Final weeks...

As we are now into the few final weeks of the PGDE year, some of the most important lectures are being presented. GTCS profiling, LGBTIQ+, 'Inspirations and aspirations', literacy, a German language workshop (yes, really) and emotional and mental wellbeing. As one student commented, our one-hour lecture of the latter has come much to late in the course. Indeed the mental and emotional wellbeing of pupils and teachers is intrinsic to learning and teaching. Some thoughts...



BEWARE OF THE NAKED MAN

WHO OFFERS YOU HIS SHIRT.

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.

The important thing is not to stop questioning.

- Albert Einstein

And finally a duck.

If you're confused, you're taking things a bit too seriously.

Half way through a marathon, who are you competing against?

Philosophy in the classroom. Philosophy with Children. Philosophy for Children.

Stole this brilliant pic from Tom Bennet and the TES website. See his full post here:

When thinking requires thinking about something

Read about why Strauss believes that it is 'imperative for children to become philosophers'. Here: 

Why kids now more than ever need to learn philosophy

And of course, follow my favourite secondary teacher, Miss Carter.  Anyone who marks their children's work like this at the very least deserves a social media following

Miss Carter - TWITTER

Internet safety - attention grabber

Miss Carter's Internet Safety Voki

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=12275741&height=400&width=300

Half way through SE1A placement; two weeks completed. SE1B is the same length as SE1A. How long is my total placement in days?

So, speaking of maths, stumbled upon Alan Parr via the NRich website. I've been thinking of those first 15 minutes in the day where children are organising their lunches, what to do to fill the time? See Parr's post on the 22nd October for a great problem solver:

https://established1962.wordpress.com/

answer to blog title: forty days (and forty nights?) http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/08/the-biblical-expression-40-days-and-40-nights-just-means-a-really-long-time/

Educational Achievement. What is it..? How is it measured.?!

Black-Hawkins, K., Florian, L., & Rouse, M. (2007) Thinking about achievement, inclusion and the use of evidence (chapter 1, pp 1-12), Achievement and Inclusion in Schools. London: Routledge.

(Response to Una Carroll's reading of the text)

Thanks Una, really enjoyed reading your response! I’d like to see educational achievement being measured by all five areas listed in the text; academic, social, emotional, creative, physical. Thinking back to our discussion today, Nicola Sturgeon is talking about introducing the National Developing Framework to measure more accurately the achievements/lack of achievements. If there was a framework designed to incorporate the five educational achievements listed in the text, that may give a fairer and more in depth analysis of educational achievement, which falls into place with the curriculum for excellence. Like you have said Una, these five achievements, and possibly others- e.g. problem solving, motivation to learn etc., would be things that I would also consider and influence my teaching methods in the classroom.

I agree skills should be assessed on an individual basis – so as to accommodate and benefit a child’s development.

Again I agree, peer comparisons occur naturally within classrooms and schools. For a teacher to highlight these differences is unhelpful. I wouldn’t want my math skills to be compared with a professional mathematician of my age, and it wouldn’t make sense to compare the two. Individual achievements and developments should be the focus. I remember Paul said today in our discussion group that he likes some forms of competitiveness, I agree, competition between peers can encourage and motivate learners, but is not right for everyone, and may contradict inclusive practice. Primary school children should not be driven to meet governmental quotas, they should be encourage to be motivated learners.

We had a great discussion today centred on achievements and social backgrounds. Again Una I agree, we certainly must not make judgements on children, this would be detrimental to the individual and may well ‘kick-start a self-fulfilling prophecy’. However, this is a challenge when considering behaviour management. Children who show continuous low-level disruption within a classroom test the teacher’s approach to that child. Teachers may find themselves ‘stuck’ in behavioural management techniques that are effective in the short term, but not the long term. (I’m thinking about my placement school here, and the challenges ahead!!) It’s so important to break those attitudes towards children who are ‘known’ to be disruptive.

I really like your questions regarding equal educational opportunities for all students: ‘How do we ensure that we are doing this? How can we fully measure inclusion in an education setting?’ It’s certainly a challenge. Anyone else care to share their thoughts?!

To conclude, I believe that educational achievement should be twofold. Firstly it should be based on the expected age-related achievements, i.e. what we expect a child aged seven should be achieving over a wide range of areas; academic, social, emotional, creative etc. (some of you may disagree with me?) Secondly, and most importantly, it should take into account individuals and individual achievement. These two points must work together in order to measure educational achievement, and be underpinned by inclusive practice. How can this be transferred into a workable format for government to use as an effective means to measure achievement and make improvements nationally? Not sure about that. Perhaps it is possible, but there’s no quick fix.

Thinking back to our discussion today- how do we uphold expectations of educational achievement, when something as fundamental as a child’s upbringing contradicts schooling and education? We set educational achievements with the knowledge that these will not be achieved by every student at every stage. Individual assessment and inclusive practice are key to the development of the learner. My aim is to be a teacher who enables children to become self-motivated learners for life.

Cami Carter

28/09/15

quack.

The Value of Religion- a brief response to Richard Dawkins

"Much of what people do is done in the name of God. Irishmen blow each other up in his name. Arabs blow themselves up in his name. Imams and ayatollahs oppress women in his name. Celibate popes and priests mess up people's sex lives in his name. Jewish shohets cut live animals' throats in his name. The achievements of religion in past history - bloody crusades, torturing inquisitions, mass-murdering conquistadors, culture-destroying missionaries, legally enforced resistance to each new piece of scientific truth until the last possible moment - are even more impressive. And what has it all been in aid of? I believe it is becoming increasingly clear that the answer is absolutely nothing at all. There is no reason for believing that any sort of gods exist and quite good reason for believing that they do not exist and never have. It has all been a gigantic waste of time and a waste of life. It would be a joke of cosmic proportions if it weren't so tragic."

Dr Richard Dawkins who held the Charles Simonyi Professorship in the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University

write a short piece of text outlining your views on religion as a worthwhile human activity. Do you agree with Dawkins? If so, why? Or is religion worthwhile? If it is worthwhile in what ways does it benefit individuals and/or the world and/or you?

The majority of contemporary war and unrest stems from the extremist religious views of some, as it has done in the past. However, I agree with Emily Allen and Morag Cooper; to quote Morag ‘it really annoys me when people say religion causes war. War is caused by human greed, demands for power and land, calling it a holy war will recruit much needed volunteers but if this excuse was not used, another would be found.’

To overlook religion would be to overlook a quintessential part of our history and identity. Modern society originates from the principles of some form of religion or faith. Coming from a Christian education, our school days were deeply embedded in the Christian faith. I attended school in Brunei for a short time during primary school and was lucky to be surrounded by a different religion and culture to my own. As small children we are very accepting of our surroundings; this acceptance, respect and interest in other faiths and religions has followed me into adulthood.

As we move into the 21^st century it may be that we in Scotland move towards a secular society. (As shown in the stats from the Scottish 2001 and 2011 census from Graeme Nixon’s lecture today- Will Scotland continue to move down this route? Will the Jedi Knights increase??). As we travel further into this age of technological advancement etc., we may find ourselves either affirming and strengthening our religious beliefs, or disregarding them entirely. Either way there is everything to gain from understanding, respecting and experiencing other religions, faiths and philosophies.

Week Two Placement Observation

What an eye opener the last week has been.

I am not going to go into any detail of the school or what has been happening. It's all in my school experience file if any of my assessors read it. I had a moment last week where I was looking at a teacher's planning notes (not a teacher from my placement school). I found the following question which lifted my spirits and cheered me up. It is now on the front of my school experience file, to remind me that children are curious, natural learners and see the world very differently to the adult eye; and also that I have to remember this, challenge myself and provoke learning in others.

So in times of dire need, fellow student teachers, I ask you this question-

"What are the advantages of turning into a duck?"

Quack