Hooray

After a gap of a month or so, I have a new website commission. This time it is for a company that designs, supplies and fits kitchens. They want a brochure site with a form that will allow the customer to choose the types of units. Lots of photographs but I can lift them (legally) from the wholesalers website!

Now, all I need is to get one of these jobs each week....

Bog Standard

The place where I work, a state comp, is readily described by its aspirational head as' bog standard' when he is trying to recruit 'top flight' staff. The school is 'satisfactory' according to Ofsted but struggles with exam results, behaviour and some other things.

Anyway, picture painted.

The end of the school year is rapidly advancing and as a 'treat', we have Activities Day! I would like to have gone paintballing with the Year 10 kids, but was worried about the driving need to buy lots of extra ammo and then going on a rampage, 'getting back' all the kids who have driven me nuts over the past few months of my (hopefully) short sentence here.

Anyway, I did not volunteer for the paintballing, but said I was happy to go to a Theme Park ( jolly coach trip, few fun rides, jolly return). I didn't get picked. No new opportunities. Nothing heard. No notices on the board....

Hmmm..

Come the day... they have forgotten about me ! HURRAH! So, a day of much needed prep for the forthcoming year and now wondering if I can sneak out a bit earlier. Not a bog standard day!

Broke

I have just been reading the BBC Business section. I expect bodies will be littering the City and Canary Wharf and environs as financiers hurl themselves off buildings, desperate to escape this mortal coil and its problems. I still feel that this is a financial mess that we have entered as much through people 'talking it up' as any other cause. From what I have read, a possible 'starting point' was the collapse of trust in the US subprime market. 'Lack of trust' - but the banks etc. were making billions, the billions were secured on the porperties and , initially at any rate, the so-called losses were unrealised in that the debts hadn;t been called and the properties hadn't been sold. It was all about confidence.

Here, the Banks and Building Societies are telling us about the terrible plight, the flat/falling housing market, while at the same time reducing the number of mortgages, putting up the cost( leading to defaulting, property coming on the market, being sold cheaply to repay the mortgage debt...). Hmmm.

I bet some people are making a FORTUNE out of this. Whether it is ssomthing way beyond my cmprehension in the Derivatives market or something I will read about in 2 years time wishing, "why didn;t I think of that?", time will tell.

Meanwhile, guess who bought a house at the top of the market? Guess who has a house he can't sell. And guess who has a fixed rate mortage that is about to zoom up to unaffordable levels?

Anyone got a 5th floor office with an opening window?

How rude!

Wending my way in to work on my lovely bike, I once again noticed how some drivers will thank you for waiting while other will not. Nothing new there. However, why does there seem to be a skew towards the more elderly being the ones that fail to acknowledge? One day I will be a rude old bugger too I expect.

Talking about giving right of way, the other group who don't tend to say thank you are younger women. I remeber reading someone giving their opinion that to say thank you for letting me through was the first step to sleeping with someone.

Funny.

NBT

Hate acronyms? Sorry, but this is mine ( I think). it stands for 'New Best Thing'. We seem to be suffering epidemics of these. I guess they are a by-product of consumerism, but they seem prevalent everywhere.

If I have lost you, my imaginary reader, then I shall allucidate.

A NBT is the thing that someone tells you you MUST HAVE ( USE, WANT, NEED, etc.)

In the world of ivory towers, it is a VLE ( ah, don't you love them!) a.k.a. virtual learning environment. Not one where learning is virtual, God forbid, but a web-based tool through which young minds are nurtured, etc.

Please dont' think I am a cynic ( sic), I think they are great, I just love it when someone startes to tell me about their NBT !

What's yours?

Outstanding

I don't think I have ever given an 'outstanding lesson' in my life, but that is my new goal, according to the powers that be in the institution of enlightenment in which I am currently entombed.

An 'outstanding lesson' is one that:

How to Teach an Outstanding Lesson

Promoting learning through effective teaching. Ask yourself…

When planning the lesson have you…

· Provided a detailed and effective scheme of work and lesson plan appropriate for the learning needs of the group and the demands of the subject?

· Organised the room layout and resources to maximise learning opportunities?

· Planned for individual learning needs?

· Provided an appropriate pack for an observer – Scheme, lesson plan, ILPs, group/individual profiles, assignment records etc (Select as appropriate; do not overdo as this can be counter-productive)

At the start of lesson do you…

· Take the register within first few minutes and record and challenge lateness appropriately?

· Start with re-cap of previous lesson and involve learners in this to consolidate and reinforce learning?

· Record clear learning objectives or outcomes of the lesson and share these with learners? (They should know what they are there for)

During the lesson do you…

· Vary teaching and learning activities to:
- hold learners’ interests
- meet a range of learning styles and abilities
- actively engage learners in the learning process

· Ensure that learners are given clear information and guidance throughout the lesson. (Tell them if you want them to do something such as take notes)

· Show interest and enthusiasm for the subject and create a positive and constructive atmosphere for learning? (Your manner and approach will inspire or disengage learners)

· Ensure that the pace of activities is appropriate for:
- subject level
- stage of course
- individual learning needs

· Manage different learning needs in the group? (Through extension activities, differentiated resources, structured group work activities, varied levels of support etc)

· Use appropriate teaching and learning resources - including ILT – effectively and creatively to support and promote learning? (Remember, of all the senses, sight has the most impact on learning)








· Link learning content to previous learning and experience and use topical and vocationally relevant examples to explain and clarify the lesson content?

· Use effective questioning skills and appropriate assessment activities to regularly review and check learning throughout the lesson? (All learners not just some)

· Ensure all learners are actively involved in the learning tasks and are working productively and co-operatively on them?

· Provide clear feedback on progress – written or verbal (as appropriate) – within the lesson?

· Demonstrate highly effective communication and group management skills appropriate to the age of the learners and level of the qualification?

· Ensure that all language, resources and learning approaches used, positively promote an inclusive learning atmosphere based on respect for difference and diversity? (see below)

Do you check…

· Language and terminology – in course material, in what you say and in what the learners do and say?

· Stereotypical attitudes – oral and written?

· Gender or racial bias in the organisation or balance of learner contribution?

· Breadth and appropriateness of assessment activities to ensure that they reflect a diversity of approach to learning?

· The physical environment and how this might impact on learning?

· Access and support for learners available within your organisation?

At the end of the lesson do you…

· Review aims/objectives/activities completed?

· Ask and check what learners have learnt? (Could use learning diary for this)

· Check to see if any elements are still outstanding and need to be carried over to the next lesson?

· Ensure that any homework set is given out (With written instructions where appropriate)

· End with a forward look to the next lesson so that learners can see the links + are motivated to attend?

· Bring the lesson to a clear close?

The role of the teacher is to promote learning.

An outstanding lesson should provide very clear evidence of highly effective learning for every learner in that class.



Phew!

What happened to, take the register, write on the board for 45 minutes and set the detentions for those who didn't do the homework?

BBC leading us into recession?

Is it just my perception or is the BBC really negative in the way it portrays the news? I get the impression that the BBC journalists go for the headline with 'impact' rather than setting out the news. I guess I am saying I think they are 'sales' driven.

An example.

Last week, there was a headline on the BBC News site, Business section. It had this within inverted commas, as shown here:

'rates fell by 0.9%'

Surely this is not a 'fall'? When I read the article, looking for what I took to be a quote, the term 'fell' was used by the journalist writing the article.

Today, I see another BBC journalist says the Halifax reports that house prices 'fell' by 2%.

Fell...went down..reduced..a slight decline..

Hmmm..

First Thoughts

Why do I want to keep a blog?