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.

  

Random Acts of Kindness

Random acts of kindness: 

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

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

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

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

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

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

READING UNIVERSITY

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

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

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

Topics are as follows:

Monday 

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

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

Tuesday 

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

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

Wednesday

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

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

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

Thursday

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

English activities: Could be anything.

Mathematics activities: Could be anything.

Science activities: Yet again, could be anything.

Friday

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

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

The National Curriculum: How it informs practice.

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

Round up of week one

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

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

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

             ICMPLESSRAIDT

Impossible

Leaders

Tied

Diet

Scrap

Paris

Said

Palm

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

MATHS

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

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

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

LITERACY

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

G-check the sense of the grammar

P- check punctuation

S- check spelling

U- uplevelling is possible

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

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

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

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

Focus points included:

Sentence Structure and Punctuation

Text Structure and Organisation

Composition and Effect

Behaviour Management 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PPA 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Baptism of Fire

Baptism of fire: phrase of baptism, a difficult introduction to a new job or activity.

As usual I arrived at school early, only this time I had more bags with me,containing; my PE kit, resources, and stationary. The PE kit was because on Mondays we have the lesson scheduled and today's lesson simply served to deliver best practice information.

The teacher and I discussed what will be happening in the Literacy lesson. Being the first time that both of us will be with this brand new class, we wanted to get to know: what makes them tick, which students need closer eye on, if any stand out for more positive reasons, and also how they respond to our ways of teaching. 

Registration

The teacher and I went to the classroom to set up the PC, and rehearsed the lesson plan. The bell went and the students lined up in the playground, Due to the new 'soft' start with the classroom being open earlier, we will already be in the classroom ready to start promptly at 9 am.. today however for the first day we should have been outside (must remember that one of us has to go outside to meet the line after break and lunch whilst one stays inside).

After the class had found their new seats the teacher proceeded to go through the register whilst asking each student to put their hands up and this helped all of the teachers to put names to faces. Lunch menu was read out afterwards with about half of the children deciding to have hot dinners. 

One thing I did notice was how excited the class are to speak, which despite being a good thing, is not when a teacher or nominated student is talking. There were some ground rules laid out concerning how to behave in school and both myself and Miss G took note of this for future use.

With 5 Maths classes across Years 5 and 6, some of our students will not be based in their main classrooms.  I went through a list to work out where each student was going to and after a few hidden names, managed to find them all and I took my group off to meet their Maths teacher.

Maths

The teacher is new to the school and also a Year 5 classroom teacher. The two of us will be team -teaching and for many of the lessons we will share teaching until I am comfortable with taking on a full class.

About 8 of my tutor group came with me to Maths and were asked to find a vacant seat. She gave out some information regarding whats expected of the class and also asked them what they want to achieve. The working wall was pointed out which, although blank at the moment, will no doubt be nice and full in no time at all. As well as this, there is a table full of mathematical items, which will change to correspond to the lessons being taught.

I explained that we would like them to work independently and only ask a TA or Teacher for help as a last resort. In the following order should they ask for help; table partner, face partner, rest of the table, TA/Teacher. That way the students can often find out an answer quicker and share their own knowledge and ideas. 

Finally the teacher gave a mental maths Quick 10 and included questions surrounding; multiplication, money, subtraction, and rounding up. I walked around the class seeing how the students jotted down the questions, pointed out a few helpful hints, and it also gave us a chance to see how they respond to these types of SAT's questions. I was asked to read out the questions and pick students to give answers whilst she wrote on the white board any answers that needed clarifying. One question about 1p coins in bags of 100, and their how many in 17 bags, stumped some of the students because they thought the question was how much money was in the bags (£17), and this would have been an incorrect answer. When explained by another student, the class realised that the answer was indeed 1700 1p coins, which was the quantity.

Assembly came before break and I took the class from Maths to the hall. This was led by the headteacher and focused the value of the week which is 'Friendship'. She asked the children what this meant and gave some of them a chance to give their opinion. A few notices were read out just in time for for break-time.

Literacy
Starter
The time had finally arrived for my lesson to begin. Once all of the students filtered into class, I ensured they were quiet before giving the LO:To present an engaging report and asking the class to tell me what this meant. 
I was pleased that quite a lot of the students knew what a presentation means and also how to be engaging.

SC: To ask relevant open question.
SC To listen to answers and respond appropriately with additional questions.
SC: To take notes efficiently.

I then began to look down at my sheet of paper, mumble and talk very quietly, and this was to see if they could give me feedback about how I presented what I was saying. 

The teacher used the lolly-sticks (with student names on) to choose who to tell me what I was doing wrong, and what I should be doing instead. Look to the audience, speak clearly and not fast, and look around the room ensuring what everyone is being acknowledged. Yet again I was pleased with what I was hearing, especially with answers coming from all over the classroom. 

1st Activity
Being my first week and with the class not knowing a lot about me, I gave them a few minutes to come up with questions to ask me about my life. I didn't know what to expect but I was prepared for anything and sat in the front of the class on a chair.

Luckily I only had; How long have you been a teacher?; What is your favourite colour?; What football team do you support; and finally, Where did you go during the holidays?
My replies:I am fairly new to teaching, Blue, Arsenal, and Dorset. 
I wanted to know what sort of questions these were and what they could have asked instead or as well. Closed questions was the response, and I should have been asked open-ended questions that are more than just a quick one worded answer. Or the answers I provided could have then developed into another set of questions: 'Who is your favourite player and why?', 'What did you do before you came into teaching and why did you change your career?' and 'Where about's in Dorset did you stay and what did you do there?'

2nd Activity
This was an opportunity  for them to get to know their peers, and they had to ask questions surrounding what they did during the summer holidays. The teacher and I walked around the tables giving ideas of what to ask and this lasted 5 mins - including time to swap the questioning. The next part of the activity I asked them to go through the questioning , except this time to make notes of the answers. I was looking for them to take notes efficiently which included: bullet points instead of full blown sentences, getting the main conversation jotted down, and developing a question if an answer requires more information.

After another 5 mins, I chose 3 of the class to stand up and present their engaging reports. One of the students I picked was based on how well he had asked relevant open-ended questions and also write down quick notes. The answers gave were; which country the person had visited, a funfair they had been to whilst there?, and also whether or not they could understand the language? I said that whilst the questions started to become developed, they could have been up-leveled by asking: 'What the weather was like?' 'Was the country similar to the UK?' and 'What was their favourite ride at the funfair?'. 

Plenary 
I delivered a report about 'What I did this summer', except instead of filling it in with lots of information, I just gave a brief outline. 

Afterward I asked the class to dig deeper and wanted to check they had listened to my answers and respond appropriately with additional questions.I was asked more detailed questions to expand my answers.

The Learning Objective was achieved today by all and after my first actual teaching lesson, it was pleasing to see so many students wanting to ask and answer questions. They also achieved the skills of how to take notes and ask their peers additional questions.

PE

After lunch was PE and this term I am working alongside my mentor. This wil enable me to see how she delivers a lesson and then I do the same. 
Today's LO: To understand pre-requisites for participating in PE lessons.
SC: To use a changing room sensibly
SC: To understand why and how to live a healthy life style
SC: To identify what kit is require to participate in PE sessions

Each Year 6 class will be doing PE during part of a Monday afternoon, and then swap with the other Year 6 class for IT with my class teacher.
My mentor explained in the the school hall what is to be expected of them during PE, what they should be wearing and why, and what will happen should they not bring their kit to school.
One time forgotten will mean a letter home.

Afterwards she showed them the newly refurbished changing rooms and gave a brief on how to behave and also where they should hang their uniform. During the final part of the lesson, it was then discussed as to what will be happening during the initial sessions. Ball handling , Agility, and Tactics (Ball Skills).


2nd class for PE
Having seen the teacher deliver the LO and SC's in the previous session, I was then handed the reins and asked to tell the students what the pre-requisites are for PE. This was good because I hadn't spoken to a lot of the other Year 6 class, and it meant I could address them all at the same time and they have had a proper chance to meet me. 

ROUND UP
Today was always going to be nerve-wracking for me. Yes I have had plenty of experience in a classroom environment over the past year or so, but I am glad that my first lesson went by without a hitch and the students responded well to my way of thinking. 

Here's to a full and exciting year, many ups with hopefully not a lot of downs, but at the end of it all I can look back and see how far I have come in such a short space of time.

What's needed in a Primary School classroom

This is also a page that I created for quick reference but I wanted to put out a new blog today.I spoke my new colleagues, who is an NQT and the only other male member of the teaching staff at school. We spoke about which after school clubs we will be interested in taking or assisting with. Both of us like to keep fit either at the gym or out running; hopefully with the large numbers of students, there should be a good selection for football, cricket, hockey etc.

Why did I do this page?
I asked my fiancee based on her own experience, what is needed in a classroom? Her reply was to look online. This I have done so but for future reference decided to create a list of my own.
This isn't a page with lists of books and what colour pens to have but it does just state the obvious. Remember some of this is provided by the school, however a lot of it is via your own back pocket, and please if there is anything missing and should be included- please comment or let me know.

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

Welcome to my blog and the start of a lifelong challenge.

Welcome to my Teaching Blog. It is to help me evaluate my progress throughout the 2014-15 education year, whilst I train to be a Primary School teacher and I am using it to become a reflective practitioner.
At the ripe age of 30, I am embarking on a complete change of career. Not a lot of you will know this but I used to work in television and film - more of that to follow in the months to come - and now that I am settling down, getting married and thinking about the bigger picture, I needed to evaluate my career and take on a challenge that will not only affect my life but the lives of many others.

I enjoyed both primary and secondary school, but my own opinion is that primary school is where the children soak up the most experience and knowledge, and teachers can really make a difference as to how a child is to continue their path into higher education. They are more susceptible to change and more often than not are willing to learn as much as they can. There is also a lack of male presence in primary schools and from my own childhood I can only remember my year 5 teacher and headteacher at George Palmer Primary School now Palmer Academy.

My teaching career all began last July, when I took on a group of overseas students as Drama Director at Eton College. It was a 3 week summer school course and I taught 10 sessions in which the students learnt a variety of drama techniques. These were then applied to a final performance, that was displayed in front of other tutors and the Summer Schools Director. This was a role I relished as it involved: pastoral care, group outings, and organising sports activities - all of which can be applied to primary school teaching.

Soon afterwards and after much thought, I started applying to local primary schools in the Windsor and Maidenhead area, for some teaching experience. Via a contact at a nearby primary school, I was invited along to volunteer in year 3, and over the course of the autumn term I worked mostly in KS2.

As well as this, I was fortunate enough to also be invited to various other primaries and first schools. All of them were very different in their own unique ways (please see their separate pages).

After a few applications two interviews, I finally embarked on a new job role as Teaching Assistant at a primary school in Maidenhead. It is a CofE Collective Worship school and after spending the first few months from December to March in a year 5/6 class, I was asked to assist a 1-1 student in year 4 and this has certainly given me plenty of behaviour management experience to take forward into the profession.

I will be sad to leave the school especially as they were the ones to give me a shot at a paid position, however it is for the best that I train to be a teacher at a new environment. I am well known across the school and have had the pleasure with working with some outstanding teachers and great students. A lot of has been learnt with regards to how the timetable works and how quickly it can be adjusted to suit the needs of the school, the different teaching methods of at least 6 teachers, how to deliver PE lessons both with PPA cover and the classroom teacher, and finally the playground conundrum of keeping everyone happy despite the many friendship makeup/breakups.

Throughout this blog and on separate pages, you can also see links to recommended websites I am using for resources, and songs I have see being sung in assembly plus much much more.

Please add your own comments along the way to guide me and give encouragement.