Friday, 20 January 2017

BCU Friday 20/01/17

Textiles in contemporary practice.

Heidi... see info on her.

electronics and textiles...

do the pupils have any understanding of circuits at all frmo science etc?

electronic conductive fabric and threads are available, conducting threads. Submersible washable LEDs etc.

Funtex... an expensive but great fabric comes in spools.

peratech website, David lussey chief founder of the site, has developed a clever "smart material" that responds to its environment.

https://www.peratech.com/

Big needles for the conductive thread because it is hard to thread.
Dont use it like thread, use it as wire.normal thread for the sewing element.

Show them a wire and crocodile clip to illustrate that this is what the thread represents.

If the wires cross when thy are threading in/their thread. you will short circuit the circuit.


https://www.kitronik.co.uk/





long leg of led is positive.
mark the long leg with a sharpie so that you know it is the positive.












Thursday, 5 January 2017

Initial Ideas for project and SOW planning.

Lessons usually cover 8 weeks with Y7 and Y8 based on the fact they are grouped differently. Each group moves around the DT department creating a range of projects.

It may be useful for me to teach or shadow one of these groups throughout the DT timetable?

Lessons can be cut short based on interruption from exterior sources such as trips and other subject areas.

Y6 - Slippers
Skills required;
- Sewing
- Following a pattern
- Pleat
- Stitch style

Other Ideas that could be incorporated into the project

- Tye dye
- Fabric pattern making
- Screen printing
- Fabric pens

What does a slipper need to be?
Design brief?
Design Ideas
Specification - Who is the slipper for?
How well have you met your specification?

Is this too much for year 6? I dont think so, I'm sure that they could cope with the notion of a spec. a basic concept not the full ACCESS FM.

Observations Wk1Thurs

P3:
Y8
Acrylic clocks

Class comes in and sits quietly, quite a manageable class of 16.

Left to their own devises a little.

Pupils are demonstrating no awareness of health and safety. Pupils left to sit, cramped together around desks to use coping saws. No consistency in how the pupils are using the tools themselves which resulted in pupils frequently breaking blades.
Therefore a demonstration of how to use the tools,
I believe is absolutely necessary.
a demonstration on how to change the blade was given at 11.47, this wouldn't even really be necessary if pupils were using the tools correctly. PREVENTION.
large illustrations on board would be useful.
At no point during this week has teacher used cues for objectives, or shown knowledge of pupils stage in development via powerpoint or any visual tool.
No starters or plenaries.
teacher showed blade direction by scratching his hand, pupils immediately copied, resulting in one pupil complaining about scratching hand.
More appropriate means needed.

No differentiated objectives apparent or resourced.

Risk assessment:

Band saw is a table top small unit.
No guard
Table mounted upon has a broken leg which I worry may cause the table top and saw to fall.
Trailing wires across the desk which hang onto the floor.
no tape on floor to show safe distances.








Scroll saw non functional



Extraction non functional.
Teacher uses a hoover to suck away dust.

broken blades go into the standard bin.

Other:




P4:
Art
Book covers inspired by whitley court

Y6
Told to draw out a template of the book cover using measurements discussed in a group demonstration.
This incorporates numeracy but also increases awareness of how book covers are constructed ie; What goes where etc such as blurbs, reviews, prices, barcodes etc.
demonstration was clear and useful and feeds into lesson. More questions could have been asked and directed toward specific pupils for differentiation.
Task is not differentiated, this could be addressed with appropriate resources such as hand outs, templates to trace etc.

2 x C1 given after watching class. two pupils used as an example to stop the rest of the class from misbehaving. noise level was high etc.

behaviour management approaches -   strict rules in place and loud, authorative tone used to bring class to a whisper with C1 punishments handed out swiftly when noise level broken.






Wednesday, 4 January 2017

Observations Wk1/Wed04

P1:
8A

Class progress monitored via in house system "classroom monitor" where independent feedback is given during the lesson.
This is very different to approaches I have seen previously as attention is given to pupils by bringing work to the desk. This limits the level of attention given to overall class progress during the lesson, Detriment to practical task where pupils might be stuck or struggling, but also to health and safety.
However, this is positive for the teaching member of staff as marking time at one is significantly reduced by feedback being given in lesson and marked into a digital system.

Red - Needs attention "T"
Yellow - Almost there "A"
Green - Met
Blue - Exceeded

Health and safety is really an issue in terms of what I am used to. pupils are allowed to sit down whilst using tools, no extraction visible, no aprons, a very limited number of goggles but thesearent needed at all times.
Hair hasnt been tied back in all circumstances.
G-Clamps used rather than bench hooks.
worryingly under funded department.

I would very quickly need to address the health and safety being demonstrated - or lack thereof.
perhaps a move into food would be useful.

DT club on a Thursday after school.





P2:
5JS
merry-go-rounds
class is able to sit where they like as a rule in DT, I may alter this based on differetiation/progree monitoring and data.
The class is a quiet and friendly group who are eager to share their ideas with me. Behaviour managament would not be much more than a chatter issue, but struct boundaries and guidelines should be in place to prevent an exhaustive battle of "please quieten down"

group demonstration at 10.53 - 23 minutes into the lesson.

I think that the group would understand instruction better with visual examples rather than a discussion on the hypothetical situation and outcome.
2 pupils during the lesson burned their hands. this could have been prevented with more supervision on risk areas.

problems in the project:
all pupils are unclear and evidenced in practical work. On the specifics and WHY sections are needed to be layed out in certain ways. The wok produced is very inconsistent.
Therefore teacher now has to mount the motors due to the fact that all the pupils have done things which later on, will prove problematic.
see examples below.





Perhaps these differences and inconsistencies, along with the misconceptions and unanswered questions on the project could be prevented by having stage examples for each table and a clear breakdown and example of targets for each lesson.
Pupils are interested n the mechanics of the thing.
What is a motor?
How does it work?
How does the frame sit?
Why does it need legs?
There was a distinct lack of understanding of what a plan view or side view is. these templates were lost on them. the resource was there but not utilised.
The pupils are producing work but don't really understand the way in which it works. Thorough and engaged learning and understanding is restricted. Could I enhance the learning experience and therefore the progress of these pupils through resources?

At the end of the lesson;
Plenary addressed a few issues by showing pupils how the elastic band attaches to the motor and spins the carousel section using a AA battery.




P3:
6SY
Slippers DT
11.30 arrive
pupils are allowed to make a lot of noise and fuss.
little to no focus initially this could have been prevented through additional planning or using time more efficiently.
Straight into a demo - 11.37.
prior learning  - sewing skills
drawing around each ohers foot, addressing issues such as cutting in. to prevent poor practice.
no directed questioning, which would help learners and stretch talented pupils etc.
11-46 start the lessons practical
1 pupil with severe epilepsy, has support as unable to use any tools or needles etc.

Class as a group draws around feet onto neo-prine
Potential problems - cutting in etc. prompted to draw around feet using a straight and vertical pencil
Add 10mm to the edge in order to provide room to insert foot
if foot is too large to fit onto the A5 section of material, turn to an angle and draw diagonally.






Tuesday, 3 January 2017

observations

Observation on Yr6 - Slipper - DT
Teacher - Mr Meehan

1.15 - 1.30pm
1.30pm - Example/demo