I cannot believe it is all over. I have been sitting here planning my last session and hating the thought of having to say goodbye to you all and all my learners too. it is so sad, I wish it would go on for longer. it only seemed like last week i was saying i could never do it all, it seemed so much, a P.G.C.E in adult literacy seemed an impossible dream. now it is almost a reality, but it is so sad to. my last session is, wait for it more games! But we have sweeties too this time! help me to be strong as I say goodbye to all my learners, I have become so fond of them and they are all thoughtful, they have planned a tea for us after the final class. All I hope is I do not ball like a baby, not the teachy thing to do at all. Any way cheerio folks, it was great knowing you all, its been fun. i will play my games in that last session and smile and join in, but I wish i could go on a little longer. The good news is my City in Guilds learners passed there level two papers, how cool is that/ A big well done to them, they all worked so hard and I am so proud of them all. So bye bye all, I am proud of you all too, we did well didn't we?
I love using games as a teaching aid. I have so much fun, I know it is about the learner, but hey its great. To see the quietest learner laughing their head off and taking part id fantastic. I was in awe of the way they all threw them selves into my last session it was worth seeing, as it was total uproar, but they learnt so much. How else can you teach punctuation, it is so boring, I fall asleep just thinking about it! We had the best session ever, even my mentor had fun, she joined in and the learners loved it. i lost as usual, I am hopeless at games, and they were so quick. You should all try the games I used, let me know who wants them and I will email them to you. They are fantastic at getting the learning in to the learners heads, they learn so well and do not realise they have till after. i enjoyed it so much I am planning more for the end of term
I have never known a learner talk so much or disrupt my teaching as this guy does. He is a great guy don't get me wrong, but he has so much to say and always thinks he knows best, better than the other learners and better than me on times. I know he annoys other teachers in the same way, but he means no real harm, he just needs to be quiet. I am getting him ti see the error of his ways though. By stopping speaking and looking at him until he stops speaking, seems to be getting through to him. I then explain that I cannot talk and hear at the same time, I think he is getting it. It Is so hard as he really is interesting, but he needs to see that there is a time and place for everything and in the middle of a session is not the place. i am getting this teacher thing at last, I feel bossy to me sometimes and think I over do it a bit, but I have been told I am on the right path, so hay ho, its a teaching I shall go!
My class has always had mixed ages in it, but I now have a much older learner to teach and I am a little worried that I will be able to include him in all my activities as his movement and reactions are rather slow. It is not that I don't think he can manage it is the opposite. I want him to have good learning experience within my classes and I am worried that the other learners will go to fast for him and we will leave him behind. I think I will have to talk to my mentor and get advice on this as I want to get it right first time. I have such a mixed class, ages, backgrounds and attitudes ( these are a problem!), but this is the first older learner I have had and I want him to enjoy his time with me and have fun as well as learn. I will keep you posted about this as I need to get advice and maybe it can be of help to us all at some time.
Ok I blew it! I tried and I failed! I was warned, but would I listen, NO! you see I wanted to let my learners be creative, why not? To do it for an observation, bad move.My learners were fantastic, it was me that made the mistakes. How is it that on your lesson plans everything looks wonderful and then in real life you flunk it. It was a hard thing to try to do and thank heavens this was noted in my observation feedback. I wanted it to go s well and it was a good idea, I used some wicked activities, but some were hard for my learners to get to grasps with, they tried so hard, but I just didn't explain well enough. I was lucky that the sessions potential could be seen and that my activities were good, other wise I dread to think what mark I would have got. So be warned, creative writing lessons are harder than they seem. Stick to punctuation it is safer.
This has been a real bad time for me, both in teaching and my own life. So when i had two learners going at it the other morning, I thought why am I doing this? Well, it sorted itself out thanks be to Him above, but it could rear it head again, I really hope not! It was all over one learner swearing at the other. I didn't get a chance to say a word. The class took over. They were not having it they said, no swearing. The other learner said that if the younger one swore at her again she would leave, meI just stood there like a lemon nodding. I found my voice then and suggested we put it to a class vote, those who thought it ok to swear and those who didn't. i thought this better than me coming the heavy hand. The learners voted and the non swearers won. I think it was a good move to let the learners have a say in the class rules, after all it is their class as well as mine. What do you think?
As we all know the Internet is a God send to use teachers! Ah, but its not all that it seems! You see if we are not very careful we will all use the same activities as each other and it is happening so be warned. i went into the library to find three, yes three of us using the same activity sheets. Help, you are all either mind readers or we are all using Skillwise and Skills Workshop far to much! I know it is so tempting to do this, they are all set out so nice, they are all spelt correctly and have nice pictures, but I am trying to use my own imagination. Yes, believe it or not i do have one and it seems pretty good at the moment. ok my sessions are not as well thought out as those from these sites, but they are mine and i am proud of them. I will continue to use my own ideas and you may never know I too may be on Skills workshop one day, Dream on girl!
I sometimes wonder if I will ever get the hang of this time management thingy! I try to pace my sessions, I know what i am meant to do, but somehow either go to slow or two fast! I try to get it correct and do get there most of the time, but when I have an observation it all goes to pot! its not that I forget, its that I get all worked up and then I over talk, and talk to fast. Well, I will just have to learn to pace myself and get this thing mastered wont I? I realise it is important, but s it a thing that we learn with practice? I hope so as its getting me down as it seems to be a thing that keeps popping up all the time. May be I will get it right next time. We will have to wait and see, watch this space folks.
It seem only last week I stepped into the classroom at the Settlement and stood in front of the students, terrified of making a complete clown of myself! now 133 hrs on I still feel as if it could all go wrong and that clown is still waiting to break out and sat "Hi I still can't spell!"
That is not altogether true, I do have a lot more confidence in my abilities, and I can tell you one thing, I LOVE teaching! When all said and done the buzz I get is great. I love to feel as if I have done something to make a difference, however small. My classes have been great the students even bought me Easter eggs!, how cool is that?
I have had my share of terrible classes, controlling them at first was soooo hard, but as with most things the more you do it the (hopefully) easier it gets. My mentor has been fab, she has helped me and guided me through all this and not laughed when I spelt ' Alliteration' wrong in the class. She is a star and I am very greatful for all the hard work she has put in with me. I sound like an 'Oscar' speech doing this thank you lark, but hey , go for it girl!
To think that I must leave the Settlement is real sad, I have become attached to the place, and Nan the tea lady will always hold a special place in my heart, to say she has spoilt me is an understatement. I have learnt so much from all the staff and students alike and I don't think I could ever be the person I was before I started all this. I fell more confident and able to do something useful. I have come from stumbling through lessons to being able to plan and put that lesson into action, yes I make mistakes and I learn from them, at least I hope I do. I have found that there are many ways to get learning across and it can be fun for both me and the learners too. I have built up a god set of resources from the teaching practice and I know these will be of real value to me as I go on from here. Observations are really scary, But from both Chris and Val I have learnt to make my lessons clearer and stronger, feed back has been invaluable in that area.
So what now? I don't really know as yet, I want to continue to teach in the community of that I am certain, I feel I belong there. It is in the hands of the powers that be and I will work my socks off to get a job doing this as it's the best thing I think i have ever done, as my grandson would say 'it's well cool!'
I don't know what all the classes are like that we teach, but most of mine hate using IT. I have tried and they have just shut down and look terrified! I think however that I have had a break through. The other week I was teaching a session on persuasive text and wanted something more than hand outs and laminated posters. I decided to use You Tube and was really surprised at the way in which the class reacted to its use. As my class is of older people on a Monday I decided to use adverts and alliteration to show them how persuasive adverts can be. Taking into consideration the ages of the class, I chose adverts from the 80's. I worked a treat, I used Heinz Baked Beans you know "Beinz Meanz Heinz', they all sang along it was great. I also used Country Life Butter, you can't put a 'Better Bit of Butter on your knife' . They loved it. we went a bit off track as we looked at a few more old adverts, but I was so pleased that they responded to the use of the computer in their lesson as before it was a taboo area to them. I suggest that if you have this problem too, go at it in a fun way, they really enjoyed the lesson and their feed back was great to listen to.
Also if you are going to use Alliteration in your sessions, there is a fantastic clip on You Tube, it is alliteration to the extreme and is from the film ' V for vendetta' It's amazing as the actor uses words only begining with 'V' and it shows alliteration to the max. It is better for higher levels of learners, as some of the words used are hard to understand, but then I thought you could make a note of these and use them for a dictionary activity. Any way it's something to think on and may be of use to you.
I feel as if I have hit that brick wall at last! I try to get this time management thingy going but, well it's not happening. My days go from assignments to planning lessons and vise versa. Now i find I am double booked for my observation on Monday. You see there is another lady training at the Settlement, she is doing her level three and bless her she has been so understanding with me taking all the classes,she hasn't got a look in. So it was arranged for her to do this week, but I didn't know, hence poor Val is out in the cold and me, God knows!!
I am trying to get my head around this research project, but it's not happening. I feel as if this assignment dose not fit in at all. Perhaps it is me, but I don't really see how it will benefit me in my teaching. I am cracking on though, trying to get some order to the feed back I have got, but it's not all in as yet and as for the poster, will some one at least tell me when it has to be in! I have three different dates, so which one is it?
In a way I will be glad when I am back doing teaching again, I have done 132 hours so not to much to go. The holidays were a welcome break, but I know it is silly, but I was afraid I would become rusty and forget to much. I expect that will change as I gain more confidence in my own teaching so i am not to worried, it's best not to get over confident as there is a long way you can fall, from a grade 1 to a 4!
Enough of the moaning, it could be far worse! I feel as if it is to much at the moment, but I know that will pass and I will be on form again real soon. What a blog! a good moan dose me good though so sorry everyone, but thats the way it is!
You have never met Darren, but he is in a nut shell a very quiet and withdrawn boy. He always attends sessions every week and is never late. The only thing is Darren never speaks much and is so shy that its painful to watch him try to cope with a large rowdy class every week. This week it all changed and i was so amazed that I have been smiling all week, as to me its wonderful!! It started like any other Tuesday, the class filed in , some on time others as usual late. We did the usual warm ups and then settled down to work. The lesson was on persuasive writing and the exercise at the time was to write their own advert from a picture that I had given them. I went around the class and helped where it was needed, then when they had finished the exercise asked if anyone wanted to read out and sell their advert to us? I don't know what made me glance Darren's way, but he put up his hand and asked to read his. To say I was speechless is an understatement. It was the most rewarding moment of all this, I felt that I had won the lottery!! Yes, it was a simple advert, yes he was very hesitant, but DARREN READ OUT LOUD!!!! He finished and the class just sat there as stunned as me. I said how good it was, but didn't make a fuss as I know he hates that, the class continued. Then after the break we went over their homework from last week. This was in the form of two adverts each with spaces in the text to insert in adjectives to describe and sell the product. I looked around again an Darren made eye contact and again asked to read his work out. I was blown away, once was good, but twice! He read out two lovely adverts, you could see he had tried so hard and I could see he was proud of his work, and I was proud of him in turn. The class finished and I asked him why he had felt more confident this week, do you know what he said? He wanted to see if he could do it, he wanted to share his writing with others. This is such a big step for him, I can't explain to you how big. I hope it continues and that his confidence grows each week.
Well, I suppose it could have been a lot worse than it was! I was early, and as usual set up the classroom ready for my lesson. This session usually has at least nine learners and is a good session to observe as it is lively and I always enjoy the way in which they all work so well together as a whole class. I hadn't however, prepared for the snow!! I went from my usual sized class to just three and to make it worse all my activities were based on paired work. Chris came and i knew i just had to get on with it and do the best I could. My learners were fantastic they worked their socks off. One of my quietest tried so hard and even went as far as reading out his own work, a thing he never does! We all moved into a small group and I sat with them around the table as it seemed silly to stay at the front of a large classroom with them dotted about. It went really well we talked over the lesson and their input improved within the small group setting. This was I think because they felt more impersonal and more on the same level as each other. You see usually they stay in the same seats each week and sit by the same people, well this week they didn't and the found that it didn't matter at all. I feel it went really well and i was very pleased with the learning out comes and the session as a whole. Thanks to those three learners.
Have you ever had one of those classes where no matter what you do or say they giggle? That was my clas this week. From them all coming in ten mins late, to total disorder in one easy step! This class is usually great, they work and respond well and are usually animated to a degree. This week however, they were wound up to the maximum. As the class progressed it seemed to revolve around one individual and he was on fantastic form!! Everything was a joke, everthing contained innuendos. I wanted to throw my toys out of my pram and state that 'I was'nt playing any more' I spent an hour getting them to stay focused and to try and get some learning to take place. When I could get silence it was spoilt by the class joker of the night. By break I was exhuasted, my head was in a whirl. I had used every trick I knew to keep the class in order. waljking back to the class after break I thought 'someone remind me why I an doing this' Standing there in frount of the class i knew this was it, it was my class and i was going to get thids as I wanted it! So I called them to order and just simply split them up. By getting them to work in pairs and not as a whole class I finally restored order. By putting the class joker with the quiet ones he calmed down and began to work. I am not saying it was perfect, but it was ten times better than the first hour. There was less smart remarks and they finally worked going on to produce a piece of work. Thus ends my class from hell experiance and up goes my belief in my own abilities. I could control the class. Yes i was floundering at one stage, felling unable to cope with it all, but I got it back on track by thinking rationally. I was able to achieve a least half session of normality out of what could have been two hours of total disorder..
I at last feel that I am on the way to understanding what this is all about! Gone is that funny feeling of being on the outside looking in, I feel asa if the light bulb has at last come on and things are now clearer and less frightening. I had my observation last Monday and for the best part of it did so much better than I thought I would. I felt at a teacher at ;ast and my class were wonderful, a real help. They tried so hard and did me proud!! I think my mentor was please, she seemed as if she was. Me, I could'nt believe I had done it and not collapsed in a jibbering heap even before the observation happened. Now for the next one on the 23rd, I feel as if I can handle this one even better, well I would like to and I feel that i must stay positive and not get myself in such a shaking mess again!! Good luck to you all and remeber if I can do it so can you.
All that worries me now are the assignments. they seem a vast task and are worrying me quite a bit. The one for ours seems a bit more staight forward, but the two for a Friday, what can I say besides HELP!!!! Got to get then sorted however and I sippose that once I begin they should all fall into place. well at least I can dream can't I! I am not technical minded and the thought of doing anything even slightly like this terrifies me. I will I think keep it all basic and just do what I know I am comfortable doing then at least I can't go wrong, can I? Well here goes I will go for it and do my best, as they say thats all we can all do, our best.