DAY 6

I started off with Thorn this morning recapping on the work they did on expositions. They wrote an exposition on statements to do with natural disasters. However they were quite restless. This meant that their had to be a higher focus on behaviour management strategies. Similarly to other prac teachers (eg. Morgan) simple things such as eyes on me were effective. I also found that when they were at their desks writing just my presence was enough to keep them on task.From this lesson they will tomorrow type it up during their computer time. They will also be taking part in a few more activities such as gymnastics which will most probably increase the chances of an unsettled class. I will be also teaching the afternoon session where the students will continue on with their cogs work on natural disasters. They will be taking part in a drama activity. It will include soundscapes and sculpting the body to form the shapes of these disasters. These disasters can be any of their choice which will hopefully increase the participation rate.

The image was taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sumatra_devastation1.jpg

Day 3 & 4

... and then it was thursday! The week was flying past and i was up to teach my second maths lesson. It carried on from the previous day with time being the focal point. However, today they were branching beyond just analogue and digital and also looking at timetables and timelines. The child all seemed interested whilst sitting on the carpet but once they went back to their desks they became disengaged and starting mucking around. This meant i had to incorporate some of the behaviour management techniques to keep them on task. The use of presense seemed to be mot effective as whenever i was nearby productivity increased.

On thursday my teacher and i realised that their would be no chance of me teaching a formal lesson on friday as the fathers day breakfast and county fair was occuring. The fathers day breakfast is a chance for the dads to come up to the school, have a look around, visit their childs class and have breakfast to celebrate their special day. This meant that from 9 to 9.30 children do not have specific lessons. They all got really excited as many of the dads had not seen their classrooms or their work before.

At 10, Year 5 and 6 had to start setting up for county fair. The students run little stalls to raise money for the school. It consisted of hair spraying, make-up, cupcake making, obstacle courses, fairy floss and many more stalls. The kids get a chance to see what running a business is like. This runs from 11 -2 and the whole school gets involved. It was great to see some of the great ideas for businesses and all the students having a ball. Even i got in on the action getting my nails painted and volunteering for the sponge in the face.

Meadowbank Public School raised alot of money and all had a great time doing it.

Day 2!!!!!

I was so nervous this morning thinking about having to teach the whole class! My first ever lesson though turned out much better than expected. The students listened to me, were attentive, and involved themselves well in the session.

the only issue throughout the lesson was towards the end where they started talking whilst we were meant to be marking the work. hopefully with more experience i will be able to gain more control even through restless patches. Tomorrow we have planned for another maths lesson also about time that will also involve the reading of timetables and timelines. In this lesson i will be aiming to be able to control the amount of chatter alot more and keep them on task as much as possible. However it is going to be a challenge with the fathers breakfast and county fair happening on Friday which causes a stir of excitement every-time they are mentioned.

well thats all for now!

DAY 1...

Yesterday was the first day of prac and it was an observation day however, it was hectic as it the book week parade. All the students and teachers came dressed as their favourite book characters, including me. I was charlotte from charlotte's web so i was in a spider costume all day. Being dressed up however made the students a bit restless and the morning lessons were very difficult to keep the children engaged. The parade was alot of FUN with most of the studants parents and grandparents coming to watch. Some of the costumes were amazing with children dressing up as wild things, tashi, the famous five, teletubbies and pirates. You can see how parades like these inspire a child to read by the excitement on their faces!!

My teacher and i also organised the lessons that i would be taking for the remainder of the week. i will be doing maths and and on friday possibly a music lesson. Maths should be ok to teach because the book i was asked to work from is very structured so hopefully not to much can go wrong. Hopefully they all go to plan but i shall let you know very soon....