Trimester 1, 2013

Trimester 1 at UNE started at the end of February so I am a little behind with this post.  In addition to having started casual work this year I am still studying full time.  This has had its challenges but so far I am happy with the way things are coming together.

I am studying:
HIST150 - Colonial Australia
EDSS324 - Teaching HSIE/SOSE
EDPE247 -Teaching PE in Primary PDHPE
EDME258 - Maths: Space, measurement and number

My favorite unit so far is PE.  This may have something to do with having just been away for the intensive school which was a lot of fun but also because I value the role of physical education both in schools and homes.  I have also been enjoying the History unit.  I am more of an ancient/medieval history fan so there have been large gaps in my knowledge that are slowly filling in with this unit.

About Face...

...Awhile ago I mentioned that I had transferred into BEDK12 so that I could be a qualified primary AND secondary teacher.   A lot has happened since then but the upshot of it is that I have elected to continue with BEDPRM and focus on primary.

When UNE sent a lovely person to visit me while I was on prac they expressed some doubts on the wisdom of spending the same amount of time studying to get a watered down version of two degrees.  The thought was I would be a better primary teacher if that is what I studied alone.

Another issue was that as much as I really wanted the extra English and History units offered in the new degree I was losing 7 units and adding up to a year of study.  This adds up, not only in extra units but also in extra time before I can be working.

Then the school I did my prac at offered me 6 months work next year.  I am really excited about this.  The course rules for the new degree would make taking this job very hard as pracs are built into units with very set times to complete them.  As it is now I have a large degree of freedom under the old BEDPRM rules to organise my pracs independently to suit work/study and family obligations.

So there you have it.  I am right back where I started but I am happy about that.

p.s. I bought some new text books from Amazon.  I love mail packages like this!

Goodbye Prac

I feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful experience on my first prac.  This small school welcomed me from the first day and made me feel like I belonged here.  The students in the whole school, not just the class I taught made this experience wonderful for me.

 

 

I have learnt so much during the last 20 days, my confidence has grown as has my ability to manage a classroom and teach children.  I will always remember this class and all they taught me.  Thank you.

 

Postcard Art

 

For my last art lesson in the class I wanted to pick something quick, clean and fun.  I wanted to see the results that afternoon so I did not have to leave my ST with a lesson to finish after I had left.

 

I chose to do some postcard art.  I cut out pictures from magazines found in the storage room and let the children expand upon the various scenes using crayons.

 

They loved it!

Water Cycle - Terrarium

To further our earlier lesson on The Water Cycle we again listened to the previously linked song via YouTube.  Then I loaded this interactive game of the white board and we all took turns to answer some of the questions as a whole class activity.

As a different way of viewing The Water Cycle in our classroom I decided to build a terrarium.  I had bought some plants at the school fete held the weekend before and I already had the rest of the equipment at home so there was little outlay. 

The kids LOVED this.  I let them all help put some rocks in the bottom so they had some ownership of this.  It now sits on the windowsill in their classroom and it attracts a group of students here and there as they look to see it working.  I love this, a lesson that stays with them throughout the week.

Water cycle

My year 1 and 2 class are studying water in science. We have been on a water walk around the school to identify where water is being used and how and we have assessed water using the 5 senses. In our latest lesson we looked at the water cycle.

I started by playing the this clip found on YouTube.  In linking the video here it has added the whole playlist, I did NOT play the whole list, just the first clip that ran for 3:16.

The children all really enjoyed this clip and it had the added benefit of allowing the students who are lower level readers to hear terms such as 'precipitation' and understand it. We filled in a blank worksheet which had a water cycle diagram. I asked the students on spelling list one and two to write 'rain' instead of precipitation and 'cloud' instead of condensation so it was suited to all levels in this class. The other students on higher spelling lists wrote the bigger words.

It was a big lesson for them as after we did this we went outside with my watering can which I used to simulate rain and we investigated and compared the effects of rain on different surfaces; sand, dirt and cement. It was fun. I only had one watering can so I told the class I was looking for my best listener at each point to help be the 'rain'. Worked well :)

Crayon Resist Art

For our last art lesson I did crayon resist art.  I knew my year 1/2 class had done that before so it would not take a lot of explaining in regards to technique.  Because in science we are studying water I set them the task of creating an underwater scene.

I found an example of this at Mrs. Browns Art:

picture

To challenge them I spoke about perspective and how drawing something in a different size can make it look further away.  I stood up in front of the class and showed them how tall I was, then I walked to the other end of the class and they all said 'you look smaller!'.  They had fun with that concept and I loved some of the pictures they drew.

 

RS 2012

Handwriting

I find it hard to write neatly on the blackboard.  I can't even show a picture of my writing on the Interactive White Board (IWB) until I practice more.

At the end of each week after the spelling test we make up a passage using spelling words from the four lists for that week.  Each student then writes this passage and illustrates it as part of their weekly handwriting task.  It is nice to have a task that includes all the students' together even though they have differing spelling lists and abilities.

List 1: wish, us.

List 2: near, each.

List 3: quietly

List 4: cicada.

I love the old blackboard still in this year 1/2 classroom.  It reminds me of my days at school and I am glad that even though there are now Interactive White Boards (IWB) in every classroom that some of the old things still remain.

Adjectives

I taught a lesson on adjectives to my Stage 1 class last week.  I started by describing what an adjective was and then I played them this Schoolhouse Rock clip called unpack your adjectives.

 

 

They loved it!

We had been looking at books written by Lynley Dodd so I based my worksheet on the book Hairy Maclary.  I put a picture of each dog on it and asked the students to 'unpack' their adjectives and describe each dog.  Because there was a few Hairy Maclary posters in one corner of the classroom I asked the lower reading group to sit in that corner so they could refer to the posters for help with spelling and ideas.

 

It was a fun lesson and to finish up I played another clip on the IWB that is full of adjectives, The Wonky Donkey.  This was a great way to finish as I know they are singing The Wonkey Donkey in music so they loved seeing the video.  I hope they think of adjectives everytime they are singing that song from now on.

 



Numeracy Warm Up

picture

 

Race to 100: The students worked in pairs and took turns to roll two dice, they had to add the total from their roll and then use the base ten blocks to record their score.  Each player had to add and trade up as their score got bigger with each roll of the dice. 

It can be a race to 50, or 100.  If addition and trading up is going well you can direct the class to start subtracting so that they have to trade down as well.  A simple activity that can be fun while students use mental strategies to trade while showing an understanding of place value.

Less than or Greater than: Still in pairs, students roll the dice and write down the number rolled in the thousands column of their laminated sheets, they roll again for hundreds, tens and ones.  They either model this number in MAB blocks or write it using a whiteboard marker.  Get them to read the number out loud to their partner and then work out whose number is greater than and whose number is less than their partners number.

Trimester 2, 2012

EDCX246	Society and Education
EDSS223	Teaching HSIE/SOSE in Primary School 1
EDEE212	English Teaching 2: Reading and Viewing
EDME369	Primary Math 2B - Stats, algebra and number

Four units again this Trimester, and all very different in terms of both content and teaching style.  Some units have video lectures, some only have topic notes and some only have a list of required readings and seemingly strange assignments.  I am trying to think about the different teaching styles and how I feel about them as a student in the hopes I remember what it feels like to be on the receiving end once I am a teacher.  It is all a learning opportunity and I am trying to get the most out of the experience that I can; it is not always easy.

I have had a very slow start to this Trimester and am only just now finding my feet.  Assignments are due in a few weeks and things are starting to get busy.  I need to get organised and tick the jobs off the list each day. Small steps are still progress.

Trimester 1, 2012

Changes at UNE this year.  They have moved into Trimesters instead of Semesters.  This means each teaching period is a little shorter as are the breaks in between, but also that there is now scope to further fast track your studies by doing more over what used to be the even shorter Summer Semester.  Right now I am very pro fast tracking and have organised my units so that I may be able to do 12 full units this year alone along with my first prac placement.  I do not know if this is sustainable, but I will try while keeping an eye on census date each Trimester.

I am currently studying the units:

EDIT124	ICT Across the Curriculum
EDAE124	Creative Arts Curriculum
EDLT115	Learners and Learning
EDEE112	English Pedagogy in Primary Curriculum

Slowly but surely ticking all the boxes.  At the end of the last year I had a 'credit' study average across my units.  I would like to move this into a 'distinction' average but I do not know if this is a realistic expectation given I am also running around after children and their activities as well as the various committees that go along with these activities.  I am trying to be a reflective practitioner who looks for ways of improvement while looking to balance the study/family/farm commitments I have; it isn't always easy.

Summer Semester, 2011

I decided to fast track my studies and keep working over Summer Semester.

TEEC02	ENGL001
RELS181	World Religions: An Introduction

Again, ENGL001 is the second part of my Band 4 requirements so does not count towards my degree, but this is the last unit I have to do to that end.  It feels very good to know that after this point every unit I do is credit points towards my final qualification.

I am also studying a Religion unit which is a key learning area (KLA), or elective.  It belongs to KLA group 6 for HSIE.  The Principal of our local Catholic School recommended this unit to me and so far I am enjoying it.

I am having fun trying to pick my electives but it is proving challenging.  I have so many interests: science, English, history, PDHPE.  I hope having many and varied interests is an asset when I enter the classroom as a teacher; perhaps my enthusiasm across the curriculum will stand me in good stead. 

Semester 2, 2011

My first semester at UNE and so far I am doing really well.  Touch wood that it all continues to run smoothly.  This semester I am enrolled in the units 

TEEC02	Math122
EDLT116	Learners and Teachers
EDME145	Maths Numeracy

Math122 is not a part of my degree as such, but does allow me to demonstrate the necessary Band 4 maths  requirements.  I have not one, but two maths exams at the end of this trimester.  I would be fibbing a little if I said I was not worried as I do not have happy memories of High School mathematics.  I am trying to change my mentality now as one useful thing I did learn already in EDLT116 is that if we have a history of failure, or even self perceived failure we are more likely to continue on that path; so, with this in mind I am saying I absolutely LOVE maths.  I just need to go back to learning the basics and put the effort in.  Something I should have done back in my High School days I suspect.

Beginnings

Chinese Philosopher Lao-tzu once said "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".  This blog will document my teaching journey from the first step at university to my very own classroom, or so I hope!

Choosing a university was not hard for me.  I grew up in a rural town in North West NSW; there is only one university that is a part of our landscape. The University of New England, Armidale.  I enrolled as a mature age student in a Bachelor of Education (Primary), or BEDPRM for short.  I was so relieved, and scared too, when my application was accepted and I became a student once again.

It will be hard to find the balance between being a full time stay at home mum with two small children to care for as well as university study.  I have a lot to learn and think about as I find my feet on this path of study.