Literature and Drama Day

Yesterday was purely a specialism day, we were lucky to have a year 2 class from a local school come in.  We started the day by going to collect them from the school and walking them over.  This was an experience I had never had before, it was good to see how it works.  The children were very excited and it was lovely to hear them chattering away to each other.

We read the children Anthony Browne's book The Tunnel it was  displayed on the projector.  They all sat on chairs and were intent whilst it was read to them.  We then did a day of drama games with them, exploring the ideas themes and emotions in the book. They responded so well and really surprised me with their imaginations and also acting skills.  One pair of girls even had lots of humour in one of the role plays they showed to the group, which was met with much laughter from both adults and children. The children got a lot of understanding from the book this way, and it is definitely something I would use in the future.

I learnt a lot, including I have a weakness when it comes to handling a cheeky child.  I had a little girl be rude to me and I did not know how to react.  I had basically met a child who did not like being told no, and I had to stay strong . Although it may seem idealistic to some, I would like to think I am not a person and will not be a teacher who will use shame and blame to discipline children, I feel by disciplining in this way you are effectively modeling what you do not want them to do.  Although with this in mind, as we have been told in lectures, I am not her parent is it my place to discipline her for it?

I decided to follow through with my instruction, but not address the rudeness this time.  On reflection I do feel this was the correct thing to do, as for the rest of the day the child responded really well to my instructions.  I have since looked up different ways of dealing with these situations, and I feel confident that if it happens in my class repeatedly I will have the confidence to say "I will not continue to listen to your rudeness" in a firm voice.  This I feel is in line with my values of no shame, and also setting boundaries of what I will allow.  I will also ask my lecturers and teachers on practice for some advice on this.

Overall the day went really well and I laughed and smiled a lot, I got a lot out of it and that can only be positive.

To Post or Not to Post?

I have been told several times, how useful it is for teaching to do a reflective journal.  As I am a trainee teacher, I felt it would be a good habit to start now, so here I am.  Although I agree that this indeed has its benefits, I have to be honest I am not fully convinced about posting it online, but I am willing to try it.

Afterall isn't that what part of a teachers role is these days? (that being ) flexible, tech savy, open minded etc. The lectures we have discussed this topic in, have really got me thinking about what type of teacher I want to be.  I know I will definitely need vast knowledge and confidence in my ability, I want to keep up to date with my knowledge (I enjoy learning).  I want to be firm but fair, and respected (in a mutual way) and liked by both children, colleagues and my superiors.  I would like to be and feel organised (I am an organised person anyway).  I would love my lessons to be inspiring and interesting and most importantly effective. When thinking ahead to 10-15 years time I would love to be innovative in this field, I hope I am making change in some way.

Now I am probably being very idealistic, but I think aim high but prepare for the worst.  I feel as long as I have the coping strategies in place for stress and life and keep a balanced perspective on things I shall be ok.