A warm welcome back

This week marked the first time back at St Mary’s and for the next few months I will be working in Year 5 alongside a shared classroom. My aim is to improve on the targets set by my Second Placement mentor and build up to a Good if not Outstanding teacher by the end of July.

The first 4 days I spent getting to know the class and was fortunate enough to have taught many of the students during Maths from September to January, and coached both boys and girls in the school football teams. I've been given the progress ladders and mid-term planning overviews to look into and I made it a top priority.

In English, biographies is the unit choice and the students have been asked to research various well-known people, in order to create their own biography of them. It was very interesting to see obvious choices such as football players and TV or Music celebrities but what did strike me was the quality of note taking and after hearing 'ooo I didn't know that about this person' was great because it showed the students there is more to a person than meets the eye.

I am also excited for English because from the April 27th it will use the General Election as the stimulus and I am planning to teach the class how to write a persuasive speech based on the 7 political parties manifestos. By using the BBC Newsround site, it will enable the children to access politics on a low level but give them a chance to have a 'theoretical' say in how they want the country ran. This unit will include videos featuring children interviewing the party candidates, asking why a TV debate matters, what a General Election actually is, and the power of using persuasive language. 

In Science the teacher asked the students what they knew about the life-cycle of animals and reproduction cycle. This will inform us when planning future lessons to ensure the national curriculum is adhered to but taught according to the what the children already know. I already have some ideas about how to facilitate this and am thinking to split the class into research groups and feedback to their peers with written presentations.  It will be used as a Speaking and Listening assessment.

The Music unit is exciting because it's based around Holst's 'The Planets'. Due to Earth not being used as one of the planets (because at the time of composing, everyone thought the planets revolved around the Earth), their task will be to compose their own idea of what Earth sounds like. I am envisaging solo pieces at first then leading to a group ensemble for their peers to evaluate. This will help with marking and using Success Criteria to show progress.

 Next week will be spent team teaching and getting prepared for the big step up to 80% teaching. I am nervous especially as it's getting closer to the final assessment plus I now have a position at the school as a full-time teacher next year so don't want to make too many mistakes. A good piece of advice I was given is - use this time to make mistakes, as there won't be a lot of room for them once in charge of class by myself.

Planning, Planning, Planning

Wow what a relief that is over, are the first few words to spring to mind. Never before have I ever had to plan so much in my entire life and that is saying something.

Organising a staff rota, deciding who is going to play where on a football team, what directions to take when visiting a new place for the first time, even planning my own wedding – nothing can compare to 3 completely different Primary Subjects with two of them being the most important ones of the week.

My week started really well and I had the Year 4’s going rehearsing play scripts based on well-known fairy tales and adding their own adverbs and stage directions. The Pirate Points board was finally completed with all of their faces on Scuba Divers rising up to the top of the sea after finding treasure.  I team taught a guided reading session with the class TA in which we had 10 children using their Reading, Speaking and Listening skills to discuss a funny story about aliens who came to earth after accidentally receiving an invite to watch a film about aliens. This was useful because I can now gauge what comprehension lessons to plan and how to differentiate the learning.

The class behaviour for learning is dependent on incentives and although a lot of it is intrinsic, most of it is still extrinsic. They want to please and know that I am not an easy target- I have been using an App called ClassDojo that is a whole school approach and am not afraid to award negative feedback (which goes straight to parents), but at the same time reward with positive as well. I even brought some prizes for the class Treasure Chest and this has gone down well already.

It is now half way through the course with merely 3 half terms left and even I feel more composed than I did after last half term. My mentor has guided me through the start of my 60% teaching and we have been addressing the standards that I need to meet.

The lesson planning days at University were extremely useful and I took a lot away from each of them. The Maths and English in particular especially as I needed to improve my bibliography to include some extra columns for why and when I would use the books. The tutorial was very useful towards the end of the term and I had a lot to say given a recent CPD training I had only just attended on ‘Closing the Gap’.

I had planned a series of lessons on how to write an adventure story and originally wanted to use the Alex Rider series as a hook especially as the 23^rd February sees the start of a Literacy competition surrounding the character. I am not familiar with the stories and don’t think I could have done it justice- however it is always something to think about for the future. I did decided to use a booklet I found on TES which enables the class to follow a series of tasks that lead up to them writing a story. I adapted it for this year group and added in a twist in which TOP TRUMP’s cards can be made as well based on the hero and villain of the story.

Maths planning was based around the programme Abacus which the school follows and although I had a lot of the planning set for me, I still had to adapt it and find some extra resources to make it my own.

PE was the final subject I planned and I used knowledge from last year whilst I was based as a TA but took the learning of rounders with my class teacher observing. It was in the last Summer term so gave me confidence in teaching a whole class. I have picked out the main learning points of the sport and broken them down into weeks. An assessment will be made at the beginning and will form part of the ongoing progress each child makes. This will give them ownership of their own learning and something to improve on week by week.

Now with only 5 weeks to teach until the next holidays, I am relishing the fact that I am going to be the main class teacher most of the time and will really be able to see how much my time and effort goes into developing individual and class progress.  

2nd Term passed and a lot to look forward to next year

This week is memorable for many reasons. Firstly the Choir sang at the local conference centre alongside many other schools who use the School Music Service, I finished a science project I had been working on for the past two weeks, my tutor has noticed an improvement in my teaching, and it was my last day at University until we all go back in January.

Last week’s reflection was focused on achieving Standard 8, and in particular 8.1, which for some people can be difficult especially as it often requires juggling work and study with something to attend at lunch and after school. Luckily for me I have always been a busy person both in childhood and as an adult by joining the local Scout Organisation, coaching a football team whilst studying my degree, and running with a local running club during the past two years (proudly won their club championship and am also men’s captain).

I had to swap my break duty with a colleague on Tuesday due to a final rehearsal at the centre and this shows interpersonal skills because I need to strike a chord with those I work with and not expect someone to simply cover me because I need it. During the event I assisted the Music Teacher in making sure our students were kept both safe and on task- we were the best behaved in my opinion. If you know me I am all for making friends and did just that by introducing myself to all the other teachers from the other schools. You never know who you could meet at a job interview or on a course and teaching is a small community. One of the schools had a problem with a song that I knew and the teacher was thankful for me briefly singing along.The evening was a huge success and many parents and school friends attended to watch the performance. I felt extremely proud of the students and can’t wait until I am able to organise a choir to go to such an event.

Finishing my circuit game for a Science Evening that took place during the week was one of my mini-projects althoughI kept experiencing problems with certain parts of the circuit. However, when I added a second battery, it allowed the bulb to become brighter and despite originally wanting to use a buzzer (it’s a game in which you slowly and carefully manoeuvre a looped piece of wire around a windy path from one end to the other). Some of my class helped to put it together and a few were chosen to be Science Ambassadors as well for the event.

2nd Half Term University Observation

Wednesday loomed and I was nervous about teaching in front of my tutor but prepared myself as well as I could. The last Math’s lesson I was observed in, gave me a few things to progress and improve on including; Subject Knowledge, use of assessment, praising appropriately and explaining why, and giving a plenary. I managed to do all of these however didn't give a good plenary and this is something I need to work on. I rushed it and forgot to include the LO although during the lesson I did point out to the class that they had managed to achieve each of the Success Criterion and explained why I moved them around the classroom (recent assessment and also to get year groups working together). With the starter I assessed quickly who grasped the concept of the lesson and didn't move onto the main task until I was confident everyone was ready to do so.

During my last two days at University I helped to deliver a SEND presentation on Down Syndrome and learnt a lot from other presentations who focused on Autism (4 groups), another Down Syndrome, and how Support staff are used in the classroom. Ours was 2^nd to last due to the majority of the group coming from Group C. In hindsight I wish the course would have given the list of topics and said all needed covering so first come first serve. The actual result was a few similar presentations and a lot of us felt it could have been more useful with a group looking at ADHD for example or even someone with Speech and Listening Difficulties.

Two ladies from the a local LEA came to discuss life after training and how to apply for our first teaching job. It is scary to think that in a few months we will be searching for jobs, whether it be our training school, second placement or other. I have been in many interviews although this is going to be one of the most important ones in my life ranking alongside both my University interview and the one I did to get on this course.

I am yet to start thinking about 2015-16 especially with January to come. 

Becoming a reflective professional

Today in University, the Schools Direct students were given a lecture on 3 of the ten principles that were conceptualised by the UK's Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP).

These have been extensively researched based and is intended as a guide and support for teachers making the professional judgements which they are uniquely positioned, and required, to make.

The BOLD description of each principle was taken directly from Andrew Pollard's Reflective Teaching in Schools. The added information was what I gained from the lecture and based on our group discussions.

Principle 2: Effective teaching and learning engages with valued forms knowledge.
Teaching and learning should engage with the big ideas, facts, processes, language and narratives of subjects so that learners understand what constitutes quality and standards in particular disciplines.

Firstly we discusses, who decides what goes into the NC, who decides what to teach and who decides at what age should it be taught. This principle is about making sense of the world we live in; whether we think geographically, scientifically mathematically, creatively, religiously or other possible ways.

We need to use our own personal knowledge and create lessons that a significant and give the students a strong experience.

Good primary teachers should be ale to know each subject well enough to be able to explain it without requiring a degree in all subjects.

This will then become part of you, and almost like breathing you will be able to teach each lesson without constantly planning and checking subject knowledge is secure.

When observing we need to look at what the teachers do with their subject knowledge and how do they focus in on the students learning.

Principle 6: Effective pedagogy promotes the active engagement of the learner. A chief goal of teaching and learning should be the promotion of learners' independence and autonomy. This involves acquiring a repertoire of learning strategies and practices, developing positive learning dispositions, and having the will and confidence to become agents in their own learning. 

In the group discussion we spoke about Piaget and his theory of a condition and assimilation. In other words, make the knowledge your own. How and what you do in the classrooms will help children to learn through their challenges and  master independence via scaffolding and discussion. 

Teachers should equip their students with life skills. A video from the website teach media,  showed how different roles can be shared amongst a group and enable each student to take ownership and feel part of a bigger picture.

These are the following Thinking Skills.

Manager-makes sure everyone works together.

Scribe- writes down the group ideas.

Encourager- praises people on the group and boosts positivity.

Reporter- reports the ideas back to the class.

These skills help students work in a group, promotes speaking and listening, gives more time to think, all can take part , and is important for personal/social development. 

Principle 8: effective pedagogy recognises the significance of informal learning. Informal learning, such as out if school or away from the workplace, should be recognised as at least as significant as formal learning and should therefore be valued and appropriately utilised in formal process. 

This focused on home/school knowledge. It made me think about next year with what I should find out about my class and their personal experiences.

Parents should ask their children to complete sums at home (shopping, time until bus arrives, fractions with pieces pig pizza).

Finding out what hobbies and activities they do as well, will help to shape an opinion of them plus give some indication as to why they could be tired, anxious, excited, sleepy etc. Also praise could be given for those who may have achieved something or want to talk about holidays etc.

The University is Alive With The Sound Of Music

Yes it's in the title, music was the lesson taught at Reading University this week, and I also joined the School Choir.

Most of you reading this don't know me but I grew up loving music; from singing Scouting songs around a campfire, playing the piano from the age of 11, to singing at every step along my educational path. I found a passion for drama on top of all this and decide to follow a dream of becoming an actor (see previous blog posts to give a more detailed breakdown on my previous career).

Extra-curricular activities
Anyway why did I join the School Choir? Well, the music teacher is teaching the KS2 children some Christmas songs for a concert and I didn't want to miss out on both performing and assisting. This combines fun with learning and it ticks off Standard 8 in the process. The children were surprised that Mr Harte was in the music room and made a bit of fuss but hopefully the novelty will wear off next week. I am using this experience to hopefully assist with the end of school production and also add the responsibility to my teaching repertoire because it will give weight to any interviews in the future. 

Guided Reading
I taught a good lesson using only a picture to get my group to think about how the illustrator gains sympathy from its reader without the use of text. One thing I should have done was to give pen and paper to the children and asked them to write their thoughts and feelings down rather than me asking them and doing it for them.

Marking my 1st set of English papers
The Year 6 were given an English Reading SAT's paper. This I welcomed because it will enable the teachers to see how the cohort has been developing since the start of term. I can also see how my Focus Reader (a University based task) is doing since I started working with him. I wanted to gain experience of marking papers so only did the unambiguous questions which didn't require much thinking.

Year 3 observations
I have literally been all over the school these past few weeks and that is precisely what I should be doing this Autumn Term. I spent Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning with a class in Year 3 AND I was able to see: a guitar lesson taught by two external music teachers, a topic lesson based on the compass points, Maths lesson looking at subtracting two digit numbers and both a guided reading and English lesson focusing on letters and sending mail. 

i saw some excellent transition tactics being employed. The pace of the lessons meant that for their age, the children didn't spend too much time on their own during the lesson. I can see that for Year 3 it needs to be a gradual process to becoming more independent learning especially so soon after being in Year 2. With 2 TA's in the class as well, both knew their class tasks and all of the adults moved about the different groups to ensure the teacher spent time with as many of the class as she could. This is important because each child feels as if the teacher isn't just concentrating on the lower or higher ability groups.

Maths Test for all of Year 5/6
On Thursday another SAT's paper was sat except this time covering Year 5 as well. This is because we stream in 5 classes and this will give a chance to see not only what needs teaching but also whether some children need moving around the classes. We have had a few new students and despite a few bits on informal assessment, I feel a test will show the real ability of a student. That is just my opinion but with something like Math's it is vital each teacher knows that what they are teaching matches their students' level of learning. 

Yet again I am pleased this has happened because my Focus Math's student is in my class and I can quickly see what she needs immediate help with.

Second Guided Reading Session
Picking up from what I noted on Monday, I ensured my group had pen and paper to convey any thoughts they had by simply looking at a second image I showed them. Some of the vocab learnt in the last lesson was remembered and my Focus reader came out with an amazing metaphor saying 'the people on the top deck of the ship were huddled around like penguins trying to keep warm'. 

Plans for next week
I spoke to my mentor about how my two lessons went and how I adapted my teaching strategy. We spoke about a pending Science lesson that I am planning based on Light and how it travels in a straight line. She wants me to think how to challenge the Gifted and Talented children in my questioning.
In my Personal Learning Profile, I added that I will be focusing on Year 1 Phonics over the next two weeks and she gave advice on which classes to observe and for what I should be looking out for. As well as this I will be getting a day's worth of Phonics Training at University so it will consist of a lot of new learning.
One thing she did like a lot was that I have been updating a personal calendar on the schools Public Data drive and ensuring everyone can see what classes I am observing in, when I am teaching and what meeting I have planned. This will be beneficial across the whole school. 

In just one day I learnt how to teach a terms worth of music
It does sound extreme but on my University Centralised Training day it was spent with the lovely Jay Deeble, who has been teaching Music for many years and even assisted with the first ever National Curriculum when it was introduced in the 1980's.
To start with we looked at the Universal words for reading music, Ta and Ti. This system allows the value of each note to be clearly represented no matter its placement within the beat/measure. The folk song lyric "This Old Man, he played one, he played knick-knack on my thumb, with a knick-knack paddy whack, give my dog a bone, this old man came rolling home" would be said, "titi ta titi ta titi titi titi ti-tiri titi tiriti tiritiri ta titi titi titi ta".

In our tutor group we worked on some exercises that included clapping a rhythm or the pulse. The teacher is expected to distinguish for the children to help less able.  
We built on this by working as two big groups then three groups to make a canon (same song being sung but at different start times). It progressed into even smaller groups and finally a big challenge where everyone went solo. 
LO: To maintain a tune.
SC: I can add/find rhythm. I can clap the pulse I can work in a group, pair or solo

The tradition SO, MI RAY, DOE and La were then introduced as a way of remembering the different pitch of a song. These are familiar to me from The Sound of Music.
We were given a few songs to practice on Xylophones, Metalaphones or Glockenspiels and asked to come up with different ways of playing the song. Changes could include; the pitch, tempo, playing in octaves, two songs at same time, or even different notes, 

Teaching music in KS2 will vary from school to school and indeed cohort. Some classes will pick it up quickly whereas elsewhere only a handful would have any musical experience. By gradually increasing the difficulty of the lesson, each child should feel as if they have made progress. 

To appraise a music unit, we were given the Mnemonic  CLASP.
C- Composing: Creating a piece of music
L - Literature studies: looking at the background of music
A - Audience: Listening and giving feedback
S - Skills: Oral/Aural, Technical and Notating
P - Play: Performing

The National Curriculum literally has two parts.
1 - Performing and Composing
2 - Listening and appreciation

When analysing, students should be thinking about a variety of questions:
Concepts - What was understood and what was needed to understand?
Attitudes - What did you demonstrate and what was the attitude to the performance?
Skill - What did you do and what did/could you do better?
Knowledge - What did you know and what did you need to know?

Music can be linked right across the curriculum but it rarely is. A story or poem could be used for composition plus it could even be linked to Geography or Science. 

Summary of the week
Yet again, this week I have a lot to think about. I look forward to teaching much music and will adapt the things learnt today.
Marking my first sets of tests was tough because it made me realise even more that the future of others in my hands and I have to be thorough and fair in everything I do.

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

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