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Adobe After Effects Lesson 1 – Year 8

By PGCE, POT 2, Reflection, TeachingNo Comments

Class

Year 8

What we did?

We have been starting an advertising scheme of work using the Adobe After Effects package. We mainly started by looking at a YouTube clip which was the Honda Cog Advert. I then asked them questions on what makes a good advert and what they enjoyed in the advert. I found that if i did the questioning before about what makes a good advert it was a good pre-curser into the actual video followed by the video and then questions on what they enjoyed in that advert that made it a good advert. We then went on and looked at adobe after effects and the mini bath advert project. I had to show them basic features of the After Effects package such as the composition area where I explained how 16:9 was a good native resolution for modern screens. I also talked to them about the Presets tab on the left where you have all the content and media imported. Timeline, transform and text editing was what I showed them next.

What went well?

  • The YouTube video was certainly a hit and I shall be using more and more of these as YouTube is not filtered and the pupils really enjoy it and it is a great way to tease out questions based on live and real examples from current media and advertising.
  • I found that chunking the sections of the deliver most effective as many of the pupils found it hard to remember the complex steps of adobe after effects. I found that when i did do too much I didn’t have enough time to really get them on task quick enough.
  • The managing of questions in this was interesting and I had to make queue system by giving them numbers.
  • I used AB tutor to subtly keep an eye to see if they were on task.
  • I also used AB tutor to display their finished work I also got them to gather around a PC and view their work.
  • I made sure that I gave them clear guidelines as to what to do and what I expected of them before the end of the lesson.
  • I could have got them to save and submit their work to a folder for assessment and comments so I am going to create folders on the shared drive that they can cope and past their finished work to.
  • I need to give more time for a plenary so as to give time for assessment of learning by questioning.
  • I found that demonstrating up the front was a little bit tough to show them the finer more intricate tools effects that where hard to see.
  • Adobe after effects is a hugely complex program that requires great concentration. I found the explanation of key frames quite challenging i think the only way to rectify this specific step would be do a written set of instruction that are very basic.
  • I feel my behavioural management was good in the lesson and i controled the pupils well

What could have been done better?

 

Overall these where good lessons that I thought where effective and produced good work. I believe they learnt a fair bit on how to use adobe after effects but joining the theoretical side of advertising to the technical side was rather tenuous as they could not create something as good as what they saw on the youtube clip.

 

 

 

04/03/2011

Photoshop lesson 1 – Year 7

By PGCE, POT 2, Reflection, TeachingNo Comments

Over this last week I have had the pleasure of teaching 4 year 7 lessons. This was my first experience with year 7’s on the PGCE course however I had already done terms worth of teaching at Monkton Prep. I really enjoyed meeting them and getting to know them quite quickly. They have a very innocent and polite nature to them that is to be quite honest a delight to teach. I personally really enjoyed teaching this age as you have great opportunities for creativity and flexibility.

What we did?

The main aim for this lesson was to introduce the to adobe Photoshop and then introduce them to the scheme of work that has been prepared. The idea for the lesson was to create a “Madagascar in Bath” image with some of the characters cut out and super imposed onto the streets of bath. I introduced them to a series of basic photo editing techniques such as the levels, hue and saturation and color balance tools under the image adjustments section. I then took them through how to use the magic wand tool to select areas of white that they needed and then inverse the selection and then copy this onto the bath image. We also looked at the lasso tool and the magnetic version on this and the quick mask mode to ad and take away from the selection

What went well?

  • I found that my welcome and start of by asking for hands up names was particularly effective.
  • I set high expectations with my rules set out clearly.
  • I thought my intro video with YouTube was really engaging and the kids really enjoyed this.
  • I used questioning well to really tease out the important areas of Photoshop and who and why it would be used.
  • I thought my subject knowledge was good and as I knew the program really well I found it really easy to explain everything.
  • I thought I chunked the lesson well but this was maybe a weakness, as I will come on that below.
  • I encouraged them and praised them well at the end of the lesson by saying good lesson as I thought it was a good one.
  • They all created a good finished product that was creative and looked interesting
  • I found that if I encouraged them to experiment with extension tasks such as the rubber tool.

What could have been done better?

  • I didn’t at first realize the high ability of these kids and so I think that I could have done more with the demonstration time and shown them more.
  • I started of not managing all the questions that well but as soon as I grasped how to give them an order of whom was next it worked well.
  • I had one session where they were already in the classroom, which made the start of the lesson slightly less structured.
  • I would have like to use the magnetic tool more and shown them more closely how to use the quick mask tool better as I feel my demo was week in this.
  • I need to work on being more definite with my delivery still and only show one skill not a series of skills.

Lesson Plan >> http://bit.ly/j1qKCf

Observation >> click on thumbnail

03/03/2011

Starters in ICT lessons

By PGCE, SD - ICT, SeminarsNo Comments

SD Seminar

A started activity

Buy a bag of sweets like quality street.

Hand out sweets and ask them to use the sweet to describe a certain topic

This helps focus creative thinking reflection reward simple

Book on pimping your ride

10 starters on Microsoft packages

Anagrams –

Interactive hangman

Memory games

Interactive word search

Dingbats –

Word search

Tool bar quiz of the different tools on programs match the icons with the function identifies aras of

Audience and purpose. – PowerPoint think who is

Data capture

Looping games q and a on sheets but answer and question is different on sheet. So the kids call out question and thn pupils have to respond with answer

Logo quiz – brand identity

ICT in society starters

Will it blend YouTube Videos?

Brick in washing machine

Image  close-up

Research questions eg.words 1st bug

Draw ICT equip in homes

Name ……. as many as you can think of (List)

Programming starters

Spot Key Procedures in scratch

Word search and quiz

Sequencing – arramge in correct sequence

Masking game layers guess the celeb

Shock spook scratch game

Spot the difference

Animation vs animator

Colour scheme designer http://colorschemedesigner.com/

15/02/2011

Kids teaching themselves

By Beliefs, TeachingNo Comments

I just watched an inspiring video on how kids can teach themselves. Sugata Mitra shows how kids teach themselves by giving them technology and computers. These kids had no previous experience with computers or even the english language but as he showed over 3 months the kids from rural villages where able to teach them selves over 200 words of english albeit slightly wrong but non the less they did know how to use the computer. It was amazing to think that kids can just teach themselves in groups and by trial and error. Kids are able to problem solve on their own given the chance. “What we do allot of in IT teaching is instruction but that is quite flat and this doest always engage the higher level of learning. Think of yourself as a facilitator of learning not an instructor.” Andy Hutt.

So group work and self learning will be something that i will try in my next teaching practice.

The other aspect that i really think was amazing is how amazing Gods creation is and how he has created us a human beings to be able to work and figure out things like technology. It just shows how remarkable the human brain really is. God has created us in an amazing way and its so refreshing to see his handiwork on children across the world.

15/02/2011

Teachers statutory framework and professional duties

By PGCENo Comments

It is clear from the teachers pay and conditions documents 2010 found here http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/careers/payandpensions/teacherspayandconditionsdocument/a0064179/school-teachers-pay-and-conditions-document-2010

that there are a series of bandings that teachers can be paid with the basic NQT starting at £21558  per annum. When you start working at a school it is a good idea to get a document such as http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/doc/a/ae-ao/annual%20statement%20of%20a%20main%20pay%20scale%20teacher%20%20%20september%202010.doc to have this pray scale secured. Also have a look at this article which explains teachers pay quite well. Independent school can sometimes pay above this rate they can also pay below this and offer housing to some staff.

As well as this teaching commitment teachers are have certain duties that they are required to do one of which is tutoring pupils and making sure they register on time. Teachers also have to do duties such as seeing of pupils on the bus after school there are also break time and lunch time duties that teachers can opt into but these are not demanded of them as they need their lunch break.

11/02/2011

Web 2.0 and Teaching

By PGCE, SD - ICT, SeminarsNo Comments

http://www.dvolver.com/live/movies-527579

Web 2.0
This is the ability to share information and participate with other people through the Internet. It is a great way to collaborate with other people online. There are a variety of ways that people can get involved with the web 2.0 phenomena. These are through a variety web platforms that people can now access so quickly and easily.
The term “Web 2.0” (2004-present) is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. (Wikipedia 2011)
The term was first discussed in a conference between Tim O’Reily and Media Live international this was in 2004 after there was an increasing amount of new exciting web applications and social websites.
Some people would say that it is a simple natural progression of web development and there has just been a natural progression into this area term. Others would say that since 2004 there has been a boom of web 2.0 websites.
From my findings I have found that the main difference is that prior to this web 2.0 phenomena there was no sharing and uploading and collaboration on the Internet. Web 2.0 has changed traditional media, which is passive and self-absorbing.

Areas of the web that involve Web 2.0 theories are things like blogging, podcasting, using social websites like facebook and twitter, tagging and commenting on websites.

Some example of social web 2.0 Websites
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Bebo
• Myspace
• Wordrpress, Blogger, Posterous
•

Benefits of Web 2.0
• Ability to share information and files and folders easily
• You can collaborate and get to know other people in your profession or area of expertise.
• Real-time sharing
• Access from across the world with cloud technologies.
• Interactive vs Passivity
Pitfalls of web 2.0
• Controlling copyright is harder as content is so easily shared.
• Information has not being created by experts only amateurs so credibility is les reputable – so bias and accuracy
• No moderation in some cases you rely on other users to moderate
• Problems of e-safety
How does this effect teaching ICT
As it is such a huge part of what is going on in society today. Everywhere you look you will find social networking links and sites such a facebook and twitter and the ability to interactively collaborate on the web. This highlights the need to embrace, teach and educate pupils in the area of Web 2.0 technologies. It is not only the technological understanding that they need but also the social skills and aspects of e-safety that come into play when dealing with these new web technologies.
• Pupils should be taught how to best utilize social media to gather information.
• They should also be taught basic coding skills to enable participatory aspects of their website.
• They should be made aware of different strategies to share the work that they create by posting it on various websites or through blogs.

Exploration of using Web 2.0
I personally have found the use of twitter a great tool for broadcasting my own thoughts to the public sphere. It has also been a great way to read up on teaching tips from other teachers and even pgce students across the country.
Another great teaching forum is the TES teaching and resources forum which has loads of resources and articles that are specifically based on ICT teaching as well as advice for trainee teachers in the form of guest speakers collaborating on dedicated forum posts.
I have made a few podcasts to posterous using two techniques. One was by recording and editing an interview on audacity and then uploading the mp3 to posterous to create a simple blog post, which then in turn created the pod cast through the posterous system. I have also used my iphone as a method of recording a voice memo and then emailing this to the my posterous account which in turn then creates a blog post and adds to podcast blog role.

I have also been able to use a web animation site called dvolver.com that has a pre setup set of stages and scenarios that allow for a few selections of scene changes and also a selection of characters. Then dvolver simply uses speech bubbles to visually show the speech that is being made. In my case I just used a simple series phrases that allowed them to talk about what web 2.0 is. I then used this animation and embedded it into my blog at this address.

I found dvolver simple and easy to use and pupils at year 7 even younger could use this with some instruction. I have used xtranormal,com to do the same process here of reinforcing theory that has been taught and I feel that xtranormal is a better and more interactive tool but more suited to the older pupil possibly year 10 +

07/02/2011

Questioning – Derek O’Rourke

By PGCE, SD - ICT, Seminars123 Comments

Today we have had the privilege of having Derek O’Rourke speak to us as a guest lecturer in our ICT seminar.

He is the AST for wiltshire and was mainly giving us a lecture on questioning in the classroom

Below are the notes that I made
We were shown this video as an intro to the session.

How do you bring young people with you “herd them in the classroom”

The use of “Active Expression” by promethean for questioning. It helps everyone participate.

Questioning is about developing your own style in it

If you start antagonizing pupils with personal questions about themselves they will clam up and not want to engage.

Be prepared to have experts in the room who know what is going on and promote their excellence so that they can help other people.

What do your do when you have a pupil who does not engage and does not respond to questions.

Don’t dismiss pupils who get it wrong!

Why ask questions?

  • Be positive when you ask them questions.
  • AFL
  • Building good relationships with the pupils building the repore
  • Controlling the classroom

The use of big track a really cool control truck for learning control and allows pupils the chance to have a go at talking and problem solving

Use sound for questioning. Maybe record some other teachers doing the questions on a Dictaphone edit it on audacity.

Use a random person picker or random name selector. Like class tools fruit machine.

Don’t over use things like the fruit slot machine random name generator as it can get distracting. Don’t over cook it.

Say its not a television program we need to engage with each other both

It can help you learn pupils names. If you use a random name generator.

BBC archives for clips about ict from the 1960s you can then bleep out key words.

Top Tips

  • Be clear about why questions are being asked
  • Plan challenge into the questions (Blooms)
  • Provide time for answers
  • Consider using multiple choice
  • Direct questions by name or randomly

PLAN YOUR QUESTIONS IN ADVANCE – Look at the topic what questions do we need to ask for this topic to help them learn more. Think of something’s simple then build it up

Blooms taxonomy

Use blooms to plan your questions and when planning look at it so that your know what level of thinking the pupils are being challenged.

How can I help the pupils to respond?

Consider using a writing frame.

Use a voice recorder.

Reading list

Assesment for learning – putting it into practice Black, Harrison, Lee Marshall, Wiliam –

Open university Press

Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and learning in secondary schools

Unit 7 Question Ref Dfes 0430-2004 G Pdf

Derk O’Rourke – Wiltshire AST for ICT

dorourke@devizes.wilts.sch.uk

www.wiltshire-ast.co.uk

25/01/2011

Year 8 Website Assessments

By PGCE, POT 1, Reflection, TeachingNo Comments

For my year 8 Website unit i used a range of assessment strategies

The first step was to use the QCDA national curriculum  assessment criteria and amend the criteria so that the Kids know what level they where at.

We then took two revisions of this

Revison 1 = http://bit.ly/h9eb9V

Revision 2 = http://bit.ly/dFMTcN this was so that the kids could understand it better and there where all condensed into one sentence

I worked collaboratively with the ICTAC ICT across the curriculum teacher to amend these for all year 8 teachers.

Prior to my last lesson I arranged for them to do a series of peer assessments to make sure that their websites met the different requirements for them to achieve the highest level possible. Lesson plan here http://bit.ly/hEfz8X

Then for my last assement lesson, lesson plan here http://bit.ly/hbYC3P

Full Reflection on Lesson below

Year 8 Website Assessments

It has come to the end of the module and it is time to mark and assess the year 8 websites they have been makings.

The idea was to get them to prepare a short 2 minute presentation about their website to cover the assessment levels.

 

How we have done this

They have zipped up their whole folder containing their website and then they submitted this folder to the Joint assessment system so that I could access this through the teacher login.

This submission allowed me to access it for their presentations and viewing later.

Once it was submitted I then asked them to come up to the front with their chairs and gave them some tips on how to present well. These were things like to face the front, speak up, keep it simple, and introduce their website.

I also laid down the ground rules of no talking when someone is talking and no distracting the presenter.

I mentioned that I will be asking them some questions.

? What sort of design theme and colour scheme have your chosen and why?

? How have you made sure that your website is suitable to a range of audiences?

? If you did it again what improvements would you make?

How we did it.

I had to open up the zipped up work through the JAS and then show the website on the screen and at this point the pupil went through the website.

The as they go through it the point was to asses their work straight into the JAS this could be done easily with 2 people but I think would be hard with one person.

So the presentation really gave a good opportunity for the pupil to talk through their work and for you to see their thoughts on how they made it.

Problems

Behaviour wise it’s quite hard to manage them with your back turned to them!

The can sometimes go over board with clapping. A good suggestion from my mentor was to say that if you carry on clapping then you will be held back a minute for every clap that you do. So its almost letting them police it as they not all will want to stay behind. Then if I catch the culprits then I can keep them in.

The lower sets sometimes don’t elaborate enough at the beginning and don’t have a good introduction and jump straight into their classroom.

The good thing about assesimg the pupils through the JAS System is that you can then set objectices to cover the points that have not been covered as well as you would hav liked. The JAS systme allows you to quickly observe handed in work and then offer feedback and say what needs to be improved.

15/12/2010

Downloading and Gathering Information – OCR Nationals

By PGCE, Reflection, TeachingNo Comments

What we did & Learning objectives!

To continue finding and gathering information to store for your flyers.

To complete the 8 slides showing the screen shots of the information you have gathered.

To complete the copyright slide saying how copyright needs to be considered in a business context.

 

What went well?

This was a good lesson to catch up on work that was needed to be done. I thought my explanation of how to get the relevant screen shots was clear and concise and so that they knew exactly what to do. One of the boys had given up and I was able to try and motivate him to keep on going it take a deep breath and carry on.

I was really happy with being able to help pupils one to one.

I was also happy with being able to go through assessing pupils work by going around individually looking through their work.

 

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

It was hard to manage each pupil across the class as they were a lower set ability. As I gave them a big chunk to do it was probably quite overwhelming for them to complete all 8 slides.

Now I tried to use the timer to give them 3 minutes for each of the slides and this was not that effective as many of them did not pay attention to this.

In the future I really could try and chunk this up even more and almost guide them through each one. The only problem is that they all had different band members.

One other area that could have gone better was my extension tasks. Now I had planned for this but I did not actually say what they should move onto verbally or on the screen.

So in the future I will verbally and visually put on the board the extension task for those that complete early so that I can allow for good differentiation.

 

 Feelings

I felt that it was a good to ok lesson and on the whole they were on task working well.

It was tough to hold my ground to behaviour management as i had to issue a timeout warning and its hard as the kids become extremely distant when your issue some sort of sanctions.

 

Please use this link to view my full lesson plan >> http://bit.ly/fHnSoT

Learning objectives and homework Powerpoint >>> http://bit.ly/fxbOVJ

 

07/12/2010

Forest of Dean Tutor Trip

By PGCE, ReflectionNo Comments

Over the lent term I was able to go on a school trip with my year 8 tutees this was a great trip to get to know the pupils well and build those vital relationships. I was able to lead several activities to help promote indipendant survival skils just to manage and co ordinate several expeditions.

We had to deal with children that had not been away from parents before and had full responsibility of their diet and wellbeing.

We also had evening reviews with my colleagues to asses what had been achieved in the day and to plan for the next day.

It gave me chances to take kids on walks and for them to learn in out of school contexts.

PLEASE SEE THIS DOCUMENT FOR EVIDENCE http://bit.ly/mG30Wc

03/12/2010
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