My First Teaching Placement

Today, we found out where our first teaching placement is going to be. I'm subsequently rather excited! :D

I am going to a small school, which is in negotiation for a new building but is currently in a small blue building. It looks so... cute [for want of a better word].

This is my KS2 placement, as I requested KS1 for my 'long' teaching placement. So, I'm going into the year 3/4 class, although apparently there are a handful of advanced year 2 pupils as well. Split year classes seem very common here, but outside of small village schools, I hadn't heard of them before. That said, this school is a village school - they only have three classes! It'll be a good challenge regarding differentiation and pitching things at the best level for the children, but it seems to be a really pleasant environment to learn those skills in.

A couple of the schools in our cluster are a little... scary. I should probably say challenging, but you know what I mean. Two students in my cluster definitely had a sharp intake of breath when they discovered their schools, which just made our STCC laugh and laugh. He has previously said he tries to put people in a 'nice' placement and a particularly challenging placement to make up the two, so maybe I'll end up in one of those schools for my big placement. But, I'm not worrying about that. By then, I should be more confident and I'll obviously have more experience to draw on to cope in that environment. Plus, you never know, a few of us might be lucky and have two 'nice' placements lol. Regardless, I'm sure all the placements are going to have their own challenges and rewards - I'm just rather chuffed that my first will be in that adorable looking building, in a school that seems to be really good. :)

Slightly Crazy Tutors

Today, our History session was taken by another tutor [there are two guys splitting the sessions between them]. After a very dry, and very dull, session on Geography [based almost exclusively on a recent Ofsted report on the subject], he was a breath of fresh air. The entire class laughed for much of the class, although I suspect a great deal of that was through a slight awkwardness. Just because he was so different to all our other tutors. Below are few snippets, that might give you some idea lol. :)

Our Introduction
Lesson begins with the tutor sitting in a 'special chair'. A time machine in fact! He has to sit very carefully, back to the back of the chair and legs neatly side by side. He warns the boys - he says they'll have to be very careful with how they arrange their legs if they want the magic time machine to work. He tells the class to close their eyes and then makes some noises - similar in sound to the Doctor Who tardis noises - before telling us the magic worked and his time machine was a success.

"Time runs at different rates. Quickly in the arms of your lover. Slowly in the dentist's chair... If your lover happens to be a dentist, then you'll just end up very confused."

*wind makes window pane shake* "Did anyone hear that? We are not alone! ARAHH!"

Talking about Judgement Hall of Osiris:
"When Osiris doesn't return home, because he is like... dead..."

"Your soul leaves in the form of a bird, called a Ka. You know, k-a like the Ford. I think the car might be named after the bird though, not the other way around." *poker face*

"Can you see that face in the window?! Ooooo"

My STCC Strikes Again

He described our meeting yesterday as a cross between Celebrity Juice and The Apprentice. How true he was!

We were in tears of laughter at times, but then he would switch approach and we were being grilled the next lol! He got rather personal with one member of our group, although the person in question gives as good as he gets. Last week, this lad made jokes about our STCC's weight, for example. Anyway, our STCC kept talking about this guy's mother and how he'd like to take her out and *wink wink*. The lad was rather freaked, until he thought of a come-back. He declared that he would 'let' our STCC have his aunt instead, because she was nutcase just like him lol! The rest of us were in tears of laughter, just by how completely bizarre the situation was. At one point, our STCC then tried to focus back on the topics at hand [planning and assessment] and he asked a girl a rather studious question. She couldn't help but burst out laughing, as she hadn't actually stopped laughing from his exchange with the guy and he turn, our STCC ended up spitting out his tea with an eruption of laughter himself!

It felt a little bit like being trapped in the asylum, but then again, having an STCC so unpredictable certainly livens things up lol.

We've all started picking up his mannerisms though - which isn't good. For one thing, he swears all the time. I don't really swear, unless I'm really irritated, but lately, certain expletives keep slipping out. The others in our cluster are the same and one guy said 'shit' whilst we were talking in the corridor at the school. I don't think there were any children in earshot, but we've all established that this increasing case of swear words slipping off the tongue is going to become a problem. A few are terrified that it could happen in front of a class. That would be really bad. Eck.

First Time RE Activities

Today, in RE, we were looking at Judaism. We considered some weekly rituals and then looked at festivals. During our discussion on Passover, we were given an eating activity. The tutor had arranged for various food items to be available, all of which are symbolic and relate to the freedom from slavery achieved by Moses [with God's help, of course]. I have to be honest, I didn't eat a single item. However, some other people did and they seemed to enjoy it. I think it could be problematic within school, but the idea of using religious food or those associated closely with another culture could work. Depending on allergies etc within the class. Our plates included five aspects. Lamb from a shank to represent the lamb shank normally included. Horseradish. A 'cement' concotion of nuts, cinnamon, red wine and apple. Parsley and lettece. A roasted egg.


Interesting, I'm sure you'll agree. :D

DT With A Quirky Teacher

Today, we had our first DT lesson. Having taken Graphic Products at GCSE and throughly enjoying it, I expected the DT session to be reasonably good. Yet, it exceeded even my high expectations! :D

The tutor is incredibly quirky. He makes jokes [that are actually funny - something my ICT tutor should take note of lol] and makes everyone feel relaxed. All the while, he is focused and he gave us some brilliant resources. We talked through some 5 lesson ideas, and ways we could differentiate within them and adapt them to suite different ages. He said he wants us to be confident, capable and ready to teach DT from day one - I think he did pretty well in meeting that brief. :D

Below are a couple of things we did, although my "biscuit protector" is not included lol. For the latter, we had to create a protective wrapper for a morning biscuit using a maximum of two pieces of A4 paper and 10cm of sellotape lol. We had five minutes and then we tested them out - he threw them down a flight of stairs! I was rather chuffed that mine worked, sad as that is lol... Anyway, the two on the image below are a name badge [with a safety-pin back] and a bookmark. The former is meant to be something we like or that represents something about us - given the tiny amount of time we had, you can't really tell that mine is a beach hut with my name being the name of the hut, but you get the idea lol. The latter is a bookmark made using foam. The butterfly top is kind of 3D and the black bits are foam and move when you shake the bookmark. They are not amazing, but I am proud of them in a silly sort of way. Plus, as Doug said, they are just an example and you always tell your class that they can do much, much better. I am in no doubt that they could. :D

Being In The Classroom

This week, we were able to get back into the classroom. Thus far, we've have classes at university and have had meetings within our STC [school training centre] but until now, we've not actually sat in a primary school lesson.

On Thursday, I observed a wonderful yr1/2 teacher. She was incredible. Everything ran like clockwork, the activities were perfectly timed and varied enough to keep the children engaged. The focus was phonemes, as she said some of the children were still struggling to fully grasp them [I don't blame them - they are something I'm going to need to get over lol!]. Activities included group reading, where the children seemed really interested in what they were doing. Carefully crafted questions ensured they retained knowledge of things they had previously read and every child within the groups contributed answers willingly.

Also, linked to something my STCC said - the teacher was incredibly quiet and calm. In turn, the classroom was quiet and calm. The children and the environment reflected the teacher. It made it a wonderful environment to learn within, because they children were still contributing and completing varied activities, but there was no shouting or unpleasantness. An observation I did at a different school yesterday further demonstrated this idea. The teacher had a difficult job, as the children ranged from level 2 through to 5. Consequently, she utilised the TA to lead an activity with the lowest ability groups [after working/teaching as a whole class first], so that she could look at more complex ideas with the rest of the class. This lead to a lot of noise and the teacher did have to shout - not out of anger or anything like that - quite loudly just be heard. There was a permanent buzz of noise over which she was trying to teach. In that situation, it is hard to know what to do for the best, but it seemed to mirror my STC. He said the louder the teacher has to be, the louder the class will be. Sort of a negative cycle. I can definitely appreciate that now.

As mentioned, we went into a different school yesterday to observe maths lessons. In the first, the year 6 lesson mentioned above, we mainly observed. Simply because the teacher taught at the front of the class for much of the lesson [the children completed questions on their whiteboards] and so it didn't seem appropriate to wander around the room - we thought that would be distracting and unhelpful. In the second lesson, however, the teacher made use of us and we all seemed to get a lot from it. In pairs, we led groups playing games to improve their knowledge and confidence with doubling. The teacher said she was a great believer in games and she had a big bag of resources to play all sorts of games - from the 'doubling fairy' to games using dice etc. Once again, the children seemed very engaged and there did appear to be some improvement in their ability over the course of the lesson, although some still struggled and felt most comfortable drawing and counting dots to work out the answers.

People have said a lot that teachers must share, borrow and try out ideas they've seen elsewhere. In that vein, I think games can provide a great starter during a lesson, although I would probably balance that with a little bit of independent work, so the children can make some record of their learning. I would love to be a quiet teacher, like the wonderful teacher I saw on Thursday, to create such a calm environment. And, from the year 6 teacher, I would be keen to adopt her approach to encouraging pupils to find their own methods. She told them to try as many different methods as they could and not to worry if one or two don't seem to work for them - rather, just to try them out and hopefully discover one or two that really make sense and 'click' with them. That sort of flexibility within mathematics has been talked about a lot in our maths classes, so it was great to see it actually happening within school. :)

My STCC Is Amazing!

When I first met my STCC, I was a little anxious. He came across as being a huge character, a little scary and a little overwhelming. He is still is a huge character, and a little scary and occassionally a little overwhelming, but now I really appreciate that lol!

I suppose I should explain what an STCC is. It stands for School Training Centre Co-ordinator. They organise the placements, they assess our lessons and they write a big chunk our final reference. As my STCC put it, he decides if we pass or fail this course. Best keep him on side then lol!

He is a wonderful breath of fresh air. He marks such a contrast to the lecturers/tutors we have during our university-based days. He said himself that he isn't academic - he was thrown out of two universities during his youth - and he has a lot of 'real world' experience, having worked as a lorry driver and for Nissan prior to studying for his PGCE. Plus, he is obviously amazing at what he does, as he made headteacher within 9 years in the profession! He doesn't look like your average headteacher - he is much more down to earth. And, his language is a lot more fruity lol. He labelled one lad in our group an arsehole on his very first day, after the lad forgot a range of important documents lol.

When we have our days in his school, and our meetings with him, we all come away enthused and excited. We can have a laugh with him and he really seems to have our best interests at heart. It is so motivating! :D

Anyway, last week, he asked us to email him our mobile numbers for him to put on file. Not long after I returned home from his school, I sent him the email. Today, he had a list of three of us who hadn't emailed him - I was one of them. I told him I had and stood my ground, but double checked when I got back. I only went and sent it to the wrong person! I've sent my mobile number to some randomer lol! Anyway, I forwarded my initial email and explained what I had done. His reply tonight made me literally lol.

In the words of Keith Lemmon... "Don't be a dingbat!"

Thanks. x

I think having a STCC who cracks jokes and references Keith Lemon provides a perfect balance with some of the university staff, and certainly helps put you at ease lol. :D

English: Literature Across The Curriculum

In one of our workshops on literature today, we were challenged with the task of telling a story. Such a simple idea, yet one which has caused concern among various members of the course, as talking in front of your peers is quite different from talking in front of a class. Despite initial reservations, it turned into a wonderful activity and the hour long session seemed to be over all too quick, especially as we were able to work in groups of 6 and thus tell our stories to a small group, rather than the entire session.

In the group I was a part of, the stories including Three Little Pigs, Billy Goats Gruff, Nanny Goat and the 7 Kids, a Roman legend, The Little Matchgirl and Red Riding Hood. It was fantastic, as we all seemed to be pulled into the stories and when recalling our own, we were able to let go of the nerves and simply enjoy the splender of being the storyteller. Some of the stories were not known by members of the group, and mine seemed to spark some sadness due to the ending of The Little Matchgirl. In a way, I think that is a great thing - one member of the group, in particular, leaned in as the story neared its conclusion and then looked geniunely upset; being able to pull someone in that way is a bit of a confidence boost, I must say. :D

Cabbage Patch & Chunking

I've heard the terms 'cabbage patching' and 'chunking' thrown around during educational talks, but I didn't understand what they meant until today. In one of our maths sessions, the tutor explained and worked through and example, before letting us have a go for ourselves. :)

At school, I quite like maths but I decided not to keep it on after GCSE. Consequently, the maths lessons here on my PGCE have been my first in nearly 6 years! This class was the first where we were able to pick up something completely new and attempt it ourselves - that might not sound like the most enjoyable hour, but actually, it was great. Getting to try something and having the satisfaction of working it out successfully felt amazing. If we have a few more sessions like that, I think these four hour Tuesday mornings of maths might become something really positive. :)

The top example below shows cabbage patching using squared paper, where, if necessary, a child could count the number of squares in each box to calculate the multiplication each represents. As a child's confidence develops, they need not draw the cabbage patch to scale, as shown by the second example. The third is an example of chunking - a method of long division. :)

Our First Art Lesson

Today, we had a two hour art session. Falling after four hours of science and an hour of 'core issues and skills', I didn't hold out much hope of enjoying. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised. In groups of five, we were to work on a town, or part of a town, with some very simple restrictions. We had to include 12 little paper houses, using the nets provided, and to incorporate a road and cycle path to enter and exit the site at predetermined points. Those were our only limitations. Around the room, there were a range of materials, paints and felt tips to use. The sections of card were of varying sizes, and ours at first seemed quite large. However, it took some time to position the houses and roads and our little extras - a park with a pond and benches, a telephone box and a postbox. To accompany the physical, 3D model, we had to draw a scale drawing. Interestingly, two of us moved onto the scale drawing once a basic layout was set, whilst others immediately opted to do the more creative things. I did get involved in the creative side, but the scale drawing ended up being my baby lol. The end result, whilst maybe seeming a little amateurish, was rather groovy. I especially liked it when the tutor fitted all the sections together and showed us how the roads and cycle paths flowed across all of our maps. It looks so colourful. Plus, it was something practical too - as he told us ways of using it in the classroom as a cross-curricular topic. :D