QTS Q1 – Timothy West

Year 9 OCR Nationals Database Lesson

By adminPGCE, POT 3, TeachingNo Comments

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

11/05/2011

Year 11 Tutoring

By adminPGCE, POT 2One Comment

This term I have been helping out with tutoring year 11 pupils. Initially I was quite apprehensive about this as I was concerned about the attitude and behaviour that they might have. I was also warned to go in quite firm and tough and not to be a walk over. It was an interesting start as they were quite loud and boisterous but once asked to be quiet they did respond. I was impressed with how they were when asked co-operative and there was not a large amount of back chat.

My main duties where to take the register on the Sims system. I had to make sure that if anyone was late could not mark them in. I was also advised to ask them to wait by the door if they arrived after I had started the register.

My other duties where to take some PSHE sessions on some of sort of personal social or health related theme. I took three of these one was to working on team building and in this one we did lots of team related games such as making letters with human bodies and also the one where you have to all stand up by linking arms and pushing together the final one was to all sit on each other’s laps in a circle. They really enjoyed these games and it was a good chance to include everyone and help build the pupils that where less confident. I also told some bible related stories on Daniel in the lion’s den and and the parable of the good samriton and used the morals of these stories to try and encourage the pupils to do the same. My main message was a Christian message but i was aware that there were multiple faiths present which I had to be sensitive to.

There were a few sessions on sex educations that I sat in on and it was interesting to see how the govermant are pushing for more and more “safe sex” and to make young people aware of all of the STI’s and D’s out there. I thought that the no sex before marriage was a point that was not included or promoted enough as ultimately that is the safest way to ensure that these things don’t happen.

During tutors we had to make sure their journals where signed and passed off and that they were not defacing them.

We also had to issue warnings and checks for pupils that where miss behaving according to the school policy of red referrals those pupils can receive.

There where few issues with social problems that the pupils where having and these we had to deal with in to most appropriate manner and refer what ever we needed to onto child protection oficers this including a few personal circumstance issues.

I was also able to reprimand and tell them to correct their uniform. This was to maintain the high standards and expectations in the pupils of the school.

It was great to get alongside the pupils and build a good appropriate relationship and I feel I was able to add a fresh, fun and creative approach to the form. The pupils where able to develop in the time i was with them and it was a good opportunity to see how they progressed in other areas not just the academic side of their life.

Please email hburton@kesbath.co.uk for confirmation.

05/04/2011

Positive and negative behaviour reporting

By adminPGCE, POT 2, Teaching128 Comments

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.

25/03/2011

Photoshop lesson 1 – Year 7

By adminPGCE, 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

Lesson 3 OCR Nationals AO2 – Year 9MQB4

By adminPGCE, Reflection, TeachingNo Comments

What we did & Learning objectives!

We had a catch up session to get them up to speed with the current AO2 Slides such as some were falling behind on the slides.

We then moved onto looking at how to…

? Learn how to copy and paste text and graphics from the internet in compliance with copyright.

? Learn how to download graphic and text files in compliance with copyright

What went well?

I was really happy with my behaviour management this lesson and Even though it was wet outside I managed to get them coming in and logging on quietly and swiftly. Once I wanted them to start I was able to get their attention quickly and get them looking at me.

I am finding that if I give a simple count down in seconds it works for me and by 0 they are usually quiet.

I felt that the pace of this lesson was great and we were able to cover allot. I feel this was clear as I made it clear what my expectation were early on and stated what I wanted them to get done by the end of the lesson. This pace even almost picked up towards the end of the lesson which was great.

Students Learning

They responded well to questioning and I was impressed as they had retained allot of information from the last lesson. They were completing the slides well and were able come up with a valid explanation of the process they were doing.

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

It was not my fault as RM Tutor was not installed on the teacher’s machine which meant that I could not do my demonstrations by taking over the screen. I was able to adapt and ask the students to come up to the front so that I can show them the areas that I needed to demonstrate.

Students Learning

A few students were being lazy and at times I was getting frustrated that they had not listened and need to keep my calm and figure ways for them to stay focussed.

Feelings

I was really pleased with this lesson and felt confident with the pupils and started to feel relaxed whilst teaching them which enabled me to go round checking that they had completed their slides.

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

17/11/2010

Networking ICT GCSE Theory

By adminPGCE, Reflection, TeachingNo Comments

What we did & Learning objectives!

This was a theory based lesson that was teaching the year 11s all about networks and looking at how they can be applied in the real world with advantages and disadvantages.

Understand what a network is the purpose of them.

Understand the advantages and disadvantages of networks.

What went well?

We had a time of silent study to answer an exam based question worth 8 marks. This worked really well and after what was quite a rowdy lesson they were all silent and worked really hard on this and so I praised them for it. It was good to see them doing some independent learning.

I enjoyed being given the freedom to take the class on my own as this allowed me to be my self and to really try and be free. I found this also brought challenges.

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

I over planned for the course that I was doing so had to remove some extra information that they did not need to know about. I was curious why I was not told about this but I should have read the exam spec again as it said that this was the ICT short course.

I thought that there were elements of boredom which lead to the low level disruption of talking. Thankfully I was able to keep it under control and issue a warning to back up that I meant business.

I feel that I could have tried to think up some more creative ways to express the topic and could have teased out more during the questioning time to get them thinking about it. I felt that I was reading to much of my PowerPoint and not really explaining the points and making sure that they understood what I was saying. As many of them where beavering away with their notes but not really taking it in.

I feel that I need to really try to keep the behaviour tight and keep insisting on no talking when I was talking. I also feel that need to think up some more engaging activities to get them thinking about the theory more the trouble is that they are not really getting on task when I ask them to do group discussion and feed back as they don’t answer my plenary questions and I really need to push them to answer it.

All in all I feel that I will need to keep planning interesting content and maybe observe my mentor teach a lesson on theory for example he suggested to look at analogue and digital data.

Please use this link to view my full lesson plan >> http://bit.ly/ay9fTR

And resources like powerpoints >> http://bit.ly/99WSEY

15/11/2010

Lesson 2 OCR Nationals – Year 9MQB4

By adminPGCE, Reflection, TeachingNo Comments

What we did & Learning objectives!

These are the learning objectives for the lesson…

To search for all the 8 different band websites.

To learn how to judge if their band website is valid or trustworthy.

How to save or bookmark favourite pages that you find online.

Learn how to organise these pages into folders and categories.

What went well?

I thought that my plenary went well. I asked them to stand behind their places and answer a question and if they answered it correctly they could leave. This meant they were leaving the classroom on task still.

There were constantly on task and filling in each part of their PowerPoint slides which meant that they were achieving allot. The total result was allot of work done in the lesson.

I tried to walk around and asses how each pupil was doing and if they had completed each part I had asked.

I was happy with my delivery to them up the front and I felt that they were all paying attention to my delivery.

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

I changed my lesson plan last minute which meat that I was a bit disorganised when I came into the lesson. I had to quickly finish my slides and resources. This was because I realised that I needed to take a different course of action as the logical order required me to talk about validity of websites before I asked them to source them.

I need to be more specific of what I require of them when explaining technical aspects as when I showed them how to book mark and create folders and sub folders I did not take the time to do this to the full. This meant that it was not quite clear what expected of them. I re demonstrated the book marking process but needed to give more time to this.

I was hoping to get a practical exercise to demonstrate putting sites into folder and the importance of organising and structuring but sadly did not get onto this.

My Feelings

Well I enjoyed this lesson and the pressure that it put on me to adapt and be versatile with short notice. I feel that if I knew this earlier it would have taken the stress of the whole lesson as I was worried I wasn’t going to get it all in.

Thankfully I achieved all of my lesson objectives so al in all I feel this was a good lesson

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

09/11/2010

Researching Online – photos and text – Year 8MQB1

By adminPGCE, Reflection, TeachingNo Comments

What we did & Learning objectives!

In this lesson we had a look at good ways to research content online with a focus on text and pictures. The purpose was to give them some structure and guidelines on how start to populate their websites with good looking content.

To find out some key points about your topic like using effective search techniques – what it is – history of how long it’s been an issue – a few key facts and figures e.g. how much GM food is produced in the UK. Also include one news article
To gather some relevant images and pictures from Google image search and from a stock photo website like corbis images

What went well?

I laid down the ground rules to start with and set high expectations which went well and I was able to control the class without to much trouble.

I was really happy how I was able to start with a recap and get them on task quickly. I was able to use this time to make sure that each pupil was up to scratch.

The pupils were on task and achieved a good amount of work in the lesson. They are really beginning to create a website that looks good and could be actually used on the web.

Some of the questions were answered well

The where able to use their english and skills to write the work they had researched to create the work in their own words. I had to make sure that pupils where comming up with sentices and paragraphs that where realated to the work and to make sure that it was relevant. It was interesting as some pupils literacy levels where much higher than i expected which makes sense as this is a top set.

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

I asked them to find content for their website and did not show them how to import it straight into their website. I should have said compile it in word and then paste it into frontpage. I think in the future I would make sure I have each instruction completely clear that allows them to completely get on with the task.

I was meant to show them a few more options to find stock photos so will need to make sure I plan for demonstration time a bit better.

Its was hard to just talk about some of these websites on the PowerPoint with out demonstrating them again I think its best to have a live example of the website rather than just image.. screen shots could be taken to achieve this come to think of it.

Feelings

It was a busy and fairly tiring lesson but this was because it was the last lesson of the day and everyone was tired. How ever they did get a decent amount of work done.

I was really enjoying it and feel that it went well.

It was interesting as I enjoyed the time also when my mentor left the class room as this gave me complete freedom. This is not at all to say that I don’t like him there. It is just at times you want to please and glance over at your mentor for approval which shouldn’t be the case we are teaching the kids not our mentor.

Please use this link to view my full lesson plan >> http://bit.ly/bWh9yP

05/11/2010

Introducing A02 OCR Nationals – Year 9MQB4

By adminPGCE, Reflection, TeachingNo Comments

What we did & Learning objectives!

We started the new AO2 module and worked through how search engines are used including advanced search features on google.

These were my learning objectives

Understand the importance of search engines on the web mainly Google

How to use key terms effectively on a search engine

How to use advanced search features on a search engine

What went well?

I really felt my use of fun facts and figures about google helped get the kids on side things like “in this lesson google would have made enough money to buy your house that’s £180 000”

I felt that they all listened well and responded to each task that I asked them to do.

They all managed to complete first two slides of the PowerPoint with the screen shot evidence and highlighted and annotated.

Behaviour was good and no real disruptions I think this was a set high expectation of the lesson and maintained them throughout the lesson as for example a kid had his head down on the desk and I had to reprimand him to pay attention and it obviously worked as he snapped out of it and no it was not because he was bored.

I completed all my lesson objectives and managed to incorporate

To have a chalenge at the end of the lesson about finding a specific site was really good and kids walked about talking about it. This will get a merrit for those who answer it well.

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

I could have explained the use of quotation marks better in the advanced google search as some of their description were a bit woolly and not correct. I had to re iterate the fact it was to search for a group of words that make up a whole phrase and those words in order. In the future just be really clear about description and almost dictate to them the correct explanation initially but make sure they don’t just copy you.

I almost ran of time toward the end so plan to do plenary slightly earlier.

I need to make sure I have my lesson objectives typed up on power point before the lesson starts as well as the home work rather than doing in the lesson before the start.

Feelings

I really came away from this lesson buzzing and on such a high note as i really enjoyed it and i feel that the kids enjoed it tpo

Please use this link to view my full lesson plan >> http://bit.ly/9lZukn

03/11/2010

Website Design – Lesson 1 – 8MQB4

By adminPGCE, Reflection, TeachingNo Comments

This was my first lesson that I had full responsability over and all in al it was realyl good. I really enjoyed it and found it really rewarding. i have completed a full lesson plan an evaluation doccument for you to read. I dont want to waste any more time on talkin about the lesson as it is all in the google doc.

I will be doing full lesson plans and evaluations for one lesson a week.

Googe Docs Lesson Plan and Evaluation Doccument http://bit.ly/9UOrCH

I was also formally assesed by my mentor and the link is here. http://bit.ly/9deKwR

I will also being doing shorter reflections in this format.

What went well?

I brought the kids in well

The use of ICT was an obvious standards that was ticked of well her and will be throughout my teaching. I have seen that pupils base level of ict capability is fairly good and this is something that i will be able to build on.

What could have been done better!

I will need to keep incorporating how to use english and maths well in my ict teaching.

I need to set my learning objects up on a PowerPoint that I can use clearly at the beginning of the lesson to say what we are going to achieve this lesson. So just list theses on a slide show with a nice format that is nice to look at..

I then need to use the objectives to aid my plenary and to check over that they all understand how to do the relevant areas.

I need to predict the areas that might be technically challenging and have a good explanation of these and trouble shoot response

I need to have further extension task for the pupils that finish early.

03/11/2010