The GDLT course for me so far has been, in a word overwhelming. While all the material and learning exercises that we are given have been interesting, all the different things we must remember is a little un-nerving. There are all the different methods that should be incorporated into lesson plans, the dos and don’ts of Prac, a background of different diversities. Not to mention all the different acronyms, there are KLAs, WoW, ELs, DoLs, K&U, LEP, UoW and that’s just a few of them. I have acquired these commonly used ones as part of my 'internal dictionary' and recognise them when I hear them. With more use, I’m sure, the others will follow suit.
A lot of the various learning experiences ask you to reflect on your education, as I’m studying primary I thought it would be beneficial to reflect on my own primary education. This task however has proved to be challenging as my memory from primary school is a little foggy. I attended two primary schools, the local little country school from years 1-5 and a private school for years 6 & 7. The first school was a very small school with every class a composite and only 3 classes at that. With small class sizes the teacher was able to devote a lot of individual attention to each child. When I moved into the private school, it was a bit of a shock to the system. The school was enormous (it was a primary and secondary school) there was a gym, a nurse, a swimming pool, a few tennis courts, a theatre, and more overwhelming, thousands of girl! The primary section of the school was run similar to the secondary with bells indicating a change in lesson and different teachers for different subjects. I am able to remember small parts of my primary education, like in Grade 4 I remember being rather jealous of the year 2 class as they were playing with green slim and I was stuck in a maths lesson. Or in Grade 6, while learning about Medieval England we hosted a Medieval Theatre Restaurant that our parents and school officials attended. The entertainment was a medieval Spice Girls group. Overall I think the majority of my learning was done via 'Chalk and Talk' but the more memorable learning experiences were the ones that were outside the box.
Next term the GDLT students begin their first EBL (embedded learning, another acronym). I will be looking after a year 2 class at the local primary school. While I’m nervous about being in a classroom, and feel completely underprepared, it will be good to put some theory into practice. A few days ago i rang my Mentor Teacher (MT), speaking to her lowered my feelings of dread. Just knowing there is someone there who I can observe first hand to see how an experienced teacher teaches filled me with a lot more confidence.
Voki
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
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ReplyDeleteHi Miriam,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I love your blog title – “Blogging my way through GDTL” :-)
It was interesting to read about your recollections of Primary school too. Like you, my memories of Primary school are somewhat foggy… and the experiences I remember best weren’t necessarily ‘in-class’ learning experiences. It seems to me that; events, school camps or other engaging and interesting activities with an emotional connection (like the medieval theatre night you described), really stick with you into adulthood.
I think this only further highlights the rationale for embedding ICTs in our lessons once we start in schools since ICTs are ideal for engaging learners… perhaps the memories of our ICT infused lessons will stick with our students longer than the ‘chalk and talk’ lessons of our youth stuck with us!
I’ll check back later (or keep an eye on my google-reader RSS feeds) to read your next post :-)
Like you, I’m looking forward to my EPL next school term – I’ll be at Yeppoon State School and can’t wait to learn from my MT and get a taste for teaching in the real world.
All the best with your studies.
Kind regards,
Karlee
P.S. I deleted this comment posting just before since copying and pasting smiley faces had turned them into little boxes :(
...serves me and my smiley face addition right! :)
Hi Miriam,
ReplyDeleteI started my EPL on the last 2 days of term 1, and...so far, so good! I know it feels like we have been thrown in the deep end (and I think they might have done that deliberately!), but just think of how we can put into practice Dimension 5 of DoL - Habits of Mind. Be clear and seek clarity; maintain an open mind; persevere; push the limits of your knowledge and abilities; monitor your own thinking; plan appropriately; and respond appropriately to feedback (just to name a few).
I'm sure you are going to be great. Good luck and have fun!
- Leesha!
Hi Miriam,
ReplyDeleteafter observing for a while and getting to the students you will probably become keen to get in front of the class. The practices and techniques a teacher uses to keep students on task and the transitions between activities are often hard to recognise. Creating meaningful activities LE's on paper and then implementing them, day after day, must be an art form i believe.
I'm sure it will be a good experience
Anthony GDLT
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for all you comments.
Karlee, I completely agree with you. Creating interesting learning experiences rather than the chalk and talk style of teaching, will (hopefully if we are doing our job correctly) leave students with an understanding of the topic that will stick with them for life.
Alicia, glad to hear you're going ok on your EPL. I start tomorrow, so I'm feeling a little nervous. I will try to keep in mind the DoL 5. Thanks for the tip.
Anthony, I'm sure you are right. Thanks.