Today and tomorrow

[lizziec]

Among the things I have been doing at my school placement is helping with lots of classes. I help in at least one class of every year group except year nine (no lessons on Tuesdays/Fridays). Today was my day with the tinies (years seven and eight)* and turned out to be great. Second period I was with a very low achieving year eight group (we're talking the lowest set) and I've been in a few lessons with them before. Typically getting them to learn or engage is like pulling teeth, but today they switched on and wanted to learn about Isambard Kingdom Brunel. They asked me for help and thanked me for helping them. They went away having learnt something and I felt great for helping them to achieve that.

Third period I helped in the year seven class. I've been helping with them for a while too and this class is completely different. They're still enthusiastic in a way that no other year group is. They don't quite have the secondary school jaded scepticism yet. Anyway, they've been doing a topic on Castles this term and the past few lessons they've been making a castle out of cardboard to help them remember the structure of a castle and what castles have in them. They did everything only being reminded of the scale of it sometimes. Today they painted it. Here are the results. Aren't they great? :D



It was a very tiring but a very rewarding day, capped by a little boy (4 years old) coming in from nursery covered in chocolate (from easter chocolate related activities at aforementioned nursery) and giving me a hug and a kiss. I love that little boy. I shall treasure that chocolatey hand print on my white tshirt ;) He's so sweet! Why oh why do they have to grow up :(

Tomorrow is the scary scary thing. I have my interview at Christchurch. Am really quite scared now. I'm sort of prepared. I hope it's enough.

Feedback would be good on my idea for a source though. I'm supposed to take a source in and say how I'd use it to introduce a topic. My idea was for a picture like to introduce the holocaust to key stage 4 pupils (14-16 year olds). (Picture here in original context) I'm thinking this picture could be used to start that topic with questions posed to the teenagers such as "Why do you think there is a pile of shoes here?" "How did they come to be stacked like that" "Why do you think their owners don't need them any more" etc.

What do you lot think? Is there a better way of doing this? A better topic/source I could use?

Any and all help appreciated :S

*for anyone not familiar with this style of naming year groups, year 7 is the lowest at a British high school, with the children in it being 11 or 12 typically

[edit] My watch strap broke this evening so I'm without watch. I feel all naked and horrid :( If anyone has a spare watch they want to lend me before my interview... ;)

Comments

[bethanthepurple.livejournal.com]

If I can manage to nab holocaust as a teaching topic (unlikely, but i can but hope), I would really like to drag out the kids on a vile day, be the "prison guard", then tell give them each a life & tell them who they are & what happens to them, as each of them dies getting them to stand apart from the rest of the group til only a couple are left. The surviving couple are those whose work I will concentrate on for older kids, and for younger kids they can retell their own characters' stories through pics or somesuch.

I hope this one isn't too much of a pipedream... :/

[manyfacesofjase.livejournal.com]

This is for Year 7s? Would that not have the potential to emotionally scar them for life?

[bethanthepurple.livejournal.com]

erm...not year 7s. they get drawing cartoons of starters of religions & eating trad foods ;)