An interesting week. With the annual inspection coming up at the college in April I wanted to prepare for my sessions for that week, however I've been covering staff absences in my spare hours this week so not had the chance to do that. This is a common theme I have noticed at the college just simply not enough time to prep and prepare. This week I did a guest lecture for Crime and Deviance and I loved it, as this is where my degree is in and felt comfortable with my knowledge on this area. This week i'm now on the e-registers, so I can mark the registers interactively. Also this week i've done a few pieces of marking. My mentor and I agreed that one of my targets now for March is to du marking; I have 16 pieces of work coming into me for Easter on public health so this will be an experience. I feel at the moment i'm getting the real deal with work experience, it is really preparing me for a career in teaching. This week i've also applied for a full time lecturing job down Bristol College for Sociology, so should be interesting if I get an interview for this. I have my 2nd observation from university on monday, my 4th overall. The week after I start teaching a new module sex education, this is daunting but exciting at the same time, this will be testing my class management skills to the limit, and I will be observed for the 1st session I take in this area. In relation to teaching this week it has been a useful week with me taking different teaching approaches such as non powerpoint lessons, and actually I felt the lessons which I did not do powerpoint were more productive and seemed to flow better. However I will go back to PowerPoint on monday for the observation. I've also picked my research title and picked the group which will be participating; I will pilot three questionnaires on wednesday to the group to see how I can improve on the questions. Well another week over, speak soon.
This week was my 3rd teaching observation and it was from the head of department and had a level 2 grade, she gave me great feedback and this raised my confidence and realise now I'm nearly half way through all the observations with my next one coming in two weeks from the university. I was very professional and friendly at all time. The only thing I need to work on now is training on my interactive e registers, this is a new system the college have introduced by marking all registers on line. I am now trained on these and are conducting these at the beginning of each of my sessions. She told me that this is a main health and safety issue and registers need to be taken at the beginning of every session.
An issue this week I had to face was my USB Stick did not work on one of the computers, however I didn't let that affect the lesson and I had a copy of the powerpoint slides in my teaching folder so I worked of them as a template, It could have been a disater, but I'm showing signs now of taking on board these problems and dealing with them. What however I will do next time is ensure that all my lectures are on the moodle website at the beginng of session for a back up if my USB stick does not work. Other issues this week I had to contend with was students moaning about their deadline dates and saying they have no time to complete there work, its so frustating as you see students when we have the computer room just simply not working. I stood firm again and told them that work needs to be in before easter, Another frustrating moment this week was one of my groups had a meeting about their workplacement and was twenty minutes late for my session however NO one told me about this meeting and really disrupted my plans for session, and the group are all ready behind in that module as well. So felt that meeting should have taken place at another time! This week also I've been covering for tutors who have been on the sick, so getting a real taste of the teaching experience.
At the beginning of week we were told that we are having an inspection in April, so be prepared! So again all my lesson plans and schemes of work for that week in April need to be done, WIth the learning resource based assignment around the coner I know I need to raise the game next week. I have started this assignment, just need to evaluate the resource now. Also been considering applying for a MA in Education this week at the University Of Wales Newport for my professional development. This week has been a postive week bring on the next one!
Blog 7
A SUPER WEEK (LEVEL 2). GREAT 1ST OBSERVATION FROM UNI, ASSESSOR TOLD ME ‘I’VE GOT THE POTENTIAL TOP BE A SUPER TEACHER’.
Monday 8TH February 2010 – Thursday 11th February 2010 Week six.
After last week’s disappointing week, this week was a much better week. With me being put into another group for Wednesdays lesson with that teacher was a relief. However this week was all about me and my teaching, as on Tuesday I was observed for the 2nd time this year and first one from University. The lesson went really well,
playing an interactive who wants to be a millionaire game! So really pleased and had really positive feedback off assessor. Mind the experience took it out of me. I’ve just
finished for the term now and will be happy to have a break. However i’ve got plent to get on with over the half term lesson plans etc. This week I met my evening group
(mature students) and wow what a contrast to the normal 16+ group. I recommend anyone if they get an opportunity take up the chance to teach mature students, it
was pleasure. This week also I got my confident with using the interactive whiteboard. Also done marking this week, I praised all work however some work I had in was
shocking but I need to learn how to quantify my marking for example, comments like o-k, good, outstanding etc . All in all a really positive week, the head of department
want to observe me teaching on the 1st March so another big day for me coming up, that will be my 3rd Observation then. Well its half term now, hope to relax and come
back refreshed after the little break. Bring on the next chapter in my teaching practice career!
Blog 6
A SHATTERING WEDNESDAY (CONFIDENCE KNOCKED AND ASSESSMENT NEXT WEEK, CAN I TURN IT AROUND?
Monday 1ST February 2010 – Thursday 4th February 2010 Week five.
Monday 1st February 2010
Smiley Faces Day
Today was a productive day, with 3 hours of teaching completed on this day. The first lesson I taught today was unbalanced and balanced diets and the lesson went well. However, I didn’t have enough time to complete the lesson as 50 minutes is not long enough, so the lesson will continue next week. I did note that down on my lesson plan,that the lesson would go over to next week. In relation to class management I made it clear after I saw someone with their mobile phone out, that this is not allowed in my class. I did tell her that ‘I do apologise that I didn’t inform you at the beginning of class you are to turn your phone on silent’. I also put the PowerPoint slides on the college moodle system; students can download this from the internet. One student said ‘That’s amazing no other teacher bothers to do this!’. I did that straight away today. In the afternoon I had my Level 2 Health and Social Care, and found out today that the girl who has been naughty in this group has been suspended, so that was a bit of a shock to me, as she seemed to be getting better. This group I feel, I am slowly turning around. It was a lesson which went really well, with me giving them a student handbook I designed myself, and set them homework. All the class seemed to be interested in the lesson. The lesson was on the Data Protection Act and Human Rights Act. I had my smiley faces sticker book and gave all students a smiley face. I even put one on my tie. It will be interesting to see out of the 10 students who were set homework, how many will hand the work in next week to me? This lesson will go into the further four lesson plans we have to do for our teaching portfolio. So, overall, smileys face today.
Tuesday 2nd February 2010
Another busy day today. With my main group back off block work placement they had a lecture on environmental factors affecting health. The lesson went well. There were a few class management issues such as students talking when I talked, on three occasions I had to explain to them this is not acceptable. Some students came late off their break, I carried on without them as I felt it was not appropriate to wait. They did apologise; however maybe I will explain at next week’s lesson, 10 minute break not 15 minute break. A lot of the students were moaning about me uploading stuff on to moodle. However I stood my ground and told them that they will have to upload all PowerPoint slides themselves, I could print them but this is time consuming for myself, and students need to get to use to this type of system. However I will find out 2mrow if anyone has accessed this facility. I’ve got so much prep work to do 2night, I’ve got the equal opportunity class 2mrow. The one I had two weeks in which the lecturer gave me some criticisms, so 2mrow is going to be a difficult day. However I must show my character and show confidence, take advice but learn and reflect. This is what I’m going to do 2mrow.
Wednesday 3rd February 2010
A rainy day
Today was the day I was not looking forward to. I had the lesson in which the woman sits in on me, the one who sat in with me a couple of weeks ago, let’s just remind ourselves of what happened last time ‘“There were loads of spelling mistakes on PowerPoint” She told me ‘nothing was linked to health and social care’. She criticised me by asking them to write on the whiteboard their responses to the exercise containing list male typical jobs! She said that was below their level! Also told me not to read directly off the PowerPoint!’ (Tuesday 19th Jan 2010). Well today got even worse, she stopped me half way through the lesson and told the students to have a break and totally wrecked my confidence ‘she said what you got planned for the rest of the lesson?’ i told her ‘role play and interactive game’ she said that won’t work, sit down and watch her for the next hour. The lesson was on the Race Relations Act it was going really well, half way through the first, the teacher asked me ‘So what was happening in the 1960s then Philip’, she knew I didn’t have a lot of historical knowledge and she totally threw me off guard however I came up with a quick response ‘Well Karen you know, you tell the group’. I found her very unprofessional in trying to catch me out. I had sit and watch the last hour of the lesson, I felt like a knife had gone through me, my confidence in shatters, I didn’t know how to react. One positive thing which came out of it, was I kept my professional integrity and stayed in the lesson with her, however I felt so shattered by the experience. Today has dented my confidence; she told me ‘If you perform like that next week at your observation, your assessor won’t be impressed’. However everyone who is watching me teach has told ‘how confidence and great I am’. She has really put me down, and now I have to get back up. With my first University assessment observation next Tuesday, will I able to get my confidence back? I must show the spirit I have done throughout my academic life next Tuesday, it took me 7 attempts to do my GCSE English and I kept fighting and plugging away. I have to show the same grit next week. When I got back to the staff room (luckily she weren’t there.) I broke down in a flood of tears, all the staff were really supportive and give me cuddles, I just felt so down and alone after what she had told. Two consecutive weeks she has put me down. Last week It “There were loads of spelling mistakes on PowerPoint” She told me ‘nothing was linked to health and social care’. She criticised me by asking them to write on the whiteboard their responses to the exercise containing list male typical jobs! She said that was below their level! Also told me not to read directly off the PowerPoint! When I’m talking about my work in Morrisions. This week it was well what was it for? She told me ‘I’m trying too hard’. When I left the college today the clouds opened up and I got soaked. Apart from that incident today, I had a great first three lessons, getting to know students names better now. Anyway roll on for 2mrow.
Thursday 4th February 2010
Today I had to get my head up and keep on going and that’s what I did, teaching 5 hours today, I used my learning based resource who wants to be a millionaire on 1 class and it worked really well. But wow what a week I’m so glad the week is over, massive week next week for me, my 2nd Observation.
Blog 5
BUSY WEEK, DONE ALOT OF PLANNING STILL LOADS TO DO. OBSERVATION DONE CONFIRMED FOR TUESDAY 8TH FEBRUARY 2010
Monday 25th January 2010 – Thursday 28th January 2010 Week four.
Monday 25th January 2010
Well this week should be a fairly relaxed one with my main group on block work placement. However it is a week in which I will need to prepare for next week, as next
week will be an important one which my 2nd observation and the 1st done by the University. Today I sat in on all my classes. The end session I was helping students
playing games. Later on in the day I had a meeting with my mentor, we discussed how it is going so far, she is still unsure how to fill in the observation sheets and said she
will discuss this with my tutor next week. Another issue at the moment is the amount of time I’ve got to be at college for. For example, I’m teaching 11 units at the
moment, so I’ve been coming in for those lessons, the mentor is fine with this, as the other hours I can get on with preparing and my university work, however she said
the head of the department seems to think all PGCE students must be there from Monday – Thursday 9 – 4.30 every day. This would be a real challenge for me as there
would be no time to do my university work, so my mentor is going to clarify this with my tutor when she comes next week. Anyway today I’ve also found out a bit more
about the modules I’m teaching about. I’ve prepared for next week’s aspect of health lesson, also started to have a little think about next Monday’s afternoon lesson with
Level 2 Health and Social care! Well that’s me done for the day I’m shattered now!
Tuesday 26th/ Wednesday 27th/Thursday 28th January 2010
With my main group away these couple of days were basically planning. I did take my level 2 health and social care class, yet only 3/15 showed up. So I decided to carry on with my teaching. On Thursday I had an e-mail off Jan saying that my observation will be now overseen by someone else, and the first one will be on Tuesday 9th
February 2010. I’m also hoping 2 have another observation done by mentor at the end of February.
Monday 18th January 2010 – Thursday 22nd January 2010 Week three.
Monday 18th January 2010
Today will be a day I will never forget as I taught my first ever lesson! And guess what? It was the group I observed last week which were not very well behaved! Lets reflect on what I said about this group last week “Monday afternoon I observed a group and wow! What a very loud group! With one student very loud and outspoken slouched on her chair! So been thinking about class management today and the question that I’m asking is; what could I have done to help her learn?” (Webber, P, Monday 11-01-10). So today some could say it was the baptism of fire! With other teachers reporting difficulties with this group, I knew I had to be firm from the beginning. And the lesson went really well. Despite a group learning agreement being agreed within the class, there were some issues, one student had their phone on their desk stating ‘I must have this with me because my child in nursery and the nursery need my number if there is an emergency”. One other student was eating a flake and told me” I must eat I’m pregnant and have cravings’. So these issues I must learn to address more effectively! However students seemed to warm to me as the lesson progressed! The students and I had a laugh over me constantly saying ‘yea’ after I have finished my sentence! I remember something from the Petty book and that sometimes you must be prepared to be laughed at by students. So I guess it’s natural. But a very effective start and one of the students said “You’re going to be a brilliant teacher you understand how to treat people” another students said “You’re fair”. I agreed with my mentor that I will have an appointment to see the technician on how to upload my slides of lessons on to their moodle system (our MLE equivalent) as she does not know how to do it. I’ve also prepared some lesson plans today as well. So been a busy day today. With my first observation tomorrow! I’m ensuring that I have all my resources ready.
Tuesday 19th January 2010
Well today was the big day. It was observation day. And it went well! With my mentor giving me a 2 on the grading sheet. That is the 2nd highest you can get. The teaching experience has started now! And what I learnt today from my first observation is to be prepared. Thus my 300 word evaluation will be on the theme ‘general planning’. I must have all the resources available and enough worksheets! My mentor spoke to me after the class and believed my class management skills were excellent! I had the challenge at the beginning of the lesson with mobile phones but the class settled down. My mentor was unsure about how to fill in the observation sheet so she will be contacting Janet Oti tomorrow to find out. As I need these sheets to go into my professional practice portfolio.
Wednesday 20th January 2010 THE GOOD AND THE BAD!
Today started with me covering the same topic with to a different group (mature students) and the lesson went excellently with me getting more confident and making jokes with students! One student told me “You’re going to do brill.” So a great couple of days! However the afternoon was the most difficult one I’ve faced so far. The students were fine, really engaged! And I felt the lesson went well, but the teacher who sat in on the class had other things to say, firstly in praise she said “I came across as confident, and have a nature gift of inspiration”, However she gave me a lot of criticism! Let start with what she said I asked a student to read from PowerPoint and then I read back over what she said! She told me “aren’t in school.” She asked why am I using aims and objectives when students don’t understand what these mean? In future I must use ‘today we are going to cover’. On my PowerPoint I wrote accessed but it should have been assessed. She wanted to see more passion in me. In the middle of the lesson the students had a break and she told me this. So it did dent my confidence in the middle part of lesson! However I felt that I could recover. As the session went on the class seemed to get more involved. The feedback of the students were good, but the teacher at the end told me “There were loads of spelling mistakes on PowerPoint” She told me ‘nothing was linked to health and social care’. She criticised me by asking them to write on the whiteboard their responses to the exercise containing list male typical jobs! She said that was below their level! Also told me not to read directly off the PowerPoint! Students can read she told me! She also told me to not to mention I work in Morrisions as it sets a bad example. I felt very lonely when she was giving me this feedback! She did tell me that I had interesting ideas and controlled the class very well. However did these comments help me or hinder me? She also told me not to put students on the spot! However after reading Petty’s book maybe there are contrasting ideas here? As Petty believed that putting students on the spot was a worthwhile exercise! Next week for her lesson I have got to do the Race Relations Act! I was so confident yesterday but today was an excellent morning and a bad afternoon. I have to realise I’m only 3 days into my trainee teacher practice, so I must use common sense here! And get my head up for tomorrow
Thursday 21st January 2010
Today I met my Thursday groups for the first time and they were nice! Today I arranged all my files and tried to get them organised! So today was a productive day.
NUMBER OF TEACHING HOURS ACHIEVED THIS WEEK: 11hours.
Number of hours required to do at close of the week: 139 hours.
Monday 11th January 2010 – Thursday 14th January 2010 Week two
Monday 11 –01 – 10.
Today I met my mentor for the first time and sat with her and the head of department and discussed my teaching hours for next week! And now have got 11 hours of teaching! So next week will be the start of my teaching career! I’ve got to take a lesson next week on health and genetics! Cystic Fibrosis, so my task for the next week is to revise this area! Also other teachers are coming up to me explaining their modules for me to plan for those lessons as well! One module I am taking is the equal rights and diversity module! So will need to re-cap on legislation! Other lessons I will be taking is about students work placements such as their placements policy and procedures. Monday afternoon I observed a group and wow! What a very loud group! With one student very loud and outspoken sloughed on her chair! So been thinking about class management today and questions I’m asking are; what could I have done to help her learn? But today was a very productive day with timetable agreed! I’ve sent this to Janet Oti to let her know what days I’m there for observation!
Tuesday 12 –01 -10.
Today first thing it has been a free period so I prepared my 1st lesson plan for the BTEC group which is about genetics and health promotion module! The lesson plan was typed up and it took around an hour! When I was writing up plan I weren’t sure if certain things would work, e.g. group work i’ve set, preparing leaflets for extension tasks, how long is it going to be, will it be too short or too long? I’ve agreed with my mentor that next Tuesday will be my 1st observation done by her! So the pressure is on! 1st ever teach! 1st ever assessment! The next thing to do for this lesson is to prepare the PowerPoint!
Wednesday 13-01-10.
College closed due to snow. However all staff were told to work from home so today I’ve prepared my PowerPoint presentation for next week’s BTEC Class! Also written up the module year plan so I’ve planned each lesson from now to end of term for Unit 12 BTEC group I am taking! Also designated my own file to this module! What I am aiming to do now is plan for the following weeks lesson on this BTEC Course! And unsure that all materials for next week’s lesson are ready so. E.g. handouts, etc.
Thursday 14-01-10
Prepared lesson plans for next weeks lessons!
Blog 2
The beginning of the journey.
Monday 4th January 2010 – Thursday 7th January 2010 Week One
Monday 4-01-10.
Today was the first day at work placement at the college Ystrad Mynach. I started my journey to become a fully qualified teacher at FE by attending the staff meeting, which takes place every Monday and brings all the staff together with the head of the department to discuss any issues taking place at that current time or in the near future. This week’s meeting was about moving over to e-registers, which is basically a new computer system that enables teachers to conduct registers interactively this will get rid of the old paper registers. There was some concern over this and staff were told that if they have any problems to keep using the paper registers for the time being. After that I was shown where you sign in and how you use the photocopier. Today I was scheduled to meet my mentor but unfortunately she is off this week with sickness. So this week I’ve been sitting in with other teachers lessons observing and picking up some useful advice; one teacher told to always plan an extension task for each lesson, so e.g. word search, crosswords etc. She gave some useful websites such as: www.helenhudspith.com or www.tes.co.uk. She told me to add this to any lesson plan for a back up. Also you can differentiate between students by making some extension tasks more difficult and some a bit easier. So my first task is too access these websites and to have a go at creating some extension tasks. I’ve also learnt from her not to always use PowerPoint; she called it ‘death by PowerPoint’ and suggested using a wide variety of tools! She used fill the gaps on her worksheet-; she missed out words for students to fill in to keep them involved, she suggested that worksheets with loads of notes go in the file unread so by making students work for themselves keeps the student involved and motivated. It has been an interesting start to my PGCE placement! At the moment I have a provisional timetable so next week I think I’m having a different one and hope to meet my mentor next week!
Tuesday 05-01-10.
Today there was a lot of snow and I only observed one lesson after this lesson all students were sent home due to extreme weather conditions!
Wednesday and Thursday 06-01-10/07-01-10.
College closed due to Snow.
Friday 13th November 2009
Yes today we were introduced to a new module about resources (electronic) and have just attempted to set up a free new website to take with me through out my teaching career. The site is http://sociology.yolasite.com/ This will be accessible to all students in future. The website will include; teaching notes, past exam papers, up to date announcements etc. At the moment learning how to create this but thought i would give it a go.
Philip Webber (pgce student).
Wednesday was a challenging day for all the class as it was the 1st time we had to demonstrate some sort of information sharing with each other! My 5 minute talk was about 'what is crime?' The reason why i picked this topic for the 5 minute talk was this is a hot topic in criminology. My main subject areas are Sociology and Health and Social Care. In reflection; i felt that the talk for myself went well, however i felt i may have become too political for example i used words such as 'right wing gimmics' etc, However on the whole i felt the experience was a postive one and one in which has prepared me well for the micro teach next wednesday!