tanyatalbotreflectivejournal

[tanyatalbotreflectivejournal]

One month to go!

[tanyatalbotreflectivejournal]

- June -

The realisation that I only have a few weeks of my placement left has set in! I am now teaching the entire curriculum, and have found that BM has improved as a result. I am also becoming firmer with the pupils and have been varying my tone when speaking to them (received feedback that this would improve BM).

I have still been observing phonics weekly, and had my first observation this week. To improve, I think I will need to observe some phonics lessons as I have only been working in a small group setting of LA year 4/5s instead of observing structured lessons. I will also watch some YouTube videos to correctly learn the pronunciations.

I have also received feedback that my organisation and preparation has dramatically improved after writing up my daily timetable and organising my resources the day before. I have also been getting into school half an hour earlier and running through the PPTs with my mentor before school to ensure I am clear on everything. 

I have also found out that I am teaching year 4 next year! I am already placed in year 4, so am feeling much more confident in my upcoming NQT role. Some of topics we will be covering next year I planned for the year 4 team at Downshall (Rivers and the Water Cycle) so am feeling confident in teaching these next academic year.

[tanyatalbotreflectivejournal]

- May -

This week I took on more responsibility in the classroom, as I am now teaching 80% of the timetable. This means that I am having to be a lot more organised and stay on top of all of my work and planning. I have found that the best method for this is to write a timetable out for each day of the lessons, timings and whether my resources have been printed. I have been ensuring that all of my resources are printed at least 24 hours beforehand, and have placed them into different boxes labelled Monday-Friday.

E.g.

I have also made additional efforts this week to ensure that all of my lessons are of high standard. Recent feedback which I received for one of my lessons was that I needed to increase my subject knowledge for that lesson, so I have been:

·      researching each lesson thoroughly beforehand

·      writing notes in my notepad on anything I am unsure on (can refer back to in lesson)

·      adding additional information to PowerPoints to clarify anything

·      thinking about questions the class may have beforehand and having answers pre-prepared

·      incorporating more videos in my lessons (e.g. in the lesson on Mountains of the World, I included videos of Mount Everest and Kilimanjaro to include additional information for the children)

I have found that these methods have worked extremely well, especially for topics which I have not had much knowledge about before.

This week I have also been planning Math as part of the trainee teacher year 4 team. It has been very useful to plan together, as we can brainstorm and share ideas and this has worked very well in our planning, as feedback from our mentors was that our plans were clear, instructional and had relevant information.

I have also had an intervention this week with a very difficult member of the class. She is known to be very disruptive in the classroom and has different BM strategies in place in comparison to other pupils in the class. The other members of the class have been informed to ignore her when she acts up, but this week she has been extremely disruptive e.g. getting up and dancing in the lesson, crawling under desks and coming up to the IWB and fast-forwarding the video we were watching as a class.

1:1 I have built a good relationship with the child, so I asked to speak with her privately during a grammar lesson. Together we came up with a list of behaviours I expect of her in the classroom:

·      Put your hand up and ask before walking around the classroom

·      Dancing – save for break and lunch time

·      Pair work �� can work individually if easier for pupil

·      Don’t call out – put hand up

·      Group work – listen to all ideas and give everyone a chance to speak

·      Reset card – if you get upset, take the time out card

I ensured that this conversation was in a friendly manner and that the said pupil was not in trouble, as she I want to establish a respectful relationship between us to prevent further disruptions. She was well behaved in my lessons for the rest of the week after I explained to  her that her actions often cause other pupils in the class to lose focus.

My observation this week focused on modelling, as a previous observation stated that I needed to work on this in the lesson. My mentor focused solely on modelling for the observation, and told me after the lesson that my modelling was excellent and of high quality. I am very happy that I have progressed with this and am now clear on how to best model throughout a lesson.

[tanyatalbotreflectivejournal]

SBT2 weeks 4 + 5

 It was great to see my class again after being away for 2 weeks for Easter holidays.

This week I have been focusing on teaching the afternoons (topic, RE and PSHE) as well as thinking of engaging multiplication games to do with the pupils.

I have been trying to focus more this week on modelling activities to the pupils, as this has come up as a focus point in my weekly progress meetings, and have ensured that every activity is thoroughly modelled / scaffolded to the pupils.

I am still struggling sometimes with behaviour management in the class, as I find that the class can be very chatty, especially in the afternoons. During the lesson on Friday afternoon, the lesson had to be constantly stopped due to the loudness of the chatting when the pupils were supposed to be working quietly. 

To counteract the behavioural issues in the classroom, I have put together a powerpoint slide outlining the key behaviour expectations which I expect from the pupils.

Something which I struggle with in this placement, is that the primary school I am in does not reward good behaviour in the class as they expect it. I find it much easier to imply behavioural measures when I can reward or sanction behaviour e.g. a reward chart, stickers for good behaviour etc. Because of this, I have thought of the following game (below) to give the class the challenge of behaving well throughout the day.

This week, a boy in my class has finally returned after being in Pakistan for the past month. He is extremely autistic, and this has helped me to understand it much better. He is very friendly and chatty but very well behaved in class. He struggles a lot with instruction, and requires a TA to explain things to him. He also has a sensory box which he can play with, which has many different textured toys in. He plays with this during the more difficult lessons, and attends intervention during English where he practises colourful semantics. He has his timetable Velcro-ed to his desk at the start of every day so that he can see what is happening in the day and doesn’t have any surprised.

A challenge which I came across was in one of my topic lessons. The class had not stuck in a worksheet from the day before, so I asked the class to stick it in and write yesterdays date and learning objective. He got very upset and confused and started to cry when asked to write yesterdays date. I immediately gave him reassurance and the class teacher took him outside to calm him down and let him play with his toys instead. This has made me a lot more aware of ensuring that instructions need to be catered suitably for him.

I started week 5 with laying out my classroom behaviour expectations and having the class run through the powerpoint. I have been practising waiting in the classroom for all eyes to be on me before I start talking or giving instructions. I have found behaviour in the classroom has improved when I wait for complete silence before moving on, and informing the class that if they continue to talk then we will continue the lesson into break or lunch time. (I am against collective punishment but I have found that this causes the other pupils in the classroom to ‘shhh’ those who are speaking).

I have also started to observe phonics this week, in preparation for the phonics lessons which I will be teaching later on. I have been observing a group of 6 year 5/6 pupils who are very LA and/or EAL. The school follows ‘read write inc’ and I have been observing and making notes as it is the first time I have been exposed to phonics lessons.

I have been learning about the different groups of sounds (set 1, set 2 and set 3):

Learning Set 1 Speed Sounds

These are the Set 1 Speed Sounds written with one letter:

m  a  s  d  t  i  n  p  g  o  c  k  u  b  f  e  l  h  r  j  v  y  w  z  x

These are the sounds written with two letters (your child will call these ‘special friends’):

sh  th  ch  qu  ng  nk  ck

Learning Set 2 Speed Sounds

These are the Set 2 Speed Sounds:

ay  ee  igh  ow (as in blow)  oo (as in zoo)

oo (as in look) ar  or  air  ir  ou (as in out)  oy

Learning Set 3 Speed Sounds

These are Set 3 Speed Sounds:

ea (as in tea)

oi (as in spoil)

a–e (as in cake)

i–e (as in smile)

o–e (as in home)

u–e (as in huge)

aw (as in yawn)

are (as in care)

ur (as in nurse)

er  (as in letter)

ow (as in brown)

ai  (as in snail)

oa (as in goat)

ew (as in chew)

ire (as in fire)

ear (as in hear)

ure (as in pure)

[tanyatalbotreflectivejournal]

Easter holidays

Over Easter I have been watching different videos showing different teaching techniques, focusing on behaviour management and ways to keep the pupils engaged in class.

e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8Wsv5DwpMc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADw7A_zAHzQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPQUodQ1Rz8​

I have also been planning TOPIC (rivers and mountains) for the whole of year 4. I have enjoyed thinking of different ideas for the pupils and ensuring the slides are bright and engaging. I also thought of an experiment which we will be doing in one of the lessons, showing the water cycle.

[tanyatalbotreflectivejournal]

SBT2 Weeks 1-3 (March 15th - March 31st)

Week 1 - I have started to settle into my new school this week! The majority of the week has been spent on placement observing the lessons and getting to know the class teachers, support staff and pupils. I am also learning new things by being in a new school and witnessing a different way of running things. The main aim of this week was to get to know the pupils in the class individually and to develop positive relations with them. I have found that the best way to do this is by walking around the classroom during lesson time and listening to and joining in with their peer discussions. I also sat with the class at lunch times and joined in with their games during wet play in order to get to know them better. I have found that by taking the register, welcoming the class after break and lunch and dismissing the pupils at the end of the day I have managed to learn their names quickly.

This week the school has their Assessment Week, so the day began with a different assessment (either English or Math) followed by lessons later on in the day. Through this I have managed to gain and analyse the class data and pick the focus pupils for my SBT2 Pupil Progress task. I have picked pupils who portray different ability levels in the class - low, medium and high. I am going to focus this week on making pen portraits for each of these students representing their strengths and weaknesses, and then look at how they are progressing next week after getting to know them a bit better.

As we have had a reduced timetable due to Assessment Week, and I have missed a few lessons due to interviews, I taught my first lesson on Thursday - PSHE. The pupils responded well to the lesson - they were well behaved and cooperative throughout. I have learnt how the school uses behaviour management in the classroom and managed to apply it during the lesson.  I then taught a second PSHE lesson on Friday, this time without the class teacher present and a TA present instead. Again, the class were bell behaved and cooperative. I have managed to identify which pupils in the class are the most disruptive and remembered to tell the class (and these pupils in particular) the behaviour expectations before the lesson begins and throughout. I have also found that using plenty of positive praise throughout the lesson works well and the pupils are keen to please me.

Week 2 - This week has been a lot more hectic as I have had lots of job interviews via skype/zoom. Around this, I have managed to teach some lessons - namely PSHE (teaching the class about Justice and the Census) and Math. I have also been writing notes during my observations of Miss A teaching. I am focusing on her behaviour management techniques, as it has been noted by the PE/ Music teachers that my class can be quite disruptive and chatty if not well managed. 

Something I have learnt this week which is particularly useful is the ‘colourful semantics’ which is used in my class during English interventions for the very LA / SEN pupils. The pupils are shown different pictures, and then they use the semantic cards to create sentences. They read these sentences out loud to the TA, also working on their language and communication skills.

[tanyatalbotreflectivejournal]

Week 25

I have had a few weeks off from my reflective journal due to half term, but am now back engaging with my studies. This week we began lectures again and were in particular looking at presenting our research project.

We also had ‘prevent’ training and engaged in lectures and seminars in relation to this. This training explained how it to safeguard vulnerable people from being radicalised to supporting terrorism or becoming terrorists themselves. It provided an important foundation on which to develop further knowledge around the risks of radicalisation and the role that you can play in supporting those at risk.This training addressed all forms of terrorism and non-violent extremism, including far right wing and Islamist extremism threatening the UK and was developed by HM Government following consultation with a range of individuals and organisations. 

On Friday, I visited my SBT2 school for the first time. I am placed in year 4, alongside 2 other UEL students. This will provide to be incredibly useful as we can share planning, ideas, tips etc throughout this placement. The school was extremely welcoming and I am very excited to start teaching here! We sat in during a zoom maths lesson and got to know the year 4 staff and the pupils who were in (key worker/ vulnerable). It was definitely exciting to be back in a classroom!

[tanyatalbotreflectivejournal]

Week 21

This week we were back to online lectures again.

On Monday we had ‘Inclusion 3′, focusing on autism in children. This was very insightful, as I had had 2 autistic children in my SBT1 class (1 girl and 1 boy) and learning about how autism affects each gender was very interesting as I could relate it to the pupils I had taught.

 We looked at different case studies and thought about how to address different situations which may arise with autistic children e.g. how to give support to a pupil with autism who may be extremely sensitive to noise.

On Tuesday we focused on DT.  I have only had one opportunity to teach DT so far, so it was incredibly useful to look at different lesson ideas, strategies for teaching DT etc. We worked in small groups to plan a DT lesson, and my group planned a year 4 class creating their own bridges to hold weight - to learn about tension in a bridge. We then had an activity to do individually - design our own puppets. A snippet of my plan is included below:

On Thursday, we had our first RSE (relationships & sex education) seminar. We learnt about how to treat this topic with young children and how to ensure these lessons are age appropriate.

We thought about the following questions in our P subgroups:

What is the position of RSE in the curriculum?  

RSE creates a broad and balanced curriculum that teaches children emotional, social and physical skills and not just those that are academic.  

RSE can be cross-curricular to PSHE.  

All schools must have in place a written policy for Relationships Education and RSE.  

It is now compulsory as of September 2020.  

2.What will be the impact of RSE teaching on children’s futures?  

RSE will prepare children to make informed and correct decisions as an adult.  

They will develop morally and socially, through their decision making, as they learn that society is gradually progressing from the norms of society i.e., nuclear family. This results in children perceiving society from a free thinking, confident, more thoughtful, and more self-aware (physically and mentally).  

Pupils are recognising and developing: caring friendships, respectful relationships, online relationships, being safe, sexual awareness.

his will allow them to make informed decisions in wider society. Specifically, in their personal and/or otherwise private lives, where they may have received minimal guidance. RSE lessons facilitate pupils thinking, and prepare pupils to consciously make well-informed decisions.  

c) How can teachers embed effective RSE teaching? (could use an example from the guidance to illustrate your ideas)  

Draw links between subjects i.e., P.E also signifies the importance of healthy being. 

Science could cover the social implications of its study through the discussion of i.e., the reproductive system, digestive system.

R.E could discuss the spiritual implications of meaningful connections and relationships between people.  

Food tech will discuss the health elements of RSE appropriately, such as, eating disorders, body-image.

Literacy/Reading: The books/stories we study surrounding different types of relationships.

Using visual videos and songs to cover a specific topic in RSE.

[tanyatalbotreflectivejournal]

Week 20

FINAL WEEK OF SBT1 

This was a week of mixed emotions as I was incredibly sad to be leaving my year 6 class, but also excited to continue with the course as I am getting closer to the end goal: gaining QTS and finally having a class of my own.

This week I started to take over the video lessons, teaching geography, grammar and DT. Feedback from the class teacher was that I adapted well to the online learning, explaining concepts well and helping pupils who required additional explanations. 

Examples of the lessons which I taught:

I have learnt from online teaching, that some pupils in my class really do need to be in school to make progress, as they do not understand concepts unless I am explaining and showing them in person. As my class mainly consists of SEND pupils, it can be very hard to explain things to them online.

The DT lesson went well, as most pupils were able to do their own research online on how to make a windmill, however some pupils needed me to go through the instructions with them, even after sending them a simple set of instructions. The grammar lesson was much harder to explain, as we were looking as embedded clauses, relative pronouns, relative clauses and relative embedded clauses. The class did not seem clear on this, and even after reteaching the lesson a second time, many pupils in the class were not able to produce a relative embedded clause. Feedback from the class teacher, who was also present, was that many of the SEND pupils get distracted or ‘switch off’ during more boring lessons, and would not understand this topic unless they had 1:1 time with a teacher next to them. He said that he will be sending the parents additional information on the grammar topic for the parents to help their children with.

I have also become aware of some pupils in the class not engaging with online learning. One boy, for example, has not handed in 1 piece of work since the lockdown began 3 weeks ago. The class teacher and myself had an intervention with this pupil to try and understand why this was and show him on google classroom how to submit classwork. Less than half of the class are consistently producing work to a high standard, and this is rather worrying as we do not want the pupils to fall behind before they go to secondary school.

On a positive note, the pupils who have been coming into school have been making great progress with the small classroom size and extra teacher attention. I can see that for some SEND pupils, being present in school is vital for them to make progress with their education.

[tanyatalbotreflectivejournal]

Week 19

After receiving a negative COVID test result, I was back into school on Monday. Only children of key workers / vulnerable children were allowed back in, and in my class we only had 3 -5 pupils in each day. 

I was set up on google classroom and taught how to use it to support the pupils’ knowledge and learning each day. The teacher taught most of the lessons online whilst I helped the pupils in the class. 

The pupils who were in class were of very low ability and were not making progress at home, so had come into school for the additional 1:1 support. I was working in particular with 2 SEND boys and both said that they found the lessons easier as I could explain everything to them at their pace and they weren't distracted by others in the classroom.

The pupils, myself and the class teacher would sign on to google classroom together and then run through slides together, whilst having the pupils and ourselves remain on camera to discuss / answer questions etc... almost like we were all in the classroom together!

Some examples of how the lessons are structured now that learning is online:

On Thursday I supposed to be taking over the video teaching, however we had an issue with the internet in the school where it was out for the whole day. This meant having to quickly send photographs of the work to the pupils and just hoping that they would be able to get on with it all themselves and with the support from their parents. We had 1 pupil in our class that day, and after doing some English work with him in the morning we let him play ping pong with the other classes for the afternoon (socially-distanced of course).

Through feedback from the class teacher and observation, I could see that most of the class was making progress even with the video-learning, however the general consensus from the class was that they preferred the learning environment in school and many of them struggled to focus at home. To combat this, I can see the class teacher using class dojo to engage with parents each day, asking for work to be submitted and marked on the day it is set, and remaining on video calls when pupils are set tasks incase they need the extra help, rather than having the class go off and attempt the activities by themselves.

The week has been stressful but also interesting to learn a new way of teaching and seeing first hand how to try and make it effective. From mentor feedback, I had adapted well to the situation and increased my classroom teaching knowledge. Next week I will be observed teaching a video lesson.

Here is the timetable for next week:

[tanyatalbotreflectivejournal]

Week 18

This week has been incredibly stressful with the news that England is going back into lockdown, due to COVID 19. This means school closures once again. With 3 weeks left on my placement, I was unsure where this would leave me.

On the Sunday before I was meant to return I had news from the school that I would have to have a negative COVID result before coming back and I wouldn’t be able to support the class online until the school set me up on Google Classroom. 

I’ve therefore spent the week patiently waiting for my COVID test results and to hear back from my mentor regarding supporting the class online. I have been able to dedicate my extra time to my essay, however I really am ready to get back into the classroom again!

Hopefully next week I will have my COVID result or at least be set up on Google Classroom...

[tanyatalbotreflectivejournal]

Week 15

This week marked our last week before breaking up for Christmas for 2 weeks -finally giving me time to settle down with my assignment!

Monday was a UEL careers fair and I learnt lots of valuable information for when I start applying as a NQT. I am quite set on applying abroad to do my NQT in an international school and have started scouring job sites e.g. https://www.tes.com/jobs/browse/international Just need to get my CV up to date first!! I will definitely be doing some research over Christmas on how to make my CV stand out and any additional things I could do to add to it!

Tuesday was a Behaviour lecture and seminar, and possibly one of my favourite lectures to date. Behaviour in my SBT1 class is quite often a problem, as I find the girl/boy imbalance in the class (6 girls to 14 boys) mixed with the fact that a lot of the pupils have different SEN needs means that it can often be hard to have the whole class settle and do their work without getting distracted. A problem I have also found, is that as the class is of very low ability (Most pupils are working BAR - below age related expectations), it can be very hard to get the class to focus in lessons which they would find harder e.g. English.

A few tips which I have picked up with the class are:

1. The class works and focuses well if they are promised a reward for good behaviour e.g. ‘we will go for the mile if you work well on your Grammar for half an hour’.

2. Use a variety of different resources in the class - the class does not respond well to reading long texts for example, but focus better if the lesson is made up of a mix of videos, group discussions, writing on whiteboards, having a chance to move around...

3. Tell the class what is expected of them before the lesson begins and move someone down the triangle AS SOON as they start to become disruptive or unfocused, especially in English - second chances do not work so well in a lesson the class collectively does not want to be in. At the same time, reward good behaviour! Call pupils out by name if they have done something well, promise to photocopy work for their parents, remind individuals how close they are to reaching ‘sticker’ or ‘postcard’ on the triangle. I have found calling out good work in front of peers works exceptionally well as a good incentive for good behaviour!

4. Count down from 3 when you want silence in the classroom... 9/10 times by the time I have reached 1 the class will be silent and anyone speaking will be moved down the triangle.

5. Lots and lots of examples in harder subjects e.g. English and History ensures that the class understands what is expected of them. Modelling examples and running through these as a class ensures the whole class understands what they are supposed to be doing.

During our UEL behaviour seminar, we worked in small groups to discuss behaviour management in our classrooms and what does and doesn’t work well. I really enjoy working with my group and having a chance to collaborate with one another. There are 6 girls from UEL at my SBT1 school, but due to COVID restrictions we never have a chance to meet up and discuss.

The PowerPoint which my group and myself came up with for the session:

[tanyatalbotreflectivejournal]

Week 14

This week I focused on collecting all of the data needed for my assignment. I started by planning which subject and lessons I would be focusing on and then picking my focus pupils.

I decided to go for maths for a few reasons: my undergrad is in maths so it is my most confident subject. It is also my PWR. Also, only English and Maths are taught consecutively at my SBT1 school and all other subjects are only taught once or twice a week. As year 6 at my school is in sets, I thought the assignment would work better with my maths class as they are of higher ability and I could chose a pupil at the top of the class (AAR - working above age related expectations), middle of the class (AAR) and bottom of the class (AR - at age related expectations). No pupils in this class are working below age related expectations.

On Monday we had English first and I worked with my focus group - teaching them to use a dash and hyphen accurately. We then had double maths and I started to implement my lesson for my assignment. We were focusing on plotting coordinates in all 4 quadrants of the (x,y) plane.

On Tuesday, I supported the English class in using literacy techniques to write a quality setting description. Then I implemented my second maths lesson - drawing and translating shapes.

After lunch I had the class to myself (as usual on Tuesdays) and taught Grammar to the pupils. This went very well and the whole class listened and remained focused throughout with the promise of going to the fete at 2.20. The class seems to work well when promised a reward for their good behaviour!

On Wednesday I taught a Maths lesson to the whole class first period and the lesson went very well. I enjoy teaching Maths most and I would certainly be interested in learning more about teaching Maths at primary level and getting more involved with this. All pupils were engaged and well behaved throughout.

After math I was teaching my first PE lesson! I prepared a warm up and activity for the class. The lesson went very well and the PE teacher said he was very impressed with the creative ideas which I had come up with. He said he would be using some of these himself in future! 

On Thursday we had English first. I supported some focus pupils on writing a piece focusing on changing tense seamlessly. After break I implemented my third and final maths lesson - today we were drawing and reflecting shapes.

After lunch I had the pupils all afternoon as Mr S was covering a different Year 6 class. We had Art/DT, creating little elves and snowflakes for our classroom door. Each class in the school decorates their door and the best door wins a prize - I definitely think our door is in the running this year! (see below)

On Friday I taught the PSHE lesson which we had planned as a group on the UEL study day. I focused more on cyberbullying and making pupils aware of what this is and what to do if they are being cyberbullied.

Evaluation & Implications for Future Practice for UEL planned PSHE lesson

Who made progress?

All children as they were all able to identify which scenarios were bullying and what they should do in this situation. All pupils contributed to the class discussions.

All pupils created a pair of ‘odd socks’ and were able to explain why we use odd socks to represent anti bullying.

How do you know? (What evidence do you have?)

All children completed the design your sock element and understood the significance. This was shown through the pupil’s addition of anti-bullying slogans and logos drawn onto the socks.

Through observation of class discussions, could see that all pupils understood what should be done in scenarios of bullying / cyberbullying.

What did you do that made the difference? (reflect specifically on your targets)

Explained what cyberbullying is and why someone may cyberbully – help pupils to recognise cyberbullying in themselves and others.

Explained what to do when being bullied or cyberbullied. Then looked at different bullying scenarios and asked the pupils what they would do in these scenarios – seeing if they had understood the slides which we had looked at.

Used videos and a fun task (designing the socks) to ensure the pupils remained interested and engaged with the lesson.

What will you do differently next time?

If I had more time, I would have the pupil’s create a poem to highlight bullying / cyberbullying and how it may make someone feel. This would make the pupil’s really think and recognise the impact of bullying.