Time to de-stress!!

I am happy to announce that I think, I say again, I think I am done with all assigments for this semester and time to de-stress.  That is until the time comes for results.

I was having a read of this article and their ten tips on how to de-stress your mind and body.  Some I find quite easy to do like exercise (well not when it is cold) and others like finding stillness each day quite impossible.  I particularlly like the one that suggests getting more sleep.  I would love to have an uninterupted nights sleep without having a dream or two or having to empty my bladder.

Happy de-stressing everyone and hopefully we all land up with 7’s, wink, wink.

Go Noodle!!

I thought I would share this with fellow bloggers.  It is called ‘go noodle’ and my mentor used it at the end of the day on Friday afternoons just before home time.

At first I thought some of the activities were a bit weird but the grade one class absolutely loved it.  I was not at all sure at first what it was but it is a site with activities that gets the body moving.  Even the less active students were up and about, getting involved with the movements that were being done on the SmartBoard.  I even got up and joined in with the students.

It was a great mood changer and one I will keep in mind one day for my students.  Just a free brain break for all.

 

ICT success!!

I am so thankful that the ICTs I used went on without a hitch.  I had not issues with connections or being logged out unlike fellow blogger Kay and all the issues that didn’t help her on this professional experience.

I know we have constant issues at the school I work at so was a little surprised that for the three weeks I was teaching, I had no real issues.  I did have a slight hiccup when I couldn’t open my Scootle resource but fortunately my mentor registered and is now also quite excited about her access to it because she had never heard of it before.

I loved my professional experience and am very sad that I can’t continue teaching every day until I graduate.  I miss it so much and can’t wait to have my own class of little munchkins.

Great Mentors help you succeed!

Although I haven’t read Amanda’s blog about her experiences about her mentors, I do have to agree with the Ramblings of a Preservice teacher on how important it is to have a supportive mentor that is encouraging.

I have been fortunate to have shared my professional experiences with wonderful mentors that have not only been supportive and encouraging also welcoming, which can be so important when you are walking into the unkown and are already feeling a little anxious.

I found this article or should I say post, that speaks about toxic mentors and the post goes on to give some tips on how to survive when faced with just such a mentor.  Hopefully my future mentors will be more on the ‘good cop’ side than the ‘bad cop’ side.

What happens without access to ICT?

I was reading fellow blogger Anita’s post about no access to an Interactive White Board.

I remember doing my prac in a day care centre and there was no access to a white board, tablets or even a computer.  The only thing I had that had any connection to ICT would have been the cassette player and even that was bordering on a ‘sad’ looking resource.  I remember how disappointed I felt no to have these tools to access but none the less I brought in all the CD’s I had that would get the children moving and thinking and they thoroughly enjoyed it anyway.  I know the teacher is still using some of these songs today.

At least Anita still had the use of a projector and although not ideal, it was better than nothing and this article has a few suggestions on using the projector.  This is definitely something I will add to my list.

It’s over!

I must say I was really apprehensive about my professional experience that incorporated ICT and now I can’t believe my three weeks are over.  I was in grade one and after the first day I couldn’t wait to teach.  The only thing I was worrying about was making sure that the ICT I was going to use, would work.

I didn’t know my armpits could expel so much liquid in half an hour and although I felt comfortable in my head, my body was obviously picking up on something I was blocking out.  Waiting for that first lot of ICT to be ready and working felt like forever when it was quite obvioulsy just a few seconds.  The students loved the involvement with the smart board and were quite disappointed if they missed out but I reassured them that if they finished their work early they could have their turn, and guess what, it worked every time.  Those slow finishers were always finished in time to have a turn on the smart board.

The time has come!

Well the time has come for my professional experience placement to commence.  To say that I am a little nervous is probably an understatement.  I am excitied to be in Year 1 but the teaching using ICT part is a little stressful because I hope that I can transform student learning well enough.

I can across New South Wales, Teachers Federation, Prac teaching survival tips.  Here is the link to the site and perhaps you might find something helpful while reading through it. I do have to giggle at some of the tips which I would think are quite obvious not to do but I guess you never know who would need to be physically restrained.  Maybe it will be the hoards of children that will be giving me tonnes of hugs after I transform their learning using ICT 🙂

Happy professional experience to all!

Ready or not!!

Fortunatley for me I am in the same situation as fellow blogger Sue with regards to my prac placement.  I too am at the same school as a return placement and met my metor today, raising the same concerns as Sue did with her mentor.

I must say I do feel a little at ease having met the teacher that will be my mentor and returning to the same school gave a sense of ease as it was a familiar environment with some of the same students in the class this time that were in the class I had with my previous placement.

As for integrating ICT, well that is still a little bit of added stress and it didn’t help to realise that the IWB I am familiar with is not the same as the one I saw today.  Well back to the drawing board on that one for me.

I found this site that offered some interesting resources and ideas for ICT in the early years.  Have a look, you just might find something you could use on your placement.

Brain overload!!!

Every week I think I have everything covered when I’m introduced to more information.  My brain really does feel like it has gone into overload sometimes.

Once again a few more acronyms to remember along with new and insightful information.  I didn’t find completing the table we were asked to complete, as easy as I thought it would be.  It really got me thinking and I completed what I knew at the time.  I read a fellow bloggers table and the responses which I really enjoyed and also gave me a different perspective.

If you are trying to find the name of your IWB or smart board try looking here, it helped me and it just might be useful to someone else.  Anything to work out what IWB I will be using on my professional experience.