And boy did it feel like a long one. Year 9s, Monday morning for 100 minutes on the use of emails in business.
I kicked off the lesson with a wordsearch starter about email terms such as inbox, attachment etc, which didn't even go completely to plan *shakes his head and sighs as he types*, one of the words in the puzzle was spelt incorrectly! I had 'replay' instead of 'reply' - shows what happens when you mix too much football into your weekend! Thorough inspection of the lesson material is a must-do for me next time.
After 10 minutes (sorry, 7 since I found out one word was missing), I gave the pupils a presentation on how to use the basic features of Outlook Express. The class had already started a presentation in PowerPoint in the previous lesson on using emails, but having briefly observed them in their previous ICT lesson, I felt that they needed to go over these basics again as some pupils were absent, they had a supply teacher from the PE department with them last time and the entire class was made of SEN pupils. The presentation therefore illustrated how to create a message, sending and receving emails, attachments, signatures and out of office replies, which gave the pupils the ideas and information they needed to pick up from they left off from last week. I picked out random pupils in the class to answer questions I had about Outlook but the majority couldn't recollect what was covered previously.
At the end of the presentation, I provided them with a list of slide titles; 'what is an email?', 'sending and receiving emails' etc, which assisted them in the structuring of their work and what content was needed in their work. I recommend this to my fellow ICT trainees as it can be done in no time, the list can fit on one slide or one side of paper and the titles alone give the pupils several ideas about what to include in their work. Simples!
The pupils had 75 minutes to work on their PowerPoint presentations and although they weren't finished, I managed to get the pupils exploring Outlook Express in further detail and the use of PowerPoint itself gave the class a great opportunity to exploit their creativity. Once the content was in their presentations, I encouraged the pupils to reformat or decorate their work more to make it look more interesting and professional. If someone came up to half-way through the lesson and said; "Sir, I've finished", I'd get him to go back to his presentation and find me five areas of his work that can be improved. Not only did this get them going right to the end but it inevitbaly led to better work being produced. Two boys managed to have their work ready for printing off in the next lesson although towards the end it was evident that they were running out of ideas as they started going around to assist other people. Although this benefited some others who were behind in the task, these two individuals lost focus on their work and it encouraged others to get out of their seats and go around to other work stations too. I got everybody sat down again promptly but I feel that I'll need to emphasize the importance of getting one's own work completed before moving on to somebody's else's in future lessons. Maybe I could've had another wordsearch ready for the pupils who finish early; another on emails or the next assignment to do with business documents about a trip to France.
A seating plan for next lesson will also come in handy - too much noise and disruptions today I felt and people at the far end of the classroom couldn't read certain parts of my presentation at the start of the lesson.
Anyways, I shall quit my jibber jabber and start contemplating on my lesson with Year 7s tomorrow morning, half eight sharp.
Have fun my fellow ICT trainees!
Monday, 8 November 2010
Monday, 1 November 2010
First Lesson
It may have been a couple of weeks ago now but I do remember my first lesson very well (or first starter more like it!).
I was teaching year 7s for the first half an hour before my mentor took over the dex. The lesson was concerned with safety when using Internet chatrooms and with the assumption that a few of the half-a-billion Facebook users in the world must surely be sat in front of my right now, I decided to kick off with a discussion about the social-networking site and how the pupils use it to communicate with their friends.
Having questioned the kids about the methods of communication on Facebook such as IM (instant messaging), private messages and comments, I then questioned the class briefly about the precautions they should take when using such online applications, focusing particularly on the amount of personal information the pupils give out online. The purpose of this example was to give the pupils ideas about how to complete two sheets I gave them where they had to write down eight rules they should follow in order to make safe use of the Internet.
As it was still early high school days for this particularl class, I got them working in pairs for five minutes on each worksheet and got them to read rules out loud to the class in order to encourage peer-to-peer help, to inspire confidence and give them the minor opportunities to demonstate and improve their literacy skills. I also awarded one girl with what we like to call a 'merit sticker' (still need to find out if they get a reward from these though!) for constantly putting her hand up and making a very positive contribution to the lesson. I see a lot of these given out in lessons but it's one of those things I try and make quite elusive and something only the best can get as I feel this way they learn how hard they have to work to earn it.
After five minutes on each sheet, I had a five minute discussion with the classroom, finding out what answers the pupils had come up with. I definately learned a lot about my teaching in these periods as ironically, I didn't use a lot of ICT when going through the Internet safety rules (the school I'm at has no computer management software) and instead I had the pupils turn their monitors off and we talked about the work instead. I feel that I could've made the lesson that more exciting and engaging had I used a presentation or Word document with some example Internet safety rules. Some pupils also didn't complete the rules worksheet and I wasted some time stating the rules we'd discussed when I could've had them written down ready somewhere for them to copy (the big whiteboard behind me maybe!). If I wrote these answers down during the lesson, this would've wasted more time and I would've taken my eyes off the pupils, so more homework and planning for me before my next lesson that's for sure - being a good role model for the kids that is!
There were a couple of pupils near the back of the classroom who kept talking as well and my mentor recommended that I'd be more firm and change my tone of voice with such... pests (there's another word for them, but I'll keep my cool!) and possibly rearrange the seating plan if necessary.
Although I came out of it looking like a Dragon's Den reject, I really enjoyed the lesson and am looking forward to teaching for longer durations throughout this part of the term. My mentor commented on me demonstrating a good subject knowledge and I got the high school newbies working well as a team but should make more use of ICT in future lessons by preperaing more lesson material using the Office software and also having the lesson and learning objectives on board (Ofsted will always catch you out on this my fellow ICT trainees so if your projector ain't working, get them written on a piece of paper and blue tak it to the wall - or walls if it's a big classroom, as just talking to the pupils won't be enough!)
Good luck with your lessons and have fun!
I was teaching year 7s for the first half an hour before my mentor took over the dex. The lesson was concerned with safety when using Internet chatrooms and with the assumption that a few of the half-a-billion Facebook users in the world must surely be sat in front of my right now, I decided to kick off with a discussion about the social-networking site and how the pupils use it to communicate with their friends.
Having questioned the kids about the methods of communication on Facebook such as IM (instant messaging), private messages and comments, I then questioned the class briefly about the precautions they should take when using such online applications, focusing particularly on the amount of personal information the pupils give out online. The purpose of this example was to give the pupils ideas about how to complete two sheets I gave them where they had to write down eight rules they should follow in order to make safe use of the Internet.
As it was still early high school days for this particularl class, I got them working in pairs for five minutes on each worksheet and got them to read rules out loud to the class in order to encourage peer-to-peer help, to inspire confidence and give them the minor opportunities to demonstate and improve their literacy skills. I also awarded one girl with what we like to call a 'merit sticker' (still need to find out if they get a reward from these though!) for constantly putting her hand up and making a very positive contribution to the lesson. I see a lot of these given out in lessons but it's one of those things I try and make quite elusive and something only the best can get as I feel this way they learn how hard they have to work to earn it.
After five minutes on each sheet, I had a five minute discussion with the classroom, finding out what answers the pupils had come up with. I definately learned a lot about my teaching in these periods as ironically, I didn't use a lot of ICT when going through the Internet safety rules (the school I'm at has no computer management software) and instead I had the pupils turn their monitors off and we talked about the work instead. I feel that I could've made the lesson that more exciting and engaging had I used a presentation or Word document with some example Internet safety rules. Some pupils also didn't complete the rules worksheet and I wasted some time stating the rules we'd discussed when I could've had them written down ready somewhere for them to copy (the big whiteboard behind me maybe!). If I wrote these answers down during the lesson, this would've wasted more time and I would've taken my eyes off the pupils, so more homework and planning for me before my next lesson that's for sure - being a good role model for the kids that is!
There were a couple of pupils near the back of the classroom who kept talking as well and my mentor recommended that I'd be more firm and change my tone of voice with such... pests (there's another word for them, but I'll keep my cool!) and possibly rearrange the seating plan if necessary.
Although I came out of it looking like a Dragon's Den reject, I really enjoyed the lesson and am looking forward to teaching for longer durations throughout this part of the term. My mentor commented on me demonstrating a good subject knowledge and I got the high school newbies working well as a team but should make more use of ICT in future lessons by preperaing more lesson material using the Office software and also having the lesson and learning objectives on board (Ofsted will always catch you out on this my fellow ICT trainees so if your projector ain't working, get them written on a piece of paper and blue tak it to the wall - or walls if it's a big classroom, as just talking to the pupils won't be enough!)
Good luck with your lessons and have fun!
Monday, 18 October 2010
Uh-oh... it's my first teaching lesson!
Aye, tomorrow morning, first thing with year 7s! Now what my school does which a lot of other schools don't do is NOT have registration first thing in the morning and instead, the pupils go straight to lesson 1 - hundreds of pupils all waiting to tell their friends what was on TV last night, what they think of Liverpool FC this year, have they done their homework, does Billy fancy Lily, blah blah blah. Sounds like the time of day when a phone jammer is gold dust to you - nice one Kevin!
My lecture tomorrow is going to be on e-safety; how to use the Internet, what info must you not give out etc and firstly, the children will be discussing in pairs, how they would go about using chatrooms safely. I'm thinking I'll kick the lesson off casually, quizzing them on emails and their favourite social networks, and eventually moving on to talking about the simple precautions they take and how parents help ensure their child's safe use of the Internet.
Am looking forward to the challenge but may have to get a few notecards ready as I could end up teaching for 45 minutes! Still, another lesson, my first observation from my mentor, another bit of evidence for the standards folder. Bring it on I say!
My lecture tomorrow is going to be on e-safety; how to use the Internet, what info must you not give out etc and firstly, the children will be discussing in pairs, how they would go about using chatrooms safely. I'm thinking I'll kick the lesson off casually, quizzing them on emails and their favourite social networks, and eventually moving on to talking about the simple precautions they take and how parents help ensure their child's safe use of the Internet.
Am looking forward to the challenge but may have to get a few notecards ready as I could end up teaching for 45 minutes! Still, another lesson, my first observation from my mentor, another bit of evidence for the standards folder. Bring it on I say!
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
Back to school!
Into my second day at Orwell High School and the big challenges of this PGCE placement are now just around the corner. The school itself doesn't normally take on PGCE students and so we're all working hard in the ICT department to make sure that my placement goes smoothly! I am getting a good mix of KS3 and KS4 pupils as well as observing some A Level lessons, I have won the respect of most of the pupils I have met so far and am looking forward to teaching my first lesson. Yesterday, I came across two big, chunky folders with the teacher training standards work from a previous pupil and so have got an idea of just how much work I've got to do over the next year! I shall be keeping hold of any lesson plan, email, assessment sheets and school work I get hold off as I'm sure they'll be space in my folder for all. It already feels like my primary school placement was long ago!
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
A Resource For Teaching
In yesterday's lesson, I came across a small but useful online wordsearch creator called Armored Penguin, which I feel will be very useful for teachers to plan a starter for the class. I like the way it doesn't just provide you with already-made puzzles to print off but instead gives the user a simple tool needed to create their own.
As pupils progress with their ICT studies, they may come across words that will be important to them in their studies and they may be able to memorize these key terms easily through an engaging and enjoyable learning method. One of the most difficult things about being a teacher I feel will be getting pupils to revise and I feel that it's vital to get any valid information across to the youngsters in any way possible and word-searches certainly get people thinking constantly of particular words.
Should the computer equipment not work, wordsearches will be one thing the pupils could be getting on with while the teaching finds other work for them to do and since the teacher can implement any word he/she wants into the puzzle, the teacher can set up puzzles for each unit as the course progresses, giving the pupils a fun way of reflecting on what they've learned in each unit. Armored Penguin also offers it's users much flexibility in terms of what format the wordsearch is in, the size, quantity of words and even decorative images for the background. I might just give it a go when I'm in class!
http://www.armoredpenguin.com/wordsearch/
As pupils progress with their ICT studies, they may come across words that will be important to them in their studies and they may be able to memorize these key terms easily through an engaging and enjoyable learning method. One of the most difficult things about being a teacher I feel will be getting pupils to revise and I feel that it's vital to get any valid information across to the youngsters in any way possible and word-searches certainly get people thinking constantly of particular words.
Should the computer equipment not work, wordsearches will be one thing the pupils could be getting on with while the teaching finds other work for them to do and since the teacher can implement any word he/she wants into the puzzle, the teacher can set up puzzles for each unit as the course progresses, giving the pupils a fun way of reflecting on what they've learned in each unit. Armored Penguin also offers it's users much flexibility in terms of what format the wordsearch is in, the size, quantity of words and even decorative images for the background. I might just give it a go when I'm in class!
http://www.armoredpenguin.com/wordsearch/
What Have I Learned Since Last Tuesday?
Mainly the importance of planning a lesson, particularly in ICT where things can easily go wrong, from pupils misusing the computers to the computers themselves not actually functioning properly. To deliver a good quality lesson, teachers should get the pupils to work the answers out for themselves rather than the boring and uninteresting method of having all the necessary theory being read out from a textbook. But in order to engage the pupils, teachers must get to know them - their names, their attitudes to the subject and areas that require improvement. To obtain this information, teachers could have a seating plan and fire questions at as many pupils as possible throughout the lesson in order to maintain a sound understanding of everyone in the classroom as well as improving academic performance of the pupils and their attitude towards their studies.
I've also gotten to know about some helpful books on teaching at secondary level that my tutors recommend to trainee teachers. I recently made online purchases of a behaviour pocketbook (Pocketbook Behaviour Management by Peter Hook and Andy Vass), a teaching guide (Essential Teaching Skills by Chris Kyriacou) and a Microsoft Office textbook (Passing ECDL4 by Heathcote and Richard) that were all recommended and I feel it will be very helpful to have a look through these prior and during the course of my placement as I'll definitely need all the help I can get!
I found the national curriculum ICT unit requriement sheets we were given in one of our first lessons very helpful in our lesson planning exercise yesterday and feel that further revision of these assessment and objective guildlines will be required once I start planning my own lessons during my placement. The unit guide enabled me and my group members to construct lesson objectives and activities and gave us a great opportunity to come up with some ideas for working material for the pupils.
I managed to get my primary school placement sorted this morning too!
I've also gotten to know about some helpful books on teaching at secondary level that my tutors recommend to trainee teachers. I recently made online purchases of a behaviour pocketbook (Pocketbook Behaviour Management by Peter Hook and Andy Vass), a teaching guide (Essential Teaching Skills by Chris Kyriacou) and a Microsoft Office textbook (Passing ECDL4 by Heathcote and Richard) that were all recommended and I feel it will be very helpful to have a look through these prior and during the course of my placement as I'll definitely need all the help I can get!
I found the national curriculum ICT unit requriement sheets we were given in one of our first lessons very helpful in our lesson planning exercise yesterday and feel that further revision of these assessment and objective guildlines will be required once I start planning my own lessons during my placement. The unit guide enabled me and my group members to construct lesson objectives and activities and gave us a great opportunity to come up with some ideas for working material for the pupils.
I managed to get my primary school placement sorted this morning too!
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