The Power of Belief

Please bear in mind that this is merely a thought provoking blog - so keep smiling :) - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!



This time of year is often filled with hope, joy and a belief in one special individual (No I do not mean Justin Bieber lol). Children's belief in Father Christmas, Santa Claus or even Jolly Old Saint Nick has been something that has gone on without question for hundreds of years and even the description of a large man in a jolly red suit stems back to the early 1400s.

Over the years we have seen 'Father Christmas' become an icon associated with the religious holiday on December 25th through the means of the media and throughout history in our childhoods. Every year we seem to anticipate the arrival of the Coca-Cola advert depicting Father Christmas as a 'lover' of Coke as the 'true start of Christmas' but does this not show us that the once so innocent childhood belief in Father Christmas has become just a commercialised prop to increase sales of an already worldwide product's success?

Why should Children 'believe'?


A belief in a higher being that is not necessarily God or a religious figure is something that as adults we should encourage in children. Without the belief in Father Christmas or the Tooth Fairy many children would in some ways lose faith in the fairy tale and could end up being more pessimistic towards other 'beliefs'. Some have mentioned the possibility of not letting their children believe in magical stories but is this not essentially telling the children not to have an imaginative and creative mind? I can often recall dreams and stories as a child of far off places with magical creatures and wanting them to be real but they would only exist in my imagination, these magical images in my imagination were always prompted by family and friends asking me to share and to be creative so if we refuse to let a child believe in these stories they may loose all ability to imagine a world that is entirely their own.

Myself (like many others my age) grew up with J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of books and Warner Bros. film adaptations, centred around this magical world which, to the reader/viewer was not only believable but felt entirely real. This belief in a magical world became a fundamental part of not only my childhood but many others around me, from my parents, grandparents and even my younger cousins that are too young to even remember the release of the books! As a creative person myself, watching a favourite series of books become this visible world right before my eyes helps prompt the imagination further. So, if my parents were to disallow the belief of a large magical bearded man in a jolly red suit then surely books and films such as Harry Potter shouldn't be present in the child's life but then children would loose their imaginative and creative side which as teachers we all know that a child's imagination is a power that is rivalled by no other!

Are Childhood Beliefs being Commercialised?


'It's not Christmas till the Coca-Cola advert comes on!' How has a worldwide celebrated holiday become dependent on a brand of fizzy drink? When put like that it sounds ridiculous don't you think? For many years now myself and colleagues have often joked when saying that it is not Christmas till the Coca-Cola advert is played but surely this can not be the case with children as well. As soon as it turned December 1st the children would come up to me and say 'I had chocolate for breakfast!' with the biggest enthusiastic grin you will ever see. Some even say that they have sent their letters off to Father Christmas, they look so excited and we join in with their belief, 'What did you ask for then Jimmy?' surely this is something we must always promote for as long as the child believes so should we.

Giving a child something to believe in is in many ways human nature when it comes to bringing up children (depending on cultural and religious differences of course) and this is something us as teachers should expand on, teaching them to focus their imagination into creative ways as a child's imagination is a gift that should never go untouched.

I shall leave you with one final thought.. Would you not give so much to be able to think that magic was real and that Father Christmas has flying reindeer just one more time? I know I would..

Thanks for reading, remember to keep believing :) - If you don't believe in something you'll fall for anything... (wise words no idea where from mind you!)

My First Teach-Meet! Notes as they occured - To My Best Ability!

Its October 27th, I'm currently in Rolle 018 and its heaving with people eager to learn and teach!

I will add posts as if it were live with the times etc

18:08 - Start - PES introduction, helping to get us informed with teaching both on the course and in the classroom. Clinics for advice for work, placement etc. Presented with the Opp to present from the audience

18:13 - Tasha Kent
Lecturer - If you have a well planed lesson where the children were engaged then the children will behave. Asks the audience

'Kids are Kids at the end of the day'
'Plan it so the children create their own engagement'
'Regardless of being well planed there should always be a back up'
'Its difficult to focus on their behaviour'
'Trying to create an environment that allows them to behave well'

18:19 - Oliver Q
Behaviour Management - What's your why?

Model by Simon Sinek- Golden Circle - Companies (What are we going to do, How are we going to do it, Why?)

Apple - Started with Why and then Made 'Macs'

Start with 'Why' - Teaching and planning for a reason

Book - Punished by Rewards - One teacher - Stickers are so easy, it takes effort to think why they are talking etc it takes no effect thought and talent to say 'be quiet and this is what you will get'

Many stories from the audience about the pros and cons of giving awards, stickers etc.

Whole class rewards, the children tell each other to behave?

Mixed behaviour and ability requires different ideas for rewards

It works v. well if it effects the children's opinion and understanding

Phone the parents if they have been excellent not just bad!

Good job for one child but not for the others? does that mean their work isn't any good?

Materialistic world - Stickers mean a lot to kids!

As long as you build self esteem its all good

Working colab with the class as a whole

18:45 - Alex - Sec for the Soc

Prezi - Flash Based Presentation

Einstein Quote - Everyone is a genius but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree

'If you believe you are stupid how do you feel? how do you behave?'

'So does effective behaviour management consider the actions and mindset of the teacher or the learner?'

'Perhaps it is about understanding the particular needs and putting it into practice'

18:50 -

On placement - Teacher doesn't use any obvious behaviour management, job share, just voice raising, is this a good way of getting the children's attention?

'Children become immune to shouting'

'A voice is a fantastic tool, you can get quieter and it can be just as powerful'

'get quieter and the children will hear what you were saying, we had a noiseometer, visual aide'

'wiggling fingers, waving hands and getting their attention'

'children will copy you, modeling shouting etc'

18:55 - Sarah 4th Sci Spec

Children with Autism

They struggle to deal with situations.

Teach Trays - Link on twitter

Work stations without all the clutter, 2 or 3 trays with their work in, clear obj, visual, what they want to do, working independently. 3-4 activities, show what's expected of them, rewards are given so that they know they have finished their work.

19:02

Behaviour in Danish schools

Seemed like a class of angels - the danish thought their children were miss behaved

Danish Schools - 7-15 in the same building - shoes off, slippers on, sit where ever, more freedom

The whole class were involved in an individual problem, discussing feelings etc

19:10 - Tasha Kent - Seeking the Attention of Children

In this school you couldn't punish them - tried getting their attention, shouting, counting, waving.

Counting to 10 eventually worked

'if i hold the door open miss can i have a sticker?'

Use of a tambourine to gain attention

Putting finger next to mouth to show quiet worked.

Fav way of getting attention - *woo woo* (like a train) children respond with *shhhhhh*

19:15 - Child Situation

'A child is acting up in class as a result of sensitive home issues which you are aware of. Their behaviour is very distracting for others but the child is distressed' DISCUSS

'Child could have a nominated friend to help them through it?'

'take the child away from the class, say if they want time out, cry, space etc'

'If its a one off thing take them away, if its often give them space etc'

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Essay writing work shop wed 9th Nov 2-4 Babbage 319

Social 1st Nov 8pm

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Not gonna lie that was amazing #epicwin #tmbehaviour

DJ-ing and Teaching? Really?

As a student I have to find ways to entertain myself and DJ-ing is one of them and when ever someone comes up to me after I have finished on a night and asks 'What course are you Studying?' I say Primary Teaching and they all look shocked! Ha, as if they didn't expect someone who DJs to teach, yet alone teach younger KS1 Children. How many DJ-ing Teachers do you come across?? With the Exception of Mr Oliver Quinlan of course! He actually got me thinking, are DJ-ing and Teaching fairly similar?

I coincidentally started my first school based work experience just 2 weeks before I began to learn to DJ 3 years ago this October, my world was full of learning you could say. Learning how to interact with the children correctly, what language to use, what the children's names are (fairly important some would say!?).

Does this link with DJ-ing though?

Both are performed to a crowd that is the most obvious comparison we are all 'performers' as we teach the class what they need and in some ways what they want to be taught. If I play the wrong song or miss match a beat the audience will tell me, much like if I go to fast for my class or say something they do not understand you can tell by their facial expressions whether they do or do not understand.

Playing the right music in the classroom AKA providing them with the right information, the correct style of learning that best suites the classes needs as much as humanly possible. Surely trying our best is what anyone wants for us but as teachers sometimes that may not be enough (depending on the circumstances of course) passion is something that we as the next generation of teachers need to continue to have.

The audience is your class, the club is your classroom and the music is your curriculum. Much like many students music is a key part of their day to day lives especially at University, not a day goes by that I don't hear some music blasting out of Student Halls across campus but some people like myself and other DJs really embrace music and If I can embrace the curriculum and make it my own like I have with my music then I think I might be doing something right!

So maybe I should start thinking that the class is my audience, the classroom is my club and the curriculum is my music and that the children need a 'dj'...

Should have done this first! - Mini Bio

Should have done this before the first post really aahhh well.



My name is James Stoner and I'm currently studying at the University of Plymouth on the BEd Primary Teaching course with ICT as my specialism.

Currently in my second year and i have to say its been a blast, very tiring so far but also very satisfying.

I still find it strange that I do not have an ICT qualification higher than a C at GCSE and yet here i am on an ICT specialism?! My ICT background lies in video editing, special FX, storyboarding, music and video correction (sound, music and video colour etc) which tied in with my Media A level and BTEC Video Production course of which is usually a 2 year course but was put forward to complete it in just under 1 academic year, it was definitely a struggle to say the least!

So where do i stand with teaching?
As a child do you remember that one teacher who stood out from the rest (for all the right reasons!)? Were they kind or funny? Clever or cool?

I want to become the teacher that the children not only look up to and turn to when they need you but I want to be able to have that lasting effect as that one teacher who isn't necessarily the best teacher but one who is there for the children 110%.

True dedication is to aim for the finish line and then do a whole marathon more! I want the children, parents and colleagues to see how much passion i can give to teaching once i get off the start line

Be the best and dare to do better...

Are VLEs a thing of the past? Are Google Apps the future?

First Ever Blog

Virtual Learning Environments, something that can bring so much information together or can become a nightmare for us teachers.

For years i can recall the use of a school network, not so much in primary but more in secondary where the use of logins, passwords and email addresses became standard. Towards the end of my final years of secondary school we were able to access our files anywhere but it was limited to download and edit only, no uploading or creating new work on the network. At that age I was amazed by what technology could do for learning but I knew that there was more to do here.

As a current BEd student (ICT Specialism) we are encouraged to broaden our knowledge of ICT resources which includes the use of VLEs and MLEs, our University Sharepoint AKA Tulip and any others we come across on our placements and course. throughout my years prior to my time here at the University of Plymouth I began alot of video and photographic promotion and I required a website, this is when I discovered moonfruit.com, a free website creator based on a flash code full of free widgets, image and video tools which at the time were ideal for my promotional work. As time went by on the course we were required to look into the use and costing of VLEs in schools, we were asked to see if it was possible to create an online learning environment for free.

After a few hours we eventually built this, using moonfruit we were able to add all the pages and tabs required to run the fundamental basics for an online environment that could be used for schools. http://eict201.moonfruit.com/


We later added the use of Google Apps to further strengthen the site. Google has many apps available to use for free for education and all you need is a domain to start with. The use of Google's Docs for cloud style storage, blogging for classwork sharing and email accounts for contact are great ways to bring the class work home, learning doesn't end at 3:15, it continues at home, on a laptop or PC and even mobile devices. I can see the use of Google Apps taking place in many schools in the future, especially with many budget cuts in forthcoming years. They are currently in 61 of the top 100 schools in the world which would suggest that they are doing something right over at Google HQ.

It is my understanding that Schools try too hard to replicate themselves online and in doing so they might not be as effective as they could be, this part of the module has helped me to see that regardless of cost or company behind a VLE, if run correctly it might just stand a chance of creating a more useful home learning environment.

First ever blog please bare with me on grammar and spelling etc as I know this is something i need to work on, many thanks

J.Stoner