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These hangouts are particularly useful to me as I have now got a job for September in a Year 3 classroom. By watching these hangouts back again, I am excited for the challenge of being able to teach my own class computing.
Children in KS2 should be able to: Design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems, solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts. Use sequence, selection and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and output. Use logical reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms work and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs. Understand computer networks, including the internet, how they can provide multiple services, such as the World Wide Web, and the opportunities they offer for communication and collaboration. Use search technologies effectively, appreciate how results are selected and ranked. One of the most useful things, when watching these hangouts was Barefoot Computing's Computational thinker and considering the 6 concepts needed. Logic, algorithms, decomposition, patterns, abstraction and evaluation. I found it very interesting that it was recommended to start by doing some unplugged activities, not using any technologies first to help children gain some of these concepts (such as algorithm, expanded from KS1, logic, abstraction and patterns.) I especially liked the idea of 'speed modelling' to help children both understand and use abstraction. Children must think of an animal and then are given a very short time in which to make this animal out of play dough. This then enables children to use abstraction as they will not have enough time to use all the details of the animal they have chosen. They will need to pick out the defining features so that the other children in their class can guess which animal they have made. Therefore, they will understand what abstraction is as they know how to remove to unnecessary information. When I was on my GPP placement, I was placed in a year 6 classroom. During my time, I taught computing each week and went to code club after school on a Thursday. I found that one of the most difficult things about teaching coding was that the children's knowledge was much more advanced than my own, especially as they had been using this website (code.org) throughout their time at school. In order to help keep up with the pupils I was teaching and to understand what they were doing, I found it very useful to go on code.org myself and complete the work they were doing. As you would expect, the pupils in my class were all at very different levels and so, another thing that worked well for me and was suggested by my mentor was to get the children to help their peers themselves. By explaining different methods and defining different terms for their peers, children were able to gain a better understanding themselves. It worked very well during my computing lessons and is definitely something that I will encourage in my own classroom.
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I watched the google hangout, 'Programming in KS1' to help gain a better insight into teaching programming earlier on in the school. Emphasis was placed on apps such as Scratch Jr, Beebots, and the BeeBot app. Since being on my KS1 placement on teaching directions and positions in mathematics, I have used Beebot and A.L.EX. Both of these apps help children to develop both their mathematical knowledge and their knowledge of programming.
By using all of the apps/equipment above, children are learning how to programme and input instructions. This is part of the KS1 computing curriculum. " Pupils should be taught to: understand what algorithms are; how they are implanted as programs on digital devices, and that programmes execute by following precise and unambiguous instructions." "Pupils should be taught to: create and debug simple programs." The apps discussed in the hangout that I have mentioned above help children give precise and unambiguous instructions to a programme. Although I do not teach computing in my current placement, I have used BeeBot and A.L.EX in my maths lessons to help teach direction and position. In terms of helping children to understand what algorithms are, the hangout specifies unplugged activities such as Barefoot Computing: Crazy Characters. This acitivty involves children using an algorithm to create a 'crazy character.' By discussing how specific the algorithm needs to be, children will understand that their instructions need to be very precise and unambiguous. The hangout helped specify which apps can be used to help teach children in KS1 programming. The apps that were discussed in the hangout are practical and fun which help to keep the younger children engaged and learning. For my FPP placement, I have been placed in Higher Failsworth Primary School in a year 2 class. During my mathematics lesson over the past 2 weeks, I have been teaching position and direction. I have found that both BeeBots and the app A.L.E.X are very useful in helping the children understand both following and giving directions.
A.L.E.X is a free app which allows children to input directions to help Alex get to where he needs to go. This has helped the children to gain confidence in giving directions and has also helped them in learning their left and right. I have used BeeBot with my lower ability children and A.L.E.X has been used throughout the whole classroom. BeeBot is brilliant to use with the children in my class with lower achievement levels as there are little cards that come with the BeeBot to help children to both give and follow directions. Visuals and practical activities are very useful to all children in a learning environment. Computer science is defined as the study of the theory, experimentation, and engineering that form the basis for the design and use of computers. Since September 2014, teachers have been expected to teach what was once taught by computing specialists. In order to get a better understanding of computing within education, I have looked on the following website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science As part of the computing curriculum, pupils are expected to understand algorithms. In KS1 this can be taught using the Bee Bot and in KS2. Scratch can be used or code.org. To gain insight into the national curriculum for computing, I have watched the Pick & Mix 4 videos including 'An Introduction to the National Computing Curriculum.' When looking at Information technology and digital literacy, I looked at the pick & mix 1 on blackboard. I watched a clip on Quadblogging and how it can be used in schools. The video was from the view point of a pupil and helped me to understand how blogging can help encourage children to use literacy, enjoy it and build up their confidence. The pick & mix talked about how blogs can be used for children to write their own, to respond to their teachers blog and to create discussions within the classroom.
For my second week of EYFS placement I was placed in Higher Failsworth Primary School in Reception. Throughout my time at Higher Failsworth I was able to see how computing was used in both an early years setting and throughout the rest of the school. I was able to see how iPads were used during independent learning time and how class Dojo's were used as positive reinforcement.
For my two week EYFS placement, I will be spending one week in Oasis Harpur Mount Primary School and the second week in Higher Failsworth Primary School. I have just finished my first week in Oasis Harpur Mount Primary school where I was placed in a nursery classroom. This week has both been useful and enjoyable for me. During the week, I was able to see computing used within the nursery classroom- from the use of the interactive whiteboard daily to BeeBots. Each day the teacher used the interactive whiteboard in the mornings. The children and their parents were instructed that they could upload pictures to the school's twitter and that these would be shown to their class mates. During my stay, I saw the teacher show the children pictures of their peers uploaded to the website. One example is of a little boy who had taken home the class teddy for the night and his mum then uploaded this onto twitter. On top of being able observe computing in the classroom, on the Friday I was able to take a group of 15 to use the iPads. On Friday afternoons, the children in nursery have 'children's choice' (where the children are able to choose an activity to partake in, similar to golden time.) During this time, the teacher allowed me to take a group to use the iPads. When I was doing this, I was able to see which apps/games the children used and talk to the pupils about the iPads. Some of the games the pupils played on were: talking tom, jolly phonics and toy story read along. On Wednesday, I was lucky enough to visit Delph Primary School in Oldham and spend a morning with the ICT coordinator who provided us with information on computing within the primary school and also suggested some useful apps/websites that can be used in all years (EYFS-Year 6.) Throughout the morning, we spent time using the different apps and discussing ways in which we could use computer cross-curricular.Above are just some of the apps I used during my morning at Delph Primary School. At the primary school, they have a green screen. We were able to use the green screen and the accompanying app to create our own images and videos in order to understand how the app works. I chose to use a background from Harry Potter to create my picture. After using the app, the ICT co-ordinator also showed us some of the videos that had been created using the green screen in the school. For example, year 2 had used the green screen during English to describe what they could see underwater. The pupils' stood in front of the green screen with a underwater background and talked about life under the sea. It was also used in EYFS to create mothers day cards. We discussed other uses for the green screen in different subject areas.
The green screen is a good way of inserting computing into other areas of the curriculum, such as English, Art and even Mathematics. During this day, we discussed how, by making computing fun children are more engaged in the activities and therefore learning more. Another app that I found particularly interesting was the Lego Movie App. Again, this was another app that we were able to use ourselves in order to clearly understand the benefits. We also watched a video that pupils' in year 2 had made about Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. They had first recorded a news broadcast and then made a video using the LegoMovie App to show him on the moon. During my time on FPP, I taught Neil Armstrong in a topic lesson and decided to use this app and this lesson idea. It was a lesson that the children thoroughly enjoyed and again, I was able to insert computing into other aspects of the curriculum. Overall, the day was beneficial as we were not only able to discuss the use of using ICT cross-curricular with the ICT co-ordinator but also able to play with the apps ourselves which gave me more insight and helped with my own computing knowledge.
I have recently completed my first placement at Oasis Academy Limeside. I found out that I was going to be placed in a Year 6 class. At first, this seemed daunting! I have never been in a KS2 class. Before, my PGCE I was a TA in EYFS and had experience in KS1. The school is located in a very deprived area in Oldham which presented its own challenges during my placement. However, after having finished my placement in Year 6, I can honestly say that I have loved it. My class were lovely and made my first experience as a Year 6 teacher a very positive one indeed! Before beginning my placement, I looked on the schools website to see if I could gain any insight into their views on computing. I found that the school places a lot of emphasis on the skills needed for computing. "As computers become more and more important in all aspects of life, learners need to be able to choose ICT tools to find, analyse, interpret, evaluate, and present information. They need to be able to decide when and how to use ICT. The Academy has excellent computer facilities with potential daily access for all children to our network of laptops and Apple Mac computers." During my time on GPP I taught a few computing lessons and used computer during my maths lessons, both through the use of iPads and computers in the ICT suite.
When teaching my computing lessons, the pupils' used code.org. The pupils' had been using this since year 5 and so understood clearly what they had to do. Additionally, I was able to go to code club on a Thursday after school which was open to all of KS2. During my lessons and my time at code club, I was able to sit and talk to some of the pupils about code.org and their interest in coding. All of my year 6 class thoroughly enjoyed coding and the pupils were taught to help each other if they got stuck. Before I began a new topic (such as angles), I set a challenge on Sumdog for the children to complete. They could do this at home, or, on a Monday morning when we used the ICT suite. I found that setting them an online challenge on the subject before my first lesson helped give the pupils a basic understanding. When talking to my class, I gathered that they found the online games on the subject useful to them. It was also useful to me as I could track their progress. I could see their level of accuracy and how many questions they were answering. I told the class that they needed to show me their corrections after each game they played and went through any misconceptions with them as a class. During my time at the school, I was able to observe assemblies for all of KS2 were Sumdog was used. There would be different challenges set for the different achievement levels and they would sit, with an iPad one between two for 20 minutes in the assembly. After speaking to the ICT co-ordinator, I found that this was a new idea that they were slowly building up. He said that the school's objective was to have these assemblies for all of KS2 once a week to help improve their mathematical skills. For almost all of my lessons, I used the interactive whiteboard. Whether I was playing educational games with the class, showing videos/pictures or simply using power point, I clearly saw how vital computing is in teaching across the curriculum. By using computing across the curriculum, I saw how useful it can be in helping children with their mathematics, English and science. |
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May 2017
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