A need for Handwriting?
Posted by: tomhenzley on: August 26, 2010
- In: General Ramblings | ICT | NQT | reflections
- 4 Comments
Last night, a lively discussion popped up on Twitter which was kicked off by @oliverquinlan (with @squiggle7 @APrimaryNQT @KnikiDavies @rantingteacher @dan_bowen to name just a few) which focused around whether exams should still be handwritten.
What followed was a very intense 30-40 mins fo tweeting with lots of interesting and extremely thought provoking questions being asked and points being made. This blog post is my attempt to make sense of it all(!) and to explore the issues raised in a bit more depth.
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Now I perhaps bring an interesting perspective on the issue of handwriting VS typing- as due to various circumstances I haven’t handwritten an exam in a very long time- throughout secondary school, A-Levels and Degree all my exams (that required any length of writing) were word processed. This is obviously not (or was) the norm, and I realized last night that I am probably one of only a handful of adults who have experienced this first hand.
For me- word-processing an exam or any extended piece of writing is natural. It is the norm. I would find it very difficult to sit down and handwrite and exam- some may say this is ‘unfortunate’- but is it?
In fact word processing is natural to me full stop, and I expect an increasing majority of people would say this too. Word Processing has been around for many, many years so this should not be unsurprising. I’m not saying I can’t handwrite- for me it has its purposes- and I’ll explore these later.
Underlining all of my views on this is the fact that things are constantly changing, and as such the way we look at and approach things should constantly be changing and adapting too. Yes exams have ‘always’ been handwritten- but does this mean they ‘always’ should be?
To me, forcing children to handwrite exams is becoming out of date. I think that we should be moving towards a situation where children at least have the option to word process exams and assessed pieces of work- here’ why:-
Word Processing removes what are essentially repeated handwriting tests. Sit own to handwrite an exam, and it’s not only your thoughts and ability to apply your knowledge in the subject that is being assessed- but your handwriting too. How your work is presented will un-doubtedly impact on your success in the exam- and I’m not just talking about people with sometimes difficult to read handwriting! Examiners/us as teachers marking(!) are bound to make sub-conscious judgements based simply on how a piece of work/exam script *looks*. How many people can honestly say that their handwriting doesn’t deteriorate when they need to write at speed and under pressure? This leaves a lot of people agonising over making sure their presentation is neat in the exam- as well as ensuring they actually do well with regards to the subject content. This can inhibit thought processed and flow and is in my mind a unnecessary worry in an exam. Word-processing makes every script look the same and would ensure the exam is marked for content only. If we need to assess handwriting- then we should do this in one handwriting test/exam only, not make it a sub-concious element of every exam.
There is a strong argument that Word processing is increasingly becoming natural. People are increasingly learning to compose and construct extended pieces of writing. It is rare, apart from exam situations, to have to do an extended piece of writing by hand. From my limited experience at least half of a class will choose to word process homework and project work- showing in my mind that is is more natural for them to work in that way. Why are we then asking them to write in exams in a way which is not natural to them? The process of writing by hand and word processing is intrinsically different (I’m sure there must be research about this somewhere!) and you adapt to whichever one you use the most. I experienced this first hand when I had to handwrite our sample bit of Master level writing during the PGCE application process- this felt very unnatural and I found it more difficult to structure my thoughts and arguments by hand. I’m not saying that I can’t / children won’t be able to handwrite- I will often still note take etc by hand- but that I *think* better and am able to express my thoughts more coherently when I type and this will increasingly be the experience of the children we teach.
There is the other side to this as well- its extremely rare (?nearly un-heard of?) to have to do an extended piece of writing by hand in adult life In adult life children will undoubtedly have to word process any extended piece of writing (letters, documents for work, academic papers etc)- so why are we ‘training’ them to write these by hand in school- surely we should be preparing them for the ‘real’ world?
Linking into this, the process of composing by word processing is inherently more flexible that writing by had. You can shape your thoughts, re-organise things, cut, paste, insert etc via word processing- something that is more difficult to do by hand. This changes the way you compose work in your head- which links into the ‘more natural’ point above.
I also want to try and pre-empt three of the arguments against typing exams:-
- "Spell Check/Grammar correction make marking for spelling pointless”- Not necessarily the case- you would probably turn off spell checking and grammar checking on exam PC’s (I know I was never able to use it). This does mean you have to be more careful when you type and not rely on the spell checker- but this is by no means a bad thing! Internet access can also be disabled [During the discussion the question was also raised if we should allow internet access in exams- I’ll blog my thoughts on this another day!]
- “It’ll be too difficult to arrange”- Beyond providing a computer for every child there are little differences between administering a typed exam and a ‘traditional’ one. Yes, I know we are, in most cases, no where near the point of a computer per child- but at some point in the future this will be the case. (And, thinking about it some primaries would be able to lay their hands on enough machines in the school for every Y6 to be able to type…)
- “You’ll loose work”- Yes- we need to ensure we teach practices of ‘safe’ word processing- saving regularly, knowing how to undo etc- to prevent this. Auto-save can also help. I have experienced this first hand when, during my final exam in my degree there was a power cut- and I ended up loosing a fair chunk of what I had written and had a whole load of stress too! These are not difficult things to overcome.
I also want to say that I am not proposing, in any way shape or form, that we abandon the teaching of handwriting or suddenly say that handwriting is not important. Of course handwriting is important, and will continue to be for some time yet- and as such it should still be ‘taught as one of the basic skills children need (arguably alongside typing- see @reallera blog on this here) – but handwriting should not necessarily be assessed in every exam taken!
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So what does all this mean?
Ultimately I think that we need to be moving towards a situation where children are given the choice of how to present their exam’s and assessed pieces. They are then able to chose how they feel they can best present themselves and work most effectively. Word Processing should un-doubtedly be an option, as should handwriting, but there may be also scope for other methods, especially in some subjects- perhaps audio, video etc.
Briefly looking wider- I feel we should be trying to offer a choice, or at least a variety, of ways of working and recording as much as possible when we teach. I’m personally hoping this year to really explore this.
But back to the exam’s…. Just as it is ‘unfair’ to make every child handwrite exams, it would equally be as ‘unfair’ to make every child word process. But children would then have the freedom to choose- we may initially notice that there is little change from the status quo, but as children increasingly become accustomed and used to writing via word processing the number of children choosing to word process may increase. It may get the the situation where all exams are word processed- it may not- but the vital thing is ensuring children have the choice.
After all, are we not trying to meet the individual needs of the child in everything we do during our day to day teaching? Why should this stop at assessment?
TH
An Update on The PGCE Survival Guide
Posted by: tomhenzley on: August 23, 2010
I just thought I’d post quickly to give update on what’s been going on with the PGCE Survival Guide!
The Guide has been out for just over one week now, and quite simply the response has been totally beyond my wildest expectations! To date we’ve had:-
- 5,342 Downloads
- 30 Physical Purchases
The book has been placed on 11 PGCE Courses reading lists (that I know of) – which is fantastic.
The TES featured the book- this was great and a very interesting experience having a photographer taking photos of me for over an hour and half! And it’s been the subject of countless blog posts and online articles ( so many I’ve actually lost track of them all- thankyou so much if you featured it in your blog/website!
I’ve also had some interesting developments personally with a few approaches to be involved in various different things- and even to run a PGCE Survival Course. I’m currently deciding what to do with some of these!
I also saw a hard copy of the book for the first time when I got my copies from LuLu- the feedback from people who have got their hands on a paper copy has been fantastic- and I can see it being handy to have a physical copy to quickly refer to during your PGCE- and at only £6.91 (the price LuLu sets) it must be one of the cheapest teaching books around!
pgceguide.com has also been set up- to provide a more ‘user friendly’ site for people to find out about the book- it’s been written to target ‘general’ PGCE Students and Teachers who aren’t yet ‘converted’ to the wonderful world of twitter etc.
I’ve done very little to promote the book (I just haven’t needed to!)- a major thank you to everyone who has helped spread the word.
PGCE courses start in a few weeks- if you know of anyone starting a PGCE/Teacher Training and they don’t yet know about the book- please point them to pgceguide.com !
Many thanks again for all your support and help!
Tim
Launching the PGCE Survival Guide incorporating #pgcetips
Posted by: tomhenzley on: August 12, 2010
I’m proud to ‘unveil’ the PGCE Survival Guide- a refreshing type of teaching book!
Full details about the book can be found on the books page on this blog- use the url http://bit.ly/pgceguide to share it!
The PGCE Survival guide is available in 2 forms:-
As a free download here
As a ‘printed’ book, for only £6.91 here
Inside the book you will find 143 pages full of hints, tips and advice intended for those who are embarking on, or who are currently on any form of teacher training. There is a mixture of articles, blog posts and of course the 250 tweets which were sent into the #pgcetips hashtag over the past few weeks.
Every element of the teacher training year is covered- from the first day on the course, through the hectic world of placements (with lots of teaching tips!) to finding a job
– we have it covered! The emphasis is on practical and relevant content which will be of real use (and hopefully help) to a trainee teacher, not on educational theory. It is based on the contributors, who are all teachers, advisors or trainee teachers real, firt hand, experience of teaching and teacher training.
The few ‘lucky’ people who have had a sneak preview of the book have also commented on how useful some of the content could be for qualified teachers- both NQT’s and those further on in their career.
A few facts about the book:-
- It’s 143 full A4 pages in length
- It contains 58, 811 words
- It has contains tweets from 104 different users!
- It’s licenced under creative commons (for more details, see the books page)
The book is available in 2 options- as a free download (full colour, PDF). or a printed book (A4, perfect bound, greyscale with colour covers) via lulu’s print on demand service for only £6.91. The book is the type of book which will be good to ‘dip into’ for quick advice, hints and tips and hopefully the low price, achieved by opting for a high quality greyscale interior (which still looks ace!) of the printed version will make ordering a physical copy of the book ‘achievable’ for those who want to purchase a copy.
A massive thankyou needs to go out to all of our tweeters, but also to:-
Nikki Davis, Oliver Quinlian, Mark Howell, Alan Parkinson, Jenny Harvey, Emma Dawson, Gerald Haigh, Amanda O’Dell, Ryan Delaney and Sarah Brownsword
who have all contributed sections of invaluable advice to the book.
Major thanks also has to go to Helen Morgan (@nelmog) for lending her amazing illustration skills to provider the wonderful illustrations for the book and to Nikki Davis for taking on the huge task of proof reading the book!
Please spread the word about the book to everyone you know! I will ‘market’ the book to training providers in the early part of next week- but if you are involved in teacher training, please consider recommending the book (which can be viewed for free afterall!) to your new trainees!
Producing the book has been a fantastic adventure for me. I have really enjoyed every minute of it, learnt new skills (especially all about page layout!) and found reading all of the wonderful tips sent in really enjoyable (and useful!).
I’d love to hear your feedback on the book!
Thankyou to everyone involved once again!
Tim
Petrification and Excitement
Posted by: tomhenzley on: August 5, 2010
- In: General Ramblings | Hopes/Fears | NQT | PGCE | reflections
- 7 Comments
In just under 4 weeks I will have started my job as teacher
In just over 4 weeks my new class will arrive- and I’ll be their teacher!
These 2 facts both petrify and excite me!
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Whenever I think about next year I feel worried and genuinely scared.
Not that I’m not looking forward to starting- I am, I really am! But this doesn’t stop me worrying about it all!
It’s very clear to me that having your own class, and teaching in your NQT year is a very different experience from teaching on the PGCE (@oliverquinlan writes about this here.)
Not least because when I arrived on placement I met an established class. A class where the class teacher had already done all the ‘establishing’ work- routines, behaviour management strategies, reward systems, classroom organisation and many more things besides were already sorted out, Now I am not just ‘borrowing’ a class- a group of 30 children will be my class and my responsibility and it will be up to me to establish all these things!
My ‘to do before September’ list keeps growing by the day- I keep thinking of new things that I need to sort out or think about, but I’m worried I’ll forget something important! (if anyone has a list of what I need to sort out, feel free to share 
) There are also things I realise I need to sort out that I haven’t even thought about yet! ( target setting, ability grouping etc!)
I looked over the assessment data for my new class, and realised the large amount of progress some of the children have got to make this year to meet the schools targets. It dawned on me that this is now my responsibility and it is me who is answerable if they do not achieve their targets.
I’ve no longer go to just plan and prepare for 5 week bocks- but a whole year. I’ve been lucky with this as I enjoyed having the opportunity to jointly re-plan the whole year 5 curriculum- so I have a good idea of where ‘we’re going’ and where everything fits in throughout the year (in theory anyway!)
I’ve got to decide what to do in my first few days and weeks- it’s clear to me that these are vitally important and that I’m going to have to put the brakes on myself to some degree and keep things simple so that I can focus on establishing and getting ‘right’ the basics.
I haven’t be able to spend time in school yet this summer and it’s unlikely I’ll get much time in school before the start of term (I was away when the school was open)- this doesn’t worry me too much though, as to me, a lot of the ‘important’ things to sort out don’t need me to be in the classroom. I do hope however that I can sort out my classroom in the time I do have.
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I also said I felt excited- and this is true too.
I’m excited about getting ‘stuck’ in and teaching again.
When I look at our long term plans I’m excited about the breath and quality (I think anyway!) of experiences and topics we are going to be able to offer.
I’m excited about getting ‘my hands on’ my new classroom and sorting out things like displays etc…
But above all I feel excited about getting to know the 30 children in MY class and building up a relationship with them throughout the year.
So I am looking forward to it all really- but that doesn’t stop the nerves and worry!
I’m hoping my nerves and worries will decrease over the next few weeks when I start working with gusto towards my preparations for next year- I’ve not done (much) towards next year as yet- I’ve made sure I give myself a break and rest so that I have energy for my new class!
If you have any tips, advice or anything – please share them in the comments. I’m keen to get and will be very appreciative of any help!
TH
All Change!
Posted by: tomhenzley on: August 5, 2010
- In: NQT | PGCE
- Leave a Comment
When I returned from my holiday last weekend, I was greeted by 2 very important pieces of paper in the post- My QTS and PGCE certificates had arrived! I can now officially prove that I am qualified to teach! 
Even though I’d known I was going to be gaining QTS since July, actually holding the QTS certificate in my hands made it feel real for me and it finally really dawned on me that I had qualified as a teacher- and I am no longer a ‘trainee’.
To reflect this, I have (very joyfully!) changed the name of my blog- from Tales from a Trainee Teacher to Tales from a Newly Qualified Teacher (imaginative I know ) All the blog posts from the PGCE will of course stay on the blog- and I’m going through and re-tagging them ‘PGCE’ so they can be easily be found.
I plan to keep on blogging with gusto during my NQT year- hopefully bringing the same mix of reflections, resources and general ramblings that I wrote during my PGCE year. I hope this will continue to be interesting reading! I also want to take this opportunity to thank you all again for reading this blog and being so supportive to me during my PGCE year!
TH
#pgcetips and the PGCE Survival Guide
Posted by: tomhenzley on: July 31, 2010
A year ago I had just finished my (hellishly boring) job at a call centre and was waiting for the PGCE to start. I was anxious, nervous and unsure what lay ahead. I can 
remember desperately wanting information, help and advice- basically anything to give me a bit of ‘help’ for what I knew would be a manic year!
A year on, after emerging from the PGCE alive and well (! ) I have come across lots of people who are now in the exact same position that I was this time last year and who too desperately want information and advice!
When I was on holiday, I decided try and provide a little bit of this much wanted information and to do look at putting together some form of ‘survival guide’ to the PGCE (and more broadly other forms of teacher training as well!) which I plan to make available as a free e-book, hopefully before the end of august. My original plan was to include some ‘narrative’ (i.e. providing some narrative/information/advice etc based on my experiences and those of others over the PGCE year) coupled with relevant extracts from this blog. This was the kind of thing I was looking for this time last year.
But then I remembered the hugely amazing #movemeon – a fantastic ‘cloud sourced’ e-book which is made up of lots of tips and advice for practicing teachers which were contributed by people on twitter ( and is well worth a read if you haven’t seen it already) – and I decided it’d be great if something (on a smaller scale) could be achieved for new PGCE/ITE students.
So #pgcetips was born- and those of you who follow me on twitter probably couldn’t have escaped my tweets about it over the past 24 hours!
I’ve been asking people to share their top tips for PGCE students (including the #pgcetips hashtag in their reply!) and I’ve had an amazing response already! Thankyou so much to all of you who have contributed so far! (and so far, the ‘gold medal’ for most contributions has to go to @mathsatschool and @oliverquinlan )
The ‘master plan’ now is to create a e-book which contains the elements I originally intended, along with lots and lots of tips from twitter and the education community online – courtesy of #pgcetips . I hope the book will be mainly made up of #pgcetips with a few other bits and pieces added. I also want to include (if people allow me to) blog posts from other blogs which are relevant.
I hope by doing this we can create a very useful resource for all those starting teacher training.
My other motive behind this is to try and get as many trainee teachers as possible on twitter and joining in with the wonderful education community/network that exists online. As I said here Since I ‘joined in’ twitter and blogging has been so useful to me and to my development as a teacher- and I know for a fact that I would have found things much more difficult without the support etc of everyone online! I really want to try and encourage lots of trainee teachers to have this ‘experience’!
All of this- within the next 2 (or 3 ) weeks!
To help me achieve this, I could really do with your help in a few ways!
- Please continue to contribute to the #pgcetips hashtag on twitter- tips can be about anything that will be useful to a trainee teacher. I’ll also be tweeting out asking for further tips in different categories (more on that below) later in the week.
- Please tweet out to your followers asking them to contribute!
- You can also contribute by commenting on this post (and please do!)
- Check out my rough ‘contents’ page which I have shared here- is there anything else you think we should include?
- Do you blog? Is there a blog post on your blog that you think would be useful to include? Please let me know about it! Either comment below or msg me on twitter! Likewise if you have seen one elsewhere but it’s not on your blog please also let me know!
- I’m more than happy to write the ‘narrative’ to tie everything together myself- but if you feel amazing and want to help write a section (and could have a draft to me by next Saturday) than add you name next to it in this document along with your twitter name and/or e-mail address- I am planning on no more than a side of A4 for most sections, just giving basic advice/information/tips etc- most sections will be much shorter! There are some sections that I feel I may not be the most qualified to write- so please feel free to take a section (or two!) on!
- I am a bit of a loss of how to format this so it looks lovely! Any tips, help, advice or software to use for this please let me know!
Hopefully this turn into a great resource for PGCE students!
Thank you so much for your help so far!
TH
Highlights 14 + 15- My final observation + Finishing the course
Posted by: tomhenzley on: July 29, 2010
Another 2 for the price of 1 again today- as these too are linked!
This is the final post in my highlights ‘series’. It’s been great looking back on the PGCE and I hope it’s (or some of it!) has made interesting reading. I’ll be back to normal service (and back in the UK!) shortly!
So without further ado…
The 14th highlight from my PGCE year is…
My final observation.
After having so many observations during the year, you think you’d get used to them- but my final observation was perhaps the most nerve wrecking of them all!
But when I had finally finished my observation lesson and had the (good!) feedback from my UEA tutor the sense of relief was amazing.
It marked the final thing I had to achieve- I effectively knew after the observation that I would be gaining QTS and a PGCE!
As I’ve already mentioned my children in the class picked up on this and their congratulations made it even more amazing!
It was great also to know that I could (unoffically) escape some of the paperwork which was required by UEA. [I’m not saying though that there was no need for the paperwork during the course!] It meant I was able to spend some time working out how I want to manage my workload and teaching during my NQT year. I was ‘allowed’ to teach without a in-depth daily plan (but instead working from a fairly detailed weekly plan). I felt that my teaching really developed after my final observation and that I started to really feel at home in the classroom.
My last 2 weeks on placement, post final observation were certainly the best 2 weeks of placement.
I can’ wait for my NQT year!
And my 15th and final highlight of the PGCE is…
Finishing!
Finally finishing the course was an amazing feeling. I had survived the year! As I’ve said numerous times it has been a fantastic year but it was a good feeling to have finished!
I’ve reflected more on finishing the PGCE here. so I won’t repeat it here.
I now can’t wait to get started in September on my NQT year- which I know will be full of learning, new experiences and great memories!
TH
Highlight 13- TeachMeet East
Posted by: tomhenzley on: July 27, 2010
And my 13th Highlight from my PGCE year is…
TeachMeet East
Organising TeachMeet East- whilst slightly ambitious during my final placement(!) was a fantastic experience.
I first experienced TeachMeet by watching TMBett online. I immediately was inspired and enthused. I looked to try and find one I could attend- and there were none within a sensible commute of Norwich.
A few months went by and I decided to try and organise one and with the help with @MissBrowsword TeachMeet East was born!
I hope all who attended enjoyed the event. I know I certainly did! It was great to meet lots of people I had only spoken to previously on twitter and the breadth and depth of the presentations blew me away.
I’m hoping to organise another one, due to popular demand(!), in November- so watch this space!
TH
Highlight 12- Feeling like a teacher
Posted by: tomhenzley on: July 26, 2010
And my 12th highlight from my PGCE is…
‘Feeling’ like a teacher
This is a strange highlight in so much that I can’t put a date or anything on it- it just seemed to happen.
One day towards the end of placement I was teaching, and suddenly thought – ‘Oh my… I’m actually teaching these children!’ and what’s more the children were listening to me- and learning! I think it was then it dawned on me that I had become (or very nearly become!) a teacher! I’d obviously been teaching and the children learning (I hope ) for a while- but it hadn’t dawned on me!
I also had the typical moment (many times throughout placements!) when I ‘looked out’ into the class and suddenly realised ‘they are waiting on my every word!’.
Towards the end of placement I noticed it started to feel rather natural to be the ‘teacher’ in the classroom (rather than just another person/adult)- I began to feel that it would feel odd not teaching yet being in a classroom! felt
These were all amazing feelings- yet I still can’t quite believe that I am a qualified teacher (all be it with a lot to learn still during my NQT year and beyond!) now!
TH
Highlights 10 + 11- Trying things + Using lots of great tech
Posted by: tomhenzley on: July 24, 2010
2 for the price of 1 today- as these are very closely linked…
My 10th highlight from my PGCE year is…
Having the chance to experiment (a bit!)
I’ve been really lucky with both my placements as I have been encouraged in both schools to ‘try’ things out. If I’ve had an idea or a thought I was always encouraged to try it- my class teachers encouraged this with he knowledge that they may not always work- but also with the knowledge that I (and in some cases they said they) would learn something either way!
I really thank my class teachers for being so open and positively encouraging me to try things out.
Now this is not saying I went crazy and tried all manner of things just for the ‘fun’ of it- but it did give the the chance to look at things, and try things out if I thought they would work or help and meant I didn’t always have to do something simply ‘because that how it’s always been done’.
I’ve learnt so much as a result of trying things out and I hope to include many of them in my teaching in my NQT year (for example, Talk and Thought and using images in the classroom. )
Linked into this my 11th highlight from my PGCE year is…
Having the opportunity to explore and use lots of fantastic technology.
Now perhaps this is where I’m a bit geeky- but I love technology!
This year I’ve loved having the opportunity to explore some of the educational technology that is out there. I’ve enjoyed experimenting and using technology only when I felt it will add something to the lesson and the children’s learning (which it does so often!)
I did a list of some of my ‘top tech’ here- but this really needs updating (another job for the summer!).
TH
Highlights 9- Oh Canada
Posted by: tomhenzley on: July 23, 2010
And the 9th Highlight from my PGCE year is…
Linking up with @MissBartels class in Canada!
I blogged in detail about this at the time- so I won’t repeat it all here!
But this was an amazing experience and one which my class certainly loved (and I know Miss Bartles class did too!)
Highlights 8- Teaching my first full day
Posted by: tomhenzley on: July 22, 2010
And the 8th Highlight of my PGCE is…
Teaching my first full day!
This came around February time- much earlier then perhaps it ‘should’ but I felt ready and wanted to give it a try!
I was so pleased when I had survived my first full day of teaching- it really showed me that I could probably do this! I started to feel a bit closer to being a ‘proper’ teacher! I was exhausted after it, but that didn’t matter at the time- I felt like I was on cloud 9!
TH
(yes, short but hopefully sweet today!)
Highlights- 7- Blogging! – A thank you to all of you!
Posted by: tomhenzley on: July 21, 2010
And the 7th Highlight of my PGCE year is…
Blogging, Twitter and PLN’S!
This must be my top highlight from this year! Starting this blog back in January was one of the best, and most influential things I have done!
I was unsure about blogging- I had always wanted to give it a go, but wasn’t sure how people would react. Taking part in the Take One Picture/ITE scheme at the National Gallery really provided me with the ‘omph’ to start this blog and I haven’t looked back since!
Blogging has opened my eyes to a whole new world! It has proved to be a great reflective writing tool and a fantastic way to develop my teaching.
If I am honest, I am still amazed that people actually take the time to read my blog! I never thought I would have anything to say that would be of any particular interest to anyone (and perhaps these series of highlights may not be- apologies if they are a bit boring!)! Every time I look at my blog stats I am pleasantly surprised. I hope I continue to write stuff that is of interest over the next year!
My readers (that’s you!) are amazing to me- you are always willing to help and offer your advice and comments freely- these have been really useful to me over the past 6 months- they have often made me think and reflect and some of what I consider to be my best lessons and ideas have come from ideas that have been shared with me.
I am pleased I have managed to keep up a blog- despite the craziness that is the PGCE (I know I had a bit of a dip in the last month of the course- but I’m blaming that on TeachMeet ) many people say that I must be crazy to blog during the PGCE- but I don’t think I am! I made sure I made the time to blog as I valued the benefits blogging gives me.
Blogging also introduced me to the wonderful world of Twitter- which again has been so helpful over the past 6 months it’s difficult to quantify! A really do feel privileged to be amongst such great teachers and educators. More will come on Twitter and PLN’s in a different post when I return from holiday!
Through the blog and twitter I also was introduced to the world of TeachMeets which ultimately led to TeachMeet East- but much more on that in a week or so!
I may have got one thing wrong though- assuming that I needed a pseudonym (Tom Henzley) when I didn’t at all (and as most of you know- I’m really Tim Handley! )- and I perhaps need to look at changing that over the summer!
I fully plan and aim to continue this blog into my NQT year- I don’t know where I would be without it!
THANKYOU for all your support and kindness during my PGCE- it really would have been much harder without you!
TH
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I’m currently away in Greece and these posts have been set to auto post. I’d love to hear your comments as always- most should be approved straight away but if they are not, I’ll approve them when I return at the end of July.
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Highlights 6- Take One Picture
Posted by: tomhenzley on: July 20, 2010
The 6th in my series of highlights from my PGCE is:-
Take One Picture and the National Galleries ITE Cultural Placement Scheme.
This is certainly one of the top highlights of the year for me.
My week spent at the National Gallery in early January (which you can read about here, here, here, here and here ) and the work and experiences that followed it in my placement schools (which you can read about here, here, here and here) was simply amazing.
These experiences really opened my eyes to the power of truly cross curricular working, where real and non-tenuous links are made. The experiences gained in this week were so rich- I was able to learn from some of the best people in their fields (where else could I have got a music lesson from someone from the London Philharmonic or learnt about gallery education from some of the best gallery educators in the country?). On a personal level I also received a crash course in ‘art’ and began to appreciate and enjoy the fantastic art pieces in the National Gallery. The first trip I have organised for me new class is to the National Gallery as the learning and teaching I observed was fantastic.
The week at the National Gallery really impacted on how I teach and the approaches I use. It is without the doubt the most significant and useful week in the whole of the PGCE and it was well worth giving up a week of holiday for!
It was great to be able to have the freedom to devise and run a truly cross curricular scheme of work in my first placement school and as part of this I was also able to gain the useful experience of running a school trip.
The response of the children in working in this was was fantastic which has led me to introduce elements of the approach into my day to day teaching.
As if all this wasn’t enough, I know from the feedback I was given, that my experiences through the National Gallery was one of the main reasons I was offered my NQT position- and I have thoroughly enjoyed planning a whole year of cross curricular teaching,
Last week I also learned that some of the work I did with my first placement class has been selected to appear in a major exhibition- ‘Through the eyes of a child’ which is running from the 9th October at Norwich Castle- I can’t wait to see the children’s work in the gallery!
This was a truly amazing experience!
TH
Highlights-5
Posted by: tomhenzley on: July 19, 2010
The 5th highlight of my PGCE year is:-
Passing my first assignment and then all assignments.
The academic side of the masters level PGCE was a challenge. Not only did we have to survive teaching, we obviously had to produce assignments.
As many of us had spotted early on, if we didn’t get the masters side of things we wouldn’t emerge with a PGCE (but we’d still get QTS)- and, like everyone, I really wanted a PGCE!
Therefore passing my first assignment was a major relief- I knew that I was able to write at masters level. Going on to pass all my assignments was equally as relieving!
I’m actually quite keen now to complete my masters- but not until I’ve finished my NQT year!
TH
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