I got the JOB!

I applied for an Teacher Training (salaried route) course through UCAS. Out of the three schools that I applied for 1 was not accepted and the other two went through to interview. I have been teaching dance and gymnastics to Primary aged children for nearly 3 years and I have always admired the Primary Teaching Profession, so it was great that I would have a chance to progress to become a Primary Teacher.


The Interview Process:
30 minute classroom based lesson
English Test
Group Discussion
Interview

The process was intense but I felt at ease. After looking back over my interviews and the whole process in general, I have come to realise why I felt so at ease. I was calm because I felt like I was in the right place, everything I said matched up correctly in the interview. I spoke about past experiences that have helped me to be where I am today. I have had a look through my learning journal and many of the incidents/situations that I discussed in my interview  were in this book. I feel strongly that because of the BAPP course I was successful in both of my interviews, with both schools offering me a place to train.  The knowledge I have gained from looking into Primary school Teachers, Teaching methods, what is good, what is a teacher and what is a good teacher has helped me to become more knowledgeable about the field I am about to progress into.

The handbook suggests that you should blog about a summary of your learning experiences across the BAPP course Handbook (P.14) . The main thing that I have learnt is that this course really has benefited my professional practice and allowed me to take the next step in my career.

When I look back to module 1 and even the beginning of module 2 my professional practice looked a lot like this image below, lots of paths and avenues to explore and a lot of confusion of where I am going.

Module 3 and my practice is still confusing and there is a lot left to explore. However, my professional practice path is a lot clearer.  I feel the importance of my line of inquiry has also increased as I am going to be a Professional Teacher, I need all the information I can get on how to be a GOOD one! I feel like a lightbulb has clicked on!

My path now looks like this image below, a long way to go but it is a lot clearer than it was before this course.  

Interview Questions/Literature

Whilst writing my interview questions I have also been looking at literature. I have been doing both at the same time as the literature is helping me to write the questions. Whilst writing my interview questions, I googled these questions below the results of what I found are also included in this blog.

1.What qualities do 'good' teachers have?
2.What does TES think good teaching is?
3.Can I find any videos to highlight good teaching skills?
4. Are relationships important to help children learn?
5.What is 'good' and what is a 'teacher' ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnfzZEREfQs
https://www.tes.com/institute/blog/what-makes-good-teacher
http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Good-Teacher
https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/oct/31/effective-teaching-10-tips
http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/25-things-successful-teachers-do-differently/
Qualities of a good teacher - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlpBZPLJ0lA
Every kid needs a champion -Human connections/ relationships -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFnMTHhKdkw


During the Skype on Friday Paula mentioned that the artefact was aimed at more of an creative audience and the critical reflection was about the academic audience. This combined with the slide Paula put up about describing your Inquiry has led me to sourced images that relate to where I am right now. Right now I am sourcing literature which is helping me to write my interview questions. I feel like I am gaining valuable knowledge that is going to help me with my inquiry. I also am starting to understand how important literature is, and how it will benefit not only my inquiry but my professional practice.

Skype Session 24.02.2017

The Skype chat was extremely informative and provided me with the clarity that I needed to move forward in Module 3. After the Skype I have had time to go through my notes and the slide show that Paula provided, I now know a small plan of action.

1. Arrange tutor skye-Talk about ethics for my observation, feedback from module 2 and general questions that surround module 3

2. Organise interview questions and schedule when they are to take place- send these to tutor to check that they are correct

3. Continue to source literature aim for 10-20 sources

4. Continue to use SIG, Blog and ask family and friends about my inquiry.

That is my 4 things on my to do this to get started with Module3. It is a really exciting module and I am particularly looking forward to finding information about my inquiry that is going to benefit my professional practice. 

Artefact Ideas

Brainstorming notes and ideas from my journal...

Stage 1: I have pulled out key parts from my module 2 essay about my Inquiry Plan. This helped me to grasped what my artefact will be presenting or wanting to show. 

'Good teaching practise is from different peoples perspectives.'
'What is ‘good’ Professional Teaching Practise (Primary Aged Children-  4- 11 Year Olds)'
Has a teacher affected your life in any way if so how?’ and/or ‘Has a teacher changed your life? If so how and why?’
'This would help my practise as I would become aware of specific teacher personality qualities that are needed, therefore I could directly look at my own personal qualities to see if I need to develop new or existing skills.'

A lot of what I discovered is I am looking at teaching, teachers,people,personalities, qualities and perspectives. This highlights to me that my artefact needs to relate to the things mentioned above and appeal to the right audience. 

Stage 2: My artefact will be aimed at people in or those looking to go into the teaching profession. I then looked into the resources teachers already use so that my artefact relates to my inquiry and the audience for my inquiry. 

Stage 3: Connecting the lines- It is hard to write this out from my scribble notes and pictures from my learning journal, but I am going to try and explain. I feel after my brainstorm that my artefact needs to be a book (teacher resource) but it needs to break down what a teacher needs to be to be classed as 'good'.  I am looking at what makes a good teacher from different peoples' perspectives. This lead me to think that I could present this as a human body. Break down each section of the skeleton and have arrows and text boxes around comparing the different things people believe makes a 'good' teacher. Make sense?! I know right, it is all a bit jumbled in my mind but writing it out on this blog has helped me to organise the creative ideas I have. 

--> What makes a good teacher 

--> Peoples perspectives 

--> Literature 

--> Positive experiences from a       teacher/tutor/how? why? 

Fellow bloggers please let me know your thoughts.

Module 3 First Look

Its great to be back blogging and looking through module 3. I can't quite believe that this is our final module! It has gone very quick. I originally took this course to further my skills but the modules so far have blown my expectation away, as I look back over module 1 & 2 I can see how far I have come. The knowledge I have gained will stay with me as I progress in my career.

Module 2 for me was a very tricky time juggling commitments along with moving home, working full-time and applying for teacher training posts! But good news... I got the teacher training post and salaried too! It is because of this course that I have gained extra knowledge about teaching and about my profession, so much so that I felt completely at ease in my interview talking to senior management team about teaching styles and theories.This is something I didn't realise before today, this course really is making a difference in my practise. Up until this point the changes have been clear but small, but after coming out of my interview I have had a chance to see and look back on where the knowledge has come from. A lot of it had come from completing module 1&2.

I am really looking forward to Module 3 and going forward with my inquiry. Having a look through the module handbook and reader 7 I am starting to grasp what is ahead. This picture below has helped me a lot to understand what is ahead and what to expect from Module 3.

I am only at stage 1 at the moment and I am currently booking in time with my tutor so I can tackle module 3 correctly.Looking forward to the Skype this Friday with those who are joining, see you then.