Third week at school

This week I was able to use the IWB with powerpoint. I was doing a number quiz with the class as a starter to a maths lesson and they thoroughly enjoyed it. I think it worked much better than simply reading the questions and it seems to me that the children are a little more motivated in their work when they have technological stimulus. I'm not sure if this is because they are used to most things being fast paced or if they simply enjoy the graphics which can be used on the computers, either way they all tried really hard in the quiz!

Aside from that I taught my second ICT lesson which involved teaching them how to use the shift key. The vast majority of the class knew that they had to press the 'arrow button' to make a capital letter but they didn;t know what it was called. The ICT lessons are only between 15 and 20 minutes and the children are always eager to demonstrate what they have learnt.

Second week at school

I have had a little more contact with ICT during my second week on placement. I showed a short film of The Three Little Pigs during a literacy lesson, The film was used as a discussion stimulus in which the children asked and answered questions about the setting, characters, colours and language. The film was approximately 10 minutes long which meant that the children didn't have too much information to take in nor were they watching the television for too long.



The TV time they have during the teachers' PPA is spent watching videos relating to the topics they are covering in other subjects. I have not yet participated in the TV time but I hope to before the placement ends. I asked the children what they think of this time and most of them said that they found it boring commenting also that too much TV is bad for you. When I mentioned that their TV time is only 15 minutes a week they pointed out that they watch a lot of TV at home so they don't want to watch it at school as well, many of them said they would prefer to do something creative like painting or collaging during this time. I found this interesting as I had (wrongly) assumed that they would enjoy TV time.


The children have access to digital cameras occasionally and really enjoy using them to film each other. I assisted with a lesson in which the children were hotseating characters from The Three Billy Goats Gruff in pairs, and these 'hotseats' were filmed. The children enjoy making and watching these films and I hope to have an opportunity to use them in one of my lessons.

First week at school

During this first week at school I have not had any contact with ICT. The IWB has been awaiting repair and I have not observed nor taken part in lessons using ICT. However, the children in the class (year 1) have access to 3 computers which they can use once they have completed the 'must do' jobs that day. Many choose to use the same programme which offers a range of activites from drawing to practising maths. The children are eager to use the computers and often work in pairs so that most of the class can gain access.

During PPA time the LSAs take the children for half an hour to watch TV. I've not yet observed this part of the day but I hopefully will this week as I am eager to see exactly what they are watching as they all seem extremely excited to go.

I am hopeful that the IWB will be working this week so that I can incorporate it into my lessons.