I really enjoyed reading this blog post linked from Twitter (Steve Wheeler) on why teachers should blog. I also liked many of the comments that were posted as a result, including that Blogging is fun... I used to keep a diary as a teenager, and this is a sort of professional version of that I suppose.
Importantly for me, it's a place where I can reflect on good and bad teaching experiences, write down nuggets of information that I think I may want to review at some point in the future, and it is also somewhere I can look back over in the future to see how far I've travelled as a teacher.
I related to Audrey's comments about lack of blog comments and feedback - something I also need to work on, but at the moment I'm happy just keeping a blog for my own purposes... if at some point someone wants to read it, then that would be great :)
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Lesson Observations
Today I had a final lesson observation for the year. Thankfully I did better than my last one, but it's made me reflect a little on my teaching style.
Constructive criticisms from my last obs were that I didn't push the students enough, so that the more able students were challenged to go beyond the set exercises and tasks. Hmmm, as all our students work from work books I was concerned that if I digressed during an observed lesson I would be penalised for not sticking to the criteria. I was also criticised for helping too much - demonstrating or giving answers too readily when asked a question.
After that obs, I felt extremely deflated and yes, upset. I didn't want to be a satistfactory teacher, but a good, if not outstanding one. I told myself that the scoring system for the observation was flawed and demotivating.
But as a result, I did rethink my strategies. I noticed that with my children I too readily do things for them, instead of encouraging them to work things out for themselves. I started to hang back from giving information too freely, but rather encouraging both my students and my children to try that little bit harder to work it out for themselves. Reflecting on today's experience, I think that whilst I really dislike the grading system for observations, it has made me rethink my teaching strategies, and ultimately, I think it has made a better learning environment for my students.
My final thoughts then are that perhaps observations do serve a purpose and do have a place in developing better teachers, but that they need to go hand in hand with positive support and suggestions, and yes, encouragement for the teacher themselves. After all, a good teacher should still be learning, just at a different level to their students.
Constructive criticisms from my last obs were that I didn't push the students enough, so that the more able students were challenged to go beyond the set exercises and tasks. Hmmm, as all our students work from work books I was concerned that if I digressed during an observed lesson I would be penalised for not sticking to the criteria. I was also criticised for helping too much - demonstrating or giving answers too readily when asked a question.
After that obs, I felt extremely deflated and yes, upset. I didn't want to be a satistfactory teacher, but a good, if not outstanding one. I told myself that the scoring system for the observation was flawed and demotivating.
But as a result, I did rethink my strategies. I noticed that with my children I too readily do things for them, instead of encouraging them to work things out for themselves. I started to hang back from giving information too freely, but rather encouraging both my students and my children to try that little bit harder to work it out for themselves. Reflecting on today's experience, I think that whilst I really dislike the grading system for observations, it has made me rethink my teaching strategies, and ultimately, I think it has made a better learning environment for my students.
My final thoughts then are that perhaps observations do serve a purpose and do have a place in developing better teachers, but that they need to go hand in hand with positive support and suggestions, and yes, encouragement for the teacher themselves. After all, a good teacher should still be learning, just at a different level to their students.
Thursday, 23 June 2011
jQuery
I've been having lots of fun over the past few weeks developing jQuery skills to pass on to my students. Having successfully downloaded the jQuery library, I've used it to create a simple toggle effect.
One student has specifically asked for a carousel of images. After a bit of research I found jcarousellite which is a very easy to use plugin. Without much effort I've created a simple carousel too.
Teaching is much more satisfying when I'm learning too :)
One student has specifically asked for a carousel of images. After a bit of research I found jcarousellite which is a very easy to use plugin. Without much effort I've created a simple carousel too.
Teaching is much more satisfying when I'm learning too :)
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Learning from my colleagues
A while back I wrote a post about learning from my learners. Yesterday, I was lucky to have a colleague assisting in the classroom, and I found it very interesting to learn from her.
I had a student struggling with a particular aspect of their course (English skills). Having spent some time with him already, I was finding it difficult to explain it any other way, so I asked my colleague to help. After a little thought, she explained the subject completely differently to the way I had been doing it. She was extremely patient with the learner, getting him to think about the subject in a way that was more meaningful to him, rather than looking at it in an abstract manner.
It made me reflect on how I had approached the subject, and gave me ideas on how I could do it differently next time.
My final thoughts? That teaching is not easy - it takes a considerable amount of effort, creativity and skill - and that we, as teachers, must never be complacent about our work, but rather that we should take every opportunity to expand our own thinking and share good practice.
I had a student struggling with a particular aspect of their course (English skills). Having spent some time with him already, I was finding it difficult to explain it any other way, so I asked my colleague to help. After a little thought, she explained the subject completely differently to the way I had been doing it. She was extremely patient with the learner, getting him to think about the subject in a way that was more meaningful to him, rather than looking at it in an abstract manner.
It made me reflect on how I had approached the subject, and gave me ideas on how I could do it differently next time.
My final thoughts? That teaching is not easy - it takes a considerable amount of effort, creativity and skill - and that we, as teachers, must never be complacent about our work, but rather that we should take every opportunity to expand our own thinking and share good practice.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Social Networking Session
I think the session today on social networking went very well. There was a lot to cram into a few hours, but all the sign ups seemed to go pretty smoothly, and everyone seemed to get to grips with posting tweets and the basics of facebook. Not so much time for blogging, but hopefully enough of a taster to get people started. Is this the future?
Social Networking Session
I've been running a social networking session today at the Learn IT Monmouth.
Monday, 16 May 2011
Social Networking Taster Session
Over the last few days I have been busy preparing for our taster session on Social Networking, as part of Adult Learners Week. I will be covering Facebook, Twitter and Blogging. I think it'll be a great session, as I'm going to encourage all the learners to Tweet during the session using a hash tag. Hopefully there will be lots of interactivity.
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