Anna-Marie B

Conference Lesson

 

On the 18th of September 2014 we took part in a conference

Science lesson with a school in Cornwall with Mr Whipps, the

Class 3 teacher.  The children were being taught about Sound

for the very first time and in particular were made aware of the

terms pitch and volume.

 

This lesson was shown to us via Skype, where we were able to

actively watch the lesson taking place and hear the discussions

being made between the children and also between the teacher

and children. The conference lesson also allowed us to see how

the classroom behaviour was managed by Mr Whipps, and

watch the techniques we have been taught about in the

previous week come alive before our eyes. The lesson allowed

us to see all the necessary details that will be required of us

when we become responsible for our own classes, simply things

like making one child responsible for collecting all the resources

together in order to reduce the overall disturbance in the class.

 

The children were very enthusiastic about being part of the

conference lesson and at first they were very eager to appear

on the camera, yet once the lesson got going they forgot the

camera was even there.

 

The lesson also allowed us to question the children, asking them which parts of the lessons they enjoyed the most and did they prefer working together in small groups or on their own and why. This allowed us to be interactive with the children to gain an insight, from the child's perspective, about the concepts that are most effective within the classroom. The lesson also allowed us to question Mr Whipps about the strategies and techniques he uses when teaching.

Our table asked him if he always linked his topics to other topics

they were covering at the same time within the classroom.

We were told that the children were learning about World War

1 and the Sound lesson used this topic as their focus, with the

children needing to identify an instrument that would be sutiable

for an alarm in the trenches.

 

Although there were a few technical hitches during the morning

with the conference lesson, overall it was clear to see how this

could be a beneficial tool to use within the classroom. I would like

to use this method, in particular, when teaching Modern Foreign

Languages as it could allow us to connect to a school in the

country we are learning to speak to them directly, a more

inclusive and interactive approach over writing letters. It was

clear to see how the children loved being a part of this conference

lesson and I feel the children would love it even more when

talking to other children their own age in other countries.