[Carl Fazackerley]

Nick Dixon, on Sep 17 2006, 09:16 PM, said:

I worked as an LSA also in the hope that it would help me to prepare for teaching, which i'm quite sure it has after watching many different teachers over the last 8 months but i am still so nervous about the thought of standing up infront of a class!

When I think back to the first lessons I taught on placement there is a wonder that I got throught them - I can remeber shaking, feeling really sick and rampaging through the lesson content at as million miles an hour. It passes pretty quickly, especially when you are more comfortable with the class. They settle and so do you. That said I am feeling like that in front of my classes as an NQT, but I am sure it will settle over the next few weeks. The key however is that you need to find a way of hiding the nerves, if you can do that it doesn't matter!

[Tom H]

Hi guys!

Thought it was about time I starting posting in this thread properly now I've actually started my PGCE! First things first though I feel like I need to say a massive hello to all the other PGCE students on here - hope your first few days/weeks have been going well.

My PGCE has kind of hit the ground running, which is very good. There's a really nice group of us as well who all get on that's really cool Got told where my placement school was as well, luckily it's quite close... but not that close which is good for me as well! The only thing I'm trying to do now is do some cross-referencing - we've been given a book with lots of tasks and deadlines in it's just a case of having it written one sheet when these are all supposed to be done, the way it's laid out in our book isn't the best for organisation and planning (Although it's good from other perspectives!).

Oh well, best get back to it...

[Carl Fazackerley]

Stick all the tasks into Outlook; then it irritatingly reminds you when a deadline is upcoming!

This post has been edited by Carl Fazackerley: 20 September 2006 - 06:59 PM

[Tom H]

Thanks for the advice Carl, just hope I've set the reminders up right!

I guess I'm just one of these people who likes to have that 'forward plan' chart stuck to their wall at home so I know what's coming up in say 3-4 weeks time at a glance!

[Carl Fazackerley]

Well with the forward plan chart just keep a print out from Outlook of the month ahead on the wall. And also depending on what sort of phone you have you can always sync it with Outlook.

[sarahn]

that sounds great Carl - must give it a go as my new job requires much more organisation than I was used to in my last!
Sarah

[Mark P]

Hey all,

Had my first day at my placement school today. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting great things as the school was inspected in May and the Ofsted report gave it a level 4 for over all effectiveness and the DFES have classified it as a 'school facing challenging circumstances'. Despite all this there was a reasonable amount of learning going on and the behaviour was only a little worse than you'd expect in any 'average' comprehensive. So I'm not going to need to invest in a bullet proof vest afterall.

I have to do my first bit of teaching on Wednesday. 10 minutes with year 11 on what German people thought of the Holocaust. Its got to be a source based activity and I've got a text book but its pretty uninspiring. Any suggestions on planning would be most appreciated.

Mark

[Carl Fazackerley]

Mark P, on Sep 25 2006, 06:12 PM, said:

I have to do my first bit of teaching on Wednesday. 10 minutes with year 11 on what German people thought of the Holocaust. Its got to be a source based activity and I've got a text book but its pretty uninspiring. Any suggestions on planning would be most appreciated.

Mark

Not quite what you are looking for but an interesting exercise all the same. It's from one of my PGCE tutors last year - you give the images out hard copy, get the pupils to come up with some ideas about what they are seeing, then work through the powerpoint and drop the bombshell of their role in the Holocaust.

Attached File(s)

•  exeterpres.ppt (1.24MB)
  Number of downloads: 49

[Nick Dixon]

hey all,

i taught my first lesson on friday morning! Looking at viking artefacts with year 8. Never have i been so nervous in all my life! Having 30 faces staring up at you waiting for instruction is very scary even if they are 12! But i got through it and for a first lesson it went really well, i'm really pleased. After the first 10 mins of the lesson, once i had overcome my nerves and i began to relax i actually really enjoyed it and i cant wait to do it again now.

The thing i was most worried about was behaviour but i told them my expectations right at the beginning and told them what would happen if they didnt do as i asked and as a class they were great! I had a bit of a problem with two boys who had a habit of talking when i had asked the class to be quiet so i kept them behind at the end and told them i wasn't happy with their behaviour and i thought they should be separated next lesson so they could have a new start and show me they could work well. We will have to see what happens there!

So good luck everyone with your first lesson, it is scary but you will get over it and start to really enjoy it!

[Nick Dixon]

Help please!

I'm going through the Bosnian war with year 11s on weds as part of their coursework question 'why has there been a conflict in the former yugoslavia during the 1990s?'. This is my first time with year 11s and with this topic, does anyone have some brilliant idea how i can teach this to them or an activity i can do based on this please? I only have them for the second half of the lesson so it will be 30mins.

I will be grateful for any suggestions!

[Carl Fazackerley]

Do you have anything more specific than the general question as there are a lot of angles you could take on this one? Post again if you can and I'll see what I can come up with.

This post has been edited by Carl Fazackerley: 08 October 2006 - 08:25 PM

[Nick Dixon]

Carl Fazackerley, on Oct 8 2006, 09:24 PM, said:

Do you have anything more specific than the general question as there are a lot of angles you could take on this one? Post again if you can and I'll see what I can come up with.

Hi,



What i need to look at with them is why war broke out in Bosnia in 1992, in their coursework they are asked to think about the ethnic differences and how the independence of Slovenia and Croatia affected them. This is the first time they will have looked at Bosnia so i need to introduce the topic to them and give them something to start thinking about! I'm quite worried as i have never covered this before so my knowledge is quite basic!

[AdamCrawte]

Hi 'Nick'

If this is the first time that they have looked at the subject the it would be good to start with an oblique starter. Maybe some images or film about the war could be shown to illicit responses from the students. e.g. why would something like this happen? For what reasons would be people commit violence against their own "country" men

You can get them to list 3 things they notice about the images and 3 questions they have, which you could see if they could be answered by the end of the lesson/series of lessons

Once you have done this, you can move on and look briefly at the historical context of conflict in the Balkans - obviously appealing to as many different learning styles as possible!

I can recommend some people who you can work with to help you plan this series of lessons!

This post has been edited by AdamCrawte: 10 October 2006 - 09:05 PM

[Joel Thorpe]

Nick Dixon, on Oct 10 2006, 06:43 PM, said:

Carl Fazackerley, on Oct 8 2006, 09:24 PM, said:

Do you have anything more specific than the general question as there are a lot of angles you could take on this one? Post again if you can and I'll see what I can come up with.

Hi,



What i need to look at with them is why war broke out in Bosnia in 1992, in their coursework they are asked to think about the ethnic differences and how the independence of Slovenia and Croatia affected them. This is the first time they will have looked at Bosnia so i need to introduce the topic to them and give them something to start thinking about! I'm quite worried as i have never covered this before so my knowledge is quite basic!

I would also examine the universal declaration of human rights as well. Start from the point of view about what does the UN say about people and ethnic groups and also look at what constitutes discrimination and then move on to the issue of "ethnic cleansing". A reference to Yugoslavia and how Tito kept it all together would not hurt any. There are many websites out there (especially those linked to the UN) that can provide no end of help with many of the questions and the background information. One thing that may act as a good follow up lesson to this unit is the way in which many of the refugees were treated in Britain when they fled Bosnia, particularly some of the horrific treatment the recieved in towns like Hull. If that follow up appeals I have worksheets and the newspaper references to compliment it. Terrible to have half your family killed, flee to Britain and then be fire bombed out of your house. Makes me proud (NOT).

[Tom H]

It's half term!!!

So it seems like the ideal time to update everyone Things for me are going OK - been at my placement school for 2 weeks now; and I've even taken a couple of classes which went well... although has anyone got any tips for improving my voice? I'm being told that the Year 9 group are getting too familiar and what to rectify it asap over half term!

Asides from that I know what classes I'm getting now - I'm doing the Transport Revolution with Year 9 (think Dragon's Den), and the Black Death with Year 7 (think empathy ). I'm also supposed to be taking over a couple of other classes but the topics for those haven't been sorted yet! I've also been attached to a tutor group... I suppose what half term has left me with is just lots of work to do really, but I know it'll be worth it - I'm really excited about the lesson ideas I've got (just hope the children are as enthused as me) and it's just a good job that uni wise half term isn't full of lectures!

Hows everyone else doing?