Vlog

I have created a short 8 minute Vlog about delivering and understanding personal effectiveness. Watch this here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5beixNzmKcY&feature=youtu.be

Uploading this short video was a learning experience in itself and once again overcoming some difficulties was a challenge I  enjoyed.

Reflections following delivery of 'Creativity and Innovation' essential employability skill

 

Preparation - reflection

I was very grateful to have the opportunity to teach a group of tutors working for Rathbone – the Training Providers although I quickly realized that teaching for peers is incredibly daunting.

I was part of a team of 4 and we decided I would teach creativity and innovation – one of the for essential employability skills to be taught. I am very creative and enjoy teaching in enterprise ways; I believe in autonomy and interaction for the learner in order to get engagement and true learning.

I planned carefully a couple of engaging activities (and some back-ups) as I knew that 20-30 minutes is very little time but wasn’t sure how quickly the peer group would move through the activities.

Post lesson - reflection

I was the last one of our team to teach creativity and innovation; I followed after critical thinking and problem solving, planning and organization and personal effectiveness. Taking part in all the other 30 minutes lessons each focusing on an essential employability skills (EES) I quickly realized that various elements apply to each skill. Teaching and enabling learning of each skill crossed over from lesson to lesson and I realized that although I was demonstrating a specific skill in the 30 minutes I had – this could not be referred to in isolation from the other employability skills. Standing up in front of the learners it made sense to make connections with the previous lessons, point out links and how all the employability skills complement each other.

On reflection I feel that this is the most valuable lesson I have learnt teaching on this occasion as part of the practitioners team for EES Level 3. Having never taught EES skills previously I understood the theory of all of them being an interactive and connected system where each skill relies upon the other to ensure the individual is equipped for hopefully employment / positive outcome. Following my teaching experience I truly understood firsthand how the EES complement each other and should not be considered in isolation.

Action plan – reflection

I was inspired by some of the ideas and activities used by my colleagues and I will review and improve some of the activities I have planned as part of the Scheme of Work I have already designed. I will also consider using templates for an action plan to aid learners and keep them on track. Good practice that I have seen and experienced today included use of peer assessment, use of team work, connection between theory and practical as well as content of activities always being relevant to the learner and their reality.

Session 2 - Reflective thoughts

I left Session 2 quite inspired and have already put down my first thoughts and impressions in the shape of a mind map :)

I will return to add further details and thoughts in a few days.

Reflective thoughts of a practitioner learning about EES

    It's been a little while since the first session on the EES Practitioners course. I have been thinking about the day, about what I learnt and how this new learning will affect my knowledge, skills and practice however it hasn't been as easy as I expected to put my thoughts down on paper.

I guess I have faced -like all my learners in the Community- varied distractions from a personal and professional perspective hence here why here I am... putting pen to paper sort of speak ...not long before Session 2.

 

 

The first day on the course was challenging but also rewarding; at times it felt as if the test was on us -the practitioners- to see how we can apply and use essential employability skills which we aim to teach and assess in the future. I found it harder than expected to highlight steps we have taken to achieve the given task during the session and I know that as a team we all felt the same. Myself, Rhys and Julie formed the blue team and although we have different backgrounds and very strong personalities we quickly pulled together and used all our strengths combined to achieve the best possible outcome for our task. I was reminded once again (through the nature of our task) of the importance of engagement and accessibility of everything I do ; I teach in the community to adult learners, NEETs or potential NEETs on a weekly basis yet discussion, brainstorming and problem solving on the first day emphasized once again the specific requirements of these groups when learning for a better life.

How do I currently do things in my teaching? How do I asses learner work and incorporate EES maybe?

Thinking about this does not reveal an easy straightforward answer. Having mostly taught so far specific subjects (Psychology, Counselling, Admin skills etc.) I have often focused on subject related content and achieving the outcome of the Unit or course at the time. Teaching in the Community I quickly learnt that most of my learners needed support or even to acquire some essential skills before aiming to meet the course outcome hence why I have worked in a team with other professionals as well as often rethinking my lesson plans and learning aids in an entrepreneurial way to make learning relevant and accessible. Although I haven't yet targeted EES specifically as part of my planning and teaching, some of the ways these skills have been incorporated so far in my work are as follows:

- learners always complete ad Individual Learning Booklet where they have to identify goals and expectations from our course and how they expect to achieve these. We also look at step by step actions they can take every few weeks towards progress, identify their strengths as well as where they feel they need further help. 

- plenty of classroom activities and discussion which would be evidenced and assessed based on how learners themselves record what happens (following suggestions from myself such as mind maps, bullet points etc.).

- Assignment briefs as summative assessment which require learners to complete their own research at home - this is often the only way I have been able to integrate digital literacy in our learning due to limited resources in class although on a few occasions we have used mobile phones too during the lesson.

 

I will continue to think about this and how implementing EES in my current work can be done effectively. Since the first session on the EES course I had one routine observation during my English GCSE class. Following the inspiration from Day 1 I had introduced a new worksheet for my learners aiming to give them more confidence in their skills as well as improve their knowledge of Psychology: they all have a 'New words' sheet where they record new words we learn each lesson or words they find easy to spell or use in sentences. We discuss these words and then learners have to complete a few sentences using them by the next lesson. Furthermore I asked them how could they remember a word or check it's meaning if they don't have the 'New words' sheet to hand; I was really pleased to see that they suggested using the index at the back of their books and they put this in practice during our lessons.

 

I am looking forward to Day 2 on the EES practitioners course and I am keen on learning more myself so I can offer more to my learners ;)

Importance of Essential Employability Skills (EES) to Adults and Young People

• What are employability skills in the context of essential skills in Wales?

 

A range of skills (generic skills) that people need to achieve progress and success in all aspects of learning, training, work and life in general. Employability skills are capabilities that enable people to get a job, have confidence, plan and implement their plan, reflect on and review progress as well as develop further.

 

References:

http://qualificationswales.org/qualifications/essential-skills-qualifications/?lang=en

 

http://qualificationswales.org/qualifications/essential-skills-qualifications/?lang=en

 

• What is meant by the following terms ( namely EES )

 

Planning and Organisation Skills – ability to organise personal time, identify goals and aims, prioritise tasks and measure results; being able to define the main purpose of a task, set targets and timescales and list the activities to allow for achievement of each target.

 

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving – identify relevant information within a situation which then requires decision making; ability to question and search for answers and arguments rather than just accept given information and apply arguments to solve tasks/situations.

 

Creativity and Innovation - outline new ideas (new ideas to the learner) and use opportunities to try out ideas; ability to have an open mind, think outside the box and recognise unique ideas; state opportunities in response to a task using convergent and divergent approaches challenging own thinking.

 Personal Effectiveness – identify personal skills that can be used effectively in the context of a task or relevant to personal aspirations (e.g. attitude, time management, self-motivation etc.); capability to be self-aware, make the most of personal strengths and be proactive.

 

 

References: https://moodle.colegaucymru.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=144&lang=en

 

·         What is the role of employability skills for individuals?

Employability skills are necessary to engage learners in social and cognitive learning tasks, necessary for improving wellbeing and family life and therefore have a crucial role in cultivating confidence and employability. Essential skills and knowledge could be used in everyday life in dimensions relevant to each person and therefore would support motivation, mental development and have a direct impact on self-confidence and financial status to name but of a few aspects. Employability skills enable the individual to develop on a personal and professional level.

 

·        What is the impact of individuals not having EES?

 

Gaps in essential skills have crucial consequences for progression and further performance in learning, work but especially key impact on individual wellbeing and quality of life. Good essential employability skills are crucial in determining educational or training attainment, improve employment prospects and better social cohesion (Dixon, et.al, 2000) therefore a lack in EES would have a fundamental detrimental effect on local communities and society in general.

There are seven million adults in England who cannot read and write to the level expected of an 11-year-old. Furthermore reports show that 16% of 18 year olds are NEET (not in education, employment or training) and many of them struggle to communicate well (Godfrey et. al, 2002).

References:
Godfrey, C., Hutton, S., Bradshaw, J., Coles, B., Craig, G. and Johnson, J. (2002), Estimating the cost of being 'not in education, employment or training' at age 16-18, Research Report, 346, Department for Education and Skills, Nottingham.

 

A holistic approach to learning and teaching interaction: factors in the de...: EBSCOhost

A holistic approach to learning and teaching interaction: factors in the de...: EBSCOhost

It's been a long time since I have posted anything on the blog but it is nice to be back :) Not having an email I can access at the moment is a very good excuse and I wanted to post the link to the article I was going to use in my presentation yesterday. This is an article about holistic teaching and leanring, an approach that fascinates me and I can see both limitations and great benefits with it.

Mandy, I hope you see this as I know you wanted us all to send you the link (please let me know if you do).

Has technology changed the way we learn?

According to Nicholas Carr ‘our deepening dependence on networking technology is indeed changing not only the way we think, but also the structure of our brains’ (Naughton, J., The Observer, 2010)

This argument is debatable and in fact is debated in various literature articles which in general seem to agree that used properly, technology has many advantages

Having grown up without a computer, without a coloured TV (in fact my black and white TV only had once channel that was showing hymns for our communist leader) and having not seen a mobile phone until the age of 18 years old, I would say that technology has changed the way we learn, the way we develop, how we live.
Working in Schools I can see how different learning is now compared to how it was when I grew up. In the contemporary society learning through play involves the use of an X box, tablet, Ipad, Kindle and various other gadgets. Learning seems to happen faster everyday and the use of Internet and technology has given people to learn anything , at any time in the comfort of their own privacy without worrying they cannot get to the Library to borrow a book.  Technology has not only changed the way we learn but it has also changed the way we demonstrate our learning.

Not so long back if anybody would have told me my assignment would be an electronic journal, a blogg even...I wouldn't have even known what they meant. But technology is quick, it's clever and it never stops surprising me.

Barriers to the effective use of technology in Education

In assessing the barriers to the effective use of technology in Education I have focused on the role of the teacher and how a teacher makes use technology in teaching. Research has shown that barriers to using technology effectively when teaching can be as follows: teachers don’t have the time to keep up with the latest developments in software or find the most suitable one for their classroom; this is also due to training being generic rather than specific to each teacher and their needs for specific subject knowledge and possibly training being offered at unsuitable times (Cuban et.al, 2001, pp.813-834). Teachers are also often too worried about what can go wrong with technology and mobile technology ( power cuts, equipment not working as it should) so they don’t even use it to begin with or they use it in a minimalistic manner.

Whilst the learner can present some barriers to learning when using technology such as special learning needs or limited background knowledge (depending on their age), I believe these can always be overcome in order to ensure technology is used in an effective way. The next biggest barriers are the lack of suitable teacher training and lack of confidence which leads to teachers using technology mainly for instruction and presentation purposes rather than creating engaging and interactive activities which would enable and enhance learning.

 

Value of mobile technology in teaching and learning

Mobile technology could have a significant role to play in teaching and learning as it has the potential to make lessons more enjoyable and interactive for learners of all ages; mobile technology could also enable teachers to test learner’s comprehension, knowledge and ability to do things themselves by letting them work together and demonstrate what they learn (through use of mobile technology).

The value of mobile technology such as the iPad in the classroom is still being explored and with society these days needing instant access to all kind of information mobile learning is a fast developing phenomenon . Despite that I believe it is unlikely that lecturers and teachers will be entirely replaced any time soon.

‘The education industry needs new models and fresh frameworks to avoid losing touch with the radically evolving needs of its many current and potential new constituencies’ (Sergio,2012). In approaching the topic of mobile technology influencing teaching and learning I have thought of some of the mobile technology I have recently become familiar with myself such as: the stylus pen and the Interactive Whiteboard, tablet, Apps, iPad, iPod and amazing tools such as blogging. Reflecting on my recent experiences I also come to an understanding  that education needs to keep up with new developments in order to appeal to learners of all generations. It is then mostly down to the teacher to ensure mobile technology adds value to the teaching and learning experience.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20667870

Reference:

Sergio, F. (2012). 10 ways that mobile learning will revolutionize education. Retrieved December 9, 2013, from www.fastcodesign.com/1669896/10-ways-that-mobile-learning-will-revolutionize-education

What did I get up to this week-end?

Read my picture story and let me know if you can guess :)

PPt presentation embeded here

After a little bit of research about slideshare I have worked out how to embed a Power Point presentation into my blog. Not that complicated after all, take a look at the link above :)

Here is the embeded presentation I used during my micro teaching session this Monday the 18th of November.http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/28468538

Whilst this presentation was created using the most basic features of Power Point (this was due to time limitations) following our ICT session on Monday I have learnt how to include hyperlinks and sounds to make the presentation more interactive.
If you take a look at my presentation you may see my hyperlinks but I have noticed on slideshare the presentation doesn't run exactly as it would on 'Slide view' in Power Point. This means that sentences on each slide do not 'fly in' and my hyperlink doesn't seem to work. Not in slideshare anyway.
I am welcoming any suggestions if anybody has any ideas on how I can get this to work.
I will also continue to explore further how to make a presentation even more interactive and I am yet to explore how to do this by using a Smart Board.

Thoughts following our ICT session this week

Learning about Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) tonight was very interesting. I have seen this used many times before in Secondary Schools across Swansea and Neath-Port Talbot and it has always been mainly the 'teacher's board'. Only once I have seen students interacting with the board, during a Science lesson for Year 8 pupils.

After our ICT session today I am able to visualise and understand more how an IWB can be a useful aid to learning as well as encourage interaction.
I have learnt the distinction between the SMART board and the Promoethean board and had a chance to practice using both of them. I preferred the SMART board or the 'touch' board mainly because it doesn't require a pen or a stylus to be used as a mouse.

I have noticed Mandy has included a couple of relevant academic readings on Moodle (haven't looked at them properly yet) where we can find out more about IWB and how they can be effective, active and interactive tools for us as teachers and not only. I also really like the box of tricks Mandy posted hence why I have stolen the link and included it here.

Hopefully by next week I will have time to download the SMART Notebook software and explore it a little bit. I would like to use it if not in my micro-teaching session next week then soon in one of my teaching session on placement.

PCET student

It's been a hard week.

Finding out I am not eligible for funding for the PCET course was quite harsh and a shock. It did make me seriously wonder whether I am able to continue the course or not.
Whilst this questions remains I am looking for a placement and hoping to be able to solve it all as I have found such a lovely group of people to learn and develop with :)

I have however had a great time looking for a teaching placement in Swansea with Mark. Amazingly our search was successful, it gave us ideas and I think it ended up with a placement for Mark :)

Hurraaay for student email and Moodle being back on, even if it is for reference only.
My use of Technology this week has mostly been email (Yahoo and MS Outlook) and Internet as well as a secure database I use for work to log various details from local business people and not forgetting mobile technology in the form of my Iphone that has become part of my life.
I have also been thinking about how I can use Technology in the micro teaching session coming up very soon.

So I remain optimistic about being able to continue on the PCET course. If anybody knows anything about student loans, I will very much appreciate your opinions and advice.

See you tomorrow,

Cristina

TED talks - Steve Jobs 'How to live before you die'

I have chosen this inspirational talk from TED because I love it. I have listened to it numerous times and I am never tired of Steve Job's life story.

 

Steve Jobs was the CEO and co-founder of Apple and Pixar and this talk is about amazing success, opportunity, risk, faith and talent. It's also about loss, friendships and loss of friendships, devastation and rejection. When you are down, maybe at the lowest point possible, the only way is up. You may never have the chance to get all the way up if you don't find yourself at the bottom...

 

I think we all need inspiration to be the best we can be and hopefully we will be excellent teachers to all our students now and in the future. I hope you will find this speech as inspirational and encouraging as I have.

Listening to Steve Jobs on TED I have learnt that following our curiosity and intuition is good and that to be truly satisfied in life you must do what you like. Letting go and going with the flow whilst having faith that things will turn out how they are meant to be seems to be a philosophy at the foundation of successful happy people.

 

I will leave you with one of the messages from this video:

 "KEEP LOOKING, DON'T SETTLE"

Mobile technology in the class today

Returning after the half term break was a little bit daunting as always but I really enjoyed today's IT class. Though the lack of Internet was a bit frustrating my first experience learning with a new piece of mobile technology - the ipad- was great.

 

I was handed a device that was sleek, nice to look at that stimulated my curiosity.

The Lenovo ThinkPad featured a lot of things I was familiar with from the volume buttons and built in camera to name a few to the Operating System Windows 8. Finding out about the device by exploration in the task set out by Mandy was a great way to activate and test my prior knowledge and play around with things until I discovered what I wanted. I had a few challenges in finding out how to perform a right click and how to close the device properly but I successfully found all the answers in the end.

 

I must admit I have used a laptop for years and have enjoyed using various smartphones ever since they have appeared. However when the technology boom brought to light ipdas, tablets , Kindle and lots more other devices I decided to avoid it all due to fear of becoming addicted to whatever these new things have to offer. I know everybody wanted a Kindle to read books but I purposely chose the hard copy of the book every time.

Today's IT class enabled me to see several great uses of mobile technology not only in teaching but also in learning, my own learning from now on not just for the PCET course but for any other things I may be interested in.

 

I must also mention the second task of the class because I really enjoyed it even though myself, Jon and Rachel got slightly distracted and focused on content rather than filming/ediditing/ using mobile technology.

I am looking forward to the next session and learning more with and about technology.

Cool Cat Teacher Blog - review of a blog that could be useful

I found this blog by chance whilst exploring the Internet and thought it is quite interesting.
It presents various teaching resources and ideas and even gives tips on how not to be a bad teacher, using real life examples from the blog owner: Vicki Davies.

I found the concept at the foundation of this blog very current and relevant to our world:
 flat classrooms.

This is all about joining students from all over the world virtually to become one large classroom and use social media to improve not only social life but also academic skills. There is a lot of information about Web 2.0 technology which we are using and learning about at the moment.


http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/assessment

How do I feel about Microsoft Office?

It's been a while now since I have started using Microsoft Ofice applications extensively : on a daily basis in work (Excel, Database, Word and Power Point), on a daily basis whilst completing my Degree with the Open University and for personal use alsol.

For me, it's quite simple: I like Microsoft appliances. Having never tried another Operating System my knowledge is limited to Microsoft but I do like it and I have become very familiar with it.
Right from the start I have found Microsoft packages fairly user friendly and I have quickly discovered that I can teach myself quite a lot by exploring and trying things out. Using Word has become almost like a second nature as I needed it for various things: from writing letters , a C.V. or a recipe to University assignments.
Microsoft Windows has been updated a few times since I have strated using it and I have always managed to keep up with it and continue to use it. I suppose there weren't many other choices anyway.

Some of the daily tasks that involved me using Microsoft appliances included: petty cash / expenses, appointment diaries, bookings and monthly reports or footfall counts in Excel, letters to clients in Word, presentations, updates and training on Power Point.

Using Microsoft appliances has been useful in preparing me for the use of mobile phones and other modern technology devices.

Thank you Microsoft Office, though quite moody at times...for me you have been very useful.

Blog review

The blog I have chosen to review belongs to a Swansea Metropolitan student who went teaching in China. I was inspired by the email sent from the University Career Adviser (Jill), inviting us all to view the blog 'My adventures in China' .
I really enjoyed exploring this friendly and welcoming blog which I found really easy to use due to clear labelling and organisation of content.
Reading about Stephanie's adventures in China is fascinating and inspirational and these are some of the things she blogs about: travelling adventures (right from the beginning in Cardiff Airport) , the shock of Chinese culture, visiting the Great Wall of China (and many more amazing sights), the Chinese New Year, producing a documentary on the life of a teacher in China and having fun in the classroom with teaching Chinese students English words by showing them pictures and getting them to describe her family friends and relatives.
This blog has amazing photographs showing Stephanie's adventures. I love the idea of a picture blog and the photographs on 'My adventures in China' reminded me of my own travelling experiences in Thailand. In fact, each blog entry is accompanied by a meaningful photograph, in addition to the fascinating Gallery.
I have considered teaching abroad before hence why I completed a TEFL qualification.
Exploring this blog has definately inspired me and encoraged me to find out more about opportunities abroad. Furthermore, it has also been inspirational and enlightening to read the real thoughts and experiences of a foreign national teaching in China.

The blog I was talking about today in our break

Hi,

Earlier today in our break, Mark, Paul and I were talking about blogs we've known about before today. I mentioned the drawing blog I read about in the paper and I thought it was great. This blog is made by a mum from Swansea. Here is the link if you want to have a look : http://doodlemum.com/ Have a great week, Cristina

Reflective practice spider diagram