Graduation Day and what happened in June

No I haven't been under a rock since May 24th (the date of my last blog post). So much has been happening since half term and getting through my final assessment was the top priority as most of you if not all will agree.

My 80% teaching had been progressing nicely up until the break and I used that momentum to keep going until the assessment. My living room was like a bomb had hit it, with folders, files and paper all strewn across the floor. My life was sleep, wake up, eat, go to school, teach, home, paperwork, eat (possibly watch Netflix) and sleep. This was pretty much for 8 days straight and only left the house to go to Frankie and Benny's and the cinema. This had led me to the conclusion of not leaving it all to the last minute. Not that I did exactly that but there was still a lot to organise, to ensure everything was covered in my standards and that the final claim was written to highlight my best teaching aspects.

Looking back on the past 5 weeks, a lot was achieved. The teaching was constant, I purchased a stamp to aid with marking, was observed by both the Head and Deputy and someone who interviewed me all those months ago. Things are looking positive heading into my NQT year and I am looking forward to being an NQT who already knows the school layout, ethos, most of the children, who to go to for specific advice and just about anything that comes with working at the same place for a 2nd year.

Week Commencing June 1st
I taught my Year 5 class how to hold a debate. The subject in question was 'Should children be able to choose their own lunch menu?'

I put the children into pairs and then grouped them either FOR or AGAINST this argument and in doing so this enabled me to place stronger children with those who are not so confident in their writing or putting an argument together. What I did notice was those who are confident at writing may not always be the most talkative so it gave their partner a chance to open up a conversation and collaborate together. 

On the second day I gave the class time to write some counter arguments, as this would give both sides of the argument a chance to strike up a really interesting debate. 

Consequently, when it did come down to the class being opposite each other with myself as chair in the middle, the children took to debating quite quickly and were able to use evidence from the UN Children's Right's Charter to show both why it should and shouldn’t be voted for. This to me showed that the children were engaged in the learning of how to debate, had taken on board how to counter argue, and that you can’t just make a point, you have to have proof to back it up.

I was also busy bringing the children up one at a time or in groups to discuss their work and the need for them to respond to marking as well as reflecting on the progress made. I believe it is essential children not only acknowledge mistakes made and where they need to improve but they need to act on it sooner rather than later.

Midweek, our Year 5 and 6 cricket team attended a tournament alongside 16 other teams from the area and finished a respectable 2^nd in their group. Losing only their 1^st match and winning the rest. Once was by 1 run and that was because the children had realised that the fielding and batting need to work well together to ensure runs are made but at the same time the opposition need to be bowled or caught out as many times as possible.

I am proud of the team's spirit and had the winners of our group lost any of their remaining matches it would have gone down to wickets taken and then runs scored. More practice is needed to help both the main coach and myself select players who will work well together and understand the rules better. The beauty of the tournament was that everyone played at least 4 matches and the team rallied round to ensure all felt great during and afterwards.

Week Commencing June 8th

On Monday the link from my lead school and main placement came into see how I was doing and I am glad she did because it meant I received feedback that wasn’t bias towards me becoming a teacher at St Mary’s next year. She said I had planned the lesson well, the starter was appropriate and ensured prior learning was assessed, getting the children to model the Roman numerals for the class to visualise was a good idea because it helped them to remember and my behaviour management was also good.

 

On Tuesday was Sports Day and it was a fun event. My class had a couple of children away so one of the teams had to do everything twice and still won more points.  In the teachers race I lost out again to someone with longer legs. I had been running a lot better recently and am planning for the Abingdon Marathon in October but Sam (a Year 5 teacher and only other male teacher) beat me by merely a second. 

Introducing a new Science topic was fun because I used a presentation created by another teacher but changed their pictures to show ones of me growing up. This gave the children a chance to work out how old I was at each stage and why they thought it. Using a carousel task in which the children had to write what they thought certain stages of human life meant (and other key vocab), was a good way to assess how much they know already.

Week Commencing June 15th

With it being assessment week it gave me a chance to bring my files to school, select and print children work to add to them plus include any other documents.

Maths took place on Monday and Tuesday and used the NFER test papers and it gave both the teacher I share the class with and I to choose which areas of learning need to be worked on and form the basis of our teaching until the end of the term. Ratio, prime/square/cube numbers, measurements, and the use of estimation, have all been highlighted and I will be using square and cube numbers as part of my final assessment next week.

In my mentor meeting I spoke to about my placing in Year 2 next year and we discussed the things I would like to do in preparation for it. I have not had much experience in this age group but am looking forward to a new challenge and one in which I will get to know a different key stage, be even more familiar with assessing children both formative and summative, work alongside a different set of teachers, and hopefully seem more lucrative and experienced for future employees. Not many men teach in Key Stage 1 and with moderation being a bit part of this crucial year group, I will become well adept at keeping records of everything to give evidence at the end of next year.

Week Commencing June 22nd

It finally arrived and was over in a flash. My files were carefully poured over, notes made, questions asked and discussions made. The final assessment was tiring and hopefully the last time anything like that takes place again. Thankfully I had organised my files in such a way with tabs referencing each standard and included a contents page at the front. This made it easier for the assessor to use and for me to talk about when required.

I was given some good advice about next steps and this helped to form the basis of my NQT needs for next year. Being in a different key stage means I do have to adapt quickly but the school are very supportive and had created a 3 week plan starting on the 29th for me to start with observing Year 2 and seeing the end result of that year group, then for last two weeks will be in Year 1 classes to see where the cohort I am to teach are currently at. My class includes some children I taught in Phonics back in autumn and I always get a nice smile or comment from them. 

Week Commencing June 29th

Year 2 are going to be 3 form entry for the first time and I will be one of 2 NQTs. The other teacher is a highly experienced and skilled practitioner and I magpied as much as I could in the 4 days I was in her class. 

To begin with I was observing her teach and then began to work with small groups and get to known the children and their abilities. In KS1 Topic covers quite a lot of subjects and whilst this will be interesting to see how it all fits in, I am a big believer in cross curricular teaching and this is something that many of my observers have noted I like to do in my lessons. Seaside is the Summer topic and this year they went to Littlehampton where my grandparents live, so hopefully it will be the same next year as I have fond memories there.

The displays are slightly different than that of KS2 and I know that next year the classroom I will be getting is currently the classroom of the children I will take on. This means in my opinion a big change will be needed to both show the children that I am their new teacher and also to show the children that they have grown one year older and therefore a change is also required. Resources will need to be split 3-ways instead of 2 and I am steadily making lists and notes about what I want and where I can source it from.

Finally, today I went to University to receive my QTS certificate, and this was a chance to say hi and bye to people I have seen on many occasions during my time as a trainee teacher. Some I will no doubt see more than others and some probably only during reunions but I have made some firm friendships and despite people saying that teaching is a lonely profession, I believe that friendship doesn't just extend to the staff room but across the whole teaching community.

And there we have it. The final blog post, or is it?....

Thank you for taking the time to read this and any others you may have glanced over. It has been a chance to for me to express myself and allow others to follow me on my new journey. 

                                                   

The Lead Up to Christmas

This blog post is slightly different to the norm. Yes it does contain anecdotes from my last week at school but please read until the end to see my 'Lead Up To Christmas' poem, which formed part of my end of year assessment for the University of Reading.


This was the first week in a while I happened to spend each day at school and this was very much needed. There were a lot of things to bring and take home from school each day including; presents for some of my colleagues (Mentor and Year 6 teachers), cards for pretty much everyone else because without their advice, help during my time at school, showing me where various materials were, and inviting me into observe their lessons, I would not have been able to achieve as much in my first term. As well this I brought some sweets in for both Year 6 classes and was for two reasons:


1. In my class I introduced table points last week as a reward for tidiness, outstanding behaviour and most of all teamwork.
2. In the other Year 6 class I gave a lesson on making Christmas Decorations and said that I would choose 6 winners of the best design.


The decorations were on flat paper that the children had to colour in, add tissue paper to and then slot together to make into 3D. The snowmen and trees looked brilliant and I was proud of each of them giving their own spin on the artwork.


Twice I visited the local church to assist with the Nativity play in which the Year 2's silently acted out the scenes and the Year 6's read out passages from the Bible which linked into each scene. I was asked to lead 3 different processions (for the main characters) around the church in time to each relevant song - Little Donkey for example when Mary and Joseph were heading to Bethlehem. On Friday the entire school descended down to the church and it was literally packed to the rafters with parents, teaching staff and children. Coming from an acting background I know how important being on stage is and all of the children acted beautifully and looked amazing onstage in their final montage. The Year 6's read each passage carefully and at the end of the service also said Merry Christmas in a range of languages to show how diverse we are as a school and church community. My wreath was given to the presiding priest and in the middle I had added a piece of writing with the schools logo, motto, a thank you message, and end line from our school prayer.


Most of the week was full of making things whilst listening to festive songs or watching a film being played on the IWB, this I feel is a great time to be creative and allowed the children to express themselves without any big focus on grades or attainment.


For one of my University tasks, I was asked to send in a 200 word piece of writing to test my Grammar Subject Knowledge. I decided to put forward a poem because in this I am able to show some of my own creative skills whilst ensuring it is full of grammatical phrases and content.


Here it is:


It’s the lead up to Christmas and where to begin? 
I could start with a song but what could I sing?
The Coca Cola advert is out so it must be December:
no wait silly me I must be mistaken because it came out in November.

With so many Christmas parties to attend and lots of people to see,
I’m counting 5 portions of; turkey, parsnips, potatoes and brie.
Every year it’s the same and jumpers are to be worn,
mixed with a game of monopoly, relationships will be torn.


My home is full of candles and each one burns bright like the Nativity Star,
I’d rather be inside keeping warm than driving through the snow in my car.
With 24 spaces on my calendar I am counting down the days,
being an adult doesn’t stop me being a child in any which way.


Spare a thought for those who are far away from loved ones and on their own.
It doesn’t take long to visit those nearby, or even to pick up a phone.
In the lead up to Christmas remember those who are no longer with us –
and those who are around you spread the love and make a lot of fuss.


Now all that remains is to say a very Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year.


PS: In my next post I will concentrate on my recent visit to a SEND school, in which I worked with 7 autistic children and gained some fantastic experience as well as advice from the teaching staff.

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. 

One weekend to go before I start my teacher training.

I am chomping at the bit to get started but know that this term up until Christmas is the longest and I should take  and use wisely) in all the non-teaching days I can gather. My fiancee starts her new job at a local Secondary School as English Teacher with responsibility of whole school Literacy. 

I have been swotting up on my English, Maths and History topic as well as reading up on what's going to be happening at Reading University from Sept 15th onward. I go there for the whole week and then at least once a week until February Half Term. 'Letts - Make It Easy' books have been of great use to me and contain a lot of bite-size topics, that have questions o each page with a set of tests at the end. Speaking of Bite-Size, the BBC website has been brilliant and provided me with some helpful hints plus a lot of information that I used in one of my blog pages. 

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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