School days

[sophie_1003]

What was the best activity you did or thing you learnt at school, particularly interested in first/primary age?

[sophie_1003]

Yep, third one of my course but first one in a Year One class so am bit unsure about everything, all of the planning is done from schemes so it's all there for me but don't want to rely on that and have no real experience of planning for this age!

[mollykins]

I did work experience with recepetion children who were the older class. Try something messy, but not too bad, that they can all get involved with, but in an orderly way.

One afternoon, i had to make a sign for a car boot sale which involved me drawing out the words on a big sheet, then getting them to come in pairs and doin a letter each. Obviously they were only 5 so i had to go over the edges again with black paint to make it legible.

[sophie_1003]

Ta Molly, am fine at planning play based child initiated activities as have completed a 4 week and 5 week placement in reception classes (along with working for a year in a nursery and completing a childcare course) it's finding ways to teach the National Curriculum so it doesn't result in "I'm booooreeeddd!" (from me and the children!) that's causing me stress!

[Prudie]

I did secondary so can't really help. I admire you though, the patience required and also as you are planning you must need something constantly up your sleeve to keep them interested.

[sophie_1003]

I admire you for teaching secondary Prudie!! I was working with some Year 2s on one of my induction days a couple of weeks ago and they already had attitude problems! That's what I love about reception, if they find an activity boring it's fine they just don't do it and you find something else to cover the same skills in a different way the next day!

[Prudie]

I had to do 4 weeks in a local primary school before I started my PGCE and it taught me I could never do primary, didn't have the patience. Are you looking for some zingy project ideas? I'm sure there are some current teachers on this site, you could try putting something in J&Ed

[sophie_1003]

I'm not sure what I'm looking for really as I'm not sure how flexible the teacher's going to be with me changing activities, she said to work from the schemes but make them as fun as I want!
Have just about got the Maths planned and just working on English now, think I'll have more luck planning for Science, D&T and History! For Science and D&T we're looking at healthy eating but I keep thinking of how this could be done if they used it as a topic and keep getting muddled!
I think this placement is going to teach me either- I can't do above reception or how I wouldn't teach KS1 if I were to teach above reception! It does require lots of patience but can imagine secondary does as well, just a different sort!

[askyourgran]

I had to sit next to David Livingstone (no not that one) this one had an awful snotty runny candles down his nose, he was very poor and smelt a bit, I felt a bit sorry for him. He had to queue up for his cod liver oil and malt every morning, I made sure I didn't follow him. Other than that it was just the 3 R's. I only lived across the road from the school so no school tapioca!

[sophie_1003]

I think everyone had a smelly child in their class, still happens now as well!

[boxtops]

This isn't exactly school but just after - I went to work at Unilever and in their training school we had to re-enact their product adverts. Guess who got to be the big oversized Green Pea that wouldn't fit in the frozen pea box.....:-)
Joking apart sophie, I've just thought - that might be an example for teaching the little 'uns about diameters and sizes!

[lardhelmet]

Yeah we had one who, unfortunately was a girl ,called Susan (we had 8 of them in our year - Susans, not smelly girls). She was clean on Monday, slightly grubbier on Tuesday and rank by Friday

[boxtops]

lardy there were 5 susans in my year (I was one of them) - it must have been a popular name post-war!

[sophie_1003]

Definitely boxtops! We're looking at counting in 2s, 5s and 10s and money in maths but a great practical activity for size comparison! Will store it in the teacher part of my brain!

[mollykins]

Could you combine maths and dt by getting food could be plastic or drawn on cardboard. They have to pick out a healthy meal and then work out how to pay for it, of course don't have really high amounts because they are realistic make them less than 50p or there abouts, and they are then given (fake) money with which to count out and pay for it? Little kids love to pretend they are grown ups and you could tell them that they are going shopping like the parents do.