My first observed lesson.

On my return to school after University I was brimming with confidence and full of ideas. My first lesson was about researching a famous person on the Internet such (Usain Bolt and Mo Farah among the favourites) and making notes to create a biography. 

Science Lesson Observation 

Focus: How does the teacher check for prior knowledge?

I observed for just the starter.

LO: To know which types of materials make shadows.

LO: Can translucent objects make shadows?

• First questions included what the class knew of light. When given an answer, teacher expanded on this and asked how/why do they know if it’s a true fact. This made if more interesting because not only was an answer required but also supporting evidence.
• How it is a fact and not opinion was the phrase she used.
• The use of real life context also aided the class to think of answers.
• Interactive whiteboard was used by teacher to put answers.

On reflection this was a useful observation because it allowed me to see the value of knowing what prior knowledge the class have and despite knowing what they should have covered previously, it's always wise to never assume.

I should have observed the entire lesson and seen if any other more prior knowledge came from the class. 

Mentor Meeting

During my mentor meeting on Wednesday, we discussed my Science observation and talked about my pending Spanish lesson plan and I was confused about the difference between a Learning Objective and Success Criteria. She went through what each one represented and hopefully it will stick in my head.

Spanish Lesson Observation of me 

I took the starter of this lesson

LO:  To introduce myself and provide basic information in Spanish

SC: I can recall and use basic vocab to describe; name age and nationality - ALL

SC: I can have confidence in my speaking and listening skills - ALL

SC: I can speak in more than one sentence at a time - MOST

SC: I am able to use previously learnt vocab - SOME

I started off by going through the alphabet as a starter and then introduced 'What is your name?' 'How old are you?' and 'Where do you live?’

I said the Spanish and asked the class what the English was. This enabled me to gauge the ability of the class and which ones stood out from the rest. The hardest one was ‘Cuentos anos tiennes?’ because it doesn't have a word similar to English. 

The class teacher took over for the main and this involved using the questions learnt, applying the knowledge by copying sentences from the interactive board, into their books and filling in missing words.

From this lesson I learnt quite a lot about what's needed of me in future teaching. My feedback (a lot of positives with added constructive criticism) had been given at time of typing but I wish to keep some of it to myself and only reflect on how I felt directly after my session. Luckily Miss G took the second Year 6 class as soon as this one had finished so I could also see similarities and comparisons. 

First lesson

• There were a couple of really strong students who could do all of the tasks I set. This class I do not teach a lot (they are the other Yr 6 tutor group) so it was helpful to notice who has was willing to answer questions and add extra vocab.
• I asked questions in Spanish to illicit a response. This was often harder than I thought because my own vocab and pronunciation is not strong enough yet.
• When asked to get into pairs, the class responded quickly and engaged in conversation. This then resulted in some excellent responses when selected to present to the whole class.
• I should have used the lolly-sticks because still not clear with all of the names in this class.

Second lesson

• It was opened similarly to mine, although the teacher is able to talk fluently when greeting the class and has of course better understanding of the entire lesson.
• She used the interactive board to show Spanish words with English meanings - something I could have used.
• Instead of working in just pairs, she asked the class to get into groups of 2's, 3's or 4's. 
• The children presenting afterwards, relied heavily on the interactive board. Would this have been the same in my lesson?

Second School Placement

There is nothing much to say except I arranged a meeting with the Head from a local school and was able to confirm that I have a placement in their Yr 4 class for my 60% teaching block.

It's a school close to where I live and I was recommended it by a couple of their pupil’s parents who I run with at my running club. Being a one-form entry school, there is a huge difference in number of students and also a lot easier to get from a-z across the whole school.

My Day at University

This was all about how to plan lessons. The subjects were: Maths, English and Science. All of the sessions were held by teaching professionals and each had their own unique way of delivering a lesson.

MATHS PLANNING

We were shown additional resources on Blackboard to use and this contained plenty that I will be no doubt using including; Sets of test questions, plenary or starters, mathematical challenges for G&T, mathematical vocab and also other useful websites.

A first starter was shown to use which involved the simple use of a piece of paper. 

• Fold it until it creates 16 sections and write a single digit number 0-9 on each space.
• You then ask the class questions and they have to re-fold it into place to create answers.
• Find a multiple of 5, find the smallest 2 digit number, link up with someone else in class to make a certain number.... the list is endless.
• The hope is to get a visual method of assessing the class without implying it.

Helpful hints

Observe ----> look listen and note what the class do.

Assessment ----> analyse and decide what's needed to be learnt.

Planning ------> how to build on what they know.

What has changed in the curriculum?

Probability and data is less prominent.

Students are expected to build firm foundations and NOT accelerate content learning. 

A second starter was shown and it also involved the simple us of paper.

Helpful hints

Create a learning hook/starter: Why should children care?

Vocab: see maths vocab website.

LO: What is the aim?

Support: Differentiation and resources used.

Particular Challenge: Check out the NRich Website.

Resources Needed: Don't leave them until last minute.

LITERACY PLANNING

Helpful Hints

Need to think about the END GOAL.

Need to give the message that all children are R/W's but are at different stages of learning.

Writing isn't just formal pieces.

Children should be learning about text that they have empathy with and are interested in.

Value the texts read by the lower attained reader but open the door to other texts. 

When using extracts - ensure they come from text that is known to the students.

Text Integrity

Choose appropriate ones that are have a good back story for planning.

Not just books but could use Top Trumps/Game Cards or even instructions for games, LEGO etc.

The Specifics

Find every way to show that you notice the children are R/W and give power to them by letting them know that they CAN read and write.

They should be able to integrate life context into their writing.

Behaviour Development 

Coherent thoughts

Better Vocab

Higher choice of reading material

Sense of achievement - they want more

Curiosity and the need to explore further

They contribute more to lessons and take responsibility for their work

Higher level of concentration because they want to do better

Planning

• We looked at a couple of poems and analysed the planning sheets that we were given. A lot was discussed about how the poem makes you think and not just what the poem is trying to say.
• When reading poems there is no right or wrong answer. Every opinion counts.
• Ask a TA to write words up on the board plus teacher add some that could be included.
• Always read it 3 times; teacher, together and then individually.
• Place in mixed ability groups so that whilst others are more able readers, the less able can then decode words from what they hear.
• Give children roles so that they can function as a group and work together.
• Share the group ideas with the class.
• Build on other group’s comments and then connect to literacy landscape by adding context.

SCIENCE

Helpful Hints

Always try experiments first before showing the class.

Make a list of essential equipment that should be within easy reach or know where it is.

Remember that some of the experiments, whilst seeming childish to adults, will shock and awe primary aged children and even secondary.

Planning

• We looked at Sound and how it should be taught at KS2 Level.
• Evolution is being introduced to Yr 6 in 2015-16.
• On B/B is a power point and has the National Curriculum in a file.
• Sound vibrates through things.
• Show a picture of a Slow Loris and compare the slow movement with lack of sound; making it less easy to track by predators.
• Use a tuning fork to hear/feel vibrations.
• See vibrations over different objects and also in water.
• Try different games such as grandmother’s footsteps; snatch the keys, sleeping lions.

Essentially the session was a huge lesson in itself all about sound and it modelled the way in which we could engage a class not only by power point presentations but by using different experiments dotted about the classroom.

Highlight of the week

I have my second placement organised and have also encountered my first official observation of me teaching.

Roll on next week and see what it produces.

A week at University and being a model student again !!

Being a model student! I am not sure if that implies my work ethic or that I am studying the art of making models. Hopefully the first one.

Being an ex-Reading citizen, (I lived there from age of 6-11 and also went to two of the local primary schools) and now studying at the University, it felt as though the great circle of life had ascended down on me - cue Disney's 'The Lion King'.

I had to think back to 2005 at Coventry University when I last did any real student work, although in a lot of my jobs there seemed to have been an element of studying that took place. My 2:2 was not purely coincidental, I did indeed not enjoy a lot of my time at Uni, I am sad to say. Growing up, I was destined to end up at a University of some sort. My parents didn't mind what I did as long as I had something to fall back on should my dreams of becoming a TV/film/stage star didn't materialise. I am fortunate to say that since leaving 'The Midland's', I amassed a huge wealth of experience not only in the performing industry but many other working sectors, and all of these have helped shape the person I am today.

So why didn't I enjoy my time at Uni, you might ask? Well I thought it would be just as easy as my previous BTEC Performing Arts course at college and that I would be a social butterfly and make 'friends' quicker than I could sing the theme tune. I was an open book and should have kept myself to myself, or at least slowly allowed my fellow students to get to know me rather than be 'hey look at me'. This wasn't the only reason but it certainly didn't help; friendship groups were made quickly, this impacted on who people chose to work with, collaborative work was harder due to less choice of colleagues, tutors were not always supportive (apart from Micheal Fry), many drank way too much and smoked a lot as well. 
I also had a part-time job working at many places including: the Golden Arches ,a nightclub, B&Q, and a pub, to help support my student loan. Yes my fees were not high compared to what they are today but accommodation didn't leave a lot in the bank balance. These two jobs plus taking on the coaching role at a junior Sunday League football team, to give something back to the local community, all hindered my relationship with my fellow students.

Of course I can't just blame it all on that, I should have taken control of my studies and said to myself 'Yes you need to earn and enjoy football, but you came here to learn and leave with a degree'. This is exactly what I am now having to say to myself. I don't have any extra jobs apart from the teaching one, but I am an avid runner and I need to balance the schedule so that it doesn't impact on my work life. Saying that if I don't keep some part of my active social life 'alive', I won't be doing my life any favours. So I need to strike the right balance.


Right, where was I? Oh yes, I was meant to be focusing on the future and not the past. Last week I enrolled at the University of Reading, at their Whiteknights Campus, met all of the other trainee teachers, and spent the 5 days looking at what being a teacher is all about.

In a recent blog I mentioned some of the things we covered and I shall now go into a little bit more detail and mention what I got out of it.

Monday
Mentorship - this was a chance for my mentor to hear about the basics of School Direct training, reflective practice, responsibilities and expectations. A lot of interesting information arose from this session and I will need to apply this into my weekly mentor meetings.

Registration: - sounds obvious but this also includes a meeting with the Union rep's. I am now officially a student again. Still need my NUS card though to get a freebie at McD's.

Tuesday 

Behaviour Management- does exactly what it says on the tin, except more, and I wish I had seen this session before entering a school environment because the guest lecturer was brill. There is another session on this later on so will be good to see how I cope in my classroom up until then.

The role of the teacher- management and organisation. What we think being a teacher is all about and what the children might come to expect of us. I had a great analogy about teachers being gardeners because; the children are like seeds we sow and not only do we watch them grow but we nurture and feed them knowledge and even prop them up when they grow up too fast or start to droop.

Wednesday

Tutorial: A chance to see what was expected from a reflective journal. This blog is not going to contain some of the more sensitive issues. Also on the agenda was: how to keep track of files and what to store in each one, weekly mentor meetings, being observed and half termly reviews. I am usually an organised person but this is going to require some forward planning.

Learning Hub: This is an impressive place that any school would be proud of to call their library. I was amazed at the resources and glad that it's close where I live and teach.

The structure of a lesson: How to consider planning and evaluating. This included a lovely YouTube clip of a Yr 3 Geography class out on a field trip in the woods. Being in a Yr 6 class, I will adapt some of the ways in which the teacher interacted with the class. She clearly knows each of her pupils well and had planned her lesson meticulously.

Thursday

How children learn: It was about exploring the ways in which we as trainee teachers define learning. Behaviourism, Constructivism, Social Constructivism, the Zone of Proximal Development,  and the Bruner Scaffolding Theory, were all mentioned and discussed. I still need to read up on these theories but at least I can think about why children learn and what makes them want to learn.

English activities: This was led by Liz Howe and we were asked to work in small groups to create 3 sentences to open a story. We had to agree on what our 3 sentences would be.
The stimulus we had to use was a hiding place among the University grounds. My group found an location that was covered in ivy, contained wheelie bin and a plastic spatula. We based our story on some children who were playing and came across a newspaper article.

'Ben, Ben, come and have a look at this'

Ben ran over to Emily and Vicki who were in the enclosed space, entwined in ivy, containing a wheelie-bin, spatula and a piece of newspaper. It read 'ESCAPED'

Suddenly, they hear a creak and turn around to see the bin-lid slowly opening....

Liz asked the groups to reflect on this session and below are some comments.
Literacy Skills Used: Speaking and listening, imagination, description, punctuation, WOW words, editing work, using suspense and creative writing.

Aspects of Tasks Facilitated:Teamwork, negotiation, discussion and collaboration.

The effect Joint Writing have in the thinking process: Child initiated learning, expanding on ideas, power of persuasion, its also non level dependent and improves and develops vocab.

Scaffolding Differently (what we could have done differently): storyboard, props, pictures as well of or instead of writing, use of a camera, swap groups to come up with different sentence after the first 3

This was an excellent session in which I can adapt in a lot of different lesson plans.

Science activities: We were told its OK not to know everything about Science. A few of my fellow trainees are very despondent when it comes to teaching this lesson. Our main role is to guide the class and adapt to the children's needs.

• Science should be hands on, a lot of listening, lots of looking and a bit of talking.
• Always TEST before TEACH. There is nothing worse than doing an experiment in class that looks great on YouTube but fails in front of the children. 
• Teaching Science is like a magic show. It should provide an element of suprise.
• Science is the study of nature. Nature is full of suprises.

We were asked to think back to our childhood memories of science lessons. Mine were of the hydrogen/oxygen bottle experiment, putting a finger over a flame without it burning, and watching chemical reactions when placed in water. 

It was time to do an experiment and it included the 'ooo' factor. Placing water in a tray, cutting small pieces of paper to float on top, dip finger in washing up liquid and then into the water. This disrupts the 'water tension' and causes the boats to pull to the other side. 

After some more things to consider when  teaching science and how to plan effectively, the lecturer gave us the following to remember:

Science is a body of existing knowledge.

Science is something you do whether it be to explore, model. theorise or create an experiment.

Maths activities: This was similar to Science, in which that some of the group don't feel at ease with teaching it. We were given a group activity to complete all about averages and asked to describe how we came to the logical outcome.
'How many apples are eaten each week in the UK?'
'A traffic jam is a mile long- how many cars are stuck in the jam?'
Now this required an element of investigating and asking each other for opinions. We based answers on who ate apples on our table, how many a week and how many people live in the UK.
For the other question we looked at the average length of a car and imagined they were quite close to each other in traffic.

Yet again Math's is going to be one of those subjects that will get easier to teach with practice. The more you  teach, the more you learn.

Friday

Use of voice: This was a brilliant session in how to use or even not use your voice. Simple warm up exercises, knowing which level use in class depending on the situation, how to prevent sore throat and possible risk of injuring vocal chords, were all covered.
It was less of a written session and more of a practical one. Taking a couple of deep breaths before teaching is recommended as it stimulates the brain. I will be doing this no doubt more often.

Observing teachers and children: This session covered; Why is observation so important?, Why is observation so difficult?, Classroom arrangement and classroom Management, Classroom Talk and Teacher Talk.

Not all of the time will we be observing teachers, some of the time we need to focus on the class and how they respond to learning. 

The National Curriculum: Finally, a session on why we have the National Curriculum (NC) and why it has recently changed. We have it because in 1976 it was decided that there should be a centralised approach to teaching.

The NC does not apply to Academies, Free Schools or Independents. They do however have to follow a school curriculum.

In the session we spoke about what we remembered at school. With such a big age gap between the youngest and oldest of us, the results varied but mine included: Sports Day, PE, varied curriculum, incentives for doing well, school plays and being able to use a computer for the first time.

The children of today may have a different outlook and could say: Sports, assemblies, going to 11+ tutoring, Levels drummed into them. 

Our role is to improve maths and literacy but also respond to the needs of those we teach. 
More foundation subjects are being considered or revamped, adults need the courage to teach unknown subjects and not to be afraid to ask for help from peers. 

Of course that's just a small slither of what our job is but you get the gist. After a full mind-boggling week at University I have come away feeling challenged but not lost. I have fellow trainee students to call on for help and there is a social network page to use as well. 

Being a 'mature' student, I hope I will learn from past mistakes and inject a new lease of life into my learning. After all it's not just about me now, it's about the lives of the next generation

.

Random Acts of Kindness

Random acts of kindness: 

I went into a shop to get a key cut and the the guy behind the counter saw a keyring linking me to school. He said 'oh my daughter is starting a teaching position this month' to which I replied 'I wish her best of luck'. Started to hand over my card to pay and he said 'have it for free, teachers do a lot for this country'. 

Now I'm not saying that if I mention that I'm in teaching, to everyone, it will get free stuff, but it does show that people out there do appreciate what teachers do.

Back at University but am aiming to do better than last time.

As the title suggests, I am back at University (Reading) and my aim is to finish the year with a Good if not Outstanding. 

My last experience in this environment came in 2002-5 when I studied Theatre and Professional Practice at Coventry University. Needless to say, I left with a Desmond (2:2) and thought to myself what could I have done better. I didn't let it deter me, managed to forge a career in drama and have 9 years work-experience to look back on. 

My aim is to pursue this wonderful goal of becoming a Qualified Teacher and ensure that no matter what happens, no matter the time, effort, and months of hard-work, I will reach July 3rd and receive my QTS. This doesn't mean it's going to be a piece of cake or that I am a much more mature person given my 30 years, but I truly feel as if this is my second calling and I have been given a chance to not only enrich my life but many of the next generation of learners.

READING UNIVERSITY

So back to the purpose of this post. For this week (and a lot of Friday's over the next few months), I am based at the London Road Campus and enduring - sorry enjoying - lectures about the life of a teacher, behaviour management and so on and so forth.

Under the gentle but firm guidance of the Course Director and Assistant Director, who are responsible for the day-to-day running of the Primary Schools Direct Course, I am busy listening, taking notes and being an active member of the group.

On Friday I will recapitulate (a new word I learnt recently) my research and give a brief breakdown of what I have learnt and how I will implement my findings whilst being at school. 

Topics are as follows:

Monday 

Mentorship - this was a chance for my mentor to hear about the basics of School Direct training, reflective practice, responsibilities and expectations.

Registration: - sounds obvious but this also includes a meeting with the Union rep's.

Tuesday 

Behaviour Management- does exactly what it says on the tin, except more, and I wish I had seen this session before entering a school environment because the guest lecturer was brill.

The role of the teacher- management and organisation. What we think being a teacher is all about and what the children might come to expect of us.

Wednesday

Tutorial: A chance to see what was expected from a reflective journal.  Also on the agenda was: how to keep track of files and what to store in each one, weekly mentor meetings, being observed and half termly reviews.

Learning Hub: This is an impressive place that any school would be proud of to call their library. I was amazed at the resources and glad that it's close where I live and teach.

The structure of a lesson: How to consider planning and evaluating. This included a lovely YouTube clip of a Yr 3 Geography class out on a field trip in the woods.

Thursday

How children learn: Not Scooby Doo what this will entail...

English activities: Could be anything.

Mathematics activities: Could be anything.

Science activities: Yet again, could be anything.

Friday

Use of voice: From what I can see, its going to include tone, clarity and volume.

Observing teachers and children: Hopefully notes on how to be effective and efficient.

The National Curriculum: How it informs practice.

So that ends today's blog post and it shall be nice to see what happens later on in the week.

Round up of week one

Firstly, I would like to start with quickly going through what happened on Friday.

Friday afternoon is the scheduled PPA time for my phase (Year's 5/6) and although on Friday's I'm normally at Reading University for Centralised Training, I was able to the an active role in the following weeks planning.

In the morning, all was similar to the previous 4 days. The class teachergave the class a 15-letter Countdown style game. In which they had to make up as any words as possible from the letters and also put them into a sentence. 

             ICMPLESSRAIDT

Impossible

Leaders

Tied

Diet

Scrap

Paris

Said

Palm

The World's Leaders were tied up in Paris after it was said they had a scrap after disagreeing over an impossible diet. 

MATHS

The lesson started with a mental maths test in which I read out 5,10 and 15 second questions - with them getting more difficult with the longer time. 

This is to help replicate part of the SAT's papers and allow the children a chance to learn new techniques in jotting down notes and also adapting to how they work out the answers. 

Building on from yesterday, the teacher decided to focus on Decimal Ordering and Comparing. The questions were differentiated 3 ways depending on ability. 

LITERACY

The class teacher introduced the class into the way she marks work.

G-check the sense of the grammar

P- check punctuation

S- check spelling

U- uplevelling is possible

They then looked at an Assessment Focus target sheet and each student had to highlight their literacy skills:

GREEN- anything the individual can do comfortably and all the time

PINK- anything they are not showing enough of, or feel comfortable doing 

These looked at Levels 4-6 although two of the students (who are currently at a level 3) were given a slightly different sheet.  

Focus points included:

Sentence Structure and Punctuation

Text Structure and Organisation

Composition and Effect

Behaviour Management 

I played some music for the first time and says that should I hear too much chatter, it would be switched off. Needless to say the class actually worked a lot quieter than they have done all week. 

Afterwards, the teacher read through some of the Grand Writing work and selected a line from someone's report of their table partners summer holiday.

X voyaged to the funfair and went on an ecstatic ride.

She explained to the class that whilst using a thesaurus is great, the use of the word in context, is more important. 

Asking the class what 'voyaged' would normally link to, one answered - 'a ship at sea'. Voyaged was changed to travelled.

Ecstatic was also investigated and decided by the class to sound good but not the best word to chose. A student said that  'Ecstatic is something you would say when you are really pleased about something happening/about to take place'.

Thrilling was the amended word because it described how exciting the ride was and even the phrase 'white-knuckle' was added to it.

PPA 

After lunch a lot was discussed about Guided Reading groups, Literacy planning and a few other items. However all I can say now is wait and see. 

To recapitulate (meaning to summarise and state the main points) I would like to say that the week has been a success. 

My class seem to respond well to question and answering. All of them are willing to talk (some more than others) and no-one is afraid to ask for help.

The new team I am working with is huge and will take a lot of getting used to. Being a 2/3 form entry with a lot of classes having shared teaching, this equates to a lot of names and personalities. 

Training as a teacher is something totally new to me and it will require a lot of patience, time and energy. Old clichés, but I will honour them. Not only is my mentor an important cog in my learning process but the entire school network plus my fiancee, family and fellow Schools Direct trainees. 

Observing is going to be much easier after Centralised Training. I will notice more things in lessons and develop my own teaching style to include best practice.

Roll on next week and see how it all pans out at Reading University. 

Book review part 2: Primary English, Knowledge and Understanding

Hey to all who were waiting for the 2nd part of this book review. It's been a manic 10 days and most of it had been spent with INSET Training, 1st week at school and generally getting stuck in. 

However, today I finally read the final chapter and must thank the contributiors Jane Medwell, David Wray, George Moore and Vivienne Griffiths. 

This is Achieving QTS:Meeting the Professional Standards Framework books and gives 'all the subject knowledge you need to teach primary English'.

In a nutshell, it refers to the Teachers' Standards at the start of each chapter, gives Curriculum Context, and also highlights the Early Years Foundation Stage and Early Learning Goals. This is a great read for both KS1 and KS2 teachers. 

Chapters 8-14 have now been read and they cover; Punctuation, Cohession:grammar at the level of the text, The qualities of stories, The qualities of poetry, The qualities of drama, Looking at information books, and Electronic texts.

Since the 1st part of this book review, I have attended a Grammar and Language training session held at my new school. 

This was great because it backed up a lot of what I had recently read and I was able to put my newfound subject knowledge to good use.

The layout of the book was easy to follow, each chapter summarised key points, there were pedagogical links and also Masters Level investigations (which could prove useful in future learning). 

The content had been an eye-opener to literacy and has also provided me with some useful resources for Spelling Punctuation and Grammar (SPAG) lessons. When I have time, I will carry out a few of the self-assessment tasks, although some I may be able to do with my class. 

Sept 12th: Day 4 of teaching

I am almost at the end of the week and what a week it has been. Learning not only the students names but those of my fellow colleagues, how to use the photocopier, which area of the playground to supervise whilst on duty, handling a classroom full of pubescent students, and realising that the end of the school day does not mean the end of the working day.

RISE AND SHINE

The class teacher began  with a Rise and Shine question. Write down one sentence to explain where you would like to be in ten years time. 
Most included becoming footballers or actors, although a few decided they would be scientists or doctors. Destinations were also included by some, with the USA being a prime target.

I did something similar in my Primary School and will dig it out from my archives and add it as a picture to this blog over the weekend.  

MATHS

The was the LO: I can read, write and order decimal numbers.
SC: Explain what a decimal means

SC: Look at a number and say what the tenth, hundredth or thousandth digit is

SC:Order decimal numbers up to the thousandths in order of size

Starter
Firstly, the teacher read out a number and asked the class to round to the nearest 10,100 or 1000. 
Common mistakes : 
157 was rounded down to 150, not up to 160 - misunderstanding of process
415 was rounded down to 410, not up to 420 - misunderstanding of process 
665 to nearest 100 was rounded to nearest 10 by a few - misinterpretation of value

The following were to be rounded to the nearest 10,100 and 1000. 
Common mistakes for these were:
1171 became 1180, 1100 and 2000 - misunderstanding of process
2214 became 2220, 2200 and 3000 - misunderstanding of process for two of answers

I noticed more mistakes as the challenge got harder and harder, with students often rounding the wrong digit.

Main
The class what Dienes Blocks can be used for when working out decimal places. They could see it can be used to represented in different ways. With a whole number to be the 100 square, a tenth of a number to be the 10 squared shape, and finally a hundredth was show by a single square. This was a unique way to portray how decimals worked.

I floated across a few tables during this part of the lesson, although concentrated on a lower ability group. Similar problems cropped up when the students could not recognise decimals with less decimal places shown. For example:  1.18 to be smaller than 1.2. This is because all they see is .18 and .2, and think that 2 is smaller than 18. Which if not appearing as a decimal it would be. 

To help, I put the list of numbers on a whiteboard and made sure each had the same amount of numbers after the decimal point. 

1.2 and 1.3 became 1.20 and 1.30. This then changed their perspectives completely because in whole numbers 20 is smaller than 30, so 1.20 must be smaller than 1.30

My aim was to ensure the students looked at the whole number first, decide which was the smallest and put that first. Should two or more whole numbers be the same, they then had to look at the first decimal place (tenth). The smallest of which is next in order. However should these then be the same, the students had to move to the second decimal place (hundredth). They then repeated this until all were ranked smallest to largest.

For the more able students, the numbers went all the way to 3 decimal places 

COLLECTIVE WORSHIP
On a Wednesday morning, the whole of Upper School have Collective Worship instead of Assembly. This is mainly due to the increase in student numbers and also a chance to reflect as a class, on the value of the week, which was FRIENDSHIP.
My class were showed a video of a man and his dog performing tricks with each other in a local skate park. They were asked what was required for this relationship to work. 
Answers included: They are best friends and know each other well, so can trust one another; they are both dedicated to hard work and ensuring practice makes perfect ; their is a commitment to their friendship.

LITERACY - An observed lesson
LO: To identify grammatical features in a text.
SC: To identify nouns, verbs, adjectives and prepositions in a sentence
SC: To identify a range of sentence types
SC: To identify writing strategies

Teacher talk - explanations, questioning, dialogue
The teacher explained that she wanted the class to highlight the grammatical features in a text by using felt tips to underline the words. She asked what a key was and why it would be needed: to describe what colour highlighted which feature. The text chosen was from Tom's Midnight Garden, which is the classroom reading book. 

Tools used in class
Miss G held up one of the writing strategy descriptions, that are placed underneath the whiteboard, and explained to one of the students what imagery was. 

How the teacher gains the attention of the learners
After 10 minutes, the teacher asked the class to clap once if they can hear her, then clap twice if they can hear her, and finally clap three times. Those not talking too loudly, and paying attention, all began to clap early. The rest of the class who were too noisy and not paying attention, didn't begin to clap until the 2nd or 3rd time. 

Teacher talk - explanations, questioning, dialogue
At the end of the task, the teacher went through one of the sentences in the text, which had been pre-typed onto the computer. Using a different colour for each grammatical feature, she underlined certain words and asked the class to point out what each colour represented. 
Adverbials were mistaken for adjectives by quite a few because they mistook the description of something, for the way something happened or moved. 

How the learners respond
The class responded well and I was able to see progress made from the start to the end of the lesson. The Gifted & Talented  students were also able to recognise personification, simile and metaphors.

SUMMARY
The class discussed the effects, writing style, and types of language used, in Tom's Midnight Garden, and have a better understanding of how this might impact on their own speaking and writing.

SPANISH - Both classes across the afternoon
LO: To understand the value of learning a language
LO: To learn the Spanish Alphabet
SC: Meet and greet and provide personal information (weeks 1 and 2)
SC: Understand, ask and answer basic questions and follow instructions in Spanish
SC: Use and apply new vocabulary in a range of contexts.

How the lesson starts and ends

The teacher spoke purely in Spanish to greet the class, with some responding back accordingly. She asked what a sentence on the interactive whiteboard in Spanish 'Bienvenido a tu primera lección de español en el año 6' translated as.

Some knew that Bienvenido meant welcome, but the rest of it required translating  'Welcome to your first Spanish lesson in Year 6' 

Behaviour managament strategies
Ground rules were established for the lesson and these included - silencio/silence or a finger to ask for the class to stop talking, and repita/please repeat or a hand to ear meaning I'm listening to you.
I think its good to have some different class rules for Spanish because listening is a big part of learning a new language. 

Teacher talk - explanations, questioning, dialogue
The class were asked what they already knew and it was explained that they will need to re-cap certain things. 

Resources used
Mirrors to look at when forming words helped the students to see what their mouth does to create certain sounds.
A YouTube clip showed someone speaking 11 different languages and the sub-titles translated what he was saying. It included the reasons behind learning such an impressive amount of languages including: moving to another country, having friends who converse in another language, travelling the world. needing it for a job.

SUMMARY
One thing I did notice, was that the teacher recognised that pretty much all of the class could speak more than one language. This will be beneficial in learning another language because they already have the required skills to do so.
The use of mirrors and Youtube will prove invaluable to the class learning.

Sept 11th: Day 3 of teaching

Another day of firsts at school today, with History and Art being introduced. (More on this later).

RISE AND SHINE

Today's question was 'You walk into the classroom and an astronaut is there sat on a chair. What do you ask him and why? You can only have 3 questions so chose wisely'.

Questions included:

Where is the furthest place you have travelled and do you enjoy space travel?

Why did you decide to become an astronaut?

If you had the choice to travel anywhere in the universe, where would you go and why?

What is it like to walk in space?

This was a great opportunity to see continuation from the report writing, LO: I can write an engaging report. Some of the students have really taken on board what we taught them over the previous two days and this has shown in their imaginative quality of questions.

MATHS

The was the LO: I can read, write and order numbers to a million

SC: Record six-digit numbers correctly

SC: Explain what each digit means

SC:Write six-digit numbers correctly in figures

Place Value formed the starter, and the teacher read out a number in words and expected the class to write on whiteboards what they had heard numerically. A few made mistakes with similar sounding numbers such as 15/50, 17/70 and 19/90. Listening is a key skill in the mental maths SAT's paper because you only get to hear the question for a short amount of time. 

Larger numbers in their 1000,s, 10,000's and 100,000's, were also proving difficult for some students. For example: 13,213 was written as 132,013 or 130,213, 370,100 was written as 370,0100, and 2,340,020 was written as 24,020 and even 2,340,020,000

As you can see quite a few had missing digits where the student had thought 13 thousand 2 hundred meant that a 0 was to be added before the 13, therefore making the number 10 times bigger that it should be. Another had a lot of 0's because they heard the word 'million' and thought they had to add extra ones at the end.

The teacher drew a place value grid up on the board and commented on seeing a few students who had thought of the same idea to help them with their working out. 

Afterwards I worked with a lower ability group for the rest of the lesson, and focused on similar assessment questions as yesterday. What I noticed were: methodical approaches to mental addition, contribution to the table, and  sequencing was good after an explanation.

LITERACY

This progressed on from this weeks lessons to introduce the LO: TO write an engaging report.
SC: Ask open ended questions
SC:To take effective notes
SC: To write ambitious vocab

For this lesson, the class were asked to re-question their partners and generate up-levelled answers. The Grandwriting Books were used to write in, and it was expected to contain at least a paragraph of writing - if not more from the higher ability students.

HISTORY AND ART
This lesson follows lunch and was introduced by another teacher, who has a lot of roles including: classroom sharing with my mentor, the school music teacher and guided reading specialist for Yr 6. 
Both Yr 6 classes were given a brief overview of the topic and were asked to analyse a painting of Professor Dorothy Hodgkin, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964.
LO: To know what a portrait is
SC: To discuss how an artist might show personality
SC: Discuss in groups what the pictures portray



Questions asked of the students included: What the painting could be?, What could be seen in the picture? What does the painting tell you about this persons life? 

Answers included: Someone intelligent, its setting could be in a library, this lady has lack of sight (shown by the use of glasses and a magnifying glass), she likes to draw herself.

Painted in Hodgkin's study at home in Warwickshire, a structural model of the four molecules of insulin stands in the foreground. The artist presents Hodgkin immersed in her work.

Two pairs of hands convey energy and activity. Their appearance also refers to the subject's acute arthritis, contracted when she was 28. - BBC Website 

One of the students thought that the molecules of insulin model could perhaps be a chandelier. Although he was incorrect, I said to him that it was an imaginative way of looking at it. 

The next part of the lesson took place in the separate classrooms, with each table given a couple of pictures to analyse. Some were of royalty and others a random selection with lots to talk about. The teacher wanted the class to realise that a painting can tell a lot about someone and doesn't need a script to explain it all.

READING BOOK SELECTIONS
Ensuring my classroom are reading appropriate books, that suit their ability of reading and comprehension, is top priority because Guided Reading will be starting next week. I took another set of students aside and asked them to chose a book, discuss why they chose it, read a section to me, and answer some questions surrounding the book.

Tomorrow is SPANISH for the first time this academic year and also a first for myself. I wonder what is in store for the students? or Me pregunto lo que está reservado para los estudiantes?