Monday was an incredibly long lecture about bringing technology into the classroom. It was interesting and I've definitely taken away some ideas, but, we were stuck in a lecture theatre for 3hours, mostly listening. It wasn't particularly interactive and I know I shut-off at points. Some people from the course had a 3-hour round trip for this. I agree with them when they say a lot of this could've been done online. For all its faults though, I am genuinely more interested in the potential of technology in the classroom. I'm certainly going to talk to the ICT guy in school to see what opportunities I can take into my lessons.
Then I went home. Monday evening to Wednesday afternoon was my half term break. I couldn't completely switch off from the PGCE because I was very aware of what I still needed to do, but it was nice to be away.
Once the above have been read I'll start Sophie Coulombeau's Rites. I won a copy of this book over at Jen Campbell's blog where Coulombeau was guest blogging, and I'm so eager to start reading it. I was excited by the potential this book has in the classroom, especially with regards to narrators. There will definitely be a review blog.
Thursday was a day working on our Method project. Researching and creating a thirty minute presentation on an exam board. We're presenting on Tuesday.
The first PGCE assignment is due in twenty days- eek.
The assignment is to plan six lessons, write a rationale and analysis of the six lessons and teach at least two of the lesson, then write an evaluation of the taught lessons. Easier said than done when, currently, we're only in school two days a week.
I created a medium-term plan and my lessons have been sitting there for a little while. Yesterday I sat down and applied some structure to them, using the University's lesson planning forms (which I'm not overly keen on). They're the first full lessons that I've actually planned, and it took me about 6 hours. An hour/lesson. Not bad for the first time, I think. It did feel slightly redundant as I know that, due to the dynamics of the class, I'll only have the opportunity to teach the two classes that are needed for my assessment. I only hope that I can leave my ideas with the school for future use/adaptation.
Tomorrow I'll be sitting down and writing a rationale; and attempting to link it to theory.
As I do all this, I have one eye on Ofqual saying teachers are cheats- way to boost morale- and the other eye on my department in school, who are jittery because Ofsted are overdue. I hope they show up soon so everyone can calm down.
I feel I've earnt my day off today, even if it is to catch up with the odd jobs that need doing around here. I'll enjoy reading though.
I'm still on the lookout for Teenage Fiction, so please keep your suggestions coming.
Ofsted definitely put people on edge lol. My entire final placement was spent like that because "Ofsted had promised" to be in that term. So, every staff meeting was about making sure everything was spot on, contingency plans for when they turned up [as the school had 4 students in - and only 6 classes] etc. In the end, they didn't show up at all. They still haven't.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have more luck though and that they do arrive. That way, the Ofsted inspection can go well and everyone can relax a little bit. :)
Yes, much the same is happening at my school. I mean the teaching I'm seeing is fantastic: it's working for the pupils and the lessons are enjoyable. But now the O-word's loitering around, everyone's on edge. I, too, hope they arrive soon.
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