refer to the medium term plans to know how to constrain each week and/or lesson. I'm definitely getting there, 'though. And still loving it.
G'nite.
The three tests can only be booked at hourly intervals, the numeracy test is 48 minutes, the literacy 44 minutes and the ICT 35 minutes. Ultimately I walked out with 3 passes after about an hour.
- The numeracy starts off with 12 timed mental calculations (something like 18 seconds per question), followed by another 16 questions (40 minutes, ish, but you can answer the questions in any order).
- The literacy test starts off with a spelling test (all the tests are computer based and speak the words to you) and then the rest of the test is based around an extract (in this case from a report on an "alternative" curriculum - a skills based one - and its pilot scheme) and tests comprehension, etc.
- The ICT test is a very simple test of basic computer literacy - can you send an email, format a document, re-sort data in a database.
*sigh*
The week in school went well, thankfully. I took my first literacy lesson (*gulp*) - two more next week - and survived. Literacy is the subject I feel most scared about - it's just such a "wide open" subject to teach... I just have to keep remembering to refer to the medium term plans to know how to constrain each week and/or lesson. I'm definitely getting there, 'though. And still loving it.
G'nite.
Friday, November 17
Business Enterprise Week
Wow, what a week!
First off we had parents' evenings on Monday and Tuesday (for which I opted to attend, and even managed to throw in a few comments and suggestions here and there... maybe some were even helpful!) which got us off to a lovely tiring start to the week. Actually, it was quite interesting (only a couple of awkward points where parents don't accept that their little angel might actually be a right unruly little so-and-so in school) and definitely beneficial, in terms of experience and training.
On top of that we were involved in a (you may have guessed this from the title) "business enterprise week" which, for us, meant that we had some Y8 pupils from a local secondary school (with a "commerce and enterprise" focus) in to help with designing/building some calendars. Tail end of last week actually saw me walking around Bramcote with four pupils, taking snapshots of various landmarks in preparation. Then most of this week's literacy... and some numeracy... and pretty much any other lesson... was taken up with turning those into a calendar. Actually, in fairness, we made two calendars, but the class market research (a questionnaire was created and peddled around school) favoured the Bramcote theme.
Then, this afternoon, we took part in the final stage of the "BEW" which was a little competition of sorts with a number of other primary schools who had also been taking part. I took along four pupils to represent the school who had to give a short presentation of the calendar, why we made it the way we did, etc. Then there was a short "buying and selling" game where half the team went of to spend a virtual £100 buying other calendars and the other take orders on our calendars. Bargaining was encouraged.
Net result? We won... because we managed to sell a number of calendars yet still keep to within 82% of the RRP - other teams sold more, but made offers which meant that they were operating at less of a (theoretical, nominal) profit.
Yippee! Funnily enough, the pupils were rather chuffed and may even get their pictures in the local rags. And I? I got a "Head Teacher's Award" sticker from AO for my efforts. *grin*
First off we had parents' evenings on Monday and Tuesday (for which I opted to attend, and even managed to throw in a few comments and suggestions here and there... maybe some were even helpful!) which got us off to a lovely tiring start to the week. Actually, it was quite interesting (only a couple of awkward points where parents don't accept that their little angel might actually be a right unruly little so-and-so in school) and definitely beneficial, in terms of experience and training.
On top of that we were involved in a (you may have guessed this from the title) "business enterprise week" which, for us, meant that we had some Y8 pupils from a local secondary school (with a "commerce and enterprise" focus) in to help with designing/building some calendars. Tail end of last week actually saw me walking around Bramcote with four pupils, taking snapshots of various landmarks in preparation. Then most of this week's literacy... and some numeracy... and pretty much any other lesson... was taken up with turning those into a calendar. Actually, in fairness, we made two calendars, but the class market research (a questionnaire was created and peddled around school) favoured the Bramcote theme.
Then, this afternoon, we took part in the final stage of the "BEW" which was a little competition of sorts with a number of other primary schools who had also been taking part. I took along four pupils to represent the school who had to give a short presentation of the calendar, why we made it the way we did, etc. Then there was a short "buying and selling" game where half the team went of to spend a virtual £100 buying other calendars and the other take orders on our calendars. Bargaining was encouraged.
Net result? We won... because we managed to sell a number of calendars yet still keep to within 82% of the RRP - other teams sold more, but made offers which meant that they were operating at less of a (theoretical, nominal) profit.
Yippee! Funnily enough, the pupils were rather chuffed and may even get their pictures in the local rags. And I? I got a "Head Teacher's Award" sticker from AO for my efforts. *grin*
Sunday, November 12
Observed, moi?
I survived! Yay!
Actually, it all went rather well, in the end. The lesson itself was much smoother than last week and in other areas my work seems to be okay, too.
My link tutor was, I think, rather impressed with the lesson content (she actually said she'd normally have tackled that sort of thing with Y6 pupils) and noted that I'd successfully explained the objectives and had challenged the higher ability children as well as keeping the others engaged... and also complemented me on my burgeoning class management skills (sink or swim does work as a learning strategy, y'see).
All of my notes and files are okay, although I need to start evaluating/reflecting on my own lessons (something I've been doing orally with my class teacher and mentor, but needs to be written in some form) and collecting the various bits of evidence that I've actually done all that I'm supposed to (which apparently consists of me getting staff to outline and sign bits of paper).
So I'm pretty happy, all in all :)
Actually, it all went rather well, in the end. The lesson itself was much smoother than last week and in other areas my work seems to be okay, too.
My link tutor was, I think, rather impressed with the lesson content (she actually said she'd normally have tackled that sort of thing with Y6 pupils) and noted that I'd successfully explained the objectives and had challenged the higher ability children as well as keeping the others engaged... and also complemented me on my burgeoning class management skills (sink or swim does work as a learning strategy, y'see).
All of my notes and files are okay, although I need to start evaluating/reflecting on my own lessons (something I've been doing orally with my class teacher and mentor, but needs to be written in some form) and collecting the various bits of evidence that I've actually done all that I'm supposed to (which apparently consists of me getting staff to outline and sign bits of paper).
So I'm pretty happy, all in all :)
Thursday, November 9
Late night nerves
So here I am, the night before my first formal observation (by my link tutor) watching Grey's Anatomy (the episode with the unexploded bomb) and I'm starting to feel a little apprehensive about it all.
Ave caesar, morituri te salutant... in other words, wish me luck.
Ave caesar, morituri te salutant... in other words, wish me luck.
Monday, November 6
A ple... what now?
Encountered a new situation today... the complete opposite of my last problem... I ran out of lesson! Yup - things went so well that I actually fell short.
It was in a numeracy lesson, the supply (my class teacher was out on a course for the day) who was a teacher at the school until last year (when she retired) had warmed them up for me, and kept them firmly and successfully in line. I had them up and about doing some "body maths" on sequences and suddenly realised that I was rapidly running out of lesson. So I extended the lesson to also explore some basic properties of numbers, in terms of odd/even numbers. Still falling short of lunch time, I, frankly, panicked.
I ended up playing a game of "buzz/beep"* with them and spent so long on that, that I then lost track of time and forgot to have a plenary!
I am assured that this is not the last time that something like this (or indeed, like Friday's ICT fiasco) will happen to me. In fact MB assures me that it not only will happen, but it still happens to her, too... and that is some consolation, because she is a truly inspiring teacher for me to be training with.
* Which, for the less "up" on modern classroom games is a way of testing times tables at the same time as practicing listening skills... two times tables are specified, the play starts with a pupil calling "one" and then moving around the class the sequence extended. Each time the number would be a multiple of either of the two nominated tables, the child must say "buzz" or "beep" (or "buzz beep" if the number falls into both camps).
It was in a numeracy lesson, the supply (my class teacher was out on a course for the day) who was a teacher at the school until last year (when she retired) had warmed them up for me, and kept them firmly and successfully in line. I had them up and about doing some "body maths" on sequences and suddenly realised that I was rapidly running out of lesson. So I extended the lesson to also explore some basic properties of numbers, in terms of odd/even numbers. Still falling short of lunch time, I, frankly, panicked.
I ended up playing a game of "buzz/beep"* with them and spent so long on that, that I then lost track of time and forgot to have a plenary!
I am assured that this is not the last time that something like this (or indeed, like Friday's ICT fiasco) will happen to me. In fact MB assures me that it not only will happen, but it still happens to her, too... and that is some consolation, because she is a truly inspiring teacher for me to be training with.
* Which, for the less "up" on modern classroom games is a way of testing times tables at the same time as practicing listening skills... two times tables are specified, the play starts with a pupil calling "one" and then moving around the class the sequence extended. Each time the number would be a multiple of either of the two nominated tables, the child must say "buzz" or "beep" (or "buzz beep" if the number falls into both camps).
Friday, November 3
Bad end to a good week
Oh my... what a mess!
This last week I've been really diving into taking an active role in the numeracy lessons - I had to plan this week which I did, the week before half term. It was supposed to be a few days of co-ordinates, followed by the start of a sequence of lessons on, um, sequences. However, in the grand tradition of all best laid plans (see what I did, there?) it had to be amended on the fly. Between by MB (my class teacher) being impressed with how much the children were enjoying the main activity on Monday and then being in college on Wednesday the whole week ended up on co-ordinates (leaving me with only three days to plan for this week... which was nice).
Wednesday was... interesting... too. Seems the game is most definitely afoot now, with a great number of fellow students starting to come under varying levels of pressure. Some personal (a big blog shout out to Darren whose girlfriend has been rather unwell), some professional (again, a big blog shout of encouragement to Helen, who had a nightmare of a link tutor visit) but above all, mostly just stressful. Plus, between Darren and myself, I worked myself up into a "bit of a twizz" about my own upcoming link tutor visit (which between us we managed to bring forward by a week). And so I came back to school, still panicked, and it took me until lunch time to realise why I was feeling so jittery and get over myself.
The maths (I think we can call it maths again, as I've just noticed that the newly launched "Primary Framework" talks about literacy and mathematics) went well - very well, actually. My interactive whiteboard (henceforth, IWB) battleships was very well received, the use of the scale map of the acropolis that we've been using (note the cross-curricular links to the history topic) was suprisingly successful and the tangrams were rather fun (only one pupil managing to actually solve a tangram before we gave them the solutions so that they could do the actual co-ordinates work).
ICT on the other hand... eep! There I was... I'd been through the actual introduction, showing the children how to use the drawing package (OpenOffice.org Draw, actually, given that it's free) and then got them seated where we wanted (for the differentiation, don't y'know) and got to the first, brief, point of the main activity - get the children to copy the relevant file from the network into their local folder ready to start work editing... and... then the lesson ended. Yup. Th-th-th-that's all folks. So, just to spell it out, I spent about 30 minutes trying to coach 29 children into copying a file from a shared folder on the network. Aargh!
On the bright side, I have a perfectly good lesson plan for this next ICT lesson; which, given that I'm being observed, can only be a good thing.
*sigh*
This last week I've been really diving into taking an active role in the numeracy lessons - I had to plan this week which I did, the week before half term. It was supposed to be a few days of co-ordinates, followed by the start of a sequence of lessons on, um, sequences. However, in the grand tradition of all best laid plans (see what I did, there?) it had to be amended on the fly. Between by MB (my class teacher) being impressed with how much the children were enjoying the main activity on Monday and then being in college on Wednesday the whole week ended up on co-ordinates (leaving me with only three days to plan for this week... which was nice).
Wednesday was... interesting... too. Seems the game is most definitely afoot now, with a great number of fellow students starting to come under varying levels of pressure. Some personal (a big blog shout out to Darren whose girlfriend has been rather unwell), some professional (again, a big blog shout of encouragement to Helen, who had a nightmare of a link tutor visit) but above all, mostly just stressful. Plus, between Darren and myself, I worked myself up into a "bit of a twizz" about my own upcoming link tutor visit (which between us we managed to bring forward by a week). And so I came back to school, still panicked, and it took me until lunch time to realise why I was feeling so jittery and get over myself.
The maths (I think we can call it maths again, as I've just noticed that the newly launched "Primary Framework" talks about literacy and mathematics) went well - very well, actually. My interactive whiteboard (henceforth, IWB) battleships was very well received, the use of the scale map of the acropolis that we've been using (note the cross-curricular links to the history topic) was suprisingly successful and the tangrams were rather fun (only one pupil managing to actually solve a tangram before we gave them the solutions so that they could do the actual co-ordinates work).
ICT on the other hand... eep! There I was... I'd been through the actual introduction, showing the children how to use the drawing package (OpenOffice.org Draw, actually, given that it's free) and then got them seated where we wanted (for the differentiation, don't y'know) and got to the first, brief, point of the main activity - get the children to copy the relevant file from the network into their local folder ready to start work editing... and... then the lesson ended. Yup. Th-th-th-that's all folks. So, just to spell it out, I spent about 30 minutes trying to coach 29 children into copying a file from a shared folder on the network. Aargh!
On the bright side, I have a perfectly good lesson plan for this next ICT lesson; which, given that I'm being observed, can only be a good thing.
*sigh*
Monday, October 23
Half time *ahem* term
So here I am, on half term. For a break, I'm moonlighting back at my old company for the week (albeit on short days) to help with the luxuries in life, like paying bills ;)
It's been a fantastic start, all things considered; my class teacher is giving all the support I could wish for, my mentor (the school head, as it happens) is similarly positive and helpful. I've been observed leading numeracy "mental starters" (which, for those who don't know are the first 5-10 minutes of any numeracy lesson these days) and I'm comfortably leading lessons (I was going to put "confidently" there, but I don't want to stretch your credulity too far).
That's ahead of my expectations for the first half-term. Still, there's a looooong way to go from here - thankfully I'm really enjoying the ride.
It's been a fantastic start, all things considered; my class teacher is giving all the support I could wish for, my mentor (the school head, as it happens) is similarly positive and helpful. I've been observed leading numeracy "mental starters" (which, for those who don't know are the first 5-10 minutes of any numeracy lesson these days) and I'm comfortably leading lessons (I was going to put "confidently" there, but I don't want to stretch your credulity too far).
That's ahead of my expectations for the first half-term. Still, there's a looooong way to go from here - thankfully I'm really enjoying the ride.
Wednesday, October 11
Book Review - How Children Fail
Well, despite a depressing start (see here) John Holt's "How Children Fail" this is a corking book for anyone thinking of being, or training to be, a teacher. Aside from the whole range of tactics displayed by children to avoid having to learn, this sows the seeds of how to go about trying to educate children in school.
Admittedly, the author, is mostly in of educating children at home, or in "free-range" schools (my words, not his) such as Montessori schools, but the point of all his musings (and such they are, the book being a chronological collection of annotated memos and diary entries) is that children need to be in an environment that they feel is safe and secure before they can even begin to learn. Given today's climate of school leagure tables and SAT exams for children at such regular intervals, this is definitely worth reading to remind you that there are children behind all those statistics - children who need personal attention (yes, even the gift and talented ones) in order to feel safe enough to learn.
Read it. Seriously.
Admittedly, the author, is mostly in of educating children at home, or in "free-range" schools (my words, not his) such as Montessori schools, but the point of all his musings (and such they are, the book being a chronological collection of annotated memos and diary entries) is that children need to be in an environment that they feel is safe and secure before they can even begin to learn. Given today's climate of school leagure tables and SAT exams for children at such regular intervals, this is definitely worth reading to remind you that there are children behind all those statistics - children who need personal attention (yes, even the gift and talented ones) in order to feel safe enough to learn.
Read it. Seriously.
Friday, September 29
A week of firsts
So this week I not only led a (very small part of) the weekly staff meeting, explaining and demonstrating the use of shared folders on the school network; I also took my first class (in ICT, as I mentioned earlier) - which went as well as can be expected, all things considered.
There were, of course, things on which I could build. But overall, it was apparently quite passable. My dozen (or slightly more - who's counting?) years of experience as an IT developer do indeed help. Being completely at ease with the software does mean that I can concentrate on other things, like making sure the children are actually working.
So there we go. I survived.
There were, of course, things on which I could build. But overall, it was apparently quite passable. My dozen (or slightly more - who's counting?) years of experience as an IT developer do indeed help. Being completely at ease with the software does mean that I can concentrate on other things, like making sure the children are actually working.
So there we go. I survived.
Thursday, September 28
Currently thinking...
"So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it." -- Willy Wonka
So, where to start? Well, to kick things off, tomorrow I take my first full lesson - the whole class, the whole lesson. That's the bad news - I'm terrified - the good news is that it's in ICT (computing to those of you not involved in education at the moment) so I do at least consider myself somewhat of an expert in terms of subject knowledge.
Today marked my first planning session with my class teacher. Very productive, personally, although I don't know how much use I was to them ;) Also, I had my lesson plan for the afore-mentioned ICT lesson "vetted" - postive feedback, no amendments suggested - so that's all set for tomorrow.
Then, this afternoon, my mentor returns from a training session at the university (on how to mentor) informing me that the course co-ordinator (whom, I think, still forgets that they are no teaching a class of primary children when they deliver any kind of talk) is apparently very impressed with me... something about "intuitive" questions (and "insightful", I think, or was it "relevant" - as usual, when faced with any sort of compliment, I turn bashful and my brain shuts off all cognitive faculties so as not to let my ego cotton on to what's going on). I'm not sure how I get away with these things, but there y'go... intuitive questions, huh? I wonder what that actually means?
And now to go away an obsess about how much I do or don't know ready for tomorow.
*sigh*
So, where to start? Well, to kick things off, tomorrow I take my first full lesson - the whole class, the whole lesson. That's the bad news - I'm terrified - the good news is that it's in ICT (computing to those of you not involved in education at the moment) so I do at least consider myself somewhat of an expert in terms of subject knowledge.
Today marked my first planning session with my class teacher. Very productive, personally, although I don't know how much use I was to them ;) Also, I had my lesson plan for the afore-mentioned ICT lesson "vetted" - postive feedback, no amendments suggested - so that's all set for tomorrow.
Then, this afternoon, my mentor returns from a training session at the university (on how to mentor) informing me that the course co-ordinator (whom, I think, still forgets that they are no teaching a class of primary children when they deliver any kind of talk) is apparently very impressed with me... something about "intuitive" questions (and "insightful", I think, or was it "relevant" - as usual, when faced with any sort of compliment, I turn bashful and my brain shuts off all cognitive faculties so as not to let my ego cotton on to what's going on). I'm not sure how I get away with these things, but there y'go... intuitive questions, huh? I wonder what that actually means?
And now to go away an obsess about how much I do or don't know ready for tomorow.
*sigh*
Wednesday, September 27
Another day, another lecture
Today was a college day (we're on the "one day per fortnight" routine, now) with a fascinating lecture on counting (and how hard it is to teach) from KD in the morning and then another fun and interesting one on how children learn DR in the afternoon.
Apparently counting is actually rather hard to teach, because it's hard to imagine not being able to count. So, for example, how can you imagine how a pupil feels who struggles to remember which way around to draw a "3"? Well, it turns out that a reasonable way is to have someone make you learn a new set of (patternless) names and symbols for representing the digits 0 through 9 in about two minutes, then test you on them. I, for one, got at least one symbol upside down... which does engender some form of sympathy with children having similar problems learning our own (patternless) numerical symbology.
The afternoon kicked off in a most depressing way - with a video from a Panorama report of 1999 regarding children who have, to all intents and purposes, disappeared from the educational system. There was a happy ending, though, as we considered just how important it was (in terms of learning, at least) to have safe, stable relationships with adults (read: teachers, at least).
A great day of lectures - I'm really starting to feel like I'm getting a handle on things.
*sigh*
Apparently counting is actually rather hard to teach, because it's hard to imagine not being able to count. So, for example, how can you imagine how a pupil feels who struggles to remember which way around to draw a "3"? Well, it turns out that a reasonable way is to have someone make you learn a new set of (patternless) names and symbols for representing the digits 0 through 9 in about two minutes, then test you on them. I, for one, got at least one symbol upside down... which does engender some form of sympathy with children having similar problems learning our own (patternless) numerical symbology.
The afternoon kicked off in a most depressing way - with a video from a Panorama report of 1999 regarding children who have, to all intents and purposes, disappeared from the educational system. There was a happy ending, though, as we considered just how important it was (in terms of learning, at least) to have safe, stable relationships with adults (read: teachers, at least).
A great day of lectures - I'm really starting to feel like I'm getting a handle on things.
*sigh*
Tuesday, September 26
Book Review (the first of many, hopefully) - The Language of Discipline
Finally waded through my first non-fiction book (completely, as in all of, as in from start to finish) in... let's see... um... ages. Definitely months. Almost certainly years.
I read a classroom behaviour management tome by Bill Rogers, "The Language of Discipline: Practical Approach to Classroom Management"; and a fine book it was, too. It wasn't all rocket science, by any means, in fact there were several parts which, as a parent, rang very familiar indeed. But even those ideas were expanded upon to make them relevant to a "whole class" scenario. Thoroughly recommended.
As a footnote, I'm starting "How Children Fail" by John Holt; so far, so depressing. All I'm being told in the opening pages is how many ways children have of pretending to learn wihtout actually learning. Way to go!
*sigh*
I read a classroom behaviour management tome by Bill Rogers, "The Language of Discipline: Practical Approach to Classroom Management"; and a fine book it was, too. It wasn't all rocket science, by any means, in fact there were several parts which, as a parent, rang very familiar indeed. But even those ideas were expanded upon to make them relevant to a "whole class" scenario. Thoroughly recommended.
As a footnote, I'm starting "How Children Fail" by John Holt; so far, so depressing. All I'm being told in the opening pages is how many ways children have of pretending to learn wihtout actually learning. Way to go!
*sigh*
Saturday, September 23
Residential Round-up
What can I say, except that I am obviously not a Knerps!*
Just come back from a three day residential with class 5 (a mixture of year 6 and 5) in Northumberland. What a fantastic experience!
For starters, I now know another class (at least by first name) so that's 40% of the school covered. But mostly it was just a masterclass on how to organise; a trip, children, etc. The whole thing went of smoothly enough, no-one was actually travel sick (for which relief much thanks) and the few that were homesick were just that: few (and homesick, yes).
On the way up from Nottingham we called in at Beamish for a few hours. Most enjoyable, if utterly unrelated to the rest of the trip, and where I learned a golden rule of residential trips - don't let the children spend all of the day's money in the sweet shop! Thankfully nobody actually made themselves sick, as I'd been labelled person most likely to help clear up given that it was my group that had (by far) the most sweets.
The main part of the residential was based from the Once Brewed Youth Hostel - very nice, food very good - we called in at the Roman Army Museum and then Vindolanda and finally, next day, to Housesteads for a stretch along Hadrian's Wall. But the highlight had to be a presentation by Jeff (of Jeff's Roman Experience) - words cannot adequately describe how much fun this was, nor how much the children got out of it. Seriously, if you haven't seen him and you intend to take school children there for an educational visit, contact the guy.
Then heading back to Nottinham, exhausted.
* For which you have to understand that there was a marketing slogan, a long time ago, for Knerps umbrellas along the lines of "you can't k-nacker a k-nerps". Sorry.
Just come back from a three day residential with class 5 (a mixture of year 6 and 5) in Northumberland. What a fantastic experience!
For starters, I now know another class (at least by first name) so that's 40% of the school covered. But mostly it was just a masterclass on how to organise; a trip, children, etc. The whole thing went of smoothly enough, no-one was actually travel sick (for which relief much thanks) and the few that were homesick were just that: few (and homesick, yes).
On the way up from Nottingham we called in at Beamish for a few hours. Most enjoyable, if utterly unrelated to the rest of the trip, and where I learned a golden rule of residential trips - don't let the children spend all of the day's money in the sweet shop! Thankfully nobody actually made themselves sick, as I'd been labelled person most likely to help clear up given that it was my group that had (by far) the most sweets.
The main part of the residential was based from the Once Brewed Youth Hostel - very nice, food very good - we called in at the Roman Army Museum and then Vindolanda and finally, next day, to Housesteads for a stretch along Hadrian's Wall. But the highlight had to be a presentation by Jeff (of Jeff's Roman Experience) - words cannot adequately describe how much fun this was, nor how much the children got out of it. Seriously, if you haven't seen him and you intend to take school children there for an educational visit, contact the guy.
Then heading back to Nottinham, exhausted.
* For which you have to understand that there was a marketing slogan, a long time ago, for Knerps umbrellas along the lines of "you can't k-nacker a k-nerps". Sorry.
Sunday, September 17
Post Collegial Blues
A couple of days of lectures ended the week nicely. A bit more on planning (which, actually, did help - and provided some useful outlines on what to put in a lesson plan), followed by what was possibly the most tedious ICT lecture I've ever had the misfortune to attend (and stuggle to remain awake for). At the risk of appearing in any way to be suffering from "professional snobishness" the lecturer was a classic case of the self-taught "expert", ie they'd dabble with computers from when they first hit mainstream, then his initial interests and requirements had been met by various bits of software... which they still use. For starters, having a presentation prepared on Microsoft Word (as opposed to, say, Microsoft PowerPoint) and not even neatly paginated, to boot! I mean, I ask you!
Friday's lectures more than made up for the drab end to Thursday, however, with an introduction to a series on numeracy by a truly inspiring lecturer - honestly, we all had fun doing some fairly elementary mathematical games. Well, I was inspired and that's what counts most for me. Then our final behaviour management lecture (a series I've enjoyed and which I find especially relevant given the "challenging" nature of some of the pupils in my clas) and a rather fun (more of a workshop than a lecture) session on voice management rounded us off nicely.
Ready for next week? Not 'alf!
Friday's lectures more than made up for the drab end to Thursday, however, with an introduction to a series on numeracy by a truly inspiring lecturer - honestly, we all had fun doing some fairly elementary mathematical games. Well, I was inspired and that's what counts most for me. Then our final behaviour management lecture (a series I've enjoyed and which I find especially relevant given the "challenging" nature of some of the pupils in my clas) and a rather fun (more of a workshop than a lecture) session on voice management rounded us off nicely.
Ready for next week? Not 'alf!
Wednesday, September 13
Progressions
Oh... where to start... where to start?
Well, I guess the very beginning is a popular place to start :)
Following a couple of INSET days (in which, amongst other things, we constructed a "snow den", for two small children to use, out of some bin bags, a bag of old newspaper and a roll of sellotape), we had some initial training in college. This included a cracking session on "Design and Technology" which culminated in a practical session using cardboard to build various mechanisms along with several introductory sessions on planning, behaviour management and what to expect from the primary experience as a whole.
Then, after a weekend to recuperate (hah!) it was time for some actual classroom experience. Monday was... let's call it entertaining. I'm training in a class that's... well... let me quote my head (and GTP mentor) when I call them "squirmy". But I'm getting my head around things, slowly. I think I've managed to learn all of the children's names, now (first name, at least) and I'm starting to get a firm grasp of the challenges ahead - now all I need is a little more of a grasp on the strategies I can use to meet those challenges :)
Three days in school and we're back in college for a break... *ahem*... for further training. More news from there over the weekend (hopefully).
Well, I guess the very beginning is a popular place to start :)
Following a couple of INSET days (in which, amongst other things, we constructed a "snow den", for two small children to use, out of some bin bags, a bag of old newspaper and a roll of sellotape), we had some initial training in college. This included a cracking session on "Design and Technology" which culminated in a practical session using cardboard to build various mechanisms along with several introductory sessions on planning, behaviour management and what to expect from the primary experience as a whole.
Then, after a weekend to recuperate (hah!) it was time for some actual classroom experience. Monday was... let's call it entertaining. I'm training in a class that's... well... let me quote my head (and GTP mentor) when I call them "squirmy". But I'm getting my head around things, slowly. I think I've managed to learn all of the children's names, now (first name, at least) and I'm starting to get a firm grasp of the challenges ahead - now all I need is a little more of a grasp on the strategies I can use to meet those challenges :)
Three days in school and we're back in college for a break... *ahem*... for further training. More news from there over the weekend (hopefully).
Monday, September 4
Hi-ho, hi-ho
...it's off to teach I go.
So - first day in the new job. A fun day - just an INSET day, I've not been let loose on any children yet - but fun nevertheless. I guess the highlight would be building a "snow den" out of newspaper, bin bags and sellotape, but I also began to get glimpses of understanding of the scope of the task ahead of me. Scared? Absolutely... but in a good way, and getting less.
Watch this space, I guess.
So - first day in the new job. A fun day - just an INSET day, I've not been let loose on any children yet - but fun nevertheless. I guess the highlight would be building a "snow den" out of newspaper, bin bags and sellotape, but I also began to get glimpses of understanding of the scope of the task ahead of me. Scared? Absolutely... but in a good way, and getting less.
Watch this space, I guess.
Friday, August 11
Watch this space
I'm thinking I'll start posting thoughts, news and/or progress from my teacher training here. So, who knows, it may almost be worth reading again... nah.
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