On today’s agenda, we went to Joseph Chamberlain College and spent our morning there. Then we went back to BCU to discuss and reflect on what we learned that morning and after that we went to the Botanical Gardens. We started off learning about the general overview of how this college works and then were given a schedule of how our day would be. The first session we had was an observation of English Language. My fellow students and I sat in on the class and experienced first hand how teachers begin to carry out their lessons. This class was focused on preparing for their GCSE exam. Within this class I noticed that teacher is trying to encourage students and let them know that it is possible to pass this standardized exam. All of the students within this certain class have failed the GCSE in the past and the teacher is working on building up their confidence. The teacher also gave the students certain strategies for specific areas of the exam and how much time they should allocate towards each session. The first GCSE they have to take for english is an hour and 45 minutes, which the teacher split up for them on the board so they can take a mental note and apply to their exam. I noticed that the teacher really tries to engage with their students and makes learning more interactive and interesting. Resources for the students included notebooks for them to take their notes in, google classroom for turning in assignments, and they are given an exam schedule that they can choose to follow. The teacher has a daily timed schedule they will help the students with their time management and studying if they choose to use it.
After our observation, we went back together as a group and talked about what we saw within the classroom. Other points were made like how teachers have certain meanings behind the questions they ask and they are very deliberate when asking them. We also touched on being multidisciplinary and how it improves the english skills while also learning another topic.
We were also introduced to the pillars of teaching and learning. These elements of learning include expert input, student output, assessment, and feedback. Examples of expert input can be lectures, guided reading, demonstrations and multi media. This type of input allows the teacher to exert their knowledge to their students in order for them to learn. Examples of student output can written response, group discussions, and verbal demonstrates as long as they are deliberate. We were told that this is the most important part of the learning cycle. Some examples of assessment include exams, presentations, and visual checks like making eye contact. There are 2 categories of assessment that include formative and summative. Formative is providing feedback for further development and summative doesn’t provide feedback at all. The last stage is feedback which normally should help the student to understand the grade they got and what they can improve in the future. An example of this is cognitive processing checks. Really good teachers are deliberately planning and viewing their practice with these pillars. In some situations students might misbehave and this is because they are bored with the subject at hand, meaning there is a decrease in expert input. We also learned about Blooms’ Hierarchy of challenge which puts unchallenging activities at the bottom of the pyramid. We were told that poor behavior should never be priority and content should be priority. As a nursing student, I can take this information on teaching and apply to teaching certain patients about procedure they need to carry out for themselves.
I also learned about the mental health resources that are provided through the Joseph Chamberlain College. On campus they have a dedicated mental health nurse and also a paramedic specific nurse. Within this school it was noted that there is also a rapid decrease in the mental health of students because of changing times and increased pressures. Teachers found that a lot of the time stressors would occur during exam season, which is very similar to how it happens in the United States. I learned that students meet with a progress tutor once a week to talk about their progress but also just get their emotions off their chest in general. There is also a well being day within the school. Students have almost a field day where they go do a fun activity off of school campus. I learned that at this college they try to balance the idea of giving enough support to students while also not forcing help to students who don’t need it.
The second class we observed was students who speak english as a second language. This was my favorite part of the day. I saw the teacher being really engaging with his students and almost feeding off of their energy. The teacher uses the student feedback within class and continues his lesson based on how quickly the students are starting to understand the topic. This specific teacher allowed the students personalities to shine through during class, which I really appreciated. Through my observance it seems like the student to teacher relationship had been built and was healthy which makes the learning environment more comfortable for the students. I also noticed that students have a lot of repetition to encourage retaining the information they are learning.
After our adventure to the college we went back to BCU and discussed our upcoming presentations with our professor. We then went to the botanical gardens near campus which was really fun ! I appreciated the nature break and the flowers and scenery here is amazing! I can’t wait for the next adventure tomorrow and enjoyed the knowledge I learned today so that I can apply it to my future career as a nurse.
