Today, I was back on placement. Back with the Year 6 class, back in the chaos of schools, and back in charge.
The day began with Literacy - in which we are teaching the Jabberwocky - I took the lowest set, and we worked pretty damn hard to understand what a noun, verb, adjective and adverb are. We then dissected the first stanza of the poem deciding, based on the sentence structure, what nonsense words were (noun, verb, etc.) and finally deciding how we each individually interpret the nonsense words to mean.
Tip of the week: if you do the above, do not let the children look up certain words on the internet (mimsy being one) as there are all sorts of issues....
This afternoon, we took a science lesson, 'on the hoof' as it were. I cannot take a lot of credit for the lesson as my placement partner took most of it, with myself interjecting mainly for clarification and more technical information (such as the difference between melting and dissolving). But it was an out and out success. I shall be leading this same lesson on Wednesday, so I took note of the positives and the negatives (there were very few) and as out double act goes, hope that it is fine tuned by then!
As for now, I am off to read a book for my assignment (told you I would do it...)
S x
Monday 12 November 2012
Sunday 11 November 2012
11.11.12: Today we remember.
It has been a long time since I last blogged.... and today I fear I will not make up for that fact, but I will try to update all that has happened in the last month or so....
Placement, classes, assignment prep week and skills tests.
1) Placement 1a part 1.
One week in a year 6 class. 34 rather rowdy children, all individuals (very much so) rather tough to break through to, and a school trip - where no one fell into the river, so at least it was a success in that respect, although I'm not entirely convinced the class learnt anything.... I go back there for two weeks starting tomorrow, and we go armed with a weeks worth of English lessons (we only have to teach one lesson). Hopeing it will go a lot more smoothly that I anticipate, but if not, it's a good learning experience right?
2) Classes. A million of them.
So much information is being shot at us for so many different subjects that my head is not given enough time absorb it all. I find it amazing that we are given 3 classes - 4.5hrs - for each subject (aside from Maths, English, Science and PE, which thankfully we have slightly more of) but from this we are next year supposed to be able to take a years worth of lessons.... I'm sure we probably could take the lessons now without any classes, however, there is currently a call for a higher quality of Primary School teaching, and thus teachers, so logically I would assume the more classes we have for each individual subject the better we will be able to teach them?
3) Assignment Prep Week.
I failed miserably at the whole notion of 'assignment preparation'. I have had 4 books from the library for the past 4 weeks and failed to get beyond the first page of the first book... It would be a motivation and time management thing. But mainly the motivation thing. The assignment is on formative assessment (not the curriculum as the assignment title would have you believe.... it being called 'the curriculum assignment' and all) Despite what it is about, and the importance of it in the classroom - of which I completely understand - the books are so dry that I cannot force myself to read them right at this moment. By next week however, I promise I will be able to report that I have read at least two, hopefully 3.
4) Skills Tests.
This, is one thing at which I have actually, completely and utterly succeeded at during the last month. I recommend to everyone to attempt the practice tests, and to purchase the 'Achieving QTS: Passing the Literacy/Numeracy Skills Test' books, in order to give confidence (even if you are brilliant at one subject) and in order to better understand the format of the tests and working under the time constraints. As I said, I have, very proudly, passed both, first time. I found the actual tests to be easier than the practice tests, which was a very pleasant surprise, however the testing room is not the nicest of places - if you have completed your driving theory, then you know exactly what it is like as it is literally the same testing room. With the same flickery/old computers.
Right, wish me luck with Part 2 of my placement, hopefully the class will be calmer and less argumentative than during part 1....
S x
Placement, classes, assignment prep week and skills tests.
1) Placement 1a part 1.
One week in a year 6 class. 34 rather rowdy children, all individuals (very much so) rather tough to break through to, and a school trip - where no one fell into the river, so at least it was a success in that respect, although I'm not entirely convinced the class learnt anything.... I go back there for two weeks starting tomorrow, and we go armed with a weeks worth of English lessons (we only have to teach one lesson). Hopeing it will go a lot more smoothly that I anticipate, but if not, it's a good learning experience right?
2) Classes. A million of them.
So much information is being shot at us for so many different subjects that my head is not given enough time absorb it all. I find it amazing that we are given 3 classes - 4.5hrs - for each subject (aside from Maths, English, Science and PE, which thankfully we have slightly more of) but from this we are next year supposed to be able to take a years worth of lessons.... I'm sure we probably could take the lessons now without any classes, however, there is currently a call for a higher quality of Primary School teaching, and thus teachers, so logically I would assume the more classes we have for each individual subject the better we will be able to teach them?
3) Assignment Prep Week.
I failed miserably at the whole notion of 'assignment preparation'. I have had 4 books from the library for the past 4 weeks and failed to get beyond the first page of the first book... It would be a motivation and time management thing. But mainly the motivation thing. The assignment is on formative assessment (not the curriculum as the assignment title would have you believe.... it being called 'the curriculum assignment' and all) Despite what it is about, and the importance of it in the classroom - of which I completely understand - the books are so dry that I cannot force myself to read them right at this moment. By next week however, I promise I will be able to report that I have read at least two, hopefully 3.
4) Skills Tests.
This, is one thing at which I have actually, completely and utterly succeeded at during the last month. I recommend to everyone to attempt the practice tests, and to purchase the 'Achieving QTS: Passing the Literacy/Numeracy Skills Test' books, in order to give confidence (even if you are brilliant at one subject) and in order to better understand the format of the tests and working under the time constraints. As I said, I have, very proudly, passed both, first time. I found the actual tests to be easier than the practice tests, which was a very pleasant surprise, however the testing room is not the nicest of places - if you have completed your driving theory, then you know exactly what it is like as it is literally the same testing room. With the same flickery/old computers.
Right, wish me luck with Part 2 of my placement, hopefully the class will be calmer and less argumentative than during part 1....
S x
Sunday 14 October 2012
14.10.2012: One day till Placement 1a
Tomorrow begins placement 1a, and today I find myself wishing my printer was working.... As it is not, I have a lot of documents on my computer that should be in paper format. Guess I will be taking my laptop along with me tomorrow! Despite the lack of printed documentation, I am pretty much organised (for the first day at least!)
I am also in need of buying several hundred books... I could borrow them from the library, however all the copies seem to be constantly out. I know I can reserve them for when I get back into classes (odd system where by if someone else wishes to borrow a book your lease on it drops from one week to two days, and as I live so far from the university and my placement is ridiculously far away, any recalls will have to be patient!) but I would feel bad because I know if I want to take out a book for a week, it means I usually will take a week to read it, and I guess others would too?!?
So, Tip of the week.... I guess I have two:
S x
I am also in need of buying several hundred books... I could borrow them from the library, however all the copies seem to be constantly out. I know I can reserve them for when I get back into classes (odd system where by if someone else wishes to borrow a book your lease on it drops from one week to two days, and as I live so far from the university and my placement is ridiculously far away, any recalls will have to be patient!) but I would feel bad because I know if I want to take out a book for a week, it means I usually will take a week to read it, and I guess others would too?!?
So, Tip of the week.... I guess I have two:
- Make sure your printer works (at all times throughout the course)
- Save up a lot of money for books, or learn to read dry textbooks at high speed!
S x
Friday 12 October 2012
12.10.2012: A week of little sleep
I've become a little bogged down in all the work, additionally illness and injury have taken their toll, so have not been able to blog in a while.
Today started out rather stressfully, almost to Cambridge (within 10 miles of our 40ish mile journey, we hit a stand-still. I'm impressed that we had managed this long without a major traffic jam, but today the luck ran out. We sat, with the engine off for over an hour, BUT we were only 15 minutes late for the lecture... All I can surmise from this is that we clearly leave home at least half an hour too early on the average day...
Today, was our last day in University before the first placement. I'm looking forward to being back in a classroom, but at the moment, I'm a little overwhelmed with the amount I need to prepare/sort/read/write/organise etc. We have a placement week, then a three week break before we go back to complete this placement in November. In the 'break' we have two weeks of classes - in which I have a group presentation, and a reading week - which I am going to need! We also have been set our first proper assignment: 6000 words on formative assessment in relation to a certain area of the curriculum. I have science to cover, but am required to make reference to specific examples I see within my placement, so I have background reading to complete right now, but am unable to think about the 'main body' of the assignment until I have started my placement.
There is basically very little time to do anything other than university work, and consequently, I am now finished blogging for today. Back to work I go.
S x
Today started out rather stressfully, almost to Cambridge (within 10 miles of our 40ish mile journey, we hit a stand-still. I'm impressed that we had managed this long without a major traffic jam, but today the luck ran out. We sat, with the engine off for over an hour, BUT we were only 15 minutes late for the lecture... All I can surmise from this is that we clearly leave home at least half an hour too early on the average day...
Today, was our last day in University before the first placement. I'm looking forward to being back in a classroom, but at the moment, I'm a little overwhelmed with the amount I need to prepare/sort/read/write/organise etc. We have a placement week, then a three week break before we go back to complete this placement in November. In the 'break' we have two weeks of classes - in which I have a group presentation, and a reading week - which I am going to need! We also have been set our first proper assignment: 6000 words on formative assessment in relation to a certain area of the curriculum. I have science to cover, but am required to make reference to specific examples I see within my placement, so I have background reading to complete right now, but am unable to think about the 'main body' of the assignment until I have started my placement.
There is basically very little time to do anything other than university work, and consequently, I am now finished blogging for today. Back to work I go.
S x
Tuesday 2 October 2012
02.10.2012: Sickness and Books
I've spent the last three days with a sickness bug. I went into University yesterday (I had the essay to hand in) and spent most of the day running out of class. So I took today off. I feel somewhat better, but I'm still not completely there. So, I am reading. I have a wonderful reason for reading - its a requirement to create a reading journal... and I set my target at 100 books over the next year. Which actually could be really easy as tiny people's books can be read in 30 seconds flat. But I can't just read them, I have to read longer books for older children too. So I am investing in several book series. And today I have just started Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. What a great way to get over a sickness bug.
S x
S x
Sunday 30 September 2012
29.09.2012: Essay Writing
Essay writing. All day. Now, at half 12 in the morning, I have finally finished my essay! It is, basically not what I want to have written, I'm not even sure it answers the question, but it is done. And ultimately, this essay is not assessed, just a requirement.
Really short post as I have done nothing but type all day!
Have a nice weekend, I shall head to bed to sleep until noon.
S x
Really short post as I have done nothing but type all day!
Have a nice weekend, I shall head to bed to sleep until noon.
S x
Friday 28 September 2012
26-18/09/12: Matriculation and sleep deprivation
The last few days have been a little hectic, and consequently I have not actually gotten round to writing on here. Wednesday (26th) was PE and Drama. We learnt more about how to organise a PE lesson for different abilities within a group, and a few games to help improve everyone's skills (rolling, kicking, throwing, batting etc) It's good for me to learn, because I never enjoyed games at school - and I hope that I can learn to teach with the encouragement that lacked in my education. Drama was my all time least favourite lesson. It was (and I guess still is) a popularity contest. The more popular people are generally more confident and so gain recognition from the teacher. I did not enjoy drama. I will always remember hating my teacher for forcing me to perform in front of people that I did not like or trust, and I think drama is all about trust in yourself and the audience. It is deeply personal, it is a time when you have to let down your defences because that is the only way to become a character. And if you do that you leave yourself open to be hurt. That is why I hated drama. The lesson therefore was walked into with dread. After the intro, we played 'hand touch' which I am awesome at it turns out, and then we did some improv - which I find really difficult (thinking on my feet.... probably a skill I should learn) and then we did some activities around a scene. The scene was a 'character passage' about being survivors after a long journey, and making this new place our home. No detail of where we were, or had come from, where why we moved or what happened in the journey. And we split into four groups. My group was creating a map of where we had come from, the second group did a set of two freeze-frames with thought tapping of the scene prior to leaving and whilst fleeing. The third group did four freeze-frames depicting the journey, and the final group did hot-seating of the thoughts post arrival. Finally we finished with a conscience alley. It was a lot better than I anticipated, and I actually look forward to the next lesson. I still don't like drama, but I will keep an open mind at least.
27th: Science and Music today. Music is always an odd one for me. On the one hand I love songs, and singing (I'm not sure I can sing, but I enjoy singing!) but in the other hand, I really can't play instruments.... I guess teaching music therefore makes me feel rather nervous! We started with warm up music games, which seem pretty simple - and were rather fun! Next we learnt different techniques for building up children's confidence with beats and rhythm, as well as pitch and harmony. Science was all about making the subject interactive - we did junk modelling to create the inside of the human body.
27th: Science and Music today. Music is always an odd one for me. On the one hand I love songs, and singing (I'm not sure I can sing, but I enjoy singing!) but in the other hand, I really can't play instruments.... I guess teaching music therefore makes me feel rather nervous! We started with warm up music games, which seem pretty simple - and were rather fun! Next we learnt different techniques for building up children's confidence with beats and rhythm, as well as pitch and harmony. Science was all about making the subject interactive - we did junk modelling to create the inside of the human body.
Thursday evening, was also matriculation. So, nice pretty dresses, lovely meal, and a strange ritual of Latin/Anglo Saxon (?) words whilst drinking wine from an African Horn.... Only at Cambridge.
28th: Today (because now I am caught up) is, as always English Friday! Poetry to be specific, we learnt different techniques to encourage and entice poems from our class, and a huge array of poets to read up/teach. One great resource is: http://www.poetryarchive.org/childrensarchive/home.do It is definitely worth some time - there are recordings of poets performing their work and interviews about works, and just thousands of poems! We did write our own poem (a group work) taking elements from the different games/lesson ideas we had been taught. Ours is a haiku, and I hope you enjoy it!
The wild cake robots
Blotted out the summer sun
darkness envelops
S x
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