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What we did & Learning objectives!

We where having a look at databases and how to create a simple query that filters for a YES in the criteria. The table was for people attending a music festival. We also where creating a report for the bands that where playing and the order of their events they created.

What went well?

I had created a good lesson plan for this lesson and it was very thorough and I was able to really get to grips with Microsoft access before using it.

I found I was able to assert my authority and lay down so ground rule although these where not respected as well as I would have liked. I was able to

Students Learning 

What could have been done better and what will I do about it?

I accidentally started creating a query in the wizard view rather than design view which threw me but I was able to reel it back in.

Behaviour wise I found there was little mutual respect dispite the clear guidelines being issued which meants that next lesson the first person that steps out of line will be in Time out the sanction area. I was able to issue two time out warning to pupils demonstating my high expectations and standards.

Students Learning 

Pupils where actively not egaging with the content and not listening. This is because of the nature of the OCR nationals and it is quite a mundane topic.

 Feelings

Not the greatest lesson which I will need to work hard on next lesson to pull them back in. I will need to just be short and sweet as far as sanctions and warnings and not be afraid to use the time outs. I will also need to look at how to make it more interesting.

After the lesson i asked my subject mentor for some advice on how to best impliment the policies and practices for behaviour in the classroom . On Speaking with him we identified that the reason why it was initially due to the fact that the demonstration did not go well and from then on I had lost them. He also said that if i would like to i could on the whiteboard write down who is causing truouble in the lesson and give them a warning or a merit for doing wel. This way they know if they are needing to be quiet or to offer more.

Please use this link to view my full lesson plan >> 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z4oZSUqSpyCrlbE0wo8OEo1zwIqoEvZkaP3wLxL0P74/edit?hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B7AadLDLtxQLNzJiNzgzNWUtZTBmOS00NDY3LWJiNWMtODNjY2Q1ODlkNmRi&hl=en

What we did & Learning objectives!

We filled in a PowerPoint with a series of key terms. I asked them to put a picture with the description of the key term

To understand these points below.

(a) Modems and digital telephone lines

(b) Analogue to digital conversion and digital to analogue conversion

(c) Advantages and disadvantages of using computer networks

(d) User ids and passwords

(e) Communication media

What went well?

The key terms where good to get them thinking about what they may get asked in the exams. The students where able to research and do more independent learning in the lesson.

In was able to use my TA well by asking her to go around and checking what they where doing with the slides. I had already prepped her with what had to happen in the lesson before hand. She was really useful and we where able to bounce ideas of each other and she was able to prompt pupils that where not working so hard.

What could have been done better and what will I do about it?

Students Learning 

I was not able to answer some of the questions in the PowerPoint as the key terms I have put where quite complex of the spec in the future I shall give a few examples and have a backup answer for each of the terms. I also needed to have a few better research locations set so that pupils could see where to find the key terms.

The verbal communication of the key terms and objectives was possible not beneficial as they just read off what work they produced.

 Feelings

Please use this link to view my full lesson plan >> https://trcwest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Introductory-Communications-lesson-plan.doc

At KES they use a client control piece of software cann AB tutor that is similar to RM tutor. This is a great tool for showing and demonstrating to pupils work that requires fine details. It simple takes over their screens and allows you to show them what is happening on your screen. It is really useful for monitor pupils work and to see what applications they are using. This is a good test to see if they are on task without actually walking around. I have also been using it to display pupils work at the end of the lesson which has been really great for plenary seshions. It really helps give instant feedback to pupils on the work they have created and is a good quick way of formative assesement.

I used ab tutor after i recieved some feedback that pupils couldnt see the screen and needed more feedback on their design work.

Although KES own the software some of the teaching staff do not use if for ICT lesson so i was able to give a seshion on how to best use it after I had become familiar with it myself. This was great for colaborative work and for helping others members of staff to get up to speed with this technology.

Here at KES the school use their SIMS database to track and manage behaviour throughout the school. The two standard routes are RED and GREEN Referrals. Red being for misbehaviour and Green being for positive merits and behaviour around school.

In a lesson I recently taught there were some boys that where causing allot of distraction and after several warnings i had to ask them to stay behind at the end of the lesson. The behaviour was not terrible but due to the distraction to other pupils that was causing them to go off task i issued them with a red referral for disruption to the class. More recently a pupil was playing a game on his iphone 4 during one of the activities (I did think if what i was doing was not engaging enough but it was a creative Photoshop lesson on filters and effects). I confiscated the iPhone until break and asked him to come back to collect it then I issued him with a verbal warning and said that it was not acceptable during lessons. I then issued the red referral on the sims systems and marked that the action was taken and that no follow up was required. Pupils at KES are brilliantly behaved and this is not saying that there are many cases like this. But it is still good to have high expectations and not tollerate anything like this.

On the positive side I had a about 4 pupils that created some outstanding work in Adobe After Effects which i was able to give green referrals for. It was a good way of officially marking their achievement.

It was interesting to lookin through my class lists and note the ration of green to red referrals and the quantity of both and then match this to the attitude and performance in class. It was interesting that the pupils I referred reflected the style of behaviour that was being tracked on the sims system.

These referrals then get issued and followed up by the tutors. Which is a great way of following up on incidents or positive work.