Friday, 16 May 2008

from 4 till late

Stardate 15th may

Well today I learned the value of organisation i got all my gear together for the learners week exhibition, id decided on the demonstration cut out the project, borrowed learners work for a small exhibition prepared a slideshow on my laptop even created a large poster using a prog called Rasterbator so organised , I even had a pack lunch everything other than the right day blushes. Fortunately I checked the handouts or I would have appeared silly. On the Brightside all my prep other than the sandwiches will be fine for next week. The lessons the ups and downs are all related to individual projects its weird am I the only one who wakes up at 3am realising a project has a problem thinking of a fix then going back to sleep running into the next session and discussing it with the learner, I suppose everyone does it if only we got paid for it.

Friday, 9 May 2008

Little by little

Stardate 7th may

We seem to have been unleashed to complete the rest of year one alone, well there’s help if we need it but I hope to work through and complete what’s required alone. I have been working through my previous lesson plans and seeing how they appear to have improved through the term. I feel I’m more confident in how to approach them , I also feel there easier to do this way the individual lesson plans seem much more relevant to how my classes actually work , the old way seemed to be largely a work of fiction and more a book keeping exercise . So surprisingly I seem to have learned something, who would have thought it. Reading back through my earliest entries my confidence in my own abilities has risen, I was always second guessing my own teaching style unsure if I was doing it right. I was working correctly just not reflecting it in my paper work. Once I started to break down and express what I actually do each day and recorded it appropriately it seemed more worth while. As I said the new lesson plans actually work as a tool for me to graphically and practically track learner’s progress and achievements, which can only be a good thing. I was so intimidated by the process of writing an assignment but so far touch wood they have been successful, I find them hard work but I can complete them with care and patience, and I find I’m relying less on others for assistance, I have always worked best with someone to bounce ideas of, is this ok how should I approach this, but this support structure hasn’t been as available recently and it has forced me to develop the skills to make myself do it, which I begrudgingly accept is a good thing, my office skills are much improved and I can now find my way around word fairly competently so I’ approaching happy. Next term we have a group project to manage, this concerns me, I don’t want to be lumbered with a group ill have to carry; equally I don’t want to hold another group back so I will be curious to see how we are divided up. Woo that sounds selfish and insecure and paranoid. I’m defensive about my personal time like to keep work and home time separate, I do compromise when I must, but I dislike meetings for meetings sake. This perhaps explains some of my apprehension about the field of cpd, If I’m learning something useful which I feel is valuable to me then great if it’s a wasted day listening to something largely irrelevant set to fill up the hours, then I feel like life is to short. I cured my pc today also it developed a fault, would shut down randomly, i eventually traced the problem to a bad networking driver, I diagnosed and cured this using the net as a research tool, this is profesional development, it took nearly a day to solve, but solve it I did. IT skills are important, they continue to improve

Friday, 2 May 2008

When push comes to shove...

Stardate may 1

Well I got inspected again well twice I suppose the first time I didn’t have the appropriate coversheets for ma lesson plans detailing what I do what they do etc the second time I had all this stuff together, both the lessons seemed to go well . There is a lot of humour in both groups, it doesn’t prevent work being done so I’m happy to keep it that way, if it went to far I would have to do something, I contemplated how these are adults language does slip out not from me I’m to careful not to fucking swear by mistake and so far I haven’t, its unusual I’m not a natural swearer, I only really do it whilst driving or going to work not when I’m actually there. From my own stand point I don’t mind it unless it’s racial which I have no time for and don’t tolerate, or also directed at someone. If it’s a 2 fingered salute playfully made over a football result I’m inclined to let it go. Absences are problem when it comes to completing the workbooks I plan a session in witch everyone will add to them and then a number of learners are away then I have to do it again the following week, learners are also reluctant to do them within a session as they would rather develop their projects which I understand but I need to push them to complete this part of the course.