Week 2: Completed!

Well this week was crazy but very enjoyable! From reading a few blogs from this week such as “One Week Left”, I think most of my fellow classmates are feeling the same.

Although this week has been crazy and the workload is enormous, I have learnt so much! I think the main things I have learnt from this week are to be flexible, to think on the spot, and to go with the flow. Within this week there were many interruptions such as my mentor being away, Sorry Day and other school events that have popped up. This meant that the days I had planned to teach my lessons were interrupted. So I just went with the flow and it turned out to be a great learning experience.

Within the classroom I’m in, there are some students with significant behavioural issues. This week I asked my mentor if I could implement ClassDojo as I had used them in previous professional experiences. My mentor teacher thought this was a great idea and the results were pretty good! The students loved using this and they all put a significant effort into following the class rules as well as behaving positively. I cannot wait to use this in my own classroom one day!

Week 2 Begins!

Well today I finally got to teach my first ICT lesson and it was actually quite good. Some of the areas I had to improvise on such as the link I wanted to use wouldn’t work on the IWB – I still don’t know why! Luckily I had a back up plan – yes David said we would need this.

In my lesson plan, I had planned for students to locate and analyse the effects of different advertisements, as this is a content descriptor in the Year 5/6 Health learning area. The children loved this and all had a go – I was unsure if they would all be interested in this. One of the students found a really great advertisement, Strong Mouse – it’s amazing how their minds think! When I mentioned to the students that they would each be creating their own health advertisement using iMovie, they became very excited but also a bit off task – I should have left this as a surprise.

Anyways, the next couple of lessons will provide more opportunities to use ICTs, which I’m very excited about.

Prac update: so far so good 🙂

Week 1 of Prac: Done & Dusted!

Well after five days I’m already exhausted, just like my fellow classmates Leisha and Lana. Although throughout this week I haven’t done much teaching, it still went pretty well – I have received a lot of positive feedback from my mentor teacher, the Principal and the other staff members. I have mostly been observing the students and mentor teacher, testing/marking and working with small groups, which has given me a great opportunity to develop a deep understanding of each students’ interests and learning abilities.

While discussing with my mentor teacher on how and when would be the best time to implement my five ICT lessons, she asked me what subjects I had little or no experience in planning for or teaching. Over the past two years I have planned and taught many lessons around the core learning areas of the Australian Curriculum but never have I really had anything to do with Health and Physical Education – I always thought there was a specialist teacher for this. Anyways my mentor teacher has given me the task to implement a mini two-week health unit on the topic of “the influences of media on our health”. My thoughts were for students to investigate and analyse different health advertisements, and at the end of the unit, students could create a positive health advertisement directed at their fellow classmates, using iMovie or moviemaker. There is a range of opportunities for different ICTs to be utilised that will hopefully enhance and transform the students learning. I would love to hear some other ideas!

With planning this unit, working on this assignment and my two other assignments, the next couple of days are going to be very busy!!!!

 

First Day!

I seriously don’t know why I have been so nervous over the past couple weeks – my first day of prac was pretty amazing and I can’t wait until tomorrow. The school were I am working is beautiful and the staff are all so welcoming – I have met so many people today it’s crazy!

First up this morning was a bit of a mess as I was running late and my mentor teacher was away. The principle was also in a meeting so I kind of had to find my way around by myself. The school had a parade this morning where I was introduced to everyone. When we split into our classes I finally got to meet the students that I would be working with for the next three weeks. The students were lovely – they were almost as tall as me! They were all really helpful, showing me around the school and explaining things to me. However, I did find it hard to find a balance between being the students’ friend and their teacher – hopefully this will become clearer over the next couple of days.

I hope everybody has enjoyed their first day of prac just as much as I have and I can’t wait to hear all about it!

Meeting with Mentor!

As I read my fellow classmates blogs from this week, like Sarah’s, I feel so relieved to actually be organised for prac – unlike last year!

Yesterday I met with my mentor teacher and she was awesome! She was really lovely and the best bit is she is not that much older than me – we got on really well. While I was there she showed me around the school and introduced me to some of the other teachers. She also gave me in overview of the students within the classroom – their cultures, learning abilities, interests, etc. Luckily each student within the classroom has access to a laptop each and has a satisfactory level of ICT skills. There is also a smartboard within the classroom however it has a few issues and is mostly used as a projector. The school also has a digital camera for each class, and there is access to iPads however they are mostly used within the prep and year 1 classes.

While I was there, she asked me what I wanted to achieve out of this. I simply said “Well, I want to build confidence and the skills to effectively plan and teach lessons using ICTs. However, mostly I want to experience and build confidence in teaching students of this age group.”

Overall, I’m quite excited for this new challenge and cannot wait for it to start! I wish everyone the best for their professional experience and cannot wait to hear about your experiences.

Feeling Ready for Prac!

From the learnings from the past two weeks, I finally feel as though I’m ready for professional experience. I have developed a deep understanding of what is expected of me while on prac and how to complete assignment 3– it will be a big workload over the next couple of weeks!

Through the weekly learnings, I have specifically developed an understanding of how to plan ICT enriched lessons (using the TIP model). I have also learnt about digital citizenship and the importance of modelling safe, responsible and ethnical use of ICTs as well as the implications of not doing so – some of the scary stories from Week 10 were quite scary!

Along with these, I also have a developing understanding of how to use an Interactive Whiteboard – this will deepen with more experience. As I begin my planning stage, I finally feel confident and organised for my professional experience.

PE Issues: What am I not ready for?

Well everything! I don’t know why but this time before every professional experience I get really nervous and think to myself “do I really have to do this?”

However, this time around it’s a bit different. This is the first time I will be going to a school where I haven’t been before – for my last professional experiences, I was lucky enough to attend the same school each time – also the same school that I went to school, so I knew everyone! I don’t know anyone at this new school, which will be a big challenge for myself but it’s time to get out of my comfort zone. Also my other main fear is of stuffing up – in this case, not being able to use and incorporate ICTs correctly. There is such a large variety of ICTs today that are all different and require different skills to use.

When I ask myself, what am I not ready to do on professional experience? My answer is “teaching the whole class using ICTs”. I don’t know why but I absolutely hate standing up or sitting in front of a whole class! I would rather sit in a circle on the floor. My last mentor teacher made this a goal for me on my last professional experience and I became quite good at it – however I was not using a large amount of ICTs.

Therefore my goal for this professional experience is to increase my confidence and expertise with teaching whole class lessons using ICTs. Any tips would be VERY much appreciated.

Knowledge of the Digital World

After completing this weeks learning tasks and quizzes, I have discovered I am no expert with digital citizenship, just like Ella. However I do have a good understanding of how to practise safe, responsible and ethical use of ICTs within both my personal and professional lives. Thankfully I have never been a victim of cyber-bullying or have I been a bully. However, in this crazy digital age I have unfortunately witnessed cyber-bullying, which I am sure we all have. It is not a nice experience; therefore it is vital that we as teachers prepare our students for a society full of technology and how to use these technologies appropriately.

Throughout this weeks learning, there was a quiz, which I found would be a good source for students to engage with. The Cyber Smart Kids Quiz is aimed at young students and it tests their knowledge on all aspects of cyber-safety. After completing this quiz myself, it would be very beneficial to students as it allows them to create an understanding of what is safe, responsible and ethical use of ICTs.