Posts tagged learning
What Am I Good At?
Jun 12th
On a Friday our school has a celebration assembly that allows us to share the great things going on in school. It occured to me this week how important our role is in helping children find their specialism, the one thing in life that they are great at, that they enjoy and even have a passion for.
During these weekly assemblies we share children’s achievements in and out of the classroom. We see children who have received martial arts belts, horse trial trophies, football tournament medals and swimming badges. As well as a weekly award for two children from the classteacher, for different things - for example, making a good start to the term or kindness to others.
This week the children in Year 5 had been taking a course in First Aid training, they received a certificate and it was pointed out that some children had truly excelled, way beyond expectations. Perhaps they had found that one thing.
Later in the day we were lucky enough to listen to a small concert from some of the children taking violin, cello, piano and flute lessons. It may not be all of them, but some will have found that music is something they love, something they can excel at and be great at.
I believe this is all about providing children with opportunities. There will be those children who know their mind, who have a strong sense of what they enjoy and what they are good at. However we need to help all children develop this, by providing a curriculum that offers a breadth of life experiences (that some may never get at home).
I have enjoyed recognising particular strengths in the very youngest of our pupils in primary school and it is hugely important we nurture the fun and passion they connect with in life so that everyone knows, “What am I good at?”
–
Pic: Turn, Turn, Turn! from bichxa
Reflections on Being A Foundation Teacher
May 30th
I have spent the last half term as a Foundation 2 (4 and 5 year olds) classteacher in my new school. Combined with a multitude of other factors, including finding my feet as a Deputy Headteacher, it has been the most challenging and intense seven weeks of my teaching career.
I thought I would take some time to reflect on what it was like to go from teaching Year 5 (9 and 10 year olds) to Foundation 2.
Pitch
One of the biggest challenges was adjusting the pitch of what I was teaching. This applied at every level, from what I was planning to my expectations for the children. I suppose this would be natural as I was teaching children 5 years older for so long. I have a much better appreciation for the ways I can adjust what I am teaching to suit different needs, including the way I use my voice or how long we spend working together.
Care
This is central to what occurs in the Foundation stage. What school should be about – I perhaps lost sight of this working with the older children. Finding things, tieing laces, scraped knees, getting changed, toilet trouble, tired children, family news – the care for children at this age is much more important than anything else. It is a care that gives them boundaries and helps to develop their independence and confidence. However this is energy sapping – I know from having a 4 year old at home – but times that by 30 and you quickly realise at the end of the day that you are emotionally drained as much as anything else.
Starting School
Foundation 2 is the first time they begin to experience elements of school as it will be for the next 5 years or so. It is an important time for the children as they have to adapt to new expectations and ways of working. I have learned so much about where the children are when they enter school, what sort of level they are working at and even the broad range of abilities that are evident even at this age.
Organisation and Preparation
Above anything else I have learned how important it is to be super organised and prepared for anything at this age group. You can lose the focus of a little group in seconds if you don’t have want you need to hand. The classroom needs to reflect this level of organisation and done well will facilitate the independent learning going on.
Sometimes you have to respond to something unexpected and it takes all of your attention – a nasty scraped knee, a nosebleed or a toilet problem. You have to just go with it.
Every Second Counts
A big lesson I have learned is that you have to take every opportunity for learning. Counting the children for register, counting the milk cartons, counting the fruit, counting the letters we are using, counting the people in a picture…
Specialist
The role of a Foundation teacher is such a specialist position. The level of care that is required and the expectations for teaching and learning make it such a unique role in school. My time in Foundation has shown me every facet of the role. I think part of the specialism is being able to cope with the energy sapping days and to remain focused on the myriad of ways children are learning. I have a much firmer respect and appreciation for the role of teachers in Foundation and the crucial part they play in helping children start school.
Comfort Zone
There have been some real lows over the last seven weeks, admittedly I have found it a serious struggle at times. But I have learned from it all. I have had a comfort zone and in the last half term I have been as far from it as I can remember. You learn to find comfort in other things, I have adapted to each new challenge as best I could.
I took one day at a time and as Dai Barnes pointed out to me when I was finding it tough:
“Life is many days. This must end.”
“Every life is many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love. But always meeting ourselves.”
James Joyce – Ulysses
Cross curricular
I would like to see a whole school curriculum approach to learning in the same connected way as it is done in Foundation. A small number of areas of learning that just make sense and approaching contexts for learning in a holistic manner. There is the balance between child initiated learning and teacher directed work. I think my time working in this way will have a big influence on the way we re-develop our curriculum in the future.
Technology
By the time I was finishing my time I was hitting my stride a little better, so to speak, and was considering the role technology has to play in this early stage of school. One thing was how aware the children were of technology in their everyday life, clearly this is mainly from the exposure to mobile and online technologies at home.
Whilst we were working on some phonics activities for the “er” phoneme, I had a picture of an envelope for the children to think of “letter“. But one little girl said email when she saw it. Perhaps an isolated instance but nonetheless indicative of the need (and importance) for a clearly thought out strategy for technology at this stage of school. I will keep this firmly in my thoughts as I spend more time next half term on how my new school is using technology.
Another thing I noted was the need for technology to enhance and support the role of record keeping and evidence gathering in the Foundation stage. Learning happens and occurs at such a fierce pace, sometimes unexpected, sometimes planned – a strong tech solution for gathering, tagging and recording these occurrences would be ideal.
__
After my tumultuous first week I wrote that it had been the most testing few days of my career and I would go on to say that the whole seven weeks have stuck to that template. At times I have felt like a student again, learning pieces of a bigger puzzle, at times I have started to think like a Foundation teacher – linking up learning opportunities and seeing connections.
A very capable young teacher is taking over the reins after half term and I will be working from the sidelines to support his first teaching role. I know that I have learned so much and on reflection I feel I have become a better classroom teacher because of it.
__
Pics: My Life by pattyequalsawesome / A Crossroads by thorinside
Challenge, Instinct and Resilience
Apr 18th
My first week in my new post as Deputy Head Teacher has probably been the most challenging five days of my career. Unfortunately I cannot be as candid about my experiences as I normally would be, due to a number of reasons, including some legal ones. Let’s just say “a baptism of fire” would be an understatement.
The week has been all about firsts. When you are starting somewhere new, everything you do will be for the first time. Learning about the routines for assembly, end of playtime, dinner routines, seeing behaviour policies in action, dealing with incidents. When you are thrust into situations where you are a little unsure or even completely unsure, it is a huge challenge.
Carrying something to write on has really helped as things to do, information and names have come thick and fast. I have also punctuated so much of my work with a smile, a joke to lighten the air with colleagues.
Strangely enough I have walked away from the last 5 days with a better understanding of myself, my resilience and ability to adapt. I understand the importance of my open mindedness and have a clearer appreciation for the inner strength you need to stray way beyond your comfort zone.
I have learned that you cannot plan for every outcome in certain situations and that sometimes you learn a lot more about people and yourself when all you are able to do is react. No time to think, just react. With everything stripped away, you are just left with your professional instincts.
This week I have learned that I can be visibly calm under intense pressure and the impact this has on those looking to me to lead. In fact I have surprised myself with my ability to think with clarity when pressed, it hasn’t been an act, but simply how I approached situations this week.
No other 5 day stretch has ever examined and pressurised my professional facets as those just gone.
I know for certain that I am lucky to be part of an amazing staff, a fantastic group of professionals who have supported and helped me through a tough week. I am very grateful to them for that. It is a week to be included in the memoirs one day.
Pic: Father’s Strength by Shavar Ross Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
I Hope…
Mar 29th
My son will soon be pitched headlong into full time education. As a father and a teacher I have certain hopes for the kind of experiences he will have in the next 15 years or so.
I hope he will be in classrooms that are bright and engaging.
I hope that he will think school is exciting, where ever it is.
I hope there will be people that will find out what makes him happy.
I hope all of his successes are celebrated.
I hope he gets outside to see the world at every opportunity.
I hope his class sizes are smaller.
I hope that there will be teachers that understand what engages him.
I hope that technology is part of how he learns, but not the only part.
I hope teachers will really understand learning and not just teaching.
I hope that when he is learning he will be able to choose the technology and tools that he needs.
I hope that his teachers help him with this choice and stand back to let it happen.
I hope his achievements in one sector are not disregarded in the next.
I hope someone inspires him.
I hope he is encouraged to learn about the things that interest him.
I hope he begins to understand the world beyond his school and his home.
I hope that someone will help him understand what future contribution he might be able to make.
I hope that learning happens in a whole myriad of places.
I hope the teachers he encounters understand what technology means to him outside of school.
I hope his teachers feel free to innovate.
I hope he is happy.
I hope he is safe.
What do you hope for?
Is the Label “Games Based Learning” Useful?
Dec 21st
Whichever way you look at it the words Games Based Learning create a very neat little box. In that box we are meant to see all “learning” that is centred on, or “based” around a game – which invariably and most recently refers to a console or computer game.
In the recent few days I have come to question the terminology we use. Two things have sparked such curiosity. The first was reading Doug Belshaw’s book “Best of Belshaw” – in which he includes a blog post titled “The problem(s) of 21st century literacy/ies“. The term “literacies” intrigued me and Doug’s quote from Doyle (1994) made me think about the term “games based learning”.
In the last decade a variety of “literacies” have been proposed, including cultural, computer, scientific, technical, global and mathematical. All of these literacies focus on a compartmentalized aspect of literacy. Information literacy, on the other hand, is an inclusive term. Through information literacy, the other literacies can be achieved (Breivik, 1991). In attaining information literacy, students gain proficiency in inquiry as they learn to interpret and use information (Kuhlthau, 1987).
If we continue to use the term Games Based Learning are we just perpetuating a compartmentalised aspect of learning?
Ewan McIntosh underlined my thinking in reference to his recent blog post about the lack of mainstream attention gaming receives and how this impacts negatively upon the use of it in education:
The potential to learn in the game, as well as learn from their production, is lost to all but the most culturally open and connected of educators
In reply to a question on Twitter Ewan said we have to be careful that the terminology doesn’t compartmentalise what is going on when using a game in the classroom- in much the same way the rhetoric of “literacies” has done.
I am undecided, for two reasons.
Part of me knows that when I am explaining about gaming in the classroom to people who have no prior experience, the term “Games Based Learning” helps to succinctly phrase what I mean. It also puts the words “games” and “learning” together.
On the other hand if we set it apart from everything else, if we make the neat little (x)box for it to go in, are we missing the point? Surely it is all really just about learning, in all of its polka-dot and peanut butter flavours and forms – no matter whether it is from a game or from a film.
Discovery
Oct 19th
Last week as I was helping a child in my class with some data entry using the excellent Create-a-Graph, I watched as a child sitting next to them learned something new. I was simply using the TAB keyboard short-cut to move between fields when adding some data. I could see that the boy next to me had looked up from the work on his own laptop. I continued supporting this child and I again noticed their neighbour peering around my arm trying to spot which key I was using to move between fields. He then looked back at his own keyboard and found the TAB key, he navigated to his own data on his own graph and began trying his newly found keyboard short-cut.
As I finished up with the child I was originally helping and moved away, I could not help but notice a big grin had spread across the boy’s face as he put into action what he just discovered for himself. I have to say it also made me smile. It is pretty amazing witnessing someone discover something for themselves and benefit from using it.
The Philips Entertaible in our School
Sep 27th
Last Wednesday evening I attended my first TeachMeet event held in the Forth Room at the SECC. Typically I was first out of the hat to do a seven minute talk and kick the evening off – I was very nervous and my careful plans seemed to evaporate as I walked up to the stage. This post is what I would have liked to have said – but I think people got the general idea. It is the story of how a simple email led to a series of events that saw a prototype multi-touch interactive device used in our school.
In 2006 I was exploring the possibility of a second interactive device in our reception classes. I wanted to look at the alternatives to IWBs and came across a whole heap of plasma displays etc. I also happened to stumble upon a few articles from Philips about a research product called the Entertaible. The device was shown as having electronic board gaming at it’s heart but i saw much more than that – I saw it in a classroom with children working together on it.
“ The intuitive nature of Entertaible means multiple users can interact with digital data and programs in a simple yet physical, ‘hands-on’ manner. ” Gerard Hollemans, Philips Research
The original Philips press release seems to have been removed from their site but at the foot of it was an email address for the team in charge. I sent them a message basically asking if they had considered the use of the device in the classroom and that I had some ideas for it. Now when you throw a little stone like that at a big organisation like Philips you do not expect it to make a dent or even a mark. But sure enough they replied and we arranged to have, what turned out to be, a series of telephone conversations about the prospects of the device in education. I was staggered really and amazed at how open they were to my ideas.
After being in touch for a short while, Gerard and Maurice from the Philips team invited me to Eindhoven to see the interactive device in action. I asked my headteacher who was hugely supportive of the idea and incredibly in the summer of 2006 I visited the research labs of Philips on their High Tech Campus in Eindhoven. In the meeting I was shown the table and the amazing functionality it had. The Entertaible is a project from the Philips Incubator, the name given to their research department – where new ideas are brought into this world.
After exploring the device first hand I talked with the team about the use of the IWB in our school and the potential that a multi-touch device could have in the classroom. It was wonderful to see the birth place to these sorts of technologies and great credit must go to my headteacher who didn’t even flinch when I asked about the trip and even covered the costs of travel so I could go. It could so easily have been the end of the story – a few emails and phone calls and that’s all – but through his vision it was only the start.
The visit only heightened my interest and curiosity in terms of what the device could do in a classroom. We stayed in touch for a few months afterwards but it wasn’t until November/December 2006 that I got to use the device again in London at a workshop for the Philips team as they explored various markets. I attended the education day and represented the primary sector – it was great to talk about some of my ideas for the table whilst sat at it and meet with further members of the Philips research team.
My headteacher had always said that if you do not speculate sometimes nothing will happen – he was so correct as in late 2006 we were asked if we would like to host the first worldwide school trial of the Philips Entertaible. If you do not knock on the door nobody will ever open it.
Gerard from Philips then asked me to help develop a series of applications that could be produced in the short time he had. I spent a day with a colleague from school who is an AST Reception teacher, in putting the planning together for a range of applications. It was fantastic to be in at the deep end, rethinking traditional activities in light of the collaborative and multi-touch capacity of the device. We had decided that the table would be best trialled in the early years and plans were set out to have it in one of our reception classes for a week.
In February 2007 the only table in the world of its sort arrived at school along with members of the Philips team – the applications were finally in the hands of the most important people, the children. Throughout the course of the week children in the reception class used the device as part of their normal day. In my opinion the table seemed well suited to the classroom environment and the children natural went to it with curiosity and intrigue. The reception teacher and her class had a great week exploring the new technology and worked on counting, position and letter shape activities.
The letter shape activity allowed 4 children to work on the screen at the same time, each on their own quarter. They would touch the screen to activate it and a large letter would be shown with a glowing circle indicating where to begin tracing its shape. When it detects an object or fingertip on that point the glowing circle begins tracing the shape of the letter. If the children are able to accurately trace and follow the guide it will complete the letter and a round of applause will sound from the speakers. However if they stray from the path shown then the whole letter will flash and the glowing circle will return to begin again. You can see it in action in these two videos.
If you are having trouble seeing the videos from Flickr you can see the full set of images and film here.
Children from every class in the school came and used the table throughout the week. The table had variable height so we raised it for the older children and they stood around it when they were working together. The week’s trial was a wonderful experience for all the children and teachers involved.
It was more than a year ago that we had the device in school and about two years from when I first discovered the device online and yet truly open multi-touch technology is yet to be seen in classrooms on any major scale. I know it will not be long and from this experience I realise how much time it takes to develop such a product. Durham University have also been working on the interactive desk idea and since my first contact with Philips Microsoft have developed the Surface, so momentum is growing.
I feel privileged that we had the opportunity to play our part, to represent education in the way that we did, putting new technology in the hands of our learners and hopefully help foster a new age of classroom based interactive devices.
All it took was one email, one knock on the door – I hope it encourages you to do the same.
