Monday 31st January 2011
Off work last week... Still not 100%, but at least I can go out now.
After my last post, I pushed myself to do something on van, so I cut holes for vents in the side of van on Friday afternoon (outside of work hours, though in case John Harrison, my boss, stumbles across this!) This is a very scary experience, taking a jigsaw to a vehicle! Never is the old adage 'measure twice, cut once' so meaningful. So I measured twelve times and cut the hole. It turned out OK, and I didn't hit anything vital, either! I must remember to impart this to my students when they are trimming out work for their final exhibition...
Reflecting on the way I teach, I sometimes see myself as a foreman in an Engineering works. Having had experience of this type of 'education' in factories and on board fishing boats, I recognise some of the more negative aspects of this style of teaching in myself. The old adage 'don't smile 'til Easter' was given to me early on in my teaching career, and I often wonder about the value of this. I can understand that the students need to respect the role of the teacher, but does this need to be enforced in such an unfriendly way?
Saturday 29th we had a Las Vegas themed night at the Catholic Club. I am chairman of the Pogue Mahone Scooter Club, and as a team building exercise, we decided to hold this event as a fancy dress evening. Anyone not turning up in fancy dress was fined, with the proceeds going to the Madeline Allen appeal. I worked out that fancy dress would cost in the region of £50, and the fine was only £5, so I didn't bother with an outfit. As far as I can tell, I was at least £45 up before I even started! Edd and Roz came a long - I think they had a good night and quite enjoyed the music. As a team building exercise, the night was a success, too. Nobody fell out or fought with each other, so that was a good thing. Sometimes, running a scooter club is more difficult than running a class full of unruly students. In fact, I'd take the students any day! At least students don't drink copious amounts of strong lager in class, then threaten to kick my face off!
Trying to talk Alan (Maxine's new boyfriend) into buying a camper van, but I think he is a bit resistant.
Monday, 31 January 2011
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Reflections - 4 (new)
Thursday 27th January 2011
Off work sick all week. Not good. I have been ringing every day but today I resolved that I'm not well enough to go in for the week.
I wish felt well enough to use time productively on van...
Or on my blog. I have essays to write, you know.
So how do I reflect on this one? As per the last post, I must try to empathise more when students (or colleagues) are ill. I should also try to make teaching materials more accessible - I am the worst Moodler in the staffroom, and my course is way down on the league table of 'Courses that are good on Moodle'. I have a real issue with Moodle, and this reflection may turn into a rant, but here goes: I feel that if you put everything and the kitchen sink online, the value of face to face teaching becomes diminished. I have seen may colleagues using Moodle effectively, and their students welcome the resources at their disposal. I also see that some of these learners are less involved in the research aspect of their course. It is almost as if they have become used to being shown what to research, where the resources are and which specific areas they should concentrate on. I am aware that some students can be lazy, and others still have difficulty in focusing down to the essence of certain subjects. I also know that Moodle does more good than harm, but still, I cannot bring myself to use it as it should be used, and I also find myself post-rationalising my lack of engagement with the VLE. More on tis later, I think...
Off work sick all week. Not good. I have been ringing every day but today I resolved that I'm not well enough to go in for the week.
I wish felt well enough to use time productively on van...
Or on my blog. I have essays to write, you know.
So how do I reflect on this one? As per the last post, I must try to empathise more when students (or colleagues) are ill. I should also try to make teaching materials more accessible - I am the worst Moodler in the staffroom, and my course is way down on the league table of 'Courses that are good on Moodle'. I have a real issue with Moodle, and this reflection may turn into a rant, but here goes: I feel that if you put everything and the kitchen sink online, the value of face to face teaching becomes diminished. I have seen may colleagues using Moodle effectively, and their students welcome the resources at their disposal. I also see that some of these learners are less involved in the research aspect of their course. It is almost as if they have become used to being shown what to research, where the resources are and which specific areas they should concentrate on. I am aware that some students can be lazy, and others still have difficulty in focusing down to the essence of certain subjects. I also know that Moodle does more good than harm, but still, I cannot bring myself to use it as it should be used, and I also find myself post-rationalising my lack of engagement with the VLE. More on tis later, I think...
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Reflections - 3 (new)
Sunday 23rd January 2011
Feeling very very ill... And all flu like. Don't think I will be in work tomorrow, and I rarely miss work. Hope that it gets better soon, as I have loads of assessments coming in... Hurts to type. Need to stop now. Sorry.
The point of being ill (if there can be a point) is to be able to stop and feel sorry for yourself. To be able to look after number one, and ignore the rest of the world while you concentrate on feeling normal again. So what if you are ill all the time? Does this mean that you cannot empathise with others? I have a couple of students who, for one reason or another (and because of their privacy, I do not wish to elaborate) feel very sick a great deal of the time, yet they manage to interact with others and are pleasant to their peers. This is a very difficult thing to do, remembering how ill I was at this point, and it is also very humbling to reflect on the way I am less tolerant of illness than I should be. I think that the fact that I am rarely ill means that I think that others should just 'get on with it' and go about their business as usual. I must try harder to be more tolerant...
Feeling very very ill... And all flu like. Don't think I will be in work tomorrow, and I rarely miss work. Hope that it gets better soon, as I have loads of assessments coming in... Hurts to type. Need to stop now. Sorry.
The point of being ill (if there can be a point) is to be able to stop and feel sorry for yourself. To be able to look after number one, and ignore the rest of the world while you concentrate on feeling normal again. So what if you are ill all the time? Does this mean that you cannot empathise with others? I have a couple of students who, for one reason or another (and because of their privacy, I do not wish to elaborate) feel very sick a great deal of the time, yet they manage to interact with others and are pleasant to their peers. This is a very difficult thing to do, remembering how ill I was at this point, and it is also very humbling to reflect on the way I am less tolerant of illness than I should be. I think that the fact that I am rarely ill means that I think that others should just 'get on with it' and go about their business as usual. I must try harder to be more tolerant...
Sunday, 16 January 2011
Reflections - 2 (new)
Sunday 16th January 2011
The dog took a longer time than usual to return with his ball today, and that caused me to reflect. I reflected on how cold it was, and how I wished that the dog would hurry up, but then I thought about how cold he was too. Which got me thinking that I was dreading parts of this assignment (not the reflection, the critical analysis of a pedagogic text). I don't know how I got from thinking 'the dog must be cold' to 'I am dreading this assignment'. It just popped in there.
This thought however, caused me to reflect on how my students felt come assessment time (which is imminent), and in particular, those with issues such as dyslexia. I have never had a problem with reading or writing, and I enjoy doing both, but I was feeling quite nervous about a 2,500 word assignment because it had a few scary words in it, like 'Critical', 'Analysis' and 'Pedagogic'.
I will try harder in future to make my assignments sound less scary.
Students have a habit of moaning if the work contains any kind of written element. This is perhaps because they "didn't sign up for this" or because they are visual people, and the written word is intimidating to them. Either way, the submission document for my Foundation Degree does have a fair amount of written assignments in year two: there is a fair scattering of 2,500 word reflections, 1,500 word reports and 1,000 word evaluations (and permutations of all of the above). The Workbased Learning module is a 2,500 word reflective log (much like this one), and I find it less stressful to do this electronically - It isn't like work if I do it in a blog, so I may try this method on the students to see if I can disguise the fact that they have to write something.
The dog took a longer time than usual to return with his ball today, and that caused me to reflect. I reflected on how cold it was, and how I wished that the dog would hurry up, but then I thought about how cold he was too. Which got me thinking that I was dreading parts of this assignment (not the reflection, the critical analysis of a pedagogic text). I don't know how I got from thinking 'the dog must be cold' to 'I am dreading this assignment'. It just popped in there.
This thought however, caused me to reflect on how my students felt come assessment time (which is imminent), and in particular, those with issues such as dyslexia. I have never had a problem with reading or writing, and I enjoy doing both, but I was feeling quite nervous about a 2,500 word assignment because it had a few scary words in it, like 'Critical', 'Analysis' and 'Pedagogic'.
I will try harder in future to make my assignments sound less scary.
Students have a habit of moaning if the work contains any kind of written element. This is perhaps because they "didn't sign up for this" or because they are visual people, and the written word is intimidating to them. Either way, the submission document for my Foundation Degree does have a fair amount of written assignments in year two: there is a fair scattering of 2,500 word reflections, 1,500 word reports and 1,000 word evaluations (and permutations of all of the above). The Workbased Learning module is a 2,500 word reflective log (much like this one), and I find it less stressful to do this electronically - It isn't like work if I do it in a blog, so I may try this method on the students to see if I can disguise the fact that they have to write something.
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Reflections - 1 (new)
Tuesday 11th January 2011
So welcome. The purpose of this blog is to ensure that I gain my Masters Degree in Professional Practice in Education, so I guess this is a very important document. To me. If you have stumbled across this accidentally, apologies. You will not find any great insights into the universe, life or even contemporary educational practices in a small town in Lancashire, so you can click away now. You will find the reflections of a teacher and quite a lot about my dog, Tip.
Tip is one of my tools in this reflective exercise. I walk him twice a day and these are amongst the few times I get chance to contemplate, reflect or even think about things. So I guess that the dog should share the qualification (if I get that far) and should come with me when I walk across that stage towards the end of 2012.
Another time I have the opportunity to reflect is when I am building things. I am presently building a camper van, so don't be surprised if Hermann Frederick Shermann pops into my reflection from time to time! Not that I use unsafe practices when using power tools (hence I have all my fingers)! I find that manual labour is a very cathartic experience... I had to look up how to spell catharsis, and I found in my first piece of reflection that in medicine, a catharsis is a substance used to accelerate defecation!
Edit: This assignment has been referred so in order to pass the module, New reflection (!) has been added. This is highlighted in yellow, and the post title will have a (new) added to any newly edited post.
So welcome. The purpose of this blog is to ensure that I gain my Masters Degree in Professional Practice in Education, so I guess this is a very important document. To me. If you have stumbled across this accidentally, apologies. You will not find any great insights into the universe, life or even contemporary educational practices in a small town in Lancashire, so you can click away now. You will find the reflections of a teacher and quite a lot about my dog, Tip.
Tip is one of my tools in this reflective exercise. I walk him twice a day and these are amongst the few times I get chance to contemplate, reflect or even think about things. So I guess that the dog should share the qualification (if I get that far) and should come with me when I walk across that stage towards the end of 2012.
Another time I have the opportunity to reflect is when I am building things. I am presently building a camper van, so don't be surprised if Hermann Frederick Shermann pops into my reflection from time to time! Not that I use unsafe practices when using power tools (hence I have all my fingers)! I find that manual labour is a very cathartic experience... I had to look up how to spell catharsis, and I found in my first piece of reflection that in medicine, a catharsis is a substance used to accelerate defecation!
Edit: This assignment has been referred so in order to pass the module, New reflection (!) has been added. This is highlighted in yellow, and the post title will have a (new) added to any newly edited post.
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