Computing Carousel in EYFS

What another busy day in EYFS!

I taught my first phonics lesson, and I must admit, I actually really enjoyed it. The children were so attentive and tried super hard to write the letter ‘w’ individually and within the word ‘web’! It was extremely rewarding and I am looking forward to introducing ‘x’ tomorrow!

The afternoon consisted of a computing carousel incorporating 3 different activities:

1. Bee-Bots on a special Bee-Bot map! Children were exploring how to make the Bee-Bot move forwards to reach their friend at the other side of the map. They all picked up the skill very quickly and managed to successfully reach their friends. They had not done much work on this beforehand so they were still getting used to the equipment. 
2. Turtle Math on the i-pads! The children were very excited to use the i-pads and one even asked if it was for him to take home! Once again, using the i-pads in school is relatively new to the children so a simple app like Turtle Math allowed them to get used to school rules when using the i-pads. Naturally they were all very competent and the animations on the app were extremely positive which helped with their self-esteem if they were not confident in the maths on the app. 
3. TTS Rugged Racers! This looked s0 much fun. The children were controlling these cars around a set course that had been laid out. It helped them to develop directional language and it was a definite hit with the children. They had to verbalise the language they used as well as controlling the car which for some was quite a challenge. It also helped them think about basic algorithms by only being able to input forward, backward, left and right. Once the children have mastered the basic, a competition could be set up. The children could each have a turn completing the course and there could be multiple awards for the quickest time, least bumps and best directional language use. 

Overall I thought the teaching of computing was amazing considering I haven’t seen it implemented by class teachers within schools. It was useful to see the basics being taught at such a young age so their skills can be built upon and continue to develop all through school. I will definitely be stealing some ideas to use within my teaching practice.

Myth and Legends – Ancient Greek Gossip

In English, the children were studying a variety of Greek myths and legends. We started the topic off by reading Perseus and Medusa as a class. The overall aim was to write a diary entry from the perspective of a hero within the myth; in this case, Perseus. To write a successful and effective diary entry, the children needed to think about how Perseus felt before, during and after slaying Medusa and use first person.

We thought by ‘interviewing’ the great hero Perseus, we could generate plenty of ideas to use in our diary entry’s. To do this effectively, I purchased blow up microphones, which the interviewers held and a reflective shield, which Perseus held during the interview. Perseus (a volunteering child) came to the front and answered questions in character from the interviewers about his thoughts and feelings when slaying Medusa. ‘Perseus’ was changed every 3 or so questions so different children had opportunity to become Perseus and the interviewing was initially modelled by myself and the TA.  The children thoroughly enjoyed the activity and they had some super ideas to write up into the Ancient Greek Gossip magazine following the interview (as pictured above the blog heading). We then looked at synonyms of certain feelings such as scared, worried, happy and sad to up-level their writing.

The display was a celebration of the children’s work and also acted as a word wall of adjectives to describe thoughts and feelings to assist the children in their future work. The children enjoyed using the words rejoiced and anxious in their diary entry’s that followed and these words appeared in their vocabulary as a result of interviewing Perseus. They were excited to see their work being celebrated for all to see and in some cases, made them try super hard in subsequent pieces of work.

To finish off the lesson, pairs of children came to the front and reenacted the interview using the answers they had written into the magazine and it was peer assessed using 3 stars and a wish.

EYFS: techno whizz kids

Today marked the first day on my Early Years Foundation Placement and it is intense with all the children all day. I love teaching Reception PE and although I have had previous experience in EYFS, actually focusing on just the teacher for a change was exhausting.

During provision, the children are allowed to use the 2 computers individually or in groups up to 3. I was shocked at how incredible they were at using all the 2Simple software available to them. However, it was also nice to see plenty of children practicing to handwrite their name, which was a fear of mine since we have entered the technological age.

Similarly, the use of cameras and apps to record observations, early learning goals and assessments was inspiring. I like the idea of each child having a profile on an app and quickly being able to update their progress through pictures and small notes. I feel that system saves the teachers a lot of time as well!

On the other hand, it was nice to see that the classroom didn’t revolve entirely around technology. I actively participated within a forest school lesson in which 15 children were taken into the wooded area on the school grounds to collect sticks and think about which type birds might use for their nests. They then used these sticks in maths and ordered them according to length in the classroom. I have to admit, outdoor learning, in my opinion, is much more engaging for children this age as they probably all have plenty of technology to use all the time at home.

I am interested to see whether technology and computing is incorporated in any other lessons and how the children react to it. I thoroughly enjoyed today observing children interact and play with plenty of different equipment and toys. Let’s see what tomorrow has in store…

 

 

How HOT is your handwriting?

During my Guided Placement, in which i was based with a year 5 class, i noticed that often the children did not take pride in their handwriting and it was sometimes quite ‘sloppy’. As a way to engage the children and to ensure they took care with their handwriting I thought of setting up an interactive handwriting display. I always modelled cursive handwriting on the board and in their books which often received praise from students (and teachers), therefore I decided to try and make neat cursive handwriting enjoyable and rewarding.

3 examples of handwriting, written by children their age but whom they did not know, were stuck on the wall; excellent, good and okay. In groups, children identified aspects of the handwriting for example, what could be improved, what they think is good about it etc. Children then each had a labelled laminated pencil and looked at their own handwriting. They then compared their handwriting to that on display and stuck their pencil on the chart at the level they thought they were at. After that, they wrote down a couple of ways they thought they could improve their handwriting to move up into the next level. The levels were denoted by heat in the form of chilli’s. 3 chilli’s meant excellent and 1 chilli meant room for improvement.

The children enjoyed the context of the chillies as guidance and said ‘I am on two chilli’s but I need to write all my letters on the line to be three chillies’ or ‘I want to be three chillies by Christmas’.  They also enjoyed self-assessing their handwriting and having an example to aspire to. The children assessed their handwriting on Tuesdays and Thursday by using the interactive display and justified to the teachers why they thought they were at the level they did. They also took pride in having my giant pencil cushion in the classroom to remind them about their handwriting.

Computer Self Assessment Audit 2 – January 2017

Below are some computing skills which are self-graded based on individual confidence and competence as of January 2017.

The grading of the skills is as follows:

A I am very competent and confident.
B I am competent and confident.
C I have an adequate level of competence but wish to strengthen my skills.
D I feel competent at few or no aspects and need considerable training and support.

COMPUTING SELF ASSESSMENT AUDIT:

Level of knowledge and/or skill in the following: 

KS 1 Floor Turtles e.g. Bee-Bot, Pro-Bot B

KS 1 Programming Language e.g. ScratchJr, Daisy the Dinosaur, Lightbot B

KS 2 Programming Languages e.g. Scratch, Kodu C

KS 2 Physical computing devices e.g. Crumble controller, Codebug, Makey Makey D

Computer Networks (E.g. LAN, Internet, workings of search engines) D

Presentation Software (E.g. Prezi or PowerPoint) A

Spreadsheets B

Databases D

Graphics D

Video Editing (E.g. Movie Maker) D

Music Creation and Podcasting (E.g. Garage Band, Audacity) D

Animation (E.g. I can animate App) D

Blogging B

Twitter A

Facebook A

Mobile App Publishing (E.g. Blippit) D

Coding in HTML D

Ability to demonstrate and use the following hardware & equipment:

Tablet/Mobile Devices A

Video Recording/Cameras B

Printers (Trouble shooting) B

Interactive Whiteboard/Projectors B

Voting/handheld devices C

Ability to harness technology as a primary teacher:

Identify areas of the curriculum that could be enhanced by Computing A

Use Computing so that it does not obscure the subject content/message A

Access information relevant to teaching from the internet A

Locate and access computer and non-computer materials, resources, support B

Use Computing to prepare and adapt teaching materials. A

Use Computing for administration systems for recording progress. A

Ability to develop lesson plans that integrate the effective use of computing across the curriculum to:

Support teaching and learning B

Cover the programmes of study of the National Curriculum for computing C

Teach computing elements of the other core and foundation curriculum subjects B

Identify and detail the resources, software /hardware to support the lessons D

Improve learning of able children and those with special educational needs B

Knowledge and skills relating to classroom management of Computing including:

How to organise and manage group work A

How to approach whole class teaching A

How to organise computing equipment to allow pupils access A

Ability to monitor and assess children’s use of Computing:

Identifying where they need extending and supporting B

Identifying how computing influences objectives and outcomes A

Deciding whether or not all pupils have access to the objectives and outcomes B

Determining how group work may affect pupil capability B

Awareness of issues and legislation relating to pupils’ access to information:

Awareness of the role of the teacher in respect of child protection and Computing. A

Protection of pupils from unsuitable areas of the internet. A

Copyright regulations A

The Data Protection Act A

Health and Safety regulations A

Computer Self Assessment Audit 1 – September 2016

Below are some computing skills which are self-graded based on individual confidence and competence as of September 2016.

The grading of the skills is as follows:

A I am very competent and confident.
B I am competent and confident.
C I have an adequate level of competence but wish to strengthen my skills.
D I feel competent at few or no aspects and need considerable training and support.

COMPUTING SELF ASSESSMENT AUDIT:

Level of knowledge and/or skill in the following: 

KS 1 Floor Turtles e.g. Bee-Bot, Pro-Bot D

KS 1 Programming Language e.g. ScratchJr, Daisy the Dinosaur, Lightbot C

KS 2 Programming Languages e.g. Scratch, Kodu D

KS 2 Physical computing devices e.g. Crumble controller, Codebug, Makey Makey D

Computer Networks (E.g. LAN, Internet, workings of search engines) D

Presentation Software (E.g. Prezi or PowerPoint) A

Spreadsheets B

Databases D

Graphics D

Video Editing (E.g. Movie Maker) D

Music Creation and Podcasting (E.g. Garage Band, Audacity) D

Animation (E.g. I can animate App) D

Blogging B

Twitter A

Facebook A

Mobile App Publishing (E.g. Blippit) D

Coding in HTML D

Ability to demonstrate and use the following hardware & equipment:

Tablet/Mobile Devices A

Video Recording/Cameras B

Printers (Trouble shooting) B

Interactive Whiteboard/Projectors B

Voting/handheld devices C

Ability to harness technology as a primary teacher:

Identify areas of the curriculum that could be enhanced by Computing A

Use Computing so that it does not obscure the subject content/message A

Access information relevant to teaching from the internet B

Locate and access computer and non-computer materials, resources, support B

Use Computing to prepare and adapt teaching materials. A

Use Computing for administration systems for recording progress. B

Ability to develop lesson plans that integrate the effective use of computing across the curriculum to:

Support teaching and learning B

Cover the programmes of study of the National Curriculum for computing D

Teach computing elements of the other core and foundation curriculum subjects C

Identify and detail the resources, software /hardware to support the lessons D

Improve learning of able children and those with special educational needs C

Knowledge and skills relating to classroom management of Computing including:

How to organise and manage group work A

How to approach whole class teaching A

How to organise computing equipment to allow pupils access A

Ability to monitor and assess children’s use of Computing:

Identifying where they need extending and supporting B

Identifying how computing influences objectives and outcomes A

Deciding whether or not all pupils have access to the objectives and outcomes B

Determining how group work may affect pupil capability B

Awareness of issues and legislation relating to pupils’ access to information:

Awareness of the role of the teacher in respect of child protection and Computing. A

Protection of pupils from unsuitable areas of the internet. A

Copyright regulations A

The Data Protection Act A

Health and Safety regulations A

January/February 2017 Action Plan

Here is a list of my initial action plan for January and February, as of 16/01/17:

1. Continue to regularly update my showcase blog (try to change or add something everyday). (ongoing as of 12/09/16)
2. Keep up to date with the Pick n Mix computing modules on BlackBoard (completed E-Safety and modules 1,2, 3 and 4)
3. Find some useful resource websites for future use (ongoing as of 16/09/2016)
4. Continue to explore useful apps such as Aurasma (downloaded 23/09/2016), Coaches Eye, Decide Now! (downloaded 29/09/2016, blog added 20/02/17), Jolly Phonics (downloaded 27/09/2016 and blog created), Decibel 10th (downloaded 27/09/2016 and mentioned in blog).
5. Upload a blog on Sexting (completed on 17/02/17)
6. Complete the compulsory module: Teaching Internet Safety (completed 18/09/16, blogs completed on 20/02/17)
7. Upload a blog on how computing can help children with SEND (completed 17/02/17)

Below is my full action plan which will be regularly updated:

Name: Chloe S		Tutor: MK
Computing/ICT Qualifications/Experience General use of Microsoft Office. Popular apps such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Year 9 ICT lessons mainly focussing on Excel and Publisher.
PGCE Computing audit revealed these priorities·      Need to improve my skills and knowledge surrounding physical programming devices used in schools e.g. Bee-Bots, programming language, e.g. Scratch and computer networks e.g. working of search engines. ·      Improve my knowledge and skills regarding coding and apps. ·      The ability to integrate computing into lesson plans across the curriculum and how they can be utilised effectively. ·      Identifying areas to extend and support children on their computing knowledge and skill.
Action I will take in January and February		Date Completed
Explore apps such as Decide Now! Garage Band and Aurasma on the i-pad Continue to work through Pick and Mix modules to further my knowledge and understanding of the curriculum. Keep a bank of useful websites for computing lessons and my own development. Update/edit my blog regularly to continually develop my knowledge and understanding of blogs. Explore apps that are useful for KS1 to prepare for FPP		Decide now! (20/02/17)   Completed Pick n Mix Module 5 (29/01/17)   Ongoing (as of 12/09/16) and evidenced on blog. Ongoing (as of 12/09/16)
Action I will take on FPP	Date Completed
·       Introduce aspects of computing in core curriculum lessons and evaluate its effect on the lesson ·       Explore algorithms without the use of computer within PE or English, so children understand the concept

KS3 Observation Week

My week within a secondary school was very different to how I remember it. I went to a comprehensive school rather than going back to an independent school and the amount of students in attendance was a big shock. I went to a relatively small independent school so being hit with students, whom many of which were taller than me (even the year 8’s), threw me a little. However, the use of ICT and computing was far greater than what I have seen in primary schools so far. Computer science was on every child’s timetable from years 7-9 and then optional thereafter, but computing was used in many other subjects too.

English, Music and Computing:

It was used in English to create a playlist for characters from ‘A Christmas Carol’ to illustrate whether the students understood the characters and their role within the story. I thought this was a brilliant idea but could have been monitored a bit better than it was as students were allowed to use their phones as a method of finding songs. The use of i-pads could have benefitted the children and allowed them to remain on task for longer.

Geography and Computing:

I also saw computing used within a yr 7 Geography lesson in which students compared ordnance survey maps with google maps and gave directions to their peers using features of maps and those present on the satellite images.

PE and Computing:

Similarly, I-pads were used within PE to take the register and film good trampolining performances for the other children to watch back and analyse. This was an effective use of using i-pads and computing outside the normal classroom. The use of computing within this lesson could have been utilised further as students could have filmed their routines on Coaches eye and analysed them within groups to look an areas for improvement. However, this would have required 15 I-pads being available to use, which unfortunately, they didn’t have the provision for within the school.

Computer Science lesson:

More obviously, computer science threw a lot of information at me that I never learnt at secondary school, such as Bitmap and Vector images and the very confusing binary and hexi-decimal aspects of yr 11 GCSE computer science.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time on my KS3 placement and the obvious differences between a KS3 classroom and that of primary school. Similarly, it was interesting to find out how the yr 7’s felt coming to secondary school and how they found the lessons. Many of the children I spoke to had not done much science at primary school and enjoyed secondary because each week they knew they were doing lessons they enjoyed such as PE, music, science and DT.