Reflecting on the previous two weeks, and now at the end of week four on the Primary PGCE course I can honestly say that my expectations of myself are beginning to increase. Delivering a presentation about seminar readings and also watching others has reinforced the need for setting high expectations which inspire and motivate pupils. Personally, I felt my presentation went well although challenging and believe there is much room for improvement. I found myself reading from notes, even though this was not necessary as I knew the content but nerves got the better of me. I enjoyed acting out the part of pupils for example Piaget’s pre-operational stage of liquid conservation, and explaining the theory behind it. The feedback given from my personal tutor has allowed me to set clear goals for next time. For example, I need to make sure I am less reliant on script and make sure I keep presentations fully professional.
I visited another primary school as part of the science course, observing a lesson on seeds. This lesson really inspired me as the teacher Jon Board used numerous strategies. Board (2012) explained he purposefully didn’t reveal the learning objective directly at the beginning of the lesson to enable learners to ask open ended questions. He used the school’s behaviour policy and adhered to the teachers’ standards document as it was clear he had a good relationship with pupils. This was evidenced by the mutual respect for one another, i.e. listening when Jon was speaking and rewards given to tables when appropriate behaviour was modelled. Thompson (2007, p127), emphasises that this respect will “require time, patience and persistence” on the part of the teacher. This was a concern of mine, as I am apprehensive about gaining the respect of a class whilst on GPP as they will already be familiar with their class teacher.
Jon demonstrated excellent subject knowledge and had well prepared resources, for example his flipcharts were all ready before the lesson began. Richards (1999), explains that it is not just subject knowledge that is important, but how you use this to address topics in the classroom environment. Although not a criticism, Jon could have improved his lesson by using a magnifying glass or an overhead projector to show children the seeds on a big screen.
I was able to interact with the children in pairs after their lesson to discuss helicopters and if bigger wings were better. The children were able to create gyrocopters, and although as a group of three trainees, we only had ten minutes to prepare the lesson I feel it was well structured and engaging for the students. This was evidenced by testing out the gyrocopters and seeing for themselves whether bigger wings were better instead of being told. This lesson could have been made cross-curricular and incorporated Art or even English. The children could have written a piece about their gyrocopters and what they expected to happen before carrying out the experiment, and whether this differed from the eventual outcome. This lesson impacted on me the most during week three, as I find science a particular weakness of mine. The lesson would not have been a success without the enthusiasm of me and the students. Haydn (2007) emphasises the importance of enthusiasm when teaching, even if you yourself aren’t enthusiastic about the subject. He says it is key to managing pupil behaviour. Jon’s lesson was a great example of how to plan and teach a well structured lesson. It began with checking prior knowledge i.e. about their nature walk in the park the previous week. It gave them the opportunity to touch the seeds and discuss with talk partners about the different types, however I would be confused about how to differentiate this lesson but Jon succeeded in promoting the capabilities of all students.
The other main activity carried out in the previous two weeks is phonics teaching in a school and one-to-one reading with a pupil. This was done at Medlock Primary School and I was paired with another trainee and placed in a Year two class. The first week we had to observe the phonics lesson, in order to take a group of eight children the following week. The lesson I observed started brilliantly. It was an interactive game on the whiteboard where children had to repeat phase five sounds. The children then had to learn three new sounds ie/i-e/igh. This was done with children walking to posters around the room when words were read aloud. I found this worked well, but I feel children may have been following other children and didn’t really understand the object of the game. I would have maybe asked children to write their answers on whiteboards and hold them up so the teacher could check their understanding.
The following week myself along with another trainee delivered a twenty minute lesson based on the alternative pronunciation of the ‘y’ sound. This was based on the re-visit/review, teach, practice and apply model. I found myself research rigorously about the sound and viewing video clips and gaining lots of ideas as I wanted children to be engaged and thoroughly enjoy the lesson. We used props for the different words, for example ‘spy’ and I dressed up as a spy and the children loved it. We displayed the learning objective on the board at the beginning of the lesson and played a game of bingo to consolidate the new information. I was nervous to begin with but once I could see the children were responding to the resources and material prepared I couldn’t help but enjoy myself too. To make sure children were well behaved we asked them to show us “good sitting” and used the “thumbs up” approach if they wanted to discuss or reply to a question. This behaviour management worked really well, and I believe this to be because they were motivated to learn. As reinforced by Leewer and Purvis (2008, p40), “school settings have high expectations for youngsters, but they must also have high expectations for themselves, and demonstrate those expectations.” This was demonstrated by me and my partner evidencing “good sitting” and having respect for our children at all times.
Although the lesson did work well, there weren’t any tasks that were differentiated. This wasn’t a problem on this occasion as all children understood the learning objective and success criteria and made positive contributions. However, were there low ability children in the group this may have caused a problem. On reflection this should have been considered previous to the lesson and if the whole class were involved it would be important to cater to the needs of everyone.
Overall, I would be happy to be able to demonstrate a lesson as I observed Jon teach during week three of the course. My goals for the next two weeks are to develop my teaching skills further by delivering another lesson on phonics and researching numerous activities and teaching strategies I could use in my lesson. Also observing the many different behavioural management strategies used by teachers in schools and lecturers from the University.
References
Board, J. (2012). University of Manchester PGCE course. Mauldeth Primary School.
Haydn, T. (2007). Managing Pupil Behaviour: What Teachers Need To Know. Oxon. Routledge Publishing.
Leewer, W. and Purvis, J. (2008). Safe and Successful Schools: A Compendium for the New Millennium. Bloomington. AuthorHouse.
Richards, C. (1999). Primary Education at a Hinge of History. London. Falmer Press.
Thompson, J. (2007). The First-Year Teacher’s Survival Guide. San-Francisco. Jossey-Bass.
Jon demonstrated excellent subject knowledge and had well prepared resources, for example his flipcharts were all ready before the lesson began. Richards (1999), explains that it is not just subject knowledge that is important, but how you use this to address topics in the classroom environment. Although not a criticism, Jon could have improved his lesson by using a magnifying glass or an overhead projector to show children the seeds on a big screen.
I was able to interact with the children in pairs after their lesson to discuss helicopters and if bigger wings were better. The children were able to create gyrocopters, and although as a group of three trainees, we only had ten minutes to prepare the lesson I feel it was well structured and engaging for the students. This was evidenced by testing out the gyrocopters and seeing for themselves whether bigger wings were better instead of being told. This lesson could have been made cross-curricular and incorporated Art or even English. The children could have written a piece about their gyrocopters and what they expected to happen before carrying out the experiment, and whether this differed from the eventual outcome. This lesson impacted on me the most during week three, as I find science a particular weakness of mine. The lesson would not have been a success without the enthusiasm of me and the students. Haydn (2007) emphasises the importance of enthusiasm when teaching, even if you yourself aren’t enthusiastic about the subject. He says it is key to managing pupil behaviour. Jon’s lesson was a great example of how to plan and teach a well structured lesson. It began with checking prior knowledge i.e. about their nature walk in the park the previous week. It gave them the opportunity to touch the seeds and discuss with talk partners about the different types, however I would be confused about how to differentiate this lesson but Jon succeeded in promoting the capabilities of all students.
The other main activity carried out in the previous two weeks is phonics teaching in a school and one-to-one reading with a pupil. This was done at Medlock Primary School and I was paired with another trainee and placed in a Year two class. The first week we had to observe the phonics lesson, in order to take a group of eight children the following week. The lesson I observed started brilliantly. It was an interactive game on the whiteboard where children had to repeat phase five sounds. The children then had to learn three new sounds ie/i-e/igh. This was done with children walking to posters around the room when words were read aloud. I found this worked well, but I feel children may have been following other children and didn’t really understand the object of the game. I would have maybe asked children to write their answers on whiteboards and hold them up so the teacher could check their understanding.
The following week myself along with another trainee delivered a twenty minute lesson based on the alternative pronunciation of the ‘y’ sound. This was based on the re-visit/review, teach, practice and apply model. I found myself research rigorously about the sound and viewing video clips and gaining lots of ideas as I wanted children to be engaged and thoroughly enjoy the lesson. We used props for the different words, for example ‘spy’ and I dressed up as a spy and the children loved it. We displayed the learning objective on the board at the beginning of the lesson and played a game of bingo to consolidate the new information. I was nervous to begin with but once I could see the children were responding to the resources and material prepared I couldn’t help but enjoy myself too. To make sure children were well behaved we asked them to show us “good sitting” and used the “thumbs up” approach if they wanted to discuss or reply to a question. This behaviour management worked really well, and I believe this to be because they were motivated to learn. As reinforced by Leewer and Purvis (2008, p40), “school settings have high expectations for youngsters, but they must also have high expectations for themselves, and demonstrate those expectations.” This was demonstrated by me and my partner evidencing “good sitting” and having respect for our children at all times.
Although the lesson did work well, there weren’t any tasks that were differentiated. This wasn’t a problem on this occasion as all children understood the learning objective and success criteria and made positive contributions. However, were there low ability children in the group this may have caused a problem. On reflection this should have been considered previous to the lesson and if the whole class were involved it would be important to cater to the needs of everyone.
Overall, I would be happy to be able to demonstrate a lesson as I observed Jon teach during week three of the course. My goals for the next two weeks are to develop my teaching skills further by delivering another lesson on phonics and researching numerous activities and teaching strategies I could use in my lesson. Also observing the many different behavioural management strategies used by teachers in schools and lecturers from the University.
References
Board, J. (2012). University of Manchester PGCE course. Mauldeth Primary School.
Haydn, T. (2007). Managing Pupil Behaviour: What Teachers Need To Know. Oxon. Routledge Publishing.
Leewer, W. and Purvis, J. (2008). Safe and Successful Schools: A Compendium for the New Millennium. Bloomington. AuthorHouse.
Richards, C. (1999). Primary Education at a Hinge of History. London. Falmer Press.
Thompson, J. (2007). The First-Year Teacher’s Survival Guide. San-Francisco. Jossey-Bass.
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