Ok I admit it I made a bad decision. I cracked under peer pressure and didn’t sign up to do the CT project this January. School SMT were saying I was doing too much, family and friends were saying I was doing too much. I listened to them rather than to my heart.

As it happened I got ill- an MS relapse. It was nothing to do with doing too much I have to add. I had flu at Christmas but only after nursing hubby and daughter (who ended up in hospital) through it. So I have been off work for most of January and really bored because I have nothing to study. Well of course that’s not entirely true as I am trying to teach myself Urdu, learn about the Theory of Knowledge course in the International Baccalaureate, learn to use Moodle and learn about biodynamic gardening. All the time I keep thinking that the CT is like an unfinnished task hanging over me. The last 3 weeks when I have been unable to move much I could have been planning a project, reading with a focus, writing bits of my dissertation. Instead my learning has taken on a frantic, chaotic and at times random nature.

I have decided to be in the next round of students doing their projects. I need to get this finished. Then I am going to finish my OU psychology that I abandoned for the PostGradCertificate.

Ok, I finished the course. Well actually I skived the last day and was told I had to go to the recall days if I wanted to pass. So I behaved and went to them. I wrote an outline of where I was in relation to the Standard for chartered teacher. Waffled on a bit about some of the stuff I had done, talks I had given etc. and I passed!

Then came the APFL claim for the modules I had done during my Diploma for Inclusive Practice. I had to get 2 forms filled in by school. They were similar to the ones for probationers ie had the standard and a box next to it with a space for comment. I had to have at least one of these filled in by a member of senior management. My PT did one, ticked all the boxes and said I was amazing. The one form SMT went from one person to the next and back and then back again then on the day I needed to take it with me for my presentation the person who said he would do it decided that he wouldnt (because he didn’t know how I teach) and he gave me a letter saying a differrent member of SMT would do the form. Eventually she did and it was posted on. I thought it completely rediclous that nobody in SMT has EVER seen me teach. So on what basis did they fill the form in?

The other part of the APFL course was a presentation to 3 fellow students and 2 lecturers at the Uni. I felt a bit guilty that the other students were very nervous and I actually enjoyed it. I passed.

Now I only have a big project to do and I am a fully qualified chartered teacher. I’ve decided not to join the group doing their projects starting in January as I feel like I need a break from writing essays.

This week I was preparing to teach moles calculations to my higher class. Having failed higher maths I have a bit of a hangup about doing calculations but I know that most pupils enjoy my very structured approach to calculations.

I found a fantastic document that I wish I had read earlier in my career called Teaching calculations in chemistry from LTS scotland but its not easy to find from their website. I found it from a higher resources forum.

In it gives loads of advice and I really feel like I understand the types of calculations that I have been teaching for years but didnt quite have a clear picture of the processes I was going through to get the correct answer.

Having read the document I used the page on “characteristics of pupils who have difficulty with calculations” with my higher class before we started the moles section. We made a list of the characteristics it would be beneficial to have in order to be good at calculations. We came up with the following:

1. Believe that you can work out the answer-even if it is not immediately obvious.

2. Be patient-dont give up

3. Read the question carefully. Definately more than once.

4. Take lots of small steps towards the answer

5. Write down your working ie the small steps to took to get the answer in an organised way.

6. Check your work.

7. Try to understand why you do what you do in calculations.

From a teaching point of view I tried to preserve their confidence as much as possible by not assuming prior knowledge but going back over calculations from standard grade and also as a result of reading the document I asked them to work in pairs to try some higher level calculations. Normally after direct teaching I would have asked them to attempt questions individually.

Its too early to know if its made a difference to their learning but most pupils seemed happy with the new concept of using avogadro’s number in mole calculations.

Chartered teaching went wrong. Will post more about what and why when I can face it.

Log of what Im reading online this morning.

A review of 4 different visual search engines. I think visual searching would be really useful for dyslexic pupils or EAL pupils. Click here to see the review.

John Connell’s post about Don Ledingham questions the role of the HMIE and gives a broad overview of some of the policies of school management.

I watched this interesting video of the many different virtual worlds

- Thanks to HeyJude for sharing the link in her blog.

Strengths

• ICT (2.12)
• Creative and Imaginative (3.4)
• Resourceful and problem solving approach (3.3)
• Empathy, fairness and approachable (3.6)
• sustain positive climate for learning (4.16)

Weaknesses

• Collaboration and influence (1.3 and 4.3)
• Education and social values (1.4 and 4.4)
• The nature of professionalism (2.10)
• Articulating a personal stance (4.4b)

Oportunities

• Have been invited to deliver CPD (lunch and learn and twilight sessions)
• emerging use of ICT to meet AAA needs
• Glow?
• My amazing higher chemistry class

Threats

• Time- fewer sfl teachers, fewer auxilliaries and pupils with greater, more diverse needs.
• Health- variable and unpredictable
• School ICT (or lack of) and the network sentinels!

Notes from Professional Perspectives in Education course

Today there has been much talk about values and value base. Apparently there is an established value base that I am expected to “buy into”. CT must have a “value base acceptable within education.” What is this and where can I find out about it? Who decided it? Who will judge my values in the CT course? Did it evolve historically? If so is it still relevant today? what if my values don’t fit?

Huge emphasis on collaboration. Reminded me of contrived collegiality Hargreaves, A. (1994). Changing teachers, changing times: Teachers’ work and culture in the postmodern age. London: Cassell. – must re-read that.

Influence of own past experiences of learning. My own negative experiences of school and of the clash of values I experienced leading to all out rejection of “their” value base? Need to examine both sets of values and explore the differences? Can I now take a step back and evaluate this with a more mature perspective?

Rejection and withdrawal – Rapid switching between 5 different sets of handout notes made me feel the rising resentment I associate with the traditional educational environment.( “and you can see on page 6”…well which page 6 I can find at least 3 page 6’s) Initial stress then withdrawal of effort. I switch off and start thinking about the assignment and whether I can critically evaluate the EduPunk value base. Is it the promise of anarchistic thinking that I find so appealing? Maybe its just to be deliberately inflammatory since I know even the word “punk” provokes a strong reaction… It makes me smile at this point in time when I’m considering my future on this course.
Phrases such as you can find some of these references online and “print them out” or talk of “delivering” the curriculum. Just further irritate me. Why don’t I speak out and present my point of view? Fear of not having the right values to be a teacher? Lack of confidence?

Apparently being and innovator means ‘not hiding your light under a bushel.” Big emphasis on “being out there” – Does this fit with my values? I consider myself to be an innovator but I have no aspirations to be ‘out there” I see it as self-promotion. Is the aim to be super-confident?
Seem very hung up on being “professionals” Is the fighting for this professional status a form of elitism? Hoyles outline of professionalism seems very elitist to me. eg “using intellectual skills to provide a specialist service” – why not just using skills to provide the service? Why intellectual? Also “drawing on higher education” why? Unclear why this idea of professionalism is so highly sort after. Elitism? Need to feel superior? Feel like leaving – I don’t belong in this group.

I declined the opportunity to go to the library skills lecture. I was fearing yet another lecture on how to use RefWorks and log on to a university computer. I was in danger of making a decision to quit the course that I would perhaps later regret. I sit and type these notes instead. When here someone comes in and asks lecturer for tech help with a presentation next door. I offer to help and go to try andsort it. Don’t lack the confidence to stand in front of a room full of teachers and attempt to fix tech problem on the uni system. I guess in school I don’t lack the confidence to help those who ask. Don’t like the idea of self-promotion and brash self-confidence. Returned to our room and managed to get the internet on my laptop

Why do I want to do this course? To validate my credentials as a teacher? To prove to myself (and others) that I can do it? Because I have unresolved issues over teaching in “the establishment” that I need to sort out. I think that Im not good at articulating my point of view. Maybe this blog will help?

Afternoon session went a bit better. We looked at the standard for Chartered Teacher and used the 1-6 scale to decide where we were. Then completed a SWOT analysis on it.