Student Teaching in London-Fall 2007
 Week 4:  November 12-November 18

Dr. McDonald and a group of CMU student teachers are currently in the Enfield, England area.  Dr. McDonald is sharing his diary and pictures of the students as they experience student teaching in England.

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November 12- Today was my first observation at the Hornsey School for Girls.  Andrea and Jessica are student teaching in the Business department.  Jessica is also working with teachers in Health and Social Care since she has a School Health minor.

Andrea taught a lesson to a Year 12 class on breakeven point.  She showed the students how to determine the breakeven point through using tables, formulas and graphs.  The students were involved in the lesson by coming up to the board to input some data and by working out the results to formulas and graphs with partners. 

Year 12 and 13 students are in class because they want to be.  Compulsory education currently is through 16 years of age.  It is the students that are 16 and under that wear school uniforms.  Compulsory education is through Year 11.  Year 12 and 13 students wear clothes that they want to wear, as long as it is school appropriate, and choose 4 to 5 subjects to concentrate in during the last two years of secondary school.  Andrea also had males in her class because some secondary schools do not have business departments and those male students are attending from other secondary schools to take business related courses.

Jessica taught a lesson on the proper preparation of cooking utensils, kitchen counters, and equipment for a Year 12 class.  Through the creative use of scenarios, a PowerPoint presentation, and an effective wrap-up Jessica got her point across.  Student involvement was high through the use of notes, discussion, and problem solving. 

November 13 - Allison and Alecia were observed today at Hendon Secondary School.  Allison is teaching science and Alecia is doing Economics, History, and Travel/tourism.

Allison taught a physics lesson on potential and kinetic energy to a Year 11 class.  Students conducted a practical (what we would call a science lab) using ping pong balls dropped from various heights.  Students ended by looking at some concluding questions and putting their data into a table to draw some conclusions from the practical.

Alecia taught a lesson on population to an Economics class of Year 11 students.  She had an effective starter (anticipatory set) in which she asked how the school would be affected by a decrease in student population.  There are age, gender, marketing, and profit considerations for businesses that cater to certain segments of the population.

November 14 - I paid another visit to Ragland Infant and Junior Schools.  Shannon and Kate teach at the Infant School, while Andrea teaches at the Junior School.

Shannon taught a lesson about Thanksgiving to her Year 2 class.  She read a literature book to begin the lesson and then had the class make Thanksgiving wreaths to state what they were thankful for.  This is part of Shannon’s unit on America and the unique holiday of thanksgiving is part of that introduction for the students in her class.

Kate began her service-learning project with her Year 1 class.  Students talked about their thoughts about staying in the hospital and what that feel like.  The class then brainstormed about what they could write and draw in Christmas cards for students at a children’s hospital in London.  Students will be making Christmas cards every week for the remainder of the time that Kate is student teaching at Raglan.

Andrea taught a science lesson on forces and friction to her Year 4 class.  Students started by reading a case study about a slippery floor.  They then used a variety of objects to see how many Newtons they registered on a force meter.  The class used flashlights (torches in England), small bats, magnets, and other things to record the Newtons and how many Newtons they registered on smooth and rough surfaces.

November 15 - Kayla was concluding a background unit for a Year 9 English class at Turnford School in Cheshunt on life during the 1950s.  Students are studying the media by watching movies.  Kayla has been doing a series of lessons that involved students in playing hopscotch, using hula hoops, and other activities from that period.  Today her students wrote a diary entry about a typical day at school. 

Jenna was talking about the influence and power of the media in British politics to her Year 13 class at Enfield County Secondary School.  Using the American stories of Hillary Clinton and Rudy Guliani, she had the students talk about the various kinds of media that they are exposed to.  At the end of class students read three articles about Tony Blair, Queen Elizabeth, and Rudy Guliani to see how the articles affted their public perception and images.

November 16 - Amber taught a math lesson to her reception (kindergarten) class at Galliard Primary School.  Students had been working on patterns all week and this was a review for them.  Using the character of Elmer the Elephant, they looked for different patterns made from colors and shapes.  Students then made a pattern of a snake using choice time using sponge paints.  It was also Career Day at Galliard and students dressed up as what they wanted to be when they are older.

Tara taught her Year 10 English class at Enfield County using the play Educating Rita.  Students reviewed how the characters of Denny, Rita, and Frank had changed since the beginning of the book.  Students then read a scene from the play and discussed it.  Students concluded the period by writing some essays about the character development in play to this point.