Two (or three...or four) heads are better than one

There are many ways in which the TA can give his/her pro-active support that will help both the child and their family. These are:
· Offering and giving advice
· Communicating and sharing ideas and methods with the families
· Keeping the families informed about progress or difficulties and talking about the next steps (effective communication)
· One to one support for the pupil
· Adapting lessons/environment and equipment for the pupil
· Encouraging involvement
· The TA being prepared, trained confident and willing to give their support
· Running activities
· Giving praise and encouragement

Offering pro-active support to the child and their family can be very beneficial for them both. Offering this type of support will help ensure that the child’s needs are met and that the family’s rights and entitlements are supported. It will help promote a healthy happy positive partnership and relationship that will open up opportunities.

However the TA must be willing, confident, committed, have the patience and be caring enough to give this support. The TA must also have either previous experience, the correct training or qualifications to ensure their support can be effective. If the TA is not willing, committed or does not have any type of experience or qualifications then their support will not be as effective and successful. The TA may not have any of these abilities or qualities and this will have an impact on the support they can provide for the child and the child`s family. They may find that their responsibilities are too strenuous and that their responsibilities or duties take up much of their time.

The pupil`s family must also be willing to accept support, advice and be willing to work in partnership with the TA, the school and other services to help ensure the correct support is offered to their child. It is vital that the TA is willing to help support the child and their family as this will have a knock on effect on the partnership. It will help encourage the child, the family, the school and other services to provide and maintain support needed for the child and their family.

Offering facilitation within the partnership can be very beneficial for the child and their family. It helps the family seek and gain further advice, support and knowledge for the child’s needs and also support the family can receive. This type of support can be very beneficial for both the child and their family but the TA must be willing and have the right qualities and experience to help. The child`s family must also be willing to work in partnership.

The TA may be very willing and have all the right qualities, qualifications and experience to help but the TA can only do so much. The TA must also be aware and have the correct knowledge on when, how and who to refer to for further support. The TA can work in partnership with the school and other services and try to do their best to follow up cases but other services or the school may not be willing or have the funding to help provide support to help suit the needs of the pupil or their family. There may not be enough staff to run activities or workshops to help. There may not be services or support groups within the area and travelling may be a barrier. There may be many barriers that may not be overcome and the TA can only do what they can and are capable of or qualified and permitted to do. Sometimes it may be beyond the TA`s control or capability.

I would like to conclude that as long as the TA and all members of the partnership are all willing to work in partnership to provide support for the pupil and their family, it will help to ensure correct, effective, relevant support that can be aimed to reach the child and their family’s needs. All members of the partnership should have or should have gained experience, qualifications and qualities needed to help seek, provide and maintain the correct support and also know where to find or how to refer for the support.

If there are barriers then members of the partnership should be willing and try to overcome these barriers. For example, if funding is a barrier then between the family and the school together they should find a way to be able to raise money themselves (e.g. bring and buy sales, cake sales) or try to raise awareness of the child`s special needs or disabilities in hope of finding a sponsor.

If a partnership is formed then the chances of the child and their family gaining the support that they need is much greater. If all members of the partnership work together and try their best then support will be more likely and successful rather than if a partnership did not exist.

K Burroughs

Reflection is the key

It is very important to reflect on learning and teaching work. By doing so we can identify areas in which we are successful and not as successful as others. Analysing work will help TAs to improve their practice when supporting pupils and adjust their approach if necessary.
We can reflect on our work with pupils, our professional development and our attitudes and beliefs. The latter can be hard to change and reflection is sometimes not a comfortable process. Reflection helps us to keep challenging ourselves and to build up your knowledge and experience. We cannot manage others’ behaviour, only our own, and reflection helps us do this.
TAs, as do pupils, need to understand the importance of learning through making mistakes and we should not fear this. If we don’t reflect we can become defensive. We act in certain ways to avoid conflict and because of a fear of change or the unknown. We can use defensive mechanisms such as attack (arguing, criticising others), denial (refusal to acknowledge), repression (ignoring the situation), regression (child-like behaviour or helplessness). When reflecting, we need to be comfortable with being wrong.
It is important to identify the correct problem. Reflection encourages double-loop learning. In single-loop learning, improvement rests on unchallenged assumptions. In double-loop learning, we find out the real reason for something which may then change the underlying assumptions, and so the goal/strategy changes which then affects the results. Double-loop learning identifies and then challenges underlying assumptions.
Successful reflection depends on being honest about our own ability and being open to criticism and to new ideas. Also, it is important to be willing to make changes. Unless we do something about what we have reflected on, there is no point in reflecting. We have to choose to make changes. We may also decide not to change, but at least it is an ‘informed’ decision.
There are difficulties with self-reflection. It is very hard to reflect on everything we do as it can be too time-consuming. Also, thinking can get distorted as it is only ourselves doing the reflecting and it can be highly affected by mood. We can overlook things and we may not realise that what we are doing is not beneficial or that it upsets someone.
When reflecting, it can be beneficial to structure our methods of thinking. It makes it more manageable and can generate more solutions. One way devised to do this is Edward De Bono’s ‘Thinking Hats’. This method can be applied to any problem or reflection. The ways of thinking De Bono suggests are:
· Knowledge – what is apparent/already there;
· Thinking – what process we use;
· Judgment – straightforward ‘black and white’ response;
· Feelings – do we like it/how do we feel about it?;
· Benefits – what is good about it?;
· Creativity - how can we develop it?.
By applying these elements to our reflective thinking, we can often reveal more and come to a more comprehensive analysis.

METHODS OF REFLECTION
Forum Theatre
Forum theatre is a type of theatre created by Brazilian director Augusto Boal. He believed that theatre could serve as a forum for teaching people the strategies they need to bring about change. It is a way of rehearsing difficult situations in advance and helps make people aware of some problems that they may have not considered previously. This can help them imagine different responses and outcomes to common problems
Forum theatre scenarios are designed to stimulate audience participation through discussion, interactive role-playing and shared experiences. Audience members are brought into the performance, and change the outcome of what they are seeing.
It can be used by teaching staff for reflection purposes through, for instance, role playing situations in the classroom. As with stories and discussions, Forum Theatre removes people from an actual situation, so it makes it easier to confront and deal with issues.
Also similar to shared stories and discussion, participants get input from others. It is important to get ideas from colleagues taking part, especially with diverse groups as everyone will think in a different way and have varying views. Colleagues can share experience, and can be very supportive . Participants get feedback and advice on their practice in an informal way. Forum Theatre can be adapted to different situations and modified for colleagues or children.
However, Forum Theatre may not work for everyone. It can be validating to some but intimidating and too personal for others. It requires acting skills which may not suit everyone.
Also, it is easier to be the audience and judge than to act, whereas the greatest value is for the person doing the acting. Therefore it is important that everyone has a go.
Forum Theatre is similar to discussion, in that others are involved in the reflective practice. However, in situations like this where colleagues are involved in commenting on others ideas, it is important to be aware that others may not always be honest in their judgement, often because they do not want to upset others. In situations where the group is working together to improve, this can lead to a phenomenon described as ‘skilled incompetence’. This is where people use defensive routines to avoid upsetting people, embarrassment or threat. People become skilled at avoiding interpersonal conflict. However, this way prevents learning, or real necessary changes taking place.

Reflective Journal
A Reflective Journal is a good way for an individual to reflect and analyse their practice. It is a personal way of organising thoughts and can help TAs understand feelings and triggers. By writing down our experiences and looking back on them later, we can often come to a better realisation of the good and bad points of our work with children and colleagues.
The journal can shows inconsistencies or patterns. It can become a reference tool and can help TAs to track progress. It is also a good way to keep records, or evidence of events.
It could include evaluation of work sessions with pupils or occasions of managing behaviour. In writing the journal, the TA should ask themselves questions about situations they were involved with: what went well or not so well; was it challenging; did I deal with it well; what would I change so the objectives would be better met.
Thought needs to be given to the structure of the journal, ie, will things be recorded in a template or free-flow. Also, is the journal to be confidential or will others need to see it?
An advantage of the journal could be that it is not subject to criticism. However, this means that it can become a self-absorbed activity, affected by mood. Because it is only the thoughts of the individual, everything may not be picked up on or put in perspective.
It can be a very time-consuming way of reflection. We have to make sure it is working to the ultimate goal of improving practice and benefitting the TA and pupils.

Observation
We can reflect through others either by indirect or direct observation and feedback. With indirect observation we watch and learn others; by seeing how teachers and TAs work with pupils or deal with situations, we can reflect better on how we deal with similar issues.
As a way of reflecting on our own practice, however, I feel direct observation by others is more beneficial. Through being observed, we can, hopefully, get impartial feedback from others. We can become more aware of how our practice comes across to others.
As assessor can give feedback on work with pupils and relationships with colleagues and give advice on how to develop further. Through being observed, we often become aware of things about ourselves and our work practice that we were not aware of before.
However, for some TAs, observations may create stress and pressure and we may not perform well. Our own stress will affect the class, which can also alter the pupils’ behaviour. So an observation may not give a realistic view of our practice, as we may alter our behaviour and the things that we focus on as we are being observed. The ‘observer effect’ happens.
A downside to observation is that we are dependent on the observer to start the reflection as we need to get their feedback before we can reflect on our practice.

There are many ways, as TAs, that we can reflect on our contribution to teaching and learning. Different methods of reflection will suit different people, but it is important that a variety of methods is used in order that we can improve in the qualities and skills needed to be a good TA and so support pupils most effectively.
All of these methods of reflection can also support teaching and learning in that they can be used to help pupils reflect on their own work in school.

S. Rowland

Jolly Phonics and Practical maths...making learning fun!

Jolly Phonics
Jolly phonics is a very fun and effective way of learning how to read and write. The jolly phonics program teaches five skills that children need to help them read and write.

The first skill pupils will learn is to learn the letters and the sounds they make. Learning letters and the sound they make is made very fun by using interactive whiteboards, activities and games and by corresponding actions with the letters and sounds they make. This helps learning phonics effective by making learning fun and memorable. I think that if learning letters and the sounds they make is made fun through the program` jolly phonics` and actions, songs, activities and stories are taught through their learning then it will help pupils to remember what they have learned and this will help learning become effective.

When I support literacy activities that involve identifying letters with pupils that are still in the process of recognizing letters and the sounds they make, I find that the pupils use the actions they have learned that correspond with the letters to help them remember.

Jolly phonics is a very effective way of learning letters and the sounds they make but can be confusing to learn for some pupils. There are many letters to learn and individual letters can look different (capitals and lower case letters) and sound different. Children may find learning letters and the sounds that correspond difficult and confusing to begin with but as it is taught at a early age most children pick it up fast and except what they are learning. There is lots to learn and remember but the `Jolly phonics` program helps support pupils learning and uses techniques that will help learning phonics be as less confusing as possible. Strategies are used to make it fun and simple. There is no avoiding that the alphabet is what it is and letters can represent more than one sound or have two identities but how it is taught and learned makes the difference between how effective learning can be. To make things less confusing children are taught one letter at a time and taught about that letter. Children are taught the capital and non capital form, the letter itself `A` and the sound it makes `AY` and `AH`. Children also learn other simple words containing that letter `CAT`. They learn through fun activities, singing, story books and actions that will help support their learning by making it fun and memorable and effective.

Children must also learn the sounds of letters put together like `TH, CH, SH,`. These letters together are taught as they make only one sound when put together. It is important that pupils learn these letters and the sound they make when put together as when they begin to read they should recognize what sound they make then blend the sound in. Learning these letters may be confusing to pupils as pupils may not understand why the letters `C` and `H` make a `Ch` sound.

Some children learn their phonics quicker than others but the jolly phonics program runs throughout the whole school, so with the support of teaching staff and the program, all children will eventually pick this up and progress to read and write.

Whilst children learn the letters and the sounds they make, they will also learn how to form letters individually. This is also taught from the start. Children may start just by air writing and then move on to using a pencil and writing or tracing the letters they are learning. This helps support their writing skills and use of a pencil and learn how the letter is formed. Learning from the beginning how letters are formed is a effective way of supporting pupils writing skills. If letter formations are introduced from the start then pupils will find it easier when they come to write.

Once children have become effective learners of letters and the sounds they make, the blending skill is then introduced .Children learn to blend the sounds together to make a word. The word `Cat` will be broken down into its three segments `C-a-t` and pupils will learn to blend the letters together using the sounds the individual letters they make and squeeze them together. Again this can be confusing to begin with but eventually all children will learn how to blend. By teaching how to blend repeatedly and in a way that is made fun, children will soon learn and recognize words. The class in which I do my placement in, uses the interactive whiteboard and a computer program that supports blending. The children as a class sit on the carpet and use this program to learn how to blend. The children seem to really enjoy using the interactive whiteboard for blending word it looks fun and all children are engaged. If pupils are engaged then they will learn.

Pupils also learn how to blend through guided reading, which is done in small amounts and often. Learning how to blend is taught in a fun engaging way that is not too intense for the children or will make them board. The way blending is taught is a very effective way for pupils to learn and therefore making them effective learners and will help them to learn to read.
Children will also learn to identify sounds in words. This supports writing and learning how to spell words. Children identify sounds in a word and then spell that word out. I have supported children in a activity in which children had to write a sentence. Children are encouraged to write independently and try to sound out the words they wish to write by saying out loud the word they want to write and listen for the sounds that word makes. To help support them, children use `Robot arms` to help them break up the word and listen for the sounds the word makes. Children also have a jolly phonics sheet with the letters and a picture that corresponds to that letter to refer to if they need. It doesn’t matter if children spell the word wrong the important part is that they recognize and hear the letter sounds in that word. This technique is blending in reverse and helps pupils to learn to write words they wish to write.

Learning to identify sounds in words is taught to begin with in a subtle way. It doesn’t matter if pupils spell the word wrong to begin with as the aim is for children to hear the letters used in a word and then write it down. This technique supports pupils writing skills as pupils will also be learning how to write and will be practicing their letter formations at the same time. As children move up to the next year (year one) they begin to learn the correct way to spell and have spellings to learn and be tested on. This may put pressure on pupils but it is all part of learning.

In the beginning of the jolly phonics program, learning how to write words and spell them is fun but as pupils progress through the years learning to spell correctly is done through spelling books and tests. This way of learning how to spell is not much fun but pupils are rewarded with certificates when they have achieved. This will give pupils motivation and encouragement to learn. Pupils are encouraged to write and spell independently in the classroom and are not under pressure to spell correctly but through learning how to spell from their spelling books and tests children should remember how to spell the words they have already learned. Learning how to spell supports reading and writing.

Overall the effectiveness of the jolly phonics program is very efficient and successful. Learning how to read, write and spell is taught in a way in which pupils will find, motivating, fun, memorable, and therefore their learning will be effective. Jolly phonics is taught in a subtle way in which pupils will not feel under pressure.

To begin with jolly phonics is very fun hence the word `Jolly` and learning phonics is taught in a way in which pupils will be engaged and want to learn. As pupils grow and move on to the next years learning phonics, how to read write and spell may not be as much fun as it was in the beginning ,but pupils also need to understand not all learning is fun and it is something we all need to do.

Overall learning how to read and write is made as fun through the phonics program and once children have learned to do so it will be a skill they will use through out life. It is important to make learning how to read and write fun, memorable and motivating in order to make it effective as reading and writing is a very important skill we all need to learn and have in life.
I still use the techniques `blending` and ` blending in reverse` to help me read, write and spell words that are unfamiliar to me. So still today I use those techniques I have learned in school to support my literacy skills.

The way phonics and how to read and write is taught makes the difference on how effective the learning and outcome to learn is. If learning phonics, reading and writing was taught in a way in which pupils did not enjoy or understand then their learning would not be as effective. We all need to learn how to read and write and if it is taught in a way in which we are engaged, motivated and are keen to learn then the effectiveness of our learning will be successful. Its not just what we aim to learn, its how we learn and are taught that makes the difference between the effectiveness of our learning. Jolly phonics is certainly an effective successful way of learning how to read and write and it has been proven through the program that it works.

Mathematical Realism
The effectiveness of learning numeracy through adding realism is a successful effective way of learning. Adding realism adds meaning and supports pupils to work with numbers by adding significant to a numeracy question.

It helps pupils relate numeracy to real everyday life and how they can use their numeracy skills in every day life. It shows pupils the importance of learning numeracy by showing them how often we use those skills in real life situations.

By adding realism numeracy is made fun. It helps pupils engage and makes numeracy something more than just numbers. If pupils were taught to learn with numbers alone then pupils would get bored and loose motivation. Pupils need motivation and to be engaged in learning in order to understand and successfully learn what they are being taught. By adding realism it motivates pupils by making numeracy questions more interesting and engaging.

Adding realism provides pupils with the knowledge of how we use numeracy in everyday life and how it will be beneficial and relevant to them. If pupils are shown through adding realism how numeracy will benefit them and will be relevant to them in every day life they will see the importance of learning numeracy and should be keen to learn. Pupils will be keen to learn if we can relate numeracy to every day life by adding realism. If pupils see that numeracy will be relevant to them and will help support them in situations when they need to use those skills, it should encourage them to learn.

We all need to learn numeracy skills, but most of us fear numeracy, dislike it and find it boring. By teaching numeracy through adding realism should help and support pupils to engage in the lesson by making it real and relevant and make their learning effective.

The only downfall is that some pupils may prefer to work with numbers alone, but teaching numeracy through adding realism teaches pupils how numeracy can be relevant and beneficial in real life and how we use it. It teaches pupils how they can use different numeracy skills they have learned and put them to use in real life. It is important to remember that not all pupils will enjoy, understand and prefer to add realism to numeracy.

Different pupils have different preferences and may understand, enjoy and work better when other strategies are used. It is important to use all kinds of strategies like adding realism, practical activities, problem solving, graphs/charts, work sheets, computer programs ect. It is important to differentiate numeracy lessons to support pupils with different preferences and to make learning numeracy interesting. It is important to teach numeracy in a variety of ways so pupils do not get board of learning in the same way all the time. By adding realism it helps pupils to become interested and keep them engaged and motivated to learn numeracy.

Adding realism is an effective way for pupils to learn numeracy but should be taught amongst other teaching strategies for it to become effective. If adding realism was taught and learned alone then pupils would get bored of learning the same way. Teaching numeracy skills should be balanced and a variety of skills should be taught through different strategies. Adding realism is just another strategy of teaching and learning numeracy skills and although it is a very effective way of learning in the classroom it must be part of a varied way of teaching and learning. The effectiveness of learning numeracy through adding realism is great but it must be balanced way of learning, other teaching methods and strategies must be taught as well to make the learning of numeracy become effective.

H. Rotheram

The spark of positive communication

The importance of communication is significant to our everyday lives. It helps us to engage with others, follow instructions, and pick up on some ones mood for example, whether the person is happy, unhappy, angry, and sad with you or others. Communication can help with finding problems and resolving them and people can feel a sense of relief when speaking to another in whatever situation has occurred.

Martin Luther King Jr once said, “ Our Lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” (http://quotations:about.com/cs/inspiratingquotes/a/communication6.htm.) Breakdown in communication or no communication at all can cause problems and a negative environment can manifest.

Having encouraging interaction and positive communication with pupils in education is important for them in learning, gaining skills and building self-esteem. Key features of positive interaction and communication are body language, eye contact, knowing pupils names, teamwork and being consistence. If we enter a room and it is silent and people just stare, we automatically feel exposed and aware of our own movement, which feels awkward, and the environment becomes negative. Classrooms can be colourful with pupils work on the wall and provides a warm and inviting space to learn in, but if the teacher or TAs body language is negative it then can dampen the pupils mood and make them feel on edge.

When I was seven I really enjoyed learning about the Egyptians and our classroom was decorated like a Pharaohs chamber it was just pure magic, my teacher at the time was very smiley and his body language was always welcoming. When he taught everyone in the class we all felt involved because his eye contact reached all of us. This was the one-year I felt very content in my learning and this was down to our teacher and his respect to us as individuals and as a whole. His positive interaction with the pupils allowed us, as seven year olds to feel respected in what we had to say and he allowed us to grow in our own ways with positive and balanced ways of teaching. Within this year our teacher became poorly and was off for about a month and we had a substitute teacher to cover. Obviously as a class we found it hard to adjust to another teachers way of learning and missed our current teacher, but the substitute teacher did not make this easier.

This particular teacher had a very cold manner about her and when we would enter the room (which we all loved because it was our own homemade Pharaohs chamber) she would not acknowledge us and if she did it would be ‘hello class’ which can be impersonal, especially two weeks into teaching us. It is important to know your pupils names as it makes the child feel known and acknowledged, it is a pleasant feeling that someone has bothered to learn your name in the correct manner.

As a child I was quite sensitive and aware of the ripples of change in the school environment. The dramatic change from happy bubbly children who could not wait to say hello to our expressive, jolly teacher turned into a class of nervous, quiet seven year olds who had become one dull, looming cloud in class. Our substitute teacher from day one had made an impact but unfortunately it was not a positive one. The lack of communication between her and us made the environment an uncomfortable place to learn, being referred to as ‘class’ and not by our names made the teacher and pupil relationship very disconnected and for myself I did not feel I could to talk to the teacher if I was worried with work or anything else. When we would work as team in class there was no interaction made from her to encourage our ideas and help us progress them, which is what we needed for us to know we were on the right tracks and doing the tasks correctly. The month this teacher was with us I felt like it was a chore for her, and because she had to cover only for a month, her communication had no importance to her, or body language, eye contact, knowing pupil’s names or consistency.

During that month I did struggle with work and I kept silent about it I worried so much that I was doing it wrong and to scared to say anything. Even though I knew I was in my bright classroom it did not feel the same when this teacher did not have positive interaction or communication with me. Pupils need to feel worthy in class and that they are respected by others. The importance of having a teacher giving me eye contact when I am speaking makes me feel that I am worthy of being listened to, a smile and my name being learnt makes me feel appreciative that a teacher or TA has made time to learn and make the lesson welcoming. When you feel comfortable in class with teachers or TAs a trust does start to grow and an understanding emerges along with boundaries.

E Phillips

The image represents our learners - sometimes they can feel switched on and electrified - other times empty. We must strive to light the charge.

Alice though the looking glass? Through the "big screen" more like!

The media influences us as adults in various ways throughout our lives, so it should not come as a surprise that children are influenced and behaviour altered by the messages that surround them; children are far more open to suggestion than adults and lack a healthy scepticism, and so the results of being immersed in popular culture have the potential to be harmful and damaging if left unsupervised and unguided.

Magazines available for ages below 7 are usually more carefully constructed and tend to concentrate on puzzles and popular TV characters; but most of them have a free gift (which boosts the price). These gifts stick rigidly to gender models, e.g. plastic jewellery for girl; and for boys it is almost always a prerequisite that the gift is a shooting toy, which some parents may try to avoid, but find themselves pressurised into buying when there is so little choice. A magazine without a toy may have better stories and activities, but it less likely to be chosen. Girls’ magazines tend to range from princesses and fairies, to cute animals; boys have action figures, nearly all involving fighting or battles (even if it is in a fantasy setting). These images imprint gender roles in a way that is carefully avoided at school. Already the language in these magazines is teaching children to dumb down. An example of this can be found in ‘All About Animals’ 2010
‘Hi girls! We’re all best friends, just like the cuties on page 4. They might be different, but they’re all super cute pals.’

Magazines for older children (up to 10 years) start to become more adult in content for girls; obviously there are no direct sexual stories, but ‘psychological’ quizzes become more male orientated, the language becomes ‘cooler’ and the free gifts on the front evolve into make-up. Boys have ‘Dr Who’, ‘Star Wars’ and ‘the Simpsons’; already magazines reflect adult trends of men buying magazines about music, hobbies and interests, women largely buy beauty and gossip magazines.

The most worrying magazines are those aimed at girls aged 10-14, which tend to sexualize young girls and promote an interest in the opposite sex. Girls in the photographs are scantily clad with lots of make-up; and personality or intelligence are not judged to be as important as physical appearance. The women in the magazines have often been air-brushed, giving an unattainable idea of beauty. The only good thing about these magazines is that they promote reading in reluctant readers in a simplistic way; but if the magazines did not exist girls would hopefully read something more elevating or intellectual.

The internet is a good resource for information and children as young as 6 are directed to use Google to help with homework; it is a great starting point, but it is slightly problematic in that information on the internet (e.g. Wikipedia) is not monitored and so not everything is accurate and should be checked. If children habitually use the internet to get information they will lose (or never develop) the ability to use books to conduct proper research. Another problem with computers that are unprotected are ‘pop ups’ which may be inappropriate or sexually explicit, and search engines like ‘Google’ which can bring up shocking images when prompted by an innocent word. ‘I was searching for images of Disney’s Jasmine on Google and there were a lot of pornographic images instantly on my screen, without any warning’! (Don't try that at home!)

Young children’s TV is usually a good device to innately promote literacy, especially CBeebies and CBBC. These channels are carefully monitored and regulated, so a parent can confidently leave a child unsupervised to watch programs which encourage learning and promote good social skills. (E.g. ‘Horrible Histories’ is a well constructed comedy which brings history to life in an amusing way; it promotes an interest in history which can be developed in future lessons. This program recently won ‘best sketch show’ at the 2011 British comedy awards, the first children’s TV show to ever win this category). The problems occur with other TV stations, which tend to divide into programmes aimed specifically at girls or boys. Most boys’ programmes revolve around a super hero and fighting, or manic cartoons with frenzied activity; boys particularly seem to mimic TV characters, copying speech (usually US ‘cool’ speech and catch phrases), which does not help to promote literacy. Programmes aimed at girls are uniformly about young, glamorous, made-up, irritating girls, winning popularity by their glossy looks and hidden pop-star status. Children will try to emulate these role models, using American ‘lingo’ and becoming sexualized too early. These programmes are style over content and do not promote literacy in any way.

When children watch programmes aimed at adults then the problems can be far more serious; some adults think that it is acceptable for children as young as 5 to watch ‘Glee’, because it seems to appeal to children; but it covers adult issues and will suggest sexual stereotypes which can easily imprint on young children. Peer pressure forces other parents to allow their children to watch it, as they do not want their children to miss out on the latest craze.

Listening to some radio stations (e.g. Radio 4) is a good way of encouraging literacy, but not many children are interested in such channels. They are more likely to listen to Radio One, with more focus on music than news bulletins (which are condensed and aimed at issues which will appeal to the young). This neither helps nor restricts literacy; however, the worrying increase of pop music with swearing is a concern, especially in songs which appear to be aimed at younger listeners. ‘I downloaded ‘Do it like a Dude’ by Jessie J, as Eloise (age 8) said she liked it and would like it on her MP3 player; luckily she did not have time to listen to it, as when I next heard the radio edit I realised the language was extreme, e.g. ‘motherf***er’. I quickly deleted the song which seemed to be aimed at young girls by an artist who had recently won BBC Sound of 2011 and the Critics’ Choice Awards.’

There is arguably a time and a place for swearing and it is not suggested that swearing in songs should be banned; however there should be warnings on downloads. Children’s literacy will not be improved by the addition of swear words.

If age appropriate then most games can encourage literacy to a small degree, e.g. Nintendo DS games have a lot of writing and some children (particularly boys) will want to improve their reading in order to complete the game. But games viewed by young children, which may belong to older siblings, can be damaging and imprint ideas of violence and negative gender roles. A lot of games on popular consoles (e.g. Xbox) are centred around the idea of war; and these ideas glorify and romanticise fighting in a way which is far removed from the grim truth and reality of war. If a child reads a book about war (e.g. ‘All quiet on the Western Front’ by E.M. Remarque) they will see how young soldiers’ ideals and high held belief about fighting for their country is counterbalanced by the reality of the terrible things they experience. In a computer game there is no evaluation, just pursuit of glory. The only positive point may be that it could enhance an interest in reading books about war and an interest in history!

V Yeates

Believe in them, believe in you!

The key features of positive interaction or communication with pupils are knowing pupils names or what they like to be called, this shows you care about the individual and that you respect and value them. It is important the teaching assistant has positive body language and you are approachable such as how you stand, facial expressions and eye contact.

Speaking firmly but calmly and being consistent in what you say shows pupils expected behaviour and makes everyone aware of boundaries, rules and consequences. Always follow through with what you say as pupils will pick up on this and may lose confidence in your teaching for example rewards or punishments. It is important to remember there may be a reason behind behaviours of pupils, by knowing your pupils and how they react or triggers to behaviours you can monitor, record or report if necessary.

By treating all pupils the same, including and giving everyone a chance shows respect and that you value their contributions and efforts. “B.F Skinner believed that children learn best through positive experiences. This is relevant for learning experiences as it is for behaviour. For example, a child who is praised for working well at a particular task will want to work at it again. Skinner called this positive reinforcement”. (Burnham)

By listening ensures pupils will feel comfortable talking to you and try to resolve any issues or problems, always remember when a situation is over it is over. It is important all pupils get the best from lessons, by praising good behaviour and sometimes ignoring bad will allow you to continue teaching and deal with the behaviour when everyone else is working.

Rewarding, encouraging and motivating pupils will promote positive behaviour. Making lessons more interactive and fun with humour can be a good tool.

“Pupils who have more opportunity to communicate with others are more able to develop their skills and confidence and extend their vocabulary” (Burnham). Providing lots of praise and encouragement will motivate pupils and acknowledge their work and positive behaviour.

“Demonstrate you support the care, learning and development”. (Burnham)
It is important to provide support and help and to encourage independence, this will help make the pupil feel secure and settled.

“Lev Vygotsky believed that children need adults to support them in their learning in order to extend their ‘Zone of Proximal Development’, which means where their learning might extend. He said that children cannot learn as much without adults and others helping them”. (Burnham)
By listening ensures pupils will feel comfortable talking to you about learning and personal issues such as bullying, problems, home life. If you don’t, a pupil may not come to you again.

“Children are more likely to want to be in school and to learn if they have a good relationship with those who are supporting them.” (Burnham). By being an approachable, consistent part of the pupils’ school life it allows them to feel they have someone they can trust. Treating all pupils the same and not labelling are having prejudices will help to build the pupils confidence as they will know they are equal to everyone else.

Having high but achievable expectations of all pupils will have a positive effect as the pupil will know they have people who support and believe in them.

G White

An Ode to Students from a Teacher:

Life is wide open and everything and anything is possible.

Your only limitations come from inside - not outside of yourselves.

I will not dampen your enthusiasm or laugh at you.

I will take your ambitions seriously and always support you.

We can embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

I will think of you, speak to you and work alongside you,

with absolute faith in you and your abilities.

I will have expectations for you and I will want the

very best for you.

I will believe in your phenomenal potential to do,

have and be whatever you want.

BUT YOU MUST

Believe in yourselves, totally and with conviction.

Then you will be able to do and achieve anything you want.

I shall be supporting you every step of the way.

AND WHEN YOU LEAVE BEHIND YOU THE WALLS OF THIS SCHOOL

Do something that you enjoy - it maintains happiness and you deserve to be living a life that excites and fulfils you.

Angela Jordan

The image represents the growth and development of learning, but also the challenges and changes where one may fall, but with reflection will blossom again.