Today I was in the privileged position to witness, via the medium of Skype video conferencing, the teacher of a Year Four class in Cornwall leading a cross-curricular science lesson on 'Sound'. Before I discuss the pedagogy, behaviour management techniques and (crucially) the children's reactions, I'd like to first explore the technology - what should be celebrated and what was flawed, what worked and what did not. Skype is a free application available on PC, Mac and across handheld devices, such as smartphones and tablets, as well as through some connected televisions. It allows two (or more) users to interact with each other face-to-face, using a front mounted camera, over the Internet (handheld devices may use 4G connections if their data plans allow it). It can also be used as a 'free' substitute for a telephone in audio only mode, and is often used in the business world. I'll get into practical applications of Skype in the Primary School classroom a little later in this blog. Our intention was to join the class at 10:30 am for the start of the lesson, but we encountered various technological issues that threatened us with the possibility of having to change our plans. Both we, in our seminar room in Manchester, and they, in their classroom in Cornwall, were online and connected to Skype (our icons told us so), but we could not get our video call started (we each could see that 'our end' worked, which meant that the issue was not with the front mounted camera, but we could not make a connection). We called and we called, and regularly saw images such as these: Our Science course leader used a system of trial and error to attempt to solve the problem he was faced with. He knew that simply calling and re-calling and re-calling was getting us nowhere so he attempted a number of fixes. The first fix was rebooting Skype, a simple case of restarting the program. Once it had reloaded he hit the 'call' icon once more to test whether it had worked, but it had not, and we were faced with a repeat of the photographs above. The next thing he tried was a cold reboot. This is tech-speak for turning the machine off and back on again. Again, after a restart, we encountered the same problems. He considered a third option, using another platform, FaceTime, but we quickly ascertained that, as the Cornish school were using a PC, their technology was incompatible with that application. The successful fix came when the course leader changed the hardware from a Mac laptop to an iPad. By 10:45 we were rolling! The video call itself was patchy in places. It suffered a little in the way of audio drop-out and pixilation, but for our purposes it was perfectly fine.
The lesson cleverly linked the Science National Curriculum learning outcomes with relation to 'sound' with the class' current topic of the Vikings. The teacher, Mr W, set the context for the lesson by explaining that a fictional viking had written to the class demanding a new instrument (to replace the horn) that fit a set of criteria - it must be able to rise and fall in amplitude and in pitch. He then re-capped the previous day's learning by asking a number of multiple choice questions of the class. The class each held up a card with (what looked like) a QR code on it. Mr W held his iPad up to the card and recorded their answers. We were later told that the app was called Plickers (I shall look into this at a later date) Mr W had already set up a "carousel" with a different musical instrument on each table. On one table there was a guitar, on another bells, on a third a boom whacker, on a fourth, a tambourine and fifthly, a drum. He split his pupils, by table, into different roles, each with a distinct purpose - one was a tester, another a scribe and another a reporter. This technique gave the children a focus during the experiment. The carousel turned at the sound of the teacher's gong, roughly every three minutes, which was enough time to test each instrument for amplitude and pitch, and record findings. Mr W allowed children to record their findings in any way they saw fit - this included drawing, using iPad technology, or writing a detailed account - this open and creative brief seemed to maximise engagement in the activity and led to a more qualitative and lively discussion when they fed back as a class. A note about behaviour management techniques. The teacher did not once raise his voice. He used a varying degree of pitch and volume, and a lot of non-verbal prompts, such as a look or a hand gesture. At one point he said "you have this many minutes" and held up three digits - this ensured that every child's eyes were on him, concentrating on the instructions. It was inspiring and I'll definitely consider using something similar myself when on placement. Finally, before I sign off (it's pushing midnight here and I need my beauty sleep) I'd like to conclude that yes, the technology is temperamental, but when it finally did work it provided my class and I with a window to good teaching practice, a window that without the technology could not have been opened without traveling 330 miles. Skype isn't perfect, it glitches all the time, but it certainly has its upsides, and it could be applied in a number of school situations - parents evenings could be achieved remotely, if parents can't attend; interscholastic training events could be held using skype as a conduit; and children could use it for class projects - such as buddying up with another class from another school in another country. There are so many possibilities, and today we merely scratched the surface. * Photographs taken and uploaded with the full permission of the school *
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Evening, all! My word, I've been busy! Yesterday I had a swotting up session in the University of Manchester's Main Library, and I learned some exciting* new tips and skills, including this doozy; if you download the iManchester smartphone app from the App Store/Google Play, and then select 'Library', you can search for whatever book you wish to withdraw. You can seek by title, author, or use a generic search term (such as "Primary Curriculum") and, once you have hit 'search', it will furnish you with a comprehensive list of relevant content. But the fun does not stop there, oh no, as it will also furnish you with the book's exact location in the library, which is incredibly useful (as anyone who has written out book locations in longhand will concur). I am now armed with 19 books, ready to take on assignment A. Following yesterday afternoon's brilliant Professional Studies seminar with Martin, I then went home and set to work on A) my subject knowledge in English, Maths and Science, using pages from BBC Bitesize, ahead of my seminars on those areas today, and B) my computing action plan, based on Tuesday's audit.
If you click on My Computing Action Plan above (or hit the hyperlink), then you will be able to see my plan in full. Today it seemed as if much of my revision had paid off. I found all three core subject seminars absolutely fascinating. Mathematics (traditionally my weakest subject) was full of practical games and top tips (from Lawrence, who is brilliantly engaging) about the teaching of the subject. I learned that to get Maths across effectively you must ALWAYS use a Practical element (such as an activity), a representational element (pictorial) and an abstract element (symbolic). But even more than that, to school enthusiastic mathematicians you must teach a deeper level of mathematic reasoning that involves convincing, justifying and proving. It got me thinking about how I might use technology in the classroom in order to achieve those goals (more on that at a later date, I'd imagine!) My homework for this evening was a Key Stage 2 Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) SAT test. I did not disgrace myself, but I have a decent amount of work still to do in order to brush up on clauses (relative, subordinate), conjunctions (sub-ordinating vs co-ordinating), and past perfect/progressive verb forms. Primary teachers have to know this stuff! Tomorrow, more Maths, Science (including an big audit) and English. The fun never stops in PGCE-Land! * Okay, exciting to no one but me! First Aid certificate: achieved! Safeguarding lecture: attended! Day two: done!
Since I finished lectures for the day I have completed my pen portrait (a one-page document that is sent to prospective placement schools) and I have uploaded it via the University's 'Turnitin' system. For the uninitiated, this is part of the University's online space, where attendance logs, pieces of reflection or work, and major essays are sent to academic staff. None of that hard-copy nonsense these days - it's now online or nothing (how things have changed!) If you are a University of Manchester student and you have never submitted anything through Turnitin, then follow these simple guidelines. Step One: Go to 'My Manchester' at https://login.manchester.ac.uk/cas/login and log in using your University of Manchester credentials. Step Two: Click on the link that says 'My Manchester' - for me it was in the bottom left hand corner of the page. Step Three: At the top of the page, near the right hand side click on the link that reads 'Blackboard'. Step Four: Click on your course. Mine is 'PGCE Primary' and is located in a box that says "organisations where you are: participant". Step Five: On the left hand side of the screen there will be a menu (if there isn't it may be hidden). Click on the link that reads 'submit a document'. Step Six: Find the name of the essay or reflection you have been asked to submit and click on 'View/Complete'. Step Seven: Press 'submit', name your document, and upload! Step Eight (optional): Go to the pub. It's fairly easy when you know how, and I would wager that you end up getting into a routine once you have used it for a while. My task this evening was beginning my computing action plan. I have completed my online audit, and I will be honest, the result wasn't as strong as I had hoped it to be. I need to improve on uses of technology in the classroom, coding, spreadsheets, administration systems, voting devices, animation, and much more. Conversely, I have a lot of experience in some areas, particularly anything audio-visual, such as editing in Final Cut Pro, Audacity or Garageband, and I also have experience of using a number of technologies in a Key Stage 1 classroom. I have used Class Dojo effectively (more on that at a later date), used iPad apps such as 'Book Creator', and used the Promethean White Board to play phonics games on the Phonics Play website. Over the coming months I will ensure that I add to the pile of positives, and work through the parts of the audit that I was not so strong at. The completed action plan will appear on this blog soon. Today was the first day of the rest of my life, day one of the Primary PGCE course in Manchester. I was apprehensive going into the day's programme of events; I have not been in a lecture theatre in at least six years. "What if it was too much for me?", I thought. What if I drowned in content? What if I struggled to concentrate? Oh, the anxiety!
I need not have worried. The day was really engaging, solidly delivered, and the lectures/tutorials were well structured (albeit delivered in two buildings either side of Oxford Road which could get rather exhausting!) In addition to finding out who my tutor is (Lise H), I took in very informative sessions on how to use the library (which I dutifully did after formal lectures), what my first assignment will be (a detailed look at the National Curriculum) and what to expect from the Computing course. On the latter, I learned so much. I learned that in recent years the Government's Education Secretary (at the time Michael Gove) decided that the ICT curriculum was not fit for purpose, and the head of Google concurred. We as a nation of technological innovators risked losing our way if we continued upon the well worn path of teaching sub-par IT to our children. A new way was devised, and this was termed 'Computing'. Computing is an umbrella term and is split into three distinctive sections: Computer Science, which is a lot about how things work (coding/programming, analysing and debugging); Digital Literacy, which teaches children how to use technology competently, safely and responsibly; and Information Technology, which is mostly about content generation (blogs, podcasts, documents, photograph editing etc.). The lecturer asked students to sign a computing pledge, which I did, and to upload the fifteen key points to our showcase blogs (that is this, by the way!) You will find it above, on the tab that says 'Pledge'. I have also created an about me section (also above), which details my experience to date. My next step is to fill in the computing audit that I was given in the lecture. This lists a number of computing technologies and experiences, and I must feed-back on how confident I feel at using them. I am really excited for the rest of the course, to get up to scratch with my subject knowledge, and to get into schools and shape futures... In fact, I am beginning to feel like that great philosopher, Christina Aguileira, who once said: "To be given the opportunity to help shape new artists' careers and mentor them to see their dreams come to fruition is a task I welcome with open arms". (Entertainment Weekly, 2nd March 2011) |
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