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.

Half term review Spring 2

To say that this term has been busy would be an understatement. I could not wait to start planning for my new class and boy was I given the chance to do just that.  I was given the responsibility for planning: 3 weeks of English, 4 weeks of Maths, 5 weeks of PE, 1 PSHE, 3 Science, and 2 Topic (History) lessons, and I thrived at this opportunity.

Marking also played a huge part in this term and I have begun to appreciate the power of peer marking. I agree that children need to be training into doing this properly and efficiently but given the right time and focus it will help those same children to become better at analysing others work and gaining proofreading skills that they will transfer to their own work.

One of my next targets was to be able to differentiate work. I was told that some of the children are performing above national average (especially in Maths) and I had to ensure work was pitched at their level. I did this and during my planning ensured everyone was catered for and scoured online for resources and asked teachers in the years above for advice. At parents evening during the 3^rd week of 5, a few parents commented on the great work the mentor and I had been doing in pushing their children rather than allowing them to complete easy tasks without any effort.

My mentor was very good at giving feedback and I certainly learnt a lot from him. Being a young teacher himself, he was able to impart the wisdom of what to look out for and how to make my planning, training and teaching easier. 

At the school I was made to feel extremely welcome. The head teacher’s daughter is also on the Schools Direct course so she knew what was expected of me. I am local to the school and a few parents whose children were in a year above and below knew me from my running club and it was soon apparent that some money I helped to raise and donate from my club was given to the PTA, in which most of the member’s children were being taught by myself. I spent most of my break outside with the various cohorts and the loyalty and respect from the children I gained was spread across the school. ‘You coming to play football sir?’ ‘Here sir let me get that for you’ ‘When will you be teaching us?’ Were all comments regularly heard and it filled me with immense pride that I had both an academic and sociable sense of respect from them.

During World Book Day I took 12 children from KS2 and taught them how to interview their peers and teachers about the costumes they had worn, then showed them how to put it all together into their own newsletters. I created one master newsletter which went out to all the parents. Print outs of all are displayed in one of the main corridors with pictures of the group dressed up for the day.

Am I ready for 80%? I think the answer is yes. Will I achieve Outstanding in my QTS? I hope so. After being one of the lucky few to attend the talk by Andrew Pollard, I can see how interesting the life of a teacher can be. I do need to fine tune my classroom behaviour management and in doing so will stick close to my philosophy which is to be fair, fun and firm.

I reflect on almost anything in life from the choices I make in my wedding plans, to why did I set off too quickly in a race, to why on earth did I place those children together in a project. This is why I enjoy teaching because I can build on my mistakes and improve them day on day, week on week, month on month etc. I will continue to make mistakes but as long as I can see how to rectify them and do so properly, I will strive to be the very best I can be. I do have aspirations for the future as we all should do but for now my immediate aim is to knuckle down plan for the remainder of my training year and look forward to taking on my own class in September (which I can gleefully confirm is going to be at my main placement).

Assessments, World Book Day, and the Oscars

As the title suggests, this week has been extremely busy. At my second placement school, they did a series of tests including the reading and maths SATS that I have been used to seeing take place in my main placement school every few months to check for formative assessment (with writing being assessed almost weekly during Extended Writing) as well as a reading age, and spelling test using a company called NGRT.

‘It is an ideal screening/monitoring test for groups of pupils. It enables the assessment of reading and comprehension in a single test, helping to identify, for instance, competent readers with weak comprehension skills who would benefit from a follow-up individual assessment and learning support. The assessment also measures how a pupil is performing compared to their peers at a national level.’

Using the SIMs programme to monitor attendance, progress and other pastoral activities, I can see how important assessing is and not just through the use of tests. Next academic year it will be interesting to see how schools cope without the use of Levels, unless of course a certain Political Party win leadership. I feel that regardless of what happens, I want to use many forms of assessing as I can, including: photographs, peer assessment, Dojo Points, teacher/pupil reading, Guided Reading sessions etc.

From the looks of just the Reading test, most of the class have shot up since autumn and although I have not been there long, it would be nice to take some credit for it.

World Book Day came about quickly and 

I dressed up as Iron Man/Tony Stark this year. Firstly I came in wearing a suit to which I was asked 'what have you come as?' I replied that I am Tony Stark from The Avengers and Marvel comics. The twist came soon after when I changed into the full costume and I shocked a few people because they didn't realise I had swapped clothes. I even grew a beard and shaved it just like the character does.





I taught 12 students from across KS2 how to produce their own newspaper front page by interviewing people who had dressed up for the event. The Year 6’s worked alongside Year 4’s as did the Year 5’s and 3’s. I did this to ensure that everyone had a buddy and it gave the older ones some responsibility too. Planning a presentation to introduce the project was key to the day because I was able to explain not only what types of questions to ask but what the layout for the page should be.

I hadn’t taught or been introduced to over half of the group so it was a good chance to get to know more children and overcome any teaching and behaviour barriers I encountered. Once I had set the groups off to their various destinations, I also went around the school taking photos of the day. There were lots of Harry Potters, Where’s Wally, Superheroes, and Disney princess’s. Despite a few setbacks along the way with a few children not saving their work correctly at lunchtime, I was presented with some very good pieces of work and this enabled me to create a school newsletter to go home to parents.

Finally, the Oscars ceremony that I had been waiting almost two months to attend to. This was a culmination of all the hard work each year class from Years 1-6 had put together into making their own short film. Since this was taking place at my main placement I had to ask special permission to attend. My mentor especially wanted me because I had taken the lead with the Year 6 classes into the planning, filming and editing of 10 films that were whittled down to just 2 on the day.

Everyone dressed for the occasion and I wore a new suit with a bow tie. Stepping into the school for the first time in over a month was a moment I will never forget and the welcoming smiles and hugs I received was a lovely feeling. My mentor asked me to be cameraman for the entire day (ending up with over 500 photos). The hall was decorated to look just like its namesake even including a red carpet for the winners to walk up. Seeing as there were 14 films to be shown, this was split evenly across the year groups and about 50 parents came to support their children. Special guests including Governors, the ex Headteacher, office staff and some class teachers, were invited to present the certificates and ‘Oscar statues’. The look on some of the children’s faces was brilliant when they realised they had won, plus some had speeches prepared.

I am so proud of my mentor because she did most of the hard work and a lot of the support staff across the school put in a lot of long hours and man-power to ensure it was a success. This is one event I wish I had done when a child but defiantly one tradition I would like to see in any school I work in.

So in all it has been a truly busy week. Some may say that World Book Day is off-timetable and therefore easier to manage but actually the day is completely different and the children are buzzing, there are things to prepare and time to stick to. As for the Oscars, it may also have been a non-teaching day for me but was emotionally exhausting, my thumb throbbed after taking so many pictures and I also stayed behind afterwards to catch up with my mentor about training progress.

Joining a new school on my birthday – Yes I am 31 years young!

This week was a first for me because I had never started a new job location on my birthday and also kept it quiet to pretty much everyone. My second school is a small one form entry school with yet again one male teacher although there is a male TA and he is an avid PE teacher.

My mentor is said male teacher and he will be mentoring me under the guidance of the headteacher whose daughter is also on the Schools Direct course and used to be a GTP assessor so knows a thing or ten about student teachers. I had 32 children’s names to learn, which I managed by about Thursday. Using surnames is also a good thing because there are 3 children with the same name and it also helps when they have done something wrong or I want their attention quickly. I remember being called Schiffer or Schiffer-Hart when at school and sometimes it was endearing because it showed teachers were bothered to know both my names. 2 parents whose children are in my running club are also at the school but not in the class although one has a nephew in my class and was shocked when I told him how I knew his aunt.

As part of my Schools Direct training I am required to be in charge of planning for the Core Subjects and have already gone through the Writing, Reading and Math’s levels to see the pupils progress. Math’s for this Year 4 class is quite high and one of the pupils is working towards Year 5 levels already. I am sure that with my recent teaching in the year above, I will be able to push him and ensure he doesn’t stagnate.

Each day there is a Daily Challenge on the board (similar to rise and shine) and the children also go out for reading with either the class teacher, TA or myself and this allows each child to read to an adult at least once a week. A times table board shows who is currently working towards their targets and a big deal is made when someone moves up to harder multiplications.

Over the week I slowly got to know the children, implemented my own style of teaching and followed the class teacher’s advice as to what goes where, who to keep an eye on, which children need an extra push, the class reward system, and behaviour strategies. I brought in some prizes for the Pirate Points Board and at the end of the week even taught Art in which the children coloured in a Scuba Diver which will attached with a photo of themselves and moved up the board to win some prizes.

There is a spelling test once a week linked to Read Write Inc, Mathletics is a new Math’s programme the class use to improve their subject knowledge, a mental math’s test is also weekly and both are things I will need to factor into my planning once I become their main teacher after half term. I may be at a new school but many of the things are the same and those that are different I can perhaps adapt and use when back at my main placement school or next year. I do have a few teaching ideas for this class and will discuss them accordingly. 

Being an avid footballer, I am also able to join in at break and lunch times with my mentor and get involved with football games in the schools sports cage. I think I need to improve my skills though as some of these children are whiz at it.

Stepping up into 60% Teaching

First week back and it was a full on action packed timetable. I have been asked to use my filming background to assist both Year 6 classes with planning, directing and editing their group suspense films. There are 10 films to be made and the teachers have to come up with a plan that enables everyone to film their scenes and have a slot available on the PC’s to use a software programme called ULead. I spent a few days researching YouTube clips on ways to edit their films. At the end of the week they are expected to have come up with a story, bullet points breaking down the scenes, and finally a storyboard in which the director of each group can use when overseeing the filming.

My first observed lesson of the term did not go to plan. Its objective was to focus on the countries in South America but in order to do so I had to introduce an atlas, the 7 continents and what countries were to be found in each. I spent too much time on the initial tasks which were to label a map of the world and a map of South America. The time spent on the carpet was too long and I think I am used to seeing this classroom on it during a lot of other lessons. My mentor who is next door, hardly uses a carpet because it’s uncomfortable and a lot of the children are starting to get taller and it’s unfair for them to be on the floor too long. I did however have eye contact with all and there was a lot of interaction when I asked them to discuss the continents and countries in question.

When they did eventually progress to their tables, the tasks took much longer than anticipated and I didn’t introduce the atlas early enough. Had I done so, I feel the class could have labelled the continents sooner and there would have been time for the final task which was to find 5 fascinating facts about South America. My mentor told me during the meeting we had afterwards, that after asking different children what they thought they were learning, a few said; to label a map or learning about countries and continents, but not that they were learning about countries in South America. I need to be more explicit when teaching a lesson.

On Thursday I encountered a teaching first. I took my mentor's class for the entire day and this helped to establish myself with the children, and also prove that I can work through the entire day. My favourite part was teaching what to include when drawing and detailing film storyboards. I gave them a little insight into my past and let them know I used to work in the filming industry but kept out my acting secrets. The 5 groups busily discussed their ideas and split into smaller groups to make A3 storyboards. Each had 8 scenes or parts to the film and I asked them to include locations, camera angles, characters needed in each scene, and length to be shown.

Next week I will be going out with each film group and assist them with the editing process. 

My first encounter with Fred the frog from, ‘Read Write Inc’

There are only two things I am going to reflect on this week and these are to be about my phonics observations in Year 1, and notes about my Half Term Observed lesson by my University Tutor.

Firstly, it was agreed that I should spend time in Year 1 to complete the phonics part of my Schools Direct training. I am to observe the different phases of the Read WriteInc Phonics programme that the school use, and after half term I am to take a small group and teach them for at least 4 weeks (how many days depends on time restraints). I am to observe how my teaching benefits their learning.

PHONICS
The teacher I observed teaching first, taught the highest ability of 5 groups. The programme uses a set of books which are designed to follow a set pattern. This helps install structure to (the lesson and also gave the children a set of clear objectives throughout each unit. Each lesson looks at different phonemes and uses Fred the Frog as a fun character who can say and read words only in pure sounds. This beanie toy can be used flexibly as part of Read WriteInc to help introduce children to letters, sounds and words in a fun, dynamic and fast-paced way. At our University Centralised training this week, I was lucky enough to receive some phonics training which also included some video clips of the Read Write Inc teaching. I learnt the phrases phonemes, graphemes and pure sounds.

On Wednesday was the first of my University tutor observed lessons and I decided to stick to my original plan of a guided reading session; except rather than teach the first part of a unit I planned, I was able to go in at a more advanced stage and teach the third part of the unit. Being in a smaller room I found I had complete attention of the students, my questioning skills were well thought out and adapted pending the outcome of answers. Some of the vocabulary learnt from previous two sessions was well remembered by the students and a few surprised me with added responses. Rather than dismiss them, I built on them and used it to add extra learning. One thing I should have done was ask each in turn what one of the words meant, rather than giving the answer straight away.

For the main task I touched on the skills they had been learning in a recent grammar lesson. I wanted to link the two together and assess if they had grasped the intended learning which was to change the tense of a sentence.

My tutor noted that a few times one of the students interrupted another and this could have been dealt with quickly by me asking them to respect their peers and wait for a chance to speak. Otherwise he said my subject knowledge was secure, my starter was good, the main activity which focused on a recent Grammar lesson helped to reinforce previous knowledge, and I have a good rapport with the pupils.

Agreed targets are to work my use of the LO/SC at some stage of the lesson and use of a plenary.  This I will aim to put right during my science lesson next week.

  

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.

What's needed in the classroom and a test..,

With various lessons being taught and tests taking place throughout the year I thought - what exactly is needed in terms of equipment etc?

Below I've added an equipment list made previously plus an extra bit for tests. 

Is there anything missing?

Maths Test

Tracing paper

Protractor

Mirror

Sharp pencils

To write with

Pencils - HB

Pens - Berol Handwriting (only to students with a pen licence). Name these because they will go AWOL.

Bic/Staedtler and other brands do Black/Blue/Red and Green-  depending on what your school prefer

Felt tips

Crayons

Coloured Pencils

Whiteboard markers plus spray and cloths to wipe it clean

Craft Pens

Whiteboard pens for individual use - Staedtler are the ones I have used and are pretty good

For general use

Handheld whiteboard

Rulers - plastic

1m measuring sticks

Scissors - orange ones for adults and the red or yellow/green ones for students

Blu-Tac (plenty of it will get used and possibly taken by other classes so be careful)

Folders

Plastic Wallets

Card for backing work

Display borders

Labels for folders

Files for each student

Paper Stapler and plenty of staples

Wall stapler for displays and plenty of staples

Cellotape

Drawing pins

Butterfly clips

Pencil sharpeners (metal not plastic are better)

A4 paper

Scrap paper

English Kit

Dictionaries - varied for age and level

Thesaurus

English terms and skills (spelling rhymes, what a simile,metaphor or personification is)

Laminated help cards for Punctuation and Grammar

Laminated list of prefixes and suffixes

Suitable reading books for the year group both fiction and non-fiction

Maths Equipment

Essential

Protractors

Tracing paper

Mirrors

Compasses

Number lines

Number grids

Dice

Coins

Place value cards

Graph Paper

Calculators

Desirable for classroom but should be in school

2D and 3D shapes

Graph Paper

Calculators

Trundle Wheel

Tape measures

Playing cards

Fraction cards

Dominoes

Clocks

Is anyone reading this a Maths Specialist because I could also do with some Math's websites or resources to use in class. 

From Year 6 to Reception

Reception Duty

I was asked to assist in Reception and this was great because being all the way up in Year 6, I am unaware of the daily routines further down the school. 

I have lots of cousins this age and friends who have children this age and it struck me that one day I will be having my own children and this will become an everyday occurrence to me so I had better make the most of it.

PE was very interesting; the children got changed into their PE Kit (with a lot of assistance) and back again, in more time than they actually did any PE. I am sure that the main classroom teacher has a lot more success than I did. During the second half of the day I spent most of it outside,helping the children learn some numbers on a dice, balance whilst walking on a route of tyres and encouraged them all to tidy up at the end. 

Would I do it again? I would like to see how the year group have developed in a year and it was a good chance to see how 'play' and learning works hand in hand.

I have observed some excellent behaviour management skills and where LO’s and SC’s matched the pupils well, as did the increase in difficulty throughout the unit. Rather than just working with the G&T or Low Attaining students, classroom teachers manage to effectively get around all of the groups throughout the course of the week and made all of them value the work they did.

Lead School Meeting

On Tuesday I was able to speak to my link teacher from the lead school about my 2^nd school placement and we discussed that I would need to spend 7 weeks there due to it being my 60% teaching school. 

Focus children for Maths and Reading

Tuesday I also selected my Math’s and Reading ‘focus’ pupils to boost their skill’s I chose them both from my tutor group because I get to see them quite often and believe they will both benefit from my teaching not just the skills but also as a chance to take a break out of the class/group routine. I am making some initial assessments but will make more formative ones next week and then use that plus last year’s assessments to use as a starting point. My aim is to increase confidence in their work, boost self-esteem and mainly attainment.

Maths Lesson Observation of me

Wednesday I had my second class observation to date and in this one I took the whole of a Math’s lesson. It was well planned and I used a starter that I’d only just been shown in one of the centralised training at University. The children responded well and have since asked when I am teaching again.I was given plenty of feedback which I will use to best ability.

During the day I met both of my focus pupils to see how they were doing. My reader had his mum read with him and she signed the reading record, and my mathematician had improved on her multiples. This was also something we covered in my lesson so I was doubly pleased.

Future planning

I have added some new tasks from my PLP. 

On Thursday I started to plan my guided reading session with advice from both my class tutor and Deputy Head. It's based on a picture book and will be a good tool to use.

University

Finally, on Friday with University, it was a chance to see how the Teaching Standards are used and how I can monitor my ability in each of them I have to remember that as a trainee I may be working towards Excellent in all Standards but as soon as I hopefully become an NQT, the expectation is greater and I will need to show I am progressing further into the career of a teacher.

Next was how to work with TA’s and support the great work that they do. The group discussion was really useful and I have many notes on that. Afterwards was a chance to see how Play, Active Learning, and the Outdoor Environment all work hand in hand to give the children a greater experience in their education.

Summary of the week
This week I learnt that being a teacher is not just about the teaching. It is about nurturing and getting the best out of the children. Now that I have two focus pupils to see each day, I can track progress and also have a good idea of whether or not my teaching has been successful or not.
After surviving my first full lesson and in a Core subject, I feel more confident to move on and teach English, which is something I am dreading. Next week I will be looking at how the Year 3 class teacher operates and also how the Lower School children are doing.

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.