Energetic

Today we were back in our main subject groups, and this time we finally had a session on how to teach a certain topic. This time it was the tricky topic of Energy, and how it should be taught to KS3 pupils. We started off with a series of cards with facts about energy from all through the topic, and we were ask to classify them any way we liked. Naturally, they were all based on topics in the KS3 syllabus that used energy, such as sound, light, electricity, resources and fuels, thermal, etc. We were then given another series of cards with statements about energy, and we had to decide whether they were true or false. This wasn't so much a test of our knowledge as an examination of the language used in the statements. One thing to keep in mind when teaching energy at KS3 is that energy must always remain abstract. If you quantify it as a "physical" substance, then misconceptions creeep in. One key point was the use of the words "transform" and "transfer". Energy never actually changes, it is either stored, or moved. It therefore makes sense to say that energy is transferred from a bulb to the surroundings via light for example, rather than the electrical energy fromt he circuit is changed into light energy. We had a look at several sets of online resources that could be used to aid teaching, as well as trying out envoying. This involves working in a group to come to a conclusion about a toipc, then sending someone out to another group to speak with them about their decision to see if it would have any influence on ours.

Quite a lot to cram in to one day, but thankfully I've got a study day tomorrow so plenty of time to reflect on it all. :)

Long day...

And that's putting it lightly. We had a 9:30 start for our subject group meeting, most of which was used to practice writing lesson plans. Very useful stuff, especially considering that student plans need to be exhaustive as mentors and tutors need to see every step of our planning. Of course, once fully qualified the plans can be condensed so obvious stuff doesn't need to be included, but in the meantime, it's a long process. We looked at each stage of the lesson plan and exactly what needs to go where, along with the actual lesson timetable so we could see how time was allocated too. We were also allocated our Microteaching groups today. Essentially we were split up into groups of two (I seem to be in a three for some reason) and were given a random topic to deliver a 10-minute lesson on to the rest of the group. Of all the topics we could have pulled out, we got one to the effect of explain why poo is brown and log shaped! I'm dead fucking serious! Well... at least we can literally talk shit for 10 minutes.

After lunch is where it all started going downhill. We had our first Professional Studies lecture today, an hour lecture on whether teachers could be considered professional. Well, if you'd have seen the lecture theatre... there must have been 250 people in there and at least half of them were nodding off. In fact, the guy next to me actually DID nod off! It honestly felt like I was back in the old Data Analysis lectures at UCL. Very basic PowerPoint slides in black and white with only writing on, and material that to be perfectly honest wasn't really all that interesting. Finally, we had a seminar straight after to reflect on the lecture, and it went much better. Mainly because it was referring to real teaching scenarios rather than simply the history of teaching. It seems each seminar will be split into a short reflection of the lecture, followed by a hypothetical task for group discussion.

Wasn't too bad today to be honest. Just long...

Um...

... a tutorial

That's seriously all I can say. It was a 10-minute tutorial just outlining how the PDP folder would work.

Planning the way

Another relatively full day today. We were split into our STG groups for the first time so people from all three science groups were mixed together. After a brief getting to know each other, we started looking at the differences between primary and secondary science education, focussing on our primary school placements. We then moved on to the National Curriculum levelling system and were given our first oppoortunity to assess a late KS2 question paper, assigning levels to each question based on the knowledge needed to answer it. Seemed fairly easy for the most part, but sometimes it could be difficult to tell whether a certain concept needed more knowledge than was initially apparent. This will probably come with practice and familiarity with the NC. The last exercise before lunch was to look at six different answers to a Year 5 Biology question, and discuss how we would deal with misconceptions of the subject.

Coming back, we spent the remainder of the session loking at lesson aims and objectives, and most importablty the difference between the two. Using this knowledge we had a go at developing our own lesson objectives given a lesson aim. We were then shown how to effectively observe a lesson, and the sort of things to look out for. Things such as teacher movements, time spent on activities, which students were asked questions, etc. Again, a lot to take in, but will probably become more apparent with practice.

We also found out our placements today, and I'll be starting at Loxford School. Looking at their website it seems that Ofsted really like the place, and it's within easy reach of me as well. No problems there then :)

In and out

That pretty much describes today as we were only in for a couple of hours. Today we concentrated on the different characteristics of teaching and how they could be shown to be analogous to other professions. For example, an actor's charisma would be needed to keep a class engaged and interested, while a navigator's leadership and guidance help to lead your students through the syllabus. We also started looking at the National Curriculum, its aims, and how the new KS3 and KS4 curricula differ from the previous ones

The NUT

Got a late start today so was grateful for the lie in. First thing today was a small introduction to the course and the expectations of us as student teachers. This was followed by a longer talk from the head of the NUT regarding laws applicable to teachers while children are in our care. This was mainly focussing on physical contact for reassurance or restraint. Interesting, but a lot of it I'd seen before thanks to my previous job experience. I am also now a member of the NUT, couldn't say no to free membership for a year. :)

The afternoon session was based on identifying methods of teaching physics and ways of dealing with the obvious gender bias in the subject. part of the exercise involved grouping off and brainstorming ways of addressing the demands of physics teaching, such as through relevance, breaking down, balanced practical work, etc. However, this was after Alex had played a rather cruel trick on us. When we walked in, she asked us if we all had our shapes with us. Of course we had no idea what she was talking about. She then asked us what we were meant to be doing every day before attending talks. Then it hit us. The notice board. She'd pinned a pouch on the board containing some cutout shapes with a note asking us to bring them to the session. Cruel, but I'll definitely be checking it from now on! ;)

A new dawn

So, as of today, I am once again a student. Only this time, I am a PGCE student, in training to be a physics teacher.

Started today at Kings College London. There's only 13 of us on the course so it's a very tight-knit group. All the better for me as it makes the subject group sessions much more cozy as we all know each other. After a quick introductory session we were given a tour of the Waterloo campus before breaking for lunch. Had no idea there were so many places to eat on the south bank...

Only a short tutorial when we got back, mainly discussing the image of physics and physicists in the media and how one of our aims this year was to break that stereotype through our teaching techniques and by just being ourselves once we start teaching. It was also about identifying what effect physics in films can have on students if it is not well presented and how we as teacher can address this while remaining on the syllabus.

Finished off the day with a few pints in the Waterfront bar, which I have attended once before during my UCL years. Still a nice bar and still only £1.90 for a beer! Will try to make the most of these free sessions while I still can, as I have no doubt I'm going to be far busier once we are all on placement. Should find that out on Thursday.

I'll be updating this blog every working day if I can, just as a diary of my progress on the course.