So today when I went to the classroom in the afternoon I was able to observe a 1st grade classroom at a British Primary School today! It was interesting at first, the liaison left me in the staff room to wait for my teacher for a half an hour....then my teacher took me to a classroom in the 1st year corridor, which smelled like pee at one point, except for the classroom I was in! So that was good! I talked to the teacher, she introduced me to the children and they all stared at me and started to say "Oh she's from America!" And they smiled, adorably. :) I then walked with them and a helper to voice lessons, I was at the back of the line and 3 young boys started to ask me questions, one held my hand, they asked me where I was from, what my mother and father's name were, if I had a dog, what it's name was, my cats and everything. It was so adorable! Then during the voice lessons I watched them sing and they were very good! It was funny to hear their accents come out while they were singing! :)
I went back into the room with the children and the teacher did a great job of getting their attention and getting them to sit down and be ready to learn. She then started a lesson by having them count up by 2's, 5's, and 10's as a class to 20 and 100 and backwards as well! This was something that surprised me a LOT! I had never seen a class learn/recite counting down instead of up. I know that they teach it, but every classroom I have seen hasn't had it be a very big part of learning numbers. After counting she put up some problems on their smartboard. She used this paintshop/kids program that had everything from making your own pages with words, to using highlighters and pens of different colors to draw, colour, and write on the page she had up. She had the children show me how to use it later on in the class and it was very helpful :) For each of the numeracy problems she put up (they were working on solving word problems) she would have them pick out the important parts of the problem and she would highlight them with the highlighter in the program she was using. The pen she held in her hand did it on the computer screen for her, on the projector and the computer it was hooked to. She then also had them talk about the problem and solve it, she even had some of the children come up and solve problems using the smartboard. The children seemed to be very inclined technologically with this smartboard in their classroom. I would guess, and it seemed to me, they used it a lot and were very familiar with it.
The teacher had me work with one group on doing halfs and quarters of things and they did a worksheet on it. They had me help them a lot and they all asked me questions as we went along as well. It was a great experience to talk to these young students because I have not be able to experience this age of British culture till now. Overall I feel that the young students of England are just like those of the US, but have more proper grammar. :) They both are the future of each of their own countries, and I feel that the students want to learn and become the best that they can be when they grow up, and each of their own countries is doing the best they can in order for that to happen.
I would have liked to have stayed longer in the young classroom at Widey, it was a great experience and I learned A LOT from it. It also gave me the preview of what my 1st graders may be like next year in my internship placement next year!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Americans have an accent!
Today was an interesting one, and tiring I'm afraid....without much sleep the days seem much longer, and harder to get through. Tomorrow I will be well rested up however, because I am SO excited to see Stonehenge and Bath!
Class today was interesting, I thought that everyone so far that I've seen has done a GREAT job on their digital stories! I'm learning a lot through watching them! Good job girls! :)
We didn't get to learn much about the podcast today because of the internet being down and such, but I plan on doing a bit of research through the wiki and iTunes tonight to get myself more acquainted with it....because it still is all a bit fuzzy to me. I'm pretty sure that it is all just like a talk radio show, but the synchronizing and things are making me a bit more confused...as well as the ninja video! lol I did love the segment on the cyber nation and all that we saw and learned about it, it's crazy how much technology is growing! Speaking of that today when we went and ate in on lunch with some teachers and students we saw something that I had never seen before! When getting lunch or things from the vending machine, the students fingerprint is scanned and then what they choose, the price is charged to their student account. They can add money or their parents at any time, and they just do this for the vending machines and lunch and things of that sort to pay! AMAZING! The liaison said it was a great thing put up a couple of years ago because many students were getting money lost, stolen, or they would be gambling during school, so the fingerprint scans got ride of the reason for them to have any change or money in their pockets. I thought that was very interesting and a great technology that would help problems like that go away in schools.
After lunch we were each taken to a specific subject classroom that the liaison had set up, and left there to observe the class. I was put in a 10 year group (15 year olds) in a science classroom. The layout of the room was similar to any high school science room I have seen, with lab tables/stools, electrical outlets, sinks on one side, and lots of posters hanging around about science. They also had a smartboard like the rest of the classrooms, which the "Miss" = teacher, had a slide show projecting on. They first went through a short lesson on how plants grow. They then did an activity where they planted some seeds on a cotton cloth in a petri dish, got the cloth wet and were going to make a table for how tall the seeds grow the rest of the school year. (They go on summer break in about 10 days, and start school back up again the 2nd week of September.) The Miss then went through a small run through of the life stages of a human, and talked about gestation and growth. They then did an activity where they cut out pictures of the different stages of life in the magazines and then pasted and labeled them in their notebooks. I really didn't see the value in this but I later found out that this was a lower level class, which still didn't make sense for how easy the activity was and how old the students were.
As far as the behavior of the students I was overwhelmed yesterday with the good manners and group work, but today, I saw different. It was like a normal classroom to me I suppose, with teenagers anyway. They all wanted to talk while the teacher was talking, they made comments about anything and everything, and all the teacher did was "shush" them every time and wait for them to be quiet. No demerits, no punishments, just a "shush" and a wait. I suppose that I haven't seen the students enough to know how they behave on a regular occasion, but this was interesting to me that she was so laid back when these students were not respecting her at all. But I only observed her one period because she had not expected me to stay any longer. We saw another home ec class and talked to 3 or 4 girls in there about America and what they thought of us and our "accent"...they said it was "lovely" and they talked to us about music and about that their school wasn't really that bad, but everyone says it is. They also talked to us about our language and how it's different...we also talked about the mall, places to go and things to do here and in America and Michigan...it was quite nice. :) The girls were very friendly, the most friendly students I met during my time there, so it was great to finally talk to them and get their input and thoughts on things of our culture compared to theirs.
I am extremely looking forward to Stonehenge and Bath tomorrow, as well as going to the primary school on Thursday!
Off to plan for London!
Class today was interesting, I thought that everyone so far that I've seen has done a GREAT job on their digital stories! I'm learning a lot through watching them! Good job girls! :)
We didn't get to learn much about the podcast today because of the internet being down and such, but I plan on doing a bit of research through the wiki and iTunes tonight to get myself more acquainted with it....because it still is all a bit fuzzy to me. I'm pretty sure that it is all just like a talk radio show, but the synchronizing and things are making me a bit more confused...as well as the ninja video! lol I did love the segment on the cyber nation and all that we saw and learned about it, it's crazy how much technology is growing! Speaking of that today when we went and ate in on lunch with some teachers and students we saw something that I had never seen before! When getting lunch or things from the vending machine, the students fingerprint is scanned and then what they choose, the price is charged to their student account. They can add money or their parents at any time, and they just do this for the vending machines and lunch and things of that sort to pay! AMAZING! The liaison said it was a great thing put up a couple of years ago because many students were getting money lost, stolen, or they would be gambling during school, so the fingerprint scans got ride of the reason for them to have any change or money in their pockets. I thought that was very interesting and a great technology that would help problems like that go away in schools.
After lunch we were each taken to a specific subject classroom that the liaison had set up, and left there to observe the class. I was put in a 10 year group (15 year olds) in a science classroom. The layout of the room was similar to any high school science room I have seen, with lab tables/stools, electrical outlets, sinks on one side, and lots of posters hanging around about science. They also had a smartboard like the rest of the classrooms, which the "Miss" = teacher, had a slide show projecting on. They first went through a short lesson on how plants grow. They then did an activity where they planted some seeds on a cotton cloth in a petri dish, got the cloth wet and were going to make a table for how tall the seeds grow the rest of the school year. (They go on summer break in about 10 days, and start school back up again the 2nd week of September.) The Miss then went through a small run through of the life stages of a human, and talked about gestation and growth. They then did an activity where they cut out pictures of the different stages of life in the magazines and then pasted and labeled them in their notebooks. I really didn't see the value in this but I later found out that this was a lower level class, which still didn't make sense for how easy the activity was and how old the students were.
As far as the behavior of the students I was overwhelmed yesterday with the good manners and group work, but today, I saw different. It was like a normal classroom to me I suppose, with teenagers anyway. They all wanted to talk while the teacher was talking, they made comments about anything and everything, and all the teacher did was "shush" them every time and wait for them to be quiet. No demerits, no punishments, just a "shush" and a wait. I suppose that I haven't seen the students enough to know how they behave on a regular occasion, but this was interesting to me that she was so laid back when these students were not respecting her at all. But I only observed her one period because she had not expected me to stay any longer. We saw another home ec class and talked to 3 or 4 girls in there about America and what they thought of us and our "accent"...they said it was "lovely" and they talked to us about music and about that their school wasn't really that bad, but everyone says it is. They also talked to us about our language and how it's different...we also talked about the mall, places to go and things to do here and in America and Michigan...it was quite nice. :) The girls were very friendly, the most friendly students I met during my time there, so it was great to finally talk to them and get their input and thoughts on things of our culture compared to theirs.
I am extremely looking forward to Stonehenge and Bath tomorrow, as well as going to the primary school on Thursday!
Off to plan for London!
Monday, July 7, 2008
"Some People Are Gay. Get Over It."
So I supposed I should start off by explaining my heading...we went into the reception area at Tamarside Community College and saw that poster hanging on a bulletin board where we waited. It was interesting to see that in the school, because things like that in the U.S. are sparing. It is a good indication at how accepting the people and society is over here to everyone, no matter who they are or what they are like. It's nice.
So today's adventure at the community college was amazing! The liaison was SO friendly and he took us around the school and talked to us about the whole British school system and how it works then we were able to watch him teach a history lesson, which was very interesting because it was British history, which I know nothing about, but I love history so I enjoyed watching the students work together to put together a time line of events. They had slides that had different dates and events on them and the first task was for them to the events in chronological order. He used the smartboard (which almost every room had in it) to time the students for 5 minutes to get that done, then he also had an iPod boombox near the desk that he put music on while the students were working.
The next part of the lesson was to work in group, boys for one group, girls for the other, and fill out a worksheet with a fill in the blank for each historical event that was on the time line they put in order. The girls struggled with this, but the boys worked together and figured out a system, two people write, the others find the sheets....they had put them out of order after the first activity. I found it interesting how they split up into boys vs. girls a lot in the school. In the next classroom that we went to, the technology (ICT = Information and Community Technology) rooms, had the girls and boys lined up outside of the classroom before class started, then they were filed in separately, then they also put their bags on separate tables, but sat altogether as a class. This was very interesting to me, because in the states we try not to exclude boys and girls into separate groups, but here it seems as a tradition and part of the schooling.
The other part of the history lesson that we saw from our liaison, Craig Staples, was that he had created audio clips with clues on them, and what the children were to do was listen to each clue, trying not to pick the false ones or the "buzzers" which meant no clue or anything. He played each clue as the students picked them and then the children had to go through ruling out different famous people that the clues were about, based on what they had previously learned from other lessons about history. It was VERY interesting to see the way that the activity was set up and the massive use of technology throughout the entire lesson, I loved it! The students were engaged and actively participating....note there was only 7 of them out of 20, but still, it was great to see them work together as a class, but also independently at times. Craig continuously told us that the period we were going to see him teach was a very "rough" group of students, that didn't really care about school, but they did a great job of fooling us because they were well behaved most of the time and worked well in groups. At the end of the lesson he had a section called "WHILT" = "What Have I Learned Today?" He went through a series of slides with sentence starters to get the children to reflect on what they learned in the lesson, what it taught them, how did they learn it, why they liked it, etc. It was very interesting to hear the students' responses, which one boy inputed "I learned that when I behave well, I work better in a group." It was a very mature and great observation to hear from an 11 year old.
The other room that we visited was the ICT room where I watched a lesson on making designs/logos in Microsoft Logo Maker...a program I have never heard of before. It was interesting to see similar classroom management skills used by the teacher, but such a different lesson with a program I had never seen before. We were able to help the children and they were very open to asking us for help calling me "Miss" which was very different for me, but cute! :)
Overall it was a very enjoyable experience and I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow and the Primary school on Thursday, which will be different I'm sure. The schooling lecture we got from Nick today in class was VERY helpful in letting us know how the system works, which helped me to develop more questions for our liaison for tomorrow and also opened my eyes to more things that I will be able to notice, now knowing what the school system is like. Which is SO confusing to us, but simple to them! I am looking forward to doing the podcast on this subject, which I think will be very interesting to hear everyone's different perspective from each school.
Tina, Michelle, and I are going to eat "dinner" with the staff and students tomorrow when we arrive to the school so that will be a good experience as well! I'm looking forward to that, all of the staff is VERY friendly, so I'm sure it will be a very useful experience as well as seeing more subjects/classrooms tomorrow!
So today's adventure at the community college was amazing! The liaison was SO friendly and he took us around the school and talked to us about the whole British school system and how it works then we were able to watch him teach a history lesson, which was very interesting because it was British history, which I know nothing about, but I love history so I enjoyed watching the students work together to put together a time line of events. They had slides that had different dates and events on them and the first task was for them to the events in chronological order. He used the smartboard (which almost every room had in it) to time the students for 5 minutes to get that done, then he also had an iPod boombox near the desk that he put music on while the students were working.
The next part of the lesson was to work in group, boys for one group, girls for the other, and fill out a worksheet with a fill in the blank for each historical event that was on the time line they put in order. The girls struggled with this, but the boys worked together and figured out a system, two people write, the others find the sheets....they had put them out of order after the first activity. I found it interesting how they split up into boys vs. girls a lot in the school. In the next classroom that we went to, the technology (ICT = Information and Community Technology) rooms, had the girls and boys lined up outside of the classroom before class started, then they were filed in separately, then they also put their bags on separate tables, but sat altogether as a class. This was very interesting to me, because in the states we try not to exclude boys and girls into separate groups, but here it seems as a tradition and part of the schooling.
The other part of the history lesson that we saw from our liaison, Craig Staples, was that he had created audio clips with clues on them, and what the children were to do was listen to each clue, trying not to pick the false ones or the "buzzers" which meant no clue or anything. He played each clue as the students picked them and then the children had to go through ruling out different famous people that the clues were about, based on what they had previously learned from other lessons about history. It was VERY interesting to see the way that the activity was set up and the massive use of technology throughout the entire lesson, I loved it! The students were engaged and actively participating....note there was only 7 of them out of 20, but still, it was great to see them work together as a class, but also independently at times. Craig continuously told us that the period we were going to see him teach was a very "rough" group of students, that didn't really care about school, but they did a great job of fooling us because they were well behaved most of the time and worked well in groups. At the end of the lesson he had a section called "WHILT" = "What Have I Learned Today?" He went through a series of slides with sentence starters to get the children to reflect on what they learned in the lesson, what it taught them, how did they learn it, why they liked it, etc. It was very interesting to hear the students' responses, which one boy inputed "I learned that when I behave well, I work better in a group." It was a very mature and great observation to hear from an 11 year old.
The other room that we visited was the ICT room where I watched a lesson on making designs/logos in Microsoft Logo Maker...a program I have never heard of before. It was interesting to see similar classroom management skills used by the teacher, but such a different lesson with a program I had never seen before. We were able to help the children and they were very open to asking us for help calling me "Miss" which was very different for me, but cute! :)
Overall it was a very enjoyable experience and I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow and the Primary school on Thursday, which will be different I'm sure. The schooling lecture we got from Nick today in class was VERY helpful in letting us know how the system works, which helped me to develop more questions for our liaison for tomorrow and also opened my eyes to more things that I will be able to notice, now knowing what the school system is like. Which is SO confusing to us, but simple to them! I am looking forward to doing the podcast on this subject, which I think will be very interesting to hear everyone's different perspective from each school.
Tina, Michelle, and I are going to eat "dinner" with the staff and students tomorrow when we arrive to the school so that will be a good experience as well! I'm looking forward to that, all of the staff is VERY friendly, so I'm sure it will be a very useful experience as well as seeing more subjects/classrooms tomorrow!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Kill your speed, not a pony.
This weekend has been very interesting and exciting!
Friday I was able to interview a man named David, from the city museum in Plymouth. He told me all about WWII and what it was like in Plymouth, and how it's affected the people here, then and still today. I also was able to see pictures from a 50th anniversary exhibit that they had recently put up in the museum. It was great experience and I was able to get a lot of things for my project...too much information probably but we shall see!
Then yesterday I was able to experience the natural and beautiful amazing side of England. We went on a horseback ride through the hills of Dartmoor National Park, and it was AMAZING. The weather was horrible on the way back from the pub, but none the less, it was well worth it! There were animals roaming the hills all over, including the Dartmoor pony which is date back to 110 BC!!
They are beautiful little animals, that were very friendly! We saw them on the way to the pub and also on the way back, along with the colts :) they were breathtaking, as well as the view. I highly suggest going to see Dartmoor before you leave, even if it is not on horseback (which was definitely the best way for ME to see it) go see it, it is unlike anything that you will ever see in your life, and definitely worth it.
I also learned about some cultural things while I went on my trip to Dartmoor this weekend. The transportation system here is amazing, and most of the time very reliable. We got to experience the little town of Ashburton, talk to some police officers, and ride in a taxi, which is an experience in itself.
The police officers were plainly dressed, and very friendly! I wish I would have gotten a picture but...it was interesting! Our police officers are geared up with huge belts of stuff, guns, knives, handcuffs, everything....but these police officers were plainly dressed in black t-shirts with black trousers and black shoes. They had like a small patch on each arm that said Police, and they had only 1 or 2 things on their belt, neither of which was a firearm.
The taxi drive there and back was VERY interesting, and for any of you that know me, I get nervous and sick in cars, especially in the backseat with people driving that I don't know...well welcome to the taxi system in England!! When you enter into Dartmoor National Park there are SMALL roads, one car wide, walls on each side of you (brick with ivy growing all over), sharp turns, because you are in the hills, and animals standing on the side of the road. He was speeding through this area, fast around corners and barely 2 in away from the wall on my side, and the cars passing on the other...come to find out however, taxi drivers here have to go through a 2 year program to become a taxi driver, and they get paid SOOO much. Their brains are even scanned before and after and there is a HUGE difference in depth perception and area awareness after they go through this program. This is why they get paid so much here, because they are the best drivers in England! After I found that I (which was at the end of the day) I felt more comfortable getting in a taxi again...but during the ride, I wanted to cry, throw up, and scream all at the same time! haha! But, I'm alive and well thanks to England's finest taxi driver, Matthew :)
All and all I was able to come home, get a hot shower...and get up this morning sore as all get out, but it was worth it :)
Friday I was able to interview a man named David, from the city museum in Plymouth. He told me all about WWII and what it was like in Plymouth, and how it's affected the people here, then and still today. I also was able to see pictures from a 50th anniversary exhibit that they had recently put up in the museum. It was great experience and I was able to get a lot of things for my project...too much information probably but we shall see!
Then yesterday I was able to experience the natural and beautiful amazing side of England. We went on a horseback ride through the hills of Dartmoor National Park, and it was AMAZING. The weather was horrible on the way back from the pub, but none the less, it was well worth it! There were animals roaming the hills all over, including the Dartmoor pony which is date back to 110 BC!!
They are beautiful little animals, that were very friendly! We saw them on the way to the pub and also on the way back, along with the colts :) they were breathtaking, as well as the view. I highly suggest going to see Dartmoor before you leave, even if it is not on horseback (which was definitely the best way for ME to see it) go see it, it is unlike anything that you will ever see in your life, and definitely worth it.I also learned about some cultural things while I went on my trip to Dartmoor this weekend. The transportation system here is amazing, and most of the time very reliable. We got to experience the little town of Ashburton, talk to some police officers, and ride in a taxi, which is an experience in itself.
The police officers were plainly dressed, and very friendly! I wish I would have gotten a picture but...it was interesting! Our police officers are geared up with huge belts of stuff, guns, knives, handcuffs, everything....but these police officers were plainly dressed in black t-shirts with black trousers and black shoes. They had like a small patch on each arm that said Police, and they had only 1 or 2 things on their belt, neither of which was a firearm.
The taxi drive there and back was VERY interesting, and for any of you that know me, I get nervous and sick in cars, especially in the backseat with people driving that I don't know...well welcome to the taxi system in England!! When you enter into Dartmoor National Park there are SMALL roads, one car wide, walls on each side of you (brick with ivy growing all over), sharp turns, because you are in the hills, and animals standing on the side of the road. He was speeding through this area, fast around corners and barely 2 in away from the wall on my side, and the cars passing on the other...come to find out however, taxi drivers here have to go through a 2 year program to become a taxi driver, and they get paid SOOO much. Their brains are even scanned before and after and there is a HUGE difference in depth perception and area awareness after they go through this program. This is why they get paid so much here, because they are the best drivers in England! After I found that I (which was at the end of the day) I felt more comfortable getting in a taxi again...but during the ride, I wanted to cry, throw up, and scream all at the same time! haha! But, I'm alive and well thanks to England's finest taxi driver, Matthew :)
All and all I was able to come home, get a hot shower...and get up this morning sore as all get out, but it was worth it :)
Friday, July 4, 2008
Happy 4th of July!!
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY !!!
Yesterday during class I was happy to talk about the projects and give our feed back on what we thought about everything. Watching the Chinese preschool video, and then watching the Japanese and U.S. preschool videos today, there is such a wide range of differences! Not just the language and they way that they learn, but the way that the teacher behaves as well as the students. Seeing the Chinese children called "spoiled" for being upset for their parents leaving was very shocking. There is such a difference in the perception of why children go to school, and what they are supposed to learn. It is not just about academics there but to learn how to become part of the whole group, and work and play cooperatively. When thinking about schools in the U.S., as the article and videos talked about, independence is a large part of going to school, to learn how to take care of oneself and express oneself with words.
I was surprised to see that the Japanese teacher did not discipline the young boy who was misbehaving so much. I feel that this is such a large and shocking thing to our culture, but practical if you think about it. Children do fight and misbehave, it is part of their nature, but then again there are children who misbehave not only for attention but to purposefully hurt other children, and this is where I would think the line would be drawn. In the U.S. preschool the young child who will not pick up the blocks is carried back to a corner to sit by himself until he is ready to put away his blocks. The teacher is not loud and does not yell in front of the other teachers, but is firm and allows him to express his feelings if he chooses. This is quite different than seen in the Japanese school where the teacher does nothing about the young boy misbehaving, even though he was kicking and hitting the other children. Keeping your hands to yourself is obviously not a rule in their classroom, or perhaps culture.
Seeing these major differences makes me excited yet very nervous to go into the English schools. I feel that there will be lots of differences in not only the material they are learning, or how they behave in class, but how also they react to my presence in the classroom, and what the teacher thinks also. It should be interesting to hear what they think about America...but whatever it is I am hoping to be able to tell them some new things and show them that not all Americans are the same.
Yesterday during class I was happy to talk about the projects and give our feed back on what we thought about everything. Watching the Chinese preschool video, and then watching the Japanese and U.S. preschool videos today, there is such a wide range of differences! Not just the language and they way that they learn, but the way that the teacher behaves as well as the students. Seeing the Chinese children called "spoiled" for being upset for their parents leaving was very shocking. There is such a difference in the perception of why children go to school, and what they are supposed to learn. It is not just about academics there but to learn how to become part of the whole group, and work and play cooperatively. When thinking about schools in the U.S., as the article and videos talked about, independence is a large part of going to school, to learn how to take care of oneself and express oneself with words.
I was surprised to see that the Japanese teacher did not discipline the young boy who was misbehaving so much. I feel that this is such a large and shocking thing to our culture, but practical if you think about it. Children do fight and misbehave, it is part of their nature, but then again there are children who misbehave not only for attention but to purposefully hurt other children, and this is where I would think the line would be drawn. In the U.S. preschool the young child who will not pick up the blocks is carried back to a corner to sit by himself until he is ready to put away his blocks. The teacher is not loud and does not yell in front of the other teachers, but is firm and allows him to express his feelings if he chooses. This is quite different than seen in the Japanese school where the teacher does nothing about the young boy misbehaving, even though he was kicking and hitting the other children. Keeping your hands to yourself is obviously not a rule in their classroom, or perhaps culture.
Seeing these major differences makes me excited yet very nervous to go into the English schools. I feel that there will be lots of differences in not only the material they are learning, or how they behave in class, but how also they react to my presence in the classroom, and what the teacher thinks also. It should be interesting to hear what they think about America...but whatever it is I am hoping to be able to tell them some new things and show them that not all Americans are the same.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
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