Media Mayhem

Exploring Further Education and Life Skills (TPPEL essay)

2012-01-27T12:02:00.000Z

CREDIT:https://oldlearnzone.loucoll.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=2622

DLLS453: Theories and Principles of Planning and Enabling Learning

Coursework Task: An essay

Write an essay of 1500 – 2000 words in which you demonstrate your critical and comprehensive knowledge, understanding, and application of a range of learning theories and principles in the context of a complex practice based problem.

Practice-based problem: Do the restrictions of curriculum in Media Studies A Level/National Diploma encourage the development of wider life skills that would support employment or progression to university, for example practice versus theory?

So much of further education seems to be about 'teaching to the test' and just getting students through the exam. We had been discussing 'life skills' in class and I think they're particularly important in vocational subjects as it is very focused on preparing a student for a future career. I used this essay to argue whether Media Studies in further education should just focus on the task at hand (A Levels or National Diploma) or provide a framework in order to expand at university or possibly go straight into training or employment.

I surveyed my students to see what they thought and what their intentions were for life after college and my essay looked at the following key areas:

the responsibility of educational institutions
what are life skills?
the importance of self-directed learning and group work
work-based learning and experiential learning

A key area of educational research is the transition from school to work. There has been considerable change to policy and practice in this area in England and Wales over the past few years… there have also been dramatic changes in the patterns of progression between the ages of 16 and 19. Far more young people now stay on in full-time education. It is as common now to leave education at 17+ as at 16+. Very few teenagers move straight from school to a job. The numbers on youth training schemes have steadily diminished.

Hodkinson, 1998, p89

References

Buckingham, D. and Sefton-Green, J. (1994) Cultural studies goes to school: reading and teaching popular media [Book]. London: Taylor & Francis

Buckingham, D., Grahame, J. and Sefton-Green, J. (1995) Making media: practical production media education [Book]. London: English and Media Centre

Buckingham, D. (2003) Media education: literacy, learning and contemporary culture [Book]. Cambridge: Polity Press

Cohen, L. et al. (2010) A guide to teaching practice [Book]. 5^th edition. London: Routledge

Dewey, J. (1938) Experience and education [Book]. Macmillan Information

Gerver, R. (2010) Creating Tomorrow’s Schools Today [Book]. London: Continuum

Greene, M. (1978) Landscapes of Learning [Book]. Teachers College Press

Hodkinson, P. ‘Career Decision Making and the Transition from School to Work’, pp89-103 in Grenfell, M. et al (eds), (1998), Bordieu and Education, London: Falmer Press

UNICEF, 2004 Life Skills [online]. Available at: http://www.unicef.org/lifeskills/index_whichskills.html [Accessed 21 December 2011]

WJEC (2011) GCE Media Studies Specification [PDF]. Available at: <http://www.wjec.co.uk/index.php?subject=22&level=21&list=docs&docCatID=25

Independent Study Module: Literature Review (exams vs coursework)

2012-01-27T11:49:00.000Z

CREDIT: http://100bookninja.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/a-little-reading-inspiration/

DLLS464: Independent Study Module 1

Coursework Task: A professionally focused and critically investigative study of a body of knowledge in the form of a literature review

Produce a literature review of 2000-2500 words in which you demonstrate the development of your critical knowledge and understanding of a particular area of professional practice and enhanced critical knowledge, understanding and application of your professional enquiry skills.

Title: An exploration of the different advantages and disadvantages of exam-based assessments as compared to coursework-based assessments, for example exam essay verses portfolio.

This is an issue that I feel very strongly about as, regardless of subject, most students hate exams and don't cope well with the stress. Most of my students have said to me that they get better grades in their coursework than their exams, even though they clearly know their stuff. I used this literature review as an opportunity to explore the various debates and thought I'd share my resources and some of my findings with you. It's worth noting that I also surveyed my students for this assignment and included my findings as an appendix to demonstrate why I thought it was worth exploring and to back it up with some statistics of my own.

Key ideas:

experiential learning - the benefits of practical assessment (learning by doing and portfolio-based assessment)
Media Studies is a vocational subject - in the industry, would employees be expected to work in 'exam conditions'?
teaching to the test - the issues of exam-based assessment (no room for creativity, strict curriculum, disengaged and demotivated students, unreliability)

Method	Strengths	Weaknesses
Tests	Targeted, specific, written, flexible, many types, marks can give credit and compensation for partial answers	Unnatural, threatening, outcome-focused, the Hawthorne effect, simplistic, often only ‘one’ correct answer
Questionnaires	Focused and specific	Not central to the purposes of everyday teaching and learning
Essay	Open-ended, enable individuality to be demonstrated, much formative potential	Prone to unreliability, poor coverage of a whole course, risks of not showing a student’s overall abilities, problems of comparability between different essay titles
Portfolios and samples of work (including, for example, different kinds of writing)	Rooted in everyday teaching and learning, much formative potential, criterion-specific, public criteria, ongoing	Need to ensure validity, much hinges on single items, problems for poor writers, neglects processes
Records and reports	Specific, detailed, focused, much formative potential, charts rates of progress, honest, ongoing, cumulative	Time-consuming, risk of subjectivity
Self-referenced assessments	Authentic, focused, honest, highlight priorities, high student ownership	Irrelevant for National Curriculum assessment, problems for poor writers, problem of institutional response only

ConclusionMy research indicates that coursework is the preferred method of assessment in arts-based subjects and with Media Studies in particular as it gives students the ability to put what they have learned into practice. Throughout my teaching practice I try to keep assessment as engaging as possible, often incorporating quizzes and group discussions to allow sharing of ideas, as much media theory is open to debate. When it comes to exam practice, I try to keep the environment and atmosphere as relaxed as possible as, at this early stage, I believe it’s essential that my students know it’s ok to make mistakes as they still have plenty of time to learn from them. We can’t avoid the exam aspect but by starting early and having enough practice so that it seems less daunting, students will be better prepared.

As for further research, I would find it interesting to see how the students perform at the end of the year based on their assessment preferences. Only then would I be able to prove my hypothesis regarding students achieving better grades in assessments they enjoy.

References

Buckingham, D. (ed.) (1990) Watching media learning: making sense of media education [Book]. London: Falmer Press

Buckingham, D. and Sefton-Green, J. (1994) Cultural studies goes to school: reading and teaching popular media [Book]. London: Taylor & Francis

Buckingham, D., Grahame, J. and Sefton-Green, J. (1995) Making media: practical production media education [Book]. London: English and Media Centre

Buckingham, D. (2003) Media education: literacy, learning and contemporary culture [Book]. Cambridge: Polity Press

Cohen, L. et al. (2010) A guide to teaching practice [Book]. 5^th edition. London: Routledge

Dewey, J. (1938) Experience and education [Book]. Macmillan Information

Dewey, J. (2005) Democracy and education [Book]. UK: Lighning Source

Greene, M. (1978) Landscapes of Learning [Book]. Teachers College Press

Robinson, K. (ed.) (1982) The Arts in Schools: Principles, practice and provision [Book]. London: BPCC Oyez Press Ltd

Robinson, K. (2009) The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything [Book]. London: Penguin

Robinson, K. (2011) Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative [Book]. Chichester: Capstone

Sefton-Green, J. and Sinker, R. (eds.) (2000) Evaluating creativity: making and learning by young people [Book]. London: Routledge

WJEC (2011) GCE Media Studies Specification [PDF]. Available at: <http://www.wjec.co.uk/index.php?subject=22&level=21&list=docs&docCatID=25

Reflecting on Theories and Principles for Planning and Enabling Learning (TPPEL)

2012-01-27T11:37:00.000Z

CREDIT: Ken Robinson

Core Module 3 – End of Module Reflective Summary - TPPEL - Domain B

Finally, write a 300-500 word reflective summary review of the targets above, evaluating the impact on practice and learners focusing on Minimum Core - ESOL and the Professional Practice Standards relating to the Scope of Domain B:

BS 1 Maintaining an inclusive, equitable and motivating learning environment.

BS 2 Applying and developing own professional skills to enable learners to achieve their goals.

BS 3 Communicating effectively and appropriately with learners to enhance learning.

BS 4 Collaboration with colleagues to support the needs of learners.

BS 5 Using a range of learning resources to support learners.

I don’t have any students who have English as a second language, although some students are originally from different parts of the country (accents haven’t been an issue however).

In terms of learning and teaching, this is an important area of the professional standards for me as I want my students to feel safe, comfortable and confident. Media Studies is so open to debate, discussion and the sharing of ideas yet some students feel nervous about sharing their own ideas for fear of saying something wrong. It’s important for me in my teaching practice to provide an environment where everyone feels confident talking openly and even arguing/debating theories with each other. General liking and disliking of certain texts has proved interesting in class as some students feel perfectly at ease saying ‘that music video is rubbish’ or ‘that actor is crap’. I immediately ask them why and then a debate launches amongst the class.

Where I have struggled with my teaching practice is in trying to provide students with different resources. Although I quote various texts, show different clips and provide images, etc, which can be analysed, I use a PowerPoint presentation in every class and worry that this can get boring. I would like to have an interactive whiteboard in my classroom so that I can go from slides to whiteboard with ease and create mind maps and bullet points from class discussions within the presentation itself. Unfortunately funding at the college doesn’t allow each classroom to have an interactive whiteboard at the moment.

When it comes to learning activities, I have tried to mix it up a bit during the last half term by including quizzes, worksheets and debates to allow students to consider their own interpretations of what key terms and theories mean and to argue sides of arguments that they might not normally consider in preparation for their exam. I have found that students show greater evidence of understanding when they’re given the opportunity to take part in an activity that I can observe rather than simply having the option to choose to contribute to a passing class discussion.

Reflecting on Enabling Learning and Assessment (ELA)

2012-01-27T11:31:00.000Z

CREDIT: http://hsdassessmentcomm.wikispaces.com/

Core Module 2 – End of Module Reflective Summary - ELA - Domain E

Finally, write a 300-500 word reflective summary review of the targets above, evaluating the impact on practice and benefit to your learners focusing on Minimum Core - Numeracy and the Professional Practice Standards relating to the Scope of Domain E:

ES 1 Designing and using assessment as a tool for learning and progression.

ES 2 Assessing the work of learners in a fair and equitable manner.

ES 3 Learner involvement and shared responsibility in the assessment process.

ES 4 Using feedback as a tool for learning and progression.

ES 5 Working within the systems and quality requirements of the organisation in relation to assessment and monitoring of learner progress.

At the beginning of this module, I didn’t realise that I was constantly assessing my students without necessarily planning to do so. I’m always trying to kick start group discussions about the theory we’re covering and I like to encourage learners to relate the theory to examples in their own lives. With the film theory I’ve covered with both the BTEC and A2 Media groups, I’ve consistently used a variety of films to illustrate techniques and the students have always been able to cite other examples not already mentioned. For example, the A2 groups were able to recognise the London riots as a contemporary moral panic after I discussed with them the mods and rockers moral panic of the 1960s and the video nasties era of the 1980s.

I have used peer assessment, tutor assessment and self-assessment throughout my classes and have found that they are particularly suitable in different contexts. In magazine production, with the college magazine enrichment group, it is very much a group project and they’re responsible for their own work so peer assessment is particularly useful here. As producers and readers of the magazine, they are in a great position as they know exactly what the readers want and are able to give it to them – generally speaking create exactly the kind of magazine they want.

With the more intense assessment activities (i.e. not a basic class discussion or simple Q&A), I’ve found that the students haven’t been entirely sure of what’s expected of them, so I need to be more clear in the ‘brief’ and ensure that everyone knows what they’re doing before things start.

Looking at my tutor and mentor feedback, it seems that I spend too long on a task at a time. Someone said in one of my PGCE classes that you should take a person’s age, add two and then you get their attention span. Sometimes my assessment tasks have gone on longer than 20 minutes and if I’m going to use long tasks in future classes, I need to make sure that I break them up a bit.

Reflecting on Principles of Learning and Teaching (POLT)

2012-01-27T11:26:00.000Z

CREDIT: http://www.boxoftricks.net/2008/02/good-reflective-practice-in-teaching-how-realistic-is-it/

Core Module 1 – End of Module Reflective Summary - PoLT - Domain D

Finally, write a 300-500 word reflective summary review of the targets above, evaluating the impact on practice and benefit to your learners focusing on Minimum Core - Language, Literacy and ICT and the Professional Practice Standards relating to the Scope of Domain D:

DS 1 Planning to promote equality, support diversity and to meet the aims and learning needs of learners.

DS 2 Learner participation in the planning of learning.

DS 3 Evaluation of own effectiveness in planning learning.

For me personally, I try to make my teaching practice as active and creative as possible. This could seem difficult as I deal primarily with media theory, but I like my students to be constantly putting the theory into practice and relating it to examples and situations they are familiar with. Media is a very practical subject, with students creating their own short films, music videos, magazines, websites and podcast, so it is important for me as a media teacher to be up-to-date with the latest technology. It’s a subject that is constantly evolving and I need to be open to new developments. Given that my practical knowledge of media centres on journalism, it’s essential that I find the time to gain a basic understanding of the filmmaking process (filming and editing) so that I am in a better position to aid my students. This also affects my confidence with the subject so I am more aware that some students may be lacking confidence in the areas they are less familiar with and therefore daunted by the process of trying something new.

‘The most distinctive of these very good teachers is that their practice is the result of careful reflection… They themselves learn lessons each time they teach, evaluating what they do and using these self-critical evaluations to adjust what they do next time.’
Why Colleges Succeed, Ofsted 2004, para 19

I am a reflective learner and very self-critical. I am able to evaluate my performance as a teacher and develop targets for the next class. This is particularly useful when I teach three A2 Media classes back to back as I can quickly adapt my next class if something doesn’t work in practice. I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter how well you plan a class; you will always need to alter something as the lesson progresses and it’s important to be prepared for different eventualities, especially regarding group discussions first thing in the morning when students are less likely to contribute.

I don’t doubt my subject knowledge as I studied Media for six years and I’m still actively expanding my knowledge of the latest developments and debates. My primary targets relating to teaching media are down to communication. I am so passionate about my subject that I always have a lot (too much?) to say and try to rush through it all to fit it all in. I then go through it all too fast with a block of free time at the end of the session and I’m aware that the students probably haven’t taken it all in. In the next module I need to structure my lessons so that I have back-up activities if there is time at the end of the class and try to deliver the topic at a reasonable pace – it’s ok if I don’t fit it all in as I can always provide a summary and then go into more detail at the start of the next class.

January 2012 Update

2012-01-27T11:19:00.002Z

I'm aware that this blog doesn't get many views and so I didn't feel guilty about my lack of blogging over Christmas. However, we've just moved onto a new module called Continuing Personal and Professional Development (CPPD) and a big part of this is reflecting on your professional identity, influences and teaching style. I've still been Tweeting and reading plenty online over the last couple of months but I figured it would help me (and any others reading this) if I use this blog to reflect on my practice and (if anyone's reading this) maybe start some discussions. The next few posts will be a kind of catch up on my resources for lesson plans and assignments since I moved all of my teaching hours to T as well as some reflection which has been included in my IDP. I'm currently at almost 100 hours of teaching so there's plenty to talk about!

BTEC Media: End of Another Era

2011-11-12T16:00:00.000Z

When I wrote that last post about the last film theory class, I wasn't aware that it would be the last BTEC class full stop. That's right, I've lost another class. And yet again it was the week after a great observation. So of course I became massively paranoid.

After last week's class I was told that I'd be informed on the Wednesday if they were shooting this week or if I'd be teaching. I didn't hear anything so I prepared my class just in case (even after sending a couple of emails to check). When I turned up they were indeed shooting and I finally got an email later that day saying there aren't enough student teacher hours. So now I'm doing all of my hours at T, I've got a new mentor and things are back on track.

There are five weeks left until the Christmas holidays and things are really cracking on. We've got two new modules: Theories and Principles of Planning and Enabling Learning (TPPEL) and an Independent Study Module (ISM). Our coursework for the PGCE itself is a lot more full-on too, with two essays, literature reviews and presentations on top of our usual teaching hours. For our TPPEL presentation we need to pick a key theorist to research and present to the rest of the class. I wanted to go for someone different (media-focused) and have picked David Buckingham. I also need to pick a specific area to focus on for my ISM and at the moment it's looking like one of the following:

feminist/gender issues (in education or more specifically media)
active/creative learning
assumptions made about media education

I helped out at the open day last week in an attempt to get my non-direct teaching hours up and to try and make an impression on the department - I'd love to get a job at T next year. It's sad that a lot of people still assume media is easy and not academic. Some think universities even judge students on their A Level subjects rather than their grades and several have referred to their children taking Media Studies A Level as their 'fun' subject out of their four choices. Luckily this is an assumption widely made by parents rather than prospective students, so at least they consider it to be a more respectable subject. Plus many are taking it at GCSE level and so they're aware of the workload and how practical it is.

I have to hand in my POLT and ELA assignments next week as well as my IDP so I'm off to tweak those in a moment. I also need to complete my proposal for my ISM (and pick a topic!) for next week's class. Luckily I have a tutorial on it on Friday morning so if I'm struggling I'll have the opportunity to discuss it then. Plus I have my next observation on Tuesday afternoon. It's with one of my A2 Media groups and I thought I'd better get it booked as early as possible to tackle this paranoia I have about losing my classes after my observations. Wish me luck!

BTEC Media: Final Film Theory Class

2011-10-31T18:00:00.000Z

My class starts shooting their shorts next week so this week was their last theory class with me. It was also my second formal observation for the PGCE and I was more nervous this time around. For a start, I wasn't sure how the group was going to behave. I mean, they're a great group and I enjoy working with them, but they're not the most forthcoming with ideas and there is that one student who clearly hates doing theory sessions and I didn't want her to say something early on and demotivate me.

Luckily for me it was the best session with the class so far! I had prepared a Powerpoint presentation that covered the basics of mise-en-scene and used film stills and clips to demonstrate specific areas:

cinematography - Lords of Dogtown (particularly the pool scenes)
set design - Moulin Rouge
actors - the opening of Saving Private Ryan
lighting - Nosferatu
costumes - Marie Antoinette

I then split them into three groups and got them to work on a series of questions to assess whether they understood the theory we had covered over the last few weeks (narrative, characters, style, mise-en-scene, sound, music, editing, etc). The first half focused specifically on using Inception as an example to illustrate the theory (as it's a film they've all seen). So we looked at Todorov's narrative structure and Propp's character types in Inception and I showed them a set of stills from the film and asked them to explain which shots were used and why (close-up, two-shot, over-the-shoulder, etc). I was really impressed and proud that they knew everything. Some things took some prompting and reminding in terms of why certain techniques are employed (i.e. why a dissolve rather than a straightforward cut in editing) but they were able to explain different sources and types of lighting, the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic sound and recognise why and how colour is used in film to signify difference.

Before the class started I spoke to a few of the students as they came in about how they felt about shooting next week and if they had altered any of their original ideas. It was nice to have a bit of an informal chat with them before the rest of the group came in and I was able to talk to the girl who normally finds my class boring. And as the class went on I found her getting more involved. As the groups were working on the questions about Inception and film theory, I worked my way around helping with anything they were struggling with. She seemed willing to give up when she found something difficult rather than ask for help, yet when I offered help and gave examples that she could work with, she seemed to understand and continued to work. We got to talking about auteur theory, style and influences and she actually said that she had enjoyed the Gondry stuff we had been doing and it had changed her perception of film and her capabilities. I think that was quite possibly my proudest teaching moment to date :)

At the end of the class I really wanted to focus on this idea of influences as I wanted to emphasise the idea that you can be inspired by anything around you and that every film you watch can affect you in some way. Very few students out of the 11 were able to cite a film or filmmaker that they considered to be influential (to them) so instead I went around the class and asked them all to name one single film that they love. I then explained that their favourite films can shape their viewing preferences in the future in terms of genre, directors and actors. When we discussed visual style, two groups cited Chris Nolan and Michel Gondry as 'visual filmmakers' but the other mentioned a director I had never heard of (Harmony Korine)! It was another big moment for me as I think teaching film should be a give and take session as we can all have suggestions and advice for future viewing. I'm now going to make a point of watching a couple of Korine's films - I have heard of Gummo, Kids and Trash Humpers but have never actually seen any of them.

The group should start shooting on Monday but it may be postponed until Wednesday so I may have to pull together another session for them yet. Regardless, I'm still going to be spending the next few weeks with them leading up to Christmas teaching in a team-teaching capacity, observing their shoots and post-production work and offering any assistance and advice. It's all fun times from here!

Resources: Teaching Media Studies

2011-10-30T19:00:00.000Z

Jack Black in School of Rock

The problem with teaching Media Studies is that there is still a preconceived notion that it isn't 'academic'; that it's a 'soft' subject. I love teaching Media as it's so open to interpretation; it's very personal. There are plenty of academic theories to take into consideration when analysing a text, so why is it less 'worthy' than say Maths or History?

Nevertheless, recent years have seen more textbooks and resources emerge dedicated solely to teaching Media Studies, such is the range of teaching practice it requires and the different strategies one can employ.

Watching Media Learning: Making sense of media education, David Buckingham (ed.), 1990

BTEC Level 3 National Creative Media Production Student Book

A2 Media Studies: The Essential Introduction for WJEC, 2010 Specification

Developing Effecting 16-19 Teaching Skills, John Butcher, 2005

The Media Teacher's Book, Julian McDougall and Nick Potamitis, 2010

The Media Student's Book, Gill Branston and Roy Stafford, 2010

Media Education: Literacy, Learning and Contemporary Culture, David Buckingham, 2003

Resources: British Cinema

2011-10-30T18:00:00.000Z

Contemporary British Cinema: From heritage to horror, James Leggott, 2008

Studying British Cinema: 1999-2009, John Fitzgerald, 2010

Box Office Isn't Everything [Guardian]

The British Cinema Book, Robert Murphy, 2002

The British Film Institute [BFI]

New British Cinema Quarterly [NBCQ]

British Cinema's Golden Age Is Now [Guardian]

Resources: POLT Assignment

2011-10-30T17:00:00.000Z

Butcher, J. (2005). Developing Effecting 16-19 Teaching Skills. Oxon: RoutledgeFalmer.

Curzon, L. B. (2003). Teaching in Further Education: An Outline of Principles and Practice (6th ed.). London: Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.

Gravells, A. (2009). Principles and Practice of Assessment in the Lifelong Learning Sector (First ed.). Exeter: Learning Matters.

Jarvis, P. (2010). Adult Education and Lifelong Learning: Theory and Practice (4th ed.). London: RoutledgeFalmer.

Jeffrey, B., & Craft, A. (2004). Teaching creatively and teaching for creativity: distinctions and relationships. Educational Studies , 30 (1), 77-87.

Lucas, B. (2001). Creative Teaching, Teaching Creativity and Creative Learning. In A. Craft, B. Jeffrey, & M. Leibling, Creativity in Education (pp. 35-44). London: Continuum.

McDougall, J., & Potamitis, N. (2010). The Media Teacher's Book (2nd ed.). Oxon: Hodder Education.

O'Brien, T., & Guiney, D. (2001). Differentiation in Teaching and Learning: Principles and Practice. London: Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.

Scales, P. (2008). Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Resources: ELA Assignment

2011-10-30T16:00:00.000Z

Assessing Learning in the Lifelong Learning Sector, Jonathan Tummons, 3rd edition

Principles and Practice of Assessment in the Lifelong Learning Sector, Ann Gravells, 2009

Improving Assessment Through Student Involvement: Practical solutions for aiding learning in higher and further education, Nancy Falchikov, 2005

{500 tips} on Assessment, 2nd edition, Phil Race, Sally Brown and Brenda Smith

Falchikov, N. (2005). Improving Assessment Through Student Involvement: Practical Solutions for Aiding Learning in Higher and Further Education. Oxon: RoutledgeFalmer.

Isaacs, T. (2010). Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice. Educational assessment in England , 17 (3), 315-334.

Jarvis, P. (2010). Adult Education and Lifelong Learning: Theory and Practice (4th ed.). London: RoutledgeFalmer.

McDougall, J., & Potamitis, N. (2010). The Media Teacher's Book (2nd ed.). Oxon: Hodder Education.

Race, P., Brown, S., & Smith, B. (2005). {500 Tips} On Assessment (2nd ed.). Oxon: RoutledgeFalmer.

Respect for Media Studies

2011-10-26T21:00:00.003+01:00

For some reason, Media Studies is considered to be an easy/soft subject. Let me tell you, after six years of studying it, it isn't easy. And it's not just about reading magazines and watching TV. Sure, there's a lot of theory you have to learn, and it's easier to grasp it by studying examples, but there's a lot more to it than people realise. And when it comes to teaching Media Studies, it requires a different approach to more 'academic' subjects.

In researching teaching Media Studies for my POLT and ELA assignments, I have come across the work of Len Masterman, who is considered by David Buckingham to be the 'most influential advocate of media education' (reference: Watching Media Learning: Making Sense of Media Education, 1990). Some consider learning to be memorising the facts. Learners are passive and teachers fill their memories with facts that they never put into context. This is surface learning. Masterman saw education as a form of demystification through development of analytical skills. There is a 'genuine sharing of power' in the classroom with the teacher acting as 'senior colleague' rather than expert. That is how I want to teach. Obviously, I am more knowledgeable than my students, what with my Media degree and all, but I want teaching and learning to be more collaborative and interactive. With constantly emerging technologies there is no doubt plenty the students can teach me too, and I think it's important for trainee teachers to be easy to adapt and open to change.

In Media Studies, students are urged to say what they think - there is very rarely a set right/wrong answer, especially regarding media representations of race and gender. 'Meaning is no longer regarded as something inherent in texts, but as a product of the negotiation between texts and readers' (Buckingham).

The Creative Curriculum (Extract from an FELL Discussion Paper of 1985 promoting a 'creative curriculum':

there are opportunities for students to develop their creative abilities by pursuing their individual skills and interest in an environment which values experimentation;
a premium is placed on self-directed learning, in which the teacher and the learning environment are seen as a resource;
learning activities are negotiated and renegotiated ad new and original ideas are welcomed;
there is recognition of the value of group work
there is an emphasis on problem-solving approaches
a creative curriculum is not only concerned with transmission of accumulated knowledge, but also with generation - with enabling students to take the initiative for their own self-development and to acquire the skills, understanding and flexibility to handle new situations with confidence.

The beauty of Media Studies is that even if students haven't studied it before AS Level (eg at GCSE Level), they still come to the course with some degree of prior knowledge as they are consumers of media. They all watch television and films, listen to music and the radio, are aware of advertising, read magazines, etc. They may not necessarily be aware of the manipulative power of the media, but they will have examples to draw on when it comes to covering the basic theory. They have some prior knowledge to build on.

'A fundamental concern is that creativity is not universally valued. Many cultures and communities prefer training students to accept existing structures rather than training them to form new ones; they prefer memorization and copying to research and creative writing. These conflicts are likely to remain controversial.'
B. Schneiderman, Leonardo's Laptop: Human needs and the new computing technologies, 2003: 131

Purposeful Creativity
'Students should be encouraged, wherever possible, to produce real products for real audiences, rather than always being tasked only to simulate such creations.'
The Media Teacher's Book, 2nd edition

Incredible Resource: The Media Teacher's Book

2011-10-24T20:00:00.000+01:00

Every so often you come across a book that is invaluable to you as a trainee teacher. The Media Teacher's Book, 2nd edition, is the book for me at the moment. Not only is a text book that explores the key concepts but it also focuses on effective teaching and how to support students with their coursework. Plus it has dozens of free resources that you can download including lesson plans based on chapters from the book (you need to buy the book first to get a code to login first). I paid just under £30 for it from Amazon and it was worth every penny. Highly recommended

Resources: more websites (mostly film journals)

2011-10-23T15:00:00.000+01:00

Enculturation: a journal of rhetoric, writing and culture
Images: a journal of film and popular culture
Jump Cut: a review of contemporary media
Participations: journal of audience and reception studies
cineaction
Cineaste: America's leading magazine on the art and politics of cinema
Cinema Scope
Cinephile: The University of Columbia's film journal
Image and Narrative
Journal of the Moving Image
Mediascape: UCLA's journal of cinema and media studies
Refractory: a journal of entertainment media

Half Term

2011-10-21T18:00:00.000+01:00

So, half term is here already but, of course, there's no rest for the wicked! I need to draft two 2000 essays to go through with my tutor after half term, update my IDP, get some reading done, try and make a head start on lesson planning. I'm also starting teaching on a new class after half term. I've been granted permission to teach on an English Language A Level Module called Spoken Language in the Media. I've got some stuff to read up on on the WJEC website but I'm not allowed to teach on my own (they're a bit weird about trainees teaching A Levels at P) so it should be pretty straightforward.

I want to get through all of the text books by the end of the week (might push that an extra day) so the dork is about to come out with all her notebooks, post-its , highlighters and page markers. Fun times!

Micro Teach

2011-10-20T23:00:00.000+01:00

I did my micro teach for my assessment today. I don't know why but it was so much more nerve-wracking doing it in front of my classmates than teaching a 'proper class'. Luckily everyone else felt the same. Originally I wanted to conduct it in a Mac Room so I could get everyone to make their own magazine cover (just a basic one as an introduction to InDesign). However, I was told that it would be easier to make it theory-based rather than faff about in a different room. I wasn't keen as I think teaching magazine production should be more creative, even if it's just a 15-minute session. Then, inspired by another student, I decided to use mood boards. The problem was that in 15 minutes I had to teach something and assess it - it's really time-consuming! So I kept it to just one main assessment task and whizzed through the theory at the beginning (I really have an issue with pace and timing) so they could spend the rest of the class working on their mood boards and talking about them with me afterwards. The aim of the assessment was to ensure that each individual student (they made separate mood boards but worked in small groups to share resources) understood the importance of reaching the readers and that a college magazine has a wide readership (further and higher education, male and female, different ages, etc). It seemed to work well as an assessment technique and everyone was able to select images and explain why they thought they were relevant.

I'm sure looking back at the DVD (yes, it was recorded) I'll find different ways to pull apart my 'performance' but I think as an assessment, it worked well. The general feedback from my teaching practice over the last few weeks has been to slow down. I keep saying I'm working on it but nothing's changing. Any tips?

Stationery Geek

2011-10-20T22:00:00.000+01:00

Credit: Inkcrediblecartridges.com

I'll freely admit that I'm a massive stationery geek. Put me in Rymans or whatever and I'm lost amongst a sea of highlighters, post-its and folders. Heaven. I love a good notebook and pen. I'm rather anal about organisation and structure; I have to have separate notebooks and folders for every class and a highlighter in every colour, several dozen biros, staplers, page markers, paper clips... I could probably start my own stationery shop. Regardless, I headed into the college shop for the first time today and discovered a new level of heaven: a board rubber and four different coloured board markers for a fiver! A pack of coloured chalk for 30p! Display folders for 20p each! And a stapler and 1000 staples for 99p! Phwoar!

OK, I'm sure most of you won't share my excitement, but it was pretty damn cool, alright?! And just to enhance my dorkiness, check out the image below. It combines two of my favourite things - post-its and film!

Credit: Design Swan

College Magazine: End of an era

2011-10-19T21:00:00.000+01:00

Credit: Rivendale Marketing

That was quick - class is over already. Forever (mwahahaha). Forgive the crap humour, I'm using it as a defence mechanism. It's a bit gutting to have your favourite class cancelled due to lack of attendance. But my mentor has reassured me that it's nothing to do with me as a teacher; it's just hard to get students to commit to a Wednesday afternoon activity. So now I need to find another class to steal so I can get my hours up... Luckily it's half term next week so I've got some time to talk teachers into letting me borrow their students.

For those of you working with students on magazine production, I found a particularly useful article which I was planning on using. Take a peek! Some Dos and Don'ts of Design (can be applied to magazines or newspapers).

A2 Media: Audience effects and violence in film

2011-10-19T20:00:00.000+01:00

I came across this image on tumblr but forgot to note the source.
Comment if it's yours and I'll credit

I'm really enjoying teaching three A2 Media groups back to back. I still don't know all the students' names but after just two weeks they're starting to feel more comfortable contributing in group discussions. As much as possible I try to get them to think about what they already know and apply the film theory to films they've seen.

They finished Scream this week so I was able to use the film violence debate to talk about audience effects. At the end, Billy claims that 'movies don't create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative." And before his untimely death, the Principal calls two students "desensitized little shits" so it was great to be able to have a solid starting point. I covered moral panics, focusing on Stanley Cohen and the mods and rockers at first, before encouraging them to recognise more contemporary moral panics (they were all able to cite the London riots as an example) and going into details with the video nasties moral panic. I also used Natural Born Killers as a case study for film violence 'inspiring' real life violence, but argued what constitutes 'screen violence', and if we're to blame horror and crime films, why not violent children's cartoons (Tom and Jerry, Roadrunner, etc) and news reports from war zones?

Most of the students had already covered audience effects theories (hypodermic model, uses and gratifications, etc) so I was able to recap the basics and apply the theory to films such as Scream and Natural Born Killers. There are some create YouTube clips which I used and have embedded below, as well as some text book and online references.

Resources

•http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2002/dec/20/artsfeatures/

•http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/feb/06/bulger.ukcrime

•http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/sr193/orr.htm

•http://www.communicationandculture.co.uk/Effects.pdf

•http://www.occultebooks.com/articles/kh_tellyMadeMeDoit.htm

Useful resource: Timeline of BBFC legislation

BTEC Media: Study on Michel Gondry

2011-10-18T08:00:00.000+01:00

I got rather engrossed preparing for this class again. I think Michel Gondry is quite possibly my favourite director and it is an amazing feeling to be able to introduce a group of young people to his films.

Why Gondry?
It's important for their filmmaking assignment that they understand that they are allowed to (encouraged to) create individual products. There's no set formula for them to follow and they're pretty much free to do whatever they like (within the brief: create a short silent film with a dream sequence). Gondry is very much an auteur and has a clear visual style no matter what production he is working on, whether it's an indie feature (Human Nature), personal documentary (The Thorn in the Heart) or a Hollywood blockbuster (The Green Hornet). His work also allows me to demonstrate the idea of creating effects within the camera/on-set rather than in post-production (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and using props/equipment that are readily available to you (The Science of Sleep). As with Hitchcock last week, he could practically teach my class for me!

Effects created in production: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Cities made out of toilet roll tubes: The Science of Sleep

After half term
It's half-term next week so I'll be giving myself a head start on planning lessons up until Christmas. They'll have a few weeks to work on their shorts in class so I won't necessarily be leading theory classes, rather making myself available to them for advice on their own productions. Although in the first week back I want to go over mise-en-scene, lighting and recap the key terms as well as go over the making of Inception.

Resources used this week:

•Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (making of)

•The Science of Sleep (making of)

•BFI Auteur Theory resource

•‘Masked Men’ by Iain Stasukevich in American Cinematographer, February 2011

•‘Come Into My World’ by Sam Davies in Sight & Sound, August 2006

•‘I Forgot to Remember to Forget’ by Nick James in Sight & Sound, May 2004

•‘Forget Me Not’ by John Palvus in American Cinematographer, April 2004

•‘Michel in Dreamland’ by Paula Carson in Creative Review, October 2001

•‘Self-made Manic’ by Todd Pruzan in Print, September/October 2004

More Online Resources

2011-10-16T19:00:00.001+01:00

Some more websites I've come across in the last few days...

Blogs:
Keeping My Brain Alive - I came across this when I was looking for articles on Pauline Kael. Great resource for all things film
Stephen Hare's Blog - lots of key terms

Reference sites:
BFI - downloadable resources on the British Film Industry plus great references for Media students and teachers
Filmmaker Magazine - archives of past issues. Genuinely a fantastic resource. Priceless (and mostly free!)
Aberystwyth Website - loads of articles on various media topics
Film Education - resources for specific film titles, including Shifty and The Queen
BBFC - resources for teachers and students on the British Board of Film Classification
The Media Students' Book - notes on the textbook and extra resources

This Week's Lectures: POLT and ELA

2011-10-15T15:00:00.000+01:00

As part of our assignment for the first two modules, we have to perform a microteach to our classmates, so this week and next week we're doing those during the Thursday/POLT classes. Mine isn't until next week so I was able to watch a few beforehand. Key points that have arisen that I'll focus on include:

focus on minimum core - look at the skills you'll be using
be clear about assessment instructions - make sure classmates know what's expected of them
use whiteboard to introduce new vocab
go over answers from assessment at the end - group summing up session
take into account different learning styles - meet a range of needs.

We also spent the first hour of the day going through what's expected of us for our IDPs, so I know what I need to complete now in terms of targets. I'm the kind of student who seems to struggle until they are told what's expected of them - I need to see examples of good and bad work and be told what I need to include to achieve a certain grade. Although with the PGCE it's all either pass or fail, so grading isn't particularly important here. Nevertheless, I always work to the best of my ability and want my work to be as impressive as possible.

Friday's class was the final day of studying assessment so we cleared up any queries regarding the assignment and recapped what we covered during the unit. I decided on what to do for my microteach too: because I can't use the mac room and still want to do something creative (not just stand there and talk at them and then get them to answer some questions), I'm going to do moodboards to reiterate the importance of planning, knowing your reader and remind people that they can be inspired by anything.

Next week is the last week before half term - I can't believe it's gone so quickly! Now I've got to spend the weekend doing my lesson plans, reading up for the assignments and organising my microteach. I usually give myself Thursday and Friday nights off as the days in lectures are so long. Now I've got to work right through the weekend. Although I'm finishing this post at 2pm on Saturday - must crack on!

College Magazine: worst teaching experience to date

2011-10-12T19:00:00.000+01:00

On Monday a student sarcastically said "oh yay, my favourite lesson".

On Tuesday my first group didn't want to take part in any classroom discussions.

Turns out there are worse experiences. Like today - none of my students turned up for my magazine class. Granted it's not a 'real' class - it's voluntary. But the last few weeks had gone really well and I genuinely don't know why no-one turned up. I saw one student in the library just before class but then she disappeared. Another popped in at the start of class to say she couldn't make it because she had an assignment to finish but would try and make the end. As for the other four (yes, it's a small group but still), I don't have a clue. I waited for nearly an hour before I decided to cut my losses.

Edit: one student (the library girl) just emailed me to say she can't make class anymore but still wants to write for the magazine. Which is all well and good but so far I've got two students willing to write and no-one who wants to work on the design. And I can't do it all.

If this is a sign of things to come, I'm screwed. We have one more week after this week before half term. Before then I need to fit in another observation. My mentor was meant to be observing me on the magazine class next week as the rest of my classes clash with his but if the group is cancelled due to lack of attendance then obviously he has nothing to observe! And if I don't get my other observation... I think I fail one of my modules... I'm going to talk to me tutor about it in the morning and see if I can get the A2 Media lecturer to just observe those classes on Tuesday, so hopefully it will work out in terms of observations. But if the college magazine is cancelled not only will I be seriously pissed off due to all the work I've done so far being a complete waste of time but I'll also be down two hours of teaching a week. Not a good day...

A2 Media: Scream as a postmodern horror

2011-10-11T21:00:00.000+01:00

Today I tackled my biggest challenge yet - teaching three classes back to back. Turns out it's actually quite useful as the targets I give myself after a class can be immediately applied to the next one rather than waiting a week.

I created a Powerpoint presentation on Scream as a postmodern horror. As always, I used the presentation to structure what I wanted to say rather than use it as too much as a crutch and factored in group discussions. With my first class (9:15 - big mistake!) I asked them questions and expected answers. Turns out it doesn't work quite like that (although it always seems to work with my other classes). The beauty of teaching three back to back classes meant I was able to learn from this and adapt my plans for the next to classes. Rather than just asking the class 'what typical horror conventions did you recognise in the opening sequence of Scream?' got them to work in pairs/small groups, jot down their examples and then we went around the room and shared answers. It turns out it's more effective to get them to take a few minutes to do something rather than ask questions which they seem to think are rhetorical.

Timing still seems to be my major issue - I always think things will take longer than they really do. From now on I'm going to plan more than what the time allows. This way, even if I don't manage to cover everything that I want to, I can still mention other things and refer the students to Moodle to read the rest of the notes from the presentation. It's better to have too much to say than not enough as I don't half feel like an amateur when I finish half an hour early and have nothing to say...

I might get round to transferring my Powerpoints to Prezi at some point so I can share my resources (and maybe post my lesson plans - might be useful to some people reading this. I know when I started I wanted to see resources that are more specific to Media Studies) but in the meantime, below is a list of my resources for this class as well as a clip from Mark Kermode's documentary on slasher flicks. It's worth checking out the whole thing and it's all available on YouTube.

http://kweerious.com/writing/essays/scream

www.onpostmodernism.com/movies/default.aspx

www.kinoeye.org/03/05/hills05.php

http://media.edusites.co.uk/index.php/artcle/an-introduction-to-postmodernism/

http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/an-introduction-to-postmodern-media-theory/

Andrew Tudor “From Paranoia to Postmodernism? The Horror Movie in Late Modern Society” in Genre and Hollywood, ed. Steve Neale, 2002

Matt Hills, The Pleasures of Horror

Carol Clover, Men, Women and Chainsaws: gender in the modern horror film, 1992

Teach Yourself Film Studies, 2003

Film Art, David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, 7th edition

In next week's class I'm still going to be looking at the Scream franchise, but this time in terms of the representation of gender, youth and ethnic minorities and the debates surrounding violence in film (audience effects, moral panics, etc).

Great Resource: LOVEFiLM

2011-10-10T20:15:00.000+01:00

I have to watch a lot of films for my PGCE as I'm teaching three different media subjects. In the last fortnight I've had to watch Shifty, The Queen and the entire Scream series - and there's gonna be plenty more where that came from. Luckily for me, I can watch a lot online with LOVEFiLM. I've had a subscription for a couple of years now but rather than wait for films to be sent out, it's quicker and easier to watch films online - instant access! What could be better than that? There are thousands of titles and they vary from being able to watch for free, as part of your package or pay for view. It only cost me a couple of quid to 'rent' Shifty for 48 hours the other day. Sorted, especially when I'm working on a tight budget until my loan is finalised.

BTEC Media: sound, music and editing

2011-10-10T15:00:00.000+01:00

I've grown in confidence over the last few weeks and have found myself arriving at each class excited and eager to get cracking. However, as I was setting up for today's class, one of the students came in and said (very sarcastically), "oh, yay. My favourite lesson!"

Now I know with a media production course, theory isn't exactly what you want to spend an hour and a half focusing on. But I've only had one lesson with them so far and I thought last week went well. After being knocked back for a few seconds, I decided to make it my mission to find a way to engage her and make the lesson useful. I succeeded. I observed her making notes and I saw her getting lost in the horror clips, to the point where she jumped in the scary moments - job done! I had taught her about the effective use of music in film.

Today's clips (which accompanied the lecture notes) were pretty evenly split between clips from films and interviews with filmmakers. I found some great clips of Hitchcock, Tarantino and Hans Zimmer talking about their work as well as a documentary on editing. The doc is an hour long so I only showed them the opening but the lecturer gave me great feedback on my use of clips. In fact, at the start of the class he said he'd be working on one of the computers at the back of the room but whenever I looked over he was watching me teach and taking in the info from the clips. Hell, I think I even gave the teacher a couple of pointers.

At first I was worried that it was lazy teaching, relying on YouTube to do all the work, but I think that once you've learned the key terms (diegetic and non-diegetic sound, types of editing, etc), the best thing to do is to see examples. In terms of editing, I used a lot of Hitchcock today (Psycho and The Birds) and for music I talked a lot about Tarantino as his work lends itself to postmodernism, the use of pop music soundtrack and music used within the diegesis.

In terms of resources/research, I used Jane Barnwell's The Fundamentals of Filmmaking (again - I also used it last week), The Oxford Guide to Film Studies, Film Art, and old reliable YouTube. Below I've embedded some of the interview clips I used:

Processes of Teaching and Learning: lesson plans, questioning and barriers to learning

2011-10-08T15:00:00.000+01:00

We spent the first hour of today's class going through the lesson plan template - explaining the different boxes we need to fill in, examples, etc. We've been there a month now and most of us have been teaching for at least two weeks now so it feels like this should have been tackled a lot earlier. But better late than never, right? We have a three-page template that we have to complete detailing the following:

aims
learning outcomes
differentiation
minimum core
Every Learner Matters
teacher activities
learner activities
resources
assessment activities
evaluation
targets

So not much paperwork then! We have covered enough in this module for me to be able to complete aims and learning outcomes and the step-by-step activities in my classes (in terms of teacher, learner and assessment activities and resources). It's just the differentiation, minimum core and Every Learner Matters areas that I was struggling with, so it was good to clear all that up. Next week we're going to do the same thing with our IDPs (Individual Development Plans) so we know exactly what we need to submit for our assignments in terms of logging our hours and targets etc. We've been told time and time again that we're responsible for our own learning, etc, but we're newbies and surely it's best to tell us what's expected of us?

We had a guest lecture by a guy from another department on the value of questioning. You can informally assess your students with simple Q&A sessions. You just need to be aware of including the whole group and including different types of questions, including open ones that prompt group discussions. With media, it's very much about coming to your own conclusions and developing your own ideas; there's rarely a right and wrong answer so it's helpful to hear other people's opinions.

Most of the afternoon was devoted to identifying barriers to learning, which in turn helps us with the differentiation section of our lesson plans. We have to be aware of the different needs of learners and how factors beyond our control can influence and impact on their learning.

We also had to complete the Honey and Mumford learning styles quiz. Our preferred learning style may not be our preferred teaching style and in turn may not be the preferred the learning style of our students. For the record, mine was reflective. And we also looked at the VARK learner profiles, which indicates that I'm all about reading and writing. It's nice to know that I'm not just an anal pain in the ass and all my lists and planning are indicative of my learning style - it helps! In terms of applying this to my teaching practice, I just need to be aware that my learners may have different styles and I should include different activities in my lesson plans that cater to these - visual, aural, writing, practice, etc.

To do this weekend:

watch Scream 4, read up on horror films and postmodernism and do lesson plan for Tuesday's A2 Media groups
read up on sound and editing, find YouTube clips and do lesson plan for Monday's BTEC group
do lesson plan for Wednesday's college magazine group
do freelance film journalism work
try and have a social life :p
I'm sure there's something else. I've got a dozen books to look at sometime...

Enabling Learning and Assessment: group work

2011-10-08T13:00:00.000+01:00

Our taught lecturers don't involve too much being talked at. A lot of our time is spent working in groups and discussing our experiences and things we already know (how to apply our prior knowledge to our practice).

This week we were split into groups according to our subject departments - Higher Education, A Levels, vocational courses and 'arty subjects'. I'm a mixture of A Levels (A2 Media) and vocational (BTEC Media Production) and was put in the 'arty' group as all of my stuff is media-based and it's very creative. I benefited a lot from talking to others in this area (Photography, Music Composition and Art & Design) as we had to talk about how we assess and what kind of feedback we provide. A lot of the assessment in the A Level (in fact, most of it) is formal and is carried out at the end of the module/year and forms their final grade. With the BTEC it's on-going. They work on various projects and create mini projects throughout the year that allow them to put the theory they learn into practice before creating a final project. With the college magazine, it's all down to me as it's my baby (which I love!) and I'm trying to incorporate as much peer and self assessment as possible before the final print deadline. However, when it comes down to it, the ultimate assessment with the college magazine is how well it sells. I really hope the three issues this year (it's termly) go well as I'd love the college to pay me to come back next year.

College Magazine: first teaching observation

2011-10-08T11:00:00.013+01:00

I had my first official teaching observation on Wednesday and I'm pleased to say it went really well! I was a tad concerned at first as I was down two students and one hadn't brought in what I asked for, but generally speaking it went well and I passed.

I met my mentor the day before to go through my lesson plan and he asked if I had prepared for the chance that the students might not bring in what I asked them to work on. I explained that I told them last week that I was being observed and I needed them to turn up on time and with what I asked for. I trusted them. Then Observation Day came and the first student who arrived didn't have her draft articles for the peer assessment. Luckily, in the end, everyone had something to work with and I was able to work my way through my lesson plan without any major issues. I started with a warm-up exercise where they discussed their interests (favourite films, TV shows, musicians, websites, etc) in order to demonstrate the principle of knowing your readers and to reiterate the idea that a college magazine for further and higher education that also caters for mature students means a very wide readership. Then we moved on to peer assessment where they passed around their work and everyone provided feedback in terms of technical details (subbing, what works/doesn't) and what they like/don't like as a potential reader of the magazine. They then have to take this feedback and amend their work for next week for me to go through. At the end of the class I introduced the idea of pitching the magazine.

The Principal has the final say on content of the magazine and I have arranged for him to come in for part of the last class before half term (the week after next). Rather than me acting as mediator and taking their ideas to him for approval, I thought it would be a good idea for him to come in and for the group to present their ideas to him as a team. This also gives them something to work on during the next class while I go through their ideas. I might also pull them aside one at a time and do mini one-to-ones so I can give them personal feedback on their work. The Principal Pitch class is also going to be my last observation before half term. It should take up most of the observation (which is just the first hour of the class) and although it won't show me actually teaching them in the class, it will be a good reflection of what I've taught them so far about content, readership, forming ideas and working as a team, so I hope it will go well.

In terms of feedback from my observation, there were a lot of positives in terms of the rapport I had with my students and my subject knowledge. I also had them doing something all the time. Targets basically included slowing my pace of delivery and making sure I don't get too familiar with the students. I'm only six/seven years older than the students so I need to make sure I don't get too 'chummy'. I could also do with breaking the session down a bit more in terms of breaks as the peer assessment exercise was quite long. Not bad, hey?

A2 Media: Second Observation

2011-10-04T19:00:00.000+01:00

I observed the three media groups for the second time today. They finished watching Shifty and because I only see them every other class, I've missed out on their lectures on semiotics. Today A went through sample papers with them and the mark scheme so they know what's expected of them to achieve certain grades. When I start teaching them next week (we're doing the Scream series), it will be handy to have these points to refer back to.

Things I need to do for next week:

re-cap semiotics, Barthes and Saussure
watch the Scream series and DVD extras, etc, in order to be able to cover text, industry and audience as well as the points within the text - genre, narrative, representation, etc
Mark Kermode made a documentary on slasher flicks called Scream and Scream Again which is available in five parts on YouTube. I'm going to try and squeeze this in too

I'm pleased I get the opportunity to teach three groups as it allows me to increase my teaching hours, and teaching the same subject/qualification means I don't need to write separate lesson plans. It feels like I'm cheating a bit but all of the groups have different dynamics so I'm sure I'll probably end up tackling things in different ways.

I have my first observation tomorrow and I'm feeling surprisingly confident. I've already had three classes with this group so I feel comfortable with them and magazine production is one of my specialties. My lesson plan is detailed and I have all of the paperwork ready for inspection. Bring it on!

BTEC Media: First Taught Class

2011-10-03T19:00:00.000+01:00

I took the BTEC group for the first time today and totally loved it. I came out genuinely buzzing again and I was so pleased with myself. I spent the best part of eight hours preparing for an hour and a half class (which ended up finishing 15 minutes early - I still need to work on my timing) and I think/hope it showed.

I covered narrative, characters and visual style, using clips from YouTube to demonstrate certain ideas. I used Todorov's and Branigan's narrative structures and Propp's character types and then used 10 Things I Hate About You to give an example of these ideas. I then split the group (of 13 students) into three and asked them to select any film between them and apply the theories. They used Titanic, Shrek and Kick Ass and I was so pleased with myself and them as I was able to assess that they had learned and understood what I taught them. Great result for the first half of the class!

The second half focused more on the idea of explaining to them how far they can push the boundaries of filmmaking and exploring the different techniques they may be capable of. I love Michel Gondry's work and how creative he is - a lot of his major achievements have been accomplished through use of props, set design and camera work as opposed to post-production, so I showed the class a few examples of his work. In a couple of weeks' time I want to show them the making of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep too. I think it will help put it in perspective as it's all well and good showing them amazing clips but I think it will help them to see how it's all done.

A lot of the clips I had shown and names I had mentioned weren't ringing a bell with the students (and I can't say I blame them as most of them were from world cinema). I thought it was important to ask them their favourite films and directors to get an idea of what they were familiar with and to see if they could recognise themes and styles within their work. Names that came out included Steven Spielberg and David Lynch - I was pleased to see that some students were already somewhat familiar with art films and pushing the boundaries of filmmaking. I focused quite a bit on colour and connotations of colour, as well as Jeunet's use of saturated colour. To deviate from world cinema slightly, I also mentioned the use of the colour red in The Sixth Sense, something they were more familiar with and that I could use to demonstrate the idea of using colour to symbolise difference.

Unlike my magazine group last week, the Powerpoint presentation idea seemed to work well. It helped me to structure what I wanted to say and allowed easy access to images and clips - although YouTube didn't want to work properly and I have learned now to pre-stream the clips so they run when I want them to next time.

I spoke to the lecturer afterwards to get some notes on what to improve on next time (it's also a part of the lesson plan - we have to self-assess and list targets, etc). It was the first time I had the lecturer in the same room as me as I was teaching (the three magazine classes were done alone) so it was great to get some feedback. I've always been a fast talker so I still need to learn to slow down. I'm also a bit wary of classroom management. At one point, S had to step in and ask a small group to stop the conversation they were having on the side. To be honest, I was so engrossed in what I was teaching that I didn't really notice that they were chatting, and S intervened in a non-obtrusive way, so it was all good. I just need to be more aware of my surroundings and what my students are doing next time. He mentioned that he liked the way that when I start a group discussion I let the more extrovert students talk first and then pick on someone to kick things off rather than wait around in (not-so) blissful silence.

Feedback is priceless and I'm not going to be afraid to ask for suggestions whenever I've got a lecturer in the same room as me when I'm teaching. Luckily, S liked the format I used today and I'll use the same sort of structure next week when I cover sound, music, lighting and editing. Now I've got to watch some more films to find suitable clips. It's a hard life! (Although I already know that I want to use the shower scene from Psycho for editing and sound)

Enabling Learning and Assessment: Intro

2011-10-02T22:00:00.001+01:00

The Enabling Learning and Assessment (ELA) module:
examines, analyses and applies theories, principles and processes of assessment in the Lifelong Learning Sector. Central themes will include equality of opportunity and diversity, validity and reliability, and the promotion of assessment as an integral element of learning.

So far we have covered:

Tina Isaacs' journal article on Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice
talked about the different assessment carried out in our classmates' classes (most of us are working in different subject areas)
the importance of feedback
who participates in assessment
key issues for successful assessment planning
equality and diversity in assessment
barriers in assessment

I didn't realise how much assessment takes place - it's not just about exams and essays. You need to be continually assessing your students to make sure that they understand what they are being taught. Luckily for the students, it doesn't have to be formal, so it can be as simple as a Q&A in class or a group discussion. Of course, all of this has to be factored in to the lesson plan.

Principles of Learning and Teaching: Intro

2011-10-02T20:00:00.000+01:00

The Principles of Learning and Teaching (POLT) module:
provides an introduction to teaching for those working or hoping to work in the lifelong learning sector in a full or associate teaching tole. It investigates key aspects of the roles and responsibilities of teachers, trainers and tutors in the lifelong learning sector.

So far we have covered:

SWAIN - a self-evaluation and audit technique in order to discover what our own strengths, weaknesses, aspirations, interests and needs are
considered what Literacy, Language and Numeracy (LLN) and ICT skills our students will need for their course and if we have these skills ourselves
discussed safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and made sure we know who to contact in case of an emergency
looked at example schemes of work and lesson plans in order to create our own (although generally our department creates the scheme of work and we write our lesson plans accordingly)
discussed the definitions of aims and objectives in order to complete our lesson plans effectively, as well as learning objectives and outcomes
looked at what makes an outstanding lesson and ideas for plenary sessions
looked at classroom management
discussed our first two assignments and the micro teach we have to perform to our classmates which forms the basis of these essays
we have looked at diversity, equal opportunities and differentiation
Bloom's taxonomy
nature vs nurture
the power of questioning
reading on behaviourism and motivation.

Woah, come to think of it, we've covered loads in the first three weeks!

Next week we have to bring in our ideas for our microteach thus far so our tutor can help with our lesson plans. It's going to be difficult teaching something in 10-15 minutes and assessing that learning has taken place. I think I'm probably going to do a basic magazine cover on InDesign for mine.

College Magazine Enrichment: Intro

2011-10-02T18:00:00.002+01:00

I'm lucky enough to have been working with this group from the beginning, so I feel like it's very much my class.

Week 1
I introduced myself and the class. Asked them what they want to see in the magazine and what would be a definite no-no. I used Jason Whittaker's Magazine Production book to demonstrate examples of

the editorial structure of a magazine (p70)
a flat-plan (p76)
the editorial workflow (p73)
a visual of a page layout (p137).

I also gave them a short list of some relevant books that they might want to check out:

Magazine Editing: In Print and Online: How to Develop and Manage a Successful Publication [Paperback] by John Morris, Routledge; 2 edition (26 Jun 2003)
Magazine Production (Media Skills) [Paperback] by Jason Whittaker, Routledge; 1 edition (2 May 2008)
The Magazines Handbook (Media Practice) [Paperback] by Jenny McKay, Routledge; 2 edition (17 Nov 2005)
Collins Easy Learning Dictionaries - Collins Easy Learning Grammar and Punctuation [Paperback], Collins; First edition edition (5 Mar 2009)
Subediting for Journalists (Media Skills) [Paperback] by Wynford Hicks and Tim Holmes, Routledge; 1 edition (20 Jun 2002)
English for Journalists (Media Skills) [Paperback] by Wynford Hick, Routledge; 3 edition (14 Nov 2006)
Concise Oxford English Dictionary: Main edition [Hardcover], OUP Oxford; 12 edition (18 Aug 2011)
Concise Oxford Thesaurus [Hardcover], OUP Oxford; 3 edition (14 Jun 2007)

Week 2

I compiled a set of deadlines leading up to the publication of the first magazine just before the Christmas Holidays (it's going to be released termly) - which I really need to turn into a proper scheme of work. Basically, at the moment, it lists roughly what we're going to be doing each week in terms of when copy has to be ready, when we're working on the design, etc. Then, as a group, we decided on the articles each member would be working on. Rather than assign certain production roles (which is what we did in my Magazine Production module at uni), we have decided to make each writer responsible for sourcing their own images and outlining design ideas. Then we drew up a rough flat-plan which I finalised as a handout for the following week.

Week 3

We went through the ideas that had been developed over the last week and double-checked the flat-plan to make sure that everyone had something to do and all the pages had been covered. Then I did a 10-minute Powerpoint presentation on design. I covered the basics (use of colour, importance of a grid, connotations of fonts, etc). Although I tried to relate each point to their own magazine and get them to think about their own ideas, I found it hard to maintain their attention with the slideshow and keep them engaged. In the future, if I use this sort of idea with the group, I'll try to make it more interactive.

For next week I have asked them to come in with full drafts of their articles with picture and layout ideas. In terms of page elements/design, I gave them a photocopy from Jenny McKay's The Magazines Handbook which features an annotated feature, noting headline, byline, standfirst, drop caps, etc, so they know what needs to be considered (of course, not all have to be used). I have my first observation next week and I chose to have it with this group as I have been teaching them for a few weeks and feel comfortable with them.

My plans for the observation class at the moment are

open with a short task to reinforce the importance of target audience. I'm going to get them all to individually list their favourite films, books, musicians, TV shows, local shops (for advertising) and websites. I hope that this will indicate how wide the interests are of their age range, then show them my own answers (I'm seven years older) so that they realise the importance of catering to bother Further and Higher Education students. They are also hoping to expand and launch the magazine in the wider community rather than just the college, which opens up the readership even further
peer assessment. Their draft articles are going to be passed around the group with a feedback sheet. They're going to sub-edit and make suggestions, so that they all act as subs and the writers get feedback from various people (and the intended readers of the magazine!) This should give them plenty of ideas in order to come in with completed copy the following week.
pitching the magazine. All the ideas have to be run past the Principal. At first, I thought (as editor), I'd arrange to meet him and discuss what we have so far. Then I had a mini brainwave (if I may say so myself!) and thought about getting him in the week after next so the group can pitch the magazine and its contents to the Principal himself. This way I can assess their ability to work as a group, their communication skills and take a back seat and focus on their ideas. Although the magazine isn't an assignment (it's an enrichment class), it's still a product that's intended to be sold and I think it's important to assess them as they progress towards the final deadline.

That's about it for the college magazine so far. I just need to create some feedback forms for next week as well as handouts for the introductory task. Oh, and make sure my teaching file is up to date for the observation. I need to have a detailed scheme of work, full lesson plans (working off a three-page template for each one!) and my Individual Development Plan has the relevant sections completed. Phew!

A2 Media Studies: Intro

2011-10-02T16:00:00.001+01:00

I couldn't manage to get all of the required hours at P so I investigated doing some at T. Luckily for me, A has three A2 Media groups back-to-back on a Tuesday morning and doesn't already have a PGCE student on his course. I observed the classes for the first time earlier this week to catch up on what they've been doing and it looks really interesting. I would cover the same unit with them for the entire year (MS4: Text, Industry and Audience). The unit itself is divided into three industries (film, TV and possibly music instead of the usual advertising, which apparently hasn't engaged students that well in the past) and each industry has three texts to study. At the moment they are working on film (Shifty, The Queen and possibly Scream/the Scream series/Scream 4 - A is still deciding). This is great for me as it allows me to develop my knowledge of British Cinema (which I'm ashamed to admit is somewhat lacking) and I can teach my speciality - film and media theory. Teaching three different groups different variations of the same thing also means that I don't have to do quite so much lesson planning but I can still get my hours up. The groups consist of about 12-14 students so they're not too big either. It just means I have a lot of names to learn.

I've already seen Shifty and The Queen in preparation - I've just got to work my way through the DVD extras. And I'm more than familiar with the Scream Trilogy (although a refresher wouldn't hurt; I'm a sucker for those films!), I just need to give Scre4m a go (slightly begrudgingly). So far the group has seen all of The Queen and started on Shifty last Tuesday. The thing is, they also see A in the week so I miss out on a bit with them. I'm going to make a start with them when they watch Scream so that should give me another week yet. They watch about 45 mins of the film at a time before spending the rest of the class deconstructing it, so it normally takes at least two or three classes to watch them. Then when all three films have been covered I can start putting them into context.

BTEC National Diploma Creative Media Production Level 3: Intro

2011-10-02T14:00:00.001+01:00

I'm so pleased that I've managed to get some time with this group. The Media Studies A Level is such an academic course that it's great there's a more vocational option for other students. Up until Christmas they're working on a silent short. Technically it's a group project where they shoot the beginning and end together but they all get to make an individual dream sequence. My job for this section is to cover the rest of the theory (I have been observing for the last two weeks and they have covered basic shots and narrative). Last week I introduced myself to the group (13 students) and talked to them about their ideas for their dream sequences to get an idea of where they're at so far (they started out with an original idea which is evolving as they learn the theory behind it).

I'm taking my first class with them in the morning and we're going to be covering Propp's character types as well as how to make their films more 'arty'. I'm going to show them some Jean-Pierre Jeunet clips to display various uses of colour and discuss directorial style (although not so much that I go into auteur theory). I want to point out that a lot of the films they like may be by the same director and there is a certain style you can see within the same films - Chris Nolan's Batman films, for example.

Then the following week I'm covering sound, music and editing (hence the library books), which leaves just one more week of theory before half term. God, that went quick! We have to be observed twice before half term. I've already booked one for the magazine group on Wednesday and I think I might have to get the other one booked for a week tomorrow if C is free (my mentor has to observe one and my tutor has to observe the other). If he's not free I guess both my observations have to be on magazine production. Hmmm...

Resources: Books

2011-10-02T12:00:00.001+01:00

Because my student loan hasn't come through yet, I've been making the most of the library resources. I've kept a note of the particularly useful ones to purchase at a later date, although most of the reading list is available as e-books. I hate reading off a screen though so the ones that have more than one relevant chapter will probably get added to my ever-expanding bookcase (image 1: English, Media and Journalism books; image 2: few random film books; image 3: selection of books on film theory, criticism, teen movies and independent film - what can I say, I love film theory!).

Books I've checked out so far
Weyers, M. (2006) Teaching the FE curriculum [Book]. London: Continuum.

Gravells, A. (2011) Preparing to teach in the lifelong learning sector [Book]. 4th edn. Exeter: Learning Matters.

Avis, J. (2010) Teaching lifelong learning: a guide to theory and practice [Book]. Open University Press.

Duckworth, V. et al. (2010) Successful teaching practice in the lifelong learning sector [Book]. Exeter: Learning Matters. (Achieving QTLS).

Armitage, A. (2003) Teaching and training in post-compulsory education [Book]. 2e edn. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

Stone, T.L., Adams, S. and Morioka, N. (2008) Color design workbook: a real-world guide to using color in graphic design [Book]. Gloucester, Mass.: Rockport.

Lupton, E. (2010) Thinking with type: a critical guide for designers, writers, editors, and students [Book]. 2nd rev. edn. New York: Princeton Architectural.

Ambrose, G. and Harris, P. (2005) Layout [Book]. Lausanne: AVA. (Basics design, 2).

These last three were particularly good for magazine production.

Others I still have on loan (luckily although we're only allowed ten at a time, PGCE students are allowed ten for education and ten for their subject - score!)
Brown, S.A., Race, P. and Smith, B.D. (2004) 500 tips on assessment [Book]. 2nd edn. London: RoutledgeFalmer.

Curzon, L.B. (2003) Teaching in further education: an outline of principles and practice [Book]. 6 e. edn. London: Continuum.

Jarvis, P. (2010) Adult education and lifelong learning: theory and practice [Book]. 4 e. edn. London: Routledge.

Falchikov, N. (2005) Improving assessment through student involvement : practical solutions for higher and further education [Book]. London: Routledge.

Gravells, A. (2009) Principles and practice of assessment in the lifelong learning sector [Book]. Exeter: Learning Matters.

Tummons, J. (2011) Assessing learning in the lifelong learning sector [Book]. 3rd edn. Exeter: Learning Matters. (Achieving QTLS).

University of London., Institute of Education. and Lucas, N. (2004) Teaching in further education : new perspectives for a changing context [Book]. London: Institute of Education. (Bedford Way papers, 22).

Scales, P. (2008) Teaching in the lifelong learning sector [Book]. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Buckingham, D. (ed.) (1990) Watching media learning: making sense of media education [Book]. London: Falmer Press.

Livingstone, S. (2002) Young people and new media: childhood and the changing media environment [Book]. London: SAGE.

Connell, B. (ed.) (2010) Exploring the media: Text, industry, audience [Book]. 2 e. edn. Leighton Buzzard: Auteur.

Vogel, A. and MacDonald, S. (2005) Film as a subversive art [Book]. New edn. London: CT Editions.

Young, P. and Duncan, P. (eds.) (2009) Art cinema [Book]. Koln: Taschen.

Robb, B. (2007) Silent Cinema [Book]. Herts: Kamera Books.
Murphy, R. (ed.) (2001) The British cinema book [Book]. 2e edn. BFI.

Fitzgerald, J. (2010) Studying British cinema 1999-2009 [Book]. Leighton Buzzard: Auteur.

Leggott, J. (2008) Contemporary British cinema: from heritage to horror [Book]. London: Wallflower. (Short cuts).

I've managed to borrow a few quid from family to get some genuinely essential textbooks, so good ol' Amazon are sending out these:
The Media Student's Book
The Media Teacher's Book
A2 Media Studies: The Essential Introduction for WJEC
The British Cinema Book

I guess the PGCE appeals to the geek in me...

Resources: Online

2011-10-02T10:00:00.002+01:00

Thought I'd share some websites I've come across over the last few weeks that I've found useful...

General teaching sites
TES - the largest network of teachers in the world
Excellence Gateway - the complete online service for anyone working in the further education and skills sector in England
Education Guardian - education in the news
Recourse - supporting education professionals
New Teachers - starting out guide for newly qualified and trainee teachers
Teacher Network - free resources for teachers
Department for Education
Creative Education - lesson plan search engine
Wordle - create word clouds of key terms

Unions
UCU - University and College Union
NUT - the largest teachers' union
New2Teaching - the education union
Voice - the union for educational professionals

Media Studies
Media Studies Revision Site - for A-Level and GCSE Media Studies
MediaEdu - Media Studies resources
MEA - The Media Education Association Resource Network
MediaFilmExchange - Resources, Ideas, Inspiration
AS and A2 Media Studies Blog
A Media Studies Blog
Understanding Media Studies: A Blog
Doing Media Studies - how to study the media, based on the widely-acclaimed book Media Studies: Texts, Production and Context by Paul Long and Tim Wall
The Noodle - Welling 6th Form Media and Film Blog
Media Studies 2.0 - a digital media resource for media studies students and scholars
ShortsTV - The Short Movie Channel
Images - a journal of film and popular culture
Film Studies For Free

People I'm following on Twitter
@GTPTeachers - GTP Teachers is the central national database of candidates wishing to begin teacher training, through the school based, Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP).
@openculture - The best FREE cultural & educational media on the web. We make a wealth of serious thinking available online, says The New York Times. Edited by Dan Colman.
@HEAcademy - Enhancing the student learning experience
@LSIS_Toolkits - Leadership Toolkits are an accessible resource tailored specifically to address some of the issues faced by Managers in FE.
@jeevanvasagar - Guardian education editor, and former Nairobi correspondent. All views mine.
@CreativeEdu - Education chat, opinion and a constant exchange of ideas. Also regular updates from the popular Creative Education Blog
@StressSupportHE - The only charity providing practical and emotional support to staff in HE
@2learn2 - Passionate about everything to do with teaching and learning.
@IncSolutionsLtd - Carrots and sticks? We don't think so... what are the intrinsic motivating factors driving young people to learn? Let's find out together!
@SchoolDuggery - Keeping an independent and occasionally sardonic eye on schools and education. Independent is not the same as impartial.
@the_college - Inspiring leaders to improve children's lives
@MrMichaelShaw - Editor of a supplement to The Times Educational Supplement (TESpro) in the UK. But tweeting in a personal capacity, often about non-school-related stuff.
@edusites - Passionate about supporting English, Film & Media Studies teachers and their students
@Media_Studies - The book ‘Media Studies: Text, Production and Context' by Paul Long & Tim Wall from Birmingham City University. Essential resource for students.
@teachersupport - Teacher Support Network provides emotional and practical support to staff in the education sector, and their families, in the UK.
@TeacherSurvival - Get time-saving tips, tech tools and support especially for new teachers.
@ucu - University and College Union
@egateway - The leading online service for those in the further education and skills sector in England.

Introductory Post: starting the PGCE

2011-10-01T17:00:00.003+01:00

I started my PGCE three weeks ago. In a perfect world, I would have begun this blog in the weeks leading up to the first lecture, charting my expectations, etc, but this is a fairly belated and spontaneous blog idea, so let's just go with it... Hopefully in the coming few posts I can catch you up on what the first couple of weeks have been like. In the mean time, here's a bit about me and the course I'm on, etc.

This is the pile of books and paperwork I have managed to accumulate so far!

My Blogger profile
I have just begun my PGCE and as there are so few websites and blogs dedicated purely to teaching Media Studies in Further and Higher Education, I have decided to create a blog tracking my journey as a trainee teacher - and hopefully as a newly qualified teacher as my career evolves. My primary passion is film, for which I have a separate blog(some of you may know me as 'filmgeek'). Follow my Media Mayhem blog for more info on the PGCE course, my placement in the media department at my local college and the terrifying job application process which is looming in the not-too-distant future!

Why do I want to be a teacher?
For the last eight years or so, I wanted to make a living as a film journalist. I did the relevant A-Levels and degrees etc, but having decided to stay in Cornwall, things became difficult. In the summer of 2010, I worked with BBC Blast and realised that as much as I love working on my own media projects, it's even more fun helping teenagers create their own work. Then I was invited back to my former college to do a guest lecture on film reviewing and the teaching bug had well and truly taken hold. In a short space of time I went from wanting to write for a living to wanting to teach media studies (and continue to write on the side). And here we are!

What am I studying exactly?
I'm doing the full-time PGCE course at T College (the nearest place to me that offers a full-time course) and intended to complete my placement at P College (it's partner college which is a five minute's walk from my flat and where I completed my own A Levels). However, other students working on the same course and with the same interests have meant that hours are a wee bit tight and I'm completing half of my hours (we need about six hours of teaching a week) at T College. This means that I get to work with three amazing lecturers, on three different courses and with FIVE fantastic groups. My timetable is as follows:

Monday - hour and half with the BTEC Media group at P. It's a very practical and hands-on course (which isn't particularly suited to me as I'm very much theory-based) but I'm doing a theory session with them each week. Up until Christmas they're working on a silent short so I'm covering things like film language and narrative, genre and character theory.

Tuesday - three hour and a half sessions with different A2 Media groups at Truro College. This is handy as teaching three different groups means I get my hours up but because they're covering the same material it is (hopefully) a bit less paperwork for me. I'm covering one unit over the year with them - MS4: Text, Industry and Audience - and at the moment we're working on the film industry. Their three texts for this section are Shifty, The Queen and Scream which allows me to explore my own interest in learning more about British Cinema. Part of me wanting to be a teacher is also about expanding my own knowledge of the film and media industries. The beauty of them is that they are constantly evolving and there is always something new to learn.

Wednesday - I'm leading a magazine enrichment group at P College. I should probably take the time here to mention my mentor (all PGCE students are assigned a 'mentor' - someone to observe their teaching and be there to answer questions as they complete the course, etc). I always knew that I wanted my placement to be at P and during my A Levels I had a fantastic English lecturer. It was this guy (C) who invited me back to deliver the film review guest lecture and I was keen to pick his brain about becoming a teacher. Luckily for me, when I asked him to be my mentor, he said yes! I didn't necessarily want someone who was in my department. I wanted someone I already knew (to help make the transition a bit easier), someone I felt was easy to approach and who I respect. On the week of my first PGCE lectures, two days before the first one, he asked me if I would like to lead the college magazine enrichment programme. The college used to have a student magazine but it hadn't existed for over a decade (certainly not in the time I was there). Because I'm a magazine geek and did so well in my magazine production module at uni (I got a 86, not that I'm bragging!) I thought it would be a lot of fun. Plus the fact that it wasn't a qualification-based lesson (like the BTEC and A Level), I felt more comfortable starting out with that class. Basically, I get to work with a group of wonderful young people on creating a new college magazine every term. And because there's no pre-existing magazine, they're practically free to do whatever they want. It's amazing. But yeah, before I even had my first lecture on how to be a good teacher, I had taken a whole class on my own. Scary but so exhilarating!

Thursday/Friday - two whole days of lectures at T College on teaching. Because we already have degrees, subject knowledge is assumed. Now we have to spend a year learning how to be a teacher. Although we're teaching at the same time. There's no 'wait until after Christmas and see how you're getting on'. It's very much 'thrown in the deep end and learn as you go along'. Which is strange for me as I'm the kind of person who's used to being told exactly what to do and I wasn't quite sure what was expected of me going in. But once you learn that it's ok to not be perfect at first and that this is very much about progressing at a steady rate, it's all good. In fact, it's so much fun that I leave each class genuinely buzzing and excited for the next one. Lectures at T at the moment are focused on two modules: Processes of Learning and Teaching (Thursdays) and Enabling Learning and Assessment (Fridays). It's a lot to take in, with a lot of paperwork and reading, but I'm prepared for this incredibly tense year. The only major problem at the moment is that I have given up work to concentrate solely on my studies (I worked through my last three years at uni and I don't plan on doing it again. It's too much to risk fucking up. I got a First Class degree in the end but I wouldn't recommend juggling a job and freelancing alongside a degree...) and my loan still hasn't been sorted. Thanks to the Bank of Mum and Dad I'm just about getting by at the moment. Hopefully just a couple more weeks to go...

It's a bit of a novelty having weekends off and it's nice to know that I won't have to work on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day again (I spent the last seven years working in retail so I never really got a proper Christmas). But saying that it's not like I get to spend all weekend dossing about, drinking and shopping, etc, although it's refreshing to be able to take my time getting things done at the moment rather than rushing through it all close to the deadline. Up until this week, most of my hours have been observing classes rather than leading them (with the exception of the college magazine) so that element of free time will likely go out the window next week when I start teaching on the BTEC (and possible A2 Media) course. For each class we have to complete a three-page template document for a lesson plan! So far I've been working off two hand-written pages of bullet-point notes so we'll have to see how tackling the 'proper' lesson plan goes.

In terms of resources, I'm going to be posting references and documents that I've used to assist any other budding media teachers. As for the PGCE in general, I hope that these posts will launch debates with other trainee teachers and we can all assist each other with resources and comments, etc.

Until next time...

Note: I have decided not to name names or places as, although I haven't checked the legality issues with the institutions, I think it's more professional for them to remain anonymous.