I
try to always use a metaphor as a title for my reflection and in this week’s
English lessons I introduced the use of them with my class’s creative writing.
For
the next few weeks my year 4 class are to plan an adventure story and write
their own one. This is quite important because it will form one of their
assessment pieces and gives me a chance to see how my 6 chosen pupils are
progressing. I used Robert Louis Stephenson’s ‘Kidnapped’ as the introductory story and because it is a classic
that no-one had read, this ensured everyone started on the same level and could
hear me read the story without (I hoped) any of them being distracted.
One
thing I could have done was to give support group a piece of information with
an overall layout of what the 1st chapter was about- I actually did
this but afterwards. The reason for using this particular piece was because it
introduced the hero of the story, has a reason for an adventure to begin, a
cliff-hanger and a journey that the hero goes on from the very beginning. These are all the things I wanted the class
to think about when writing an exciting and tense adventure story.
My
first day teaching without the class teacher in school came about on Tuesday
when he was away at a course. This meant I had complete ownership of the class
from registration through to the end of the day. Math’s merges straight into
English without a break (unlike my main school) and this kept me on my toes to
ensure the children were occupied for 2 hours. I used the reward charts to my
advantage and spoke to any parents at the start and end of the day who had the
usual queries. This will no doubt help me over the next few weeks with
establishing firm parent/teacher relationships.
My
main lesson objective in English for this week was to teach the proper use of
similes and metaphors and although it took a while I am confident that most of
the children can correctly use the both of them. I gave everyone a list of
well-known similes and metaphors, and allowed them to describe their hero with
them if needed. For the more able, I wanted them to think of their own or at
least change them to make it more appropriate.
My
two observed lessons were English and Maths and both had a lot of constructive
criticism. The main thing I need to do is ensure silence is kept when asked
for. This particular class hate to lose table or Dojo Points so are excellent
tools to use when giving or taking them away. A sand-timer is also a good
visual for the children to see when I set a quick task such as tidying away
desks or finishing up a piece of work, I do need to get a few into the habit of
not watching the sand run completely down or a clock on the IWB countdown from
a minute, as this will defeat the object.
Differentiation
is also a hard thing for me at the moment as there are some children working at
almost year 5 level. I overcame this by looking at the Math’s work for the years
above and gave them a lot more independency with less input. This was I can see
who truly has a grasp of certain parts of the curriculum and those who actually
coast through the easier work but then struggle when it gets harder.
Next
week is assessment week and rather than the usual SAT’s past papers in Reading and
Maths, the children will also complete a Written task (essentially the
adventure story I have been teaching then to plan) plus a Reading Age and
Spelling Age test. As this will take out the majority of the mornings next week
and with World Book Day on the Thursday, I have got quite a different week to
the other 4 whilst at my second placement school. This is a good opportunity to
see how a whole school approach is to assessment and also to mark work
alongside other teachers for moderation.
I
have planned a World Book Day project similar to one I undertook last year when
I was a TA except this will be more structured and I have included the chance
for older children to mentor the younger students in KS2.
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