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Back Again
Another thing learnt while reflecting was my intentions for my lesson plans to be student centred and not teacher centred and I think that went out the window on day two. After getting the Science Unit plan and trying to get the students ready for assessment I was looking at the plan thinking they need to learn this and this by this time so I need to teach them this. I learnt what you plan does not always happen. The first lesson was alright but when I started teaching the next lesson I could see the students looking at me like they didn’t understand. So my second lesson was going over the first lesson which I learnt you should always do to check learning as well as doing it at the end of each lesson.
I also learnt think like a student not a teacher when giving instructions. So many things I remember while doing this assignment.
Almost Done
I just finished Jacqueline Howlett’s post http://jacquelinehowlett.wordpress.com/2016/06/09/post-prac-reflection/ and I am the same completely ignored my other module and as a result had to write 2000 words over the weekend it’s not pretty but at the moment I’m just hoping for a pass.
Also the same is reflecting on my prac, I was reading my part B Planning and preparation that I wrote before I went on prac and wow my ideas going into the prac were so far removed from reality. I had all these great ideas on how I was going to amplify and transform ICT into my lesson plans and then my Mentor and assessment reared its head and I spent the first two weeks too afraid to rock the boat.
Assessment is so time consuming, trying to do maths assessment for twenty four children when some have major behavioural issues or they just don’t attend school is hard. On top of that, introducing History and trying to write all the comments then getting them coded for report cards. The booster teacher in my room gave me the science unit plan on day two and said this is yours for three weeks, she took students out of the class while I taught which I found very distracting and realised it upsets the balance of the class.
I learnt so much on my prac not always good but I loved it!
Thanks for the Beebots websites too Jacqueline I passed them onto the other prac student at my school.
Bee bots on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/bee-bot/id500131639?mt=8
PE Finished
That felt like the longest three weeks of my life! My PE didn’t start well when my mentor decided not to talk to me and I had to contact the University and talk to the principal. I finally got the courage to approach my mentor about her lack of help which resulted in her blocking another teacher from letting me go through her resources. I sucked it up and ploughed through and I’m so glad I did. I was fortunate enough to have another student with me and am forever grateful for her help and her mentors help when they could see I wasn’t getting the guidance I needed. I loved my last week of teaching everyday and tried to implement all the feedback I was given from my mentor after she was spoken to. Behaviour was a issue I had and time management I couldn’t get over how fast the days went and I struggled early on with finishing off before the bell went. Although it didn’t start well I loved the interacting with the students and their families and can’t wait to do it again as I felt I learnt a lot.
I had to laugh at Jacqueline Howletts blog http://jacquelinehowlett.worpress.com/2016/05/30/behaviour-management/ about not wanting to hear about perfect pracs I could so relate as there was some major behavioural issues in the whole of grade one at the school I went too. Some days I left how do they handle this everyday? A site I found http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/health/Pages/managebehaviours.aspx talks about some behaviours.
First Week
I was so excited to start prac this week and by the end of the week I can’t wait to finish prac. My first week was awful, my mentor doesn’t really like to part with any information and actually stoped another teacher from showing me her resources. I’m on prac with another student who I am constantly compared to even though we aren’t doing the same things in our rooms. It’s got to the point where my mentor tells me to go and see the other student and do what she is doing. Can’t wait for this prac to be over at the moment. I really hope this next week is better and I don’t get another week of “I cant believe your third year and this is your first school prac” like it’s my fault.
On the upside it’s Under eight’s day on Friday so it’s really only four days this week yipeeeeee.
Finally
Well I finally met my mentor on Friday morning and got some information about the class I will be apart of for the next three weeks. I have 24 students and the teacher told me it’s a very challenging class. We have two little boys who are level three and level four ASD and another little boy with major behavioral issues. I went through what was expected of me with my mentor and the curriculum support teacher and they are happy for me to spend some lessons with the specialist Maths/science teacher. I’m really looking forward to this prac as I feel I can learn a lot from the teaching staff. My mentor has asked me to teach the students about setting up book creator and that’s what she wants me to focus on the first week as well as getting to know the students. So some research on book creator I will be doing this weekend.
Not long now
Well finally got hold of my mentor yesterday and I’m heading down to the school tomorrow morning to meet her. Feeling very excited and still a little nervous. I was reading jayneally http://jayneally.wordpress.com/2016/05/12/shopping-anyone/ and I hadn’t even thought about what to wear. I too have made friends with chocolate and chips lately so will definitely need to try on the old black pants to see if they fit. I’m so use to wearing shorts and shirt, so I’m going to have to put some thought into my clothes for the next couple of weeks. It’s times like these that I wish USQ have a polo we could wear for prac. We have students who come from other Universities that have uni prac shirts and they look great. It would make it so much easier, one less thing to think about and it would identify the Uni and students.
Link to five ideas for lesson starters http://www.creativeeducation.co.uk/blog/five-practical-ideas-for-lesson-starters/ it might help.
Placement
Yay finally got a school! After ring the placement office on Friday and telling them I was happy to travel if they could get me a school, within two hours they found me a place. Very excited and relieved at the same time, work was not going to let me change my holidays if it was delayed. Rang the school today and spoke to curriculum support and she told me there will be two of us there doing prac in grade one. First time I will have a fellow student with me so that will be good I hope.
I love reading what other students have to say about prac and their experience have been reading http://jayneally.wordpress.com/2016/05/08/my-worries/ and of course Mr Clancy http://mrclancyblog.wordpress.com.
Found a website about common sense digital citizenship https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/digital-citizenship lots of stuff to download.
Looking Back
I wish I could say I was ready for PE. I still don’t have a school so I don’t know about their policies and processes for the safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT. I can only speculate that they would be similar in all schools. The lollypop You tube clip was an eye opener I had no idea you could find someone through photos so yes that has changed how I look at what activities I would do, even though I don’t know what I’m doing yet. Yes I can describe the ICT skills required thanks to that link from David to the Australian curriculum. http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/information-and-communication-technology-capability/continuum#layout=columns&page=5 that was very handy. I feel very unorganized waiting to find out.
Digital Citizenship
What do I know? Well I know not to give out personal details online or over the phone. I know there are certain websites at work I can’t use because of safety concerns and content. I know I check all my children’s devices and all there computers are monitored by their schools as well. I have had my credit card hacked once only recently, which is a pain in the butt to get fixed up. I know I have trouble applying for Visa’s over the internet because of my name. I know I have had to have a very awkward conversation with a parent when her daughter had sent an inappropriate photo to my son. I then found out that he could be charged if he had forwarded that photo on but not her for sending it. I have had one child experience bullying and when I spoke to one of the parents of the bully she told me her son was doing it to help my son. Still don’t know how it was helping.
Bullying quiz I got 50 precent I got the last two wrong and I was surprised about the cyber bullying not being more common than off line bullying. People are a lot braver when they aren’t looking the other person in the face. After reading the response to the last question it makes sense to address the whole problem and not just the person being bullied.
I got one question wrong in the cyber bullying it was pretty much common sense about what not to do but I was surprised about using your first name on sites I thought a nickname would be safer.
I find cyber safety pretty much common sense kind of stuff but having four children I know they don’t think the same way as me. They are fearless on the computer and I know they don’t think twice about chatting to other people on line hence why I am always checking and asking lots of questions.
Link to safety home page https://www.esafety.gov.au/
wilsonj2016 