Julie Davies student teacher from Swansea Institute of Higher Education.  Writing a “Liveblog” in a lesson by Tim Rylands.

During the second session Tim started talking enthusiastically about what was on the interactive whiteboard, which was actually clouds on a photograph, getting them to look around but actually he moved the picture using a wireless mouse.  He told the children to ‘witter’ to each other about what was on the other side of the mountains.  This got the children to predict and to use their imaginations.  He encouraged them to talk out loud.  The scene of the picture suddenly changed and now showed a balcony with a different view.  The children were amazed and constantly engaged whilst Tim was talking, but not afraid to air their opinions or thoughts.  One child muttered, and when asked what he said, he replied that he thought the picture was of a time machine.  A word that definitely needed to be shared with the rest of the class.

Other children joined in with their ideas, all imaginative and unusual.  The class are all participating and all using the same one resource – the photograph.  There was actually a bench in the photo so the children now imagined who could have sat there, this immediately had one child shouting out, “A writer.”  A child sat in the hot seat and the other children, questioned him, this was extremely successful and useful as they were all involved and stimulated.  The questioning led on to the silly thing to do book.  The children all had to write a book title e.g. silly thing to do book no. 24 – Falling in love with a hosepipe.  The children especially the boys had funny book titles to read out. 

Tim then told the children that the had five minutes to write a new paragraph while all teachers waited outside, this gave them space to think and to write their ideas down.  The picture then revealed a door and there was a discussion about where the door would lead to. The children decided a house, so they then had to decide who would live there.  The children then had to draw what they thought lay behind the door and the person in it.  They then had a chance to play Tim’s Doors of Doom game.

The children thoroughly enjoyed the lesson and were constantly engaged and stimulated.  All the children were involved at all times with little prompting from Tim or the other teachers.  This was an excellent lesson and a really imaginative way to teach.  I have taken lots of tips and advice from Tim, that hopefully I will be using and adapting in my lessons, now and when I qualify.  Thanks for the opportunity to observe and get involved.

Julie.

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Hello > Lisa Jones student teacher from Swansea Institute. Live blogging a lesson by Tim.

Introduction to the lesson immediately broke the ice with the children. Joking with the children made them feel comfortable with a new face teaching them. Tim Rylands made jokes about his stick saying he was aiding the stick not the stick aiding him. He approached the fact that he was wobbly on his feet as a joke so the children were aware.This aided his introduction for children to use their imaginations. He spoke about the stick and the holes all down it. He asked the children what they were for; he asked the children to turn to friends and discuss what they are for. After a couple of seconds he stopped them and asked for ideas. Sam said, ‘So the stick can breathe’. Mr Rylands Immediately praised him for his immagination. He asked another few children and then sent them back to talk.The next time they were stopped there were much more imaginative answers. Encouraging children to think deeper.

Mr Rylands had the interactive board on in the background with wind chimes, during the talk about the stick he kept talking about the sounds in the room which the children may not have picked up on, the picture in the background had been there throughout all the discussion. Mr Rylands moved onto being here to being there to being back here without going on and on he moved smoothly encouraging children to use imaginations. discussion was a large part of the whole session. While children were talking he kept adding in extra words and ideas to keep childrens imaginations alive and active.

The introduction of new words e.g. metaphor were acted out as posh words. The repetition of acting out these posh words was excellent and will aid children to remember them in the future. Mr Rylands is continually encouraging children which helped them feel comfortable thinking up their own imaginative ideas. When children went to writing ideas he suggested other words to stretch their sentences and the use of methaphor and simili needed to be used to encourage imagination. Listening to childrens work and joking about words being “wrong” (and encouraging the children to stand up to him and defend their use of vocabulary) aided him to “drip in” different words. This helped other children see that different words can be used although have the same meaning. Mr Rylands encouraged children to change their writing styles e.g. not using to many adjectives etc. so people couldnt spot their patterns. This approached childrens repetative writing styles without telling a child directly. This broadened childrens thinking when they returned to their writing.

Continual praise and excitement kept all children involved. Picking out juicy words in their work helped children use drama to describe them. All children were confident when speaking out in the class and didnt mind adding drama to their voice as Mr Rylands had set the standars by being dramatic himself. All children were happy to participate without any embarrassment. This was due to Mr Rylands praising children continually and using drama and joking in his teaching.

A fantastic way to get children talking and writing without boring them with comprehensions etc. The use of a focal point was a great way to create discussion and imagination.

Lisa