Numeracy...minimum core Numeracy

 2nd of Dec

So far in functional skills lesson, we have  been able to identify the range of content in the numeracy minimum core with emphasis on a self assessment of personal numeracy skills and sharing of my personal maths history.  

 

The minimum core of numeracy requires me to prepare myself to teach my subject in ways that take account of the numeracy needs of my learners and develop their numeracy skills. therefore the numeracy tracking grid helps me to identify opportunities for evidencing the elements of the minimum core during my PGCE course. Evidence for my numeracy skills can be derived from a variety of sources including participating in classroom activities and whilst at my placement teaching. taking part in today's maths activities, it is clear that I need to revisit some of the maths topics ( I am not very happy about this but I  have no choice). I have identified  some potential weaknesses and therefore development of this will need to be included in my action plans.

 

Today's lecture on functional skills focused mainly on the importance of functional skills and different ways to support learners numeracy and literacy skills.  Although  I  don't like Maths, doing different game activities today made me enjoy it. The aim of the session was to practice and learn how to facilitate Maths skills. The game activities included: shapes, percentages, negative numbers, measurements, scales, graphs etc.  Doing different maths activities I realised that there are some areas of Maths that I need to work on, not necessarily in great detail but just the basics.. Good luck to me  

Remember to do Numeracy kill test online for my CTLLS folder :)  

 

My maths history... 25/11/2013

 

  I  thought my days of doing Maths were over, but actually that's not quite true.  As a trainee teacher, I need to prove that I have good numeracy skills to be able to assist my learners.  In today's session my tutor asked us to share our Maths journey and produce a road map.  I had no idea what to write. Honestly, I have not always felt confident in my Maths skills, like many girls especially in my country (Tanzania) believe that Maths is only for boys or for those super smart geek type girls.  I think it would be fair to say Maths and I have rarely seen eye to eye. I dislike numbers, anyway below is the image of my Maths road map:

 



My Maths journey

I began to notice my poor ability in Mathematics when I was in class six at primary school, this was because I frequently got poor grades in most of my maths tests and exams. I easily understood the concepts presented in class but when it came to tests and exams I would normally run out of time and made a lot of mistakes.

This pattern continued in secondary school, consequently I was frequently yelled at and physically punished by my teacher for not focusing on my Maths work and frequently failing my Maths tests. My teachers assumed that I was naturally bad at Maths, I vividly remember my male Maths teacher saying 'girls are naturally better at language skills, and boys at Mathematical/spatial ones, just stick to what you can do. Therefore I soon came to a conclusion that I fail Maths because I am a girl. Actually looking back now I was really good at language subjects and did not have time for science related subjects. Things did not get better, I hated Maths and never once tried to work hard on it at all.

 

However things changed when I came to the UK to study. I had to do GCSE in Mathematics, I had a female Mathematics teacher, she became like my role model, I kept saying if she can do maths, I think I can too. The idea of girls can't do Maths slowly started to fade away. I became confident and even got grade B in GCSE higher Maths, something that  in my wildest dreams never thought it would ever happen. I now feel that actually girls can do Maths, all is needed is just hard work and breaking the belief that Maths is for boys.

 

Maths has not always been my favourite subject and to be honest never will be, however being a teacher, I have no choice but to like it, because soon I 'm going to start teaching and I am sure one of the  subjects will be Maths. Looking at my Maths history, I must admit that one has to put a lot of time and effort to do well in Maths.  

 

So the question is, how or when do I use Maths now? well, most of the time is doing timetables, working out  percentages, adding, counting things...

 

To be continued..

 

Emma  :)

Reflection on giving and receiving feedback...

Giving and receiving feedback can be very challenging and difficult. Yesterday my tutor gave a lecture on feed backing. she mentioned how important giving and receiving feedback is.  A critical aspect of developing my skills as a competent teacher involves learning how to give and receive feedback. As a trainee teacher, giving and receiving feedback is a big part of my practice as  from time to time I will need to give and receive constructive feedback When my tutor asked us to reflect on our personal experience of giving and receiving feedback, it really got me thinking. looking at my own experience, feedback, when positive is often easier to give  than negative feedback. I really do struggle giving negative feedback because I don't know how the person receiving will react. Highlighting the negative is always rough on both sides. However my tutor mentioned something that really helped and I suddenly felt that I have found the solution to my problem. She said, whenever giving feedback, whether is verbal or written, try to think to think of something positive. Feedback should always include:

 

• Medals: This gives the information of what the learner has done well
• Mission: This provides the information on what the learner needs to improve correct or work on
• Goals: This includes clear goals or targets

 

Being in my placement I have been involved in marking assignments and giving written and verbal feedback. I must admit, it is not an easy task, because I have to really think about the appropriate words to write because people tend to feel hurt when receiving negative feedback. However most of the time learners have been really, good and I haven't been in a position where I had to give very negative feedback. Therefore so far it has been good, because my learners have bee able to accept the feedback positively.

 

as well as giving feedback, I have also been receiving feedback from my tutors at college, my mentor, peer students and  the learners I teach. For example I was observed by both my personal tutor and my mentor, after the observation I received some really positive and constructive feedback from both of them. The feedback I got, helped me to plan my action points which I am sure will help me improve my teaching practice.

 

Giving and receiving feedback can be difficult at times however the experience is extremely beneficial whether it be that I am giving or receiving.  I have really appreciated the opportunity to partake in this as it has proven to be a powerful learning experience, albeit one that I would have avoided under normal circumstances. Receiving feedback is wonderful because it usually contain ideas that I hadn't thought about.

 

Therefore to improve my skills on giving feedback I ma going to try and include the three things recommended for effective feedback, medals, mission and goals!

 

Emma x

 

 

It's done.... 28/11/2013.

Had my observation today. I am relieved that is over but I am not really happy about the session.  I have got a tutorial with my personal tutor tomorrow, she is going to give me my feedback. I am nervous, I hope I have passed..ok.. fingers crossed

Emma :)

Here I go again..

Today is my first observation with my entry group. I can't breathe properly, so nervous. I pray and hope that everything will go well. I have planned some really good active activities to keep them actively involved.

Nervous! Nervous!...


 

Monday 11th/15th of November..

Where does the time go? This week was the 8th week of my PGCE course. We were introduced to two new modules; curriculum design and alignment and learning theories and developing professional in teaching and learning. In curriculum design and alignment module I will develop my knowledge in curriculum planning as well as assessment, designing assessment for my leaners and giving feedback to my learners. there are also lost of opportunities to work in class with my peers and share ideas and knowledge. The assessment of this module has two parts, I will need to complete a scheme of work and design assessment tools for my own learners.

 

The second module is called developing professional in teaching and learning. The module is going to focus on learning theories, professional approach to teaching, behaviour management and assessment for learning.

 

Also this week I was introduced to different learning theories including behaviourism, humanistic and constructivism. It was very interesting to learn  about how people learn and the different ways of teaching. One of the things I found quite beneficial, was how active learning is important in teaching and learning. When active learning is applied:

 

• Learners are more likely to access their own prior knowledge which is a key to learning

• Learners can find personally meaningful problem solutions or interpretations

• learners receive constructive feedback

• Learners are more motivated to be active than passive learners

Therefore I am hoping to apply active learning in all my lessons, keep my learners actively involved in their learning.

I must say, this week has been a good week.  I am looking forward to learning these two modules.

 

Emma :)

 

Lesson planning..

Since I have been on my PGCE course, I have come to realise that I have a dozen of lessons to plan. It is hard work and time consuming because there are a lot of paper work to complete.  During previous observations, I felt as though I was getting bogged down in the reams of paperwork that I had to complete to be able to successfully complete the observation process.

 

However when I met with my mentor last week she recommended the five min lesson plan. I did not know what it was, but from her explanations I gathered that it was a lesson plan which took only five minutes to plan. below it is a picture of the five min lesson plan:

 

The five minute lesson plan
 

The five minute lesson plan is just what it says what it is. I have not tried it yet but I must admit that the plan is user friendly and I am sure it will help me focus on the key components of a good or even outstanding lesson.  I am looking forward to using it.

Emma :) 

 

 

Done my first teaching and I feel like I was acting!

Well, inside I feel like I am acting...People told me, before I started teaching, it is just like being in front of an audience, and now I can happily say I agree, brilliant. I must say, this week I have been acting, and I mean acting well. I am not saying I am up for the Oscar award winning I might but not yet. Anyway my point is teaching is just like acting, you go in class and do your stuff.

 

On Wednesday this week, I taught the whole class of my year ones of level 3 in Childhood studies.  I must admit, in the morning that day I really was feeling nervous and I sometimes forgot to breathe.. I kept telling myself don't let them smell your fear.. I was not only teaching, I was also being observed by my mentor which was also nerve wrecking. But my mentor was really good, very supportive and encouraging too.

 

Anyway, the teaching went very well. I had some very positive and constructive feedback. Therefore I have now made some actions pints to work on:

 

• Use more practical activities
• Use personal experience to demonstrate my teaching
• Project my voice

 

Back to college..

 

After a week's holiday, it was good to be back to the usual routine.

 

We did not have lectures this morning, instead we had to work in groups preparing for our case study presentation for Friday.  I must say, I am working with really good people, very motivated and hard working. We planned our presentation, and everyone had a task to do.

 

Time flies..

Half term has come and gone. Where did the time go? This week has been pretty busy, with me trying to finish my lesson planning. This coming is going to be busy too, I have two lessons to teach, assignments and PTLLS file to hand in, so it is going to be hard. One is with my Diploma students and the other one is with CAT project. Well, CAT stands for Christian Activities Together. It is a Christian project which aims to enrich the lives of young men and women with learning difficulties. I have been working with this project fro the par four weeks, and so it has been brilliant.

I must say it is my first lesson with the Diploma students, I have prepared everything, well in terms of paperwork, but I'm still getting myself ready. I ma bit anxious, I don't really know what is going happen. However as always, I am up for the challenge, I am sure things are going to be fine.

 

 

 

 

Keep talking to my mentor.

Half term is here already.. time flies.

Well, half term is here, where has the time gone? I cannot believe it is already half term and soon I am going to say goodbye to one of the modules. Time is flying by. These past two weeks have been so busy with lesson planning and completing my PTLLS file ready for handing in  that I didn't a chance to update my blog.

Although it is half term break, I still have lots to do. However, I hope I will find time to take a break from college work because I definitely need a break.

One thing that I have learnt these past two weeks is that weekly mentor session is the key to everything and lies at the heart of my teaching practice. Therefore I think I need to arrange a formal one hour session every week to review my performance an set SMART ( Specific, measurable, achievable and realistic) targets for my progress.  The aim with these targets is to take small steps each week, helping me to refine my practice  and develop my teaching skills.

Since I have started my placement I have only seen my mentor twice, and it was only briefly. But when I saw her last week, she said some very encouraging words, which, I think I am grateful and I will try to remember them.  This is what she said  'Be confident, stand there with confidence, you know more than they do'. So yes, next time, I am in class teaching, I will definitely remember these words.

Here comes the breakdown!...

Week 14/18/10/2013

 

This week has been quite a challenge, and to be honest I was ready to give up with the teaching career...

 

Right then, had the first day in the classroom, not in the classroom at college but at my placement. On Thursday this week, was my first day of real life teaching on the entry level. This group consists of learners with learning difficulties.  The lesson was on the benefits of routines for young children. I must say I was fully prepared, all my planning and resources were ready, and I was quietly confident. I spent nearly all week planning and looking for different ways to make my lesson more interactive. Before I took the lesson, obviously I had to talk to the tutor of this group, and we went through different ways to keep these learners more actively involved as they prefer more practical activities.

 

Well when I walked in class, I was scared stiff, I started off feeling nervous but gained my confidence as the time went on. I followed everything on my lesson plan but somehow it got really difficult. Learners found it difficult to participate in class discussion, they found question and answer tasks to be challenging and boring. Now do not get me wrong but when I realised that everything was not going as planned, all I wanted to do was to finish the lesson as quickly as I could. I got so nervous and even forget what I was actually doing.  Anyway I managed to finish the lesson and honestly I felt terrible. I did not feel good at all and to be honest I did not achieve very much.

I spoke to the class teacher afterwards, who was there watching me ( not observing), which honestly did not help with my confidence at all, because I kept thinking ' ooh my world I'm doing it all wrong?'. Anyway talking to this teacher, it came out that I need to have more practical activities, and keep learners on task all the time.

 

Therefore with this teaching experience I have realised that discussion activities is not entry's cup of tea, they have not got the ability to sit and discuss things. They need more hands on activities. I was so shocked when I learned that these learners have got complex needs, and because of this I will have to accommodate their needs in my lessons, which is not an easy task to do. I have never taught learners with learning difficulties before, and this came as a shock to me, because I did not expect to be this difficult. Although I am ready for the challenge and I know this  actually might be a good experience, I must admit that I am bit nervous about the next lesson. I do not know how I will manage it.

 

Although I had a bad day on Thursday, On Friday, I did my second mini teach, which was a success. The topic was active listening . I am so glad that my group is so supportive because I had some very good feedback, which I hope they will really help me to improve my teaching skills.

 

All in all this week has been pretty intense with loads to take in and lots to do. I'm glad it is nearly half term, hopefully I will have a nice break.

My first ever PGCE mini teach... :) 05/10/2013

 

So far I have enjoyed watching others teach,  I am a very nervous about it, I keep telling myself, it will be fine because it is not only me, everyone is doing it, so basically everyone is going through the same feelings I have now.. but if that is the case why am I still nervous?

 

 I have got a mini teach to do on Monday. It is going to be a 20 minutes presentation. It is supposed to be something on my hobby, but when I thought about it, I couldn't really work out what was my hobby. So I  ended up doing a presentation about Tanzania. Well,  it is something I know well and I do it regularly, so I hope that people will find it interesting,

Preparing this mini teach was hard work especially when I had to have a lesson plan and a rationale which took me ages to finish.

 

I am actually looking forward to doing my mini teach, I am sure it will help me get ready for when I come to take a lesson in my placemat, which is not that far :(

 

Bring it on Monday!!!

I did it!..

 

7/10-11/10

 

This week has been great. busy but great! I did my first mini teach on Tanzania, and it went down really well. I was so nervous and worried about my chosen topic. However I must admit after reading my feedback, I realised that I was not that bad after all, because  I had some really good feedback from both my tutor and peer students. One of the things that I have learnt from my mini teach, is how important it is to use a variety of activities. For example in my mini teach I included activities which incorporated visual and auditory learning styles. This went down very well because it meant that I was able to meet some of the learners learning preferences.

 

I am so grateful for the feedback I have had from my mini teach, because this will definitely help when I come to do my lessons next week. This is going to be a challenge because It is going to be my first time taking a class full of teenagers. I keep worrying that something will go wrong, but again I must say that I am up for the challenge!

 

 

I have really enjoyed this week, I hope it will be the same for next week..

Observations...


I Love watching other people, especially if they have got a really nice way of doing things because I think then I can pick up and kind of take away part of that teacher...

observation is an important part of learning..

This week I had an opportunity to observe two tutors, one from specialised subject and the other one from the Education studies department.  I must say I was so amazed by how these two different tutors managed to keep their lessons s interesting, but I guess they have done this so many times so it has become like second nature to them.

Watching others doing something is great, but when it comes to other people watching me do the teaching, I do not think if is as enjoyable as it is when I watch others. 



 

To do list..

Things are starting to get pretty serious.. Very serious

I cannot believe how much I have got to do before I finish this module. it is quite scary and yet a bit exciting because I like keeping myself busy.. Now here is what I have got to do:

• Finish my 500 word essay
• Plan from my second mii teach
• Arrange my PTLLS file
• Complete a numeracy test
• Plan my ever first lessons for my entry level and level 3 students
•  

The list goes on but I will just leave it there for now..

When I began to reflect on my first two weeks on the PGCE programme, I found it difficult to condense all my learning experiences, therefore I have chosen to be focusing mainly on the things that I feel have the largest effect on my own learning and teaching.

This week has been quite busy, with me doing my observation, trying to get my PTLLS file sorted and doing my lesson plans. However one thing that I feel I have learnt from this week's lessons, is how important are lesson plans, aims and objectives. It is not like I have never heard of these things before, but It is just that I never really thought they were that crucial and difficult too. Our tutors are really good, they have given us a lot of information to look at, which will definitely help in developing my skills in lesson planning.

Although this week have been as intense as expected, with support of my tutor, I believe I will continue to enjoy the course over the coming few months.  there is quite a certain sense of achievement when leaving college every Monday and Fridays knowing I have learnt numerous techniques for both teaching and improving my subject knowledge, which makes me even more excited for a career in teaching.

More to come soon...


 

A good practice...

Right then, had the first two weeks  in classroom, I have been introduced to the course and the expectations of me as a student teacher. When doing my blog yesterday I did not write about the sessions I had yesterday, which so far I must say were very interesting.

Sessions started at 9am and ended around 4 pm.

Yesterday's morning session got off to a good start with an activity to reflect on how I would like to be perceived as a teacher. The activity required me to identify an item, object, animal or material, draw it and discuss my drawing with a peer in my group.  I must say the activity was really good apart from the idea of drawing, I am not a really good drawer. Therefore for this activity I ended up drawing a sunshine, which actually turned out really well, because the idea was to try and explain how I would like to be perceived as a teacher.

 



Shining example to my students!

Therefore this meant that as a teacher I would like my students to perceive me as a shining example, someone they can always look up to ( a role model).  Also adding to my drawing I would like to be perceived as someone who is inspirational, caring, supportive, organised, hard working, and someone who is fair.  It was good to see that as a group we are already comfortable to share our thoughts and opinions with each other. Therefore it was a fantastic activity used to get to know everyone in a group better.

 

The module we are currently doing is called 'Preparing to Teach in the Learning and Skills Sector (PTLLS), which is basically going to inform us how to keep our teaching practice professional and give us the skills needed in teaching such as how to plan, observe and asses learners.

 

During the morning session, reflection and self-evaluation were introduced to us.  This was not was not something new to me as I have learnt about it in my previous courses. However I must admit I have never really applied it effectively. Therefore in this session, I was reminded  how important it is to re-look my work.  Thinking about it, reflective practice is vital in just about anything I want to do well.   Therefore I came to a occlusion that reflection is an opportunity to look over what I have done and see what needs to be improved.  However  it is not only supposed to look at what worked well but also to make a record of what did not go well and look for ways to improve my practice.  Consequently in learning all these, our tutor introduced Kolb's Learning Cycle, which again was not all news to me as I have come across it many time:

 



Kolb's Learning cycle

Whilst discussing about Kolb's cycle, we were introduced to a good model to refer when reflecting called the experiential learning cycle, which our tutor did put simply as:

• Do
• Review
• Develop and implement ideas fro improvement

From this I gathered that as a student training to be a teacher, I need to constantly think about what I do and review my past performance so that I am clear about my own practice. This session was basically about the  competence need to reflect and evaluate my own practice.   Reflecting on my practice is a tool for self-evaluation which will enable me to develop and learning from assessing my own performance.  This will particularly be important when I come to start my teaching placement, which is in few weeks. One thing that I will definitely need once I start teaching is feedback from my students, my mentor and my tutor.  My tutor mentioned that we need to be thinking of ways that we will use to collect feedback from our students in placements. Myself I really like the idea of post notes, which students will use to write their thoughts about my lesson.  It is scary than it sounds, one of the things that I do not like is feedback, I always feel nervous about it but I guess I will have to get used to it because at the end of the day I need to know what is needed to improve my teaching methods.

 

 

The afternoon session was mainly based on what it makes a good session.  again, in this session we started with an icebreaker.  The activity was to create a bridge strong enough to hold a cup of coffee, Luckily my group won! The group was also tasked to discuss what makes a good session and what it means to be professional or unprofessional. In our group, we though that the most important thing that makes a good session is a 'good teacher'.  This is because a good teacher will have all the qualities needed to create  a good session, these includes to be organised, knowledgeable, approachable,  supportive, use appropriate resources, manage time well and reflect on the lesson. We also came up with differ ideas about how will a good session look like, we felt that a good session will be fun, interactive, organised, group activities, etc.  Furthermore, one of the things which came up when discussing about being professional and unprofessional was dress code, this is always a difficult one, wherever your professional is, people will always expect you to 'look the part'.  Therefore to me this means that I need to dress appropriately or simply ' look the part'. This will be vital especially when I start going into placement.  Additionally, one thing that got me thinking was knowing my stuff, basically ' be knowledgeable about my subject area.  This got me thinking really hard because if I am going to teach students about positive relationships for example, I really need to know the ins and outs of the Unit.  This is because once I stand there teaching, I do not want to look like someone who did not do their homework properly.

 

When doing these activities I found asking myself ' what type of a teacher do I want to be?'. whilst it was a strange experience, I felt the above did pretty much sum me up, but how does that transfer across into what my principles would be a s a teacher?  I am open to suggestion at this point, as I fell it is hard to define who I am when I a still trying to figure out and learn what the world of teaching is all about!

 

 

The day ended with me meeting my placement mentor.  I came out of my last session and rushed to the Further Education (F.E) department where my placement will take place. My placement is going to be on Childhood studies BTEC level 3 and entry level.  For some reason I have ended up with two different groups t teach.  This however is an opportunity for me to gain different experiences.  So when I went in, I met with my mentor, she was so helpful and willingly explained  to me all about the Unit I will be working on. After meeting with my mentor, I went on to meet an entry level tutor who I am going to be working with. She was also very supportive. I must admit both tutor seemed really good and I ma very much looking forward to working with both of them.  I hope I will learn so much from both of them.

 

Finally, Just like I said before, this year is definitely going to turn me into a busy bee.  Things are starting to get pretty serious, fro example I have already got things to keep me busy this week. Here is my to do list:

 

• 5oo words essay on role and responsibilities of a teacher ( I have already made a start on this)
• 2 observations of an experienced teacher ( I have already managed to arranged some dates to do this)
• Reading list ( recommended by my tutor): Geoff Petty (2004), Teaching Today and Jocelyn Robson (2006), Teacher professionalism in further and higher education
• Find out more about John Bayley and Stephen Brookfield

A tip to remember: Do, Review and Develop ideas and implement to improve

 

More to come soon..

 

Emmakulatha :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A new beginning!

The moment I was waiting is finally here..  

So after a long break of  nearly eight weeks I am once again a student only this time I am a PGCE student  in training to become a college teacher. Two weeks ago I started my  Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in lifelong learning.  I am so excited about this course, however, obviously what I have at the moment is just the right amount of nervousness and apprehension about this year and what it will eventually lead to, a career in teaching, but other than that I honestly cannot wait to just get on with it. I know I am too late starting this dairy but I have decided to keep a dairy for the whole year for the following important reasons:

 

·         It will give me something to look back on and evaluate my progress, strengths and weaknesses over the year. My tutors mentioned the idea of keeping a diary which got me thinking, why not share it?

·         I hope that it might give future PGCE students a realistic idea about course content, placements, time management and the highs and lows which are inevitable over the course.

·         I’d like it to inspire those who think they have what it takes to be a teacher to put themselves out there and apply for courses.

·         I endeavour to keep this diary honest, positive and entertaining and will (time permitting) post every week.

Because I have missed two weeks already, I will Just briefly  talk about what happened over the past two weeks (Week 1&2 : From 16/09/-27/09/2013).

The past two weeks has mainly been based on the course and module inductions, which so far have been very inspiring and exciting. I was  also given a timetable which shows I will be in university on Mondays 9am-12pm and Fridays 9am- 4pm.  Basically I will have two days for my placement and  1 day a week for independent study. My placement days are Wednesdays and Thursdays. So this means that I will have Tuesdays for my independent studies, assignments, etc.



Each different colour block indicate a different module

I have been given so much information, which all seem rather daunting at the moment, but each tutor has reminded us that it is all achievable and the course is structured in a way to make achieving the outcomes doable. I have also been given a brief idea to each modules content and how and when they will be assessed. I have to admit that all my tutors are very supportive.

Also during these past two weeks I was introduced to one of the modules: PTLLS( preparing to teach in the learning and skills sector), ILPs  and Road Map. The following were covered in the sessions:

·         Reflective practice and evaluation my teaching

·         Professional values and practice

·         Equality and Diversity, safeguarding and observation paperwork

To be honest the past two have been very relaxed and less busier , however I have no doubt I am going to be far busier  especially when I start my placement, which is next week, I shall talk more about that next week.  All in all the past two weeks have been good, I have had the opportunity to talk to other members of the course both about the course and socially during breaks, I already know that they are a lovely bunch of people and I am looking forward to getting to know and working with them more as the year goes on.

More to come...

Emmakulatha :)